Their ANCIENT STATES.

STATES. COUNTIES. 1. Danmonii, Cornwall and Devon. 2. Durotriges, Dorset. 3. Belgae, Somerset, Wilts, and the north part of Hants. 4. Attrebatii, Berks. 5. Regni, Surrey, Sussex, and the south part of Hants. 6. Cantii, Kent. 7. Trinobantes, Middlesex, Hertfordshire, & Essex. 8. Iceni, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridge, and Huntingdon. 9. Catieuchlani, Bucks and Bedford. 10. Dobuni, Gloucester and Oxford. 11. Silures, Hereford, Monmouth, Radnor, Brecon, & Glamorgan. 12. Dimetae, Carmarthen, Pembroke, and Cardigan. 13. Ordovices, Flint, Denbigh, Merioneth, Montgomery, & Carnarvon. 14. Cornavii, Chester, Salop, Stafford, Warwick, and Worcester. 15. Coritani, Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Rutland, and Northampton. 16. Brigantes, York, Lancaster, Westmoreland, Cumberland, & Durham. 17. Ottadini, Northumberland.

Their general CHARACTER.

They were a great and glorious people, fond of liberty and property; but peculiarly remarkable for their rigid virtue, and their readiness to die with pleasure for the good of their country. They long lived in a perfect state of peace and tranquility till the year of the world 3950, at which time its monarchy, by the boundless envy and ambition of Julius Caesar, (when Rome was in the meridian of all her glory) was totally subverted, and Britannia became a province subordinatte [sic] to the Romans.

The ROMAN GOVERNMENT.

Caesar, at his first landing on the island, found it not under a sole monarchy, but divided into divers provinces, or petty kingdoms. Soon after having defeated Cassibelan, and taken several British provinces, he left the island, and the Romans entirely abandoned it for ninety years and upwards.

However, in the year of our Lord 42, Claudius Caesar, the 5th Emperor of Rome, sent his General Plautius, with great force, into Britain, and following him soon after in person, subdued a great part of the island, by which means he procured the title of Britannicus.

In the year 50, London is supposed to have been built by the Romans. In this year Ostorius, the Roman general, defeated Caractacus, the chief of the British Princes, and having taken him prisoner, carried him to Rome.

The Christian religion, about this time, was first planted in Britain.

In the year 61, the Britons, under the conduct of Boadicea, a British Queen, destroyed 70,000 Romans.

The next year Suetonius, the Roman general, defeated the Britons, and killed 80,000 of them upon the spot; whereupon Boadicea poisoned herself.

In the year 63, the gospel was first preached in Britain by Joseph of Arimathea, and eleven of St. Philip's disciples.

The PERSECUTIONS against the CHRISTIANS consequent thereupon.

1. First persecution was begun by Nero, soon after he had burnt the city of Rome, which was in the year 65. 2. The second, by Flavius Domitian, in the year 83. 3. The third, by Ulpius Trajan, in the year 111. 4. In the year 162, the fourth was raised by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, and his associate Lucius Verus. 5. The fifth was begun by Septimus Severus, in the year 193. 6. In 235, the sixth was raised by Maximinus. 7. Trajanus began the seventh in the year 253. 8. In 255, the eighth was raised by Valerianus. 9. Valerianus Aurelianus began the ninth in the year 272. And 10. Dioclesian [sic] and Maximianus carried on the tenth with the utmost severity.

After the Romans, however, had been in the possession of Britain for near 500 years, they left it to its ancient inhabitants again, who being at that time sunk into the lowest state of degeneracy, were soon after invaded by the Scots and the Picts; and trembling at the approaching storm, they were prevailed on by Vortigern, their chief monarch, about the year 447, to send a deputation to the Saxons, who were the only persons (as he insinuated) capable of giving them that aid and assistance which the unhappy situation of their affairs immediately required. This plausible pretence of that Prince succeeded, and one and all concurred in his opinion; and by the resolution which they then took thereupon, they brought on the total destruction of their country.

Ambassadors from the Britons were accordingly sent to Witigisel, the then Saxon general, who immediately summoned an assembly to hear what the Britons had to propose. The latter (like men in absolute despair) offered to submit to any terms that their said assembly should think proper, provided they did but protect and stand by them so far in their pressing necessities, as to enable them to drive their enemies out of their country. The proposal was approved of, and the negociation [sic] accordingly concluded.

The terms were, that the Saxons should send 9000 men into Britain, who were to be put into possession of the Isle of Thanet, and to be paid and maintained likewise at the expence [sic] of the Britons. Hengist and Horsa, both sons of the Saxon General Witigisel, who were brave and resolute men, fit for, and fond of such an expedition, were appointed, in the year 450, to command the Saxon troops intended for the relief of Britain.

Tho' these two heroes arrived at Ebbesfleet, in the island of Thanet, with 1500 men only, instead of 9000, yet they were received with the utmost respect by Vortigern, who put them immediately, according to promise, in full possession of that island.

As the Picts and Scots, at that time, were advancing their forces against the Britons, Hengist joined Vortigern, and inspiring the British troops with new courage, a battle was fought near Stamford, in Lincolnshire, wherein the Picts and Scots were so absolutely defeated, that they were obliged to abandon their conquests, and retire into their own country.

Hengist had a beautiful daughter, named Rowena, with whom Vortigern fell deeply in love, and demanded her in marriage of her father, who, ever attentive to enlarge his dominions, refused his consent, unless the amorous Briton would put him in possession of the whole county of Kent. The terms were readily accepted, and the match concluded. In short, this love-sick passion, this seemingly trivial circumstance, occasioned the greatest revolution that had ever been felt in Britain.

The SAXON HEPTARCHY.

We shall now take a transient view of the Saxon Heptarchy, consequent thereupon.

I. The Kingdom of Kent.

The first was the kingdom of Kent, founded by Hengist, in 453, and contained only that county; being inhabited by the Jutes. It continued 368 years, and ended in 823, having been governed by ten of its own Kings, and seven doubtful or foreign Princes; of whom four were Pagans and three Christians. Its principal places were Canterbury, Dover, Rochester, Sandwich, Deal, Folkstone, and Reculver.

II. The Kingdom of the South Saxons.

The second was the kingdom of the South Saxons, founded by Ella in 491, and contained the counties of Sussex and Surrey, whose principal city was Chichester. It continued about 109 years, and ended about the year 600; having only five monarchs, of whom two were Pagans, and three Christians: it was mostly under the power of the Kings of Kent, and the West Saxons.

III. The Kingdom of the West Saxons.

The third was the kingdom of the West Saxons, founded by Cerdic in 419; and contained Cornwall, Devonshire, Dorsetshire, Wiltshire, Somersetshire, and Hampshire, with the Isle of Wight and Berkshire, though the remains of the Britons likewise inhabited Cornwall: the principal places were Winchester, Southampton, Portsmouth, Salisbury, Dorchester, Sherborne, and Exeter: it continued till the Norman Conquest, being 547 years, and ended in 1066, having been governed by 17 monarchs, during the heptarchy, of whom five were Pagans, and 12 Christians: the last of whom was Egbert, who, in 829, became sole monarch of England.

IV. The Kingdom of the East Saxons.

The fourth was the kingdom of the East Saxons, and contained Middlesex, Essex, and part of Hertforshire; where the principal places were London and Colchester: it was founded in 527, by Erkenwin, and continued 220 years, ending in 747; having been governed by 12 monarchs, of whom two were Pagans, and the rest Christians.

V. The Kingdom of Northumberland.

The fifth was the kingdom of Northumberland, founded by Ina, in 547, and contained Lancashire, Yorkshire, Durham, Cumberland, Westmoreland, Northumberland, and part of Scotland, as far as Edinburgh Frith: the principal places being York, Durham, Carlisle, Hexham, and Lancaster: it continued 245 years, and ended in 792; having been governed by 20 Princes, of whom four were Pagans, and the rest Christians, whose subjects were Angles, and called the Northumbrian Angles.

VI. The Kingdom of the East Angles.

The sixth was the kingdom of the East Angles, which contained Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire, with the Isle of Ely; where the principal places were Norwich, Thetford, Ely, and Cambridge. It was founded by Uffa in 575, and continued 218 years, ending in 792, when it was united to the kingdom of the Mercians.

VII. The Kingdom of the Mercians.

The seventh and last was the kingdom of the Mercians, or the Middle Angles, founded by Cridda in 582; and contained Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Leicestershire, Rutlandshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, Huntingdonshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, part of Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, Nottinghamshire, and Cheshire; the principal places being Lincoln, Nottingham, Warwick, Leicester, Coventry, Litchfield, Northampton, Worcester, Gloucester, Derby, Chester, Shrewsbury, Stafford, Oxford, and Bristol: it continued 292 years, and ended in 874; having been governed by 18 monarchs, of whom four were Pagans, and the rest Christians.

Egbert the Great, first King of England.

In the year 829, Egbert, the 17th King of the West Saxons, became sole monarch of all the seven kingdoms, and was crowned at Winchester, in Hampshire, by the unanimous consent both of the clergy and laity, King of England; and immediately afterwards a proclamation was published, whereby it was ordered, that no future distinctions should be kept up among the Saxon kingdoms; but that they should all pass under the common name of England.

Though Egbert was a wise and fortunate Prince, and though the English were a brave and numerous people, after the expulsion of the Picts and Scots; yet no sooner was he well established on the throne, but this island was exposed to new invasions.

In 832, the Danes, having made two descents before, landed a third time with great force at the Isle of Sheppey, in Kent; and in some few months afterwards at Charmouth, in Dorsetshire, with 18,000 men. In 835, they landed again in Cornwall; but Egbert was then prepared for them, and gave them a total defeat. They renewed their depredations, however, in 836, but were again repulsed. Soon after which, this Prince having reigned King of the West Saxons 36 years, and sole monarch of England upwards of eight, died as great as he lived, and was buried at Winchester, where he was crowned. He was the father, in short, of the English monarchy, and therefore justly entitled to the name of Egbert the Great.

Ethelwulf, the Second King of England.

Ethelwulf, the elder surviving son of Egbert, succeeded his father in 836. Till he became a King, he had been only a priest, or, at most, only bishop of Winchester. He obtained, however, a dispensation from Pope Gregory IV. and assumed a secular life. In the first year of his reign, the Danes landed at Southampton, in Hampshire, but were routed with great slaughter. In 837, however, they made a second descent upon Portland, in Dorsetshire, and succeeded in their attempt.

In 838, they made another descent about Romney, in Kent, with such success, and great slaughter, that they over-ran the country. In short, they made fresh visits for several years afterwards successively, for the sake of plunder only, without the least intention of making a settlement in the kingdom.

Ethelwulf, however, in 852, assembled a numerous army, with the assistance of his brother Athelstan, met them at Okely, in Surry [sic]; and there, after a desperate engagement, proved so victorious, that the slaughter of their enemies was almost incredible.

In 855, Ethelwulf went to Rome, in order to pay a visit to the Pope in person; and, on receiving his benediction, he not only gratified the vanity of the papal see by his devotion, but satisfied likewise its most avaricious expectations by his royal bounty.

In 857, after having reigned one and twenty years, he divided his kingdom between his two eldest sons, Ethelbald and Ethelbert, and soon after died, and was buried at Winchester.

III. [sic] Ethelbald and Ethelbert, joint Kings of England.

Ethelbald, whose reign was but short, and no ways remarkable, died in 800, and was buried at Sherborne, in Dorsetshire.

Ethelbert, the fourth King of England.

Though Ethelbert bore an excellent character, yet he was no favourite of fortune; for from his coronation in 860, to his death in 866, he had one continued conflict with the Danes. He was interred at Sherborne, near his brother.

Ethelred, the fifth King of England.

In 866, Ethelred, third son of Ethelwulf, succeeded to the crown: in whose reign the Danes committed great ravages through the kingdom. Notwithstanding, in 868, a great famine and plague happened in England, yet those merciless and blood-thirsty Pagans the Danes, in 869, through their aversion to Christianity, set fire to the religious houses in the city of York, murdered the monks, ravished the nuns, and made a sacrifice of Edmund, titular King of the East Angles, by first shooting his body full of arrows, and afterwards cutting off his head. He was soon after interred at St. Edmundsbury, in the county of Suffolk, from whom it has ever since been distinguished by that name, as the manner of that Prince's death entitled him to the honour of martyrdom.

Ethelred, after having reigned six years, was buried at Winbourn, in the county of Dorset.

Alfred the Great, sixth King of England.

In the year 872, Alfred the Great (the fourth son of Ethelwulf) succeeded his brother Ethelred, whose moral virtues endeared him so far to his subjects, that they honoured him with the appellation of the Father of the English Constitution. He was crowned at Winchester.

In the year 878, the Danes settled themselves in divers parts of England, with whom Alfred fought many battles, with various success; but at length gave them a total overthrow at Eddington, in Somersetshire, and not only obliged their leader Guthrun, the chiefs of their army, and the main body of their people, to be baptized, but afterwards to retire out of the kingdom.

This illustrious Prince, in 882, rebuilt the city of London, which had been burnt and destroyed by the Danes in 839.

As he was an excellent scholar himself, he founded, or at least greatly augmented, the University of Oxford.

In 893, the Danes, with 300 ships, under one Hastings, invaded England again, but were defeated by Alfred's army, at Farnham, Surry [sic].

In 897, a plague happened, and raged throughout the land for three years successively.

In the year 900, Alfred died of a contraction of the nerves, after he had lived 51 years, and reigned 29.

Edward the Elder, seventh King of England.

On his decease, Edward the Elder (so called to distinguish him from Edward the Martyr, and Edward the Confessor) succeeded his father, and was crowned at Kingston upon Thames.

This Prince was a brave warrior, and tho' invaded by the Danes, in the year 905, he defeated them in Kent.

In the year 911, he improved the University of Cambridge, much after the same manner as Alfred his father had augmented Oxford.

In 921, he was in the height of his glory, all the Princes in Britain either submitting to his allegiance, or courting his favour. He died in the 24th year of his reign, at Farringdon, in Berkshire, and was buried at Winchester.

Tho' he had three wives, and several children, yet Ethelstan, his son by one Egwinna, a shepherd's daughter, succeeded to his kingdom.

Ethelstan, eighth King of England.

He was crowned in the 13th year of his age, at Kingston upon Thames, in the year 924.

In the year, 938, he defeated both the Danes and Scots, and made the Princes of Wales pay him a tribute of 20 pounds of gold, 300 pounds of silver, and 25,000 head of cattle.

The same year he caused the Bible to be translated into the Saxon, which was then the mother tongue.

Much about this time the renowned Guy, Earl of Warwick, is said to have encountered Colebrand, the famous Danish giant, and, after a sharp contest, to have killed him on the spot at Winchester.



AN ACCOUNT OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM, Adapted to the Capacities of Children.

[In the HTML version, the symbols for the planets can be seen next to their names, except for Georgium Sidus, whose name was later changed to Uranus.]

THE SUN, which is the fountain of light and heat, is placed in the centre of the universe; and the several planets, namely, Luna, (the moon); Mercury; Venus; the Earth; Mars; Jupiter; Saturn; and Georgium Sidus; move around him in their several orbs, and borrow from him their light and influence: on the surface of the sun are seen certain dark spots, but what they are is not known. They often change their place, number, and magnitude; and if they are really in the sun's body, as to all appearance they are, we must suppose that he moves around his axis in about twenty-five days and six hours; otherwise those various changes and alterations cannot be accounted for on the principles of reason and philosophy. The daily motion of the sun from east to west is not real; for, as I have observed before, the sun is fixed in the centre, and can have no motion but upon its own axis, that is, of turning round in the same space. The apparent motion, therefore, from east to west, must arise from the true and real motion of the earth on which we live, as I shall prove by and by. The body of the sun is so immensely large, that his diameter or thickness is computed to be 822,145 English miles, and a million of times larger than the globe of our earth; stupendous and amazing magnitude! which is supposed to be all fire, and by whose beams of light the whole system of beings about it is made visible.

The fixed stars which enamel and bespangle the concave expanse, or canopy of heaven, by numbers and lustre, make the night beauteous and delightful, which would otherwise be dark and horrible. The UNIVERSE has no determinate form or figure at all; for it is every way infinite and unlimited, and is called the MUNDANE SPACE, in which all worlds have their place and being.

The MOON, which is the next planet, or body, we are to consider, is, as to matter and form, not unlike our earth; for her body is uneven and spherical. The bright portions we see in her are the more prominent and illuminated parts of the land, as mountains, islands, promontories, &c. to which we are obliged for the light that is reflected to us; for the dark parts, which are supposed to be seas, lakes, vales, &c. are incapable of reflecting any light at all. Some of our philosopers [sic] assert, that there is an atmosphere of air about her; and, if so, then is she subject to the wind, clouds, rain, thunder, lightning, and other meteors, as well as the earth, and of consequence may be inhabited by men and animals. The diameter or thickness of the moon, is about 2175 English miles. The moon revolves round the earth in about 27 days, 7 hours, and 43 minutes. According to the different position of the moon in her orb, with respect to the sun and earth, she puts on different aspects or phases, as new, horned, full, &c. And since, at the same distance from the sun, she never appears of a different face, it is evident that she has a diurnal motion round her own axis, which is completed in the same time as her periodical revolution is about the earth. So that the Lunarians, or people of the moon, (if there are such) have their days and months perpetually of equal length.

The other planets, i.e. Mercury, Venus, the Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the Georgium Sidus,* all revolve in the same manner about the sun as the centre of the system; and in the order from the sun as they are named in the following figure of the UNIVERSE.

* The Georgium Sidus is a later discovery, having two moons; without the orb of Saturn, and not represented in the following scheme, for want of room.



The real motion of them all is from west to east, though sometimes they appear to move from east to west; and at other times seem not to move at all. And hence they are said to be direct, retrograde, and stationary. The Earth, Jupiter, and Saturn, are often eclipsed by the interposition of their respective moons, or satellites, between the sun and themselves; and these eclipses are sometimes partial, sometimes total, and sometimes central. The orbit of the earth (or the circle which the sun seems to describe round the earth), is called the ecliptic, which is divided into twelve equal parts, called signs, and are distinguished by the following names and marks, [again, the symbols for the signs can be seen in the HTML version] viz. Aries, the Ram; Taurus, the Bull; Gemini, the Twins; Cancer, the Crab; Leo, the Lion; Virgo, the Virgin; Libra, the Balance; Scorpio, the Scorpion; Sagittarius, the Archer; Capricornus, the Goat; Aquarius, the Water-bearer; Pisces, the Fishes.

There are many other things peculiar to the planets; but as they are not within the compass of my design, I shall pass them over, in order to speak more particularly of the earth.

Of the EARTH, considered as a PLANET.

THE Earth, by its revolution about the sun in 365 days, 5 hours, and 49 minutes, makes that space of time which we call a year.

The line, which the centre of the earth describes in its annual revolution about the sun, is called the Ecliptic.

The annual motion of the earth about the sun, is in the order of the signs of the zodiac; that is, from west to east.

Besides its annual revolution about the sun in the ecliptic, the earth turns round also on its own axis in 24 hours.

The turning of the earth on its own axis every 24 hours, whilst it moves round the sun in a year, we may conceive by the rolling of a bowl on a bowling-green; in which not only the centre of the bowl hath a progressive motion on the green, but the bowl, in going forward, turns round about its own axis.

The turning of the earth on its own axis makes the differences of day and night; it being day in those parts of the earth which are turned towards the sun; and night in those parts which are in the shade, or turned from the sun.

The annual revolution of the earth in the ecliptic is the cause of the different seasons, and of the several lengths of days and nights, in every part of the world, in the course of the year. If the diameter of the sun be to the diameter of the earth as 48 to 1, (as by some it is computed), the disk of the sun is above 2000 times bigger than the disk of the earth; and the globe of the sun is about 100,000 times bigger than the globe of the earth.

The distance of the earth's orbit from the sun is above 20,000 semidiameters of the earth; so that if a cannon ball should come from the sun with the same velocity it hath when discharged from the mouth of a cannon, it would be 25 years in coming to the earth.

We shall now consider the earth in another sense, and speak of the several divisions made by geographers.

OF THE CIRCLES, Which are used by GEOGRAPHERS to explain the Properties of the NATURAL GLOBE. You may suppose the following figure to be a globe or sphere, representing the earth. The outermost circle, marked with the letters A, D, B, C, is called the meridian; and on this circle the latitude is reckoned, either from C towards A or B, or else from D towards A and B.

The equator is the line C, D, which upon the globe is a circle, and is sometimes called the equinoctial: Upon this circle the degrees of longitude are reckoned, beginning at C, and counting all round the globe till you come to C again; and O is the middle of the world between A and B, which are the two poles thereof: A representing the North Pole, B the South Pole.

The circles E F, and G H, are called the Tropics, beyond which the sun never moves.



The line G F, which upon the globe is a circle, is termed the Ecliptic, in which the sun is perpetually moving from G to F, and F to G again. When the sun is in O, he is then in the Equinoctial, and the days and nights are of equal length to all the world, except under the Poles. When he is at F, which is called the Tropic of Cancer, days are at the longest to all those who dwell under the North side of the Equator. When the sun is at G, which is called the Tropic of Capricorn, days are at the longest to all those dwelling on the South side of the Equator, and at the shortest to those on the North side.

The circles LM and I K are called the Polar Circles, because to those inhabitants who dwell under these circles, the longest day is 24 hours; so that the sun sets not, but moves quite round their horizon. Thus much may suffice for the circles of the sphere; only note this, that every circle, whether great or small, is divided into 360 equal parts or degrees; so that a degree is no certain measure, but only the three hundred and sixtieth part of the circle; and these degrees are again supposed to be divided into sixty equal parts, which are called minutes. Now, therefore, if a circle which will reach round the earth be divided into 360 parts, then one of those parts is equal to a degree, which was looked upon by the ancients to be equal to sixty miles, and thus one mile was exactly equal to a minute.

Of the ZONES.

The Zones are certain tracts of land, whose boundaries are made by the circles before described, and are five in number, namely, the Torrid Zone; the Northern Temperate Zone; the Southern Temperate Zone; the Northern Frigid Zone; the Southern Frigid Zone. 1. The Torrid Zone contains all that space of land which lies between the circles E F and G H; for to those inhabitants who dwell betwixt the said limits, the sun, at some time of the year, becomes vertical, i.e. right over their heads. 2. The Northern Temperate Zone is all that space betwixt the circle E F, named the Tropic of Cancer, and the line L M, called the Northern Polar Circle; and to all the inhabitants within this compass, the sun, when in their several meridians, casteth their shadows directly north. 3. The Southern Temperate Zone is that tract of land which lies between the circular line G H, called the Tropic of Capricorn, and the Southern Polar Circle I K. To all the inhabitants within this space, the sun, when in their meridian, casteth their shadows full south. 4. The Northern Frigid Zone, is that part of the earth which lies between the Northern Polar Circle L M, and the North Pole at A; to all these inhabitants the sun, at a certain season, and when in the Tropic of Cancer, does not set, but moves in view quite round the horizon, casting their shadows every way. 5. The Southern Frigid Zone is that part of the earth which lies between the Southern Polar Circle I K, and the South Pole at B. To all the inhabitants within these limits, the sun, when in the Tropic of Capricorn, sets not, but moves in sight as before, casting their shadows also every way.

Of the CLIMATES.

The Climates are reckoned from the Equator to the Poles; under the Equator the day is always 12 hours long, and under the Polar Circles the longest day is 24 hours. Geographers make 24 climates between the Equator and each of the Polar Circles, because there are 24 half hours difference between the length of day under the Equator, and the longest day under the Polar Circle; so that any place where the longest day in that place is half an hour longer or shorter than that of another place, is of a different climate. The first climate begins at the Equator; the second where the longest day is 12 hours and a half; the third where it is 13 hours, and so on. There are in all 48 climates of hours, that is, four [sic] from the Equator to the Polar Circle, either Northward or Southward. Besides the aforesaid 48 climates of hours, there are 12 more, called climates of months, that is, six from each of the Polar Circles to the Poles. They are called climates of months, because the longest day in the end of the first climate is one whole month, the longest day at the end of the second two whole months, and so on.

Of LAND and WATER.

The whole globe of the earth is called terraqueous, consisting of two bodies, namely, Land and Water, which may be divided in the following manner, viz.

LAND into Continents, Islands, Peninsulas, Isthmuses, Promontories, Mountains.

1. A Continent is a large tract of land, comprehending divers countries, kingdoms, and states, joining altogether, without any separation of its parts by water, of which we have four, viz. Europe, Asia, Africa, and America.

2. An Island is a part of land encompassed round with water.

3. A Peninsula, called also Chersonesus, is a piece of dry land every where environed with water, save only a narrow neck of land adjoining the same to the Continent.

4. An Isthmus is that narrow neck of land which joins the Peninsula to the Continent, by which people go from one to the other.

5. A Promontory is a high piece of land, stretching out into the sea, the extremity whereof is commonly called a Cape.

6. A Mountain is a rising part of dry land, overtopping the adjacent country, and appearing the first at a distance.

WATER is divided into Oceans, Seas, Gulfs, Straits, Lakes, and Rivers.

7. Ocean is a vast collection of water, environing a considerable part of the Continent.

8. The Sea is a smaller body of water, intermixed with Islands, and for the most part environed with land.

9. A Gulf is a part of the Sea, every where encompassed with land, except only one passage, whereby it communicates with the main ocean.

10. A Strait is a narrow passage, either joining a Gulf to the neighbouring Sea or Ocean, or one part of the Sea or Ocean to another.

11. A Lake is a small collection of deep standing water, surrounded by land, and having no visible communication with the Sea.

12. A River is a considerable stream of fresh water, rising out of one, or various fountains, continually gliding along in one or more currents, till it empties itself into the sea or ocean.



OF THE FOUR QUARTERS OF THE WORLD, AND FIRST OF EUROPE.

A Swedish Man and Woman in their proper Dresses.



An Historical and Geographical Account of SWEDEN, DENMARK, and NORWAY.

SWEDEN is one of the Northern Kingdoms, great and populous; is bounded on the North by Lapland, Norway, and the Frozen Sea; on the East by Muscovy; on the South by the Baltic Sea; on the West by Denmark and Norway. It is divided into six parts, contains seventeen cities, the capital is Stockholm; the air is cold, but wholesome; it abounds with all the necessaries of life; the inhabitants are long-lived; they trade in brass, lead, iron, steel, copper, skins, furs, deals, oak, pitch, and tar: They are civil, and so industrious that a beggar is not to be seen among them; good soldiers, strong and healthy. It was formerly elective, but now hereditary. It is governed by a King and the States, which consist of the nobility, clergy, and the merchants; their religion is Lutheranism, and dialect Teutonic and German.

An Account of DENMARK.

DENMARK lies to the North of England, is but a small kingdom, Copenhagen is the metropolis. The King of Denmark is also Sovereign of Norway, Greenland, Fero, &c. The air is very cold, the country fruitful; there is store of deer, elks, horses, cattle, &c. also fish, especially herrings; their commodities are chiefly tallow, timber, hides, and rigging for ships: The crown is hereditary, the government entirely in the power of the King, and their religion the same as in Sweden.

An Account of NORWAY.

NORWAY is a kingdom on the North-West shore of Europe, belongs to the King of Denmark, is separated from Sweden by a ridge of mountains always covered with snow; the chief town is Drontheim. It is mountainous, barren, and extremely cold, therefore but thinly peopled; they are a plain people, of the same religion as those of Denmark. The produce of the country is good for timber, oak, pitch, tar, copper, and iron; and their seas abound with fish, which the inhabitants dry upon the rocks without salt, and sell them to most nations in Europe, to victual their ships in long voyages. They have very little corn grown in the country; and the inhabitants feed on the flesh of bears, wolves, and foxes; and the poorer sort make bread of dried fish ground to powder, while the better sort exchange the commodities above-mentioned for corn, fruits, wine, and other necessaries. Their longest day in the northern parts is two months, and shortest in the southern about eight hours.

A Moscovite, or Russian Man and Woman in their proper Dresses.



An account of MOSCOVY, or RUSSIA.

MOSCOVY is the largest country in Europe, and which comprehends all that vast country which obeys the Czar, or Czarina. It is bounded by the Northern Ocean on the North; the rivers Oby and Tanais on the East; the Little Tanais, the rivers Desna and Sosa, with Lesser Tartary, on the South; Narva, Poland, Sweden, and Norway on the West: It contains about forty provinces; is a marshy country, not well inhabited, full of forests and rivers; the winter is long, and very cold; they sow only rye before winter, and the other corn in May, though their harvest is in July and August. They have plenty of fruit, melons, fowl, and fish; and their commodities are salt, brimstone, pitch, tar, hemp, flax, iron, steel, copper, and Russian leather, much valued in England. They wear long beards, short hair, and gowns down to their heels; are a mistrustful and cruel people, cunning in trading, and deceive with impunity, it being counted industry; naturally lazy and drunken, and lie on the ground or benches, all excent [sic] the gentry. Until Czar Peter the Great (who polished the people, as well as enriched and improved the country), they were barbarous and savage; but he setting up printing-houses and schools in his dominions, banished ignorance, and introduced the liberal arts. Their government is hereditary and absolute, their religion is that of the Greek church. They have a number of clergy, and divers monasteries for friars and nuns. The Emperor of Moscovy is called the Czar, and Empress the Czarina.

A French Man and Woman in their proper Dresses.



An Historical and Geographical Account of FRANCE.

FRANCE is one of the finest and largest countries in Europe, lies in the middle of the Temperate Zone, is washed by the ocean to the west, by the Mediterranean Sea to the South, joins to the Low Countries to the North, Germany and Italy lie to the East, and Spain to the South. Its length and breadth is about 225 leagues each. Its chief city is Paris; there are ten universities, and many very stately palaces, the chief of which is that at Versailles, about eleven miles from Paris, where their Kings used to reside. It abounds with all the necessaries of life, which made the Emperor Maximilian say, "That if it were possible he himself were God, his eldest son should succeed him, and the second should be King of France." The common people were reckoned industrious, and the better sort very polite, well bred, extremely gay in dress, and civil to strangers, till their late wonderful revolution destroyed all distinctions, and involved them in a contest with the rest of Europe; which seems to have reversed their manners, and renders it impossible to say what will in future be the distinguishing traits of the national character, when they shall again cultivate the arts of peace. Their commodities are brandy, wine, salt, silks, linen and woollen, hemp, canvas, paper, soap, almonds, olives, &c. To take a view of the country, their fields are long and open, intermixed with corn and vines, and every hedge so beset with choice fruits, that eyes can hardly have fairer objects.

'Twas in this country that Master Tommy Courtly and his sister, who went over with their papa, learnt all that good manners and genteel behaviour, which made every body love and admire them so much at their return home; which had such an effect on their brother Jack, (who was a rude, ill-natured, slovenly boy), that he soon grew better; and to prevent himself being utterly despised, and turned out of doors, by his papa and mamma, for his undutiful behaviour, he immediately mended his manners, and in a very little time was beloved and admired, almost equally with his brother Tommy. It has now, however, ceased to be the school of Europe; and as the late extraordinary events, which brought their Monarch to the block, and occasioned the people to declare for a Republican government, have been attended with a total loss of trade, and the destruction of the arts, it must be many years before travellers can again visit this country with hope of similar advantages.

Germans in their proper Habits.



An Account of GERMANY.

GERMANY is a large, fruitful, and pleasant country, which has the title of an Empire. It is bounded on the North by the Baltic Sea, Denmark, and the German Ocean; on the East by Hungary, Prussia, and Poland; on the South by the Alps; on the West by the Netherlands, Lorrain, and French Compte. It is divided into higher and lower; its whole length is about 840 Italian miles, and breadth about 740; the soil is very fertile, and furnishes every thing necessary; the chief rivers are the Danube, the Rhine, Elbe, Oder, and Weser. Tacitus, speaking of the Ancient Germans, says, "They sung [sic] when they marched to fight, and judged of the success by the shouts and huzzas at the onset. Their wives, as martial as themselves, accompanied them to the war to dress their wounds, and provide them with necessaries. They esteemed nothing so infamous as to throw away or lose their shield. They buried the bodies of their noblemen on a funeral pile, with their arms and horse." The Germans of our age are laborious, simple, and brave, but ready to serve for money, constant in their religion, true friends, open enemies.

The inventions of printing, gunpowder, and fire-arms are attributed to them. There are above three hundred different Sovereignties in Germany, most of which are subject to the supreme head, the Emperor, who is chosen by the nine Electors, viz. the Archbishops of Mentz, Triers, and Cologn; the King of Bohemia; the Duke of Bavaria; the Duke of Saxony; the Marquis of Brandenburgh, (King of Prussia); the Prince Palatine of the Rhine; and the Elector of Hanover, (King of England). The Electors are the principal members of the Empire, and absolute Sovereigns in their own dominions. Their religion, for the greatest part, is Popery; but in several states and cities, particularly Prussia, the Protestant prevails. The chief city is Vienna, in the Dukedom of Austria, which is the seat of the Emperor.

A Dutch Man and Woman in their proper Habits.



HOLLAND and FLANDERS, which are called the Seven Provinces, and the Netherlands, are inhabited by the Dutch.

This country is also in Germany, though mostly independent of the Empire; the greatest part belongs to the Dutch, part to the French, and part to the Emperor: Its capital city is Amsterdam, a place of vast trade and riches. The air is moist and foggy; the country, lying low, is naturally wet and fenny, and employed chiefly in grazing of cattle; little corn grows there, but they import abundance from other countries; the soil is fertile, the natural produce is chiefly butter and cheese, in which their trade has been great, but that of herrings the most considerable; and they had manufactures of various kinds, carrying on a prodigious trade to most parts of the world. They are a plain and frugal people, and very laborious. Their form of government was very peculiar; but their independence having been absorbed in the vortex of the French revolution, it is uncertain what form it may assume in a short period. Their language is a dialect of the German. The reformed religion, according to the doctrines of Calvin, is the established one, though all are tolerated.

A Spanish Man and Woman in their proper Habits.



An Account of SPAIN.

SPAIN is separated from France by the Pyrenean Hills, and on all other sides is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, the Straits of Gibraltar, and the Atlantic Ocean. The King has the most lands of any Prince in the world, on which account some of their predecessors have boasted, "That the sun never sets in their dominions, as having possessions in all the four parts of the world." He is stiled [sic] his Catholic Majesty. His Court is different from all others, he gives audience but one day in a week, and the rest he is shut up in his palace, the courts of which are full of merchants' shops, and resemble the cloisters of religious houses. The air of Spain is pure and dry, but very hot; the soil is sandy, and mostly barren, though where fertile not well cultivated, through the pride and laziness of the people, to which they are much addicted; though what they want in corn is made up in a variety of excellent fruits and wines, of which they have great plenty. Their chief commodities are wine, oil, fruits of various sorts, wool, lamb-skins, honey, cork, &c. The people are grave and majestic, faithful to their Monarch, delicate in point of honour, jealous, lascivious, and tyrants over a vanquished enemy; look upon husbandry and the mechanical arts with the greatest contempt. Their government is an absolute Monarchy, and their crown hereditary as well to females as to males. Their religion is Roman Catholic, nor is any other tolerated. Madrid is their capital city, which stands near the middle of the country, on top of a hill, by the little river Manzanares.

A Portuguese Man and Woman in their proper Habits.



An Account of PORTUGAL.

PORTUGAL joins to Spain, and to the East is bounded by Spanish provinces; the capital city is Lisbon, a place of great trade and riches, with an excellent harbour: The soil of this country is poor, and produces but little, except wine and fruit. The nobility and gentry are magnificent and hospitable, but the common people much addicted to thieving. It is governed by its own King, who is by much the richest crowned head in Europe. His government is absolute, and crown hereditary. The established religion is Popery, though others are tolerated, but are under a necessity of being very reserved and cautious, for fear of the inquisition, which is a court or tribunal for the examination and punishment of offenders, whom they torture in the most cruel manner.

Lisbon, the capital city, as before-mentioned, is about six miles in length, built on seven hills, surrounded with a wall, on which are 77 towers, and 36 gates; is reckoned to contain 30,000 houses, and 150,000 inhabitants, (whose foreign trade is equal to any city in Europe, except London and Amsterdam.) There is a cathedral, 37 parish churches, 23 cloisters, several handsome squares, and sumptuous buildings, the largest of which is the King's palace. Such was the state of this opulent city till the 1st of November, 1755, when the greatest part of it was reduced to a heap of ruins by a most tremendous earthquake, which was followed by a terrible fire. A gentleman who was present, giving an account of the calamity to his friend in England, says, "It is not to be expressed by human tongue, how dreadful and awful it was to enter the city after the disaster; in looking upwards one was struck with terror, in beholding frightful ruined fronts of houses, some leaning one way, some another; then, on the contrary, one was struck with horror in beholding dead bodies, by six or seven in a heap, crushed to death, half buried, half burnt; and if one went through the broad squares, nothing to be met with but people bewailing their misfortunes, wringing their hands, and crying the world was at an end: In short, 'twas the most lamentable scene that eyes could behold."

The King, in his letter on the melancholy occasion to the King of Spain, concludes thus: "I am without a house, in a tent, without servants, without subjects, without money, and without bread."

An Italian Man and Woman in their proper Habits.



An Historical Description of ITALY.

ITALY in the scriptures is called Chittim, and Mesech. Pliny (an ancient Latin writer) gives it this character: "Italy is the nurse-mother of all nations, elected by the Gods to make the Heavens more glorious, and unite the dispersed governments of the world." &c. The situation is very advantageous, being towards the midst of the Temperate Zone. It is bounded by the Alps on the North, which separates it from Germany; on the East by the Adriatic Sea; on the South by Mare Inferum, or the Sea of Tuscany; and on the West by a part of the Alps, and the River Var, which are its bounds towards France and Savoy. The air of this country is temperate and healthful; the soil so fruitful, that there seems to be a continual spring: It abounds with grain, fruits, and flowers, and a variety of living creatures, as well for pleasure as profit; on which account Italy is called the Garden of Europe. The people are polite, dexterous [sic], prudent, and ingenious, extremely revengeful, jealous, and great formalists; their genius lies much for poetry, music, antiquities, &c. and, in short, all the liberal arts. Their tongue is derived from the ancient Latin. The cities are fair, well built, and magnificent; Rome is looked on as the capital, and is called the Holy, Naples the Noble, Florence the Fair, Genoa the Proud, Milan the Great, Venice the Rich, Padua the Learned, and Bonia the Fat. There are 300 bishoprics in it, and many universities. It was governed of old by Kings, then by Consuls, and last of all by Emperors, who raised it to the highest pitch of glory. Only the Roman Catholic religion is professed in Italy; neither are the Protestants suffered there, though the Jews are permitted in some cities. This country affords more entertainment to travellers than any other in the world, in which may be seen many remains of the greatest, wisest, and bravest people that ever lived, namely, the old Romans. The present people are inured to slavery, harassed with tyrannies and impositions of their priests. The country is but badly cultivated; its commodities are wine, oil, corn, rice, velvets, silk, glass, &c.

A Turkish Man and Woman in their proper Habits.



An Account of TURKEY.

TURKEY, or the Empire of the Turks, comprehends many provinces in Europe, Asia, and Africa; so it is with reason the Sultan is called Grand Signior. The empire is divided into 25 governments, of which there are seven in Europe, seventeen in Asia, and Egypt makes one of itself; two of the governments have what they call Beglerbergs at the head of them, and the rest are governed by Bashaws. Most of these countries are fruitful, but neglected through the laziness of the Turks, and oppressions the Christians lie under, who chuse [sic] rather to let the land lie untilled, than cultivate it for others. It is thin of inhabitants, occasioned by frequent plagues and continual wars, which carry off great numbers. They are very temperate, robust, and good soldiers. Their religion, whereof Mahomet was the author, comprehends six general precepts, viz. circumcision, prayer, fasting, alms, pilgrimage, and abstinence from wine. Friday is their most solemn day of the week, which they distinguish only by being longer at prayer on that than other days. They observe an extraordinary fast on the ninth month, which whoever breaks is certainly punished with death: They keep it so strict, that labourers ready to faint with thirst dare not taste a drop of water. They have a sort of monks called Dervises [sic], who live a very austere life, keeping a profound silence, go barefoot, with a leather girdle round their bodies, full of sharp points to mortify the flesh, and sometimes beat and burn themselves with hot irons: they are very charitable, and spare nothing for the maintenance of the poor. The government is monarchial; the Grand Signior, or Sultan, is absolute master of the lives and fortunes of his subjects; his orders are above the laws, which are but few. If his ministers grow rich, they certainly suffer death, right or wrong, their wealth (which goes to the Sultan) being esteemed a clear proof of their guilt.

The customs and ways of the Turks are very different from ours: the left is the upper hand with them; they bury in the dark, and carry the dead head-foremost; their books are all manuscripts, for they suffer no printing among them. Their commodities are chiefly raw silks, oil, leather, cake-soap, honey, wax, and various fruits and drugs. Constantinople, which was formerly Thrace, by the Turks called Stamboul, is their capital, and seat of the Ottoman or Turkish Emperor.

ASIA.

A Man and Woman of Tartary in their proper Habits.



An Account of TARTARY.

TARTARY, which is the same country as the ancient Scythia, comprehends all the North of Europe, and almost a third part of Asia. At present the Russians possess the North part and have given it the name of Siberia. It is a cold barren country, generally covered with snow, and very thinly inhabited.

Their wealth consists in cattle, and their employment in grazing. They carry on neither manufacture nor trade, except in slaves and horses, and rove about in herds or clans. The Emperor of Russia is supreme Lord of the Western as well as North part of Tartary, especially since the time of the late Czar Peter the Great, who extended his conquests even to the Northern coast of the Caspian Sea.

The Chinese are masters of the South and East parts of Tartary. The Tartars are divided into four different nations, namely, the Tartars properly so called, the Calmucks, and the Usbeck and Moguls. The Calmuck Tartars acknowledge themselves subjects of Russia; the Usbeck Tartars were once independent, but since subdued by Kouli Khan, the late Sovereign of Persia, who took possession and plundered their capital city Bochara, which was extremely populous and wealthy. This country of Usbeck Tartary is situate in a very happy climate and fruitful soil, and carries on a very brisk trade to the East and West parts of Asia: it was the country of the victorious Tamerlane, who subdued most of the kingdoms of Asia.

The Tartars, as to stature, are generally thick and short, having flat square faces, little eyes, little round short noses, and an olive complexion. They are reckoned the best archers in the world, and eat all manner of flesh but hog's-flesh. They are very hospitable, and take a pleasure in entertaining strangers. Their religion is mostly Paganism, they worship the Sun, Moon, and Stars, and a variety of images, but not in temples or churches, for they worship in groves and on the tops of monntains [sic]; but those that live near the Mahometan countries are mostly Mahometans. The Southern provinces lie in a temperate climate, and would produce all manner of corn and vegetables; but the inhabitants pay no regard to it, and lead a rambling life, driving great herds of cattle before them to such parts of the country where they can meet with the best pasture, and here they pitch their tents, but seldom remain long enough in a place to reap a crop of corn, even if they were to plough the land and sow it.

A Chinese Man and Woman in their proper Habits.



An Account of CHINA.

THE Empire of China is a great and spacious country, on the East of Asia, famed for its fruitfulness, wealth, beautifulness of towns, and incredible number of inhabitants.

It is divided into seventeen kingdoms, which contain 160 large cities, 240 lesser, and 1200 towns; the chief of all is Pekin. The air is pure and serene, and the inhabitants live to a great age. Their riches consist in gold and silver mines, pearls, porcelain or China ware; japanned or varnished works; spices, musk, true ambergris, camphire [sic], sugar, ginger, tea, linen, and silk; of the latter there is such abundance, that they are able to furnish all the world with it. Here are also mines of quicksilver, vermillion, azure-stone, vitriol, &c. So much for the wealth: Now as to the inhabitants, they are so numerous, that the great roads may be compared to a perpetual fair, such numbers are continually passing, which made a Portuguese, who went thither, ask, "If the women had not nine or ten children at a birth?" Every inhabitant is obliged to hang a writing over his door, signifying the number and quality of the dwellers. The inside of their houses is very magnificent. The men are civil, well-bred, very ingenious, polite, and industrious, but extremely covetous, insomuch that they will not scruple to sell their very children, or drown them, when they think they have too many. This desire of wealth lets them never be idle, and makes them have a great aversion to strangers that come to settle among them. The men go neatly dressed, and carry a fan in their hand, and when they salute each other (for they are very courteous) they never put off their hat, but with their hands joined before their breast bow their bodies. Here is no Nobility but what depends on learning, without any regard to birth, except the Royal Families; and the more learned any one is, the more he is advanced in honour and government. The King, who is called the Tartar, keeps a guard of forty thousand men. When he dies his body is buried on a pile of paper, and with him all his jewels, and every thing else, except living creatures, that he made use of in his life-time. His Counsellor, Priest, and Concubines, that devoted themselves wholly to his soul, sacrifice their lives as soon as he dies; but have the liberty to chuse what kind of death they please, which is generally beheading. In this country there is a stupendous wall, built to prevent the incursions of the Tartars, which is at least 1700 miles long, near 30 feet high, and broad enough for several horsemen to travel on it abreast. Their established religion is what they call the Religion of Nature, as explained by their celebrated Philosopher Confucius; but the greatest part of them are Idolaters, and worship the Idol Fo. The Mahometans have been long since tolerated, and the Jews longer. Christianity had gained a considerable footing here by the labour of the Jesuits, till the year 1726, when the missionaries being suspected of a design against the Government, were quite expelled.

An Indian Man and Woman in their proper Habits.



An Account of INDIA.

INDIA, one of the greatest regions of Asia, is bounded on the East by China, on the West by Persia, North by Great Tartary, and on the South by the Indian Sea. It is divided into three parts, viz. Indostan, or the Empire of the Great Mogul; India on this side the Ganges, and India beyond; the cities of Deli [sic] and Agra are the two chief, and, by turns, the residence of the Great Mogul, at each of which he has a very splendid palace. The most noted city on the coast is Surat, a place of great trade, where the English have a factory. India on this side the Ganges contains many petty kingdoms. On the coast are Goa, belonging to the Portuguese, which is their staple for East-India goods; and Bombay, a little island and town belonging to the English. On this coast are Pondicherry, Fort St. David, and Fort St. George, which belong to the English, who in fact possess the supreme dominion of the country, most of the native princes being either dependent on them, or happy to enter into alliance with them. India beyond the Ganges, is also divided into various kingdoms, and contains a great number of large and populous cities, of which we have no knowledge besides their names. The people are for the most part tawny, strong, and big, but very lazy. They eat on beds, or tapestry spread on the ground. They burn most of their dead, and their wives glory in being thrown into the funeral piles, and there consumed to ashes. The Great Mogul is a Mahometan, and esteemed the richest King in the world in jewels; one of his thrones is said to have cost five millions sterling. Their commodities are silks, cottons, callicoes, muslins, sattins [sic], carpets, gold, silver, diamonds, pearls, porcelain, rice, ginger, rhubarb, aloes, amber, indigo, cinnamon, cocoa, &c. They are mostly Pagans, and worship idols of various shapes, and the rest are Mahometans, except a few Christians. Their monarch is absolute, and so are all the petty Kings; who are so fond of titles that they often take them from their jewels, furnitures, equipage, and elephants, to make up a number. This country is so exceeding rich, that it is thought by many to be the Land of Ophir, where Solomon sent for gold.

Of TURKEY in ASIA.

THIS vast continent takes in Natolia, Arabia, Phoenicia, Judea, or Palestine, and the Euphratian Provinces. The people are chiefly Mahometans, though there are many Jews and Christians in some places among them. There are various governments, but they are all subject to the Grand Signior, who depopulates these fine countries, and discourages industry; so that the Phoenicians, formerly famous for commerce, are at present a poor despicable people; and Judea, the land which heretofore flowed with milk and honey, is in general still fruitful, abounding in corn, wine, and oil, where cultivated, and might supply the neighbouring countries with all these, as they anciently did, were the inhabitants equally industrious. The parts above Jerusalem, its once famous capital, are mostly mountainous and rocky; but they feed numerous herds and flocks, and yield plenty of honey, wine, and oil, and the vallies [sic] abound with large crops of corn.

Shaw's Travels.

AFRICA.

An Egyptian Man and Woman in their proper Habits.



An Account of EGYPT.

EGYPT, a country in Africa, is parted from Asia by the Red Sea, and bounded on the north by the Mediterranean; on the east by Arabia Petraea; on the south by AEthiopia and Nubia; and on the west by Barbary. The air of this country is very unhealthy, occasioned by the heat of the climate. The soil is made fruitful by the river Nile, which overflows the country annually, from the middle of June to September, and supplies the want of rain, of which there is very seldom any. It abounds with corn, and does not want for rice, sugar, dates, sena [sic], cassia, balm, leather, flax and linen cloth, which they export. Diodorus Siculus relates, that there had been formerly in Egypt, eighteen thousand great towns; the most noted of which was Alexandria. In the eastern parts, beyond the river Nile, is the famous country of Thebais, with its desarts [sic], where St. Anthony, St. Paul, and other anchorets, had their cells. Beyond the Red Sea there is another desart, where the children of Israel lived forty years. The modern inhabitants are fine swimmers, handy, pleasant, and ingenious, but lazy. This kingdom was first governed by the Pharaohs; afterwards conquered by Alexander the Great; and in the sixteenth century, Selim, the Turkish Emperor, conquered the Mamulucks, or Saracens; for in the year 1516, defeating and killing Camson, Soldan of Egypt, and Tomumbey the next year after, Egypt was perfectly conquered by the Ottomans or Turks, who have governed it ever since by their Bashaws. The old religion of this country was idolatry, but now Mahometanism prevails most, through there are some few Christians.

An Account of BARBARY.

BARBARY is bounded by Egypt on the east, Mount Atlas on the south, the Atlantic Ocean on the west, and the Mediterranean to the north. Though this country be under the Torrid Zone, yet the mountains and sea coasts, between the Straits of Gibraltar and Egypt, are more cold than hot. The men of this country are allowed many wives though they seldom are married to more than one. The women are always veiled in the presence of men; so that a man knows no more of the beauty of the woman he marries, than what he learns from her parents, till they are actually married. The people are of a good mild humour, and such as live abroad under tents, as the Arabians or shepherds, are laborious, valiant, and liberal; but they who live in cities are proud, covetous, and revengeful; and though they traffic much, know but very little, and have neither banks nor bills of exchange. Their commodities are beef, hides, linen, and cotton; raisins, figs, and dates. It is a rich country, and governed, part of it, as Fez and Morocco, by Kings; and the other, as Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, by Bashaws from the Grand Seignior [sic]. As for religion, they have the Christian, Jewish, and Mahometan, and they who live in the mountains and fields with their flocke [sic], which are a great number, have hardly any at all. When any one dies, his friends have women that cry and scratch their faces, and take on seemingly with great grief for the deceased. They live mostly on rice, beef, veal, mutton; but wine is forbidden by Mahomet's law.

A Description of ZAARA, or the Great Desarts of AFRICA.

THE air of this country is very hot, so that the people are forced to keep in their little huts, or seek refreshment in caverns, the most part of the day; these desarts have a great number of lions, tigers, and ostriches. The inhabitants are unpolished, savage, and very bold, for they will stand and meet the fiercest lion or tiger. They are divided into families or clans, each head of a family is sovereign in his own canton, and the eldest is always head; they follow the Mahometan religion, but are no strict observers of it. The country is a mere desart, as the name imports, and so parched for want of water, that the caravans from Morocco to Negroland are obliged to carry both water and provisions, the province producing hardly any thing for the support of life.

A Negroe Man and Woman in their proper Habits.



An Account of the Land of the NEGROES.

THIS country lies along the river Niger, on both sides of it, between Zaara and Guinea. It contains fourteen kingdoms. The inhabitants of the sea coast are somewhat civilized by their commerce with the Portuguese; but those that dwell up higher in the country are savage and brutal. They are continually at war with one another, and all the prisoners they take in war they sell for slaves. They sow neither wheat nor barley, but only millet; and their chief food is roots and nuts, pease and beans. The country is surrounded with woods, and abounds with elephants. They have no wine, but a pleasant sort of liquor, which they get from a certain sort of palm trees, in this manner—they give three or four strokes with a hatchet on the trunk of a tree, and set vessels to receive the distilling juice, which is very sweet, but in a few days grows strong, yet will not keep long, for in fifteen days it grows sour. One tree will yield near a gallon in twenty-four hours. The commodities of this country are gold, ostrich feathers, amber, gums, civit [sic], elephants teeth, and red-wood.

An Account of AETHIOPIA.

AETHIOPIA is about one-half of Africa, and divided into the Upper and Lower AEthiopia. This country is pretty full of mountains much higher than the Alps or Pyrenees, but level, spacious, and well inhabited, and fruitful on the top; the soil near the Nile is fruitful, but at a distance chiefly sandy desarts. The people comely and well shaped, though black or swarthy. Their cattle are very large, their horses and camels courageous and stout. Their kings sit at table alone. Their messes not being very neat or costly, are served in black clay dishes, covered with straw caps finely woven; they use neither knives nor forks, spoons nor napkins, and think it beneath them to feed themselves, and so have youths on purpose to put the meat in their mouths. They have no towns, but live in tents, which are so very numerous where the King is, that they resemble a great city; and they have also their officers to prevent disorder, and things are so well managed, thatthey can remove speedily on all occasions without confusion. Their commodities are metals, gems, cattle, corn, sugar, canes, wine, and flax. They are a mixture of Jews, Mahometans, Pagans, and Christians. The government is subject to an Emperor, who is called Prestor [sic] John. In Lower AEthiopia the commodities are silver, gold, ivory, pearls, musk, ambergris, oil, lemons, citrons, rice, millet, &c. The people have hitherto been esteemed barbarous and savage; but if the relations of Bruce, the celebrated traveller, are in the least to be depended on, we have done them great injustice in this respect; and we are well assured that they are not generally canibals [sic], as we have been accustomed to think them. The Hottentots inhabit part of the country, who are the most odious of all the human species, for they besmear their bodies with grease and all manner of filth, and adorn themselves with hanging the guts of bears about their arms, legs and necks.

An Account of GUINEA.

GUINEA is a kingdom of Africa; the country is very extensive, and the people of Europe drive a great trade in it. The French were the first who discovered it, about the year 1346. The soil of this country is fertile, but the heat insupportable by any but the natives, who are counted the blackest of all the Negroes, and most of them go quite naked. Ignorance and stuperstition [sic] reign among them, and it is said that they offer human sacrifices. They look on God to be a good being, and for that reason only are civil to him; they worship the devil, and pray earnestly he may do them no mischief. Their commodities are cotton, rice, sugar, canes, elephants, peacocks, apes, and pearls. Several small Princes and states in the inland country, who are generally at war, sell their prisoners for slaves to the Europeans; others traffic to different countries for purchasing slaves, or steal them, and bring them down to the coast; and some will sell their children and nearest relations, if they have an opportunity.

AMERICA.



An American Man and Woman in their proper Habits.

AMERICA, the fourth and last quarter of the world, is divided into North and South America. North America contains Mexico, (or New Spain,) New Mexico, and California, Florida, Canada, (or New France,) Nova Scotia, New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsilvania [sic], Maryland, Virginia, and Carolina. South America contains Terra Firma, the land of the Amazons, Brazil, Peru, Chili [sic], Paraguay, and Terra Magellanica.

An Account of MEXICO, or NEW SPAIN.

MEXICO is so called from its chief city; and New Spain since the Spaniards settled there. It has the sea of Mexico on the east, its gulph [sic], Florida, and New Mexico on the north, and the southern sea on the west and south. The air is temperate and healthful, and the soil fruitful, producing wheat, barley, pulse, and maize; and variety of fruits, as citrons, lemons, oranges, pomegranates, apples, pears, cherries, cocoa nuts, figs, &c. with great plenty of roots, plants, and herbs. There are some rich mines of gold and silver, in which about 4000 Spaniards continually work. The people are civil, and excel in painting and music: they are subject to the King of Spain: their religion is a mixture of Paganism and Christianity.

An Account of NEW MEXICO, or GRANADA.

THIS part of the world is not fully discovered by the Europeans. The soil is sandy and barren, the air healthful and temperate, but not a little subject to hurricanes, thunder and lightning. There are some silver mines, turquoise, emeralds, crystal, &c. The natives are naturally good and civil, governed by a captain named Casich, whom they choose themselves. They are given to idolatry, and some adore the sun, others believe in a God, and some of them have no religion at all.

An Account of FLORIDA.

FLORIDA is a large and fruitful country in North America, bounded on the north-east by Carolina, on the south, and some part of the west, by New Galicia and some countries not yet discovered. The air is very temperate, and soil extremely fertile, and produces grain, herbs, and fruit in great abundance. Ferdinando Soto, after the conquest of Peru, entered this country May 25, 1538, and gave it the name Florida, because the flowers were then on the ground, but died of grief, for being disappointed of the treasures which he expected. The native inhabitants were extirpated by the Spaniards, who disregarded every principle of humanity when the security of their acquisitions in the New World was in question; but this fine country was conquered from them by the English, to whom it was confirmed by the peace of Paris; its importance was however never sufficiently considered by them, and to gratify the jealousy of Spain it was restored to her at the peace of 1783. It was divided into East and West: St. Augustine and Pensacola are its chief towns; and its commodities furs, pearls, and the most delicious fruits. The Spaniards regard it as forming a desirable frontier between them and the United States of America; but as the soil and climate are inferior to none in the world, it will doubtless one day emerge from its obscurity, become populous, and hold a high rank in the world.

An Account of CANADA.

CANADA is the chief province now possessed by the English in America; it is bounded by New Britain and Honduras Bay on the North and East; by Nova Scotia, New England, and New York on the South; and by some of the great lakes, the new settlements of the United States, and the yet remaining possessions of the native Indians, on the West. The soil and climate are not very different from those of New England, though it has a much severer winter; but the air is very clear, the summer hot and pleasant. The meadow grounds are well watered, yield excellent grass, and breed vast numbers of cattle.

This country was originally settled by the French; and in so doing Louis XIV. seems to have formed the vast design of consolidating all North America under his dominion: the English, under Wolf [sic], Amherst, and Monkton [sic], conquered it in the years 1759 and 1760; and it was confirmed to us at the peace of 1763. The inhabitants were guaranteed in all their privileges; and the Roman Catholic religion is yet the most prevalent, though all others are tolerated. It has been lately divided into two provinces, Upper and Lower Canada, each having its separate government and legislature. Its trade and population are annually and rapidly increasing.

Quebec, its capital, is situated at the confluence of the rivers St. Laurence and St. Charles, about 320 miles from the sea, and is very strong both by nature and art; when taken by the immortal Wolfe it was supposed to contain about 15,000 inhabitants, independent of the garrison, and has since had considerable additions. The trade between Canada and England, the greater part of which centers here, is supposed to employ eight sail of shipping, and near 2000 seamen.

An Account of TERRA FIRMA.

TERRA FIRMA, or the Firm Land, is a large country of South America, and contains eleven governments, subject to the King of Spain. The air here is extremely hot, though wholesome, the soil very fertile, when well manured. The natives are tawney [sic], robust, healthful, long lived, and go naked about the middle. The commodities are gold, silver, and other metals; balsam, rosin, gum, long pepper, emeralds, sapphire, jasper, &c. Here is one Spanish archbishopric and four bishoprics; but the natives are idolaters.

An Account of PERU.

PERU is in South America, a large country, divided into six provinces. The air in some parts is very hot, in others sharp and piercing. The soil is the richest of all the Spanish plantations, abounding with exceeding high mountains and large pleasant vallies. The commodities are vast quantities of gold and silver, valuable pearls, medicinal drugs, cochineal, tobacco, abundance of cotton, &c. The natives are of a copper colour, tall and well made; but are so depressed by the Spaniards, it is impossible to form any judgment of their genius, virtues, or vices.

Of the Land of the AMAZONS.

THIS country is very little known, but as far as discovered the air is temperate, and the soil fertile. There are on the banks of the river Amazon about fifty nations of fierce savage people, said to eat human flesh. The commodities are gold, silver, sugar, ebony, cocoa, tobacco, &c. Their religion is Paganism, and language unknown.

An Account of BRAZIL.

BRAZIL is in the east of South America, bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by some undiscovered countries between it and the mountains called Andes, on the north by Guiana, and on the south by Paraguay. It was discovered by the Portuguese in 1501, and is still in great part subject to them. The air is very temperate and wholesome, though under the torrid zone; the soil fertile, and the country produces red or Brazil wood, sugar, amber, rosin, balm, tobacco, train oil, confectionary, &c. The natives are reckoned cruel, but ingenious; have faint notions of religion, and speak several different languages, though they cannot pronounce either of the three letters L, F, R. They are all naked, and neither sow nor reap, but live by hunting and by the fruits which the land produces of its own accord.

An Account of CHILI.

CHILI is also a great country of South America, 400 leagues in length from north to south, is divided into three governments, and subject to the King of Spain. In summer the air of this country is very warm, but in winter so extremely cold that it often kills man and beast. The mountainous parts are generally dry and barren, but the vallies exceedingly fertile in maize, wheat, and other grain. The people are white, tall, courageous, an warlike, but very gross Idolaters, the chief object of their worship being the devil, whom they call Eponamon, i.e. powerful. The country is enriched with several mines of gold, and great quarries of jaspar [sic]. The commodities are gold, silver, maize, corn, honey, ostriches, and metals. Most of them use the Spanish tongue, but some their ancient jargon.

A Persian Man and Woman in their proper Habits.



An Account of PERSIA.

PERSIA is a famous kingdom of Asia, called by the inhabitants Farsistan, and the Empire of the Sophy. It is bounded by the Caspian Sea, India, Persian Gulph, and Arabia Deserta. The air of this country is temperate towards the north, but very hot in the summer towards the south. Their grain is barley, millet, lentil, pease, beans, and oats; and all their provinces produce cotton, which grows upon bushes; their fruits are excellent, and they have vines in abundance, but in obedience to Mahomet's commands drink no wine, but sell it all to the Arminians [sic]. They are suffered to make a syrup of sweet wine, to which they add an acid, and it serves them for their common drink. They have a great number of mulberry trees for silk worms, silk being the principal manufacture in this country. The people are of a middle stature, well set and thick, and of a tawny complexion; are neat and sharp, have good judgment, are civil to strangers, and very free of their compliments. Thus a Persian that desires his friend to come to his house usually says, "I entreat you to honour my house with your presence: I so devote myself to your desires, that the apple of my eye shall be a path to your feet," &c. They are just in their dealings; and their commodities are rich silks, carpets, tissues, gold, silver, seal skins, goat skins, alabaster, metals, myrrh, fruits, &c. Their religion is Mahometanism, and their language has a great tincture of the Arabic. Ispahan is the capital city. The kingdom is hereditary, and government so despotic, that the Sophy, or King, makes his will his law, and disposes as he pleases both of the lives and estates of his subjects, who are very obedient, and never speak of their sovereign but with extraordinary respect.



An Account of DAYS, WEEKS, MONTHS, and YEARS.

THE day is either natural or artificial; the natural day is the space of twenty-four hours, (including both the dark and light part) in which time the sun is carried by the first mover from the east into the west, and so round the world into the east again. The artificial day consists of twelve hours, i.e. from the sun's rising to its setting; and the artificial night is from the sun's setting to its rising. The day is accounted with us for payment of money between the sun's rising and setting; but for indictment for murder the day is accounted from midnight to midnight, and so likewise are fasting days.

The Hebrews and Chaldeans begin their days at sun rising, and end at the next rising.

The Jews and Italians from sun-set to sun-set. The Romans at midnight. The Egyptians from noon to noon, which account astronomers follow.

A week consists of seven mornings, or seven days, which the Gentiles call by the names of the seven planets (which they worshipped as Gods); the first day of the sun; the second day of the moon, &c. In a week God made the world, i.e. in six days, and rested the seventh. All civilized nations observe one day in seven, as a stated time of worship; the Turks and Mahometans keep the sixth day of the week, or Friday; the Jews the seventh, or Saturday; the Christians the first, or Sunday.

Of months there are various kinds; a solar month is the space of thirty days, in which time the sun runneth through one sign of the zodiac.

A lunar month is that interval of time which the moon spendeth in wandering from the sun, in her oval circuit, through the twelve signs, until she returns to him again, (being sometimes nearer, sometimes farther from the earth) i.e. from the first day of her appearing next after her change, to the last day of her being visible, before her next change, which may be greater or lesser, according to her motion.

The usual or common months are those set down in our almanacks, containing some 30, some 31, and February but 28 days, according to these verses:

Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November; February twenty-eight alone, All the rest have thirty-one; But when leap-year comes, that time Has February twenty-nine.

A year is the space of time in which the sun runs through all the 12 signs of the zodiac: containing 12 solar months, 13 lunar months, 52 weeks, 365 days, and six hours, which six hours, in four years time, being added together, make one day, which day on every fourth year is added to February, making that month 29 days, which at other times is but 28, and this year with the additional day is called leap-year.

To find the Leap-Year.

Divide the year of our Lord by 4, and if there be no remainder, it is leap-year; but if there remains 1, 2, or 3, then that denotes the first, second, or third after leap-year.



TABLES OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.

Troy Weight. Char.

24 Grains —- 1 Pennyweight dwt. 20 Pennyweights 1 Ounce —- oz. 12 Ounces —- 1 Pound lb.

By this weight are weighed jewels, gold, silver, corn, and all liquors.

Avoirdupois Weight.

16 Drams —- 1 Ounce —- oz. 16 Ounces —- 1 Pound —- lb. 28 Pounds —- 1 Quar. of a hun. qr. 20 Hundreds — 1 Ton —- ton.

By this weight, which is now generally used in England, are weighed butter, cheese, groceries, &c.

N.B. One pound avoirdupois is equal to 14 oz. 11 dwts. 15-1/2 grains troy; and one ounce troy is equal to 1 oz. 1 dram, and something above an half, avoirdupois.

Apothecaries' Weight. Char.

[In the HTML version, the following table shows symbols for the 4 units]

20 Grains 1 Scruple —- [scruple] 3 Scruples —- 1 Dram —- [dram] 8 Drams —— 1 Ounce —- [ounce] 12 Ounces —- 1 Pound —- [pound]

By this weight apothecaries compound their medicines; but buy and sell their drugs by avoirdupois weight.

Wine Measure. In short.

2 Pints —- 1 Quart qrt. 4 Quarts —- 1 Gallon —- gall. 63 Gallons —- 1 Hogshead —- hhd. 2 Hogsheads —- 1 Pipe —- pipe. 2 Pipes —- 1 Tun —- tun.

Beer Measure.

2 Pints —- 1 Quart —- qrt. 4 Quarts —- 1 Gallon —- gall. 9 Gallons —- 1 Firkin —- firk. 2 Firkins —- 1 Kilderkin —- kild. 2 Kilderkins — 1 Barrel —- bar. 1-1/2 Barrel —- 1 Hogshead — hhd. 3 Barrels, or 2 hhds. 1 Butt —- butt.

N.B. Eight gallons make a firkin of ale.

Cloth Measure. In short.

4 Nails —- 1 Quarter —- qr. 4 Quarters — 1 Yard —- yd.

Note, An ell English is 5 quarters of a yard, and an ell Flemish is 3 quarters.

Time.

60 Seconds —- 1 Minute 60 Minutes —- 1 Hour 24 Hours —- 1 Natural Day 7 Days 1 Week 4 Weeks 1 Month 13 Months, 1 day, and 6 hours, is / One 52 Weeks, 1 day, and 6 hours, is < Julian 365 Days, and 6 hours, is Year. 8766 Hours, is

Note, An exact solar year is equal to 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 48 seconds, 57 thirds: and one lunar month is equal to 29 days, 12 hours, and 45 minutes.

Dry Measure. In short.

8 Pints —- 1 Gallon —- gall. 2 Gallons —- 1 Peck —- peck. 4 Pecks —- 1 Bushel —- bush. 4 Bushels —- 1 Coomb — coomb. 2 Coombs — 1 Quarter — qr. 5 Quarters — 1 Wey —— wey. 2 Weys —- 1 Last —- last.

Land Measure.

40 Square Perches —- 1 Rood 4 Roods —— 1 Acre

Note, 5 feet is a geometrical pace, and 1056 geometrical paces 1 English mile.

Long Measure.

12 Inches —— 1 Foot 3 Feet —- 1 Yard 5 Yards and 1/2 —- 1 Pole or perch 40 Poles —- —- 1 Furlong 8 Furlongs or 1760 yards 1 English mile

A MULTIPLICATION TABLE.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 3 6 9 12 15 18 21 24 27 4 8 12 16 20 24 28 32 36 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 6 12 18 24 30 36 42 48 54 7 14 21 28 35 42 49 56 63 8 16 24 32 40 48 56 64 72 9 18 27 36 45 54 63 72 81

THE use of this table is to find how many any one figure multiplied by another will make: suppose I wanted to know, how many seven times eight is, I look into the table for 7 in the first rank of figures on the left hand, and for 8 in the top line; then carrying my finger strait from 7 in the first rank of figures, till I come to that which has the figure 8 on the top of it, I there find 56, which is the exact number of 7 times 8, or 8 multiplied by 7. So in all other instances look for the first figure in the left-hand rank or column, and for the figure you want to multiply by in the first or top line, and which ever square these two meet in, there is the amount.

The PENCE TABLE.

20 Pence is 1 shilling and 8 pence 30 —- 2 —— 6 40 —- 3 —— 4 50 —- 4 —— 2 60 —- 5 —— —-

70 —- 5 —— 10 80 —- 6 —— 8 90 —- 7 —— 6 100 —- 8 —— 4 110 —- 9 —— 2 120 —- 10 —— —- 130 —- 10 —— 10 140 —- 11 —— 8 150 —- 12 —— 6 160 —- 13 —— 4 170 —- 14 —— 2 180 —- 15 —— —- 190 —- 15 —— 10 200 —- 16 —— 8 210 —- 17 —— 6 220 —- 18 —— 4 230 —- 19 —— 2 240 —- 20 —— —-

The above table shews how many shillings are contained in any number of pence from 20 to 240, and likewise how many pence there are in any number of shillings from 1 to 20; which will be found a great use in reckoning ma[letter corrupted]ll money, and ought to be learned by heart, os [so as? (letters apparently dropped)] to be ready on all occasions.



A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD.

THO' the Pagans were grossly ignorant of the most important truths, with respect to God and religion; yet the virtuosi of this and preceding ages have been forced to acknowledge, that their tastes were elegant, sublime, and well-formed, with respect to works of sculpture, statuary, and architecture. As a proof of this, in behalf of the ancients, 'tis only requisite we should take a cursory view of those noble and magnificent productions of art, commonly called THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD.

The TEMPLE of EPHESUS.



THE first of these Seven Wonders was the Temple of Ephesus, founded by Ctesiphon, consecrated to Diana, and, (according to the conjectures of natural philosophers) situated in a marshy soil, for no other reason than that it might not be exposed to the violent shocks of earthquakes and volcanos. This noble structure, which was 425 feet long, and 220 feet broad, had not its bulk alone to raise it above the most stately monuments of art, since it was adorned with 127 lofty and well proportioned pillars of Parian marble, each of which had an opulent monarch for its erector and finisher; and so high did the spirit of emulation run in this point, that each succeeding potentate endeavoured to outstrip his predecessor in the richness, grandeur, and magnificence of his respective pillar. As it is impossible for a modern to form a just and adequate idea of such a stupendous piece of art, 'tis sufficient to inform him, that the rearing of the Temple of Ephesus employed several thousands of the finest workmen of the times for 200 years: but as no building is proof against the shocks of time, and the injuries of the weather, so the Temple of Ephesus falling into decay, was, by the command of Alexander the Great, rebuilt by Dinocrates, his own engineer, the finest architect then alive.

The WALLS of BABYLON.



THE works of the cruel, though ingenious and enterprising Semiramis, next command our wonder and admiration. These consisted of the walls erected about Babylon, and the pleasant gardens formed for her own delight. This immense, or rather inconceivable profusion of art and expence [sic], employed 30,000 men for many years successively, so that we need not wonder when we are told by historians, that these walls were 300 or 350 stadia in circumference (which amount to 22 English miles), fifty cubits high, and so broad that they could afford room for two or three coaches a-breast without any danger. Though ancient records give us no particular accounts of the gardens, yet we may reasonably presume, that if so much time and treasure were laid out upon the walls, the gardens must not have remained without their peculiar beauties: thus 'tis more than probable that the gardens of Semiramis charmed the wondering eye with unbounded prospect, consisting of regular vistas, agreeable avenues, fine parterres, cool grottos and alcoves, formed for the delicious purposes of love, philosophy, retirement, or the gratification of any other passion, to which great and good minds are subject.

The TOMB of PHAROS.



WE shall next take a view of the splendid and sumptuous Tomb of Pharos, commonly called the Egyptian Labyrinth [sic]. This structure, though designed for the interment of the dead, had nevertheless the pomp of a palace designed for a monarch, who thought he was to live for ever; since it contained sixteen magnificent apartments, corresponding to the sixteen provinces of Egypt; and it so struck the fancy of the celebrated Dedalus, that from it he took the model of that renowned labyrinth which he built in Crete, and which has eternized [sic] his name, for one of the finest artists in the world.

Of the PYRAMIDS of EGYPT.



IF the amazing bulk, the regular form, and the almost inconceivable duration of public or monumental buildings call for surprize [sic] and astonishment, we have certainly just reason to give the Pyramids of Egypt a place among the Seven Wonders. These buildings remain almost as strong and beautiful as ever, 'till this very time. There are three of them; the largest of which was erected by Chemnis, one of the Kings of Egypt, as a monument of his power when alive, and for a receptacle of his body when dead. It was situated about 16 English miles from Memphis, now known by the name of Grand Cairo, and was about 1440 feet in height, and about 143 feet long, on each side of the square basis. It was built of hard Arabian stones, each of which is about 30 feet long. The building of it is said to have employed 600,000 men for twenty years. Chemnis however was not interred in this lofty monument, but was barbarously torn to pieces in a mutiny of his people. Cephas, his brother, succeeding him, discovered an equally culpable vanity, and erected another, though a less magnificent pyramid. The third was built by King Mycernius according to some, but, according to others, by the celebrated courtesan Rhodope. This structure is rendered still more surprising, by having placed upon its top a head of black marble, 102 feet round the temples, and about 60 feet from the chin to the crown of the head.

The TOMB of MAUSOLUS.



THE next is the celebrated monument of conjugal love, known by the name of the Mausoleum, and erected by Artemesia, Queen of Caria, in honour of her husband Mausolus, whom she loved so tenderly, that, after his death, she ordered his body to be burnt, and put his ashes in a cup of wine, and drank it, that she might lodge the remains of her husband as near to her heart as she possibly could. This structure she enriched with such a profusion of art and expence, that it was justly looked upon as one of the greatest wonders of the world, and ever since magnificent funeral monuments are called Mausoleums.

It stood in Halicarnassus, capital of the kingdom of Caria, between the King's Palace and the Temple of Venus. Its breadth from N. to S. was 63 feet, and in circumference 411, and about 120 feet high. Pyrrhus raised a pyramid on the top of it, and placed thereon a marble chariot drawn by four horses. The whole was admired by all that saw it, except the philosopher Anaxagoras, who, at the sight of it, cried, "There is a great deal of money changed into stone."

The COLOSSUS of the SUN.



THE Colossus of Rhodes, is justly accounted the sixth Wonder; a statue of so prodigious a bulk, that it could not have been believed, had it not been recorded by the best historians. It was made of brass by one Chares of Asia Minor, who consumed twelve years in finishing it. It was erected over the entry of the harbour of the city, with the right foot on one side, and the left on the other. The largest ships could pass between the legs without lowering their masts. It is said to have cost 44,000l. English money. It was 800 feet in height, and all its members proportionable; so that when it was thrown down by an earthquake, after having stood 50 years, few men were able to embrace its little finger. When the Saracens, who in 684 conquered the island, had broken this immense statue to pieces, they are said to have loaded above 900 camels with the brass of it.

The IMAGE of Jupiter.



THE last, most elegant, and curious of all these works, known by the name of the Seven Wonders, was the incomparable statue of Jupiter Olympus, erected by the Elians, a people of Greece, and placed in a magnificent temple consecrated to Jupiter. This statue represented Jupiter sitting in a chair, with his upper part naked, but covered down from the girdle, in his right hand holding an eagle, and in his left a sceptre. This statue was made by the celebrated Phidias, and was 150 cubits high. The body is said to have been of brass, and the head of pure gold. Caligula endeavoured to get it transported to Rome, but the persons employed in that attempt were frightened from their purpose by some unlucky accident.

Thus having given an Account of the Seven Wonders of the World, let us take a View of the Burning Mountains, or Volcanos, called Mount Vesuvius and Mount AEtna; than which there is, perhaps, nothing in the whole Course of Nature more worthy our Notice [sic], or so capable of raising our Admiration; and which, when considered in a religious sense, may, with Justice, be said to be one of the wonderful Works of GOD.

MOUNT VESUVIUS stands about six miles from the city of Naples, and on the side of the Bay towards the East. The plains round it form a beautiful prospect, and on one side are seen fruitful trees of different kinds, and vineyards that produce the most excellent wine; but when one ascends higher, on the side which looks to the South, the face of things is entirely changed, and one sees a tract of ground, which presents only images of horror, viz. a desolate country covered with ashes, pumice-stones, and cinders; together with rocks burned up with the fire, and split into dreadful precipices. It is reckoned four miles high, and the top of it is a wide naked plain, smoking with sulphur in many places; in the midst of which plain stands another high hill, in the shape of a sugar-loaf, on the top of which is a vast mouth or cavity, that goes shelving down on all sides about a hundred yards deep, and about four hundred over; from whence proceeds a continual smoke, and sometimes those astonishing and dreadful eruptions of flame, ashes, and burning matter, that fill the inhabitants around with consternation, and bear down and destroy all before it. Among the many eruptions which it has had, at different times, we need instance only one, which happened on the fifth of June, 1717, and is thus related by Mr. Edward Berkley, who was present at the time, in his letter to Dr. Arbuthnot in England, viz. That he with much difficulty, reached the top of Vesuvius on the 17th of April, 1717, where says he, I saw a vast aperture full of smoke, and heard within that horrid gulph certain odd sounds, as it were murmuring, sighing, throbbing, churning, dashing of waves; and, between while, a noise like that of thunder or cannon, attended constantly, from the belly of the mountain, with a clattering like that of tiles falling from the tops of houses into a street. After an hour's stay, the smoke being moved by the wind, I could discern two furnaces, almost contiguous; one on the left, which seemed to be about three yards diameter, glowed with red flames, and threw up red hot stones with a hideous noise, which, as they fell back, caused the fore-mentioned clattering.