as depends on us, to forward the bafinefs of the ftate with dispatch, utility, and mutual fatisfaction." "New York, Nov. 13. The week before laft thirty-five loyalifts, fome of whom were under fentence of death, made their escape from Albany gaol, and eluded the vigilant purfuit of the rebels. Since the commencement of this wicked rebellion, eighteen perfons have been publicly executed in the city of Albany, for perfevering in their loyal ty: fome have perifhed in their gaol through the extreme rigour with which they were treated, and want of the neceffaries of life, which their friends durft not bring, for fear of being fhut in to keep them company; inftances of that bind having frequently happened." "London, Jan. 17. The American Congrefs have confifcated the eftate of a Mr Jamieson in Pennsylvania, he having been detected in carrying on a correfpond. ence with an officer in Sir Henry Clinton's army. Mr Jamieson attempted to make bis efcape, but was taken on fhipboard, thrown in prifon, and it is thought he will lofe his life." "New York, Nov.10. Advice is received from Albany, that on the 2d inft. Sir John Johnfon, with Col. Butler, and Capt. Jofeph Brandt, at the head of 1500 loyalifts and Indian warriors, furfed and took Fort Stanwix, in which there were only at the time 100 American troops, the greateft part of the garri fon having been drawn out to affift in demolishing the Indian corps and wig wams," la the Madrid Gazette of Dec. 31. there is an account of the taking of the three British forts on the Miffilippi by the Spaniards. According to this acCount the Governor of Louifiana, Don Bernardo de Galvez, on being informed of the rupture between G. Britain and Spain, formed an enterprife against the British fettlements in his neighbourhood. He began to collect his troops on the 7th of August; and, of old corps, recruta, militia, Mulattoes, free Negroes, American and Indian volunteers, &c. formed a body of 1427 fighting men, But by the time they arrived at Manchack, an English poft, they were reduced more than one third by ficknefs. On the 7th of September he furprifed, and took by affault, the fort of Manchack; making prifoners one captain, one lieutenant, and eighteen foldiers; a fubaltern and five men having escaped. Thence he proceeded to Batan-rouge, which was tolerably well fortified, had 14 guns mounted, with 400 regular troops, and 100 armed inhabitants. Judging it impoffible to take this fort by storm, he refolved to batter it. Having finished his trenches and battery, his artillery began to play on the 21ft of September; and at half past three in the afternoon, the fort was fo much damaged that the garrifon demanded a capitulation; which was granted, they to march out with the honours of war, and to be prifoners of war, and that the fort called Panmure, in the country of the Natches, with its garrifon, confifting of 80 grenadiers, thould furrender at the fame time: but this poft was evacuated. By this expedition is reduced to his Catholic Majefty's obedience, (fays this gazette), a country of 430 leagues, the moft fertile of thofe which are watered by the Miffifippi, and where the best settlements are, the natives being occupied in the fur-trade. The Spaniards loft only one man killed and two wounded; that of the English not known: but 550 regulars were made prifoners, including twentyeight officers, among whom were one lieutenant-colonel, five captains, ten lieutenants, &c.; and they took eight boats laden with provifions, and feveral barks, with upwards of fifty failors. "One may judge (fays the gazettewriter) of the importance of this expedition, by the contents of two letters intercepted by Don Bernardo de Galves, one written Sept. 9. by order of Maj.-Gen. Campbell, and the other Oct. 1. by Brig. Stuart. Both are addrefled to Capt Forand the diftrict of Natches: he is orderftel, commandant of the fort of Panmure, ed to keep himself in readiness with his company, and the inhabitants of the neighbouring parts, to join, at Manchack, Lt.Col. Dickion, commandant of the fort of Batan-rouge, in order to act in concert against the perfidious and implacable enemies (the Spaniards); and he is informed of the preparations of thefe two chiefs of his nation, to furprife, by hoftilities, thefe fame Spaniards, be fore the declaration of war could come to their knowledge. With that view they difguifed their preparations with divers pretences, giving out that they were only meant against the Inois. In the fame manner they deceived the nation of the Chactaws, and other In vi dian favages, to draw them over to the and a number of transports and English party, and engage them to ftrike lers, with 5000 troops _on a blow on the Spaniards, promifing them faid to have come from France for their recompence all the booty they Monf. de la Motte Piquet; that fhould make. These strokes prove with men more, with 4 or 5000 militia, what infincerity the English chiefs acted preparing to invade Jamaica; and in that country, to commit hoftilities a- ing speedy reinforcements. gainst the provinces of Louisiana. It is then with the greatest reason that we congratulate ourselves in having prevent ed them, and attacked their own fettlements, thus caufing to mifcarry the project they had formed of falling upon ours unawares." We go now to the West Indies. About the end of laft fummer an univerfal concern prevailed for the fate of Jamaica. Some, indeed, affected to ridicule the apprehension of an attack on that ifland, as they likewife did the defign of an invafion of this country; but the lapfe of a few months difcovered, that both the one and the other were within the views of the enemy. Indeed it fortunately happened, that where the danger was moft imminent, the intention of the enemy was fooneft obferved. The formidable force affembled at Hifpaniola excited the jealoufy of Gen. Dalling; and that wary governor took care to provide against any fudden furprife of Jamaica, by embodying the militia, and eftablishing martial law; and, in conjunction with Sir Peter Parker, the commander in chief of the navy, did not fail to apprife the commanders in chief, both naval and military, at New York, of their critical fituation. On the 13th of August, Gen. Dalling acquainted Sir Henry Clinton, by letter, with the ftrength of Count d'Eftaing, and his weakness to oppofe him; and of the little hope of preferving the ifland, with out the speedieft and ftrongeft reinforcements to oppose him. About the fame time, Sir Peter Parker acquainted Adm. Byron of the intelligence he had received of the intentions of that enterprifing officer Count d'E. staing, and of the readiness he was in to put his defigns in execution; that at Cape François fix flags were then flying; and that Count d'Estaing, with a strong detachment from his fquadron, was expected at Jamaica in three or four days. On the 18th of the fame month, the fame Admiral acquainted Adm. Byron of the arrival of Count d'Eftaing at Hifpaniola the 31ft of July, with twentyEx fhips of the line, ten or twelve frigates, b I On the 16th of September, Sir Clinton, in return, affured Gen. Da of an intended reinforcement, am ing in the whole to near 4000 men, der the command of Lord Cornw At the fame time, Lord Corn acquainted Gen. Dalling of his imme preparations, and defired his inftru& how to proceed. On the 17th of September, Vice-A Arbuthnot, at New York, acquai Vice-Adm. Byron, then on the V India ftation, with his having fent Ruffel of 74 guns, the Europa and fonable of 64 guns each, being the w force there, or likely to be there for 1 time, as convoy to the reinforcer under Gen. Cornwallis; and reque that thofe fhips might be returned moment the fervice in which they w employed was over, as the fafety New York depended upon it: at fame time he gives him to underst: that two frigates are much wanted. To the fame purpose he wrote to Peter Parker; adding, that to man Ruffel he had been obliged to unmar the floops and fire-fhips in the port New York. But mark the fudden reverfe of tune: The island of Jamaica, that in fo critical a fituation about the mi of September, on the 6th of Novem was iffuing a proclamation for enlif volunteers to go upon an expedition, which thofe who inlifted might acqu riches to themfelves, and render effen fervice to their country. This was doubt, the expedition against Omoa : fuccefs of which, and its importance, w announced in our laft volume [41.666 The day before this proclamation peared, a fleet of transports arrived fr Cork, under convoy of his Majefty's f the Leviathan, which had been detair near a month at St Kitt's, waiting t event of the intended attack by Cou d'Eftaing. Such were the contents thofe curious letters from the Jamai Gazette, which filled the papers alo the middle of the month of January. proprietors interested in the island of Grenada two arrets of the French King's council of state; one concerning the debts of the inhabitants of the island of Grenada, the other for the adminiftration of juftice in that ifland; and at the fine time has obligingly written to Meff. Scott and Pigott, delegated by the committee to tranfact this butinefs, the following letter. "Verfailles, Dec. 23. 1779. Iacquaint you, Gentlemen, that the King has ordained and enacted, by two anets of his council, respecting the ordinances iffued by the Count de Durat [41.559, 60.], dated the 7th, 10th, and 19th of July laft. One of these arrets eats, that the debts, titles, and claims, reciprocally fubfifting between the inhabitants of Grenada and the fubjects of his Britannic Majefty, fhall be preferved and maintained entire and inviolate. The other, at the fame time that it orders that the French laws fhall be observed in the faid ifland, afcertains the rules, the times, and the forms, according to which jatice fhall be there administered, by the courts of law which his Majefty has thought proper to establish. His Majefty has alfo given orders, that the abfent English proprietors may difpofe, as they think proper, of the produce of their plantations; under this exception only, that the importations and exportations fhall be on board of French veffels; or, in cafe of neceffity, on board of neutral veffels, which shall depart from and return to France. Finally, his Majefty's intention is, that the English proprietors, if there are any who have been difpoffeffed of their estates by force, fhall be reinstated in their possesfins by authority; referving to thofe who may have committed the violence, the right of making good their claims before the courts of juftice; which recourfe fuch of the English shall also have, as having formerly acquired poffeffions by force, may have been in their turn forcibly difpoffeffed upon the conqueft of Grenada. The arrangements which I have above communicated to you, annul the late ordinance of Monf. De Durat, of the 7th of September last. His Majefty has given orders to the adminiftrators to abolish the office of confervators, eftablifhed by that ordinance, and to leave the attornies of the abfent English proprietors in the full and entire power of acting for their conftituents." On the receipt of the above letter, the committee of proprietors held a meeting on Friday fe'ennight, and came to the following refolution: "That it may be neceffary, for the ease of the minds of all concerned, to take notice, that although the firft of the faid arrets of his Moft Chriftian Majefty, of the 12th of December laft, grants to the inhabitants of Grenada a fufpenfion, until a peace, of the payment of debts due by them to British fubjects, refiding in Britain, or in any other part of his Britannic Majefty's dominions, and alfo of fuch debts due to the fubjects of the United Provinces of Holland, as are guaranteed by any of his Britannic Majefty's fubjects, and confequently the faid inhabitants cannot be compelled to do juftice to the creditors; yet it leaves them at full liberty to pay their faid debts, without incurring any penalty; whereas the ordinance of the Count de Durat the 7th of July laft, abfolutely prohibited them to pay any fuch debts, directly or indirectly, under pain of disobedience, milirary execution, and confiscation of their eftates." A method of making Artificial Loadflones. By Mr Benjamin Wilfon, F. R. S. THE method of making artificial load ftones, as it was difcovered and practifed by the late Dr Gowin Knight, being unknown to the public, and I myfelf having been frequently prefent when the Doctor was employed in the moft material steps of that curious procefs, I thought a communication thereof would be agreeable to you and the philofophic world. parts as would remain fufpended in the water for a time. The obtaining of thofe very small particles in fufficient quantity feemed to him to be one of the principal defiderata in the experiment. The water being by this treatment rendered very muddy, he poured the fame into a clean earthen veffel, leaving the filings behind; and when the water had ftood long enough to become clear, he poured it out carefully, without difturbing fuch of the iron fediment as ftill remained, which now appeared reduced almoft to impalpable powder. This powder was afterwards removed into another veffel, in order to dry it; but as he had not obtained a proper quantity thereof by this one step, he was obliged to repeat the process many times. Having at laft procured enough of this very fine powder, the next thing to be done was to make a paste of it, and that with some vehicle which would contain a confiderable quantity of the phlogistic principle for this purpofe he had recourfe to lintfeed-oil, in preference to all other fluids. With these two ingredients only he made a ftiff pafte, and took particular care to knead it well before he moulded it into convenient shapes. Sometimes, whilft the pafte continued in its foft ftate, he would put the impreffion of a feal upon the feveral pieces; one of which is in the British Museum. This paste was then put upon wood, and fometimes on tiles, in order to bake or dry it before a moderate fire, at a foot diftance or thereabouts. The Doctor found, that a moderate fire was most proper, because a greater degree of heat made the compofition frequently crack in many places. The time required for the baking or drying of this pafte was generally five or fix hours before it attained a fufficient degree of hardness. When that was done, and the feveral baked pieces were become cold, he gave them their magnetic virtue in any direction he pleased, by placing them between the extreme ends of his large magazine of artificial magnets for a few feconds, or more, as he faw occafion. By this method the virtue they acquired was fuch, that when any one of those pieces was held between two of his beft ten-guinea bars, with its poles purpofely inverted, it immediately of itself turned about to recover its natural direction, which the force of thofe very powerful bars was not fufficient to counteract. An extract from Dr Hunter's account of the FREE MARTIN, in the last volume of Philofophical Tranfactions, art. 20. IT is a known fact, and, I believe, is understood to be universal, that when a cow brings forth two calves, and that one of them is a bull-calf, and the other a cow to appearance, the cow-calf is unfit for propagation. They are known not to breed: they do not even fhew the leaft inclination for the bull; nor does the bull ever take the leaft notice of them *; but the bull-calf becomes a very proper bull. This cow-calf is called in this country a free martin; and this fingularly is just as well known among the farmers as either cow or bull. This calf has all the external marks of a cow-calf. When the cow-calves are preserved, it is not for propagation, but to yoke with the oxen, or to fatten for the tablet. They are much larger than either the bull or cow; and the horns grow larger, being very fimilar to the horns of an ox. The bellow of the free martin is fimilar to that of an ox; which is not at all like that of a bull; it is more of the cow, although not exactly that. The meat is alfo much finer in the fibre than either the bull or cow; and they are more susceptible of growing fat with good food. By fome they are fuppofed to exceed the ox and heifer in delicacy of food, and bear a higher price at market. However, it seems that this is not univerfal: for I was lately informed by Charles Palmer, Efq; of Luckley in Berkfhire, that there was a free martin killed in his neighbourhood, and, from the general idea of its being better meat than common, every neighbour bespoke a piece; which turned out nearly as bad as bull-beef, at least worse than that of a cow. It is probable, that this might arise from this one having more the properties of the bull than the cow; as we fhall fee hereafter, that they are fometimes more the one than the other‡. Free ⚫ I need hardly obferve here, that if a calves, that they are in every respect percow has twins, and that they are both bullfect bulls; or, if they are both cow-calves, that they are perfect cows. + Leslie on Husbandry, p. 98. 99. The Romans called the bull taurus: theya however, Free martins are faid to be in fheep*; hermaphrodites differing from one anobut, from the accounts given of them, I ther; as is alfo the case in hermaphrodites fhould very much suspect, that thefe are in other tribes. hermaphrodites produced in the common way, and not like thofe of cattle. They are often imperfect males, several of which I have feen. They are mentiondas both male and female, which is not reconcileable to the account given of the free martin. I believe it has never been even fuppofed what this animal is, with all those peculiarities. From the fingularity of the animal, and the account of its production, I was almoft ready to fuppofe the account a vulgar error; yet, from the univerfality of its teftimony, it appeared to have fome foundation; and therefore I made all the squiry I could for an opportunity of feeing one, and also to examine it. Since which time I have accordingly had an opportunity of feeing three; the firft of which was one belonging to John Arbuthnot, Efq; of Mitcham, which was calved in his own farm. He was fo obliging as to give me an opportunity of fatisfying myfelf. He allowed me, first, to have a drawing made of the animal while alive, which was executed by Mr Gilpin. When the drawing was made of Mr Arbuthnot's free martin, John Wells, Efq; of Bickley farm, near Bromley in Kent, was prefent, and informed us, that a cow of his had calved two calves; and that one was a bull calf, and the other a cow-calf. I defired Mr Arbuthnot to fpeak to Mr Wells to keep them, or let me buy them of him; but, from his great defire for natural knowledge, he very readily preferved them beth, till the bull fhewed all the figns of a good bull; when he fold him. From the diffection of the three abovementioned free martins, Dr Hunter fays, it plainly appeared, that they were all however, talked of taura in the feminine wife [I am affured, (fays a correspondent), that the female twin will never breed; and that it is ufual in such cases to yoke the fteer and heifer together. At the fame time it is allowed, that if the twins had both been heifers, both would have bred. In both cafes the affertions are founded on repeated experience.] G. M. Reflections on the Diftreffes of the Poor. Ere there no mifery or diftress in the world, there would be few occafions for exercifing that benevolence, which excites gratitude and thankfulnefs on one hand, and the tender emotions of fympathy and humanity on the other. Confcious as we are, that no one is exempt from the painful viciffitudes of life, and that the blessed to-day may to morrow experience a bitter reverfe; the child of woe is always an object of commiferation, and should excite in our hearts that kind of compaffion, and obtain that aid from us, which we fhould look for were fuch afflictions fuffered to overtake us. Various are the occafions to excite the fympathetic feelings of the human heart; for diftrefs appears in a thousand shapes; but perhaps there are none more deferving of our attention, than abject poverty, particularly at this time, when the inclemency of the feafon requires additional expences, and when families who have been fupported by industry and labour, are many of them robbed of this support by the exigencies of war, and compelled to depend upon the fcanty and precarious affiftance of the parish. Many who are permitted to continue with their families, are obliged to labour in all the fevere changes of weather, and are confequently more liable to violent difeafes and aggravated want. Their families are often numerous, their habitations clofe and confined, and, when a fever or any infectious disease is once introduced, it extends its malignity, and augments defolation and mifery: for the of helpless children naturally depend for arm of the father, upon which a family fupport, is thus equally proftrate with the babe at the breaft. Sickness under every exterior comfort excites our folicitude and concern; but what a picture of human woe is exhibited, when want, penury, and pain, conftitute the pillow I The |