28 Extravagant NEATNESS fatirized. Ail For my own part, I cannot fee the difference between having an houfe that is always dirty, and an houfe that is always to be cleaned. I could very willingly compound to be washed out of my home, with other mafters of families, every Saturday night: But my wife is so very notable, that the fame cleaning work must A be repeated every day in the week. the morning long I am fure to be entertained with the domeftick concert of fcrubbing the floors, fcouring the irons, and beating the carpets; and I am conftantly hunted from room to room, while one is to be dufted, another dry-rubbed, another washed, and another run over with a dry mop. Thus, indeed, I may be faid to live in continual dirtinefs, that my house may be clean: For during thefe nice operations every apartment is stowed with foap, brickduft, fand, fcrubbingbrushes, hair-brooms, rag-mops, and difh-clouts. B You may fuppofe, that the greatest care is taken to prevent the leaft fpeck of C dirt from foiling the floors: For this reafon, all that come to our houfe (betides the ceremony of fcraping at the door) are obliged to rub their shoes for half an hour on a large ragged mat at the entrance; and then they must ftraddle their way along feveral lefer mats, ranged at due diftances from each other in the paffage, and (like boys at play) come into the D room with a hop, a step, and a jump. The like caution is ufed by all the family: I myfelf am fearce allowed to ftir a step without flippers: My wife creeps on tiptoe up and down ftairs: The maid- fervants are continually flumping below in clogs or pattens; and the footman is obliged to fneak about the house bare-footed, E as if he came with a fly defign to steal fomething. After what has been faid, you will naturally conclude, that my wife must be no lefs nice in other particulars. Indeed, the cannot conceive that any thing, which is done by fo neat a woman, can poffibly give offence: I have therefore been in Jan. than when the first fets down to her toilette. My wife appears decent enough in her apparel, to thofe who vifit us in the afternoon: But in the morning the is quite another figure. Her ufual difhabille then is, an ordinary fuff jacket and pet. ticoat, a double clout thrown over her head and pinned under her chin, a black greasy bonnet, and a coarse dowlas apron; fo that you would rather take her for a chair-woman. Nor, indeed, does the fcruple to floop to the meanest drudgery of one: For fuch is her love of cleanli nefs, that I have often feen her on her knees whitening an hearth, or spreading dabs of vinegar and fuller's earth over the boards. It is obferved by Swift. that " a nice man is a man of nafty ideas :" In like manner we may affirm, that your very ncat people are the most flovenly on many occafions. I have told you my wite's morning trim: But befides this, he has another custom, which creates the greatest disguft in me. You must know, Sir, that among other charms the prides her felf vaftly in a fine fet of teeth: And fomebody has told her, that nothing is fo good for them as to rub them every morning with Scotch fnuff and fafting fpittle. As an husband is no franger, this recipe is conftantly adminiftered in my prefence before breakf.ft; and after this delicate application, her pretty mouth (which is afterwards wiped for ve to kifs) in order to preferve her gums from the fcurvy, muft be rinfed-would you believe it ?-with her own water. I fhall dwell no longer on this subject, as I fear it may prove furfeiting both to you and your readers: I fhall therefore conclude with telling you, that this fcru pulous delicacy of my wife in the neatnefs of her houfe was the means of our lofing a very good fortune. A rich old uncle, on whom we had great dependance, came up to town last fummer on purpose to pay us a vifit: But tho' he had rode above fixty miles that day, he was obliged to stand in the paffage till his pain for her feveral times, when I have F boots were pulled off, for fear of foiling feen her, before company, duft the tea- the Turkey carpet. After fupper the old gentleman, as was his conftant practice, defired to have his pipe: But this you may be fure could by no means be alJowed, as the filthy Rench of the tobacco would never be got out of the furniture again; and it was with much ado, that my wife would even fuffer him to go down and fmoke in the kitchen. We had no room to lodge him in except a garret with nothing but bare walls; because the Chints bed-chamber was, indeed, too nice for a dirty country 'fquire. There 1756. Account of the BRITISH AMERICA. flights very much chagrined my good un- that my uncle ordered his horfe, and I am, SIR, Your humble fervant, PETER MUCKLOVE. 29 ftuff, are no lefs cautiously fkreened with ordinary checked linen. Thus does he answer, by the appearance of finery, all the purposes of pride and oftentation :Like many families, who being really poffeffed of ornamental and useful furni ture, make no more ufe of it than the beau blockhead does of his library; which, tho' it contains many books finely bound and gilt, is defigned merely for fhew, and it would fpoil the backs, or rumple the leaves, to look into the contents of them. Account of the BRITISH PLANTATIONS in AMERICA, continued from p. 622, of our last Volume. THE HE next fettlement we made upon the continent of America, after that of Virginia, was in that country now called New-England, and was, like many others, a good effect flowing from a bad caufe, for it was owing to the religious perfecution then fet on foot against thofe called Diffenters. As king James I. had in his youth been moft infolently treated by the enthufiaftical Prefbyterians in Scotland, he had conceived a most extravagant love for what was called the epifcopal church, and as extravagant an averfion for every denomination of Diffenters; and notwithstanding the boasted liberties of this country, it will appear D thro' our whole hiftory, that even the It may not be improper, as my correfpondent has but flightly touched upon this topick, to add a word or two, by way of poftfcript to his letter, on the extraordinary follicitude of many notable housewives in the care and prefervation of their furniture. In middling genteel families it is not uncommon to have things more for fhew than ufe: And I cannot but applaud the ingenious thought of a friend of mine, who has contrived E to furnish his houfe in the most elegant tafte at a very small expence. He is pleafed, it is true, to eat off your common ftone ware, becaufe it looks fo clean; but you fee his beaufet crowded with a variety of curious enamelled China plates, which are ranged in fuch manner as to conceal the ftreaks of white paint that cement the broken pieces together: He likes to drink his porter out of the original ale-houfe pewter pot; but a large filver tankard always ftands upon the fide-board, which the most curious eye cannot at that distance difcover to be French plate. The whole range of rooms in his middle story is moft grandly fitted up: But as it would be pity to foil fuch G good furniture, his curtains, which we muft fuppofe to be made of the richest danak, are carefully pinned up in paperbags; and the chairs, of which the feats and backs are undoubtedly of the fame F This vices and weakneffes of the fovereign 30 Settlement of NEW-ENGLAND. confent, which king James, notwithtanding his averfion to phanaticifm, readily granted, calling their request, good and boneft propofal. Hud They then applied and obtained a grant of a tract of land at the mouth fon's river from the Northern then called A the Plymouth company; and on Sept. 6, 1621, they failed from Plymouth, being only about 120 perfons, men, women and children, for Mr. Robinfon himself, and perhaps fome more of the wifeft of them, took care not to expofe themselves to the first danger. On Nov. 9. they fell in with cape Cod, where they found B themselves obliged to land, and make a fettlement, being prevented by a storm from getting to the mouth of Hudfon's river. Jan. fettlement they gave the name Plymouth, which name it fill retains, and at firft confifted of a piece of ground they found cleared of about half a mile in compass, allowing to each house a little garden. This fpot they paled round, and in the middle erected a fort, on which they planted fome cannon; and about the middle of March they were told, that the great king Maffafoit, king of the next neighbouring nation, intended foon to pay them a friendly vifit. Accordingly he arrived on the 22d, attended by about 60 men, but all unarmed to shew they came as friends to the English; and indeed they were glad of their fettling there, because they hoped for affiftance from them against the Naraganfets with whom they were at war. The colony entertained his Indian majesty in as magnificent a manner, and made as formidable an appearance, as they could; and in return his majesty ma them a grant of all the Clands within a certain diftance round their fettlement, which they accepted as a good and valid grant, without being fo foolishly curious as to enquire what right he had to make it. This vifit his majefty was probably induced to make by one Squanto, an Indian, who came along with him, and who fome years before Dhad with others been treacherously carried off by the captain of one of our trading hips, and fold to the Spaniards at Malaga, from whom he was probably redeemed by fome of our countrymen and brought to England, where he heard that the captain had been punished for his perfidy, and where he met with fuch kind ufage, that he retained an affection for the English as long as he lived, and was of great fervice to this infant colony. This place not being within their grant, they found it neceffary to enter into a voluntary affociation and engagement, to fubmit to all fuch regulations as should be approved of by a majority, which inftrument was figned by 41 men, being all the heads of families that were amongst them; and it is furpifing that fuch a fmall number should have been preferved in fuch a defart country, inhabited by fuch a barbarous people, and landing at fuch an unfeafonable time of the year. But tho' they were mad with regard to their religious tenets, they were certainly fincere, and therefore they were favoured by Providence, which in many respects was vifible. For if they had got to the mouth of Hudfon's river, they would probably have been all cut off by the Indians, who always take up their habitations upon the fides of rivers, and would not have allowed fuch guests to fettle in their neighbourhood; whereas the place at which they accidentally chose to settle, tho' a good harbour, was not near any river, and was a fort of middle place between two nations who were at war together, fo that none of either fide durft fraggle thereabout in the winter time. After their coming upon the coaft they F were many days in fearch of a proper place in which they could fettle, fo that it was Dec. 19. before they all quitted their fhip, and on the 25th they began to build a more houfe for their goods, and fome cottages for themfelves, where they continued till March without feeing the face of an Indian, but the winter was fo fevere, and their accommodation fo bad, that near one half of their people died before that time, confequently the reft might have been an easy prey to the Indians, had they formed any defign against them. To the place where they made their As foon as thefe adventurers had figned the affociation beforementioned, they chofe one Mr. John Carver as their governer for one year, but he died in April following, and in his room they chofe William Bradford, Efq; who was by an annual election continued in that post for feveral years; and as every summer brought over a new recruit of planters, by the year 1628, the colony began to fpread themselves along the coaft on each fide of Plymouth town, and to bave plenty of provifions of all forts, as well as a profitable trade, having before obtained a grant of the country where they G were fettled from the Plymouth compa. ny. The news of this being fpread among the Diffenters in England, great numbers of them refolved to go and fet. tle in the fame country; for which purpofe they obtained from the Plymouth company a grant of all the lands from three 1756. SUCCESS of PLYMOUTH Colony. shree miles north of Merimac river to three miles fouth of Charles river, which falls into the fea at the bottom of Malfachuset bay; and May 1, 1629, a fleet of no less than fix ftout fhips with 350 paffengers, a great flock of live cattle of all forts, and all forts of neceffaries, failed from the Isle of Wight, and arrived at A Neumkeak, now Salem, June 24, where' they joined fome of their friends who had been fent thither the preceding year; but there being among these last comers fome of the Church of England perfuafion, who fet up that worship in this new fettlement, it fhewed the true spirit of mankind; for thofe very people who complained fo bitterly againft, and had fled from perfecution in England, having here the government and power in their hands, compelled two gentlemen to return to England, because they diffented from the religion which they had eftablished. B The next year a ftill larger fleet was fent out, by which this new colony was fo increased, that they were obliged to divide, fome of them having removed to a place which they called Charles Town, and towards the end of the year, fome others of them removed, and began to build in the Peninsula at the bottom of the bay, giving this their new town the name of Bofton, which for its conveniency and fecurity is now defervedly be- D come the metropolis of New-England. F Thus there were two diftin&t colonies fettled in New-England, that of Plymouth under the government of the above-named Mr. Bradford, and that of Maffachufets, of which John Winthrop, Efq; had been chosen governor; and as incredible numbers of people flocked E daily over to them, either on account of religion, or for the fake of trade, which was found to be very profitable, almost every year produced the building of two or three towns, within the limits of the one or the other of these colonies; and many of the clergymen, who had been turned out of their livings in England, for not complying with the times, found here not only an asylum, but a fupport, by being fettled as minifters in these towns; but as zeal often degenerates into enthufiaftick bigotry, one of these who was minifter at Salem, named Williams, began to broach fome doctrines which the reft did not approve of, and refusing to recant, the governors of Maffachufets G colony again began to perfecute, by bamithing this man and all his followers out of the town, whereupon in 1634 they went and built a new town over-against Rhode Island, to which they gave the game Prudence, and as it was not within 31 the limits of either colony they fet up a government of their own. Hitherto neither colony had met with any disturbance from the Indians; but in this year fome of their people were murdered by the Pequot Indians who lived about the mouth of Connecticut river, which would have produced an immediate war, if the Indians had not promifed to deliver up the men who committed the murder, and to yield up their lands bordering on that river, if the English should think proper to plant there. In the year 1635, a fleet of no lefs than 20 fail loaded with goods and pafwhich came the famous Henry, afterfengers, arrived at Bofton, on board of wards Sir Henry Vane, who had a defign to have established a new colony on Con necticut river; but as the Maffachufets did him the honour to chufe him for their governor for the enfuing year, he dropt that defign, and his people made a large addition to that colony. However, as he appeared to be a favourer of the Anabaptifts, and as the rulers of that colony had refolved to perfecute, with the utmost feverity, every fect that differed in the leaft from that which they had established, they next year rechofe their old governor Mr. Winthrop, and Mr. Vane returned to England, continued to be furly, and refused to In the mean time as the Pequot Indians comply with what they had promifed, it was found neceffary for the fafety of both colonies to have a new one fettled at the mouth of Connecticut river, which was in 1636 carried into execution, and towns begun on both fides of that river, but as it was not within the limits of either of the two colonies, they likewife were obliged to form themfelves into a government of their own. As archbishop Laud continued not only to multiply fuperftitious rites and ceremonies in the publick worship of the church of England, but to enforce the obfervance of them in the most rigorous manner, the number of Diffenters, or Puritans, as they were then called, daily increased, and confequently the number of those who defigned to transport themfelves to New-England, infomuch that the court thought fit in 1637 to put a stop to it by proclamation, and by an order to the admiral to prevent any clergyman's going abroad without a licence from the. archbishop and the bishop of London. However, Mr. Davenport, who had been forced to quit his church of ColemanStreet, London, found means to get privately on board a fleet then ready to fail with a great number of people for New England 32 An affecting SCENE of DISTRESS. England; and as they could not find room in Maffachuset or Plymouth colony, without going too high up the country, they planted themselves upon the coaft between Connecticut and Hudson's river, by purchafing a track of land from the natives, where they built the town of Newhaven, from whence this new colony was called the Newhaven Colony. Whilft our people were thus extending themfelves to the fouth-weft, many others of them, for the fake of the fur and fishing trade, went and feated themselves on the coaft to the north-east, between the rivers Merimac and Kenebec, where they built feveral towns, and formed two counties, which they called New-Hampfhire and Main. At first they affociated themselves into a diftin&t government; but foon after upon their own petition they were united with the Maffachufet's colony. A B But a fpirit of religious contention having been raised among the people of this nation at home, it accompanied them wherever they went; and in 1637, a furious contention of this kind arofe among the people, both of the Massachuset and Plymouth colonies, between those who were for the covenant of works, and those who were for the covenant of grace, whereupon a fynod was affembled, confifting of the minifters and lay elders of most of the towns; and in this fynod D the principles of the covenant of grace men were condemned, on which thofe who would not fubmit to the infallible decree of this fynod were banished. As thefe people were the most enthufiaftick, they were of course the most obstinate; and as they were very numerous, and fome of them rich, they bought of the E natives the island Aquetnet, which they called Rhode Island, where they formed themselves into a new and diftin&t co- ' lony; but as this island was too fmall for them, they prefently after purchased a track of land upon the adjoining continent, where they built the towns of Providence, Warwick, &c, Thus we fee, that by the perfecution of F the Diffenters here at home, we, in 15 [To be continued in our next.] Jan. To accompany a neat PLAN of LISBON, and a MAP of the adjacent Country. TH HE mouth of the Tagus is near three miles in breadth, and has two channels into it, called the North Channel and the South Channel, the former defended by fort St. Julian, a very strong fortrefs, mounting 176 pieces of cannon, and the latter by a round wooden fort, called Bugio. In failing up the river, the country has a moft delightful appearance, abounding in villages, monafteries, and country feats, on both fhores of the Province of Eftremadura. The capital city, Lifoon, feemed to rife out of the water, and looked like a large and lofty amphitheatre, and few cities afforded fo noble a' profpect. It might be faid to be at once the most visibly rich, and the most abandonedly wicked and fuperftitious city in the world. See a Defcription of Lifben, with a beautiful Profpect thereof, in our Twenty-fourth Volume, p. 560. The INSPECTOR, Jan. 17. SIR, ASSING from London to Chelsea in PAS one of thofe fevere days we had in the end of laft October, I faw a female figure proftrate in a ditch by the way. fide, with every mark of wretchedness that could fall on human nature. A woman, exposed to lightning and rain, ftretched on the wet ground, and without friend or covering, was an object.. none who had pity could pafs by unnoticed. My furprize was doubled when I perceived the did not beg. Her eyes were fixed upon the heavens, as if accufing Providence that had deferted her; her hair was loofe and dripping; and her legs, for they lay uncovered, were swelled and big with cold. I would have given her money, which the declined,, fhaking her head, but returning me no answer; I then offered my affiftance, which the neither accepted nor refufed. I led her fpeechlefs to the Lock-hofpital: It was the nearest charity, and I had fome intereft as a governor. The matron received her with her natural compaffion, and she commended mine. I told her the circumftance, and ordered the dying creature into bed. We fat by her, and by degrees the ftarved purple left her cheeks; her lips › grew red, and a more natural bluth ap peared upon her face. We were furprifed to fee a hand not hard with labour; a ring upon the finger, and on the wrift a bracelet. When he was able to speak. we would have queftioned her, but the prevented |