tories. In the midst is a magnificent and costly statue of the King, made of copper, and the Goddess of Victory, of the same metal, crowning him with laurel, all curiously wrought and finely gilt. The pedestal is large and square, and he stands trampling his enemies under his feet, in a manner which I think too insulting. At each corner of the pedestal is a figure lying in a submissive posture, with its hands chained together, and its ensigns and arms thrown down and broken. One represents the Emperor of Germany, another the King of Spain, another the States General of the United Provinces (the Netherlands), and the other the Duke of Savoy. On every side are long inscriptions, allusive to the King's great acts, some in Latin verse extolling him beyond Cæsar and Alexander; and others in French prose, setting forth the numbers of his armies and his great deeds, with lofty and strange titles, and a dedication, Viro inmortali, &c. The whole of this monument was erected by the Duke de la Feuillade.

Our next walk was to the Gobelin manufactory, situate at another part of the town. It is carried on in a large stone building by Germans and Flemings, to the number of one hundred, maintained at the King's charge. These are the authors of those fine works of tapestry, called by the above name, in silk, gold, and silver, for the furniture of the King's houses. The figures and subjects which are to be represented, are painted and laid before the workmen; and to such great perfection is their art arrived, that we saw several pieces of their performance little short, as we thought, of the paintings themselves. In this place too, there are many persons employed in sculpture, and in making figures in brass and other metals, and in stone and mosaic work. We saw a brazen head of the King, very large and fine, and a round table, then in hand and alinost perfect, curiously inlaid with marble of several figures and coloured, valued at 400 pistoles. In the saine room was an abundance of fine stones of Agate, &c. in one of which was the plain resemblance of a tall large, tree, full of branches; and, in another, of a city full of houses, both of them, as we were assured, natural productions. Our succeeding object was the Hospital of the Invalides, founded for disabled soldiers, like to our College

at Chelsea. This is a large and lofty building of free stone, situate just without the city. It was first designed for 6000 men; but now, they say, is capable of holding 10,000. The apartments are very convenient, and seem larger than those at Chelsea, but the Governor's house, and the gardens are far short of those with us. The Chapel is not quite finished, though. the greatest part of the College has been erected these 30 years. The great altar and dome of the Chapel will be stately and grand.

Sept. 8. It had been our custom to go to an English Coffee-house, kept by one Benson, near Cardinal Furstenburgh's Palace. We went there this day, being Sunday, and here we were accosted by a Frenchman, who undertook to shew us great things. We put ourselves under his guidance, and after leading us up and down through 20 dirty streets, he brought us to a great Hospital of sick women, where we were nearly poisoned with stench; and we were informed, that as these begin to recover, they are removed to a better place, and from thence to a third, until their health is re-established; but, being disgusted. with our guide, we shook him off, and were afterwards told it was well we had not been trepanned by him, and bad not had our throats cut-and possibly this might have been the case if we had gone wherever he would have led us. It seems there are many such fellows about this town, who set upon people by night; and we were told there were 50,000 rogues who infest it, though there are watchmen as in London, but not so many; and there are lights too in lanterns on lines, which go across the streets, and the lanterns are hung in the centre.

In the afternoon we went to the Church of the Nuns of the Assumption. This is entirely circular-a form I had never seen before. At the top is a stately dome, gift without, and painted within. There we heard mass sung in excellent Church musick, and we were told before that it would be the best in Paris. The trebles and basses were exquisitely fine. Here we hired chairs at five liards a piece, for there are no other seals. The performance lasted an hour and a half. At night we went to the play-house to see the tragic opera of Scylla. Operas, it seems, are only acted on Sundays. This was played with good musick

and

It serve, how

Bucolic

"Matri longa decem tulerunt fastidia menses".

intended (in his opinion) to denote an extraordinary circumstance attending the birth of Pollio's child-to signify that his mother had borne him longer than the natural period of gestation; as if the usual term of nine months would not have been sufficient for the production of such a child-a child of such mighty consequence and interest to the poet and his patron, I mean, though not to the rest of the world!

This fanciful interpretation appears to have originated with Dryden himself, as I do not find the slightest hint of such meaning in Servius, Probus, or any of the succeeding commentators, though well enough disposed to strain the text of their author, for the purpose of extorting a 66 more exquisite," far-fetched, and often unnatural, meaning. But here they could not venture to display their acumen; well knowing that nine calendar months are about equal to ten lunar: independent of which circumstance, the Roman mode of computing time left no room to conjecture any extraordinary meaning in Virgil's words. While the common usage allowed nine days (for example), or even eight and a half, to be accounted as ten, that was sufficient authority, not only for a poet, but even for a prose writer, to reckon nine months as ten, without meaning any thing out of the regular course.

To the classical reader this requires no explanation, though, to some others, it may. I will therefore briefly observe, that the Romans reckoned their days in the same manner as our French neighbours, who account; as GENT. MAG, January, 1819.

one day, any part of a broken day at the commencement of the period in computation, and account, as another day, any portion of a day at the termination of the same period: so that, if a Frenchman go out of town on Saturday evening, and return on the Saturday morning following, he will reck on the term of his absence eight days ("huit jours"), though an Englishman would account it only about six days and a half, or, at most, a bare scanty week: and, in like manner, a Frenchman's quinze jours (fifteen days) is only an Englishman's fortnight.

But, to return to Dryden and Vir. gil-The following quotations will, I presume, be deemed sufficient to show that the Roman bard meant nothing particular or extraordinary by the expression, "ten months," which, in that under consideration, appears to common parlance, in such cases as Roman, than that of "nine months" have conveyed no other idea to a conveys to an English reader.

"Bis quino femina mense parit." Ovid, Fast. 3, 124. "Jamque decem menses; et puer ortus erat." Ovid, Fast. 5, 534. "Luna novum decies implêrat cornibus orbem ;

Quæ fuerat virgo credita, mater erat." Ovid, Fast. 2, 175. "Jam novies erat orta soror pulcherrima Phœbi,

Denaque luciferos Luna movebat equos,
&c."
Ovid, Epist. 11, 45.
"Non, non humani sunt partus talia
dona :

Ista decem menses non peperêre bona."
Propertius, 2, 3, 27.

Yours, &c.

Mr. URBAN,

JOHN CAREY.

Jan. 12.

speaking in my last letter of the re-issue of the Notes and Counters from the Bank (after their being lion on any more than usual demand presented for payment in Gold Bul for that metal) in the purchase of Silver Bullion, I thought it right to sugPart only of the portion of the curgest the limiting of such re-issue to a ing necessarily, in a prevalence of rency so returned; because, Gold bethe value of all other goods, it follows the proposed system, the standard of from a rise in the value of Gold, that a circulating medium, representative in the aggregate of a less quantity of

Gold,

Gold, will on such rise bear a given proportion to the whole wealth of the realm. It might, and, I think, would be therefore proper in such case gradually to reduce the aggregate representative value of the Government Notes, &c. till the precious metals through the course of exchange returned nearer to their usual balance which, were the loss of that balance local, and chiefly confined to this country, they would quickly do.

Hoping the practicability and efficacy of the proposed changes in the cir culating medium have been made sufficiently apparent, I shall endeavour to prove that they are equally safe. The currency of notes of 57. and above being all along supposed to continue, the greater proportion, in representative amount, of the circulating medium would still consist of such notes, whether the Nation chose to retain the use of the Bank of England, or to take the responsibility, &c. immediately on itself. Should it prefer the latter, a treasure of gold and silver

bullion would accumulate in exact proportion as the establishment issued new bills, the obligation being contracted, and a fund provided for its discharge simultaneously. By this arrangement, the Legislature becom ing pledged to the holders, the notes will consequently be secured on the Revenue, and of the treasure thus raised, (a sufficiency for payment of all probable demands being reserved,) a considerable part might, under due regulation, be immediately disposable for the accommodation of Commerce, and the discount on such accommodations, or in other words, the profits of the Bank and increase of its capital beyond the amount of its responsibility, might, subject to Parliamentary controul, be from the same moment available for the exigencies of the State. The Nation's taking on itself the maintenance of the establishment in the expences for buildings, salaries, &c. would greatly simplify the Bank accounts; but on examination it would be found that, as, from the principle of the proposed system, nothing could be lost in the purchase of gold, and the Bank could have no inducement for the purchase of silver bullion, excepting when below its average price, nor for its sale but when above this part of the arrangement, though desirable, would be nowise requisite.

1

Many of the advantages that this plan offers to the Nation might doubtless be attained through a private company acting on its own account. But in the alternative of the State's establishing such a Bank for its own advantage, it must be very apparent that the system could not be brought into full operation till the expiration, or resignation for a valuable consideration, of the Bank of England's charter; but meanwhile that establishment might be made use of as a means for its gradual introduction; and at the termination of their charter, the present Bank Corporation would doubtless gladly dispose of their buildings and remaining bullion to the State; and the rather, to entitle them to recommend their subordinate officers to its employ; whom it would be extremely difficult otherwise to provide for. Meanwhile the country might be supplied with a currency of 20s. and is. counters through the Bank of England, which might receive them to any amount from the Mint in exchange for the weight in gold bullion represented by them, the State becoming thereby (without risk of practical consequences) answerable for the ultimate re-payment in bullion, should the Bank of England, after putting them in circulation, require such repayment, in consequence of this metallic currency being returned on their hands.

On the near approach of the close of the Charter, Notes of the State Bank might be prepared and placed at the disposal of the Bank of England, on the same terms as the metallie tokens were previously supposed to have been, for enabling them to recal their own in a manner at once least inconvenient to the publick, and most conducive to the immediate object of the State: till on its final close, Commissioners, having first examined their ac> counts, might be authorized to transfer the responsibility for any Bank of England Notes still in circulation to the new establishment, on receiving treasure for the value thereby represented; and a proclamation might be issued for their recal and exchange within a limited time. All this seems easy to be done in the event of Government's coming to an understanding about it with the Bank of England Corporation, and purchasing its treas sure and buildings, and taking its officers into employ; and it is hardly to

be

1