Plants," is now confidered as an accomplishment to the female mind. But, though Dr. Darwin, and a few others, pofleffed of genius, may recommend their vegetable hobby to the polite world, our young women may be affured that they only expofe themfeives either to the ridicule or feductive allurements of coxcombs, who pretend to imitate them in the myfteries of Botany. Thefe fantaftical amufements, and trifling purfuits, ever leave the mind unfatisfied, as thousands of our lovely countrywomen daily experience. But the lover of elegance exclaims, " Would you have our young ladies to remain in ignorance, why thould not their minds be cultivated?" No; but let the lighter accomplishments, which now wholly engrofs their attention, be made the fecondary, not the primary objects of the mind. Let decency of manners accompany that fincerity and candour which is now fupprefied by what is called good breeding. Let benevolence be cherished in the glowing bofom, instead of that ridiculous affectation of feeling, which only tends to harden the heart! Let piety be the bafis on which the fecial virtues are raifed; and let the tender and amiable propenfities of the youthful breaft be regulated by decorum, and fanctioned by virtue. Then fhall the lovely daughters of Britain combine, with their unparalleled beauty, that purity of heart, and modefty of demeanour, which will exhibit the fairest portrait of angelic perfection. Yours, &c. A FRIEND TO THE FAIR SEX. lowing fact may tend to elucidate the fubject, and be thought a prefumptive proof in favour of the fame opinion. On the 6th of the prefent month (being a cold frofty day) my man obferved to me, as a fingular thing, that he had just feen a Swallow flying about the houfe; on my looking about, I foon obferved the poor folitary being flying with great rapidity and apparently in great diftrefs; the made fhort excurfions in every direction, never, however, approaching the ground. I faw her on every fucceeding day, till the 12th inclufive, always exhibiting the fame appearance, flying high and rapidly; but, on the laft day on which I faw her, the appeared very weak and languid. Is it not probable that this folitary Swallow, by fome accident or other, had been left behind by her companions when they fought another climate? And though inflinct might fuggeft to her the neceflity. of fecking a warm climate to preferve her life, yet, probably, inftinet alfo might convince her of the impoflibility of her ever accomplishing fo long a journey in her folitary fiate, and the might chule to exiit as long as poftible here, radher than ruth on tain death by attempting what the knew to be impotlible. If, as fome maintain, Swallows do not migrate, but, during winter, lie in a ftate of torpidity immersed in water or concealed in clefts of rocks or caverns, till fummer reanimates them; if, I fay, this opinion was founded in truth, the abovementioned folitary being would probably not have experienced fo much diftrefs on being deferted by her companions, but would have preferved her life (for I ftrongly fufpect the is now dead) by following their example in fecking out fome fuch place of fecurity, and finking into the fame ftate of torpitude; for there appears no impoflibility nor even difficulty in having recourfe to fuch an expedient to preferve her life. A CONSTANT READER. cer 1 Mr. URBAN, Waterford, July 18. AVING occafion to vifit Ennif Wexford, a few weeks fince, herewith tranfinit you (Plate I. fig. 1.) a fketch of Vinegar hill, which I took from the bridge of Ennifcorthy, with a fhort defcription of each place. This hill, or rather mountain, fo celebrated for the bloody battle fought upon it in the late rébellion, lies on the North bank of the river Slaney, clofe to the town of Enniscorthy There are two fuburbs at the foot of the hill, called Temple Shannon and Drugald, which are connected to Enniscorthy by a fubftantial ftone bridge of fix arches. This hill rifes with a gentle fwell from a plain till it becomes very steep on all fides, and ends in a craggy fummit crowned with the ruins of a windmill; from which fpot there is a wide and extended profpect of the counties of Wexford, Kilkenny, Carlow, and Wicklow, with the Slaney meandering in ferpentine directions through a rich and variegated country to the town of Wexford, where it difembogues itfelf into the Irish fea. At the declivity of the hill there is a vast pit, in which the bodies of the unfortunate men who were killed in this ruinous and fatal conteft are depofited, to the number (as I was informed) of five hundred. The South fide of the hill next Ennifcorthy is for fome yards covered with the bones of men and animals, which are bleached as white as ivory by the weather. Near the fummit of the hill there is a gibbet, on which the bodies of three men who were active in the rebellion are fufpended; this fight is very difgutting to the inhabitants, as the bodies can be very diftinctly feen from the town; and a certain defcription of perfons, yclep'd Orangemen, amufe themfelves by firing at the gibbet, and running their bayonets through the bodies. To fuch an height has the envenomed fpirit of party-prejudice arrived in this once happy county, the fairest and beft portion of this beautiful ifland, and heretofore remarkable for the fpirit of induftry, peace, and good order of its inhabitants! Ennifcorthy is the property of the Earl of Portfmouth; it is a market borough and port town, and returned two members to parliament. It is divided into two parts by the river GENT. MAG. November, 1801. Slaney, over which is (as I mentioned in the defcription of Vinegar hill), a court houfe, and the principal streets, are on the South fide of the Slaney. It is about twelve miles from the town of Wexford, from which the river is navigable for finall lighters, as the tide ebbs and flows to the bridge. The population before the rebellion was about five thousand inhabitants. The town was originally fortified, but not a vestige of the walls remain at prefent except the caftle, which is entire and a very noble ftructure; it ftands on a craggy hill in the centre of the town, at the South fide of the Slaney, oppofite Vinegar hill, from which it is about a mile dif tant. It confifts of a regular fquare, battlemented, and Banked with four round towers of confiderable height; it was built in the thirteenth century by the ancestor of the antient family of Sution, who were once the lords of this town, which family are now nearly extinct. I forgot to mention, that just above the bridge of Ennifcorthy, the Slaney is divided into two branches by a beautiful little inland, which gives additional intereft to the fcenery on the banks of the river. New Rofs, in contradiftinction to Old Rofs (a village about four miles from it), is a borough market and poft town, in the county of Wexford, fituated at the foot of a hill at the confluence of the Nere and Barrow. It was formerly walled, and fome of the gateways ftill remain; i. e. Priory gate, frith Town gate, and the Three Bullet gate, where Lord Mountjoy was flain when charging at the head of the county Dublin militia. There were formerly many religious houfes in this town, the remains of which are ftill vifible. The monaftery for Franciscans, called St. Saviour, was founded by Sir John Devereux in the reign of Edward III. At the fame, or an earlier period of time, there was a priory of Auguf tines founded by Sir Walter Synnote. There is a Charter houfe here for forty poor children, and a fchool for poor children of every denomination. The town is greatly improved fince the rebellion, and the houses that were demolifhed rebuilt in a better tafle. This town is extremely well fituated for commerce, the river being very deep, and fhips of great burthen can come up to the quay. The Cuftom house is well St. Michael's Mount.- and adapted for bufinefs; the barracks neat and convenient; and the bridge over the river, which connects the Kilkenny fide with the Wexford fide, is extremely elegant. In this town are three churches, two Romish chapels, a Methodist and Quakers meeting-houses. One of the moft defperate battles that ever was fought in Ireland took place here; the carnage was dreadful, there being upwards of two thoufand bodies left in the ftreets. ANTHONY SINNOT. I Mr. URBAN, Cornwall, July 10. SEND you a fketch of an antient capital (fig. 2) now lying amongst an heap of ruins at St. Michael's Mount, in this county. It appears to have been an irregular hexagon, though now much mutilated; fome of your antiquarian correfpondents may probably be able to throw fome light on the figures, the drefs, and the time of its erection. B. M. I Nov. 6. Mr. URBAN, SEND you a flight sketch (fig. 3) of the building that was made to fucceed to the old collegiate church of St. Mary, within the caftle at Bridg north. When the church of St. Chad, at Shrewsbury, fell down about 1792, the parithioners of this church took it into their heads that it alfo threatened ruin, and accordingly rebuilt it, of which they now heartily repcut. Mr. Grofe has given a difiant view of the old firucture in his print of the cattle; and the different views of the town preferve the remembrance of it. In the church-yard are no monuments of confequence; and in the porch of St. Laurence, or the upper church in the town, is fixed up an infeription, removed from hence with the remains of John and Samuel Dickinson, who died 1778 and 1779, and were depofited in a vault, Nov. 7, 1793. P. Q. The only remain of the cafile is ❝ part of a tower, which by undermining was made to incline fo much, that it appears to threaten deftruction to fuch as approach it. It makes an angle of 18 degrees with the horizon, or 17 from the perpendicular." GROSE. SIGILLVM MAIORATUS POSTUS (qu. PORTUS) DOVORIE. Sandwich, in a plate with other AntiQu. If not engraved by Mr. Boys, of quities?-Wihtred, king of Kent, fo early as the feventh century, removed the canons from the caftle to a church built by him in the town, dedicated to St. Martin. The irregular behaviour of thefe canons obliged Henry I. to give their church to the archbishop of Canterbury, Richard Corboi, who built a new monastery of Auguftines near the town, ftill known by the name of the Newark; of whofe ruins and gate Mr. Grofe has engraved two views. These circumftances are mentioned as an additional proof that St. Martin was the patron faint of Dover, M. BROWNE. Mr. URBAN, Nov. 7. FROM the letters and the orthogra copper coin, fig. 5, it was not edited, phy of the infeription of the small I believe, later than fome time in the 17th century. Whether it was ftruck what other occafion, I will not attempt upon fome naval expedition, or on nion our ancestors entertained of the to conjecture; but it evinces the opipower of the Three Kingdoms when united; and conveys a leflon to us in plishment of this Union, to confider it the prefent happy period of the accom firmly united for our mutual fupport as the palladium of our fecurity, Whilft and defence, we may fill bid defiance to all the fature ambitious attempts of that gigantic power which was fo lately our foe. Mr. URBAN, K. L. Νου. 11. I HAVE by me a tradefman's token it is "William Bentley, of Hinckley." which, I think, you have not feen; If not, I fhould wifh you to preferve it for the Leicestershire liftorian (fig 6). HINCKLEIENSIS. Mr. URBAN, Anfley, Hunts, Aug. 6. HEREWITH will be left for your infpection the original prefenta tion-copy of the works of King James I. Seton, knt. (eques auratus). It is in to his preceptor, Sir Peter Young, of the original binding in red Turkey, and tied with blue ribband; and being a ing, royal arms on the fides, &c. are royal gift, the printing, binding, gildthofe arts in this country could then, as fuperb and elegant as the ftate of produce. |