TH A Polish Anecdote. HE fecond clafs of Polish Princes first commenced in 841, in the perfon of Piaft, a man of obfcure birth and middling fortune, but who was a true philofopher in his way of life: he occupied a small tenement at Krufwick, the town where the general affembly was convened for the choice of a new duke; the principal competitors for this dignity by chance came to his houfe; and were received by Piaft with fuch exceffive hofpitality, that they unanimously agreed to decline their pretenfions in favour of a man who poffeffed fuch an extraordinary fhare of merit; however, the Polith hiftorians thought proper to mix a little of the marvellous in this adventure, Duglofs, a Polish historian relates, TRA Swedish RADITION fays, the Swedes are defcended from Sueno, the fon of Magog, grandfon of Japhet, and attributes the foundation of Upfal to his brother Ubbo. Without paying any regard to thefe ridiculous affertions, the year 887 before the birth of Chrift, is nearly the earliest epocha of the Hiftory of Sweden. Love is the growth of every country and every climate; the first anecdote that comes to our knowledge of a nation at that time almost favage, is a ftroke of gallantry. Gram prince of Denmark fell in love with the daughter of Sig-Trud, king of Sweden, fon and fucceffor of Niord; but a confiderable obitacle oppofed his wifhes. Sig-Trud intendedhis daughter for the brother of the king of Finland; Gram however found means to crown his paffion with fuccefs, certain of the heart of Sig-Trud's daughter, he vifited the court of Sweden in difguife, seized the person of the princefs, and carried her to Denmark; a rape in thofe days, fays Loccenius, who relates this fact, was not thought an infamous action; however Sig-Trud declared war against the ravifher and confulted the oracle about the fuccefs of his expedition; that the city of Kruswick being in great want of the common neceftaries of life, owing to the prodigious concourfe of people that the election had drawn to that place, two angels in human fhapes requested a lodging of Piaft, who received them with his ufual cordiality, and presented them with a little cak of the country liquor, tho' it was the last he had left; the angels, by way of rewarding the charity of their hoft, endowed his little cask with the property of being never empty, fo that Piaft was able to furnish the whole town with plenty of drink without his cafk's ceafing to be full; which prodigy, according to our hiftorians, induced the electors to give their votes in favour of the virtuous Piaft. Anecdotes. you will receive more injury from gold· than the word, was the reply of the oracle. This anfwer was fufficiently intelligible; yet honeft Sig-Trud could not comprehend its meaning; the art of corrupting mankind with gold was not at that time fo well known as at prefent, though Gram was as great a proficient in this art, as in gallantry; he gained by bribery the principal chiefs in the Swedish army, who delivered Sig-Trud into his hands, whom he put to death with a club headed with gold. Thus the oracle was accomplished. Olaus Magnus relates that king Walander who reigned about the year 173 of the Chriftian Ara, publickly exercised the profeffion of a highwayman, and robbed paffengers on the high roads, and in order to distinguish himfelf from a common thief, who is generally contented with robbing peaple of their money and fuits of cloaths, Walander ftripped them stark naked; if we form a judgment of the manners of the people by thofe of their king, what a strange idea muft we conceive of the Swedes of those days. Memoirs of William Bentinck, firft Earl of Portland. With a curious Copper Plate, engraved by Grignion. T HE publick part which the prefent Duke of Portland has taken in fome late transactions recommend an acquaintance with his ancestors. Their fufferings with refpect to refamption of grants from the crown is but too fimilar, their inviolable at tachment to their fovereign needs no illustration. This grand perfonage was one of the first of the family who was ennobled in this nation. This attachment to William the Third, the rescuer of our liberties and religion from the attempts of an arbitrary monarch, is rendered more confpicuous in no inftance than in the teftimony which the king himfelf gave him with his own mouth. When that monarch fell ill of the fmall-pox; Mr. Bentinck, who was a gentleman of the bed-chamber, attended him in his illnefs, and his affiduity was fo great, that Sir William Temple fays" he was the beft fervant that he ever knew in a prince's, or in a private family." He proceeds, and informs us, that the prince himfelf told him, that whether Mr. Bentinck flept or no, he could not tell; but in fixteen days and nights, he never once called, that he was not anfwered by him, as if he had been awake. The expedition to England was intruffed to Mr. Bentinck, and he acquitted himself in a manner that redounds to his honour. When the prince landed, Mr. Bentinck was confulted in every step that he took, and the wifdom of his counfel contributed fo much to the fuccefs of the revolu. tion, that he was defervedly created baron Cirencester, viscount Woodstock, and earl of Portland, as a reward for his fervices. A member of the lower houfe having applied for a grant of lands in favour of a builder, who was his friend; another builder applied afterwards to the earl of Portland for the fame fpot, his lordship found from the latter that the grant was worth ten thousand pounds. This information he com municated to his mafter. And when the member renewed his application, the king asked him, "What the grant might be worth-The member anfwered About one thousand pounds." "Is that all?" replied the king" You fhall have one thousand pounds without fo much trouble" At the battle of the Boyne in 1698 it was owing to the advice the earl gave General Douglas, that he obtained the victory. In 1693 in the battle of Landen, king William had a musket ball fhot through his peruke, another through the fleeve of his coat, and a third carried off the knot of his fcarf, and left a fmall contufion on his fide. Amidt this danger the earl of Portland did not leave his prince, but fought close by his perfon, and received a wound in his hand, which it was apprehended would occafion the lofs of it. During the oppofition between the Whigs and Tories, the earl attached himself to neither party, but studied only the good of his country. The king knew this, and therefore was generally guided by his advice. In 1695-6 the earl difcovered a plot, which was laid to affaflinate the king, and took his measures so private, that the affaffins were taken in their beds, and brought to punishment. To give every inftance of this earl's integrity and honesty, would be to fwe!! this effay to a volume. We fhall therefore obferve, that it was owing to this earl in a private conference, that the peace of Ryfwick was made with marshal Boufleurs; and however his conduct might afterwards be cenfured by a difaffected faction, yet as they brought no particular charge againft him, the Houfe of Peers justly refolved that he was innocent. As he had lived, fo he died, worthy of the honours he had received for his fervices, and an example to his posterity. Coll.-Oxon. ANTIQUARIUS. REMARK REMARKABLE ADVERTISEMENTS, &c. HE Reverend JOHN WOOD, who Tcontinues the employment at his houfe, No. 1, Newgate-freet, as carried on by the late Mr. and Mrs. HAWKSHAW, for providing curates and proper affiftance for fuch clergymen as are prevented by fickness, or any ways neceffarily impeded from doing their own duty, hopes that a propriety of conduct will merit the favour, not only of fuch Gentlemen as were Mr. and Mrs. HawkThaw's friends, but of the whole body of the clergy in general, whom it will be his conftant study indifcriminately to oblige, to the utmost of his power. N. B. Such gentlemen as with to be engaged, are requefted to leave or fend their addrefs as above; and those who want affiftance, or to have duty done, may be certain of a very proper fupply on the terms agreed on, as let forth by the underneath table of fees: T To the BENEVOLENT. HOUGH numbers fuppofe it neceffary to apologize, when they introduce a tale of mifery to the knowledge of the public, as if humanity can be weary of adminiftering to the wants of the unhappy; the author of this advertisement thinks it meritorious to point out a fresh object of compaffion to the charitable, and is fatisfied that the truly benevolent will confider themfelves obliged by the information, if he can prove but the reality of the diftrefs. Such, therefore, as providence has blefled with the power, as well as with the inclination to relieve, and know experimentally how amply the generous are rewarded in the exercife of their generofity; fuch have now an opportunity of purchasing the highest luxury of the heart, at a molt moderate expence :A YOUNG MAN, remarkable for his industry in trade, but remarkable also for a chain of unavoidable misfortunes, is at this moment, with a wife at the laft ftage of pregnancy, and five helpless little ones, reduced from a reputable competency to a degree of wretchedness unutterable. In his little day of prosperity he has often wiped away the forrows of the forlorn, and given that relief to the children of oothers, which is now most earnestly supplicated for his own. A ftate of penury, even where an individua! is the only fufferer, is fufficiently deplorable; but think, ye happy fathers! what his anguish muft be, who, while he feels all the horrors of the fharpeft neceflity himself, fees a faithful wife and five imploring innocents perish. ing for fuftenance before him, and is utterly without means of furnishing them with bread. In the name of the living God, then, let me conjure you, O ye happy poffeffors of abundance, to calt a merciful eye upon 76 his melancholy situation.—Snatch the 30 drooping partner of his bitter fortune from 53 the grave.-Snatch his poor prattlers from the worst of deaths.-While you read, they are poffibly beyond the reach of afkftance, -To hesitate, is to pronounce their doom. A TABLE of FEES, agreed upon by the 1. s. d. 0 15 o For reading and preaching in the afternoon For preaching in the afternoon For reading in the afternoon For reading and preaching in the evening 0 10 6 For reading in the evening Fridays, on Wednesdays and 36 026 For reading on h-Wednesday, 026 The following places will confirm the truth of this repreientation, and by receiv ing benefactions, furnish fenfibility with room to anticipate here, the ineftímable reward of virtue hereafter. Donations are received at Mrs. Vaughan's, Fan-maker, 6t. Michael's Alley, Cornhill; Mifs Vaughan's, Milliners, within two doors of Racquet-court, Fleetstreet; Mr. Randall, Shoe-maker, St. Clement's |