[ 
285. ] 
FROM MY. POR T.-FOLILO, 

No, VIII. 
WILLIAM WHISTON. 
(Communicated.) 
\ ALR. Whilton was aman diftinguithed 
for great fincerity, and great free- 
dom, of {peech.. He had fome acquaint- 
ance with bifhopSherlock,and ocealionally 
went to dine with him. But the bifhop 
made a f{peech in the Houfe of Lords, 
~ which was underftood to bean apology for 
theemployment of bribery and corruption 
on the part of government; and then 
Whitton vifited him no more. 
_ They afterwards met accidentally, at 
the houfe ef Sir Jofeph Jekyll, matter of 
the rolls, when ffie bifhop aiked Whifton, 
what the reafon was that he did not come 
fometimes to dine with him as ufual ? 
‘¢ No, my. lord,” faid Whitton, ‘‘ never 
fince. your political {peech in the Houfe 
of Lords.”’. The bifop replied, that 
Mu. Whilton knew that he took his 
reproots patiently, and he was defirous 
‘that. he fhould come to him as formerly. 
«* No, my lord,’’ faid-Whifton, ‘< poli- 
tical bifhops are the ruin of all religion :”’ 
and he mmediately went away in ap- 
parent indignation, 
When Dr. Leng was made a bifhop, 
the frft time that Mr. Whifton faw him, 
after he was raifed to the bench, he faid 
to him, ‘“* I wonder, my lord, how fo 
learned and fo good aman .as you are, 
came to be made a bifhop.”* 
Of Dr. Gibfon, bifhop of London, 
Whilton faid, ‘* that bifhop feemed to 
think, that the church of England, as it 
juft then happened to,be, eftablifhed by 
modern laws and canons, came down 
trom heaven, with the Athanafian creed 
in its hand.” 
The then bifhop of Durham, in a 
converfation with Whifton, exprefled a 
doubt to him, whether the Linus, who 
is mentioned’ in St. Paul's epiltle to 
Timothy, could poffibly be the bifhop 
of Rome, as he was fuppofed to. be, 
when he was only f{poken of as ‘* one 
of the brethren.” © Whifton replied, 
‘© bifhops, my lord, were not then right 
reverend fathers in God.”’ 
Speaking of Dr. Wilfon, bifhop of 
Man, Whiften faid, “¢ He has always 
appeared to me one of the beft bifhops 
ef our modern ages; and fo much_the 
better, as he is clear of the fnares and 
temptations of a lord of parliament."" 
Coxe’s SWITZERLAND. 
(Communicated. ) 
N reading Coxe’s able and intelligent 
account of Switzerland, a fingular m- 
confiftency occurs in the account of the 
commonwealth of the Grifons. As 
practical politics are’far more interefting 
than theoretic, it became an objet to 
point out, and obviate that imconfiftency 5 
efpecially as it is injurious to the caufe of 
freedom. rh gehts 
I ufe the edition of 1789, 3 vols. 8vo. 
Invol. iii. p. 232, et feg. he gives what 
may be called faéts and reafons, to, prove 
that corruption and ariftocratic influ- 
ertce alone diminith fa€tions, and prevent 
anarchy, even in fo poora country as that 
of the Grifons, and in a republic {carcely 
known among the nations of Europe. 
The reader is deeply imprefled with. 
this truth, till he comes fo far on as p.2785. 
where the myftery is folved, te/fe invito. 
<¢ ‘At prefent, the Houfe of Auftria di- 
reéts all the affairs of the Grifons with 
the moft unbounded authority. ‘hat 
power has acquired this {way, by regular- 
ly difcharging the public penfions, by 
holding the leading members of the diet: 
in its pay, by being a guarantee, of the 
Valteline, and mediator in all the difputes 
between the Grifons and their fubjects.”” 
Where is now Mr. CoXe’s candour ? 
He might as well argue, that, becaufe 
our Edward IV. Henry VIII. Charles If. 
were penfioned by France, no monarchy 
can exift without foreign penfions. __ 
Is it not rather a piece of jefuitical art, 
to place this main intelligence at fo great 
adiftance from its proper place, and real 
point of view? In faét, it is not preju- 
dice, but repeated obfervation, which 
leads me to fay, that, in the writings of all 
ecclefiattics (with very few. exceptions), 
one meets with fpecimens of jefuitifin. 
They are fo accuitomed to deceive, that 
they praétice art in fpite of themfelves, as 
it were, and even in trifles and indifferent 
objects. 
eet arene 
FIELDING aud’ SwiFT. 
OME writers have obtained the cha- 
ra&ter of original invention at rather 
a cheap rate; they have had the art of - 
appearing to exhibit a great fecundity of 
imagination, throughout an entire werk; 
when, 
