366 
wretchednefs 5 and da by an accumu- 
Sated weight of forrow, have been afflicied 
beyond expreilion, and funk, in deep de- 
fpair, into a ftate, both of body and mind, 
teo: pitiable to be defcribed ; when the 
exertions of fociety 51 in only finding a fuit- 
able occupation for them in the firtt pref- 
fure'of their difficulties, might have ren- 
dered them happy and uleful to the pericd 
of mortality. 
It was at firft intended to confine phic 
addrefs to the ladies, in favour of thofe of 
theiz own fex, who might be in deititute 
eircumftances ; wifhing, that however ac- 
ceptable the pecuniary aid and protection 
ef the men might be, fernales fhould have 
the privilege of appeal to females; and 
thinking it highly defirable that affairs of 
fo delicate and 3 important a nature fhould 
be managed by a committee of females, 
and not referred to the other fex, as though 
women were not the moft ft and compe- 
tent to the application of their own cha- 
ritics to their own fex. There is ever y 
reafen to believe that fuch an inffitution 
would flourifh beft beneath the kind and 
foftering care cf females; and that it 
would, without fubjeéting them to any 
improprieties, fo acquaint them with the 
real condition of their fex, and fo call forth 
the tender afliduities congenial to their 
matures, as to produce, in the end, benefits 
to fociety that are at prefent incaicula- 
ble. 
The immediate intention of this paper 
is, thr ough the medium of your valuable 
pnagazine, to excite the public attention 
to the fubject on which it is wristen, by 
engaging fome of your readers in a cor- 
refpoudence on it: by which means a plan 
may be truck out, that may be practi- 
cable for carrying the defign into effect. 
Fhe writer has been intentionally very 
general i in his propol: mls lee: immediately 
entering on the particulars of the plan, by 
wiuich no individual in the ki ngdom, who 
wants fuitable employment, “fhould be 
De ceaal from it, the gréat principle 
Should be ioft fight of, in the firft inftance, 
before the mind fhouid be culy in iprefled 
with it, and the attention be occupied in 
objections and difficulties which might 
arife about fome lefler queftions of patti- 
€ ‘The writer hopes he fhall not be 
eifappointed in his expedtati ion-of engag- 
ing fome gentleman or lady in the pro- 
poied correlponds ce 5 and that no lady, 
who ae acknowledge the importance of 
zt, will be difcouraged from prefenting to 
the ublic her ainents one fubjeét. 
Ne eee oI Tying 
April 4, 3799s EP, 
State of Manners, Sc. at Briffol. 
[*May 
Ta the Ediget of the Montbl Magazine. 
SER, ; 
Have been always led to think, that 
A local hifteries, comprehending tope- 
graphy, cuftoms, manners, and com- 
merce, might be made not only amufing, 
but beneficial to fociety. For this rea- 
fon I read, with much pleafure, the ac- 
count that was given in your Magazirie, 
of laf{ month, of Norwich ; and am en- 
couraged to attempt fomething es 
concerning Briftol. 
The praile of {cience, whether it at-_ 
taches to individuals or communities, 
ranks among their higheft honours. To 
fay of any place, that its traders ase 
rich; that fo many manutadctures are 
eftablifhed there ; ; and that its ports are 
crowded with the fhips of various nations, 
founds. indeed well on the Royal Ex- 
change; but will not give lafting cele- 
brity. Had it not been for the Academia 
of Plato, and the Lyceum of Ariftotle, 
Athens, with its Pirgzeus, had long 
fnce been configned to oblivion. So, 
like Athens, when the adventitious cir- 
cumftances of trade fhall be forgotten, 
Briftol will be mentioned with re{pect by 
the future hiftorians of literature and ge- 
nius; and ‘¢ Literis verbi(que valuerunt,”” 
be the juft encominm paffed en its in- 
habitants. 
‘It has been remarked, that climate has 
great influence in the formation of the 
human mind. ‘The region of Attica, we 
are told, was a rocky barren foil, re- 
markable for the extreme purity of its 
air—that of Boeotia, lew and fertile, 
having am atmofphere laden with perpe- 
tual fogs: the Athenians, as might be 
expected, were fprightly, acute, and 
fcientifie ; while the Boectians, like our 
Dutch neighbours, were fingular only for 
oppofite endowments. ‘This feems, in 
part, to fanCtion the idea. And what is 
more natural to fuppofe, than that per- 
fens, bern amid wild and romantic ice- 
nery, fhould poflefs grander conceptions, 
and be more alive to the foblime and 
beautiful, than thofe who have fpent all 
their days on a level, monotonous, and 
uninterelting moor. If there is any truth 
in this remark, few places are better cal- 
culated ingenuoufly to affect the mind, 
and become the cunabulum of genius, than 
Briftol. The rocks and woods in its 
neighbourhood exceed, m magnificence, 
almoft every thing of the kind in this 
country ; while the Jofty and extenfive 
downs of Leigh and Durdham, the dif- 
tant profpect of the Severn and Wales 
beyond, with the nearer view of Welton, 
Henbury, 
