tain the truth of the account, and furnith 
farther particulars ribcage lt: <Viz., the 
nature of the ftone; whether 1 was a 
joofe nodule, or formed part 5f 
of the quarry ? the fize of the cavity oc- 
cupied by the animal; whether _there 
were any Gf ffures, or other cavities, in the 
fone ? and whether there was no {mall 
communication from the outer part of the 
ffone to the animal’s prifon ? 
Tam aware.that fever accounts of the 
fame ceed are to be met with, of toads 
snclofed in blocks of ficne:; but 1 have 
not found any of theie accounts entirely 
farisfactory : theré are, however, initances 
of thefe animals ae been found pe 
oY e body of: a tr 
; co be better authenticat 
eriments of M.HERISSANT, ae 
oads in cafes of plaier, an aon 
them Iiing after a confnement of up- 
wards of three. vears, only confirm a 
well-known faét, that thefe animals will 
live a great length of time without food ; 
this is by no means eee : bats, 
and other {mall animals, who pafs the 
winter in a ftate of torpidits v, exift for 
months without taking any food, or 
exercife ; and it is pofli ible that the de- 
privation of air and light may reduce the 
confined toads to a ftate fimilar to that of 
thefe animals, during their winter fleep. 
The great difficulty with relpect to the 
“toads faid to be found in mafes of for ne, 
is how they came to be inclofed there. 
Auguf? 9, 1797- f ERG See 
gatas LST 
To ibe Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SERS". : 
7 ONE, Ibelieve, who have Lae le 
hiffory with attention, will concur 
~ with Mr. WAKEFIELD, in pronouncing 
as ftyle. * ‘folecifircal, clumfy, and deftitute 
of elegance and many will think it en- 
titled to fomething more than mere ne- 
gative praifes ey is unaffected, perf{pi- 
é€nous, and deli icgtely y PutEs aS AVEll jas 
nervous and animated. It is coneife, 
but not obf{cure ; ene but not redun- 
dant; often rich and figurative, but ne- 
ver tawdry. The w ords are well cho! en, 
and happily arranged ; the periods firmly 
supported, and the tranfitrons eafy and 
natural. dn the & ruciure ofthe fen- 
tences, we find accuracy and precifion, 
firength and dign iy blended with all the 
foftnefs of atiic elegance. Such is che 
hiftery confid bred as a literary compo- 
fition. gee ai oe 
The character of queen Elizabeth, as 
drawn by the mafierly pencil of Hume, 
has been long admired, and not without 
thease os 
HcIOlEad~ 1m 
7 
t 
GO; Loads iaclofed in Stones... Defence of Hume. 
che trata: 
CA 
[Auge 
reafon. The firiking. . In- 
portrait Is 
colours bold, yet not opal or oftenta- 
ticus, the very features.of her mind, the 
Icent fprings that direéted- its move- 
~ments, the virtues and the vices of her 
heart, are delinéated with juft and cif- 
criminative accuracy. Aiter our fenfa- 
tions have borne an honourable teftimony 
to the merit of the pieces it Is with pain 
we turn to Mr. WAKEFIEED’s critical 
analyfis or it, in which we difcover much 
baty, and dogmatical ceniure, much. faf- 
tid ioutnefs, “but nothing of the liberal 
fpirit of a connoifleur. 
“Had thone,: 
“ awkward, unk dignified, and uneramumai- 
ag] Ce = ht propof: ed alteration, however, 
adds nothing to its dignity or grammati- 
cal propriety. In }Jchnfon’s di@ionary, 
we find ‘have thone, er have fhined.’ 
In many Englith verbs, the preterperfedt 
and the participle have no appropriate 
ee tion... ‘Uhes parag sraph does not, 
n the moft diftant ‘manner, fuggeft. the 
idea of a durable calamity. cA dark 
cloud” is a firong image to reprefent the 
forrows that overfaadowed the latter 
part of her life—forrows that have been 
attributed to different caufes, but moft 
generally, and with the moft probabiity, 
to the execution of Effex, an event, thar 
always lay nay at her heart,and which 
fhe did not long furvive. The language 
is likewile perfectly copfiftent with that 
of the preceding paragraph. A perion, 
in any ftation or rank of life, when 
weighed down with any long cr fudden 
preflure of trouble, “may fink into. a 
lethargic lumber, and expire without a 
firugele. AOS RV queen (fays Mr. W.) 
was nor more expofed to cen{ure or adu - 
lation than any other perfon. ” .What ! 
did not the circumftances or her fituation, 
her aétions, her conduét, expofe her 
more to the cenfure of her enemies, and 
the flattery of her friends, than others 2 
And did not the length of her adm:nil- 
traticn co-opérate with other caufes to- 
wards the abatement of this cenfure and 
this adulation? Time removes that paf- 
fion and prejudice, which. preventing 
us from viewing things in their natural 
colours, give a wrong bias to the. judg- 
ment. Hence, though during her reign, 
fhe was fo much cenfured by her ene- 
mies, and flattered by her triends, the 
charaéier of the queen has been deter- 
mined with more certainty than that of 
any other perfonage we meet with in hif- 
tory. This is the meaning which the 
hittorian wifhes to convey, and which he: 
has done, with as much clearnefs, and 
| morg 
Mr. W.-confiders as 
x 
Oy ee 
