Vit 
rounded off: crooked lanes and alleys 
have been made firaight: many other 
nuifances and annoyances have been done 
away: and our ambling nymphs may now 
fairly venture abread without the auti- 
quated lumber of pattens and clogs. And 
it is a fact, that this is chiefly owing, in 
Portfea, to the indefatigable induftry and 
unbending perfeverance of one individual. 
As to commerce, our cafe is certainly 
mended. As numbers have fwoln our 
population, our trade has increafed beyond 
all bounds, and we have made rapid ftrides 
towards eflablifhing our name as a great 
commercial. people. We have feveral 
merchants who may now rank as im- 
porters, if not as exporters; and we have 
already a manufactory for pipes, and 
another, very near a-kin to it,- and of 
equal moment, for herb-tobacco. Befides 
this, we dreis more 4-la-mode : the fafhions 
are not much above a month travelling 
down to us frem the weft end of the Town, 
and even fome.of our tradesfolk and the 
very rear ranks of our publicans make no 
imall figure. They fport their hories and 
equipages; and of thefe Portfmonth-point 
- has its fhare; and on the fkirts: of the 
town they boa their fine gravel-walk, 
gardens, and variegated parterres. He¥e 
they have their chateaus, their villas, and 
bowers, and in thefe they difplay more 
than Attic tafte and Arcadian fintplicity. 
The ornaments they have lavifhed on them 
are of the. chafteft order; vailes, golden 
balis, lions’ heads, Venuses, dolphins, and 
floating banners, are highly appropriate 
and emblematical; and their /tes-cham- 
pétres on fine-weather Sundays, their prin- 
cipal dies fefie, are truly paftoral and 
amufing. But to turn to more general 
objeéts—our theatre, which is an improved 
one, ard not fmall, is fitted up decently. 
‘The performers do not complain of - play- 
ing to empty benches. Modefty and im- 
modefty have for fome time been diftri- 
buted feparately into upper and lower 
boxes. ‘The riotous fons of Neptune and 
of Mars are at length overawed by the. 
Rtrenothened and uplifted arm of civil au- 
thority. We have the new pieces played 
to us as fcon as the managers find it ne- 
cefiary to their intereft. And our company 
is not without fome performers of dramatic 
merit. We have balls and affemblies of 
the firft order, notified at our corners, in. 
crown: folios, at fo cheapa_rateas ‘as. 6d, 
tea included.”” We have concerts, with- 
out much inclination for them, and now 
and then a fumptucus Jew’s wedding, 
“We make dull vilits, play at cards to keep 
ourfelves awake, and have a few jovial 
° 
Account of Port{mouth. 
[ Sept. q, 
dinner-parties. We have elections and 
fwearings-in of maycrs, chocfings of par= 
liament-men, feffions, grand juries, clubs, 
charities, and armed affociations of roy- 
alifts, loyalifts, and loyal-independents, and 
oblerve great anniverfaries, and confe- 
quently have fome feafting. We have fe- 
veral general evening rendezvous, where 
we take our pipes and our porter, liften 
to our oracies of inftrvétion, regularly 
diffe&t the news of the day, and get our 
cues for the next; and a few of us pafs 
our fummer-afternoons very innocently 
and playfully at the bowling-creen. We 
fill our fifteen or fixteen churches on Sun- 
days pretty fairly, and keep the Sabbath © 
otherwite as {trig as the fourth command- 
ment can be legally enforced upon us: 
Our. play-folk are confirained to keep 
gocd hours: nine-pins, fkittle-alleys, and. 
whirligigs, have been lately profcribed : 
hops are denounced as contraband, the 
language of our ftreets muft bear judicial 
criticilm : diferderly vagabonds mutt -fly 
to covert =: and the wild excurfions of our 
Jack tars, on their jaded hacks, and with 
‘their drunken dexies and fidlers, on the 
wrecks of foundered coaches, are, to the 
great triumph of decency, no longer per- 
miffible. This is certainly confoling. It 
is equally true, that, though we have made. 
concefliens, we are yet unfold to the Mam- 
mon cf unrighteoufnefs—that our borough 
is reprefented in the Senate by the Cicera 
of the age, and Lord Hugh Seymour— 
that we have fome goodly preachers and 
worthy paftors who labour to inftru& us — 
—-that many of us, zzcog. have a peuchané 
for the delles-lettres—that the Purfuits of. 
Literattire 1s apuny, though a malicious. 
libel again& our charter, -and our incor-) 
porated wifgom—that fome of our citizens. 
have arrived at great and enviable. civic 
and military honours—that by, confpicuows, 
loyalty and meriterious conduct others 
have been elevated to the rank and dignity: 
of high fheriffs of the county—and, to, 
crown the whole, that more. than. once 
(twice, or thrice, fince my remembrance) 
the King and Royal Family have deigned, 
for days together, to honour us with their, 
rehdence within this their loyal and zade- 
pendent burgh! Yet, Mr, Editor, me- 
thinks, after all, we are not one jot the 
better off than we were formerly. Though 
many of our boafted improvements have. 
been. made by virtue of Aéts of Parlia- 
ment, and various annoyances have been 
put an.end to under the fame high autho- 
rity, Ido not know-that we live longer: 
on account of it. Death certainly vifits; 
us at the laine period as heretofore. His 
ravages 
