- Overtures 
2809.] 
the writings of: ninety-nine out of a hun- 
dred are “forgotteri the better, but this 
is no peculiar feature of our. own aye, 
either in regard to authors or judges ; it 
isin the nature of men and things, that it 
should be so, and he who expects to find 
in every author a Shakespeare, Milton, or 
Locke, might as well expect to find in 
every judge, a Solon, Bacon, or Black- 
stone; or in every mana Kyrie, Howard, 
or Hanway. 
Your’s, &c. 
-Common Sense. 
Lo the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
Ae your Magazine is distinguished by 
many liberal and enlightened dis- 
yuisitions, which occasionally give. inte- 
rest to its pages , and conceiving that the 
subject of national-politées may be cri- 
tically éxamined, and fully ‘discussed, 
without allusions to, or considerations of, ' 
paly, I should be glad to direct thie at» 
tention of some of your Correspondents 
to the following puestions respecting 
WAR > 
1, What are the English fighting for? 
2, What have been the motives and 
objects of those persons, who are the 
seek and promoters of this war ?' 
, low are we to account for the ap- 
Biba apathy and itdifference of the 
great mass of the people, to the destruc- 
tive, impoverishing, and truly calami- 
tous effect of this long-protracted war ? 
. Who are the persons that prefer war 
to ened ? What are their situations, and 
what do they gain by’ instigating, and con- 
tinuing in, warfare? 
5. Could not a general peace be easily 
and readily established? and would it 
not greatly conduce to encourage litera- 
ture, the fine arts, and general ‘comforts 
of mankind? 
6. If it be clear, that such a peace, 
as can easily be obtained, would tend to 
mitigate-the hardships, which the middle 
and lower classes of society now Jabotr 
under, and which must greatly ineréase 
by continuing the war, why does not 
the executive government make some 
, or adopt some measures, to 
obtain this great end? And if they’still 
persist in the familiarly destructive sys- 
tem, why do not the people petition his 
Majesty to employ such ministers, as 
will pay some respect to the ‘wants and 
wishes of the country? 
Ts it. not truly lamentable, that sO 
many years should elapse, and the same 
_MontuLty Mao, No, 191, 
Questions respecting War. 
$57 
unwise, wunmeaning, and undeterminate 
system be persisted in? 
lfa few of the literary characters of 
the kingdom, whose minds ought to be 
attuned to peace, and who should exert 
their influence to obtain it, would strenu- 
ously direct their pens to this subject, at 
the present.crisis, it is conceived, that 
they would effect, not only a great na- 
tional, but a mortdly good. 
Your's, &c. 
A True Briton. 
Sept. 18, 1809. 
SSE 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
ARAH Williams, in her {08th year, 
is now living in a small, but neat 
and comfortable cottage, at the foot of 
that celebrated eminenee, called Brent 
Torr, situated about half-way between 
Tavistock and Lidford. The writer of 
this article visited her in the month of 
August; 1809, and found, after a little 
conversation, that her faculties were but 
little impaired; her hearing was perfect, 
and, with the assistance of glasses, she 
could read tolerably well—her person 
was by no means emaciated. She has 
been anable to walk for the last five years, 
yet appears ‘not deficient in strength 5 
otherwise, she has enjoyed very ‘good 
‘and other nourishmeg things. 
‘iad twelve children, the eldest of whom, 
‘now liying, is in his 82d’: year, and is a 
strong hale-looking old man. 
health during the whole course of her 
life, and has never lived out of the parish 
ef Brent Torr, or of the one adjoining. — 
Within these few years she has cut 
five teeth, three of which still remain, 
together with ten or twelve old ones. 
Her diet consists principally of -broths, 
She has 
‘She is at- 
tended by a dahghter, who is upwards 
6f sixty years of age, and, from whose 
‘active and healthy appearance, there is 
every probability she will attain the great 
age of her mother. When she feels lan. 
guid or faint, she smells to wormwood, 
which speedily refreshes her. In the 
younger party of her life, she was em- 
ployed as a domestic in a farm-house, and 
was always accustomed to very early 
rising, to which she attributes, in some 
measure, the attainment of her extraor- 
dinary age. She is now in indigent. cir- 
cumstances, and is supported. at. the ex- 
pense of the parish, Many persons are 
attracted by curiosity to her residence, 
and from their liberality she is enabled ta 
prouute, mtany little comforts, of , which, 
2 & from. 
