408 
fufed ; but even the luxury and refine- 
ment of modern times, however extreme, 
have by no means banifhed thofe manly 
attributes, either from ovr. or the fur- 
rounding nations. The Englifh, Neapo- 
Jitan, and Egyptian porters and peafantry, 
and the Ruilianand German foldiers, moft 
manfully fupport this truth, and may be 
confronted for hardihood and feats of bo- 
dily ftrength with the ftouteft and moft res 
doubtable heroes of the ancient world. 
Are we to fuppofe that the men who with 
fo much toi) and labour fought under 
their heavy arms at Fontenoy and Det- 
tingen, were of taller ftature and greater 
bodily #rength than thofe who fought and 
thofe who ran away with fo much celerity 
at the late battle of the three Empercrs ? 
No ; we who knew and obferved the fol- 
diers ef the Seven Years” War, can vouch 
that no fuch difference has exiled. The 
weight of the arms and accoutrements, 
not of the foldiers themfelves, has changed. 
To proceed to that part of the argu 
ment in which medicine is concerned, is it 
not probable alfo that the fize and ftrength 
of the dofes, not of the patients, have un- 
dergone a revolution, and that medical 
{cience has improved, rather than any ma- 
terial change has taken place in the human 
frame. ‘This is to fpeak generally, fince, 
in courfe, robuft habits muft require the 
moft powerful dofes, and the boldeft treat- 
ment in refpe&t to phlebotomy ; and fuch 
patients might be more numerous in for- 
mer days than in the prefent times. Yet 
furely we ought not to take the luxurious 
period of the fecond Charles, and the fottith 
days of George I. and IJ., (without the 
{malleft intention to inculpate the two laft 
monarchs,) for times of fuperior health 
and hardihood. ‘The very weight of dra- 
pery, velvet, broad-cloth and maffive lace, 
and voluminous petriwig, under which 
the ncble, the gentle, and the polite, of 
thofe days ftrutted and fweated, with their 
large fires, fubftantial and heavy window 
and bed-furniture, mud furely have tend- 
ed to flacken and reduce their conftitution- 
al powers. Were thefe the men who 
could bear without injury the purgative 
dofes we find prefcribed in Sydenham and 
Shaw, or afford to lofe a couple of pounds 
of blood ata time without flinching. We 
may, I hope, rather take it for granted, 
that both the practice of medicine and the 
chances of the patient are improved. 
With a with to commit the defideranda 
on this fubject to abler hands, I remain, 
with all my old attachment to the Month. 
ly Magazine, its conftant reader, anc, Sir, 
your's, &c. Decks 
The Exampleaf Burope a Warning ta Britains, (junedy 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine.* 
SiR; 
8 pe prefent ftate of Europe offers a 
f{peétacle that cannot be confidered 
without horror. The unparalleled fuc- 
cefies of the French have conquered, ftun- 
ned, or difarmed, the whole Continent ; 
and eftabiifhed thereby fo predominant an- 
influence, that-no power, or coalition of 
powers, by land, has much chance, ac- 
cordirg to the obvious tendency of the 
late events, of oppofing an effectual fhield 
againft the moft enormous encroachments 
and tyranny of the conqueror. Thele ef- 
fe&ts have not been the confequence of the 
efforts of a regular and eftablifhed Pablo 
ment, that promifes peace or fecurity 
to its conquered or terrified neighbours ; 
but the events have been effected by the 
powers of anarchy and confufion, concen- 
trated by the’talents of one man, who, 
were he to fall, might be fucceeded by 
univerfal rein and devaftation, flowing 
from fimilar changes and horrors to thofe 
which led him to the fupremity of power, 
and which has Jaid. in the duft every ene- 
my but one that has oppofed him. Not 
the {mallet fecurity, and not much pro- 
bability, exits, that the Continent may 
not fee the fo:l of every territory bathed in 
_the bef blood of its inhabitants, the guil- 
lotine permanent, and the reign of affaffi- 
nation, terror, and blood, reftored, from 
Gibraltar to Peterfburg, from Copenha- 
gen to Conftantinople. Suppofe the go- 
vernment of Bonaparte fhould be a regular 
one, (and its regularity has hitherto de- 
pended, in conquered countries, on the ty- 
ranny of his lieutenants,) yet who can 
foretell what will fucceed him ? Jacobin- 
ifm, in all its horrors, may {pring up, and 
deluge all the Continent with devaftation ; 
while the powers that might have oppofed 
it arein univerfal debility and ruin. With- 
out looking, however, fo far, what a fpec- 
tacle is it to fee fo many countries con- 
guered, or crouching, with Spanifh imbe- 
cility, under the foot of a tyrant; and 
‘the people of the Welt, except one, the 
beafis of burthen to the French ! 
Such are the confequences of the events 
we have feen ; and, as far as they have 
been effected, there can be no doubt-but 
it has been the will of the Almighty that 
they fhould come to pafs. He certainly 
‘s rides in-the whirlwind, and direéts the 
_ * This interefting article was communicas 
ted to the Monthly Magazine by Mr. Young 
two months fince, but deferred till now for 
want of room.--EpiTor, 
fiorm 3” 
