squadron sent to the West Indies, and keeping back the Spanish Treasure, thereby rendring it useless, as to any dangerous purposes.
The wisdom of this conduct, Fog takes notice, proved itself in the Event; The Spaniards were provoked; sent out their privateers, and pillag'd our merchants!
As to humouring the Q. of Spain in settling the Italian dukedoms on Don Carlos, says, sneeringly, besides obliging a fair Lady, Great Britain has gain'd the treaty of Seville!
Fog's Journal, Jan. 30. No. 124.
THe Press, says he, has lately warm'd with writing pro and con, upon the present posture of affairs, by which we find that one party is of opinion, that ministers of state are no more than men; t'other will have 'em to be angels (that is while they continue in power.) ——— Here you read, that Affairs are in no better situation than they should be ——— there, that we have neither past miscarriages, or present grievances to complain of, and that the nation never was in so flourishing a condition. One D'Anvers, and, if I mistake not, one Fog, are accused of seditiously asserting that a Crow is black, but the writers on the other side, have, with infinite Wit, proved a black Crow to be the whitest bird of all the feather'd kind.
He proceeds thus merrily to remark on a pamphlet intitled, Considerations on the present state of affairs, with regard to the Number of Forces in the Pay of Great Britain; and endeavours, in his ironical way, to overthrow the several arguments advanced by the author for maintaining the Hessian troops, and concludes with giving his opinion that they will be very far from convincing the disaffected.
The Grub-street Journal, Thursday, Jan. 14. No. 53.
DR. Quibus chuses for the subject of his discourse the operation designed to be performed on the ears of one Rey, a condemn'd malefactor, by Mr Cheselden. This he treats in a ludicrous manner, and supposes that if Mr Rey should prove so unphilosophical as to give the surgeon the slip as soon as the operation is over, we should be as much in the dark as we were before. He declares his opinion, that not only the drum, but the whole organ, or the ear it self, is of no use at all in hearing, and would know the truth of his conjecture by seeing the ears of some malefactor entirely extirpated. Recommends it as a thing of great use, if instead of executing malefactors they were made to undergo such kind of experiments. Trial may be made whether the Retina of the eye is of any use in seeing. A needle might be introduced into the eye, and the Retina quite remov'd. The spleen might be taken out of some vile malefactor, and an observation made whether their inclinations to evil courses depend not on a superfluity of the Atra Bilis. Another experiment he recommends as of great consequence, that is, whether the tying up one of the testicles would not determine the sex of a child begotten at such a time. By this means, he says, many illustrious families might be inform'd of a just and certain method of obtaining an heir to their estates. See p. 19.
The Grub-street Journal, Thursday, Jan. 14. No. 54.
THe author begins with the Laureat's new-year's ode (for which see p. 20) and subjoins to it some explanatory notes; the substance of which is contain'd in the following short remarks.
Line 1. The eternity of the world is here maintain'd, tho' Dr. Clarke had objected against it.
3. Old Janus, a heathenish emblem, is supplanted by old Time, as more familiar to christian readers.
5. To this is objected, making spring a living person calling for birth as itwere
