waited on her; and the difcourfed a little with him about his buifnes, and the time of his audience, and gave him many thankes for his noble treatment of her and her company." Our author informs us, that two days after this entertainment, "Monf. Woolfeldt, being vifited by Whitelocke, told him, that the queen was extremely pleafed with his treatment of her: Whitelocke excufed the meannefs of it for her majelly; Woolfeldt replyed, that both the queen and all the company efteemed it as the handfomeft and nobleft that they ever faw; and the queen, after that, would drinke no other wine butt Whitelocke's, and kindly accepted the neats tounges, potted venifon, and other cakes, which, uppon her commendation of them, Whitelocke fent unto her majefty." Some Account of the Diamond and Gold Mines in the Brafils; from Bougainville's Voyage. R IO Janeiro is the emporium and principal ftaple of the rich produce of the Brafils. The mines, which are called general, are the nearest to the city; being about feventy-five leagues diftant. They annually bring in to the king, for his fifth part, at least one hundred and twelve arobas of gold; in 1762 they brought in a hundred and nineteen. Under the government of the general mines, are comprehended thofe ofio das Mortes, of Sabara, and of Serofrio. The last place, befides gold, produces all the diamonds that come from the Brafils. They are in the bed of a river; which is led' afide, in order afterwards to leparate the diamonds, topazes, chry folites, and other ftones of inferior goodnefs, from the pebbles, among which they lie. All these ftones, diamonds excepted, are not contraband: they belong to the poffeffors of the mines; but they are obliged to give a very exact account of thediamonds they find; and to put them into the hands of a furveyor; whom, the king appoints for this purpoie. The furveyor immediately depofits them in a little cafket, covered with plates of iron, and locked up' by three locks. He has one of the keys, the viceroy the other and the Provador de azienda Reale the third. This cafket is inclofed in another, on which are the seals of the three perfons above mentioned, and which contains the three keys to the first. The viceroy is not allowed to vifit its contents; he only places the whole in a third coffer, which he fends to Lifbon, after putting his feal on it. It is opened in the king's prefence, he choofes the diamonds which he likes out of it; and pays their price to the poffeffors of the mines, according to a tariff fettled in their charter. The poffeffors of the mines pay the value of a Spanish piaftre or dollar per day to his Moft Faithful Majefty, for every flave 'ent out to feek diamonds; the number of the fe flaves amounts to eight hundred. Of all the contraband trades, that of diamonds is moft feverely nifhed. If the fuggler is pod", he lofes his life; if his riches are fufficient to fatisfy what the law Intendant. exas, befides the confifcation of the diamonds, he is condemned to pay double their value, to be imprifoned for one year, and then exiled for life to the coaft of Africa. Notwithstanding this feverity, the fmugling trade with diamends, even of the most beautiful kind, is very extenfive; fo great is the hope and facility of hiding them, on account of the little room they take up. All the gold which is got out of the mines cannot be fent to Rio Janeiro, without being previously brought into the houses, established in each diftrict, where the part belonging to the crown is taken. What belongs to private perfons is returned to them in wedges, with their weight, their number, and the king's arms ftamped upon them. All this gold is affayed by a perfon appointed for that purpofe, and on each wedge or ingot, the alloy of the gold is marked, that it may afterwards be eafy to bring them all to the fame alloy for the coinage. These ingots belonging to private perfons are registered in the office of Pray uno, thirty leagues from Rio Janeiro. At this place is a captain, lieutenant, and fifty men: there the tax of one fifth part is paid, and further, a poll tax of a real and a half per head, of men, cattle, and beafts of burden. One half of the produce of this tax goes to the king, and the other is divided among the detachment, according to their rank. As it is impoffible to come back from the mines without paffing by this ftation, the foldiers always ftop the paffengers, and fearch them with the utmost rigour. The private people are then obliged to bring all the ingots of gold which fall to their share, to the mint at Rio Janeiro, where they get the value of it in cafh: this commonly confifts of demi-doubloons, worth eight Spanish dollars. Upon each demi-doubloon, the king gets a piastre or dollar for the alloy, and for the coinage. The mint at Rio Janeiro is one of the fineft buildings exifting. It is furnifhed with all the conveniencies neceffary towards working with the greateft expedition. As the gold comes from the mines at the fame time that the fleets come from Pertugal, the coinage must be accelerated, and indeed they coin there with amazing quickness. The arrival of these fleets, and efpecially of that from Lisbon. renders the commerce of Rio Janeiro very flourishing. The fleet from Porto is laden only with wines, brandy, vinegar, victuals, and fome coarfe cloths, manufactured in and about that town. As foon as the fleets arrive, all the goods they bring are conveyed to the cuf tom-houfe, where they pay a duty of ten per cent. to the king. It must be obferved that the communication between the colony of Santo Sacramento and Buenos Ayres being entirely cut off at prefent, that duty must be confiderably leffened; for the greater part of the most precious merchandizes which arrived from Europe were fent from Rio Janeiro to thatcolony, from whence theywere fmuggled throughBuenos Ayres to Peru and Chili; and this contraband trade was worth a million and a half of piastres or dol lars annually to the Portuguefe. In short, the mines of the Brafils produce no filver, and all that which the Portuguese got, came from from this fmuggling trade. The negro trade was another immense object. The lofs which the almost entire fuppreffion of this branch of contraband trade occafions, cannot be calculated. This branch alone employed at least thirty coafting veffels between the Brafils and Rio de la Plata. Befides the old duty of ten per cent. which is paid at the royal cuftom houfe, there is another duty of two and a half per cent. laid on the goods as a free gift, on account of the unfortunate event which happened at Lifbon in 1755. This duty must be paid down at the cuftom- houfe immediately, whereas for the tenth, you may have a refpite of fix months, on giving good fecurity. The mines of S, Paolo and Parnagua pay the king four arrobas as his fifth, in common years. The most distant mines, which are those of Pracaton and Quiaba, depend upon the government * of Matagroffo. The fifth of thefe mines is not received at Rio Janeiro, but that of the mines of Goyas is. This government has likewife mines of diamonds, but it is forbidden to fearch in them. All the expences of the king of Portugal at Rio Janeiro, for the payment of the troops and civil of ficers, the carrying on of the mines, keeping the public buildings in repair, and refitting of fhips, amount to about fix hundred thoufand piaftres. I do not speak of the expence he may be at in conftructing fhips of the line and frigates, which he has lately begun to do here. * Capitaine. A fummary account, and the amount of the separate articles of the king's revenue, taken at a medium in Spanish dollars. One hundred and fifty arrobas of gold, of which in common years all the fifths amount to The duty on diamonds The duty on the coinage Ten per cent. of the custom-house Two and a half per cent. free gift Poll tax, fale of employs, offices, and other products of the mines The duty on negroes The duty on train-oil, falt, foap, and the tenth on the victuals of the country Total in dollars or piaftres Dollars. 1,125,000 240,000 400,000 350,000 87,000 225,000 110,000 130,000 2,667,000 From whence, if you deduct the expences above mentioned, it will appear that the king of Portugal's revenues from RioJaneiro, amount to upwards of ten millions of our money (livres f). Some Extracts and Anecdotes from Grofley's Obfervations on England. UCH is the influence of the fri-Sati national character in England, that the people know no medium between prodigality and the most rigid œconomy. The parfimoni + Upwards of 450,000 pounds fterling; at 4s. and 6d. per dollar. ous ous find means, by their frugality, to bear the expence of all the public foundations and erections. As they do not pique themfelves upon living and dreffing like other people, nor fquare their taftes by thofe of their neighbours, they are uninfuenced by example, fuperior to prejudices, and entirely concentered within themfelves. They spend or fave money as they think proper, and when they think proper; in fine, with an income infufficient for thousands in the fame circumftances, they find a fuperfluity, which they accumulate, either to leave a great fortune to their heirs, or to indulge fuch fancies as thofe I have been mentioning: fancies, which, with English pride, fupply the place of a variety of equipages, of face, jewels, and all the tranfient brilliancy, that national vanity elsewhere fubftitutes to folid and durable monuments, fuch as adorned Athens and Rome*, and, in the eyes of pofterity, will alfo be the ornament of England. I have been told, on this occafion of an event, which occurred in common life, but is moft ftrikingly odd and fingular; efpecially with refpect to thofe, who think and act like the vulgar. A collection was made to build the hofpital of Bedlam. Those who were employed to gather this mo. ney, came to a fmall houfe, the door of which was half open; from the entry, they overheard an old man fcolding his fervant-maid, who, having made ufe of a match in kindling the fire, had afterwards indifcreetly thrown it away, without reflecting that the match, hav ing ftill the other extremity dipped in fulphur, might be of further fervice. Afterdiverting themfelves a while with the difpute, they knocked, and prefented themfelves before the old gentleman. As foon as they told him the caufe of their coming, he went into a clofet, from whence he brought four hundred guineas, and reckoning the money in their prefence, he put it into their bag. The collectors being aftonished at this generofity, which they little expected, could not help teftifying their furprize; and told the old fellow what they had heard. "Getlemen,” said he, your furprize is occafioned by a thing of very little confequence, I keep houfe, and fave or spend money my own way: the one furnishes me with the means of doing the other; and both equally gratify my inclinations. With regard to benefactions and donations, always expect most from prudent people, who keep their accounts." When he had spoken thus, he turned them out of his houfe without ceremony, and shut the door, not thinking half so much of the four hundred guineas, which he had just given away, as of the match that had been thrown into the fire. London is poffeffed of feveral cabinets of medal. That of Mr. Duane is, both for the number and compleatness of the collection, fo rich, that it may juftly vie with the cabinet of a fovereign. He poffeffes a fine feries of the coins of the kings of Perfia, with infcrip *Publicam magnificentiam depopulatur privata luxuries. The luxury of private perfons deftroys public magnificence." Paterc. 1. ii. tions tions in characters fuppofed to be thofe of the facred language, in which Zoroafter wrote: the metal of these coins is a very brittle fort of filver, which bears a ftrong refemblance to folder *. Mr. Duane had three of the coftlieft medals of Athens, on one fide of which was the head of Minerva, and on á fquare reverfe the owl with an olive branch. He forced me, with the moft obliging importunity, to accept of the fineft of thefe three medals, as a prefent, I cannot more properly terminate this article, than by relating a compliment of this fort which France received from England. The count of Caylus, to whom it was made, relates it in the lait volume of his Egyptian antiquities in these terms: "On the 18th of June in the year 1764, Mr. Major, an English engraver, brought me five little Egyptian figures, and a baffo-relievo of marble. Curious to know from whom this prefent came, I queftioned him accordingly; and as fecrecy had been recommended to him, he did not explain himself, but fuddenly disappeared, no doubt through fear of being over-perfuaded by my importunity to make a difcovery: this abrupt departure was the more eafy for him to effectuate, as I was confined to my bed by illness. He had put into my hands a note, when he delivered the figures: in this I expected to find the information I defired, but I was undeceived as foon as I had got it tranflated. The import of the paper was, that an English man, a zealous friend to liberty, and who looked upon the whole world as his country, had a defire to enrich my cabinet with fome Egyptian antiques. The most kind and polite expreffions inhanced the value of the prefent. Penetrated with the moft lively fenfe of gratitude at a procedure fo noble and almost unparalleled, I ufed all potfible means to come at the knowledge of this generous man, but without fuccefs: feeing my inquiries ineffectual, I was obliged to advertise in the public papers in London; there he read part of the thanks which I returned him, and became acquainted with my defire to know where the baffo relievo had been difcovered, and how it had been brought over to Europe. I foon obtained my requeft. The fame Englishman, the fame friend of liberty, the fame citizen of the world (for this is the name, which he continued to affume in the fecond letter which he did me the honour of writing to me) has fent me word, that the baffo-relievo which he fo generoufly made me a prefent of, was brought from Grand Cairo, about fifteen years ago, by the mafter of an Englifh fhip; that it was configned to a merchant in London who fold it, and that afterwards it had fallen into the hands of the donor. This civility was the more agreeable, and the lefs fufpected of Hattery, as the Count of Caylus died, without ever knowing from what hand it came. Having fet an enquiry on foot in London, I difcovered that this valuable prefent *Thefe medals are the fame with those which Hyde had published before, in his great work concerning the religion of the Perfians. came |