reality he had none. All that he could juftly infer from his experience was, that water, in the circumftances under which he had feen it, would remain fluid. But water, expofed to a degree of cold fufficient to congeal it, was a circumftance in which he never faw it; therefore his experience could never tell him what effect that degree of cold would have upon the water, whenever it came to be expofed to it. We have a remarkable inftance of the effects of trufting to a partial and limited experience, in that firm belief which people ignorant of medicine fo frequently have in the wonderful effects of particular remedies, efpecially if they are kept as fecrets. Many an old woman, and, what is more furprising, many a grave Philofopher, have infallible c res for a number of difeafes, which every Phyfician finds to be incurable. No Phyfician, indeed, has the comfort of thinking himself poffeffed of an infallible cure, even for the fcratch of a pin.

Although facts afford the only folid foundation for genuine science, yet, when we confider them as unconnected with any other, they convey but little ufeful inftruction. The phænomena of Nature are infinite; but the capacities of the human mind, and particularly the memory, are very limited. If these phænomena, therefore, were not reducible to certain general principles or laws, our experience of particular facts could do us but little fervice But there is an inftinctive propenfity in the human mind to be delighted with analogies; to compare and connect facts that refemble one another; and, by this comparison, to reduce them to certain general rules; to apply fuch general rules to account for other effects, or to direct us in the production of them. The bufinefs of true philofophy is, in compliance with this natural propenfity, to difcover thefe connections, and to reduce them under certain general rules or principles, called Laws of Nature, by which we mean nothing elfe, but the moft general fats relating to the operations of nature, which include a great many particular facts under them. The propenfity of the mind to reduce particular facts to general laws appears from the anxiety which men fhew to difcover the caufe of any uncommon event. The difcovery of this cause infers no more, than the discovery of that law of Nature by which the event is produced; for we mean nothing by natural caufes, but certain general facts or laws, with which what we call effects are uniformly and invariably connected as confequences; but the nature of this connection we are perfectly frangers to. In our inquiries into nature, after we have arrived at the know

ledge of fome general laws, by an accurate comparison and arrangement of obfervations, we may, by comparing these laws together, difcover laws of a more general nature; and thus, by a flow and cautious induction, we make advances to a knowledge of the most general laws, that regulate the system of nature, in all the different departments of the arts and fciences.

It is not philofophical fcepticifin, nor an humble opinion of our prefent knowledge, which checks the spirit of inquiry into the laws of nature; it is a mean opinion of the human powers, which effectually chills the ardor of genius, and blafts all grand and extensive views of improvement. In works addreffed to the heart, that coldness and severe precifion, fo neceffary in the investigation of truth, have no place; Fancy there is in her proper element, and the loofeft and wildeft analogies may often be properly admitted. A Philofopher may read a fairy tale with great delight, without the leaft reflection upon his tatte or understanding; but it reflets feverely upon both, if he reads with the fame pleasure a philofophical inveftiga. tion, not founded in obfervations and experiments, but in the vagaries of a lively imagination; unless he is fenfible of its being a romance, and only allows himself to be charmed with the spirit or elegance of the compolition.

In our inquiries, therefore, into human Nature, our impatience to acquire a knowledge of her laws, and a natural love of fimplicity, makes us think them fewer and fimpler than they really are. Enlarged know ledge certainly difcovers, that the laws of Nature are perfectly uniform, and amazingly fimple, if we compare them with the infinite extent and variety of her works; but yet we must not think, that they are confined within the narrow circle of our knowledge, or even comprehenfion. When Sir Ifaac Newton, towards the end of the last century, demonftrated, by a happy effort of genius, that all the planets in our system gravitate towards the fun by the fime laws, and in confequence of the fame principle, by which bodies on the earth gravitate towards its center, many phænomena came to be explained by this fimple law of gravity; of which formerly no account could be made. But it foon came to be applied to the explication of other phanomena, which afterwards appeared to happen in confequence of very different principles. Des Cartes founded his fyftem of the material world upon two principles, the exiftence of matter, and a certain quantity of motion originally impreffed upon it. Thefe two principles, however, were found

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infufficient, and it has been made evident, that, besides thefe, we must admit the principle of gravitation juft mentioned, cohesion, corpufcular attraction, magnetifin, electricity, and other centripetal and centrifugal forces, by which the particles of matter attract and repel each other. Even Sir Ifaac Newton was led by analogy, and the love of fimplicity, to conjecture, but with a modefty and caution peculiar to him, that all the phænomena of the material world depended upon attracting and repelling forces in the particles of matter. But we have reafon now to believe, that in this conjecture he was deceived; for, even in the unorganifed kingdom, the powers by which falts, cryftals, fparrs, and many other bo

dies, concrete into regular forms, can never be accounted for by attracting and repelling forces in the particles of matter; and, in the vegetable and animal kingdoms, there are evident indications of powers of a different nature from all the powers of unorganifed bodies. We are confcious of an internal principle, which feels, which thinks, and which feems to be the original fource of animal motions. We are, in a great measure, ignorant of its nature; but we know, that it has a fyftem of laws peculiar to itself, and that, in confequence of its union with the body, certain effects are produced, which neither the laws of matter, nor of the mental fyftem, confidered feparately, are able to explain.

Sir George Rooke, as he failed back, fell in upon Gibraltar, which, in a Council of war held July 17, 1704, about feven leagues to the eastward of Tetuan, it was refolved to attack. Four days after, the fleet got into the bay, and one thousand eight hundred marines, English and Dutch, with the Prince of Hefle Darmstadt at their head, were put on fhore, on the neck of land to the northward of the town, to cut off any communi'cation with the country. The Prince, having thus pofted his men, fent a fummons to the Governor to furrender the place for the fervice of her Britannic Majefty; which he refufing, the Admiral, the next day, gave orders that the ships which had been appointed to cannonade the town under the command of Rear-admiral Byng and Rear-admiral Vanderduffen, as alfo thofe which were to batter the South-mole head, commanded by Captain Hicks in the Yarmouth, fhould range themselves accordingly. But, the wind blowing contrary, they could not poffibly get into their places till the day was spent. In the mean time, to amufe the enemy, Captain Whitaker was fent in with fome boats, who burnt a French privateer of twelve guns, at the Old Mole. On the 23d, foon after break of day, the hips being all placed, the Admiral gave the ignal for beginning to cannonade, which was performed with very great fury, about fifteen thousand shot being made in five or fix hours time against the town, fo that the enemy were foon driven from their guns, especially at the South-mole head. Whereupon the Admiral confidering, that by

gaining that fortification they fhould of confequence reduce the town, ordered Captain Whitaker, with all the boats armed, to endeavour to poffefs himself of it; which was performed with great expedition. But Captain Hicks and Captain Jumper, who lay next the Mole, had pushed on thore with their pinnaces and fome other boats, before the relt could come up. Whereupon the enemy fprung a mine, which blew up the fortification about the mole, killed two Lieutenants, and about forty men, and wounded about fixty. However, our men kept poffeffion of the great platform, of which they had made themselves mafters; and, Captain Whitaker landing with the reft of the feamen, who had been ordered upon this fervice, they advanced, and took a redoubt or small baftion, half-way between the mole and the town, and poffeffed themselves of many of the enemy's cannon; upon which the Governor defired to capitulate, and furrender upon honourable terms. This fact is related by an eminent hiftorian, with these circumftances, that, after the Admiral had bombarded the town to very little purpose, and with little hopes of fuccefs, fome bold men ventured to go afhore in a place, where it was not thought poffible to climb up the rocks; and yet they fucceeded in it; and, when they had got up, they faw that all the women of the town were come out, according to their fuperftition, to a chapel there, to implore the Virgin's protection. They feized on them, and that contributed not a little to dispose those in the town to furrender, which

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they did on the 24th, and they had leave to ftay or go as they pleafed; and, in cafe they ftaid, they were affured of protection in their religion and every thing elle, for the Prince of Heffe, who was to be their Governor, was a Papift. But they all went away with the finall garrison that had defended the place. The Prince of Hoffe, with the marines, who were on board the fleet, poffeffed himself of the place; and they were furnished out of the ftores, that went with the fleet, with every thing, that was neceflary for their fubfiftence or defence; and a regular method was laid down of fupplying them constantly from Lisbon.

Sir George Rooke, after he had fupplied Gibraltar, failed again into the Mediterranean, and, in conjunction with the Dutch fleet under Vice-admiral Callemburgh, met off Malaga the Count de Thouloufe with the whole French fleet, which was much fuperior to the English in number, and had many gallies with them, that were of great ufe. Sir G. Rooke called a Council of War, in which it was refolved to engage the enemy; but there was not due care taken to furnifh all the fhips with a fufficient quantity of powder, for fome had wafted a great part of their stock of ammunition before Gibraltar; however, they had generally twenty-five rounds, and it had feldom happened, that fo much powder was spent in an action at fea. On the 13th of Auguft, as the two fleets engaged, Sir Cloudelly Shovel advanced with his fquadron to a clofe fight, for it was the maxim of our feamen to fight as near as they could; and he had the advantage, and the enemy's van gave way in no little confufion, as did their rear foon after, being no lefs vigorously attacked by the Dutch. the enemies being very strong in the center, and fome of the English fhips being obliged to go out of the line for want of fhot (occafoned by the great expence of it at Gibraltar) feveral of Sir George Rooke's own fquadron fuffered very much. About feven in the evening, one of the French Admiral's feconds advanced out of the line, and began a clofe fight with the St. George, commanded by Sir John Jennings; but, notwithstanding the St. George had already fuffered much, fhe met with fuch rough treatment, that the had difficulty enough to rejoin the line, after the lofs of both her Captains and many of her men. The engagement continued till night parted them; and, if the French had come to a new engagement next day, it might have been fatal, fince many of our fhips were without fhot, whilft others had enough and to fpare. In this long and hot action there was no fhip, on either

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fide, that was taken, funk, or burnt. The English made a fhew, the next day, of preparing for a fecond engagement; but the enemy bore off, to the great joy of our fleet. The French fuffered much in the action, and went into Toulon fo difabled, that they could not be put in a condition to go to fea again in many months. They left the fea, as the field of battle, to the English; fo that the honour of the action remained with us, though the nation was not greatly elated with the news of a drawn battle at fea with the French: It was long before a certain account of the action was brought to England; but the modesty, with which the French King wrote of it to the Archbishop of Paris, put us out of all fears; for, whereas the French style was very boafting of their fucceffes, in this cafe it was only faid, that the action was to his advantage. From that cold expreffion the English concluded, that the victory was on their fide. When the full account was fent home from our fleet, the partialities on both fides appeared very fignally. The Tories magnified this as a great victory; but perfons fkilled in naval affairs differed much in their fentiments about Sir George Rooke's conduct in that action, fome not only justifying, but extolling it, as much as others condemned it. Sir Cloudefley Shovel's letter, on this occasion, was as follows:

THIS brings news of my health, and that we are on our way homeward: That, which fends us home fo foon, is a very sharp engagement we have had with the French": Our number of fhips that fought in the line of battle were pretty equal; I think they were forty-nine, and we fifty-three; but Sir George Rooke referved fome of the fifty-gun fhips, to obferve if they attempted any thing with their gallies, of which they had twentyfour. Their fhips did exceed in bignefs. I judge they had feventeen three-deck fhips, and we had but feven. The battle began on Sunday, the 13th inftant, foon after ten in the morning, and in the center and rear of the fleet it continued till night parted: But in the van of the fleet, where I commanded, and led by Sir John Leake, we having the weather-gage, gave me an opportunity of coming as near as I pleafed, which was within piftol-fhot, before I fired a gun; through which means, and God's affiftance, the enemy declined us, and were upon the run in lefs than four hours, by which time we had little wind, and their gallies towed off their lame fhips and others as they pleased; for the Admiral of the White and Blue, with whom we fought, had feven gallies tending

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