Mr. URBAN,

T

Frome, Aug. 3. HERE is fomething pleating in the thought, that how foon foever our buildings and monuments of antiquity may be destroyed by time or barbarous innovation, pofterity may be gratified with fome appearance and hitorical account of those ftructures which the eye can no longer behold. Hardington houfe (on the Eastern fide of Somerset, 12 miles South of Bath) is now in a dilapidated ftate; and, to preferve its fmall remains from total oblivion, I fend you a drawing Pl. I. Ofits hiftory, we can only learn that William and Alexander de Hadington were of this place in the time of Henry III.; and that the heir of John de Sore held this manor in the reign of Edward II. after which, John de Pederton poffelled it; and leaving at his death a daughter, named Agnes, fhe married John Baumfilde, efq. from whom, by lineal defcent, it became the property of the prefent Sir Charles Warwick Bampfylde, bart. PHILL. CR.

*The ring in the fame plate was found fome years ago in a garden at LOUGHBOROGH. An explanation of the motto (Amen et fermer) is requested. The little figures of the Virgin and child, and St. Michael, are very delicate.

I

Mr. URBAN, Chefter, July 6. HAVE been entertained by the perufal of your ufeful Mifcellany for near fifty years paft, and am rather furprized that it receives fo few communications relative to the antiquities that are to be found in this city and county, where I may fay there are abundance worthy of the notice of the Antiquary. If you thould deem the inclofed drawing of a tower and part of the city walls worthy of a place in your Magazine, I may be induced to fend you fome more gleanings, that, having never yet been offered to the notice of the public, may perhaps afford fome entertainment to your readers.

The walls which encompass the greatest part of the city are the only entire fpecimens of antient fortification now in the kingdom, all the others having been either totally deftroyed, or greatly mutilated by the hand of time or the ravages of war; and thefe would very probably have met with the fame fate, if the mure duty of twopence on every hundred yards of Irish linen, brought into the port of Chefter, had not, very fortunately, been GENT. MAG. September, 1802.

applied to keep them in repair. They are in circumference 12 mile and 101 yards, and appear to have been originally a Roman work, as Chefter was for fome time the refidence of the twentieth legion, ftiled Valeria et Victrix, and of Julius Agricola.

There are feveral angular and femicircular towers, within bow-fhot of each other, yet remaining; feveral others have been taken down. The drawing reprefents the Phoenix tower (Pl.I.) which was the meeting-houfe for the Painter-ftainers and other incorporated companies of freemen; and on the front is placed their arms and creft. The unfortunate monarch Charles I. was a melancholy witnefs of the defeat of his army at Rowten Moor, from the leads of this tower.

The citizens of Chefter may boaft of a walk, which for variety of objects and beautiful profpects is unequalled in the kingdom, and to which, perhaps, in a great meafure may be attributed their unufual longevity and health; but you will now think it is time that I fhould ceafe to boat of my native city, and conclude this epiftle. A. B.

Mr. URBAN, Stourbridge, Sept. 1. CREATING myfelf with a tour

TRE

through the Southern parts of Staffordshire, and Northern parts of Worcestershire, I have obferved an indecorum and impropriety in those parts, which I am told extends likewife into the neighbourhood of Birmingham. In every church, in the parish of which there is a boardingfchool, the governefs feats herfelf and her fcholars within the Communion rails; the fhocking indecency of this practice it is only neceflary to mention, to have it feverely reprobated. The rules of our church,, it is wellknown, allow only the bifhop to fit at the altar; judge then of my furprize, at entering almoft every church at fervice on the Sunday, to fee fo many fe male bithops in gaudy attire, and a female archbishop at the head of them.

There have been many attacks in various ways upon religion; the Abbé Barruel and Profeffor Robifon have manifeftly fhewn the direction that has been given to Philofophifm for that purpofe. And it certainly is the cafe, Mr. Urban, that another fcheme is fecretly working for that end. We have heard much of the Shrine of

Fashion,

Fashion, of the votaries of Fashion, &c. &c. but did not know till lately that they were to be fubfiituted for the real ones of the Almighty. In anihilating a fyftem of worship, the plan has generally been to fix the new one exactly in the place of the old one; or fo effectually to do it away, that it cannot be ufed for the fornier purpofe in the fame place. Thus St. Paul's church is faid to be placed upon the fite of the temple of Diana; and the temple of Baal was made a draught-house." Till the prefent time, the pace within the communion rails was held facred; the minifters were enjoined humbly to ftand, and the bishop only to fit. Now the arch-priefiefs of fashion fits there magnificently enthroned; and around her attendant nymphs, the future Venutes of the region, difplaying their fhewy gewgaws; to that, in this place, the altar of the parish church is called the tulip-bed. To it the feniors formerly turned in commemoration of the fufferings of their Saviour in the Eaft: now the juniors turn that way, to pay their adoration to the idol of finery. I always thought that modefty was an eflential accomplishment of the British fair; but can it be fuppofed to be now inculcated, when they are thus profanely put out of their place to be the gazing flock of the whole congregation? Little difference feeins to mark the progrefs of the French and ourfelves, only they turned out Religion for the goddef's of Realon, and we for the goddess of Fafhion. If the young ladies mutt fit at the Eaft end of the church, in the name of propriety, let the Communion space be leilened, and let them fit at the outfide of the rails, at each fide. SINCERUS.

PROJECTS of Sir RICHARD STEELE. The reader, who may be curious to know more on this fubject, may confult The Town Mr. Nichols's edition of " Talk ;" from which I fhall extract an epilogue fpoken on the occafion of the King's birthday (1715), as it alludes to many incidents in the life and conduct M. G. of the founder of the feast.

night is known

"THE Sage whofe guests you are to[own: To watch the public weal though not his Still have his thoughts uncommon schemes pursued, [good. And teem'd with projects for his country's Early in youth his enemies have shewn, How narrowly he mifs'd the Chemic Stone *:

Not Friar Bacon promis'd England more; Our Artift, lavish of his fancied ore, Could be have brought his great defign to pafs, [brafs: Had wall'd us round with Gold inftead of That Project funk, you faw him entertain A notion more chimerical and vain, To give chafte morals † to ungovern'd youth,

To gametters honefty, to Statefmen truth;
To make you virtuous all; a thought more
hold,
[Gold.

Than that of changing Drofs and Lead to
But now to greater actions he afpir'd,
For till his Country's good our Champion
fir'd;

In treaties vers'd, in Politicks grown wife, He look'd on Dunkirk with fufpicious eyes;

Into her dark foundations boldly dug,
And overthrew in fight the fam'd Sieur
Tugghe.

Still on his wide unwearied view extends,
Which I may tell, fince none are here but

friends;

In a few months he is not without hope,
But 'tis a fecret, to convert the Pope.
Of this, however, he'll inform you better,
Soon as his Holiness receives his Letter §:
Meantime he celebrates, for 'tis his way,
With fomething fingular this happy day;
His honeft zeal ambitious to approve,
For the great Monarch he was born to love:
Refolv'd in Arms and Arts to do him right,
And ferve his Sovereign like a Trusty
Knight."

THE

THE PROJECTOR, N° IX.

Emptorem inducat hiantem." HoR.

many an agreeable reflection on the ingenuity of the artificer who made, and

this inventive age, there are few which feem more happily contrived to pleate the reigning talte than that change of names which has been lately introduced. Whatever is tafteful, elegant, commodious, or fafhionable, must be decorated by a name borrowed from the French, and incorporated by flow degrees into our own language; I fay by flow degrees, for, if the incorporation were perfect and familiar, I fhould not have occafion to rank this scheme among the novelties of the prefent day, nor to regret that men who lived twenty or thirty years ago muft go to fchool, or confult their French dictionaries, before they can name an article of the most common kind, particularly in household furniture.

I was led into these reflections fome time ago, when, in compliance with the request of a few female friends, I accompanied them to the fiately manfion of a right honourable lady who had juft paid the debt of nature, and whole cotily and magnificent furniture was expofed to view previous to a fale which, it was fuppofed, would be frequented by all the world. To be omitted from any invitation that promifes to bring together all the world, is not very agreeable even to an obfcure man, who does not belong to that world; and I did not think fit to let flip an opportunity of feeing what, it was conhdently afferted, might never be feen again, namely the very perfection of this world's GOODS. Befides which, the breaking-up of an antient houfe or family may be a profitable spectacle of mortality; and, if we are in a difpofition to meditate as we ought on fuch inftances of the uncertainties of human life, the pulpit of an auction-room may occafionally aflift that of a church.

On entering the fplendid apartments which, however carefully guarded from common and prophane eyes during the life-time of the noble owner, were now thrown open to every perfon that could fpare the final price of a catalogue, I was foon bewildered in a maze of grandeur; amidit which, however, when the eye began to fettle and to diferiminate, I could diftinguith a tafte peculiarly elegant both in the felection and arrangement of the fuperb furniture of this fiately edifice; and I might probably have indulged

purchased, the various articles, had I not been frequently interrupted by my companions, who every moment were requefting me to explain names in the catalogue given to pieces of furniture, which they had never heard before, and of which they confequently could not imagine the ufe. This was a little perplexing; for I was aware that I might perhaps ftumble upon fome article with a new name, which it might not be quite fo delicate to explain by its antient name and ufes. evaded thefe queftions, therefore, in the beft manner I could, until, by frequent references to my catalogue and recollection of my French, I had difcovered that in general the new names were very harmless, and contrived only to give a variety to the eloquence of "him who had the difpofal of this "“ moft fuperb, unique, unrivalled, and elegant collection."

That our language has of late years been highly improved by the introduction of words compounded from other languages, and rendered familiar by the ufe of the best writers, muft be acknowledged; but this, it is now evident, is not the only improvement of modern times which has been employed, not only to enrich our language, but our manfions; words entirely foreign have been gently preffed into our fervice, not by philologifts and lexicographers, but by cabinetmakers and auctioneers, to give a dig nity to tables and chairs, to exalt cupboards and brackets, and to preferve the purity of our diction as well as morals, by obviating that indelicacy which frequently attended the mention of certain neceflary articles. Nothing ought firely to be undervalued which thus promotes decency, and tends to economy in the article of blushing; and I thould not have thought the introduction of foreign terms in fome cafes at all objectionable, but on the contrary highly praifeworthy, had they not been extended at laft fo far, that the furniture of a drawing-room now puzzles a man who ftudied domeftic

œconomy twenty years ago, as much as the new chemical nomenclature lately perplexed the old phyficians.

A man, for example, fomewhat advanced in years, and defirous of the comforts neceflary to infirmity and

ficknets,

ficknefs, may naturally hope to find at a fale an article fo plainly and eafily understood as an elbow-chair. He fees it before his eyes, yet he dares not truft his eyes; he examines the feat and the ftuffing; he admires the cafe or covering; he fits down in it; it feems to have all the outward and intelligible properties of an elbow-chair. He wishes to mark its order in the catalogue, and that he finds to be No 14, but, alas! No 14 has no mention of an elbow chair; he looks upwards and downwards left this fhould be a typographical error. he turns over the leaf, but no elbow-chair. At length fome friendly neighbour who has learned to take an afternoon's nap in French, tells him, that what he wants ceafed to be an elbow-chair fome years ago, and is now a fauteuil; and he is perhaps farther enlightened by being told that, if he withes to furnith his rooms with articles of that kind, he muft make up his mind to the cabriole or the bergeres. How muft a man of this defeription feel his ignorance and degradation, when he reflects that he has repofed fo many years on chairs of which he did not even know the names, and which he is now afraid to repeat without the aid of a prompter, left he should make a mistake.

For what reafon our furniture fhould be thus decorated with French names when many other articles continue to be manufactured and worn in English, it is not eafy to determine; but two conjectures have been offered which merit our attention. Some are of opinion, that it is a feheme to enhance their value when brought to the hammer, that it is founded upon very nice principles in the doctrine of acoustics, and that it was first introduced by thofe who, becoming tired of confiant appeals to the eve, wifhed to introduce the fafcinations of the ear, and thus add another fenfe to the auction-room. The power of founds we know to be wonderful, and perhaps it is only a leffer branch of the charms of mufic, when we feel a delight in melodious names for our children, our carriages, our footmen, or our furniture. Hence our Anna-Matildas, our Wilhelminas, our landan'ets, our ris-a-ris; our ralets, valet de place, and valet de chambre; our fauteuils, our cabrioles, and our bergeres. At a fale, it is not difficult to conceive that one may think it much more honourable to bid for an

mer.

are

The fecond reafon that has been affigned for new-naming our furniture is probably not without its weight, although, in a matter of fo much importance, we must guard againft prefumptuous conclufions. Beides the pleature of purchafing articles decorated with French names, it has been fuppofed that there is alfo an additional portion of happinefs in the enjoyment of them. The pleafures, for inftance, of the table may probably be heightened by the reflection that we drinking our favourite toafts in a fet of compotiers; our healths and our fentiments may be elevated, and our wine may have a raciness which cannot be perceived by those who truft their king and country, their conftitution and their navy, to common drinkingglaffes. Candle-light too, which, being univerfally preferred for focial enjoyments to the common fun, ought not to be deprived of any of its enchantments, may poflibly receive a greater degree of brightness from the new nomenclature. The time was when our rooms derived their light from branches, or, as they were vulgarly called, branched candlefiicks: but in the procefs of refinement these were exchanged for chandeliers; and chandeliers, probably becaufe they began to be contaminated in village ballrooms, and methodift meetings, gave

way

way to girandoles, which are the favourites of the prefent enlightened age, and are occafionally relieved by candelabrums, the only fpecies of illumination we feem to owe to the claflic ages, and to which, that we may not be fatigued in going back to our Latin grammars, we have given an English plural termination. How far the learning of a family may be enriched by furniture which requires fome knowledge of the continental languages, has never yet been clearly explained; but there is fome reafon to think that the preference of an ecritoire 10 an inkftand may in certain writing have advantages that are more than nominal.

If then the new nomenclature can be defended both upon account of the eclat of purchase, and the pleasurable ton of poffeffion, there appears no good reafon why an improvement of fuch confequence fhould not be extended farther, nor why any man fhould again enter a houfe when he may be come mafter of a maifon, or fleep on a bed while a lit can be procured. Already, indeed, fome would rather climb by the window, than not pafs through the veftibule, a place which perhaps, in the memory of fome perfons now living, was a porch; and I queftion if they would retire, although on the most preffing occafion, into a clofet, if the houfe could furnish a boudoir. And when it is notorious that during the winter at least, fome political tranfaction, a war or a peace, a treaty or a tax, is on the tapis, why fhould a private gentleman any longer cover his floor with a carpet? To all this reafoning, it has been replied, that the names of fome articles are fill retained in their priftine English for the fake of public juftice, and to humour the ignorance or caprice of judges and jurymen, who would perhaps hefitate in finding a man guilty of entering a houfe by a boudoir, or fealing an encoignure, although they would have no fcruple to hang him had he broke in by the clofet and made away with a corner cup-board.

It has alfo been fuggefted to me by an-intelligent friend, that, notwithftanding any advantages real or fuppofed which are attached to the new nomenclature, I ought not to rank it among the wileft PROJECTS of the prefent day; and, as my friend appears to have confidered this fubject very atten

tively, I fhall allow him to deliver his opinion in his own language.

In the first place," Mr. PROJEC

66

"a

TOR, this new-naming of chairs and tables, bottles and glaffes, militates againft common prejudices fo far, that I very much question whether, if any of our ingenious workmen thould invent a piece of furniture, he would chufe that it fhould be reckoned" deed without a name," until the French were pleafed to give it fuch an appellation as might fill the mouth of a fworn broker. And in the fecond place, however agreeable it may be to perfons of fathion to change the names of every thing about them, and oue day put their china into a cup-board, and the next into an armoire, and thus to perplex their friends and fervants euphoniæ caufa, it may be doubted whe ther the practice will readily find its way into the city. For my part, `I defpair of breakfafting in Cheapfide off a djeune; and I very much question whether our friend the Alderman's old port will relish better in a compotier than in a common drinking-glais. I think it would not be confiftent with the antient and honeft prejudices of John Bull to fit up an encoignure in Fenchurch-fireet, or to remove the darkness of the narrow streets between that and the river by either candclatrums or girandoles. And between ourfelves, Mr. PROJECTOR, I am not very defirous that this change fhould take place. I am an old man, and have never known very much harm refult from calling a spade a spade. If we change the names of the furni ture of our houfes, that it may appear more agreeable and fashionable, and receive a new fanction independent of the gooduels of the manufacture, the next ftep will be, and for the very fame reafon, to give new names, and fine founding epithets, to the articles which compofe our heads and hearts. Already I think I fee fodie fymptoms of this. Why is that article which every body laughs at almoft every day in the new fpapers called crim con. but becanfe certain perfons are defirous of getting rid of the feventh commandment? What are thofe ladies, fairly tranflated into English, whom we ho nour with the titles of demireps, filles de joye, and elegantes? What is a fracas that must be finished by powder and ball, but the very fame thing that ufed formerly to be finished by the gal

lows?