changes among the members of the government, greatly diminished the profit, which, far from immense on fome occafions, was in the end reduced to very little, in confequence of being diminished by a number of expenfive concomitants. Confined in their country, thefe merchants, a continual prey to anxiety, and too often not without caufe, were a ftriking example of what the defire of gain can affect, being obliged to forego their own habits, and affume the oriental garb. Woe to the European, who fhall venture to thew himself in the ftreet in the drefs of his own country! he would infallibly have been knocked on the head, or torn to pieces. But to wear the long garments ufed in the Eaft was not fufficient. It was neceffary that fome part of the drefs fhould be a diftinguishing mark, or, to fpeak more properly, a fignal of contempt and profcription. The head of the European was to be covered with the talpack, a fort of high, hairy cap, peculiarly affigned to the Franks. For fome time the more enterprising English had introduced among them the fefte, or head-drefs of the Drufes, which confifts of a large piece of ftriped filk of various colours, and decorated with fringe, which is rolled round the head in the manner of a turban. The French, however, had not ventured to follow this innovation, which, by giving them a greater refemblance to the people of the Eaft, would have foftened the mark of infamy, with which the most ferocious tyranny abafed them, and which expofed them to inevitable infults, Another indifpenfable care was to refrain from wearing garments of green, or any thing green about the drefs. To have infringed this rule would have been to be guilty of profanation, and the punishment of the crime would have been as prompt as terrible. Green was the favourite colour of Mahomet; and is ftill referved exclufively for his defcendants, and for thofe who have merited a place among the number of the Prophet's choiceft difciples by the performance of feveral pilgri mages to his tomb. CURIOUS CURIOUS PARTICULARS CHARACTERISTIC OF EACH MONTHIN THE YEAR, Chiefly extracted from the New Edition of Dr. Aikin's CALENDAR OF NATURE. NOVEMBER. -Now the leaf Inceffant ruftles from the mournful grove, THOMSON. 1. THE fall of the leaf diftinguishes the prefent month; hence this declining feafon of the year is, in common language, moft expreflively denominated the fall. 2. The gradual death of vegetable nature fuggefts, to the reflecting mind, an apt comparifon for the fugitive generations of man. 3. The quick fucceffion of fpringing and falling leaves has been thus beautifully applied by Homer: Like leaves on trees, the race of man is found, They fall fucceffive, and fucceffive rife: So generations in their courfe decay, So flourish thefe, when thofe are passed away! POPE'S HOMER. 4. The lofs of verdure, fhortened days, diminished warmth, and frequent rains, juftify the title of the gloomy month of November. 5. This gloom felt not by man only, but also by other animals. 6. Intervals there there are of clear and pleasant weather. 7. Autumnal months are, in our ifland, fofter and lefs variable than the correfpondent ones in fpring. It long continues "The pale descending year yet pleasing still !" 8. In fair weather mornings fharp; but the hoar-froft or thin ice, vanishes before the rifing fun : The lengthen'd night elaps'd, the morning shines THOMSON. 9. Sudden forms of wind and rain ftrip the trees of their faded leaves, and reduce them to their state of winter nakedness. 10. One of the first trees becoming naked is the walnut. 11. It is quickly fucceeded by the mulberry, horfe-chefnut, fycamore, lime, and afh. 12. The beech and oak are the lateft deciduous forefttrees in cafting their leaves. 14. Apple and peach trees remain often green till the latter end of the month. 15. Pollard, oaks, and young beeches, lofe not their withering leaves till they are pufhed off by the new ones of the fucceeding fpring. 16. Woodpigeon or ftock-dove, the latest in its arrival of the winter birds of paffage, makes its appearance about the middle of the month. 17. It feeds on young tops of turnips, but beech maft the favourite food. 18. When our old beech woods were ftanding, the multitudes of them reforting annually here, probably from Sweden and the north of Germany, were almost incredible. 19. Might be feen like rooks, in long ftrings, directing their evening flight to the thick woods, where they were shot in great numbers. 20. Salmon afcend the rivers in order to spawn; an extremely active fish. 21. Hence Sal mon Leaps, as they are called in Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, where, failing in their leap, they are taken by nets or baskets. 22. Farmer endeavours to finish his ploughing in the course of this month, then lays up his inftruments till the next spring. 23. Cattle and horfes taken out of the exhaufted paftures and kept in the yard or ftable. 24. Hogs put up to fatten. 25. Sheep turned out into the turnip field, or, in ftormy weather, fed with hay at the rick. 26. Bees required to be moved under shelter, and the pigeons in the dove-houses to be fed. Thus, even gloomy November, has many things of importance which claim our ferious attention. AN EXCURSION INTO THE WEST OF ENGLAND, DURING THE MONTH OF JULY, 1799. IN FOUR LETTERS TO A FRIEND. BY THE REV. JOHN EVANS, A. M. LETTER III. DEAR SIR, Ν IN my laft letter a sketch was given of the rural beau The ties of Sidmouth and its vicinity.. Exeter, Honiton, and Taunton, muft now engage our attention. TOWN and the COUNTRY poffefs their refpective charms; nor fhould the advantages of either be faftidiously rejected. EXETER is an ancient city, and may justly be denominated the metropolis of the western part of cur ifland. Its name is a contraction of Excefter, which fignifies a Caftle on the Ex. Athelftan, one of the Weft Saxon kings, first gave it the name of Exeter; having before that that period been called Monckton, from the great number of monafteries with which it abounded. The Caftle of Rougemont, in this city, is fuppofed to have been built by the Weft Saxon kings, and to have been the place of their refidence. It lies on an eminence, whence opens a beautiful profpect towards the English Channel, about ten miles to the fouth. Here is also a fine terrass walk, with a double row of elms, much frequented by the inhabitants. The ancient part of the building is confiderably decayed; but on this spot, in a neat and convenient hall of modern erection, are held both the affizes and quarter-feffions. In the centre of the court by which it is furrounded, was beheaded Henry Penruddock, Efq. in the time of Oliver Cromwell, for having attempted to raise an infurrection in behalf of the exiled monarch Charles the Second. It is rather fingular, that this event is unnoticed by Hume, in his Hiftory of England. The affizes were held at Exeter during my stay there before Sir Nash Grofe and Sir Archibald Macdonald. I attended both courts, which were much crowded. At the criminal bar I faw three men tried for ftealing ftores from his Majefty's dock-yard at Plymouth. They were found guilty, after a trial of fome hours. I converfed with them immediately after their conviction, and found them much affected with their fituation. They feemed unapprised of the enormity of the crime they had committed, and, confequently, were unapprehenfive of the ferious confequences which followed. It is to be regretted, that better means were not devised for the promulgation of our criminal laws, in every parifh throughout the kingdom. The principal crimes, with their affixed punishments, ought to be infcribed upon a tablet, in legible characters, and fo placed in a confpicuous fituation, that it might excite universal attention. To prevent, rather than to punish crimes, fhould be the object of a wife policy; nor will the humane mind ever fuffer itfelf to be indifferent to the welfare |