M INSTRUCTIONS TO OUR COMMANDERS. [From the same.] UCHI interest has lately been excited in the military circles, by a MS. copy of Instructions, said to be drawn up by that incomparable officer Sir James Py, Sy at Wr, addressed to Lord Cathcart upon the intended expedition which is to be confided to his Lordship's command. Sir James modestly begins his address in the language of Virgil: Disce puer virtutem ex me, verumque laborem; This exordium is ingeniously and happily contrived to obviate the censures which have sometimes been thrown upon Sir James's military talents, on account of his bad success. The author shows clearly, however, by quotations from his own speech on the Ferrol business, that it is very unwise in military affairs to run any risk in the prosecution of an object; and that if a town cannot be taken without the effusion of blood, it is best to have nothing to do with it. The affair of Ferrol, which has been supposed to reflect such indelible' disgrace on the commander, Sir James satisfactorily proves to have afforded him an opportunity of displaying the highest species of fortitude; viz. that courage which has enabled him to bear with philosophic composure the merited cpt of the Bh A-y. He throws out some excellent observations, tending to confirm this species of courage in others; and hề illustrates, by his own example, how easy it is for a man to arrive at the highest offices in the state, if he is in the army, after transactions which, had he been in the navy, might have been considered in the same light as those of Byng or Calder. Sir James, however, facetiously remarks, that a General who can boast boast of being Governor of two or three such Towns as Weymouth and Melcombe Regis, is of more consequence than if he had taken half a dozen of the strongest towns in the universe. It is with much reason, therefore, that, after Æneas in Virgil, Sir James advises his friend to fetch and carry, truckle, flatter, and fawn like him; but if he means to succeed in war, he must take somebody else for his model. The MS. concludes with observations upon other points, evidently by another hand. They relate principally to the management of a retreat, illustrated by some very apposite allusions to the D of Y's rapid and masterly run from Dunkirk. The author of this part is perfectly acquainted with his subject. He gives instructions where a commander should be on such an occasion, and how an army should be brought off. The whole of this part is reducible to the maxim of Hudibras, For when the fight becomes a chase,. He wins the day who wins the race. There are some excellent practical rules för attaining this speed; by a due observance of which it is evident that an enemy must be distanced: N. B. There is a proper caution to avoid being driven into the sea. The MS. concludes with some just and judicious remarks on Capitulations, for the illustration of which the D-of Y's campaigns afford excellent examples. It lays down rules by which a skilful Officer may succeed in obtaining a Capitulation, and suggests hints by which difficulties may be removed. The directions relative to this object are particularly recommended in the present circumstances; and lest Lord. Cathcart should be so far misled as to suppose, according to the opinion of all foreign Officers, that a Capitulation is a disgraceful thing, it is proved that it is not considered disgraceful in this country, since the D- of Y, after his Capitulation, is justly thought worthy to be Crin Cf of the B-h A-y, and to be the model and example of every British Officer. June 2.. LORD SELKIRK AND THE RATS. THERE [From the same.] HERE are fresh complaints from Lord Selkirk's island of the Rats, which have been so troublesome to his colonists ever since their first establishment on the island. As their noble Patron's studies have been probably directed in that line, with a view to the benefit of his poor colonists, we trust he is now prepared with some effectual plan for their relief. Such, indeed, is the benevolence of his nature, that we are persuaded he would not scruple to take another voyage to Nova Scotia, if he were not fully satisfied that his presence in the island would not contribute in the least to diminish the number of Rats upon it. When rats his new island infested, Earl Selkirk was angry thereat; He'd turn them all out, he protested, He'd be d-'d if he 'd leave there a rat. But since they in England appear'd, How chang'd have his sentiments been ! So little the vermin he fear'd, To the House he would have them let in..: June 3. A AQUATICS. [From the same ] SINGULAR accident befel Lord Viscount Cr-b, at Madame C-t-1-ni's Sunday dinner, which we will endeavour to state as drily as the subject will admit of. His Lordship had withdrawn himself, for the purpose of sacrificing to the God Apis; when a cataract. was discharged upon him front a bedchamber window by Mademoiselle Potiphar, Madame C-t-l-ni's femme de chambre, in quality and quantity similar to the libation his Lordship was then making to that Egyptian Deity. On his Lordship's return to the company, which consisted of the Prince St-r-mb-rg, Baron J-c-bi, and many other foreign Plenipots, he was extremely hurt, as one of His M- -y's confidential servants, at finding himself in such bad odour with the Corps Diplomatique of Europe. He also expressed himself considerably chagrined at having spent the Sabbath with a Popish woman, in a way that might give umbrage to many Protestants in Northampton,, and call down the strictures of the Society for the Suppression of Vice. The Marquis de S-a misunderstood the Noble Secretary to have spoken of the Society for the Suppression of Ur-ne, held weekly at the Cat and Bagpipes,. since the days of Shakespeare, and till lately under the auspices of Mr. Deputy Leaky. The Marquis made a note of it, to be transmitted to his Court. A very pleasing and philosophical discussion next ensued, as to the effect of asparagus on Ministerial and Italian kidnies; and an etymology was hazarded by the Russian Ambassador, that the English word " Se». eretary," was derived from "Secretion." -The final and most important question agitated was, what mode could most satisfactorily be pursued in order to dispel the C-t-l-ni effluvia from the new scarlet regimentals of the Noble Viscount, so as to enable him to go down, ́ "As cleanly as a Nobleman should do,” with the next day's dispatches from Dantzig. Mr. C-an-ng cons led his Lordship by observing, K 6 that that his Lordship's road to Windsor had always been by Stains; that, according to an established adage, "Good luck was not a perfume," and cited the Poet to prove, that "There is a Tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the Flood, leads on to fortune." After a variety of wipes from the company, and the charming air of "Water Purted" from Madame C-t-l-ni, his Lordship resumed his usual sweetness of Coat and Character; and the evening concluded with a Feast and a Flow, though not precisely of the same description it had commenced with. June 4. MORE AQUATICS. [From the same.] HOWEVER high his Lordship's antediluvian reputation stood, the celebrity Lord Ch has acquired since the deluge is incredible. Our Mechanists, our Heralds, our Painters, our Statuaries, our Poets, are vying with each other to render it inmortal. The Patentees of the steam-engine have named after his Lordship, that material part of their machine heretofore styled the Pist-on. In the event of his Lordship's being called up to "another and a better House," two respectable places in the county of Dorset, Piddletown and Piddle-Trenthide, have offered him titles. A great Northern Potentate has desired his Lordship's portrait; and he is to sit to Mr. Lawrence, in the character of Pisistratus, Pisander, or Pisanio. There is to be an Italian sky, and a gentle shower descending in the off-skip. Mr. Lawrence wished tọ introduce an umbrella, to protect the Noble Lord's 5 scarlet |