The Sun.
London, England, 1802-01-07 00:00:00

iAr;'', OF LAURISTOY.,

THE public visit which doloriert LAT.TRISTON,
First Aid:.de-C4liip to the. Chief Constil of France,,
a'
some tithe ago made to this tbrintry when he brought
over the Ratification of the Preliminaries of Peace,
has excited a.kbod' deal of curiosity and Conversa-
tion respeding his family; Which is lineally Scotch.
The circumstance -has appeared a favourable one ;
whiCh it no doubt is,. for the publiCatibu of a Me-
Moir cf the Family of LAw, and which is aptly in-
troduced in a Volume just given to the -worldi,con-
taining an account of " The Antient -arid, Modern
State of the Parish of Crarnond," ,near Edinburgh,
in which Parish the Estate of Lauristoii is situated.

The life of the great LAW, or, an appellatidn he
has long been distinguished by in Europe, The
Misislin); Law, furnishes much for the contempla-
tion of the Moralist and Slilosopher, as well as for
the gratification of the Curious. He was barn at
Edinburgh on the 2 ist of April 167 i=Till he' was
twenty-one years of age no memorials are preserved
relative to his education and pursuits, but he made
a progress in Literature equal to the young men of
his age. Arithmetic, Geography and Algebra were,,
however, his favourite studies, and in these his
acquisitions were uncommon; and from these his
mind diverged to the principles of public and private
credit, and the deep study of political ceconorrty.
At the same time, however, he made all the lighter
ant more shewy accomplishments his own, and ho
was so elegant in his' person, and so attentive to its
decoration, that he was distinguished by the fatniliar
appellation
,of Beau Law. He excelled, says his
Biographer, in the knowledge of all games, whether
of chance, skill or dexterity ; and was• noted, as a
most remarkable player at Tennis, an exercise much
in vogue in Scotland towards the close of the last
century.

He soon came to London, where his superior
beauty.of person, ready wit, and engaging manners,
assisted by proper. recommendations, and aided by'
that propensity to deep play, .for which he was
always noted, procured him admittance into some
of the first circles, and particalarly attracted the
attention of the Ladies, among whom he had the
reputation of being extremely fortunate: His suc-
cess in .this way, however, was not without its
attendant bad consequences, for it involved him in
a duel, is which he' 141' his antagonist dead at his
feet. For this he was "committed td the King's
Bench Prison, from whence lid•Wefer he made his
escape, An Advertisement .was published, by the
Marshal of the Pri;nn, in the London Gazette of
Monda?, lan: is 1694, describing shils person, and
offering a reward of 501. for his apprehension. The
description conveyed so unfavourable and so un-
like a description of his person, that it has
since -been . very judiciously surmised to have
been intended to ' favour his escape. He
reached:the Continent in safety, and it is supposed
went first to /10//anci, as he there officiated as Se-
cretary-to the;gritish Resident in Holland, and in
that capacit, gained some insight into the opera-
tions of the mysterious Bank of Amsterdam. Some
time in i7eio he returned toThis native City, where
he soon after published the introdttOioo-to his Pro:.
posals and Reasons for constituting a Council of
Trade. His proposals were however 'rejected.
,
This Publication had the effea of introducing
Mr. LAW to the notice of several great Men of
his Country, and he soon became very intimate
with the first Duke of ARcYLi, his Sons the Mar-
quisof LORI.f and Lord ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL,
the Marquis of tWEEDALE, 'and other Noblemen.
Relying on the assistance of these powerful :pro-
teftors, he, in 1705, offered to Parliament a Plan •
for rernovinz the difficulties Scotland..then lay un-
der, from the great scarcity of specie, and the insol:..
.vency of the Bank ; preparatory to,. and explana-
tory of which, he published another work, entitled,
" Money and Trade considered, with a Proposal
for, supplying the Nation with Money." The ps-
sence of this Plan was to issue Paper upon Landed
Security. This scheme was likewise rejected by
the Parliament. Mr. LAW, upon this, resolved to
abandon his native Country, and try, his fortune:
abroad.- He visited many of the principal Cities of
the Continent, particularly Bruiseh, Paris, Yenice,
Genoa, and other places in Italy, where he exerT
cised his talent at play with most extraordinary-
succeSs, to which his profound skill in calculation
nut a little contributed. Faro was his favourite
game. He realized in a short time the large sum
.of r io,oool. sterling. It has been said, that his
_good fortune at play giving umbrage to some peo-
ple at Paris, who could not bear to, see a Foreigner
so successful, they found means to have him repre-
sented in the light ,of a State ,Enemy to M. d'AR-
GRNSON, Lieutenant-General of Police, who sent
orders to Mr. LAW to leave Paris within twenty_
four hours; and thqt -he found himself in a similar
predicament at Genoa and Turin. ' Much however
as Mr. LAW was addi&d to. Gaming, he did not
suffer that passion to gain a .complete
,ascendant
over his-mind. Conscious of his .abilities, and sen-
sible of the depth of his knowledge in the art of
Finance, he ardently longed for an opportunity, of
bringing'both into adioh. .

(To be continued.)

. t •
General. O'HARA, it is . said, retires from the
Government of Gibraltar, and all public business,
in the spring. The gallant veteran has bees for
some time in a declining state of health, which the
climate of Gibraltar rather makes worse.' Sir
THOMAS Tit IGGE, the Lieutenant-Governor, has
been for some • time in the West Indies, from,
whence he is expeaed at the Garrison. in the month:
of April. The duty of Lieutenant:GovernOr has
for some months been done by General WEmyss,.
who has lately been 'relieved by General BERNARD..
The Garrison are rather sickly, but have very re-
gular supplies from Barbary:of fresh provisions, at
an easy rate. They are at present on very good
terms with the Spaniards, and many parties of Of-
ficers have lately been made to shoot in Barbary,
where-they have met with good sport:
General Fox; it is reported, when the evacua-
tion of Minorca takes place, after the Definitive
Treaty is signed, will succeed to the Government
of Gibraltar.
•

TO TH. EbiTOR OF THE L'UK„'

; SIR;

According to annual custom, I send you nijt
.Prayer, beating date the 3ist of Deceilibei, t8oi:
—Dci With it arid me'as yoU see it •
Youi s obediently; • &e.' • •

RIrHARD ct,-:1/4itiEizt.XNtL

. .
;
0 ! AlMightY and Everlasting God, We most
humbly beseech thee; with thy favour, to accept our
• imperfed thanks and praises for thy .many signal
mercies and deliverances, throughout the 'course of
this eventful year, vouchsafed to us idly people.—
We acknowledge that it is to thy providence We are
beholden for the blessing of a fruitful harvest, the
prosperity of a thriving commerce, and the success,-
ful operations of our fleets and armies. We know
it is thy right hand that giveth the vidory ; thy
furtherance that causeth industry to flourish ; thy
word that cOmmandeth the stores of .Earth and.
Heaven td be opened for the sustenance and benefit.
of thy dependant creatures.. More especially we
adore and magnify 'thy goodness, G9d,• for that,
thou !last been pleased to dispose the'hearts :of the
contentious aiid unquiet towards the attainment of
Peace, whereby to put a period to those, ravages,
which have laid waste
.the Nations. Perfed,. we
most earnestly implore.,thee, that blessed work of
love to the increase of thy glory and the refinma-
tion of mankind. Look down, 01 .God, we be-
,seech thee, -with •thy benignant grace; upon thy ser.
vant our Sovereign, the beloved of his people: to
the Ministers in authority under him; to the Lords
and Commons of the Realm, 'to the Adtuinistrators
of Justice and Equity,. give, -we further pray thee,
thine especial protedion ; direct
.their councils and
prosper their endeavours for the maintenance ofgood
order, for the support of thy Church establishment, and
effectually for the pr.inotion of thy true. Religion,
the very bond of Peace on Earth,. and only sure
means for obtaining eternal happiness in Heaven,—
we.beseech 'thee, 0! God, 16 have mercy,.
upon all men. Let there be no other striving. for
the mastery,, but to excel in good works : no other
vidory to contend for but, the vidorvloverour own
unruly passions, -and the triumph of. overcoming
evil by good. But forastnuch as the. poor of this
Realm have.cried unto Thee in the time of dearth, •
look. opt) their necessities in -thy mercy, and permit
not their long suffering to be exhausted by any co-
vetous withholdings, or corrupt machinations of
evil and men, who may combine to
render that scarce, which thou 'bast willed. to be
abundant ; but so bestow, we pray thee, thine ap-
portioned grace amongst us, that, he' who gathers,
may so prudently deal cut to him who consumes,
that neither the avarice of the one,may make., an ar-
tificial dearth ; nor the violence of the other create
a real one.. As, thou hast inspiredtus with 1, Tti• title
to encounter-all the. ,:errors. of War, grant us wish
dciai to withstand t. 4 tcrnpta:ions .Of Peace. Graft
in our hearts thatstcady faith in the ,cloarities of.
thy -gospel, as msy se't at naught the sophistry •of
those, ~vho impiously. -attempt to deify Reason by
the downfall of Religion; .and teach us.:so to be
c:;--,;ent-with,what thy Providence bath-allotted,
.to
casting from
.us all vain and- wandering de-
sires, and putting our whole trust in thy Word,- we
may,. through the merits and mediation ".of thy
blessed Son, our Saviour, Christ, obtain remission of
our Sinsy and be made partakers of thy -heavenly
Kingdorri in the Life to, come."

A letter front Paris, via Hamburgh, mentions a
report, of VESTRIS and iMademoiselle CHAUME-
R DI-, the famous dancers, and Mademoiselle RA.
COUR, the celebrated tragic actress, having been
drowned in the Garonne, on their return from
Boutdeaux.

A Letter lately received from the Cape of Good
Hope, mentions an extraordinary. faculty possessed
by the ,Hottentots, of discovering water conealed
in the bowels of the earth. One tribe, • the Kon-
rouanas, do this by sight. They -throw themselves
flat on the ground, take' a distant view, and if
the space their eye traverses hides any subterraneous
spring, they rise and point to the spot. They dis-
cover -4,by an ethereal and subtile exhalation, which
evaporates from every current of water, when not
sunk to too great a depth. With regard ,to
their' evaporation is more sensible, and is discover-
able even when behini,an eminence. These people
have been knOwn to distinguish' water at the dis-
take of 600 paces. •

Since the Public have, in.a,great measure; been
convinced of the imprudence 'of their conduet, in
taking large sums of money and other valUables
to the. Theatres, and places of amusement, which
so freqUently have become a prey to the gang of
pickpockets that infest 'those placeS,' the light:.
fingered gentry have turned their attention to
places of public worship, where persons" are more
off their guard. Great numbers have been plum_
tiered of their property' in this way lately.' Last
Sunday two Ladies had their pockets picked at the
door of a M'eeting, in Eastchemp, one of whom lost 'a
pocketbook, Containing Bank Of England Notes to
the amount of '261. and the other a vocket-book,
but in which there was no valuable property.

The numerous Billiard-tables in this Town are
a proper subjea of reform, as many young men are
Unfortunately drawn to them, and fleeced of their
property, by a set of people who make the game
their study, and. Obtain by it
.an infamous livelihood..
If the Magistrates were to peep into theM, manya.;
Highwayman and Pickpocket Might be secured at
these places, when a striEt search has been made in
vain at others. •
.„ .
! .OnTuesday night,. or early yesterday morning,
the premises of Mr. Bisq, Stock-broker, in torn,
hill, were burglariously entered, and plate and other.
,articles stolen to a large amount. Yesterday two;
of Mr. Bistes, servants, who lived in the house,,
were taken befOre the Lotto I‘,I,YOR, on suspicion
of being accessaries to the robbery.
,After a short,
examination they
,were committed to the Poultry;
Comptedor 'a further: boring.
Sunday night, or early on Monday morning last,
the Watehouse Of Messrs. .Beresford anci-Co.. in,
Wood, street, Cheapsider—wits -looker when It 411--
linen and Other goods were stolen' tO a large: amount
'by thieves yet-tinknown. •• , - -

•
lA;V.
• s • • ••••
•

4. • ;. t.,1
IN HAddir,f4tc;r: ni;;;lnt'ye,,t,!r(l.)V, there 7;C:
aiteration in thi.fpride-61 fine .17-v.-heat; laR .tlfeiinf-".•)t;
sorts again declined a ; 4arl..!y, Oats, Pease
and 13eang, continued dearly the sanfe-as-:tli
ing week. • - • •.

On. Tuesday the,North Lowland FellcilitetitOrn,
minded' 1)y Lieut. cal.-, f ack., arrivA afc, Ayr;
their route from. Ireland:fat Perth 4 `,e)
The Ayr and Rencrewshire Militia alr.Ar,rilikd.
ir?.lasgow from Stirling,' to do duty. io-the.ll3r,,
racks there, in place of du.
leaye ,GLasgomplgr Musselburgh..

,3.ti

Several': ships were .v4titek-ect ofd' •IVlettel-:-Abnb
vessel,, by the violence of :tile -storm, tsl~it'ii caused
the waters to rise z4.-feet, (this •cari nearly•
on the, shore;•wbete-Alle .%,.S left entire-when
waves. retired •