Star. — London, England, 1830-07-22 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE JOURYALS. lienacro.—The popularity of a King is so cheaply purchased, that we wonder the instances of that sort of regal fame should be , comparatively rare. To make a Sovereign of a free state popular requires little or no effort on his part. He need only 'hew that he values the love of his people. and it is conferred. His present Ma jesty is not, by the laws of the realm, more firmly seated on the throne of his ancestors, than he is by manners securely fixed in the affections of his people. His courteous and unaffected condescension—his frank and manly sentiments—his disdain of unnecessary parade—and the preference which he gives to that enjoyment which is to be derived from familiar con tact with faithful people over the selfish pleasures of se clusion—are eminently calculated to give him that popularity which is the best protection of the Kingly power. Although there4was ao monarch that ever swayed the sceptre of Great Britain withltr is er s hand than Queen Elisabeth, she knew how to temper her b notions of the prerogative with a due admixture of those minor virtues which soften the sternness of despotic grandeur. When she curbed the ambition of haughty nobles and proud prelates in lan guage of imperious authority, she was affable and conciliating in her manners towards the people. She knew how to gain their hearts by the expression of national sentiments and generous confidence, which were sure to attach to her both their honest pride and their kindly affections. Her memorable answer to the Spanish Ambassador, when he expressed his surprise that she ventured abroad without military guards, is an instance of her capacity for giving to regal power the most attractive exterior. " Behold," said she, pointing to the assembled crowds by whom she was surrounded, " behold the guards of the crown of England !" Who can wonder that a Sovereign, capable of uttering such a sentiment, should be popu lar ? Burke has eloquently alluded to that chivalrous spirit which constituted what he called the " cheap defence of na tions." Here we have an instance of that Royal magnanimity which constitutes the " chief defence" of thrones. Where the people are the " guards of the crown," it can equally defy foreign hostility and internal treason. It has no cold support—no merce nary protection. It is, therefore, with peculiar pleasure we observe the kindliness of feeling and the affability of demeanour which William the Fourth evinces towards his subjects. It was an un fortunate circumstance for the popularity of the last reign that the Sovereign passed the latter part of it in such deep and habitual se clusion. This has been made the subject of bitter and invidious re mark, but we are convinced it arose from a consciousness of bodily infirmity, which made his late Majesty averse from appearing in public, because it was painful to him to endure fatigues conse quent upon such condescension, and perhaps unpleasant to endure the gaze of the people.. But, from whatever circumstance it arose, it was certainly unfortunate, and did much to detract from the pop ular effect of the many virtues which his Majesty possessed. Royal se clusion in this country, unless it arise from inevitable necessity, re minds the subject more of the stately pomp of an Oriental Chief, than the dignified, hut familiar, deportment of the Sovereign of a free people. Cuanxtcio.—The Reverend Edward Irving, in a retest sermon preached at the National Scotch Church, called Om) to witness that the representations of our contemporaries, with respect to the iodic. ference on account of the illness and death of the late King, are ate terly unfounded. But let us hear his account, as given in extracts in Tee Pulpit t.—." But, surely, if ever a verdict of acquittal from every hasty and inconsiderate charge was ven to a Mo narch by a free people, it was given to him dur ing these many weeks of sickness by which he was confined. I had tho:2; tunity (of witnessing the conduct of many classes of society, and of many families, and I can truly say, that if it had been the father of any of these families 140 had been so afflicted, there could not have been manifested greater concern for his afilic. tion—therc could not have been more fervent prs;:ers for his reco very. And this feeling was universal. The prayers of the people outstripped the tardy orders of the church, and found expression in their own plain and simple language. He was not forgotten 0 no, he was not forgotten by his people ! If his reign had not been a blessing ; or if the transient errors of his early life had not been for gotten ; or if his people had merely borne with him in the hope of the future, would not their wish of change have been expensed ? Would not something like pleasure have been manifested at the idea of his removal ? Would the whole nation have clung thus around the Throne of a King they disliked ? I con fess that to me it seemed as if something more than the death of a mere mortal man were resting on that event. It seemed to many families as though their bead were about to be removed; to the whole nation as though their mediator, their peace-maker, were about to be taken away. The lowest among us seems cons cious of some change ; we feel as it' we were on the edge of some crumbling precipice. Each one seems to feel the ground swell of a coming storm, and to wish that he who had weathered so many storms had remained with us as our pilot. Bet we must not speak thus: we must not despair: we must still sally round the throne, and do all we can to resist the consequences of the coming storm. This discourse has not been written for the purpose of tuba, or to answer any private end. It is to remind yogi of the Importance of doing all you can as Christians, to break the confederacy which is forming against the Lord and his Anointed, and, at the same time, to remind you of what is due to the memory of our departed Sovereign , whose remains are this day to be consigned to the grave. "— Who of all these writers is the correct expositor of the state of public feeling on this recent event ? How is History to distinguish the true from the false? We will even give her the beneht of Mr. Cobbett's contemporary labours. From the following announce ment in the Register of 10th July, it would appear that we shall have a history of the late king from his pen, even more true than the history of the Protestant Reformation : ' Peel says, ' We are too near to the blessings enjoyed under his Majesty's mild and bent. Scent sway to enable us duly to estimate them What, too near ? Why, then, a man can judge best of a bottle of wine, I suppose, a year or two after ice has drunk it. Poor Ogden, for instance, was, while in the dungeon in Horsemongcr-lane, too near to Sid-, mouth's blessings to be able duly to estimate them. The starving Irish are too near to the blessings of beneficent sway ; and the poor Queen was a great deal too near to the mild and beneficent treatment which she received, to be able duly to estimate it. She should have lived thirty or forty years longer, and then she would have bees better able to judge of the real character of the proceedings against her. A trial of any sort in a Court of Law must be much mere likely to and in justice when the transactions to which it relates have all taken place many years before. In short, this is the old ant of the madly rabble of mercenary writers, who are hired to keep al. lence while the facts are fresh in the minds of the people. " Tee near," indeed ! How can the narrator of transactions and the de. scriber of character be too near to the transactions and the actors ? This is monstrous ! When a witness swears in refer ence to a written memorandum, he ought to be told that, to make it good for anything, it must have been written long and long after dm occurrences took place. Too near, indeed, to write afalse history, and make it pass for truth ; but not too near to write a true history.— There is something so monstrous in the idea that those of one geese. ration are to write the history of those of another generation. I will dissipate all this cant : if it please (ion to give me life and health, I will drive this cant out of use ; this lying, cheating, this base ant ; I will let the nation see that we are not a bit too near to the blessings conferred by this King, to be able to estimate them. We shall have lies enough about him : plenty of histories in praise of him ; but from me, his memory will get that which will stick to it." We cannot quit this subject without noticing the good .rinse displayed by Mr. Irving in his allusion to the scandalous cha. racier of the Court If from these tokens of his piety towards God, I came to speak of his behaviour to his fellow men, I may well ask, where shall we find such a model of courteousness ? He exhibited the most perfect grace of manners : in him it was not a mere fotm, but the attain mark of a genuine loving-kindness to all his people. Hence he loved to witness the joy of his subjects, and patiently bore with their rude applause. Not that he eagerly sought such approbation, or that be was ever forgetful of the respect which was due from all to his exalted station - for while he manifested such ami a bl e condescension, be coal, le a moment, rouse all his Royal feelings, and rebuke and chase ten those who presumed to trifle with his dignity. He was well worthy to be the King of a free people ; he was brought up among uv, end could bear with those boisterous ebullitions of feeling which we so frequently indulge in, either from want of the respect due to Majesty, or from the momentary and mistaken want of loyalty. He was frequently assailed by the shafts of ca. lumny ; and yet few have been able to shake them off with more perfect good nature. Often have I pitied from my very heart the situation of a King who could not enjoy the friendly society of females without exposing himself to the most shameful slanders. He nobly asserted and protected the honours of a free press, at the same time that he had so much to bear from its as persions." This is speaking like a gentleman. We have always thought it one of the worst traits in our national character, that guilt should always be presumed when even age has destroyed the fuel of the passions, and that to the other evils to which age is sub ject, it should be attempted to deny to it the solace of the kindness which is alone to be found in female friendship. Mr. Irving take* 3 more liberal view of the matter. May he, when his athletic fain no longer reco mmen d s h i m to female attenti on, enjoy as his reward, the friendly female society which be so willingly conceded to his, aged Monarch Trans.—The Gazette de Fr es tee, the great supporta of Court principles in France, contains, in its publication of Monday, which arrived yesterday, another remarkable article on the course of po. Hey required at the present crisis. This paper, along with tits Cabinet and all its organs, assumes, that the address of the late Chamber of Deputies, in expressing to the King Its want of coo. tidence in his Ministers, was an attack on the prerogative of the Crown, in which the selection of its servants is nested by the charter. From this original error in 'methadone! doctrine Proceed others still more dangerous, because they tend to make the breach between the Crown and the national representation a breach between the Crown and the national constituency. At first, the Chamber only had declared its distrust of the Royal choice. His Majesty, in the lawful exercise of his prerogative, dismissed that Chamber instead of his Ministers, and appealed to the Mika to confirm his decision. The nation, through its regular ilmeitudrne for collecting the expression of the general will, liMsral Col leges —has taken the part of their deputies, and deed their pee tart ;genet the Ministry. The Royalist journal darefore argue% consecutively enough, that if the Crown was stripped of its power to select its servants by a vote of the Chamber of Deputies, it Is now plundered of its prerogative todissolve the Chamber by the votes of the nation ; for the nation, by returning the same obnoxious members whom the King had ismissed, has made the exercise of the preroga tive an unmeaning farce. After enlarging upon this inference, the journalist proceeds to announce, that the Royal prerogative, which has thus, according to his own account, been invaded by one of the powers of the state, can alone save the representative government by usurping the functions of the other two. By such reasoning is the Crown urged to undertake the alarming experiment of altering those national institutions to which it had just made so confident an ap peal; by such puerile sophisms, founded on false premises, are die Ministers to be justified in retaining their places, though at the hazard of a national convulsion; and by such expedients is a party, which has just been proved to be in a decided minority, to deprive the nation of the rights conferred upon it by the charter, or to provoke a crisis in which the dynasty Itself may be endangered ! In looking at the present situation of France and the bordering kingdom of the Netherlands, we cannot but be struck at the contrasted results produced in the course of a few months by $ difference in the measures and presiding genius of Government in the two countries. About six or seven months ago, all Belgium was In a ferment of alarm and disaffection, arising, not so much from any insult offered by the Administration to the people, as from a jealousy against that portion of the nation to which the Sovereign was supposed, from origin and religion, to be most strongly attached. Every measure of the Government was therefore opposed ; every suggestion of power was viewed with suspicion, and factious violence seemed to prepare the way for trea sonable resistance. More than 300,000 petitioners addressed the legislature, in language expressive of their alum for their national rights and religious privileges ; and, in the popular chamber, the budget was at first rejected by a Belgic majority. The Government saw its danger, and instead of braving public opinion, or attempting to overthrow the fundamental laws of the monarchy, endeavoured to conciliate excusable opposition by timely concession. The budget was withdrawn, and altered according to the sense of the majority ; the bill, or project of law, on public instructimoras likewise withdrawn in order to be modified ; the law on the press was greatly reduced in its severity ; and the seasons which began in storms terminated in serenity. The doors of the legislative chambers were no sooner closed than the King, by an ordinance, abolished the galling de , cue which (for politic objects no doubt,) he had hemmed several years sego, to impose upon the Belgians the use of the Dutch language. The effect of these judicious concessions has been, to allay every angry feeling against the Government, and to procure for his Majesty an accession of loyal attachment mingled with grati tude. All the provinces which met last week in their amen. bliss called provincial states, have testified their mains is the paternal views and intentions of His Majesty. Them assemblies, which elect the members for the second chamber of the Beateireenersl,:hays, in renewing a third of the latter, either returned the former deputies or candidates equally de voted to the monarch. In the Netherland legislature, therefore, the government has gained rather than lost by the recent elections. And now, to gratify the taste of a manufacturing and commercial people, the government has opened the exhibition of works of useful art at Brussels, and given the Belgians what they call their " festival of industry . . In France we need scarcely point out how completely this order of things has been reversed—how far discontent and die. satisfaction have been increased, by a contemptuous disregard of pub. lie opinion—and how fast that tempest seem gathering, which was prevented or allayed by the more prudent concessions of the Belgic Court. The appeal made to the nation has consequently returned a more refractory Chamber, and even a striking military success, sufficient at any other time to have gained thalami of a gallant and vain-glorious race, as won for the Administration no more solid than a sham victory at a military review. It is scarcely conceivable, that with these facts before him, his Most Christian Majesty will persist in maintaining his Ministry at the hazard of the public peace, or that, though brave and bigotted, he will signalize his courage or his zeal in resisting his people, and destroying the institutions of his brother. FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. PARIS, July 19. TO WS iIgOILLENCY Tilt PILTSIDNXT Or TNT COUNCIL Or MINISTER.. La Casual* July 8. Prinee,-.The taking of Algiers seemed necessarily to lead to the submission of all pam of this Regency. The more the Turkish soldiery was fared, the more has its prompt destruction raised, in the minds of the Africans, the porter of the French arm. The soldiers themselves have set the example of obedience. I y n each of their barracks a few soldiers have sufficed to disarm them. At the first order that they received, all have brought their muskets and their yatagans to the place appointed. It has been intimated to them that the father of families would be per mitted to remain at Algiers, but that the unmarried men would be conveyed by sea to whatever place they should choose. This deci sion appeared to make but little impression on them. Most of them are natives of Asia Minor, and have requested to be taken there. The number of soldiers collected in the barracks is about 2,500. These are all unmarried, many of them are old, and unfit for military service. The bravest and most robust have perished in the late campaign. The married soldiers are lodged in private houses. Their number does not seem to be above 1,000. For the last three years the blockade made it almost impossible to obtain recruits. A considerable reduction in the strength of the military force was the consequence. The Dey came yesterday to see me at La Cassauba. He ex pressed a desire to go and settle at Leghorn. He will be con veyed thither on board a frigate. Admiral Duperri is taking measures that the unmarried Turks may be embarked almost at the same time. The Moors and the Jews look for their departure with impatience. Then, and not before, they will think their yoke for ever broken. The Bey of Thay has been the first to perceive that it was impos sible for him to continue the struggle. The day after that on which the French took possession of Algiers, his son who is hardly 16 years old, came to inform me that he was re ady to submit, and that, if 1 agreed to it, he would come to me ihiroself. His young envoy acquitted himself of his mission with a simplicity like that of the ages of antiquity. I delivered to him a safe conduct for his father, who, on the following day, came to Algiers. I have left him at the head of the Government of his province, on condition of his paying to us the same tribute as to the Dey. This condition was accepted with gratitude. The inhabitants a pp ear to be con. winced that the Beys of Oran and Constantine will speedily follow I the example of the Bay of Titery. Confidence already begins to return. Many shops are opened.... The markets are supplied with provisions. The prices are higher than in ordinary times, but competition will soon put an end to this momentary dearness. I have intrusted the direction of the Police to 31. d'Aubignose, a Frenchman who has long resided in the East. A Commission, of which M. Henke, the Chief Intendant, is Fred. dent, has been charged to point out the modifications which the late events sander in the administration and form of Govern. meat. General Tho ow has been appointed Commandant of the place. His firm and honourable character renders him peculiarly proper for his important post. The line of communication, beginning at Sidi Fenueh, will soon be useless, and henceforward the supplies of the army will be sent to the fort of Algiers. This wW produce a great saving in the car. T . In $ few days the redoubts which had been erected between Sidi Fernich and the camp of the besieging army, will be dismantled. Lastly, the depot itself will be abandoned immediately after the hospitals have been transferred to another place, and the provisions there either consumed or embarked. Orders have already been given to send back to France the ma teriel of the artillery, which had not been landed. The train of ar tillevy employed in the siege remains almost entire. We have found here an anmense quantity of powder, cannon-balls, Re. and above 2,000 pieces of cannon, almost all of bronze . The value of these articles, that of the iron belonging to the Government, and above all, that of the treasure of which the Paymaster-General is taking an inventory, seemed to be sufficient to pay a great portion of the ex penses of the war. All the French prisoners who were at Algiers were delivered to me on the 6th, in the morning, before the French took possession of the place. The beat has been great for some days past. Several times Reaumur's thermometer has been at 21 degrees. Though the siege continued for only six days, the activity with which the works were carried on has calmed the troops to sustain great fatigue. Dysenteric are become more frequent, but those who are attacked by them are not so ill as to quit their corps. We have hardl2f4) fever imts in the army. The number of men put he rs do condos since the 14th is 9,200; 400 are dead ; 1,900 wounded have been Bent se the hospitals. Hers, as in Egypt, they soon recover. Most of the fathers of those who have shed their blood for the country and the tikes will be more fortunate than 1 am. My second son W mosiv4 a mow wound In the battle of die/Nth. When I had lb* baser in Mks rer Excellency of this, 1 wm Adl of hopes of rimming lim,This hope has been dealved. He has just apical. The - rimy loss • brave moldier, and I lament so emellent son. I fi tz i our to tell the King that, th ough struck by this es l, shall fulfil with no lees vigour dm mewed duties Ye nemlidones imposes upon me.—l have the humour to be, it. (Signed) " Count de BOURIIONT." LITERARY INTELLIGENCE The difficulties of judiciously abridging, are seldom duly appre ciated by the public. To write a small book may be crudely thought, by some, an easier task than to write a large one; but, In general, nothing can be more erroneous; and particularly if the work be his torical, or of that kind in which a mass of existing facts have to be condensed and recorded. A little reflection will show the truth of these remarks, and a pausal of the last volume of Dr. Lardner's elegant and useful 4, Cyclopedia," containing the first of Sir James Itackintosh's " History of England," will fully illustrate the truth of our position. We have rend many abridgements of the history of England, and to say that this is the best, would indeed do it but little justice; we have given it great attention, and can say that it has fully answered every expectation we could have formed, from the celebrity of its author. The facts are narrated with clearness sad discrimination—the remarks are original and judicious—and the sentiment which pervades the whole work, is such as the public might look for, from one of the first political philosophers of the age. It is hardly, in general, expected that as abridgment of history will contain many new facts; but we are sure the majority of readers will find in the pages of this work many facts which never before met their observation. As a proof of this, those who, like our selves, are engaged in rummaging the stores of new literature, to cull such delicacies as we,can place on our own boards, have, ever since its appearance, been robbing Sir James Mackintosh of the treasure he has so painfully collected. We shall not, therefore, make any extract, but refer to those parts of the work which we deem the most valuable, and which may be referred to as display. ing the researches, and general spirit of itsauthor. The introduction at the commencement, contains a moot valuable condensation of all that can be, with probability, advanced on the early history of the, races of men, to whom we are too apt to apply the term aboriginal ; and if the realer has indulged himself, by researches, into this toe =datum] part of history—if he has attended to the numerous literary conflicts which have occurred on this truly debateable ground..-he will, we are sure, be pleased with the manner Sir James Mackintosh has placed before him all that can be rationally enter. taped on this department of history. We particularly recommend the reader's attention to those parts of the history which have called forth Sir James Mackintosh's Intel lige= on what may be termed constitutional, or legal history—the history of the rise and progress of those institutions, on the peculiar character of which so much of our national importance demi. We recommend the judicious view of the causes and consequemeal of the crusades—the history of the feudal system—the institutions of the Anglo-Saxons—the change produced by the Anglo-Saxons ea the language of the country—and the history of the Great Char. ter of British Rights, as portions of this history, which may be studied with more than usual advantage. The reader is not to suppose that Sir James Mackintosh has merely gleaned his facts from the collections of other modern historians ; on the contrary, be has gone over the whole of British history with the research of a person anxious to discover—not copy; and the authorities with which he has occasionally obliged his readers, mark that he has obtained his facts from quarters which former historians had neg. lotted. We have thus sketched our opinions on this work. Instead of making any extracts, we are:inclined to offer a few remarks on the views which he has taken of Magna Charts, but fear that our space today will not afford us the opportunity ; we shall thwarter, per. haps resume the task. THE ImiITS KING. I The following verses are from a well-known veteran in literature IN 0111 TUN XZOU DEUDEBATIOSIMI, GZOJGII IT. Now that thine eyes are dal in death, and all The " glories of thy birth and state,•• and power, Arc pasid, as the vain pageant of an hour, Ending in that poor corse t beneath that pall, The tribute of a Briton's love I pay, Not to the living King, but the cold clay, Before me :—. _ _ _ Let the thron'd and mighty, call For worldly adulation. The pale dead Mocks him, who offer it ; but truth, instead, O'er the refs Crown, shall say—..— " The King who wore, — Won it majestically, yet most mild,— Mak mercy bleated the sceptre which he bore Arts, a fair train, beneath his fostering, smil'd, And who could speak of sorrow, but his eye Did glisten with a tear of Charity? Oh ! if defects the best and wisest have, Leave them, for pity leave them—to that GoD, That GoD, who lifts the balance, or the rod, — And close, with parting pray'r, the curtain o'er the grave." July 10. W. L. BOWLES. • Alluding to that line and majestic line by Shirley, "The glories of our birth and state." THE LATE XING'S WILL. Various ezetradictory statements have appeared upon this sub jest. The fact, uwe are informed, is this—that, legally speaking, his Majesty died without a will, the document which he has left not strictly bearing that designation. It is rather, we understand, what the lawyers call a testamlmtary paper, containing no pecuniary bequests, but simply directions as to the disposal of certain papers, and other specific property. The whole of the document is said to be, as has been already stated, in the band-writing el the Earl of Eldon, the Duke of Wellington, and Sir William Knighton, being the persons to whom the duty is assigned of seeing the directions which it contains executed. The person who m ig ht have been expected to have been benefitted by the King's wi 11, had he made one, was otherwise provided for, having received (as report states) from his late Majesty's own hands, not many days previous to his death, no less a sum than (as some say) 300,000 L ANNANDALE PEERAGE. I The claims of Mr. Godinge Johnston to this title having of late excited a good deal of attention, and moreover, at this moment under the consideration of the House of Peers, the following correct account of them may not be unacceptable to our readers :—Mr. Oodinge Johnstone, op the 29th of March last, presented, in the usual way, to the Magistrates of the Canoopte in Edinburgh, his claim of service, as the nearest and lawful heir of the body, and of line and provision. in general, to the deceased John Johnstone, of Stapleton, his great grandfather, and be therein sets forth his propinquity as follows r—" That the deceased John John stone, of Stapleton in the county of Dumfries, was brother gaman of the deceased William, Marquis of Annandale, and that tee claimant was the eldest eon of the deceased Sarah Johnstone, and of the deceased Wm. Oodinge, Esq. of London, her husband, which Sarah Johnstone was the only daughter of the deceased John Johnstone, Esq. of Rotherhithe, and of Jane Price, his which John Johnston e was the son and heir of the said spouse, n Johnstone of Stapleton, and Elisabeth Belehier ' his spouse; and so the claimant is the nearest and lawful heir of the body, and heir of line, of the said John Johnstone of Staple ton ; and also that the claimant is the nearest and lawful heir of provision, in general, to the said John Johnstone of Stapleton, tur as: and by virtue of a charter of resignation by Queen Anne, under the (heat Seal, dated the 23rd of September, 1702, and instrument of wine following thereon, dated the Ist, and registered in the particular ?epees of wines for the Sheriffdom of 'Dumfries, the iieh day of October, 1702... by which charter there are given, grant ed, and Mural to the said John Johnstone therein designed. " Mr. John Jahnoione, brother-german of William, Marquis of An neserieb, mei to the heirs of his body, all and whole the ten *Ms elf St apleton, and mill, and mill lands thereof, with isowed issi H ereu pon,wit?inthe Ste war li n r y at Aimaniale, ohosi t Iris ea/ Yds to hs said treorandiatbets of doWieee% oloonanly sailed Lord John Johnseses, awl Jailasecee Go. those Jehosesert hos due bees seanned soh bets asniallods, led forthwith ialiss ee z e it aides et MOM wig ice, where. Mr. es we aims Whanesd, W seek bh very, fads his dean is the Johoshine tidos eel estate, mites 111•1111111nessf, and Sheelese, as befog the amend who the James, of Med Annandsie and griz i r dsca lio died in 1 and to dos next meow and lawfulheir to Omelet the Int Natal' of Annandale, who died in 17112, and who was the nephew of the said Loa Jelin Johnston.. ET Y MOLOGICA L QUERY. Sta.—The phrase to get a has nn n by rote, has I think b..ti plained by Sir Walter Scott, in his notes to his edition of se. Tristram, to have had its origin In learning to repeat any poem o. song, accompanied by the old musical instrument called the r. cc rots—which:l think, he says (although I speak only from memosyi was the same instrument, or nearly so, as the hurdy-gurdy—sliieb is so common in our streets, but much more so in Holland, tol other parts of the Continent. I have often thought the analogous expression to get lesson by heart—might have had originally another ineani.l,.. oe origin, than that which is, I believe, generally supposed ; although to get any thing by heart, may be exp l ained, to fix it ill the memory through the medium of the heart, inclinations, or sf. factions, yet it is, puthaps, an idea a little too metaphysical, it. have been the on meaning of the phrase ; and even now, teu boys that get a lesson by heart, have the lesson, during the gettin4 it, much at heart. In fact, the phrase—by heart, is synonymms with by rote; and generally implies, fixing any thing in the me mory, without either the application of head or heart ; but by habit, or, according to Locke, the association of ideas—more pro , perly, we should say, of sou nds; for the intellect is, to appearance, more passive than active in the operation. I will now mention a curious coincidence between this phrase by Marl--and the French phrase par eaur—a phrase which, I rather think, does not mean precisely the same with by heart. I find, in the notes to the works of Gavin Douglas (edition 178/1. Per:11) the following remarks on this line in that author t— " Sum taunting wordes thai half per queir." " Per queir" means by book,with exactness— Quaire is a bask the old English—thus " Go, Util qualre, unto my livis Queen."—Ch nicer. " Go thou Ind quayer"—Curton, 1470. " The Mock BUM pronounce, I will per quale"—.Lindsoy. from which conies our modern quire of paper. The word quair.—meaning book—is well known by the " King's Quair" of Janice I. Now you will perhaps ask, what has this to do with by kart and this introduces the conjectural query with which 1 shall con. elude, and the probability or possibility of which I shall leave fo: the:discussion of yourself and correspondents. Ts it possible that the word per quire., by book, has been lost it the flood of Norman French with which this country was deluged ; or corrupted into par, ewur, and thence again re-introduced as plain English h its transmuted form. or translation of, by heart Yours, truly. IT'eckly Epitome. NAVAL INTELLIGENCE. The following arrivals are posted at Lloyd's :—The Doris, Bal. lerne, from Rio de Janeiro. at Jersey ; Orenburg, Weld, from Dantzic, and Rme, Moore, from Copenhagen, at Guernsey ; Ve nus, Churndde, from Bordeaux, at Milford ; Wanderer, Jenkin s , from Trinidad, at Dublin; Helen Scott, Scott, from St. Peters• burgh, and Chance It. Stevenson, from Oporto, at Shields; Eu rope, Wood, from Memel, off Whitby ; and Edward, Dixon, from Rigs, at Hull. The Douglas, Malcolm, bound to St. John's, N.B. has put into Garmoyle Roads. leaky. The following vessels have arrived in the River : —The Eliza beth, Currie, from the Mauritius ; Cheviot, Scott, front Rio de Janeiro; German, Arnold, front St. Petersburgh ; Friends, Lid dell, from Stettin; Sylph, Parkinson, from Pillau ; and Jentimi. Franklin, from Hansburgb. Dzax. Jam 21.—Arrived the Grenada, from St. Vincent's. Pxywousw, Jot.r SO.—Arrived the Mary Jane, Pyle, froth Prince Edward's Island. Off the port, the West InJiatt, Conk. from Antigua—saikd 25 4 ult.. _ _ _ Lnraawim JULY 20.—Arrived the Eagle, Batty, from Men,. ham ; Nimr od, Ferric., from Paraiba; Delbott Clinton, Brewvr, and Canada, Graham, from New York ; Good Intent, Itobina, from Miramlehl ; Pandora, Parker, from Liverpool (N.S.) ana Brothers, Simpson, from &. Petersiargh. CLTDr. Joey 110.—Arrived the Rosehill, Leggatt, from Tortosa ; Wars, Clapperton from New Orleans ; Bowditeti, Scott, from Charleston ; and Lord Byron, Robertson. from Idiramiebi. ALLEGED MISMANAGEMENT OP THE CITY COMPANIES' FUNDS. Yesterday a public meeting of the Freemen and Liverymen of the City Companies was held at the Queen's Anna Tavern, Cheap. side, foe the purpose of having the proceedings adopted by the free. men of the Patten Makers' Company laid before them, and to adopt soma plan for the complete enfranchisement of all the Compan'As in the City. The meeting was called for twelve o'clock, but in con. sequence of the thin attendance of freemen, it was nearly one o'clock when the Chairman, Mr.Waldegrave, citizen and innholder, took his seat. The SECHNTAZT (Mr. Price) read two reports, detailing the pro gress made by the Patten-makers towards obtaining the accomplish. meat of the objects they had in view, viz. to have the election of the Master, Wardens, and Court of Assistants versed in the Brethren of the Company generally. and to ascertain in what manner the revenue of the Company is disbursed. It at that a rule Nisi for a Man damus had been obtained by the Committee appointed at a public mating of the freemen of the Company, which would have the ef he Gleaning the question as to the legality of the Court of As. *butts at rest, and decide the whole of the subjects of complaint.— That rule had, however been enlarged, and it would be argued next Teem. The Repo ts concluded by calling on all the freemen Botha Companies, similarly situated, to form themselves into a Goma Committee, for the purpose of forwarding the objects of the Conunitee of the Patten-makers' Company, the struggle being ono it importance to them all, and the decision of which would de cide the (ate of others.—.(applause.) A motion to print and circulate the Reports was then carried. The CHAIRMAN said his Company (Innholders) were placed in a similar situation to the Patten.makers. He .bad applied to the Clerk of his Company foe an inspection of the books to ascertain how the property of the fraternity sou disposa of, and it was re load, notwithstanding that officer was told that by an Act of Par. Inuent be was subjected to a fine of 1001. for refusing to allow any entrialter to see the books. [The worthy Chairman here read the 1 Chou of the Act of Parliament to which he had alluded.) He Olinidered that the officers of all the chartered Companies were only trustees for the time being, and were merely entrusted with their funds to relieve their poor and decayed brethren—(applause); but they not only compelled-the members to pay money, but when asked how the money was applied, the only answer was, " what is that to you ?"—(hear, hear) The Courts of nearly all the City Companies were illegally constructed, and, consequently, what ever was done by them was it leg al also. The Charter did not say that the Masters, Wardens, a Assistants were to elect themselves ; but that they were to be elected by the body of the Freemen, who might remove them if their conduct was improper. Their assump tion of wcr was impertinent, and an insult to the Freemen at large. applause.) 4o hind ELTON detailed some of the proceedings of the Patten Makers' Court, with a view of proving the bad management of the funds • as one instance of neglect, a former dealt died, having ap. repeated 400 L to his own use, the whole of which was lost. He MOW that the only mode of checking the tide of corruption in that Company, was by forming a general committee of the various cont. panics of the city, which he moved should be now done. A Gentleman, in seconding that motion, paid a high coin. pliment to the 'ph* of those members of ' the Patten Makers' Company for proceeding as they had done. He had applied to the Muter dills Company (the Plasterers') for an account of the re. ariposar.d expenditure, and that worthy gentleman said he knew no aim about it than a child unborn. (Hear.) He then applied to the Clerk, who referred him to the Court of King's Bench, if lie was diseatisfisd—amessure which the Cleric, who is &lawyer, woulu doubtless have no objection whatever to. (Laughter.) The Cliasnuarr said be coca asked a person who had served the office of Master if he knew the amount of the rental belonging to his Company ? and that person replied, " Curse my wig, I :now nothing about it; I leave it all to the clerk." (Laughter.) The money so received was not intended to pay for dinners and wine, and cosch.hire (laughter), but for the support of poor and decayed members; and if the conduct of the officers was fair and upright, they would have no motive for keeping the freemen in the dark ; their conduct showed clearly that there was something mysterious, which they did not wish to be brought to light. (Applause.) Several other gentlemen addressed the meeting ; members of va rious Companies tendered their names to compose a Genetal Cont. mince; and thanks being voted to tb Chairman, the Meeting broke up. Amongst the equestrians on Coustitution-hill and in Hyde-park yesterday, were the Duke of Cumberland, Earl Grey, and Lord Ellenborough. At the meeting of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, which took place on Tuesday, for the purpose of ad dressing his Majesty on his accession, a Rev. Divine proposed to add to the Address, a request that his Majesty would be pleased to abstain from giving S und ay dinners. This evident approach to the puritanical times of Cromwell, was got rid of by the Archbishop of Canterbury recommending the Society to proceed so the order of the day. Sir Sydney Smith yesterday attended his Majesty's Levee at St. James's Palace, on bis appointment as Lieutenant.( 4. neral of Aladin.; ths preferment conferred on him so honourably and promptly by his present Majesty. Sir Sydney, however, ro doubt how the skitases of the notice, attended in his Admiral's uniform ; but the uniform had the new facings—namely, red. lie was decorated with several orders, with three sashes, au. ~~ s.r~:~~ i w I 4. 4 t . . ; •1