The National Register. — London, England, 1812-05-24 00:00:00

TilF, NATIONAL REGISTER. 0, 1 Q ri r 7 he hears, and feels a potent desire, well expressed in the position of his ! hand, to try his skill upon the steel-wrought lyre ; whilst the girl, lost in alimiret,in, forgets to continue the praise which she liacrbegun upon the ribbons and trinket; she has brought with her. No Muse ever listened with more attention to the strains of Apollo's lute; and her countenance pronounces most admirably, what pleasure she receives frern the sounds of the Harp. This sweet little piece has been most ac cerately engraved by Bun Ni r , who has painted and en ; ravcd himself a very suitable companion to it. Both have been published lately by Messrs. BUYDnLL and Co. and are no disparagement to the valuable col lection of prints which they are in the habit of offering to the public from the most celebrated painters. No. 6. The Bind Fiddler, painted in 1806.—The public knows well to *hat degree of merited praise this picture is entitled, and we are not afraid to assert, that it would have dune great honour to the pallet of those exquisite translators of familiar scenes, who are still the boast of %the Dutch and Flemish schools. A circumforaneous player on the violin, the solace of his darkened hours, and the only means of support for himself and his family, has entered the house of a peasant, whom he treats with a tune in order to introduce his humble claim to charity. The family enjoys the vocal shell, and among them we cannot help re• marking a mischievous boy, who, at that age, when imitation becomes a delight, catches Loll of the bellows, and mimics the trevelihis musi cian, whilst his eidcst sister, with a frown of jest indignation, and a sense of knowitie better, reproves his childish impertinvece. But what shall we say of the attitude of the gaud (amber, who s naps his fingers to cheer up the baby on the knees of its interesting mother ? and of the excellent contrast between his lively attitude, and the deeply thinking old man, with his hack turned to the chimney place, and the unthinking • wife of .the Fiddler, and the Fiddler himself. All these arc most ex cellent, and eeldoin to be matched by what we know of good in Os•rnDE aril TENIERS. TIM COURT A.\ D 117 - ORLI) OF FASHION. —..sr:Ya.P-- TUE PLUNCF. REGENT"S LEVEE. Friday hi; Royal Hi.,,lair,•.•s the PRINCI , , RF.oucr held a Levee, received :he Lit! Address, and trdns.rcred a variety of public business, at Lairlton House. At three o'-clock the Corporation of London, arrived with their Address upon the assassination of Mr. PERCEVAL, anri . was intro duced into the Throne Room, where his Royal Highness Teceived the Address, to which he was pleased to return the following most gracious Answer :* " I thank you for your - Dutiful Address. The sentiments which you have expressed of deep regret for the severe loss which the Country has sustained by the death of Mr. Perceval, of a high sense of his einnumt talents and virtues, and of g abhorrence of the atrocious act which closed so useful and exemplary a life, are most consonant to try own opinions and lettings. My mind is relitw.d from the most painful sensations by the proof airortled upon the trial of the assassin, that this dreadful act was not connected with any unguimiry system ; ant', I trust, that our annals will not he sullied by a crime, which the generous and manly cha racter of the Btitish people has ever held in peculiar detestation. In recommending to Parliament to make a provision for his wEtow and f4mil) - , I have discharge.i a duty to th Public committed to my charge; _and f am gra:iiied h tile a :suiances, that this act of justice, towards de parted mem, will lg.- ,conai by the unanimous voice of the nation." His R 017+ 1, Iliut,N,:ss held a meeting of the Most An cient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, in the room adjoining the L‘evee-room, called the Blue-room, the PatNcE wearing a green Ribbon on this occasion, as re presenting the •Sovereign, which was attended by the Dukes of CL A nENC r,, Earl MOI(TON, the Duke of Mum., and Viscount CATHCART. The Duke of BUCCLEUGH waS introduced, and receiv•:—.l the honour of knighthood, from his Royal lii'?lniess, with the Sword of State. His Grace then knelt, and the Prince took from a Velvet Cushion the Order and a green Ribbon; wl.ich WAi handed to him by a Gentleman Usher in Waiting ; his ROYAL HIGHNESS thi4PpLced the Ribbon over his Grace; thereby investing hint : wills the Order.. On his Grace's ri 7 ing, the ususiil oath was administered to hiin by RozERT QUARME, Esq. ,Gentleman Usher of the Green Rod, holding his elegant a; i d superb .Staff of Office. MAY 24 DISTRESSES OF THE POOR. Yesterday a meeting was held at the Free Mason's Tavern, Great Queen-street, for the purpose of taking into consideration the present distressed state of the poor. About half past one o'clock, his Royal Highness the Duke of York, accompanied by the Royal Dukes, Kent and Cambridge, the Duke of Rutland, Lord Rolls, and several other Members pf both Houses of Parliament. When the Duke of York having taken the Chair, Mr. WILBERFORCE after an appropriate speech;proposed three Reso lutions, the srst pointing out the existing necessity apd expediency of adopting some plan whereby the present lamentable situation of the lower orders might be relieved. Secondly; suggesting the propriety of entering into an immediate subscription; and thirdly, appointing a Com. mittee to consider the best course to pursue under the existing circum stances. These Resolutions were secoaded in an appropriate speech by his Royal Highness the Duke of Kent. And after some observations from Mr. Stephen, Mr. Lush, Judge Bailey, the Dukes of Cambridge and Rutland, and oth-r Gentlemen, the Resolutions were unanimously agreed to, and a Committee appointed to meet on Monday at Hatchett's Hotel, Piccadilly, consisting of the Puke of Rutland, Lord Roll, Mr. Wilberforce, Mr. Stephen, Mr. H. Thornton, Mr. Babington, Sir T. Baring, and others. A subscription was immediately entered into when upwards of 20001. was subscribed. The Royal Chairman having left the Chair, on the motion of the Duke of Rutland, a Vote of Thanks was carried, to which his Royal Highness returned his gracious acknowlegentents, and the Meeting broke up. LORD LE VESON -GOWER. COPY OF A LETTER FROM LORD GRANVILLE LEVESON GOWERI TO VISCOUNT CASTLEREAGH, MAY 17, 18W. Stanhope-street, May 17, 1811 My Lord—!t appears upon the trial of John Bellingham for the mur der of Mr. Perceval, that the pri , oner in his defence endeavoured to justify that atrocious act on the ground of his Majesty's Government having refused to compensate him for the injuries and oppression he states himself to have suffered in Russia, during the time I had the ho nour of representing his Majesty in that country. Pie complained par ticularly of my conduct, and that of Sir Stephen Shairp, his Majesty's Consul General, as having sanctioned, by our silence and neglect to in terfere in his behalf, the unjust treatment, as he considered it, of the Russian Government. I was subprenaed by the prisoner to attend the trial ; I did attend, and expected anxiously to be called upon, to state, upon oath, all I could re collect of the circumstances of his case in Russia. In this expectation, however, I was disappointed ; my testimony was not called for ; and after having heard the most serious accusations of gross neglect of duty and want of common humanity. brought forward by the prisoner, against myself and Sir Stephen Shairp, I had not the opportunity afforded me of publicly refuting those charges. Although lam perfectly aware that the assertions of a man, standing in the situation of Bellingham, can, unsupported by any other testimony, have no weight whatever with the sober and reflecting part of the public, yet I should be wanting, I think, to the interests and honour of the Government of this country, as well as to my own character and reputation, if I did not endeavour to do away any possible misapprehension upon this subject, by as ample a statement of the circumstances, as my memory of the transactions which passed some years ago will allow me to furnish. As you, my Lord, are at the head of that department under which I was employed, I conceive it to be my duty to address this statement to your Lordship. In 1805, I remember receiving a letter front John Bellingham, complaining of his being detained in prison at Archangel, and claiming my protection, against what he conceived to be the injustice of the con stituted authorities of that port; I remember that immediately upon the receipt of this letter I consulted with Sir Stephen Shairp, who agreed not only to write a letter to the Governor General, requiring all expianati:m of the circumstances of which Bellingham comilained, also to , his own mercantile correspondents, British Itesielents at eN rchan gel, for their opinion of the conduct of the RUSSialli Government towards the complainant. It appeared from these inquiries, that Bellingham having been et,- gaged in commercial business with the house of Durbecker acd Co. pe cuniary claims were made by each party against the other, and that thfr e claims had been by the Gov' ritor-General referred for decision 10 . four merchants, two British merchants being appointed on t he part of Bellingham, and two other persons on the part of Dorbecker. By the award of those arbitrators, Bellingham was declared to be iudrbttd to the assignees of Durbecker, the sum of two thousand roubles. 'his sum Bellingham, notwithstanding this decision, refused to pay. It also appeared from the cormnunications received from Archangel, that a criminal suit had been instituted against Bellingham, hy.the fawners of a Russian ship which had been lost in the W h ite Sea. _they accused him of having written an anonymous letter that had been re ceived by the Underwriters in London, in which letter it was stated that the insurancc of that ship was a fraudulent transaction; and pa}• PP'