The National Register. — London, England, 1812-01-19 00:00:00

JAN. 19. THE STREAM - (k tnit: OR, CHRONOLOGICAL. ILLUSTRATIONS. JANUARY. . 9th.—(1708.) The first representation of Regnard's comedy entitled the Universal Testator,' of which the Jesuits furnished the subject, and which caused an amazing sensation in France. (1806.) This was a sad, yet a proud day. Many may remember the Funeral of Admiral Lord Nelson ! Having lain in eyeful state, from the 4th to the 7th of this month, the mortal remains of this great man were conveyed from Greenwich, by water, and in state, to the Admi- • ralty ; whence they were borne, on the 9th day, under circumstances of unprecedented grandeur, to the cathedral of St. Paul's for curial. The dawn of day being remarkably fine, the drums of the metropolitan vo lunteers heat to arms at least an hour before day-light; and, shortly af ter, troops readily lined the streets, in two ranks, from the Admiralty to St. Paul's Church-yard. Anxious to behold this most interesting and impressive spectacle, some of the most delicate and elegant women had sat all the preceding nighs at the various windows by which it was to pass ; whilst others were seen, rising with the morning, hastening in all directions towards the streets where seeing• places had been procured for them. The life-guards were by this time mounted at their post in Hyde-Park. where the carriages cf the Nobility, together with the mourniug-coaches appointed to form part of the procession, began to assemble by eight o'clock, from Cumberland-gate to Hyde-Park Corner; and in St. James's-Park, meanwhile, were drawn up all the regiments of • cavalry and infantry, quartered within 100 miles of London, who had served in Egypt after the battle of the Nile. The procession, properly marshalled, commenced from the Admiralty, • at half-past ten., with the march of the several regiments, headed by his ' Royal Highness the Duke of York, Commander-in-Chief, attended by Lis Aides-de-casnp and Staff. Impressive and magnificent as the whole of this procession was, but exceeding the,limits of description here, the most interesting spectacle seemed that of the Coffin of Nelson, which, stripped of its velvet pall, was seen placed on a funerul car, supported upon a platform, covered with black c loth, and festooned with velvet richly fringed ; and decorated with escutcheons on each siie, between which were inscribed the words Trinidad' and Bucentaur.' Modelled in imitation of the hull of the Victory (Nelson's last flag-ship,) at the • ends, the head of the Car, towards the horses, was orearnented with a figure of Fame; the stern was carved and painted in the naval style, and exhibited, in yellow raised letters on the lanthorn over the poop, the word Victory.' The coffin was placed on the quarter-deck, with its head towards the stern, with a jack-pendant over the poop, and lowered half-staff. There was an awnieg over the whole, consisting of an ele gant canopy, supported by four pillars, in the form of palm trees, and partly covered with black velvet : its corners and sides were decorated with black ostrich feat hers,ell festooned with black velvet, richly fringed, immediately after which, in the front, was inscribed, in gold, the word Nile,' at one end ; on one side, the following motto—' Hoste devicto requierit,' behind the word Trafalgar;' and on the other side, the motto—' Palmam qui meruit ferat. The carriage was drawn by six led horses. Attended by a vast number of naval and military p ersona g es, b y nearl y all the ministers of state, (except Mr. Pitt, who was then dying!) by the great law officers, by the Dukes of Cumberland, Kent, and Clarence, end his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, each in a coach and six, the Car arrived at the western gates of St. Paul's e xactl y at three o'clock.—Sen sation now baffled all description ! The multitude, moved by one feel ing, instinctive and instantaneous, were seen all uncovered ; and a pause so mournful ensued, that if any one bad so far forgot himself as to have spoken ie an elevated tone of voice, the immense circle, dignified by si lence, must have distinctly heard him ! All decent persons were indeited in black. Nelson's remains were deposited under the dome of the cuthe• dral, and a national Monument will distinguish the scite to future ages. This c . ansaction is here uarrated at more than ordinary length, because there has been nothing compared to it in the history of our country. Peace eo the tomb where rest the mortal remains of this last " great heir et fame Wide as yon countless orbs diffuse their blaze, Boundless as space extends or being flows, No spot so dear approving 1-leaven surveys As where the wise and virtuous dead repose ! Unfailing laurels o'er the sacred urn •• Aloft their ever-verdant foliage si)read ; The muses there their choice-t incense burn, And rolling spheres their kindliest influence shed. rvInuRICR. ••-••••• (1810.) It was on the 9th of this month, that the Diocesan Court of the. Off - Lela lty of Pali* granted a nullity of marriage bet ween Buonaparte and Josephine!! Time will more disclose the results of this :Act. 10i.11.—(1778. Decease of l:innow:, His labours-were above praise. Botany will perpetuate. his memory ! Ith.-(1713). There was discovered in Dauphiny, says the Ciro szique du Temps, a tomb thirty feet in length, bearing an inscription— " •I'en-to liochus Rex." Within this tomb was-found the skeleton of a proper Giant. :?.3 feet and a half in-11,-ight, and 10. ft-A in.the girtttr his• bead, they adri,nwast.;r:. - 1 5 feet long, and 10 round. This 6wtemellt 35 might :teeth absolutely incredible,. .however .asserted asee peen.. e tact We give it as we find it. • (175 n.) Sir Hens Sloane died. He was buried in the old church yard of Chelsea, under a rather singular tomb. 12th.—(1519). The Emperor Maximilian I. died. Although be trothed by proxy to Anne of Brittany, Maximi:ian was so far disap pointed as to find her afteryvards actually married to Charles VIII ; yet lie was pretty well indemnified for her loss, by his subsequent union witn Maria, daughter of Charles the Bold, who brought him in dower the greater part of the Netherlands. Celebeative of the prospe rous marriages of the Princes of the House of Austria, the following well known dist ic 4 h was composed :—, Bella gerant alii ; to Felix AtJ%TRIA ?tube, • - -Nam quce Mars aliis, dat tibi regna Versus! This species of fortune still attends tile House of Austria, notwith standing all her misfortunes, as was latterly exemplified in the marriage of Buonaparte with a Princess of this House. Austria seems destined to gain more by this marriage than by all the wars in which she has been engaged ! (1808.) Portuguese massacred at Lisbon. , (1810). Accounts of the annexation of Dutch Zealand to France. 10th-e-(905.) Establishment of the Normans in Normandy. Anterior to 807, history makes but little mention either of the Normans, the Eng. lieh, or tee Danes, except that they occasionelly made descents on the French coast, and were considered to be in a state ot barbarism. Ap pearing before Rouen, however, on the 13th of January, 905. the Nor . mans, at length, succeeded in fixing themselves in their subsequent king dom, called hel etof ore Neuoria, which now assumed the style ef Nor j mangy, from their name of Normans, or people of the North, who Soon I rose into high political consideratioh. I (It-. 01 .) Died Robert Orme, aged 73. Mr. Orme is entitled to be remembered as an elegant Historian of the Military I ransactions of the British Nation in India. 1eth.—(577.) Epoch at which the Kings of France caused their own effigies to be impressed on gold and silver coins; monies bearing like nesses of the Emperors, or of the Kings of Italy, having heretofore form ed the currency of their realm. Reviewing this fact, it may not be un worthy of observation, that the titles of emperor and king have been as. Islimed by, and are joined in, Buonaparte; whose style is—Emperor of France and King ot Italy !! 'he present mode of coining, unknoWn to the ancients, was invented iii the year 1530. : —(i i 10.) Violent shock of an earthquake at Vienna. 15th.—(47.) The appearance of a new Isle in the Egean sea. . -- (1559.) Glorious day for England! Two hundred and fifty-three years have now elapsed since the'Coronatien of Queen Elizabeth. Not withstanding she had many :xults, imperially as well is individually, Elizabeth was a great queen,—orie who made her people happy, and her power respected. Her subjects loved her; her enemies feared her. The good " golden days of good Queen Bess" still in song delight the ear. Her days were golden,—golden indeed,--tinlike those of ours ! (1775.) Astonishing case of petrifaction ! A woman, who, since , her 50th year, had exhibited every appearance of being pregnant, with out the least symptoms of the dropsy, died, in the Hospita of Berlin, aged 60. Dissection being resorted to, in order to ascertain the occasion of her death, there was discovered within her an infant perfectly formed, i but completely petrified. (1780.) Woollen goods first exported from Ireland. Ireland will long bless this epoch. i eth.—(l7(3.) So recently as this period, a woman was hung at Cre mona, as being concerned in the assassination of her husband, and her body thrown into the river Po. She steadily &Ailed, in the first instance, the horrid crime with which she was charged ; but, being unable to ac count for the disappearance of her husband, she was, at last, put to the I torture, when, unable to sustain her anguisli, she confessed gull-. Four jdays after this, hte- husband suddenly returned home, from Parma, where he resided, three years, as a servant. The poor man hastened to I justify his dead wife. He was treated as though he had been an hupos• ter ; and assured, over and over, that the true husband was already dead, the ife having been hung for conspiring his death.—Behold the ef fectsw of Torture ! Philosophy is demolishing the instruments of super ! stition. 17:6.—(1703.) This day the memorable Benjamin Franklin was born. Franklin was a native of Boston, the capital of New England - and died I in June 17P. 'Th first Constituent Assembly of Frantic solemnly die. plored his death. Under his bust is this motto— Er:*infit ca , lolltinten steptra;nque tyrannis I 1 --- (1774) Revelunori in Denmark. I18t11.—(150n.) Completien of a most .be autiful s p ecimen of Gothic architecture, called Henry the 7th's chapel, at Westminster. -- (1639) Nativity of \•lontesquieu. When only twenty years of ege, this geneine scavant had begun to prepare the materials for hi. great I Work, ['Esprit des Lair, which he meditated for the space of 10 years. He acquired the nigh appellation of legislator of the human heart I Coal ; patriots have des :gibed him as the wisest legislator, the greatest philoso pher, and the hones..est man, that his country ever possessed. j (1770 en ussia erected into a kingdom. What change bath I time wrought ! Prussia is scarcely a kingdom. if 19th.—(1419.) Taking of Rotten, by Henry V. of England. Upwards • of 30,000 of its inhabitants perished by famine, 4etore the g..eueueso talked of surrenderiro! THE NATIONAL REGISTER•