The National Register. — London, England, 1816-05-13 00:00:00

• 'MAY 3. LITERARY 4 STIEATIFIC INTEELIGEACL. LORD ELCIN'S MARBLES. Our rttiders Gill ranll.et, that emotion war made torn^ time tee in the Ito 4e of ( . 0mo:ohs reap( (MN . ; the purchase of the 1.:1,in ae eaty ate and that the moyosal wa.s referred to a title,' Com mittee of the Ilona:. Ater ex:twining r.onv: of the Totnt celtheated waist. cud 11101 of tame in the kingdom, the Committee have lately iren s ts.port•on this sublets. which &serves the intrtiettlar atten 'lion of those font! of the arts. These marbles were procured IA a con _ _ . -lid:ruble espy= by Lord Elgin, during the time he resided as Ain tassador at Constantinople; and mu: of the chief objetts of enquiry was, r to a-certain their merit as remains of ancient sculpture, and the utility likAy to arise front their becoming the property of the public. On this . point, the Committee (Ufa the following reruarits:-6. 'The testimony of's:vend of the most eminent artists in the kingdom, who have been examined, rates these marbles in the very' first class I.f ancient art, POW placing ilani - a little above and others a little belie Vie Alollo . 11.21videre, the Laocoun, and die Torso oldie Belvidere. Thy speak of dates with admiration and enthusiasm ; and, notwithstanding the ntanifold injuries of time and weather, and those mutilations which .they have sustained from the fortuitous , rr desihned injuries of negket •r mischief, they consider them as among the finest niodth,• snd the most exquisite Monuments of antiquity. The general current of this portion of the evidence makes no doubt of referring the date of these works to the ori::inal building of the Parthenon, and to the designs of Phidias, the dawn of every thing which adorned and ennobled Greece. 'With this estimation of the excellence of these wanks, it is mound to Ismeluele that they are recommended by the same authorities, as highly 'fit, and admirably adapted, to form a school of study to improve our notional taste for the tine arts, and to di:fuse a more perfect knowledge of theist throughout this kingdom. Murh indeed easy be rewonably hoped and expected from the I, , eneral observati•m and admiration of such distinguished etampks. The (Ica of the fifteenth and the begin ning of the sixteenth centaries, enlightened by the discovery of several of the noblest - remains of Lotiquity, produced in Italy an abundant ' harvest of the Most eminent m_st, who made gigantic advances in the path of art, as painters, sctilptors, anti inehitects. Caught by tk. no velty, attneet.d by the beauty, and enamoured by the ;affection of those newly-disclosed treasures, they imbibed the genuine spirit of the ancient est:. ::ence, and transfused it into their own compositions." The last object of the report is the value of these marbly;, the acqui -sition of which wa; attenmsl with an expenee to Lord Elgin of more than 74.m01. The Committee, however, fixes the pries to be given for them at 35,05)1. The value of them, as stated by Mr. Ilaiiiiitun, 'Lend k:lgin's priest" s_vretary, is as follows : TM:sem, or Hercules - - £4OOO !Mous . - - 4000 Female group - . - 4(0) • ....--. auto - - - - 4000 f., Iris • - . - . Iti POO Three Horses Iltode •.• - .. V..ifei Torso of Neptune • 500 • ltemainder of the l'edimeat . . 41101) Metopes - 10,15)0 Fifty-three pieces at 4001. each . • - took)! Bacchus 1000 Caryatis - - - . 700 Casts from the Parthenon - - 1000 Doric Columns and Architrave - • . 4001 % lonic dittoand ditto - -. AOO j i inscriptions . - - 1000 Etruscan Ilas-iteliefs - . - 200 Vases ftolll Athens , • • - - 40) Bronze Vass . - - - • 2004 Medals -... . ~ 800 -Drawings - r• 500 Xtar,a4oo 'the valuation of Mr. Payne Knight, the author of a work on Taste, -Re. is only :13,0001. including several articles not above particuLsri sel l ; • but this difference arises chiefly from the difference of opinion in regard to the antiquity of these ancient monuments. Instead of being the. work of !Indies, in the time of Pericles, an generally admitted, Mr. Knight considers thou only as produdions of the age of Hadrian, the restorer of Atheos. We shall conclude this article with the following testimony ;Oven in • their favour by Mr. Ithaxman, an ingenious and learned:with:ter, whma: work , are well known to the public Tice Elgin - marbles arenrortly basio-relievo, and the finest works of the lit i have seen. Those in the Pope's Museum. and the other Galleries of Italy were the I.autvwu and the Apollo Belvidere; and the other molt celebrated works of an tiquity were groups and statues. (lifter in the respect that they arc chiefly basso-relievos and fragments of statuary. Vs ith respixt to their excellence. they are the most excellent of their kind that I have • seen; and I have every reason to belieVe they were executed by llndias and them. employed under hint, or the general design of them given by him at the time the temple was built : as we are informed, he was the artist principally employed by Pericles, and his principal scholars wientioned by Pliny. Aleamenes, and about four others. immediately under him ; to which he adds a catalogue of seven or eight others who followial in order, and he mentions their succeeding Phidias in the tourse of twenty years. I believe they arc the works of those artists ; and in this resiwet they are superior almost to any of the works of an - tiquity.except the l.aoeoon and Torso Earnest:, because they arc known to have been executed by the artists whose names axe recorded by the oacient authors. With respect to the balmy of the basso-rehevon, they are as perfect nature as it is possible to put into the compass rf the marble in which they are executed, and that of the news olegaM•kind. There is one statue also which is called a Hercules, or Theseus, of the test order of merit. The fragments of groups of women are finely ex ecuted; but I do not, in my own estimation, think their merit is so rest." The testimony of the other artists examined was nsarly to the same purpose. DISCOVRRIES. We learn from New South Wales, that otir knowledge of that coun try is likely to be extend.xl, in consequence of a tow made last year by the Governor over the Western or Blue Mountains. for the purpose of being able, personally, to appreciate the value and importance of the -trwl of country lying beyond them, which had been explored in the tral of the year ISIS and the beginning of 11(14, by Mr. Evans, de puty surveyor of lands. The favourable account given of the cotmtry by Mr. Evans, in. dueed the Governer to cause a road to be constructed for the paasage and conveyance of cattle and provisions to the interior; and men of Rood character selected trout a number of convicts who hail volunteered their services, were empl4ed to perform this arduous task. on the condition of being fed and clothed. during the continuance of their labour. and bong granted emancipation on the completion of the work. The chief dbe.tion of this work was entrusted to isgentleman named Cox, under whose superintendanee it was completed, notwithstanding the difficulties encountered. in the space of six months, without the loss of a man, or any serious accident. In one place the road is cut out in the face of a perpendicular precipice 676 feet in height, According to actual measurement, and this part, in all its windings, is no less than three fourths of is mile in length. In order to perpetuate the memory of Mr. Cox's services, the goventor devoted it a tribute justly due to him, to give his name to this annul rid extraordinaiy pass, and he accordingly called it, Cox's Pas:. The road being completed on the 21st of January, the Governor, accompanied by Mr. Macquarrie and Mr. (ox. iximmeneed his tour on the tsth of April. They were afterwards jeined by the Goveitor's secretary, aid-de-camp, and otter.;; and on the 4th of May, arrived at a champagne vountry several miles in length. bounded both sides by gently rising hills, used intersected by the Macquairie river. Hay.. . 7 . - "Mr NATION:At itt6ISTAI. ing encamped on the left hank of this river, whiefi riirsnr.is a wintlitr: (-nurse, the . guvernor remair.ed here for a week, making excursion,: in different threetions through the adjoining, cOuntry on both sit e. the river. As the soil appeared to be exceedingly fertile, he made choice of this spot for the erection ofa town at :ainie future period, to which he gave the name of Bathurst, in honour of the present Stsretary of State of the Colnies. The site designed fur the town of Bathurst, is situatca by observatien, in lat. 33 deg. 27 min. 45 sty siaah; and loagituit• ICJ deg. 77 two -4.; ace. East of Greenwich; the measured road, distance from Sydney to it, being Ito English miles. Within a dlstutte of about ten nines from the site of Bathurst, them are not Ims than fifty thousand acres of land clear of timber, and fully one half of that may be considered Iscellent soil, well calculated for cultivation. Neither coals nor limestone have vet been discovered; but the surrounding districts abound in game of various kinds; and the two principal rivers contain a quantity of fish; bin 01 of one de nomination, resembling the perch in appearance, and of a most delicate flavour: it grows to a large size, and is exceedingly voracious: one caught during the governor's stay at Bathurst, weighed 1 /lbs. and the people (stationed there, reported thatthey had caughtsonie weigh ing2slbs. 'ile bald game are the kangaroih, emus, black swans, wild geese, wild turkeys, Lastasil ducks of varioas kinds, quails, bronze and other pigeons,`...se. 'the water-mole urparadox abounds also in all the rivers and rinds. MITERLOO. " Quin talia Janda temperet a gaudiiq." ftiTentert NG A NECDOTE. —At the batik of Waterloo, on the 16th Juni., a brave Major of the agd Highlanders ' preferring to fi ght on foot in the front of hi s men , had Given his horse to hold to a little drummer.boy of the reginwne After some severe fighting with the Ft ench horse cuirassiers and lancers, and after receiving severe s mitids,he fell front the loss of blood, near a brave private, Donald Mackintosh, of his corps, who was mortally wooded at the same instant. The lithe &loonier lad had left the horse to assist poor Donald; a lancer seeing the horse, thought km fair prize. and made a dash at him. This did not escape' the watchful and keen eye of the dying Hie hander, who, with all the provident spirit of his country " ruling strong even in death," groaned out, " Hoot man, ye manna tak that beast, 't belongs• to oor Captain here." 'the lancer, miderstanding little of his brogue, and respecting less his writhing gestures, seized on the horse. Donald loaded his musket once more, shot hint dead,—and the next moment tell back and expired content. An Offeer of the cuirassiers, at this time, obsarvirg our poor Major still bestirring himself, rode up, and stooping ft ton his charger, aimed to dispatch hint with his sword ; our resolute Major seized his leg, and still grappled with him so stoutly, that he pulled hint off his horse upon him. Another lancer, observing this struggle, galloped up, and, to rebeve his Officer, attempted to spear the Major, oho, by a sudden jerk and desperate exertion, placed the Frenchman, in the rick of the necessity, in his arms before him, who received the 111011A1 thrust below his cuirass, and in this condition continued lying upon hint, with his sword in Lis It tud, for near ten minutes. The Major, unconscious that he Ind received a death wound. expected all this time to receive Iris own at his hand. At last the French Officer raised himself; ran or staggered a few yards, and then fell to sat uggle or to rise 11011101 e. Aontlvr private of -his regiment Irmr came up, and asked his Major what he could do to assist Lim?—" Nothing. my good friend, bet load your piece nod finish inv." " But your eye still looks lively (sard•the plots fellow); if I could move' you to the t 1241, fighting hard by, I think you would vet .do well." With the aid of as fellow soldier, he was moved as the man proposed,ond soon seen by nu intimate friend, Colonel Cameron, commanding the 9.2 d, who instantly ordered him every succour possible. A blanket and four men carried Lim a little in the rear. While tilt) , were raising him, Colonel Cameron eselaboed, " God bless you; I most be off— the devils (meaning the lancers) are at us again —1 moat stood up to them." He did so, and in a few minutes, stretched dead on the bed of hononr, finished his mortal career of glory in the bold defence of his country.—lt is a pleasure to add, that the brave Major is still alive, wearing the honourable decoration and marks of sixteen severe wounds received in this unequal and arduous conflict, and lame too front a seveio wound received betine, at the storming of lladalor. WAR lifitisE9.--.1)11611Z the battle of Waterloo, some of the horses, as they lay on the ground, leaving recovered from the first agony of their wound, fell to eating the grass abort them, thus surrounding themselves with a circle of bare ground, the limited extent of which showed their weakness.. Others of these interesting animals, to whom man so strongly attaches himself, were observed quietly grazing in the middle of the field, between the two hostile lines, their riders having been shot off their backs, and the balls that flew over their fiends, and the roaring behind, and before, and about them, caused no respite of the usual instincts of their nature. When a charge of cavalry went past, near to any of the stray horses already mentioned, the trained anillidlS would set off, form themselves in the rear of their mounted companions, and, though without eid e rs. gallnp strettnonsly along with the rest, not stepping or &itching when the fatal shock with the enemy took place. CHINA FLEET. The Ships Charles Crant, ESSeN, antMowthcr Castle, ares'ed off l'ortland on the 9th init.; left China the 20th of Jrinuary, and arrived at St. Helena oh the 2341 of March, with the under mentimied ships, which they kft at that island on sailing from thence on the 20th, David Scott, Marquis Camden, Vansittart, Bridgewater, General Harris, Atlas, Ceres, Alnwiek Castle, and the Warren Hastings; the Heretbrdshire, General Ks-d, and Northampton Botany Bay ships, were left at ( ; the I)a% id Scott and General Harris are arrived. The Elphinstone arrived at Santa Cruz on the *nth of March, to repair the damage site ttittoaincil in a gale of wind, and was to proceed on her voyage the 7:h of April; she parted coin. pany with the Marquis of Ely and Wexford the 2d of March, the day after the eale began, which lasted 19 days. The Countess of London and Moira, with the Ladies Flora and Sophia Hustings. and Lord Hoingerford, are now on their passage home from India, on hoard the William Pitt. .t reward of 1001) guineas has been offered by the public 'Ace, 8055...m11, for the upprrbetssion of any or all the (Menders ssho, on W«lnestl.l) lab', plundered the Coromandel East India hoy of au immense iiiimitity of dollars, *woo the river 'Thames. - --------- A reward of 50 gnineaix has been off red for the apprehen ,;ion of RICH Ano HUG.% s, for the murder of a %%yawl, with a horn he cohabited, ia Ihnty-lane. Mrs. Cambridge, of l'ortpoo.-lane, *as robbed of a pelis.e and other apparel on Mambo , mop :in: List, donna he r tempt , rar y absence flop), home, and de Witt'll sh. COI tip, she found a letter thrust under the dour, wLieh contained the duplicates of the stolen articles. ill NAVJG AND MILITARY BIBLE 'SOCIETY. . _ Wc , lovstlay the Stith Animal Meeti of this Society teas Itch( in the King's Conceit-room, Haymarket —Altkn.r.(ienes Nc %ille in the Chair. Apologies %ere read by the Secretary from his Royal High ness the Duke of Turk ; Ilie•Fart of Liveraool ; the Bishops of Gloucester, London, and Oxford; the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and several other eminent public eliarseters who were prevented from attending by urgent ptlbhc business. The Report of the Society was read ; from which it appeared, since the estaldishinent of the Institution in 1750, 116,211 Bi bles and Testaments had been distributed through its mean•. Mndh yet remained to be dohs by the Society, whose balance in the statement of the funds for the present year did not excee : l 261. 10s. '_'d: in consequence of the immense number of !Mike distributed by them within the year, -to soldiers who had Mist their former unesat Waterloo, awl to others in garrisons, The Report contained a variety of details. together with an Appendix, containing several letters from Correspon dents on the misiness of the Institution ; and one front the Duke of Wellington, express;ng his cordial approbation of it•t plan. Mr. Butterteorth, M. I'. proposed, that the Report be adopted, which was aced to unanimously. The Hon. Gentle man strongly enforced the advantages resulting from this In- Admit n. In the course of his speech, he related an anecdote of scrjeant of a recruiting party, who at a sermon in Slit e ws bury, became forcibly impressed with the necessity of divine ',erectus. This serteant was afterwards sent to the Peninsula, from which he wrote over, entreating that a few Bibles might be sent him for some friends; and also a isew in the Spanish lan guage, for the %retched inhabitants of that conntry. Tl:is request had been complied with, but the Spanish Cierey bore erl the books, and thereby prevented their Sovereign front having before him a work that would have instructed hint how to govern without tyranny, and his stilijects how to obey % ithout rebellion. The Hoe. Gentleman related the further history of this serjeant up to the battle of Waterloo, • where he played a distinguished pert in the :id battalion of the Foot Guards; and read a letter from him descriptive of that battle, and contain ing an interesting acknowledgment of the true courage with which religious instructon inspired him on that OCi'llioll. He also alluileti to the perseverance of a sailor, who, though threatened to be Bogged to the bare bone by his Lieutenant, if lie devoted his time and that of others to prayer; yet per sisted, and warned those who were of a weak body not to attend, as they could not so well hearftegging to the bone. The Lieutenant was, however, removed, and the Captain gave the poor fellows full permision to pray. It also appeared, in the course of the discussion, that the soldiers ol' Scotland were always remarkable for their attention to religious ditties ; and that there was hardly one of them ever loom! without a Bible in his knapsack. Lord Calthorpe, Capt. Montague, R. N. Mr. Clementson, and several Reverend Gentlemen, addressed the Meeting in support of this valuable Institution. Several Resolutions were entered into ha- this purpose, and a handsome subscription was made tip in the room, in furtherance of this desirable ob. ject. The Meeting was attended by several Ladies of distinction. Mr. Wiherforce was present; but we regret to add, tuevcuie•l by indisposition flout delivering his semements in support of the Institution. The Magistrate :: of snriev have Granted the Under Sheriff 201. per umntHu, and the r.oler 101. Lis a coinpensatiou fur g4Ol fees, so properly l'his day the trial of Mr. :Ewan Mardonall, proprietor of the. Dublin Clarnnicte,came on in the Court of King's Bench. fat 4 libel. lie wan found Guilty, and committed to Newgate.—. (Dubla Cum...pendent, Mity 2.) On Tuesday night the warehoule of 3lr. Neale, in Chamber street, Goodman'.-tied=, vas broke open and robbed of uphol stery goods to a large amount. A short time since, some villain entered Freemasons' Hall, Chichester, belonging to the Lodge of Harmony, and stole all the jewels of their order, together with seven collars ot er.m -3011 velvet, ornamented with silver lace. On Saturday evening, the 4111 inst. a poor man with his wife and five children, who were travelling through the cemitry %kith a small cart, drawn by an ass, being unable to find lodg ing, took refuge, in a sand-link, at the side of the public road, near Twynhohn hirk. In the course of the night, a mass of earth, which hail been undermined in taking out the said. un fortunately gave way, and buried them all tinder it. Their bodies were due inn on Sunday morning, and carried into the church.—(fidinburgh Paper.) CHIMNEY SWEEPER3.—Much has been said, in different places, about the condition of Chimney Sweepers' Iloys ; and many plain 'have been suggested for their benefit, withont, apparently, much good having resulted. In Scotland (a portion of the Empire which has taken the lead in 111a11%* useful and patriotic undertakings, and in none more than in those for the comfort arid management of her pooro they have bettered the condition of Chimney Sweepers's Clinshb,z Boys by the most effectual of all plans—that of doing olinot entirely without them. Instead of sending up a !my a man, by the assistance of a light ladder, mounts to the top of the chimney from withont, His boy, entering the bons/:, bellows up the chimney which is about to be swept, in to& r that the min, by attending to the sound, may get to ash eriain which of tho.k in the stack requires his services. Provided with a ponderous bat, fastened to one end of a long rope, he drops it into the chimney, to the bottom of which it is sure to descend, however narrow and crooked the way may he. TIC, being reccived by the boy, in the apartment beneath, he fastens a large well-spread broom, made of twigs, to the end of the rope ; and giving the signal to the luau, it is drawn in a few moments, to the top,searching by the compression of its m em . der, elastic twigs, into every service of the chimney, and com pletely clearing it, not only from every particle of soot, out even tearing off pieces of loose stone- awl lime. The ehatge made for every ekinmay swept varies, from a penny to six pence, according to circumstances. About three weeks or a month azo, a farm ite spaniel, be. longing to a gentleman of Loottlibeemi:4ll, which had fur some time previous. thereto lieen placed under the care of ape r-on at Burton-Bandals, near that town, went mad and hot hail not gone more than a mile or two before it was t•iken np, and confined till its death, winch took place in a few trays. It was then believed that little, if , mischief had beim ))))) e by it : but we are sorry to say, that this ide t has pros ed an erroneous one; for two sheep belonging a neighbouring 11.1“. smut 11101, and be.., an hi .1 . 4• r m, belem;ing to the mmir person was shot, mid carefully boned a f ew d a y s ago, having Exhumed prom's or weir% infected with. th • :MM.' ;Mowing disease.