The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1803-02-02 00:00:00

r -----, f ( PRiT:SIT T.YINC-IN TYOSPITNL, in BROW NLOW STIttET, 1:r the Ite;i‘•fuf the Wivt«)f Tristli.stoen, Soldiers, Seameii, &c. Jan. 22, 1865. HA Royal TI finest the Duct? t•-s ofl'n*[ , PAlfenicti, lliti Gate the D-Ict t. Pout LA ti D, President. 1 Grace the Duke of Ancaater, The Right I fon. Fart S; sneer, The R .ght .n.L.Jet Vice Presidents. Ilia Right llu. S.r ASt 14.4, Bart. Ilassair Mika. E.sq. Treasur-r. rINHE GOVERNORS • and FRIENDS of this !amble innitutirm, ae• recitteited to Dine at Fata ea Arina T.% vents, (4r•-st Queen-sunet, Oft SATURDAY, the ISth of February next. STEIVAR DS. nev.tlie Dean of linuol. Thom* Planter, XII. caasie. I.D. F.R.S. Witham Noble, Ent. Davi I Pike Watts, . Mr. Ilay. • ••.1... - N•••• , .1,, - Duniei to b., on Table it Plve otlock. W. YEWD, setretark, G. TRITWHITT, N.A. C.tra4 of Invitation may be had at the Hospital ant Tavern, Sty time before Tlttir,day the 17th of February. LITERATURE. Esi 4prz trdium cognorcere. Hot. Viliatever extends our acquantance with human nature, and makes us more conversant with the cha r eters and the manners of our species, as they are diversified by the accidents of country, climate, or ihstitution, must always possess the power of inte resting us, and must always claim a high place among the works of useful knowledge. He who penetrates from effeas to causes ; who unfolds the elements of matter ; who traces the phenomena of mind ; who ascertains the principles of morals; whose imagination creates and sports in worlds of her own, and adorns our paths with flowers gather ed in etherial gardens—the euttosovezz, in short, and the POET, are entitled to the first honours of in tellect, and to the largest incense from the altars of fame. But, with far humbler pretensions, the TII. vetxre„ who surveys the rational inhabitants of our globe, and who faithfully delineates their man ners with his pen, and the peculiarities of their form and their dress with his pencil, can justly demand our gratitude,for blending amusement with informa tion, and for contributing something to the happi ness of life. We shall not indeed contemplate him with wonder, as one of the intellectual giants of our race, but we shall always regard him with fondness as one of its benefactors. Without ranking his vo lime with the greater exhibitions of the mind, we shall make it our companion in the hour of less in tense thought, and shall frequently turn over its rages, when the effort of prouder intellect reposes to unbroken slumber upon-our shelves. lehe work which at present asks our notice, 44 The Costume of Russia," is not the pmduction of one traveller, but the result of the labours of many. Its title intimates its nature. In a yin iety of plates, so coloured as to impart to the graver the brilliancy and the life of the pencil, it represents, in their proper habits, the different races of men which occupy the enormous extent of the RUSSIAN Ens from the Caspian to the Pole, and from the North Cape to thti Strait which severs Asia from Anserica. The plates are illustrated with short de scriptions ; and from these, which must, of course, convey a very imperfect idea of a work offered principally to the eye, we shall select the following account of a female Schaman ; premising, that a Bela Mall is the Priest of a particular species of idol atry which still prevails in some of the Russian provinces. Among the professors of this strange and barbarous religion, the women are represented as the objects of peculiar contempt and neglect. They are, however, admitted into the priesthood ; and our extract forms the description of one of these females in her sacerdotal habiliments. Plate XXXVII. A FEMALE SCRAM AN, chewing the back part of her dress. The Schamans dress themselves in - the most fan tastic and grotesque manner, under the islea, that they by these means make themselves agreeable to God, and formidable to men ; and, on this account, then- whole endeavour is to surpass each other in sin gulanty. Their dress also differs very much, ac cording to the nations they are of. The present plate, as well as the last, exhibits a female Scha num, or priestess, of the Karchintvi tribe, of the district cf Kraynoyarsk. Their dress is distin guished by various idolatrous ornaments, made of plates of iron, of the claws of birds, of stripes of different cloths and furs, and skins of animals; while their saps are generally bordered with the skirt of the lynx, and a plume of owl's feathers. A sort of tambourine is the constant companions of the Schamans : it is made of wood, and covered on one side with skin ; on the other side a bar runs across, by which they hold it ; this skin is frequently covered with hieroglyphic characters, sometimes with the forms of idols, or different animals. The instrument with which they strike the tam bourine, is merely made of a piece of wood, and covered with the skin of a hare with the fur on, or of some other similar animal. To this magical in strument they attribute very great power ; and pre teed, that they can, by beating upon it, cause spi rits (in which they believe) to appear or disappear at pleasnre. he principles of Schamanism are thiefly as follow: they believe in one God, the creator of every thing, whom the different nations call by different names ; a number of inferior gods govern the world, chiefly according to their tient wills, although they are all subordinate to the beity. AU the celestial bodies are divinities, as well as scene tiarestrial objects, smelt as ire, water, mountains, kc. There are also evil deities, of whom there is a . supreme, who is next to God in power: these live in rivers, forests, mountains, &c. &c. their wile de light is in tormenting mankind. The people are persuaded, that the gods appear to their &bamans ander different shapes, but particularly in the form cif a hear, for which an im al they base a great re spect. They believe in it state after death, but their ideas of it are strange and ridiculous. To the good deities► which ate represented under re forms idoialmo forms, they offer sacrifices and prayers, width day zee sure will be attended to. lu spite. Ser i elan the absurdities in Wm imams. attentive enquirer on mai le gneceive some simileri to the Mosaic religi sacred ism, the4ihdosa, tie adersiceas, die opinions comern• lag ironies, and many other tenets of the Scha. AMA* j perbein. Area borrowed km the sintallibelevas. . . vorTunt TIMT. THEATRE-ROYAL, DRURrIAN.E. Tins EVENING will 1)4 prrie:lted a New Comedy called HEAR BOTH SIDES. fu which rill be added, LOVE AND MAGI p THEA7'RE.RorAL, COVENT-GARDEN. THIS EVENING w ill be performul the Tragedy of HAMLET. llam;et, fur the first time, by a Young GENTLEMAN. To which vill V. added, HA it LEOUIN'S HABEAS. THE BRITISH PRESS. LONDON, WEDNESDAY, Fee. 2. Candlenias Day.--tiolitlay at the Public Offices. It will be seen, in a subsequent part of this Paper, that a Meeting of the Ship-Owners of London was held yesterday, at which several resolutions were pased against the Tonnage Duty. Yesterday we received two Dutch mails, and one Hamburgh Mail—Their contents arc of little im portance. The speculators in the Dutch Funds are waiting with impatience for the publication of the terms of the Loan ; and the uncertainty in which they are kept respecting their nature, prevents any material variation in the price of their Stocks. The frost has set in very severely, and has concurred with other circumstances in increasing the stagnation of their commerce. The Leyden Gazette of the 28th January con tains a Copy of the Convention concluded at Paris in December last, respecting the Indem nities of the House of Austria in the Empire. From which it appears that the Duke of Modena is to have the county of Ortenau in Suabia, toge ther with the Brisgau, agreeably to the fourth article of the Treaty of Luneville. His Imperial Majesty is to be indemnified for that cession by the bishoprics of Trente and Wizen, which are to be secularized. The Grand Duke of Tuscany is to have the bishopric of Eichstadt, in addition to the other indemnities adjudged to him by the general Conclusum of the 23d November, with some trivial exceptions This Convention is signed Phil. Cobenzel, Joseph Bona parte, Count Markoff, and dated Paris, 26th Dec. 1802. Great preparations are making at Stutgard for the installation of the Duke of Wnrtemberg in his new Electoral dignity, which is expected to take place in the month of March next. The answer of Mr. Secretary \Vietnam to the Address, presented to him at Limerick, by Colonels ODELL and Vent NIA, is so replete with moderation, and sound policy, that it cannot fail of conciliating the minds of the orderly, and of repressing the tu mults of the disorderly. In a free country, such as Ireland must be deemed since its Union with the British empire,. the civil power should be rendered adequate to ev4purpzies ; and recourse should never be had to the military, hut in the last extremity. Ire. land, at present, resembles the ocean ; which con tinues in a state of fermentation long after the storm which first agitated its bosom hath sub sided ; and the wisdom of the present Administra tion, in casting oil upon its surface, must be mani fest to every experienced pilot. A continuation of the like moderate, yet determined measures, can not fail of producing the desired effect. Letters received yesterday overland from India state, that the Lord Nilson and Used Kingdom ar rived at Madras on the 10th, and wiled for Bengal on the 18th of July, where they arrived the eitn. Cirencester, Persever.ince, and Alnwisi Cattle, sailed from Madras for China the 20th July. Mat-chief? ell of Exeter sailed from Madras to the northern ports the Ist August. Thames, lraltner Castle, and Janson, sailed from Bombay to China the 16th August. Sir Edward Hughes and Earl St. Vincent arrived at Bombay from England, the former on the 29th, and the latter on the I ash August. Company's ship ' Cornoosilis, and the Earl St. Vincent, to be sent down to Anjengo and Tellicherry, for pepper and piece goods, and to be dispatched to England from Bombay on the 19th December. Sir Edward Hughes and Tra vers to he dispatched to fill upon the coast about the end of January, and from whence they will proceed to England. The Herculean arrived at Bombay the 6th September, and, when unladen, will be sent to Bengal. Letters received by the Dutch Mail state, that the Expedition to Lousiaua is delayed by the seve rity of the weather, the ships destined for the voyage being all frozen in. An article from the Hague states, that they are returning there to their old ens toms and institutions.' Many of the friends of the PRINCE of ORANGE have been admitted to Public Offices, and the Guilds and Corporations of Am sterdam are all re-established. Mr. WIER!: m, we understand, left Ireland, on Saturday last, and is expected in town this day.— His return to England may be desirable, for the purpose of appearing in Parliament to answer the inquiries which Government may expect will be ad dressed to him on the subject of the disturbances in the South of Ireland. Generals MASSENA and ANGERAV have not vi sited St. Cloud, since the day on which they. had a private conference with RON Ar RT E. They affect to avoid the assemblies of his Lady, and to be regu larly at those of Mesdames CA MRACERRS and La- DRUM, who pay them a marked attention. The Duchess of I)OASET on being informed of tke abuses pratised in the Administration of Sock vile College, East Grinstead, has sent over direc tionsto redress them without delay. The Tellowsare to be augmented to thirty, from fourteen their present number; and the funds are to be raised from 1601. which is now annually expended in the College to 3901. according to the original foundation, as made by Roarer, Earl of Dorset, under King JAMiS the First. The Hurricanes for the last fortnight, on the whole ofthe East Riding coast of Yorksbirchave been more tempestous and fatal than were ever known. No dsing has been seen along the whole shore, but parts of wrecks of vessels and the dead bodies of unfortu nate men who have perished in the storms. The Asicaican Comm, his wife aid child. were with great difficulty saved at Bvt, Qsy,. aid were brr on shore nearly soloed. in an-opre boat. A who attempted to reins to the shore, *as aplie4 w pie= sr** i DUCILESS OF rORK. When ms'nent characters lead the van in the acts of charity, an account of there acts must be doubly pleasing, for the sake of example. It is the custom among German Ladies of her Royal V;ghness's rank,on every Chrismas Eve, to select certain objects of charity on whom to bestow their munificence ; but her Royal Highness being on the last Chrismas Eve at Bath, confined by indisposition, the custom of her country was necessarily postponed to some fu ture day. On Sunday last twenty poor children, who have been educated and reared by her Royal Highness's bounty in the neighbourhood of Oat lands, were, by her orders, brought to her house in Portman-square. At six o'clock the children, pre ceded by their Governor and Governess, were con ducted into the dining-room, in which were the Duke and Duchess of 1 oak, and a large company of the Nobility, who were invited on the occasion. After each of the children had received from her Royal Highness's hand a suitable present, they sat down at a table provided for the occasion, at which they were regaled until eight o'clock ; and on Mon day they were conveyed back to Oatlands, in her Royal Highness's long carriage, escorted by the male and female domestics of her Royal Highness's es tablishment. Lord Chamberla n': Offer, Jan. 29, 1803. Notice is hereby given, that there will be a Levee at St. James's on Wechlesday next the 2d day of February. Her MAJESTY, accompanied by thrte of the Princesses, breakfasted at two o'clock, on Monday last, with the Duke and Duchess of YoUK, at their Royal Highnesses house in Portman-square, and 14- mained till four o'clock. Her MAJES r Y looked ex ceedingly well. His - lioyal Highness the Duke of CLARENCE paid a morning visit to the Prince of WALES yesterday at Carlton House, where he continued a considerable time. The Princess ELTZAIIRTH has in constant use, this cold weather, the exquisitely beautiful screen which was presented to her Royal Highness by Mr. HA R ING of Pall Mall. It consists of three folding leaves, one entirely covered with caricatures, arranged in the most humourous manner; another, which forms the centre, is occupied by the most elegant historical prints ; and the third leaf consists of admirable and highly finished portraits ; over the centre leaf are the initials of her Royal Highness in gold letters, sur mounted by a superb coronet ; the back of the screen is covered with maps, &c. and the whole front con sists of upwards of six hundred pictures. In proof of its elegance, we need only observe, that it was de signed and arranged by Mrs. IlaommixAn of Port land Place. _ _ _ The Princess Auccsr as appeared in health yesterday at Buckingham House. Her IEVaI High ness, during her indisposition, principally amused herself with drawing. Yesterday Her Royal Highness the DUCHESS of YORK paid a visit to her Royal Highness the Pa INCESS of WALES, at Blackheath. The Duke of Po ter 1. AND, after entertaining the Cabinet Ministers at his House in Piccadilly en Monday, gave a grand concert in the evening to 100 other fashionahles. Mrs. BILLINGTON was at the head of the vocal choir. COL HANGER, it is said, intends resuming the coal-trade, since he .has been disappointed in his hopes of becoming Lord Cole-rains. The splendid front on the north side of the Bank of England is now finished, and exhibits much taste and elegance. The Members of the House of Commons are post ing to town with all convenient speed, w attend their Parliamentary Duty. The Duke of PoItTLAND gave a grand dinner on Monday. at his house in Piccadilly, to a large party of friends, among whom were the Duke of Rox- BURGH L the Marquis of SALISULTRY, Lords Et, DON, CHATHAM, WESTMOUL AND, PELHAM, CAS.. TLEREAGH, DARTMOUTH, HAWKLSRURY, HOBART, the Right Hon. IL ADDINGTON, Sir STEPHEN COTT RLLL, iCe. . It Capt. CAULFIELD, who is expected to appear in the character of Heinle:, at Covent Garden Thea tre, this night, should feel as much at his ease, and display as much grace upon the board: as upon the ice, there can be no doubt of his success. Mr. PITT is expected in town from Walmer Cas tle next week. To-morrow the curtain draws up at the pclitical Theatre in St. Stephen's Chapel, when a Drama, consisting of many acts, will begin to be rehearsed. Bond•street was very much crowded yesterday, but whether the majority were idle lounger: or hay politician:, we could not determine; in the group of pedestrians were the Marquis of Ilaavroso, Earls of EUSTON and BANICILY, MT. TIERNEY, &C. Further novelties are, we hear. in preparation at our Theatres rit is surely time to lay aside their new Pantomimes, as their attraction is nearly ex hausted. The Marchioness of SuGo walked thro Bond street yesterday in a peen hunting habit :—the same her Ladyship is anxious to discover, are the de serving poor, who never fail to find a covert in her humanity. The Marquis of Ety, who has been dangerously ill at his house in Dublin, is so far recovered, as to be expected in town early in the spring. MILES PETER ANDREWS, M. P. gave his first rout and dinner, at his house in Cleveland-row, on Monday evening. Twenty-five sat down to dinner, and nearly four hundred fashionables attended in the evening. The Anniversary Festival of the Nrw MUSICAL FUND was celebrated at the Crown and Anchor Ta vern in the Strand on Monday. Three hundred persons of the greatest respectability sat down to dinner. The table was splendidly covered with every delicacy of the season. Ihe most loyal toasts and sentiments were expressed by all present, and the greatest unanimity ushered in the grand Con• cert. Amongst the most distinguished characters that honoured the Society with their presence, were, The Duke of LEEDS, Earl POMFRET, Sir HENRY DRESDEN, Dr. CALCOT, &c. &c. Immediately af ter dinner, Non nobis Domine was performed in the most masterly style, followed by the Glee, " Come, come, all noble Souls!" Au Ode composed upon the oc casion was sung by Master PRICE, Master LINTON, Messrs. ELLIOTT, HUMES, MILBOURNE, and HART, accompanied on the grand piano forte. Mr. Di GIMP( also sung several solo songs. 'lle social assembly did uut depart until an early hour. FINE ARTS. STATUE OF MARQUIS CORNWALLIS, BY 14111 TWO 111ACON5. The progress of the Fine Arts always marks the civility and advancement of a people ; and as that branch, in which the chissel, with all the graces, confers more durability than the pencil, is the last to attain perfeEtion, its various produetions ought to be examined, recorded, and criticised. The more southern nations had long been accustomed to pre dict, that the climate of England was too cold, for statuary ; and it must be confessed, that for many years our BEZNINIs were but little superior to the stone-cutters of Italy. The Royal Academy, and the Society of Arts, added to the encreasing opu lence and taste lof the island, have, however, at length, produced Artists who may justly boast of having caught some of the true Promrthean flame. The names of Wilton, Nollekins, and Hanman, arc no longer unknown on the Continent, and that of the late Mr. Bacon,--" a Briton born, a Briton bred," is familiar to the first amateur: in Europe. Although a prey in early life to chilling penury, and obliged, at one time, to submit to the drudgery of moulding shepherds and shepherdesses in china, and at another, of burning rude statues in artificial stone, yet when he had attained the twenty-third year of his age, he dared to attempt the difficult task of giving animation to marble, without ever having visited Italy, or passed beyond the bounda ries of his native isle. Such was his success, that at a single bound, he aspired to praise, if not to per fection, and at length fixed his character for life, by the public exhibition of his MARS, in or about the year 1770.—At his death, (which occurred in August 1799) among other objects, he had that under his chissel which is the subject of the present memoir, and it has been complesed by a son, who promises to equal the father in point of talents,, taste, and execution. The statue of Marquis Cornwallis, formerly Go vernor-General of India, may be justly termed colossal, as, reckoning from the plinth, it is exactly eight feet in height ; but this effort of art is impro perly termed a Lroup, for although there are two other figures, FORTITUDE and PRUDENCE) yet they are, with great judgment, lett under, and do not come in contact with the eye, until inspected closely, and with some degree of minuteness. The Marquis is represented as dressed in a Ro man toga, an olive branch in token of peade fis allusion to the treaty of Scringapatam) with on hand, while a sheathed sword is held negligently in the other. The attitude is at once easy and digni fied ; the likeness is also correct, and indeed what is usually denominated striking ; the limbs are bold, yet natural ; the drapery descends in ample but graceful folds, and the sandals arc eyed with a. classical air. Great attention has been paid to the face, and even the identity of a mole is preserved with scrupulous exactness. After viewing the figure at a proper distance, two defects seem to presenn themselves; on approaching nearer, and becoming more familiar with the principal objett, the first to the emblem of peace, which appears to be bronzed; but on enquiry, it has been found, that the climate ' of Calcutta would soon corrode and destroy the fine feathery marble leaves ; and it is more than probable, when the Iranch is made to assume * white hue, so as to blend wish the adjoining mass. and held with a free air, as in the statue destined for the India House, that, instead of disgusting, it will infallibly please. The second subject of criticism may appear more fastidious, perhaps, than just; it is occasoned by the sword, which being antique, with the sheath terminating in a srhall pointed ball, occasions pain by its position, it being pressed against, and seem ing actually to indent the groin. The cornucopia, appositely displays a profusica of the fruits and the bread-coin of Asia, and the emblematical female figures placed at the base, are well displayed, especially that of PRLDENCE, with her twisted serpent. Vie whole is executed in Carrara marble ; the height of the pedestal is seven feet, and the per. pendicular measurement from the ground to the extremity, fifteen. Many other figures, in the apartments in New man -street, attract and even arrest the attention of the /11:11 of taste. The monument intended to com memorate the death of Captains HUTT and HAR- I; ev, who were killed during Lord Howe's memo rable engagement with the French fleet, pessessce characteristic beauties that cannot be beheld without peculiar delight by a great naval nation. It may be affirmed without the dread of contradiction, that the rigging masts, ropes, sails, guns, and hull of a ship, were never so accurately cut, or so professionally displayed before, in marble. It is impossible to contemplate the fine whole length figure cf Sir William Jones, destined for St. Paul's, without recurring by analogy to his own noble ode to the freedom, dignity, and indepen dence of MAN; and when we behold the spaitez model of the great Earl of CnArnAm, (the origi nal is in the Abbey) we are tempted, in the lan guage of Cowper, to exclaim -46 Bacou there " Gives more thait female beauty to a stone. " And Chatham's eloqulmce to marble lipa." In the Exhibition Room, is a large model of the equestrian statue of William 111. which when cast in bronze, and placed in the centre of St. James's square, will prove one of the noblest ornaments of our metropolis. Mr. PELTIER, who has been indicted for a Libel. against the Ftasr CONSUL, having been kept from his usual labours for three months past, has ap pealed to his friends, and the public, for a subscrip tion to defray the law expences. An English Nobleman of some celebrity, being lately slighted at the Thuilleries, waited upon TA L - LEVRAND to know the reason.—The latter frankly admittei, that the FIRST CONSUL, in his regard for rro:ality, would not encourage any man who was friendly to hazard-tables ! Considerable alterations have been made in the interior of the House of Lords. A want of sufficient warmth having been a long time felt, two tire places have been coustruaed on the right of the woolsack; a large one above the bar, anti a small one below. The benches have been, in the mean time, removed, and two compartments of the antient tapestry, re. presenting the destruction of the Spanish Armada, taken away, we suppose, with intent to restore*. as the remainder of the tapestry stands, and is co. vered over with matrasses, to preserve it from tbe dust. The doors, passages, Sec. to the Douses of Lords and COItifINA2S are .newly painted. .~"ir