The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1826-03-28 00:00:00

CM Britt%it KING'S THEATRk. The Nobi Subwribere to the Opera, and the Public are rerpeethilly Informed that thil Theatre will re-open on SATURDAY NEX f, with Opera stria, In tw ne ts, entitled PIE fRO wEnimITE. To which will be added a Ballet. DRURY-LANE TII EA'r RE. T is slisigni. TUESDAY. March 211, will be perforated the new Operatic Play of BENTOWSKY. Benyoweky, Mr. Bennett; Barest°, Mr. Horn; Stephanolt Mr. Wel lee; , Pristratra Mari, Mr. Harley. Atheists's, Ml. Foote; Phed,a MI n Cubit& a tlbeldine, Mitu Pare,. After with '2d time) a new Graisi Romantic Petry Tale, called OBERON ; or, THE CHARMED HORN. Farley—Ohmon. Mies Vinceet ; Titania, Mbar aeliconald. French—The liimperor Charlemagne, Mr. 0. Smith; Noon of Guyrope, Mr. Sm artt ; %hero:min, Mr. Browne ; Sir Aubert, Mr.T. Blanchard. AreLlene— The Caliph of Bagdad, Mr. Pope; the Palace Itab!k,'n, Mr. Howell ; Sedate, lir. Fittrrilllam ; Omlae, Mr. Mercer. The Prince44Amteda, Mitt Smith. ; Farina. Mrs. C. Jaime. Tunldane—The Sultan of Touts, Mr. Vouuse ; Beluga, Mr. Bennett; FlAhernten. Mr. Gr. Smith. COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE. Thlr Evening, TUESDAY, March 2tl. will he perforated the Comedy of 0 JOHN BULL. Pereirrine, Mr. Cooper; Hon. Mr. Shulleton, Mr. Jones t Sir Simon Roehd.tic, Mr. Blanchard; Job Mambo...ll, Mr. Frweett Dent& Brut grad:lvry, Mr. Connor; Dan. Mr. Rayner. Lady Carona:: Brayntore, Mr". Chutterley ; Mary Tbornberry, Itt.4 Übe-ter; Mr". llnggru idery, Mr.. Darrni.ort. To conclude with the Extravarants of GIOVANNI IN LONDON. Duo Giovanni, Madame Vestrii ; Leporello, Mr. F eeley ADELPHI THEATRE. On MONDAY NS:XY, April 3, Mr. YATES 'lli bare the honour of preventing an entirely sew entertainment, in three pert.. emitted YATES' ENCI:3 ; or, Etching. of Life and Character. poor 4, 44. Pit. 24. Gauel v. 24. Doors open at Seem, and begin pnnet.ali at hatflravt Seven. Ralf -price at Nine. TO CORRESPONDENTS. 346.assiret to the qnestion A Tannins %," we have only to remark, slot the practice be ailudes to Is wholly coatingd to the 340un1l In gmeation, a, far Si our experieace goes. for, wail the receipt of his linter, we had beard of It. The Burma Passs commesced publishing yesterday enorniog at five o'clock. LONDON. TUESDAY, MAccu 18, DM. At a late hour last night we received the Frencn Papers, from which the following are extracts:— [Fe= the Efoile,dated Sunday, 26th March.l PARIS. MAUCH 25. Lenten from Corfu of the 17th February say, that the Cerium Peens is recalled at the desire of Ibrahim Pasha, who est-sibs, tc him the had success of the attacks sport Missolonghi. It was re ported that Ibrahim intended to meetly; another attack cm the 20th. The last accounts from Bucharest bring no news. General Guilleminot pawed through that place on the 6th March. When he left t'onstantinople, which was on the 17:h February, Mr. Stratford Canning had not yet arrived in that city. A telegraphic demstris from Strasburg, dated the 24th inst., an nounces that Count Gutlleminot arrived in that city the day before, and would set out for Paris in the evening. The Cowslitrtionnel gives to-day news from Rio de Janeiro of the 12th January, received by what channel does not appear. The fait letters received at Havre are of the lOth : the English Jour nals give no more recent news. It is hut too easy to see that these ere but repetitions of all that has been said for this month peat of the troubles at Rio de Janeiro, which had compelled the Emperor , to quit his capital. I,The Binik, as well its the other Journals. gives the Partial's' , of the sudden death of Duke llatthieu de 3lontmoreney, while at dearth. His obsequies were to take place on Menden • Fplicn Feat*, PARIS. 31ancti 25.—Five per Cents. 96f. Ids 4 Three per Cents. 64f. 115 c. Hank Stock, 2900 f. Recta de N 191 9 1, 721. be. Royal Spanish Loan, 44f. liayttan Loan, 7W. Eueltange eo Londoo—One month, 25f. 7rm.; Three ditto, 1101. did—Court Aathen►lgiir, Mardi 23. "We have every reason to believe that the Committee appointed to inquire into the expediency of extending the English system of currency to Scotland, will conclude their labours by establishing completely both the public utility and the practical justice of that measure. Mr. KIREKAN FINLAY, formerly Provost of Glasgow, and Mr..BLAIR, from the Bank of the British Linen Company, two of the persons deputed to London on the pan of the banker; of Scotland, are the only witnesses who hare as yet been examined by the Committee; and it is not a little extraordinary that their answers to the questions put to them, tend in substance to prove that all apprehen sions of danger to the banking interests of Edinburgh is purely visionary ; and that any pecuniary loss they may sustain will be infinitely outweighed by the substantial and permanent benefit that will accrue to the collective interests of the community in Scotland. It is certain that these witnesses had neither any wish nor any intention to con- Erni :here facts by their testimony. Quite the reverse. Bet an inquiry so judiciously conducted as to bring out the truth, will always succeed, where—as in the present ease—the interrogatories are put to upright and honest men. It is not uncommon for persons of this class to beguile themselves into a belief, which, when it is brought to the test, they find themselves conscientiously obliged to surrender. They may wish to support a certain side of the question, but when they came to close quarters, and the tracts are against them, they must give way. Mr. BLAIR, for example, on being a , !;etl whether loc did not think that the Scotch bankers would find sufficient means, after a time, of indemnifying themselves against any eventual less from the prohibition of one and two pound notes, was obliged to admit, that in all likelihood they would.— Now this single admission shows what little cause there has been for all the clamour and complainings which have been sounded so loudly across the kingdom. As to the number of bankruptcies in Scotland, they will be found, on an attentive and exact inquiry, to be comparatively more numerous than in England ; and it will be seen that the facility of trading on papsr credit has led to speculations quite as excessive, and to embarrassments quite as ruinous. 'That the same proyortion of bankers have not stopped payment in the North as in the South is true; but com paring the number of banks on both aides the Tweet!, with a full and true account of the proprietors that have silently broken up their estaldishnicuts, after bringing themselves to the verge of ruin, -they will be. found to hear a fair pro portion to the number that in Roglantl have publicly an nounced their insolvency. The public doer, we admit, has not been the same in both cases ; but as fares the mischievous consequences of coining paper wealth, and creating false capital are concerned, the Report of the Committee will furnish no ground of appeal to the Legislature to except Scotland from the operation of the remedy. CITY. :11oxnav Evrams. The Stock Exchanges were closed this morning, and the only Stock transactions that took place were on the final Exchange, where a few johbers anti brokers assembled, but the cola soon drove them away. The nominal price of Consols was 771 S. A letter from Glasgow this morning stairs that there are nn applications for the money granted by the Batik of Eng land, the Scotch hankers declaring explicitly, that it' the sang security is offered to them, they will advance money to tw : ce the amount if it is found necessary. The accounts from Cadiz state that the exchange with England fell three per cent. on account of mercantile • faihires in London, and the convulsed state of the money market here. Ol TIIR WAa WITH THE BURNIF':E.—A latter has been receiwd by a gentleman in this neighbour hoNl Gem an officer on hoard our of his Majesty's ships at Ranctoon, ,Mating tbst pears NO heen actually concluded ranh tbc 80-tnesc, and that they were only wsiiirg for tie e.ps Otis b' be idfined.— Vort t ompfus GERMA P4PERS. FRANKFORT. M AnCII We learn by letters from Berlin that the Prnafanitank, has re- I ceived permission , in a manner analegous to the flank of En laud, to make loans upon wool. as the most important export article, of Prussia, to the amount of three millions of dollars. Our letters from London say that the quantity of wool yet unsold in the ware houses in that city is froot 45.000 to 50.000 Miles. Among them , however, it is added, there is a great deal of extremely inferior quality, which Is not likely to suit the English manufacturer., and must therefore be re-exported. It Is thought also that, in oilr fair, more of inferior descriptions than fine will be brought to market; and as the middling sorts arc constantly In demand for the daily use of the manufactories, and these are mostly in the hands of speculators who are not under a necessity of selling, some hopes are entertained that this article, which is of so much importance to Mu landholders, will improve in price. Letters from Amsterdam gire a more favourable account of the elate of the money market. According to the halancefibeet o: the house of kleerween, at Cirlsruhe, the assets amount to 2M00,000 florins, and the debts to 2,5;41,000 florins only. But then the value of stock in the funds of it acrent states is tatiosated at the price at which they were purchased, aced frbm which they have considerably declined: for instsnce—A warier' sletalliques at 91. shares in the Vienna Bank at 1.350, art:.; so that the loss to the creditors will probably be considerable. LEITSIC, MARCH 14. Henceforward we are to hawt an annual wool fair here. to com mence on the Int Tuesday in May, and continue eight days. The wool brought into the city during that ❑me will o.tv only halt the duty ; and when it is carri:d out again the duty will ix returned on proof that it is not sold. StriczEnt.aNts, 51*acn 11. Baron D'Erberg, the Austrian Charge d'Affaires, has mule fresh complains to the Directors on thc enlis:ing of Austrian sub jects. These complaints relate chiefly to the Voralberg. THE EMPEROR ALEXAXPER'S PMERAL PROCESSION. . have . fieen favoured with the following 'extract from a private letter from Moscow, dated Feb. 28. 1826: ' The body of the late Emperor passed through this city last week. The procession was a mile and a quarter long, and was an hour and five minutes in passing. The order of the procession was this. First came a body of trumpeters, sounding sollnin blasts every minute; then a squadron of cavalry, followed by 52 horses covered with black cloth, each having the arms of the separate Govern ments displayed on their sides; after these was led a horse richly caparisoned, called " The Horse of Joy," and then followed a warrior in armour of gold, named " The Herald of Joy ;" immediately after him came another Warrior in black armour, denominated " The Herald of Mourning," fol lowed by a horse similarly caparisoned, anti called " The Horse of Mourning;" the order of the two warriors in the procession being reversed. Then followed the Priests, to the number of about one thousand, dressed in their sacer dotal robes, and many of them hearing standards ; after these ecclesiastics was carried a large golden lantern, con taining a number of candles (an emblem of light); then followed the Cross, and afterwards a portrait of the Virgin Mary; next in order came the Funeral Car, (on wltich the Coffin, containing the hotly of the deceased Emperor was placed,) decorated with flesh-coloured satin, ermine, and ostrich feathers, and highly 'ornamented with silver, and drawn by eight horses. Numbers of Generals and other officers followed the car, and the whole procession was closed by several regiments of soldiers. It is expected that i dle body will enter St. Petersburg on the 20th of Alarch (instant), and then he interred in the fortress." Accounts from Alexandria, received yesterday, state that the English Consul has at length interfered to prevent the ships of this country from assisting in the conveyance of military and warlike stores from Egypt to Greece; he has publicly announced, that, by orders received from his Go vernraent, all vessels are prohibited from conveying war like states from Egypt. By the following extract of a letter it appears that the improvement of the port of Rotterdam, in making it naviga ble to vessels of a large tonnage, is alto!' t to be commencer) ROTTERDAM, Mastrit 24.—We have to-day received the 0S- dal report that the dtflieulzy of digging a canal froth Helvoet to the New Silva has been completely removed, and that it will be carried Into effect according to the plan sent to Lloyd's in April last. We consider this as the moat ituportant and 'maul undertak ing for commerce and navigation which has ever been undertaken in this country. We all desire the speedy accomplishment of It. PROTEPTANT PETITION.—The petition from " the undersigned Protestants," complaining of ; the pecuniary and personal inconveniences which the Members of the Reformed Church sustain through the consequences of Ca tholic disability, wilt be presented to Parliament immNli ately after the recess. It has already been signed by the Duke of Leinster, Martinis of Sligo, Louis Charlemont, Leitrim, and several other Peers, as well as by Colo nels Talbot and White, Mr. Brownlow, S. Rice, &c. &e., Members of Parliament, landholders, and persons of mercantile and professional respectability. Eighty of Mr. Colibett's friends dined together at Norwich on Saturday, Sir T. Beevor, in the Chair.—Mr. Cobbett, on his health being drank, made a speech on cash payments, the taxes, the bank-note system, &e. anal contended that when it notes were withdrawn, the 3f. ones must follow— that prices must fall as paper disappears—that if Ministers suppress the small notes, wheat ere long will be 3s. 9d. the new scientific bushel--and that then the landholders will be ruined, and their estates go to the fundholdere. On Saturday morning a deputation of the Committee for the relief of the Vaualoie, censis ing of the Earl of St. Germain's, Sir Thomas Dyke Adam], the Rev. Doctor Sumner, Mr. Hamilton, and Mr. Gilly, had an interview with Lord Liverpool and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, by appointment, at Fife-house. Their object was to state , the claims of the Vaudois clergy to restitution of' the pen sion called the Royal Grant, which had been enjoyed by the ministers of the Waldensian Church for upwards of 100 years, previously to its suspension in 1807. We are happy in reporting that these gentlemen received the as surance both of Lord Liverpool and Mr. Robinson, that tltey were favourably diepased towards a renewal of the grant, anal that measures should be taken to restore the stipend, and to secure' its future payments, according to former arrangements. The sailors belonging to Dundee, in the London trade, have again struck for an advance of wages. The crews of the Olive and Lord Kinnaird deserted them last week, and those vessels were thereby detained from proceeding on their voyages. The shipping companies despatched ex presseteto Perth, Arbroath, and other towns, where seamen were easily procured at the wages refused by . the Dundee seamen. We have been informed that on Saturday night a deputation from the Association waited on the men they got from other towns, and offered to pay them a month's wages, with their expenses back to their own homes, if they world break ; their•engagements made with the ship ping companies. The offer was rejected, and on Sunday, while the Lord Kinnaird was hauling out, the crew were assailei with the most abusive language by a party of Union men stationed at the dock gates, apparently for the purpose of doing so. Does not this look like intimidation? —Edinhargh Outran' of &tardily. We are sorry to learn that in some of the higher districts of this country, the trade of illicit distillation is still carried on to an alarming extent. Within the space of a very few miles not less than one hundred reills were recently dis- covered at work, and a party of revenue officers, with their assistants, who went for the purpose of putting a stop to their operations, met with such a determined resistance that they were for the time obliged to retreat. Met surea however, we uutlerstand, are about to be taken for enforcing obedience to the distillery laws, .should the parties perseveie in their nefarious and demoralising practice.—Aherdeen .loxrnal. The sum of 47,1731. is applied for by presentmert on the county Cork, at the approaching Audaes; 24,000/. on the county at large; and 22,71E21. on the Baronits.—Dub lin Evening Post. PAROCITIAL Heti er.—By a private letter from Man chester, dated Saturday, it appears that seven thousand beads of families hare applied for parochial relief. A barbarous outrage has been committed within one mile of Llughrea. The hour. of a farmer, of the name of Shaughnessy, was set on fire by some malicious wretches, and nearly thirty sheep burnt to death. In th,' same neigh bourhood, a party of wretches entered on the lands of Win. Pigott, Esq. and broke a number of forest trees, his propertv.—Thiblin Fretting Post. The hills that surround Huddersfield were covert d with mow on Friday morning, which had fallen during the preceding night. A new and commodious Court of Requests Court-house for Southwark was opened on Tuesday, in Swan-street, lieclngton. 4 s THE BRITISH PRESS. FASHIONABLE INTELLIGENCE. The Marquis of Cholenondeley entertained a distinguished party at dinner yesterday, at his house fa Piccadilly. Lord Ellenhorough entertained the Karl of Falmouth, Wm. Rarities, Esq. M.P., and a huge party, at dinner yesterday, ut his seat at itoehampton. Mrs. John Hamilton and Mr. France arrived yesterday at Jordan's Hotel, St. James's-street, from Liverpool. Lord Dynevor left town yesterday fur his seat, Barrington Park, Os fordshire. Thomas Kenyon, Esq. and son have left Miller's Hotel, Jerrnyti-street, fir their seat, Sew Grange, Leeds. Sir Clunk, and hotly Cockerell and family:aft town yesterday, for their scat, Sositicot Morton, Gloucestershire. The Marquis and Marchioness of Lansdown left town on Saturday, far their villa at Richmond, for the holidays. The Marquis and Marchioness of Salsbury, and the Dowager Marcia°. I nes+ of Salisbury, arrived in town yesterday, from Hatfield. The Hon. Agar and Lady Georgina Ellis left town yesterday, on a visit to Prince Leopold, at Claremont. Count Worunrow has arrived in town from the Earl of Pembroke's seat, Wilton House. Wilts. Count and Countess St. Antonio left town yesterday, for their villa at WiMbledon, fur the holydays. The Marquis and Marchioness of Camden and family have left town for Mteir seat, the Wilderuem, Kent. The Earl and Countess of Darnley and family have left town, for their teat, Cobham Haft, Kent. Lord and Lady King and family left town yesterday, for their seat, Oekham, Surrey. Lieutenant-Colonel Atcheson left town yederday, for Southampton. Earl and Countess Gower left town yesterday, f m West 11111, Surrey, on a visit to the Marquis of Stafford. Sir W. Rae, Dart. left town yesterday, fur Scotland Arrivals at Fenton's New Hotel, St. James's-street :—General Burke and Mr. Creighton, from Paris; Mr. and Mrs. Osimme Yates, from their seat In Giditeestershtre ; Cracroft, Esq. from Lincolnshire. De partures :—Captain Dentinek, fur Brighton; Win. Laraine, Esq. for the North. Arrivals at the Royal Hotel, St. James's-street :—The Honourable G. Sinclair, Com a tour; J. Page, Esq. from Holly 11111, Kent; Dr. Kyle, from a tour Major Sparrow, from a tour; Capel, Esq. from a tour. Departures .—C. Russell, Esq. D. G. Sandeman, Esq. Thomas Kinnear, Esq. for Scotland ; the Bev. C. Eyre, Sir H. Fane, for Beeebwooll ; J. Stevenson, Esq. for Bath. RASTER ENTERISOIXIVRNT AT THE MANSION HOUSE. Yesterday the Lord Mayor gave the Easter Entertainment at the Mansion-house. The Egyptian Hall was fitted up with great splendour for the numerous dinner party. Amongst the dinner guests were the following : The Marquis of Lansdown, the Marquis and Marchioness of Salisbury, the Dowager Marchioness of Salisbury, the }NW Ho nourable Robert Peel, Lord Valletort, batty E. Edgworth, the Lord Chief Justice of England, the Lord Bishop of London, the Bishop of Lincoln and the Hon. 3lrs. Pelham, the Bishop of Chester, Lord and Lady Trynham, Count and Countess Mun ster, Lady Iltilroyd and family, the Attorney-General sod Lady Copley, the President of the Royal Academy, S'iittaidrew and Lady Corbett, Bart., Sir Thomas and Lady Lennart', Bart., Ge neral Sir John Doyle, Sir George Naylor, the Hon. Robert Gor don, M.P., Sir Charles Forbes, Hart., M.P., the American Sr. crct.try of Legation, Lieut.-Colonel Cox, Major Freshfield, Le Comte d'Anglau, be Chevalier Beaujour, THE LATE BISHOP OF DURHAM. Dr. Barrington was the fifth and youngest son of the first Via. count of that family. lie was both on the 26th of May, 1734, and was a posthumous child, being born a few weeks aftev his father's death. The Bishop was educated at Eton, and Action College, in Oxford, of which society he was Fellow for several years. On ails taking orders. he was apposnted Chaplain to George IL, and subsequently to his late Majesty. For his highest preferment,' he was mainly indebted to his own merit, and to the favour which that merit procured hint with his late excellent Majesty. In time. although his first elevation to the Bench was owing to the influence of his brother, Viscount Barring tun, at that time Secretary at War, yet his subsequent advance. ment was, in each instance, the Act of the King himself. His translation to Salisbury, in particnlar. was contrary to the ear nest andlrepeated instances of the Minister of the day, the Earl of Shelburne, who was anxious to obtain that See for a political friend and partisan of his own, the late Bishop ilinchcliffe. His final promotion to the Bishopric of Durham was the unsolicited act of the same gracious and royal patron ; but not without the hearty concurrence of Mr. Pitt, who, in deference to the merits of Bishop Barrington, on less than to the wishes of his sovereign, was content to waive the pretensions of at least one candidate of powerful connexions and high parliamentary interest. The conduct of this Prelate in the government of three dioceses in succession, during the long, perhaps unexampled,period of fifty seven years, was marked by the most exemplary zeal, diligence, kindness, and discretion. In him, the clerical delinquent never failed to find a vigilant and resolute asserter of the offended dis cipline of the Church ; whilst that most useful and meritorious of alt chnracters, the faithful parish priest, was cheered by his fa vour. and rewarded by his patronage. As a patron. indeed, lie stood pre-eminent. Never, perhaps, have the rici dignities add benefices in the gift of the see of Durham, been bestowed with so much attention to the claims of merit. It repeatedly happened, that his most opulent preferments were conferred on persons ut terly unknown to hien, except by their characters and by their li terary lahoitra. The instance of Paley is one of several:—the first communication he ever resoived from Bishop Barrington, was the mnouncement of his appointment to the rich Rectory of Bishop Wearmouth t and, we believe, the first title they ever saw each other, was when collation was given. The exercise of patronage was, indeed. uniformly regarded by him es involving duties of the moat solemn and important kind; and it is a proof of thelun common firmness, as well as integrity, of his mind, that although his life was protracted se far beyond the ordinary Nodes of mortal existence, he preserved himself so the last. unfettered by the ties of consanguinity, or personal fervour, in the free exercise of this great trust. How well he continued to discharge it, wan evinced within a very few weeks of his death ; when one of the most valuable of the stalls of Durham becoming vaunt, he availed binrself of the occasion to advance at one the three distinguished mimes of Gisborne, Sumner, and Gilly. Dr. Van 3liblere, the prevent Bishop of Llandaff, is spoken of as the successor of the velecrable Bishop Barrington, and an ap pointment more creditable to the ministry could not take plant. This Prelate, we belie*, bas no interest whatever beyond thee which his talents and ednduet have procured for him. "The new Bishop, who has recently published a life of Bishop Waterland, , was for several years Regina Professor of DlstiuitT at Oxford. The Bishopric of lAantialL and Deaoery of St. Paula, by this emulation, will become mast. The report at the King's Lodge, Windsor Park, yes terdav, was, " His Majesty continues to go on extremely Yesterday the Duke of York sat to Behnes for his marble bust, at the artist's residence in Dean-street, Soho. Yesterday morning., about eleven o'clock, the Earl and Countess of Liverpool left tows for Walmer Castle. Mr. Wilmot Horton left town on Sunday for Siilton. Despatches were revived yesterday at the Foreign office, from Lord Granville, oar Ambassador at Paris. The outside of the roof of the house building for the Make of Clarence, is nenrly completesl. The south end was yesterday covered with slates. The roof of the house building for the Duke of York is in a state of great for wardn.sa. The entrance to St. James's Park by Pimlico-gate con tinues impassable for carriages and horses, owing to the workszgotng on for turning the sewer. Mr. Ramble commenced an engagement at Edinburgh on Monday evening, as Don !Felix in The Wonder, in which be was admirably supported by Mrs. 11. Siddons as Viulinste. The Blue Coat Boys made their annual visit to the Lord Mayor yesterday morning, and afterwards adjourned to the Royal Exchange, followed by a numerous concourse of relations and friends. On this occasion the dealers in cakes, fruit, &c. are admitted; their articles were in ge- neral demand, and ftom all appearances they had no rea son to complain of scarcity of ntoney, or falling off of trade. The races of Killarney will take place in the ensuing summer—probably in the month of June or beginning of July. The-preliminary preparations are complete—princi piny provided by the munificent liberality of the Earl of Kenmare. and the gather members of this noble family. A magnificent stag hunt on the lakes will close the amuse mews. The Ross, Leominster; Dadlow Kington, and Lcdbory banks were all assailed, more or less, last week, but they stood firm, and met every 11:smantl. Messrs. Heathcote, of Tiverton, who have long been celebrated for their lace-manufactures, have lately planted several thousand mulberry trees in that neighbourhood, for the purpose of introducing the rearing of silk in that part of the country. _ _ _ PARISH .Et.r.cTlors.—The elections which annually occur at the present season for parish officers, are this year more than Usually - productive of personality and recrimina tion between the various candidates for parochial distinc tion in some of the parishes north-east of the Metropolis. In St. Luke's parish the lucrative situation of Vestry Clerk is very warmly contested, a strong party having been formed in oppositiotr to Mr. W'ilks, the present clerk, who has enjoyed the office for many years. In the neighbour- Mg pat ish of S. Leonard's, Shoreditch, also, a schism has fur some time past existed, in consequence of the exertions of Mr. Purland, and some of his brethren in office, to ex pose and reform certain mal-practices it: the administration of the finances, and the management of the poor of that parish. The reformists, however, have to encounter the formidable oppasition of the church-wardens and other of the officers, au(' each party is nit the alert to meet the ex• I r eeted struggle at the approaching election. THEATRES. DRURY-LA NE. Light hearts and holidays were of the olden time, when Christina,' cheer and May-slay gambols were a part of old England's constitution it observances, when the green holly and the misietoe, "that mystic parasite," under whose milk-white berries many a maiden fair has blushed, though not unseen, bedecked the n rs and windows of famous London town, till it looked as if " Birnam wood had come to Dunsinane ;" when the" wassail bowl" and the " fairie queene" received the homage of every true lover of mirth anti revelry ; when health anti exercise made the heart glad ; and erc Bank restriction Acts, long wars, Me chanics institutes, and '• the Emporium of the world"—the modern Babylon—had changed our unsophisticated notions of enjoyment into mere dull matter of fact calculations, anti I checked the cheerful impulses of our nature, by the modern inventions of high civilization, the acme of whose bliss is —ennui. lint what are we about? This is Easter ; the world is yet green, anti contains hearts and heads too, capable of every pleasure that the warmest admirer of •' our falters' wiser ways" can boast ; and though . some of the more robust and out of doors enjoyments - • have gone by, still there remain enough to chase away melancholy, and to make the heart glad. Holiday, indeed, is in Itself a good—it brings together parents and children, old ft iemls and young ones, and is a sort of pause in the general strife of the world's cares, when !ove and friendship are plighted anew, and confidence and strength arc gathered to aid us through this our mortal coil. Nothing is more remote from idleness than a well-spent holiday. To cease from toil is not to be listless ; it is a brief hour snatched from the world, in which to refresh our spirits and to give a fillip to our memories, to remind us of our gnat original ere the curse bad been pronounced— " Who first invented work, and hound the free And holiday-rejoicing Writ down To the unremitting importunity Of business, in the green fields and the town ; To plough, loom, anvil, spade, and oh ! most sad ! To this dry drudgery of the desk's dead wood ? Who, but the being unblest, alien of good, Sabbstliless Satan !" Easter, as far as we are aware, has no particular pastime appropriate to itself, as Christmas and May-day have. But from the peer to the 'prentice boy, where a good-will is, every pleasure, if innocent, is appropriate. Fairs are ge nerally the places of resort at Easter ; but these, especially in and about large cities are a very equivocal sort of amuse ment. We are not straightlaced in our morality, but we are as assuredly no advocates for those great nurseries of every vicious propensity that can contaminate our nature. A coun try fair is quite a different thing: there cricket, wrestling, running, and (yes, we say it) single-stick, and, what is more than all, a wide expanse of fields, with none of those conco mitants of a town that make fairs so dangerous, all these combine to give a character t 3 the scene totally distinct from each as predominates, for instance, at Greenwich on these occasions. But the country has no Drury-lane, no Coburg, to close the days' delights. Here, then, the town has its advantage; for let grave moralists preach as they list, our faith upon it ! the stage corrects many more hearts than it corrupts. Let us then suppose the impatient apprentice boy, after all the dismal forbodingli of a wet day " as if on purpose," because Mary had promised to go to Ilampsteatl for a walk the very first holiday he got, wake, or rather get up (for sleep he could not), at six o'clock, and tapping gently at Mary's door, said with a half chuckling voice, " tis a beautiful fine morning, Mary."— Mary, good-natured girl, does not on this occasion suffer William to knock twice, but soon' apparels all her charms, and off she and William go, for the cook had promised to do all the little jobs which Mary was wont to perform in the morning. The couple, tittering and exclaiming " what a fine day ! how lucky, after such a storm last night," shuffle on their way, and having called oo Mary's cousin to breakfast, the latter becomes one of the party, and away they travel to the Parnassus of Cockaign. 'We cannot de tail all the little triflings that occurred between this happy pair during the day; but of their evening's enjoyment we were eye witnesses. Being comfortably seated in the two shilling gallery, they anxiously watched for the curtain's rising, which, after many " Lord bless toe's! how long they be!" rolled up its folds, and the play began. It was Beglowsky. Neither William nor Mary were critics, and therefime were pleased. They thought Benyowsky a very nice man; but Tri.arogn Starke (Harley) was the funniest; he was so fidgetty, so droll, and then he shivered so, that what with cold and txrwardice they thought him the oddest sort of man that ever was. Bet it puzzled both William and Mary how it was that they were all outlandish fo reigners, and yet spoke English so well ! They liked and pitied poor Aihanasin (Miss Foote), but Mary thought her ' 1 singing was not quite so good. After the play came the great attraction of the night, and now all was built ! Up runs the curtain, and behold a sight I—But here we must descend from the gallery and become ourselves again. The piece, then, is called a new grand romantic fairy tale, and is stated to be founded on the celebrated poem of Wie land, Oberon, or the Charmed Hewn. It would be use less in these speculating times to cocci Lin of the ma nseuvre (to call it by no other name) that has been practised at this Theatre by the production, just now, of this Oheron ; or, the Charmed Horn, when it was known, and had been for months, that Covent-garden' was preparing a grand opera, by the aid of Weber 's splendid genius, upon the very same story. If Messieurs the Ma nagers of Drury consider this all fair (anti we are not ac quainted with the laws of war in these matters), at least they must be told that it is all a failure, and, drat instead of its doing them any good, it will only serve as a foil to set oft' the real Oh,•roa whenever it shall appear. Let not any of our readers imagine that this " Romantic Fairy 'l' ale" resembles the expected opera in Gogh' save its name. The materiel of course is similar, because there must be fairies, elfin messengers, invisible ta, music, o and so forth, but of the quality, the essence the thing-- if they should tell you their's was the Peal Simon Pure, believe them not! The plot is too long to detail now. It consists of the adventures of knight crusader, Sir Huon Guyeenne, who having, at a tour nament before Charlemagne of France, killed the Em peror's son, was banished to the Holy Land,and enjoined by an oath to visit Bagdad, enter the Caliph's Palace, and kill his most honoured guest; to marry and convert the Caliph's daughter, anti to cut from his heard a lock of hair, then hasten bark to Paris on the anniversary of the fatal day, with vouchers to redeem his vow ; if not his lands and titles should be forfeited to the Empeeor, who would award them to the victor of the next par's tournament. By the kind agency of the fairies, who, it seems, inhabit that part of the world in large colonies, and *loo give to the Knight the " charmed been," the Knight is enabled to reticent his vow, and to regain his lost honour and his hands. The magic power of the " horn" was t xercis.'ll on effectually over the Caliph of Bagdad, his harem and at toulants, that at one time they, all became so many living petrifactions, and at another were like the lovers in the Midmrnmer Night's Dream, charmed to a most smith n and dreamless sleep. These were the only two incidents that par took of anything like novelty. The dialogue is in the usual melo-dramatic style, and the sentiments of the most com mon-place description. As for the music,if we except one little air in the fourth scene, and a song made up of the 'drinking anti the laughing song in D:r Preigehatz, there was not a single bar deserving notice. Even the overture from Mozart seemed to have been selected from the worst of that master's works, for the sake of preserving harmony through out the piece. But the scenery was in' many instances splendid. The names of Stanfield, Marinari, and Roberts are well and deservedly celebrated for their power of pencil displayed both at this house and at Covent-garden. The panorama of the Harbour of Tunis, by Stanfield, was the best of many excellent scenes. The clearness of the attnovbere and the aerial perspective were admirable; each object stood forth so distinctly that the eye seemed to have a glimpse of every side of them. The scene shifters were, however, sadly imperfect in their parts, as were several of the performers. Miss Vincent played Oberon in a manner that did her great credit. We have not time to notice ' the rest. Consid e ring that it was holiday time the house was remarkably orderly, al though it was as full as any shareholder need desire. The piece was announced for repetition amidst much ap plause ; but, with all the pageantry that attends it, we Frognosticate that its run will not be long. Our young friends in the gallery said they were very tired before the curtain fell; anti well they might, for the piece was not to er till heir-past twelve—too long by an hour. COVENTSIA RDEN. Last night the 7'enipeid was performed at this th eatre, with the holiday piec e of the Mill er an d hi s M en. I t js a signal proof of Shakspeare's commanding geni us , t h at the Tempfxf, a play without much passion or plot, and writt en in a language nearly obsolete, should still hold possession of the stage. It is a dignified yet simple tale, and natu rally told ;in the first scene the King Nantes and his son Ferdinand, together with the usurping Duke nf are cast away in a tempest raistil by the magic power ofPror peso ; in the second scene Prospero is already mast er o f t h eir destinies. It requires but little sagacity then to for see t h e *hole denouement, which is unravelled in the natural ' course of poetic narration. But although this piece cannot hold the spectator in suspense, yet it has so many match. less beauties, it displays so much discrimination and vigo. roes touch of character, such a poetic elevation of lan. page and of sentiment, so happy an intermixture of pre ternatural agency; iu short it unites at once, without any discordance, so much grandeur, tenderneas, airiness, ino comic humour, that even if the plot were wholly divested of dramatic interest, enough would remain of poetical ex cellencies to afford a rich intellectual feast. The piece in its present form, as adopted to the modern stage, is, we think, in many respects unworthy of its sublim e original; but the further discussion of this point at present would had us beyond our limits. The cast of last night's performance was the same as usual. Mr. Wavle enacted Prospero with rather too much violence, this was partial.. lady manifest in his chiding of Ariel in the first act. He ought not to forget the gravity becoming one " in dignity and fur the liberal arts," without a parallel. Mr. Ray rer played the part of Caliban; he sterns to have studied th e managemeot of his volec as successfully in Exeter Chang, Mazutiir did that of his features in the Jardin rlu Roi at Paris. In short he was'; a most &Mcrae monster." The other performers exerted thernseivrie seeeese r e ll y. Miss Paton was in floe voice; but so great was the noise generated from the fullness of the upper, and reverberated from the emptiness of the lower, part of the house, that the effect of the music was marred throughout, and a great deal of it rendered quite inaudible. ENGLISH OPERA 1101'SE. Mr. Mathews ban this season presented us with a series of entertaiments, which, amid the various amusements provided for our recreation during the Easter week, have not failed to attract a fall, and, we presume, a profitable audience. The effect of his ltfemorandam Book of last season is not effaced from our memory, when, " in the foolishness of our conceit," we were disposed to think the veteran, " Jam rude donntus," was unequal to another campaign; hut the ridiculous traits of character which be has now so felicitously delineated, convince us that weaved not, like the Roman slave " in the hour of triumph," re mind him of his mortality. Our intentien is not to notice the fallings off of the past, but to point out the perfections of the present. He stands alone, unequalled—we may say, unrivalled, " Thro' every scene of ridicule In things, To lead the tenor of the devious way, Theo' every swift occasion which the hand Of Laughter points at, when the mirthful sting Distends her rallying nerves and chokes her tongue." Mr. Alathews's Invihtions (the title of his entertain ment) came through the Twopenny Post, that insuffer able bore of every man of eminence or notoriety, who may have the misfortune to have poor relations or country ac quaintances, without possessing the happy knack which the Vicar of IVolerfleld had to get rid of them. Mr. Mathews very facetiously relates an anecdote of a Mr. Fingerflt, a glover, who receiies through this medium an invitation, concluding with the letters It. S. V. P., which become the subject of a very ludicrous conversation k tween the citizen and his wife, to discover their meaning, but which, in the absence of a French interpreter, comes to signify," Remember six very punctually." Another very amusing personage is a Mrs. W. Worritt, who possesses a most pertinacious memory, patronises all her juvenile friends, whom she traces through all their transitions from long clothes to short clothes, and from thence to that very interesting epee'', their first appearance in a pair of small clothes. ller hospitality is unbounded, and she invites all the world with an incessant " Do come and dine with us." The twopenny post is of course the subject of a song; which is " very w.ll sung." Err powsiit, Mr. Mathews Ow us a most excellent apparition of the ghost of a son takes us through the mishaps of a gipsying pic-nic to Norwood. anti in due course introduces us to Lady Doodle's riadrillas. At Sir Donald Serupleton's Mr. Mathews meets two eccentrics, Sir Harry Skelter, whose mono is nil admi.. random, who visits every place, but finds nottiing in anything, and Mr. Popper (a relative of the celebrat ed Mifior Longbow), who can accomplish everything impossible. These gentlemen afford Mr. Mathews ample materials for the display of his mimetic powers, which do not fail to give full exercise to the risibility of the spectators. Mr. Mathews gives to one a bold figure; a most inimitable imitation of Velluti, as Arrinrid, io the Opera I: Crocioto in Feeitio, which would have taught even the haughty Tcnducci a lesson of humility. He is also happy in an imitation of Signior De Ilegnis, in the pert of Figaro, ip the Opera of I,e None di Figaro. The second part opens with an introduction to a Mr. Aschiball M'Hhornhoid, a complete matter-of-fact man, whose peculiarities and manner derive their chief interest from the delineation of Mr. Mathews, to whom we must refer the more curious for further information. London of Five in the Morning, as may be supposed, is fertile in inci• dent, for the acute perception of one of Mr. Mathetves talent ; for ridiculous punning, even at that early hour, becomes throttler of the day.* The vegetable worrae of Covent garden proclaims her ventlibles as though she was acquainted with the Greek, in the cadences of the barr..4e tone ; and the milkman, not less erudite, fur once denominates his liquid by its proper name, mi .-au, half water. Mr. Mathews next accepts an invitation to dine with his friend Mr. bilberry, who is blessed with a numerous family, to all of whom he and Jack Rally are introduced ; and here he gives a most excellent rem seetation of the efforts of a juvenile party to snake their parents ridiculous. We have the recitation of Toting Norval, from the rising hope of the bilberry family, and e. most delightfully-executed sonata, from Miss Diiberrv. The whole scene is admirable. The next scene repre eented is that of a rekee et noir table, where Harry .1"- don rly, a Yorkshire gentleman of family and fortune, makes his (kind as a successful candidate fur the favours of the fickle goddess ; his first success induces him to play deeply, and finally effects his ruin. Mr. Mathews with powerful effect delineates the infatuated gamester through all the gradations of this gambler's short but aventful history, who is pillaged at the gaining table and becomes innate Harry Ardour ly is drawn from real life; the character, in the performance of Mr. Mathews, is exquisitely enacted; and though we cannot think such a digression into the serious quite consistent with the entertainment, and conse quently not perhaps in the best pessible taste, yet we cal excuse it in the present instance for the sake of the mom it conveys. A General Election is then exhibited in all its hustle and confusion, speeches, puns, puffs, songs, S;c• ; but we should do Mr. Mathews great injustice in attempt ing to give our readers even an outline—indeed all his en tertainments are better seen than described. An Aquatic Excursion follows, at which Mrs. Georgina Grills be conies a bone of contention between Al r. Gibletts, st . City Adonis, and Sassafras:an apothecary. The Gloater! of Bishopegate Without, however, makes this bone et contention his rib, and Mr. Sassafras is destined to wear the willow. The entire performance was admirable, and was received throughout with peals of applause. The entertainment was interrupted for a f e w moments by e laudable good feeling of Mr. Mathews, who, perceiving some confusion in the pit, occatri•ened by the illness of a ' gentleman who fell down, we believe, in a fit, retired from the stage, and got the gentleman through the door wider the stage, which opens into the pit, behind the scenes. A medical gentlemen in attendance, however, authorised Mr- Mathews to say he had only fainted, and was in no datttr. I The communication was received with considerable ap probation. • ' SA PLER'S WELLS. This Theatre commenced its summer campaign lot evening with "Mrs. IV., or Vere'g my '• rqi•, - stated to be a comic vehicle for the introduction of sones, duets, Mr. Foster, from the Adelphi. a pp eare d for the first time at this theatre; also a Mr. Chapple, for the first time on an: stage, in the character of Midships, and we are in' elined to suppose, that unless he makes considerable irc provcnient, he will be a long . time reaching the quer°. inem ne d•rk. The s oy, or in . called " I've prsed from wry, and era fit:maimed c( Snow Ball, a .I•Lrougitt remembrance w itnessed tin As yet, certai h u mour whic are sufficient genital run c matured his alone. His and we agree •• h e was t ductions are din, and, w them to any to, on a Mgt boles, from and the ink tion of those positively el theatre as fo is its progre the once dr& thousands of don. miler connexion few years ait o ccasion was during the p As our Iva& tve beg to Si who are dial reported to 1 way into the time it was manger an c pi msure. 1 Nun, but 110 but from tit lections we ettore of 1112;esty 1 a sevt-Te a thsue scribe tl " Lcrd that it y from whi :tidy stop soldier, ai are fond i portion c which coi As it wai tar die la merit of This ci riety of e celebrato ward, um Beliidert ter; and gifted ac the chart able env made his racter of not be pi , !elects ft The a The AN Mr. C. 1 ingb oil: tomcat results ol of the I acting al by the o N nubl it • qua!ity, lirecnwi succeasft to the at • The a thesihir The of othcr benevole aeason,'l lye Ins apparent , certai n , certainly classed ceetleci i unusual to the pi