The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1824-04-21 00:00:00

LITERATURE. ■I9TORT OP TILE CO4WONWY•I.TH Or INGLAND. BY W1L1.1“4 GODWIN. Mr. Goslwin's object in compiling this valuable addition to the history of our country, has professedly been " to at tend to the neglected. and to remember the forgotten." Calaisly ' no portion of our national annals has b een more disfigured by party rage than the narratives that bare been pnblisheel respecting the contest between Charles the First and the Long Parliament, and the succeeding interregnum. Mr. Godwin states with too much troth, that the swamies of the leaders of the Commonwealth have for the most part, been " composted after the manner of the Newgate Calendar." We perfectly agree with Mr. Gotlwin, that the proceedings of that period constituted " a series of tmnctetiona, perhaps not ta be surpassed in importance by any thing that has occurred on the theatre of the world. It was much to be desired that an able and faithful history of those transactions should be compiled. When we un derstood that Mr. Godwin was employed in the task, we anticipated that it would be well performed, and we have hail the satisfaction of finding that in this instance our an ticipations have been fully justified by the result. Mr. Godwin's History of Me Commuoireolfh is unquestionably OW of the best historical works is the English language. The style is suited to the sobriety of the historian's office. He hes passed judgment on the actors of that memorable epoch with perfect impartiality. The secret of his success in this respect is obvious. Ile writes without the trammels of party or faction. He has in view neither to become the apologist of the Stuarts, nor the panegyrist of those who temporarily subverted their authority. Ile has not contented himself with looking to what would favour the designs of a partisan ; but, with " an honest and undcbaucheiCeense of moral right," he has diligently searched every reversible source of information. In consequence, one of the princi pal features of his work is, that he has placed many of the moat important transactions of that period in a singularly novel pant of view. We are surprised at the combined negligence and dishonesty of his predecessors, and we should, in the first instance, be inclined to accuse him of sacrificing their reputation to his own thirst for origina lity, if he did not everywhere found his statements on undeniable authority. The printing of the journals of the j Houses of Lords and Consumes, has given Mt. Godwin an opportunity, of which he has diligently availed himself, to state with precision the order and dates of the chief' oc currences of the civil war, and of the proceedings of Par liament. Lord Clarendon, and Hume, (who has borrowed so largely from the historian of the " Great Rebellion,") stand on this evidence convicted of grossly misrepresenting several of the moat interesting transactions which they have recorded. Clarendon has been too long in possession of an undeserved character. Dr. Felton, in his dissertation on the classics, praises him highly for his " noble negli gence of phrase. It would appear, from the following ex ample, that he was not more ready , to " make his words wait everywhere upon his subject, ' than he was some times to make his facts wait upon his argument. His negligence of truth is at least as apparent as his noble neg l*enoe of phrase ! The history of this bill, (the bill foe abolishing episcopacy) as given by Clarendon, is extremely worthy of our attention. He says, " The utterly rejecting it at its first introduction was pressed by very many: but it was at last read; and, no question being put upon the first reading, it was hid by, and not called upon for a long time after. At length, when every body expected some thing else, they called in a morning for this bill, that had so long before been brought in, and gave it a second reeding, and resolved that it should be committed to a Committee of the whole House the new day. " It was a very long debate the next morning who should be put in the chair. They who wished well to the bill having re solved to put Mr. Hyde (Clarendon) is the chair, that he might rot give them trouble by frequei t speaking, and so too much obstruct the expediting the bill; and in conclusion it was so com manded. However, the Chairman gave some stop to their haste : for, besides that at the end of his report every day to the House, before the question was put, he always enlarged himself against every one of the votes, and so spent them much time, he did fre quently report two or three votes directly contrary to each other; so that, alter near twenty days spent in that manner, they found themselves very little advanced towards a conclusion, and that they must review all they had done. At length, other occurrences in tervening, they were forced to discontinue their beloved bill, and let it rest ; Sir Arthur Haaehig declaring in the House, that he would never hereafter put an enemy into the chair." It is scarcely worth obeerviug, that the bill against episcopacy was read twice on the day of its introduction, except tor the sake of illustrating the occurnoy of ear historian. The Commium on the bill sat on the 11th of June, exactly fifteen days alter. The historian takes great pain to persuade us that nobody ap proved of the bill, that every body scouted it. In that case all his craft was a gratuitous exhibition, merely to shew how he excelled in the character." 'Would not any man who re vered episcopary, or who wanaspable of feeling in the smallest degree the deep sentiment and the vast importance of all that was now at make, have been anxious that the question should be tried upon its intrinsic merits? lie was certain of success, as he as sure, us, by the direct method (it is clear the bill would not at this time have passed the House of Lords); but he had an invincible instinct impelling him to prefer the low, the indirect, and the dis honest : and It is a fitting retribution for such conduct, that five and-twenty years afterwards, is old age and retirement, he felt no shame to record it. It may not be improper to consider a little how it will that the bill weld dim be defeated. On the first day the preamble was voted: on the second it was resolved, that the taking away the se veral offices of archbishops, bishops, chancellors, and commits*. ries, should be one clause of the bill : on the third, a similar reso lution was made against deans, archdeacons, prebendaries, and moons, only reserving a competent maintenance for such as should not be found personally delinquent. On the subsequent days va. ACM questions arose respecting the maintenance to be allotted for the support of a fit number of preaching ministers for the service of the cathedrals, and the appointment of certain commissioners to exercise such ecclesiastical power as might be necessary, and which on the removal of bishops should not otherwise be provided for ; and a ub -to mmit tee was named to report to the principal Corn alinee on these points. On the 17th of July a new form of eburekt eroverninent was voted in the Committee of the whole Reese, that every shire in England should be s several diocese <Yorkshire being allowed three), that there should be a presbytery of twelve divines in each shire, with a president In each, in the na tun of a bishop that these presidents, assisted by some of the presbytery, should have power to ordain, suspend, deprive, and =communicate ; that the presidents should be incapable of being translated from cue diocese to another; and, lastly, that a diocesan synod should be held once in a year, and a national synod once in three years ! Another striking and scandalous instance of Lord Cia- Pandas's " negligence, ' so to term it, occurs in his account of the debate on the self-denying ordinance which Hume has espied into his history. The whole is a forgery. The journals of the Houses of Parliament interfere rather awk wardly with the facts of Clarendon 's " vindication" of the ging• If, is any part of Mr. Godwin's History, we are inclined to suspect that his political feelings have biassed his judg ment, and induced him to deliver himself less as an histo rian than as au advocate, it is in his considerations of the ilustice of the sentence upon Lard Strafford. it is manifest in the fallowing paasege that he relies snore confidently on the integrity of Hampden and Pm, and the other great nice who then consulted together for the public welfare," than on any arguments that be can adduce to justify that exeerable legislative murder. if Noma • putt queritkm, is what manner the prosecution of the Earl of Strafford ought to have terminated. The enormity of his prat, assuming that it is criminal to invade, and meditate to destiny, the liberties of a melon, will hardly be questioned. The ootrtryy .• of the pantie of Edward the Third is to defend the King If Ms sans* ever been contemplated by any law to defend the grow body of the people as under him. Are their interests, therefore, always to be assailed with impunity ? These are prin ciples undeobtedly, more binding than, and which disdain to be confined within she letter of, any positive statute. It is questionless desirable in alt ordinary cases, wherever positive law le mieblished, so restrain ourselves within the letter of that law, and to allow the criminal all the benefit, it' benefit to him shall • of awy evasion or escape that the law shall afford him. A Condo( James ought net to strain or wrench the commandment to the elenensetion of the person arraigned ; it abide an ill ex ample; and when lace a relaxation at this sort is admitted into she memmumites of a law, there is no foreseeing where it will end. Law is that which restrains the individual, and even restrains the wide aseninanny, him exercising their natural liberty, of bean the judge and the chastiser of their own wrongs. But there are egg of as extraordinary nsture, which reinvest the community in the satire rights they peasessed befall, particular laws were established. Ns one, as I have said, who is a friend to public liberty, can question the guilt of the Earl of Strafford ; his accusation and his eseviedoe were of the substance of eternal right ; his defence was teeltsidel. Several conscientious men in those days were on the whale*, hie acquittal ; more have been so since. We argue the case In cool blood ; and are not made elear-sighted by the actually and esissinir light of the public welfare, which then dis whet was requisite to be done. Law is made for man ; and not man for the law. Wherever we mis loss _re Mat the most 'Amble interests of a nation require tho ilidald decide one way, that way we ought to decide. titre,: vast that day the most dangerous man to the liberties of then present, and to tome, that euidd live. rz. bens suggested, into-140On to this case, that " when once a man is in a situation to be tried, and his person in the power of his accusers and his judges, he can no longer be formidable in that decree which alone can justify (if any thing con) the violation of the substantial rules of crimtral proceedings." Hampden and ed of k- Pyrn, and the great men who then consulted together fur the pub lic welfare. I believe in their consciences judged otherwise. They understood the character of the King, and of oil the parties con cerned with him , better than we can pretend to do. They foresaw the probability of a civil war. They foresaw, which was more than this, the VaTiOUN schemes that would be formed for dispersing the Parliament by face of arms ; and they knew that StraMied would prove the moat inventive and audncinus undertaker for this nefa. I numb purpose. Whatever engagements Charles had entered into. !•• of removing Strafford from his presence and councils for ewer," ' he would Gave considered these as annulled the moment the sword was dream. The Prince, who contemplated the bringing the army 1 to Ivrenwe the Parliament beam it had sat two months, and who negotiated afterwards to bring over an army of Irish Catholics, suelt as were the Irish Catholics of thme days to settle the din.' fences between himself and his peopl e , rertarMy would not have scrupled the employing of Stratford. What would have been the variation in the mule, we have no mesas of knowing. There was undoubtedly no man in the service of the King, who foe talents or energy could enter into the slightest competition with Straiten]. Hampden and Pyni, and their allies, judged they did wisely, and acted like tree patriots, by removing this obstacle before the con. _ tuition began. _ _ . . . .1 proviso was inserted in the act of attainder of th e ease of Strafford, that no judges or ether magistrates ahould adjudge any thing to be treason, in any ether manner than they would have adjudged if this net had never been made." This has been used es an argument to prove that the prosecutors of Strafford were C 00201,111% of the injustiee they commuted. It proves nositeh thing. It rather serves re illustrate the clearness of their conceptions, and the equability of their tappet. Undoubtedly the prosecutors of Strafford were firmly averse to this proceeding being drawn into a precedent. Undoubtedly they were strongly persuaded that in all ordinary eases the letter of the law should be observed, and no alas be condemned unless that were against him. For myself, I entertain an almost invincible abhorrence to the taking away the life of man, after a set form, and in awl blood, in any case whatever. The very circumstance that you have the man in your power, and that he stands detineelem before you to be disposed of at your discretion, is the strongest of all pmauaaives that you shoold give hint his life. To fetter a man's limbs, and in that condition to shed his blood like the bests who serve us foe food, is n thought to which, at firm sight, se are astonished the human heart can ever he reeoncikd. The strongest case that can be made in its favour, is where, as in this business of Strafford, the public rause, and the faroarable issue of that cause, seem to de mand it. Now it is clear, in every stage of the argument, that the attainder of Straffbrd was without any shadow of justifica tion. Strafford was executetl, not because he bad violated any law prospective or even retrospective, but because it was foreseen that he world have been a dangerous enemy to the Parliament in the field ; and Mr. Godwin maintains that they " acted like true patriots by removing this obsta cle before the contention began." To what lengths might not this doctrine be carried ! Is it then enough to justify " the taking away the life of a man after a set form and in cool blood" because the " favourable issue of a cause may seem to demand it ?" In other words, shall a man suffer dt ath for an atrocious offence of which coufeasedly he is not guilty, because it is probable that, if he live, he may become a formidable antagonist in the field ? The best commentary on the injustice of the attainder of the Earl of Strafford, is the account Mr. Godwin gives of the death of Archbishop Laud. Unfortunately the same mode of proceeding was exactly copied out in the process against Laud. His trial commenced on the 12th of March, 1644 t and a variety of errors were committal by the inadvertence of his prosecutors. At this period Prvnne took the impeachment under his special direction. At length, after an in terval of more than seven months, the proceeding by impeachment was pertained to promise no effectual conclusion; the trial was laid aside; and a bill of attainder brought in. That the pa. rallel to the prosecution against Strafford might be rnore complete, a message was brought to the House of Lords from the Commons by Strode, during the progress of the Bill, to desire the Lords to ex pedite the attainder ; it being to execute justice upon a person who was a notorious delinquent, that had endeavoured the subversion of all our laws ; and the eyes of the country and the city being upon the business, the expothuon of it would prevent the demanding of justice by multitudes. At length the Lords voted that the defendant was guilty of all the facts charged in the bill, but started a doubt whether they amounted to treason. A conference was therefore held between the two Houses, in which Sergeant Wilde and others undertook to satisfy the Lords as to the point of law ; and two days after the ordinance received their fi nal sanction. The same clause was in serted in this attainder as in that of Strafford, " That no Judge or Judges shall interpret any act or thing to be treason, is other man. nee than they should or ought to have done, if this ordinance had been made.' In fine, on the sixth day after passing the attainder, this infirm old man wL.s led out to his execution, with the spirit and feeling of a martyr, and the beams of the sun, as we are told, shining upon his serene and benign countenance. IVe confess we bad hardly expected to have found in these days, and in Mr. Godwin, an advocate of bills of attainder, a course of proceeding in all cases essentially un just, and always fraught with conselucnces deeply perni cious to the cause of humanity and justice. EROS AND ANTEROS, A PLATONISTIC ROMANCE. " He who from out their fountain dwellings raised Eros and Anteros at liadara."—Loan Ihriox's Masji.egt. Eumolpus and Eucharis were a youth and virgin of Grecian des:ent, whose Farents dwelt in Palestine, an the city of Tiberias. Eucharis was the fairest of the maidens, and Eumolpus the most beautiful of the youths. They were born in contiguous houses, and in infancy had played together on the terraced roofs. Together they had amused themselves with the mimicry of labour amidst the festivities of the vintage; or, while Eucharis sat nestling in the bowers foamed by the low and spreading vines, Eu molpou wandered among the rows, to cull the richest clusters for her little basket. He wove garlands of vine leaves for her hair, and twined for her a little thyrsus ; and then, with shouts and laughter, they sported like the Bacchanals, whom Eucharia had seen embossed upon her father's wine-cups. Hand-in-hand the children wandered along the shore of the smooth and limpid lake ; and Eumolpus picked up the little twisted shells, and strung tlum into necklaces and bracelets for his beautiful coin pinion. Their parents delighted to see them dance toge thee in the evening; and when Eucharis had braided her long raven hair, and stained with crimson dye the nails of her hands and naked snow-white feet, she twined round her ancles the chains of shells which Eumolpus had given her, and listened with childish pleasure as their ringing kept time to her light and graceful motions. Eueharis was still a child, when Eumolpus had almost passed the age of boyhood. He was distinguished by his grace and agility in the exercises of the Grecian Pallestra ; but he had ac quired also the accomplishments of Eastern countries. With a slight bridle he could manage the most fiery horse, and suddenly stop or turn him in the midst of his impe tnotra career. At full speed he could hurl the javelin with unerring certainty; and his delight was to astonish Eu cheris by the strength with which he drew the bow, and the ease with which his arrows overtopped the highest palms. His thirst of knowledge was insatiable : be mu tered with facility all that could be taught him by the sagest instructors of Tiberias; and he came home in the evening to amuse his little wondering play-fellow with Plato's golden dreams of the Elysian Fields, the Atlantic I Island, or the Music of the Spheres. His tutors pre dicted that he would be a great philosopher; and that so promising a genius might not want cultivation, his parents resolved that he sh:uld receive the instructions of wisdom im the schools of Antioch. Eight years had passed since Eneharis wept at his depar ture; and they had changed the little playful girl into a woman of majestic beauty. Her forehead was high and thoughtful ; her laughing eyes were saddened into a look of sweet austerity ; the habitual expression of her delicately formed mouth seemed calm and pensive silence; her figure was tall and stately • and every step and action was full of graceful dignity. Upon him also eight years had worked their changes. lie was no longer the beautiful youth, who, in the wantonness of boyish frolic, had assumed a female garb, and mingled undiscovered in the choral dances of the 1 1 grove of Daphne. His cheek was pale, his brow bronzed ; and his vigils and his wanderings had left on it the traces of thought and suffering. His figure was moulded with all the firmness and precision of manly strength. His short black beard curled strongly round his haughty lips; and there was a restless flashing in his dark and overshadowed eyes,betokening thoughts which beheld not in common with other men. Eucharis had dwelt in his memory only as the play-thing of his boyish fondness ; from her mind, amidst the habitual intercourse of domestic affection, the remem brance of the beautiful youth had been almost obliterated. They met with even mete than the strangeness of strangers ; and parted with a coldness that formed a painful contrast to their last farewell. But Euinolputs was determined to love; and soon began to trace in the beautiful woman a resemblance to the girl whose image had remained im prssaesl upon his mind. All the lineaments of that image, to which there was no longer an answering reality, became fainter and fainter in his fancy; and he thought of Eucharis only as he now saw her, in all the loveliness of womanly beauty and reserve. He (lid not indeed forget their childish fondues,; but he loved her with all the passionate ardour of his enthusiastic temper. Ludwig Remo!pus prostrated himself on the turf; then took born each of the fountains a little water in the hollow of his hand ; and, muttering an incantation, flung it in the air. Presently from each fountain a mist seemed to rise, and the vapour gradually shaped itself into a dim and shadowy resemblance of two beautiful children. Eucharis shrieked with terror ; and clinging almost convulsively to Eumolpus, yet turned to gaze upon the vision. The phantoms slowly approached each other ; and when they embraced, sud denly their lineaments became more distinct, and their hues more vivid • awl they stood before them two beau tiful boys, their Cheeks glowing, their eyes sparkling, and their hair waving, with all the reality of life. They stood entwined in a close embrace, the arms of each locked round the other. They were naked, and their tender limbs shone with all the radiance of youthful health. They were crowned with jasmine, but their auburn ringlets flowed over their shoulders in intermingled curls. One setmed a little younger than the other, and clung half fearfully so the caress of his companion ; sad they gazed upon each other as if they lived only in one anthers eyes. They spoke not, they moved nott---and Eucharis half recovered from her terror, as the looked upon so lovely a sight. Eumolpus beckoned them to approach ; and Eucharis pressed his arm more strongly, but did not tremble, although they stood close before her. Eumolpus bent and kissed the forehead of the elder boy, and smiled, and bade Eucharis do the same. Ilalf afraid, yet en couraged by his example, she stooped, and drew back,' I was terrified by his vehemence; and the more earnest the stooped again, and kissed the younger. But no sooner expression of his feelings, the more reserved and cold she had she touched his lips than suddenly the boys seemed to become. She might at first, perhaps, shrink were no more seen ; and Eucharis turned and locked instinctively, when one who was now a stranger assumed at Eumolpus, flung her arms around his neck, and hid in the language of an object of early mid familiar afUction. his beeom her blushes and her tears. How long she wept There might, perhaps, be &mixture of fewiniee caprice anti ' she knew not, or what words of delicious rapture Eumol- I pride in the disdain with which she regateled the young pus murmured in her car, or what burning kisses he pressed I philosopher, whose researches and adventures had made ; upon her lips and neck. lie placed her on the turf, to !hint the theme of every tongue. She would not seem even recover her exhausted strength ; and, taking a water-lily to shun him. With iudiff rence she beheld his approach ; from the fountain, he twined its long and flexile stem and his departure--with indifference she mingled with , around her jei,:y hair, while the snow-white flower shone I him in general society. It was in vain that Eumolpus like a star upon her majestic forehead. Then he kissed spoke of their childish sports—it was in vain that he told I spin his beautiful bride, suit raised her from the of all his wanderings—of the gorgeous cities and th e , ground; end slowly, and in sil e n ce , an d in d e li c i ous medi beautiful wildernesses in which he had sojourned; of tation, they passed along the banks of the river, till they temples, towers, and palaces—of endless groves of apiece,' rejoined her attendants at the baths. and islands of perpetual bloom—of rivers, to which Jordan When they again reached the lake, the sun Ind just act • we- but a bubbling rill, arid mountains, at whose feet Li- but his rosy hie s still lingered on the summits of the banks, with all its cedars, would be scarcely distinguished moun t a i ns , an d on t h e m i sts t h at were gathering around front he plain. But there was a mixture of disdainful them. The glassy surface of the lake glowed with the incredulity in her smile, when he told her how, in the same ethereal colours; and amidst the radiance of the fondness of his boyish remembrance, before he quitted western sky twinkled th e e v e ning st a r—th e star of sil ence , I Antioch, he hail consulted the oracle of Daphne. The and solitude, and love. The wind had died away ; and, Priestess of Apollo plucked a leaf from the sacred laurel, as th e swart h y b oatmen rowe d t h em h ome, sae du ll plash and murmured over it her mystic incantations: it was din- of their oars kept time to a low and melancholy song in mcrsed in the Castalian fountain, and when it was with- the ancient language of their country, a song of the de drawn. it bore, interlaced in Syriac characters, the names of parted glories of their people, a song of emotivity and woe. Eucharis and Eumolpus. Encharis refused to believe, and Eucharis lay in the bosom of Eumolpus, and, without spoke of the virtues of the prophetic fountain in language voice or motion, seemed to drink in the beautiful repose of at which the votaries of the Daphnic Temple would have all around her. But sometimes her dark eyes were filled with shuddered. But when Eumolpus solemnly asserted the tears; and she turned them on her lover with a look which reality of the Oracle, and assured her, that if she would they know who have been loved, and they alone. Not deign to accompany him to the hot springs of Gadars, even many days had passed before the streets of their native Le could show her fountains imbued with powers yet more city were merry with the sound of dulcimer; and tabor, marvellous, her female curiosity was awakened ; and half and cymbal, and all the pomp of wedding festivity ; and credulows, yet ashamed of the appearance of belief, she at long was it the prayer of the youths and maidens of last granted his request, and triumphed in her anticipation Tiberias, that in their marriage they might be as happy as of the failure of his pretensions to superior knowledge. Eumolpus and Eucharitt —Jfaigher Quarterly Magazine. On the following day Eucharis imam from her mid-day - - - slumber, and with two female attendants was conducted by TO THE EDITOR . 0P THE BRITISH PRESS. Eumolpus to the boat that was to transport them across Son,--A fortnight ago this day, tt was stated, in nearly all the mg the Eurotas the lake. Not a cloud relieved the deep and sparkli ng London newspapers, that 51r. James had made a mistake, . in arm azure of the sky; and the light breeze, that filled their ea' he e •ta x i c ag, a short time p g . , scarcely ruffled the surface of the waters. They were pou -a— nders. I have, I trust • with , waited a su fficient time fo d r this state. clearer than the clearest crystal, and the white shells and meet to be contradicted by the person the beet able to peon its shining pebbles were distinctly visible at the bottom. Be- fallacy. That has not been done; and I now feel weld( called upon, as the author of a work, whose pri nc ip a l merit consists in its fore them lay those beautiful and majestic mountains that rae ot y ,:h r E to ro w u to , i t s he cd pu bl c, ;1 notattea:,lybtuhat that my my account rcm ar a k f s the on rise from the eastern border of the lake. On their project- cc" ( Otce the comparative ine ffi cacy of t hat force are fairly deducible from ing declivities forests of ilex and cedar shone brightly in the sun, or fell back into shadow in their undulating re- the facts of the case. cemes ; while along their bare and rugged summits all the On the 25th of March, 1813, the Board of Admiralty directs that two red-pine u tiegates, building hi re : l im o :rye, .T . han 2 te i n, and d nearly clefts and gullies could be distinguished in the strong light. At first they saw not on their right the southern ter- rea wa y c l a r ea l Ltr ia h a il in ' a be teafl ire oc a l&po f und eat ers. 7 l4 ‘ a a n bo e t,T, t l7. ruination of the lake ; for it winded away among the hale, 17,1, April, the Eurotas, one of those frigates, is launched, and till it opened into the valley of the Jordan. But it gradu- before the 22d of June receives on board her 48 long guns and ally expanded, as they approached the middle point of carronades, including among the former twenty-eight 24-pounders. On the 17th of July, the . Board of Admiralty again directs, that their voyage • and soon b y the difference of colour they the Lurotas •• be supplied with 21-pounder guns of 40 cwt. in lieu of the lon 21 pounders now ort board." On the I lth and 12th of distinguished ' the stream a the river, flowing though the August, tie Eurotas receives her new guns on board ; and that lake without mingling with its waters. Eucharia, more beautiful and snore haughty than she bad ever seemed those guns were not considered at the Navy Office as experimental before, sat in the stern of the vessel between her two at- guns, like the first, may be inferred front the fact (easily disproved tendants, and Eumolpus placed himself at her feet. To if B -etat l ) , that they do not stand as such in the ordnance-book care him she scarcely deigned a word or look, but listened -O f the On the 25th n o; v lZiovember, the Eurotas, then at anchor off Brest, lessly to the prattle of her Egyptian slave, who told her sends six of her 24-pounders to the Cydnus, and receives from the that there was a secret communication between the lake of latter six 24-pounders, similar, it would appear , to those originally Tiberias and the waters of the Nile, for that the same fish ordered for both frigates. O n th e sth of February, 1814, a an ill-concealed re were found in both, and were found nowhere else. Eu- exchange of these guns takes place: connequendy the Eurotas molpua sat in silence; and sometimes it seemed as if there agrnamou nts the whole of her twenty-eight 24-pounders el 40 cert., lied in his e yes cu ea th e 26th of that month (and not " March," as erroneously stated in the Natal History), fights her action with the Clorinde. expression of triumph an and delight ; and sometimes he smiled as he looked (hi the sth of Barth, preparatory to going into dock, the Emotes around, en d remembered how vas t t hi s l a k e h a d one* lands her guns at Plymouth, re-ships them on the SOth, and, there seemed to him, and how the bills were shrunk from the not being, as can find, any Admiralty order for th e i r remova l, or dimensions which they had assumed in his recollections of any entry to that effect, in . th aa e ti i"r e et z ' a B rta kffi; it te t s h i em l take for hie childhood. At last they reached the opposite shore: C, on the 6th of Jatmary, 1816, preparatory to her being put out the lake preserved its depth to the very edge; and from the of commiesion, and broken up ; which guns, according to an official boat they ascended a steep rocky hill, in which many document, signed by the then Captain of the Eurotas, consist of twenty-eight . 21 -pounders, two nines, and sixteen 32-pound ear tares were hollowed out, once the sepulchres of the ancient inhabitants of the land, but now net unfrequently the haunt r i ves j ,.precesely as stated at note a. p. 448, vol. v. of the Navel of banditti and maniacs, and all the outcasts of society. So much for the calibre of the Eurotas's main-deck guns. It On the summit camels were waiting for them, on which now remains to be seen, whether those guns proved, in action with Eucharis and her attendants were placed, while Eumolpus the enemy, as effective as 24-pounders usually are; and whether accompanied them upon one of those fleet mares that are comparati ve at i :feict tli i n aaffi or ca f c r y, aj a r : i e t tlcllnc tha o t ; a sk i lin ha t i he a, arr. from i bred in the Arabian desert. The country which they ti . eution don e e, r a t o s poverd amnions. 1, British tee, .wee crossed rose with gentle ascent ; and sometimes they saw with 18, and even with 12-pounders, wilfappear by ref:ming to my 1 the peanuts carrying home their millet harvest on the amount of the actions between the Blanche 02-pottiden) and hacks of camels, and sometimes, in wilder sports, they Pique (1765), Dryad and Proserpine ( 179th), Terpsichore 02- startled herds of antelopes, that bo unded away, and turned bib n de gra mid ai ron V e e (7; l 99) (l l:teirg a d rel Dl n on d (I n tle m s7 rtal /L te eir l a 7lll a2l to gaze, as their company passed by. At the end of seven 7 Arethuse (1813), and Shannon and Chesapeake. The action he nnas they reached Gadara , Hence they were to Proceed weer the turotas sod Clorinde lasted, at close quarters, and with le the springs en foot rand Enseolpas buffered no one to ecareely an hum:Mashie, two hours. The loss on board the Euro- attend them but the female slaves. Embark seemed un- tea, as officially reported, was 21 killed, and 39 wounded ; that on I willing even to be supported by his arm, as they descended bawd cite Clorinde, ▪ esp 6c 7i d re n d g liz th am e amounted to •to li e utenant an of d tl 4l bj a winding path down a steep declivity into the glen of wounded. I have already recorded my belief that the latter rem_ river Ilieromax. The river ran foaming and dashing b et was un d errate d. I have also i nserte d time statement a l lege d in its rocky channel ; and on each side precipices rose at to have been made to the Captain of the Eurotae by one of the thee to the height of a hundred feet, and hemmed in the French officers, that the loss on board their ship amounted alto. narrow valley. On the lower part of their declivity the ftether. hat ta ti t t ra or •h i 'dt nri g loss fmn con ti lt s o c d c :rre on both sides , I should pine and ash had twined their roots among fragments of ' e ` ed Y 'DOE -ran more. As to the mutual damage of the ships, it killed, { nd 80 wounded, , rock, and fern grew high and strong in the broken hot- may suffice to state, that the Eurotas had all three lower masts shot lows. But, above, their bare black splintered summits away the Clorinde her main and mizen masts only. looted desolately wild, and formed a strong contrast with With respect to any intrinsic defect in the main-deck guns of the her action with the Clorinde not a word on the bright blue sky. Between the precipice and the river in the Ca . ptain's Gazette winded a narrow strip of land, which in this sheltered i l ett Z t u , b or fect i sa n alFFlnnyoedfficiniianlthacce Master'sount üb l l o is g hed in the Natal Chronick situation preserved a perpetual verdure. Sometimes it for March, 1011. Had the guns been considered defective from ' widened into a little meadow, and sometimes by pro- bad construction, would the Board of Admiralty have suffered the jetting rocks was narrowed almost to a footpath on the Emotes again to go to sea, as it &Tars she did in April with those edge of the stream. Here at intervals boiling springs guns n • f a at a Very ? c r il a :ipert wa m al en d t i al i h ru aa n e s, b 7a mrttlg er ctt at E t u he fir t gushed out ; and baths had been constructed, where the second supply of 24-pounders to have been so, should be made in waters of the most abundant were received into marble action with an enemy ? Would not such an act have been expos basins. Here Eumolpus directed the female slaves to await hag ro a very Imminent risk, the reputation of officers, the lives of their return, and proceeded with Eucharis along the banks mm, and the honour of the British flag ? But the Board of Ad of the river. gelidity could not, did not intend the trial to be made otherwise than by firing at a target, a method that would have answered Higher up the stream, in a sequestered nook, seldom every purpose. In fact, the trial of the last received 24-pounders visited by the foot of man, arose two fountains, to which did take place in this manner, or what mean the five entries in the aster sx 's i lo ? g, ;tar thtiterehefthe g ore, t i t l i n e s i; . r t e iro repre;m a t: t t h ed ou to h Ly w e l l a wee firm! the tradition of the country had given the names of Eros and Anteros. Cold as ice by day, it was said that by night at ut. from January 18 . th (a month after the last trial had g been dare), to they glowed with all the heat of the other springs, and February 9th. 1811, did not change her guns, or, as far as I can only resumed their coolness with returning light. The discover, apply to have them changed, the inference is that she streams, which issued from them, met at a little distance found them to answer.° from their sources, and ran together murmuring to the Having, as I flatter myself, set the e.rperintental question at rest, gunner I I now come to the proficiency of the crew of the Eurotas as rs. river. There was no leg e nd to accou nt f o r the names ; but That crew, it is acknowledged, consisted, when the ship was corn the spot seemed to have been hallowed by ancient super- missioned in May. 1813, of ad, great proportion of newly raised men; stition. Overgrown with moss and lichen, and half con- consequently, more than common attention was required in teach crated by the clustering branches of tamarisk, were the ng them to manage and fight the guns. What says the master', ruins of a little temple of Astarte, the Syrian Queen of 0 11 on this head? Why that, during the 196 days which inter- Night the 130 of August, 1813 (not to go back farther), and Love; and on one stone of antique sculpture aveniel hem f February, 1814, the crew were .‘ exercised at the figure of the goddess was still visible, standing on the guns and small arms," Le. in the motioes of loading, firing, &c. prow of a vessel, crowned with the crescent moon, bearing nineteen times ; which, upon an average, is once every ten days. in her right hand the had of Osiris, and in her left a But it Is expertness in firing at a mark that produces the effective spear. It might be doubted how much credit should be gunnern ai 'Wi tt otnhait and t w Sh l an " n n o ot o owed all r e i r tilloyryllaCfrch:tt this in du attached to the story of the varying temperature of the caused her tO kill and wound upwards of 146 of her enemy in the waters ; for their margin was fresh and green ; the delicate s h or t sp ac e of 11 minutes Well, what says the master's log for fern, to which the name of the hair of Venus has been the Humes about firing at a mark? Why that, in the above 196 given, hung over the edge its half-transparent films ; and days, the crew did so five times only ; namely, on the 13th and 31st the lotus, the eastern emblem of the eternal principle of eonAble'vgiotr 14th of September, 9th of October, and 18th of De. life, floated on the surface of the HMO' pool. All around I trust I have now established these points ; 1. that the Eurotas was cool, and moist, and verdant; beautiful flowers of mounted 24-pounders, and not eighteens, in her action with the every species blossomed secure from the withering sun: I Clorinde; 2. that those 24-pounders were not so effective as they and nothing was heard but the murmurs of the fountains might have been ; 3. that that inefficacy must have arisen from the and the river, the hum of bees around the scarlet honey- last ly , of prac i t , i e cal knowledge in in the anion Le t n w that u fou e them; and, ;It suckle, and the twitter of the bee-catcher as he watched his rindr. as it t he in a the Naval History, is, in ever_y " 'mho winged prey. save the error about the month, correctly drawn up. I trust, also, that what I bare here done will not be considered as done in a spirit of hostility towards any individual, but simply as an act of jus tire towards a work whose statements have been publicly, and, I may say, virulently attacked ; as well as towards the purchasers (I am happy to say the numerous pun:hasers) of that work, who naturally expect that it contains farts ; and no one o f sh out , if h e believed it did not contain facts, could set a less value upon it than its author. WM. JAhIES. April 19, 1824. • It appears, however, that in March and April, the Captain of the Eurotas dui apply to the Admiralty on the subject of alterations in his ship. lie wanted the ratites& liaised, and something done to the breeching-bolts on die quarter-deck ; but both applications, being considered unnecessary, were refused. MASTER AND SESTA N T.—An appeal MC came before the Circuit Court of Justiciary, regarding a servant who had deserted his service during the currency of his engage ment, and who had been found entitled to full wages for the time he served. The case was heard on Weebtesday (14th instant), before Lord Gallica, who reversed the judg ment, and distinctly stated, that it was clear " a servant who deserts his service, daring the currency of his engage ment, loses his wages fro; the time he had served."--G/aegow Courier. On Ronda) next, at noon, a steaue-vessel of large di mensions will be launched from the timber-yard of Mears. Frossard and Margeridon, near the ferry of Asnieres, one league from Paris. Atter the launch various nautical ex periments will be made. This spectacle, so novel to the Parisienr, is expected to attract a multitude of spectators^ Galigsoni's Meseever. of liatanisy. THE GREAT FIGHTS AT COLIVERDer. IN A FIELD NEAR THE EIGHTEENTH MILE-STOP Of all the days' play in the fighting line of business. our informant does not recollect so good a one as diet which occurred yesterday. The immediate match teas between the brave Ned Turner and P. Imliy, fog VW sovereigns a-sitle. The ring was formed is a meadow. It w.:B thinly attendtd, from the mew= of a fight; but fossion week having gone by, von cool deliberation it was hot thought worth WAD TO disturb the thoughts of those who fancied an ea/Prwieft to themselves. The Bishtp appeared without orders, and heroine, is propria per :qua, an amateur of Outspent,. hie needless to descant upon the merits of Turner as a better: be who placed the invulnerability of Scroggipi upper the shelf—the man who fought so gallantly with Ranoll aid with Martin, was a prize in himself. Inglis, a bold sevens Curer, of about his adversary's weight, was onky owe • winner upon first trial. The seconds were Maurice Delay and MiCenzie for Inglis, and Josh Hudson and l'ilihdhegton Jones for Turner. Hefting 6 to 4on Inglla, from* youth at twenty-one, and no disparagement in weight. I. Turner plar,tl the first hit upon his adversary a WOW* (hoary? through his guard, broke away, and floored his schema:, as if shot with the Lft band, lighting as usual with the right foot to ad. varce. (Loud cheering, and even betting.) 2 Turner placed a right-handed hit upon Ids adversary's pimple, brake ground, and succeeded in the rime sustagetn. Inglis returned, away fmin tit, distance. Turret planed another hit on his adv(u-sary's throat. A rally with much detmnionsiou followed, in which the science of Turner strongly prevailed. In the said rally josh did not forget to sing out, ••• Lard, Ott how this legit* is dropping blood from his mug." Turner broke ground, and ha it all own way, as li,glis could not reach hem. It was a 1054 round, and the forehead of Inglis, from a severrleserstins. dIZ claret in abunda nce . T urner did as h e liked, acid threw hie veal sary, after Josh hid told him to keep astray and leader lawa• little of the vivid stream in his eye. 3. 'Tumor oitt-fought his adversary, and hit him heavy by I swinger -up with the left hand. Inglis was too good to be denied, and he placed a good body hit. Turner fell in a twist. 4. Turner ltd this round as all his own, and with bads bandar one, two, on his adversary's frontispiece, kept the claret quo a wee guise flow. It opined over those nearest the ropes, end the sole question was, " Will Ned's stamina last ?" A doubtful litr tllitijet soma of his admirers. 'lamer went down, wares fit M. 777nglis made a turn in the fight, by roakinisomo nobani36. Turner went down w ea k, an d b ecame a piper. let ters silent. 6. Inglis hit his adver sa ry, b u t not h ome, and "urner went dawn weak. . _ _ I and & Tumor was distressed, but his opfooest amid corn& him. A. A short round. Turner uncorked the claret in anothesport or the olfactory organ, and fell from weakness. 10. 'nen, gut exhausted, and a gay mond took place. In • manly rally Turner'', science gave him the beat, hot M ta4 Nett exhaustion. 11. A sine vta won. Both doze up far the minute. 12. Turncr drew fresh claret in force:lu from every sips, W 4 fell weak. 13, 14, and 16. The bravery of Turner, in diorama, we as much admired as the manner to which the galletu Inglis set* punishment. Tenter kept the claret floorin g; there seers ata symptoms of denial to it, Lut he was fighting tine against saparko Sliming. His bands were one mass of claret from the hardame et Inglis. Id. Turner made two of the angst scientific hits, defiers!" lei* the second motion of one hand, ever seen, but be fell. Until the 2Wth round the question was, whether Inglis would stall to get punishment. In this round he was a bliuker oa the lett aide, but there was nothing like a negative about him. The 46th round ended a most gallant fight—when Inglis was des eland the winner. Up to the lest round Turner had the best et fighting, but went down weak at the end of each f and it was not until the !am touch of manhood had left him, that his seconds save in for him. The bead of Inglis was a disfigurement wag seem, but his bravery was too undeniable. Moss whose adlnitlis tiro was excited by the manhood of tbo decoyed Ned Turner, had a feeling of sympathy for the goodness of his rival, who will steal Ong in the renuede of gluttony. The battle lasted one hour and eighteen minutes, and It was ally 51111111‘• Tar CHEI.SEA ASPIRED, AND COOFZIL, TR. Girsv.—We have no limits for a detail of this manly bottle, which was one of those stopped in Passion Week. It was for a purse of 510 sovereigns, and a trial worth 100. Coopr led at going off, in fine gay fighting, for six rounds,. he red Reid in the first round, but in the latter part of the battle be was pinked in every round by his adversary's right hand; and at the expiration of 28 minutes be west obliged to yield the palm of victory to a better man. Cooper has a fault is not looking after the doling of blows. The proposal of Mr. Iluskisson to permit the foreigtt wheat now under bond to be converted tutu flour, upon t►r placing 1961b5. of flour for every sin bushels of wheat op removed, cannot fail to have a material influence upon do price of British wheat ; for, as the flour produced from the foreign wheat is only allowed to be exported, it nut s% satilv follows that an equal quantity of British limn wilt be hinised ; and thus an increased value given to MB& wheat by the increased demand for it, which will be eete• aioned by the exchange. The quantity of wheat 14 the warehouses on the Silt of January lest was 461,3 IL quarters. R 000000 NTA ?TON Or COLCPII XXXXX would swim that the Colchester Burgesses resident in London ere look,* ing forward to an early dissolution of the present Par ment, and are making active preparations for; stru . A monthly club of upwards of ISO members, has formed at the Gun Tavern, Spitalfields; and at the last meeting it was resolved to invite several gentlemen to olter themselves as candidates. A Committee of ten was op pointed to carry the resolution into effect, and to reptile; the result at the next club meeting, which, we understand. is held the first Monday in every month. These worthy - Burgesses seem to proceed upon the assurance, that in a multitude of candidates there is safety. We believe our information is correct, when we say, that letters have been I sent by the Cennninee to the present Members, Mr. Wild. man and Mr. Baring; to two gentlemen who have already been candidates—the one successful, the other not—Mr. Harvey and Sir H. Russel; and to two gentlemen who re main to be tried—Sir henry Smith, Bart. and Mr. Pot*, a large vinegar-merchant in the Borough.--, ssez Pager. TH a Lonor To or.—The discovery of the longitude remains a desideratum, although science has made near approaches to it. In 1593, I n lro e f iN gst offered • hundred thousand crowns ; and the States er Holland, at the beginning of the 17th century, proposed a reward of thirty thousand florins to the person who should be fortunate enough to solve this difficult and importnnj problem. In 1675, Charles 11. erected the ObservatorT at Woolwich, and appointed Mr. Flainstead his astrononuesd observer, with the express command that he should himself with the utmost care and diligence to the ing the table of the motions of the heavens, and the Omen of the fixed stars, in order to find out the so-much-4440 longitude at sea, for perfecting the art of navigation. le was in the year lilt that the Parliament of Great Bassin first began to consider this question as an object of national concern, their attention having been more particuielly drawn to the subject by the loss of Sir ('loudesley Sheverja fleet. An Act was accordingly passed in that year, ofterhig rewards to the person who should discover the longitodp at sea, proportioned to the degree of accuracy that might be attained by such method, viz.: a reward of 10,0001. if it determines the same longitude to one degree of a great circle, or sixty geographical miles; 13,0001. if it determines the same to two-thirds of that distance; and Sio,oool. if determines it to half that distance. Commissioners were appointed to examine the denim of persons, sod formed the object of the Act. In 1774, all the Acts concerning dta longitude at sea were re;realed, except what relates to Commissioners, and it was enacted, that any person who should discover any method for finding the loanknele means of a time-keeper, should be entitled to Legged. it 3,0u01. for d-rennining the longitude to, or within, one de gree ; 7,50 0 for determining the same to forty cal miles; and 10,0001. for a determination of ri7111 1 7 1 1 1 a degree. Mr. Harrison had previously received the law est reward offered by the tint Act, 00,0001. far his nsia brated time-keeper ; in addition to which, the gcatuitiosof the Board of Longitude, of the East India company, and of others, contributed to augment the whole sum to *bout 41,0001. 1140 svAttsv.—We bare seldom bad occasion is Merl a mare letbaselwir add affieWsg known of inorttlity than Rash marred in else family of Mr. Sabot Maley. merohinit, Weeddend of Eyrie. Ewing Pee last week. Mr& Henry, wbe had bees delle. raped of • child &baste wes: u iscet 3 , date on ilundar, the m ultimo ; the little i n f ant en d its egistenee so *be 'Sikh • swdl Wm Hairy, wbo bad prey' bean an Perfect Wel* wee mind with as diem abase Wile taw of tholes* of his wife, 'rebid be► miaow& his life as the ilat ; email WI three were interned is use Irmo wpm Friday Few people in Awl swiss pawned as will a guano( penile respect. asd their amid amisebih r far &tette. hare crested a stay gam& sf don Is Abu nareklaourbaod. They bum kb baba *Mg kr weprivg ea optional Nardi. Aug illoporm (ken Paper.