The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-03-31 00:00:00

THEATRE ROYAL, HAYMARKET.

&V PILIINIYIIOIII 01, TIM LOUD CHAMISIMAI/11.
LAST WEEK BUT ONE.
Mr. TIIILLWALL'S tiIIATORICAL arid CRITICAL LECTURES
ou SHAKSMEARE AM the DRAMA. die.
This h:veaing, WEDNESDAY. March 31, IBM
Introductory Itscitatiou—Satauls soliloquy ; Obtervatius
sublime of bliltuu.
Lecture—Much Ado About Nothing: Comedies of the Age of Shak
dream. School fur Seaside! Comedies of Sheridan, tr. Five AM
Perces of the Day. Criticism cm Actors, &a.
Reeltatloa: first Speech of Cosmos:
beautiful/If Milton.

on the

ea the gay and

Lecture 1111 L —Macbeth and OttwUo, and the impassioned sublime
of Shakapeames Tragedy cunt:sand with the bombastic mosistriwitics
of the Old Dalkty. Treace,. • and Melo-Dramas of the day. Lord
Byrtni sad the Indus • • Writings ou the Dramatic and Literary
Taste of tie A.
Doors or
Ilr. 'lardy/ham al tet
Days of Leetulb.
NEW THEATRE ROYAL, DRURY-LANE.
To-morrow Evening. THURSDAY, April I, will be performed
'EMS MERCHANT OF b ICE.
Ihyloet. Mr. Kean; Deranto, Mr.Wallack t Lanneelot, Mr. Liston
Poetic, Mrs.W.West.
After which, SYANISH GALLANTS.
T., conclude with the Farm of
ALL nit WORLD's A STAGE.

half-past Seven.

..neelZut T.O to roar, on the

- -•--- - -
THEATRE ROYAL, COVENT-GARDEN.
To-nsurearw Evenlug. I'HUKSDAY. April I. will be performed
NATIVE LAND.
The Principal Cliareetore by Meows. Einelalr. W. Ferns, Cooper.
Vawnttlllill.resncitroa.
with
triodi M. Tree.
ro
THE MUNTEIL IJF THE ALPS.

THEATRE ROYAL, ENGLISH OPERA-HOUSE.
MIL MATHEWS AT HOME!
Tomorrow, THIWSDAV, April I, and SATURDAY,
With kis ANNUAL LEC FURS on PECULIARITIES, CHARACTER,
and MANNERS;
Founded on Obtervationsand Adventures during his late
A TRIP TO AMERICA.
In Three Harts.
Pam lIL—A Monopolylogue. caned ALL WELL AT NATCHITOCHES.
All the Characters of the Evenings Entertahunent to be represented
by Mr MATiIb:WS.
Doors to be opened at Sqven—Performance begin' at Eight o'Cloek.
Reiss to be taken of Mr. Steerage''', at the box °ince, Strand am-
t.:wee, from Ten tin nue.
P:aves cannot possibly be kept after half-past Eight delock.

The BRITISH PR EIS coaamenced---pulaliahing yesterday moraing
at 84 *Week.

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, M ticti 31, 1824.

We know of no body of people who have so pressing a Herbert's letter acknowledges, that " upon Mr. Battier's
e in., both on the charity of the country and the considera- " joining the Tenth Hussars, he experienced a resep-
.eun of the Government, as our unhappy countrymen at " don and treatment from the officers forming the
the Cape. We are quite satisfied that Lord BATHURST " mess of this corps, which neither his apparent inca-
was grossly misled in colonizing this worthless settlement. " pacity and unfitness for the duty of a regiment of
Indeed this is a truth of which be must himself long slime " cavalry, nor any exception taken to his manner and ap-
have been but too seriously convinced. In the mean time " pearance, could justify, and which were, upon his repre-
the English settlers are reduced, many ofthein, to the last " aentation, censured in the strongest terms by the Corn-
stage of wretchedness--an of them to a wane cond!tion of " inander-in-Chief, and drew upon those concerned the ex-
suffering than experience in this climate can give any con- " pression of his Royal Highness's unqualified disappro-
ception of. Mr. Ita ailow's Travel, in &maser* 4frica " bation." It thus is confessed that the antipathy of the
contributed, we believe, very considerably to beget that Lordlings of the " Tenth" was manifested to Mr. Battier
false estimate of its value which led our Government to on first view—that without waiting to find out his qua-
colonize it, at a time, perhaps, when an abundant and lineations or failings, they became " qualmish" at the
discontented population rendered it advisable to encourage sight of him at once, and generously put him into instant
the spirit of emigration, without making very nice &cilia- Coventry. On meeting strong reproof from the " florae
tiros as to the likelihood of realising the discovering of milk Guards," through Lord Combermere, these heroes of the
and honey in the promised Lind. The EDINBURGH Re- moustache and sabre were obliged to come down from their
vr zweas, also,—it is now twenty yeara since,—strengthen- high ropes, and, as the letter in question says, " acknow-
ed the favouraide but false impression which this work was ledge their error." But did they subsequently act towards
calculated to produce, by its strenuous support of the ape- Mr. Battier like gentlemen, who, conscious that they had
cushion on this subject, which it so eloquently recom_ offered him unmerited injury, sought afterwards to atone
mended. " We have seldom," says this Journal, in its for the offence by kindness and frankness of conduct ? No
notice of Mr. Barrow's book, " attended to a discus- such thing : they still drew the line of demarcation be-
" sion in which all the reason seems to be so entirely tween " their nobility" and the untitled individual who
upon one side. That the Cape ought never to have been had presumed to come amongst them. They had too
" ceded—that it ought, as soon as possible, to be regained— much personal regard for themselves to come in " personal
" and that no inducement ought to make England part collision" with Mr. Battier, but they heaped every negative
" with it at another treaty of peace, are positions proved insult they could upon him ; they maintained with him,
" to a demonstration in the w rk now before us, and re- as Sir Herbert Taylor admit,., " no easy or familiar inter-
" commended to our statesmen with all the force of obvi- course." They were obliged to meet him on the parade,
" ous necessity. One further consideration, not hinted at and at mess; but it was clear they were restrained, not by
"by Mr. Barrow, has great weight in our minds. If we their inclination but their fears, from flinging every sort of
" do not make war on one point, we must in another ; if: insult upon him ; and this not from any defect in Mr.
" we do not attack the Cape, we shall probably attack the Battier's character or conduct (for both are allowed to be
" Dutch and French settlements in the IVest Indies:— uninipeached), but because these " lordlings" chose to turn
" And that such a policy is unwise in the extreme, who up their noses at a man whom they imagined not to be as
" can doubt, that knows anything of colonial affairs ? wealthy or high-born as themselves. It is strange, that until
" The conquest of Guiana last war enriched the Dutch Alr. Battier came among the " Pandours" of the Tenth,
" planters at our expense. Our capitalists poured into those defects of discipline, afterwards so apparent, were
" their service above sixteen millions in loans, tempted by never found out. Sir George Quentin, most impartially
" the profits on consignments, which, after the re stitu- no doubt, quickly reported the new officer as " utterly
" Con of the colonies, they could no longer receive ; and " unfitted fcr his duties" as a cavalry ofL•ccr, and the

" improbability there was of his ever being sufficiently
" improved, by drill or instruction, to become capable of
" doing justice to his situation or the regiment." Yet this
officer was of some years standing in the army: he had
been both in the Sth Dragoon Guard's and the 18th Hus-
sar, and produced to his Royal Highness the Commander-
in-Chief testimonials of the highest kind, signed by those

respectable officers, Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon, of the 6th
Dragoons, and Colonel Murray and Lieutenant-Colonel
Hughes, of the Dith Hussars; and they spoke, Sir Herbert
Taylor admits, " erithowt reserve," of his qualifications as
an officer and a gentleman. Yet on the report, for the
first time, made against him by Sir George Quentin, and
confirmed by Sir C. Grant (the latter, certainly an officer
of high character), Mr. Battier was told, by order of the'
Commander-in-Chief, that he hail better remove from
the 10th Hussars, by retiring to half-pay ; or, as there
was nothing in the reports made which could affect
his character as a gentleman, he had the option (gene-
rously given him) of purchasing a haft:pay Lieute-
nancy of infantry, whenever an opportunity should offer.
This was a very splendid provision allotted to Mr. Battier,
no doubt !He was permitted to becomes half-pay Lieute-
nant, by purchase. How wondrous kind ! Mr. Battier's
great offence, it appears, subsequently consisted in pre-1
suming to appear, on the evening of the Y4th of Novem-
ber, at the mess of the loth Hussars, after having received
leave of absence. Lord Londonderry dined with the regi-
ment on that day, and as Mr. Battier's appointment did not
originally come through his Lordship, he probably felt no
very violent friendship for one he looked upon as an intruder,
and did not relish his company on that day. On the whole,
we are far from being satisfied with these statements. We
think Mr. Battier has been excessively ill-treated by the
aristocrats of the Tenth, and that impartial justice has not
subsequently been dealt him. The army in general will
not be satisfied with this decision, or think it just or fair
that the prospects and profession of a young man, of unex-
ceptionable conduct and character, are to be sacrificed to
the unworthy prejudices of a knot of assuming Lordlings,
whose unbecoming conduct has roused universal indigna-
tion,' and drawn upon them unqualified contempt, from all
that is discerning and respectable, where they now are
quartered. Such is the feeling of those who have had an
opportunity of seeing and appreciating the unmanly and
ungentlemanly condvt of several of the officers of this
regiment, to whom Mr. Battier's want of wealth or title
has been so offensive, and who, on this pretence, thrust a
respectable officer into Coventry.