The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1819-01-01 00:00:00

ANECDOTES.

[From the the First :Comber of " The Effiebasegli Mootlay
Review"]

MR. lit 1% ►R D.

Dining, one Jay at the table Sir Robert Mur-
ray K. ith, AmbissaJor at the Auetriati C •urt, the
co .i-isatiors turned ienou the ri rtur whet a Ger-
man gentleman .f the party observed, that the
glory of Am io his own dominions heir 44.
ed to htr linpr.t.l Majesty. " Pardon •:ar,g' said
Mr. Fluward, Ina Imperial Majesty has wily
fished one species of mrture, to -stablish its
place another e cruel ; for the torture wl ,ch hr
aboliehed, lasted, at the 1111110, a few hours—but
that which lie has appointed I dor many weeks. mil,
sometimes years. The poi r wretches are plum.:
into a noisome dungeon, as had as the Black Male
at Calcutta, from which they are taken rusty 1*
they confess what is laid to their charge."—
" Ilush," said the Ambassador, " your words will
hr reported Su his Majesty."---" Whit !" replied
he, ".hall my tongue he tied from speaking truth
by any King or Emperor in the world? I repeat
what I asserted, and maintain its veracity." Si-
lence ensued,-and all present admired the intrepid
buldnees of the man of humanity.

His manner of gaining .•.Ines-siou to that most
terrible of prisons, the Misfile, MEP at once singular
and higelll4ll.l.. Ile availeti himself, with much
oil-
dress, ef one of the articles of the arret of Parlia-
111V1il of 1811 i June, 1777, for the regulation of ti:e
prisons at hiris, which directs, that all persons (I--
airrius of bestowing any charitable &nation on the
prisoners, should be permitted to distribute their
alms with their own hands. Pleadilig this humane
prod-ion before the Commissary of Police, he suc-
ceeded iu obta g admittance.
Mr. llobliouse, in his Historical Illustrations,
has conferred en obligati)))) on literary history, by
satisfying his readers, that the long-alleged pain-
ful itstplisonturat of 'Casio—that subject which
has drawn so toasty figurative tears from poets'
eyes—was nut the consequence of ambitious love,
but rendered necessity by the insanity of the poor
man. It seems perfectly well mode out, that, in a
paroxysm of madness. the poet insulted his ducal
patron, and for this and ether extravagances was
confined. Romance is always interesting, but
truth is still roure d lightful.
Aifieri, the poet, was our evening at the house
of the Prinvess Carigneni. and leaning. in one of
his silent moods, against a side-board decorated
with a rich tea-service of Chine, by a sudden move-
ment of his long loose tresses, threw down one of
the cups. The lady of the mansion ventured to tell
him, that he lied spoilt her set, and had better have
broken them ell: but the words were no sooner
said, than Altirti, witl t replying or changing
countenance, swept oft the whole service upon the
floor.

When the Emperor Napoleon visited the mar-
bles in the Museum of the Lquvrr, along 'villa
Mr. West, he observed, on looking at the bust of
Hannibal, that he was the greatest man of all an-
tiquity—and turning briskly, added, that General
Washington was the greatest of the moderns!

WIFE SELLING. —A fellow ling the audacity to
outrage public decorum by in a Hull
Paper, an advertisement announcing 1114 having
sold 1.111 wire, and which be dors in the following
terms:—

" Fletija,in Brows, of Foxholes, berthy gives notice, That
lie sold hi, wifr, Harnrh Broom, too Rohr. 'fussier, shoe.
maker, of Hull, and &limed leer in a halter, Lt the Cruse,
uu Tuesday 'market, November 24, 1818."

A letter from Crooks, dated Dec. 22, soys—
'. " Yesterday a berg« whale, or rather the species
termed Fiaaer, was observed tumbling in the Forth,
at Inverkeithing Bey. It approached to within one
hundred yards of the east point of North Queens.
ferry Battery, and all present considered it to be in
size about 60 fret ir. length. Upon cooling up to
the surface of the water it generally blows three
times, with short intervals between each blest. Its
motions are very slow, and whets it again plunges it-
self below the surlier, its track is fur sonic titue quite
visible, from the boiling and agitation of thy sea all
round about, occasioned by the motion of its huge
and unweildy !only as it proceeds through the we.
ter. This fish, with others 011ie same dercription,
have been in the Forth, above and below the fer-
ries, for there three weeks pest, It is richer sur-
prising that the active end 'Lady buipiemeis at the
adjoining ports, ►hould let slip this fair opportunity
of laying its their winter's stock of oil."