The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-02-08 00:00:00

CHORAL FUND.

On Monday evening the musical society called the
Choral Fund, patronised by his Majesty and several of the
Royal Pukes, had their annual concert at the English
Opera House, which was very respectably attended, but
not sufbeitntly to afford any material addition to the fund.
The funds of the Society have been greatly exhausted from
the numerous claimants, among which is one the oldest
Aorta singers in London, of the name of Willoughby,
win' for some yea', previous to his late decease, when lie
was beefeen 70 and 90 years 4,1. principally existed by the
annuity fism the fund of the btki.te ; there is another
writtbrr, who has been a claimant for a Ici.wh of time.
about the same age, now nearly blind. The swamis are
very numerous.

the instrumental baud had to boast of as excellent an
anemblage of talent u could be collected under similar
circumntancrt, chiefly from the Italian Opera House and
the Academy, which were moat ably led by Mr. Cramer,
and the whole conduckd by Mr. Greatorex.
Mr. Kemble very kindly gave permission to some of his
singers to perform, asdid Mr. Ebers for those of the Italian
Opera.

The Society were particularly indebted to Miss Paton,
Mr. Bellamy, and Mr. Sapio, for their exertions in many
respects. Miss Paton was particularly kind and accom-
modating in agreeing to sing an Italian song announced to
be sung by Madame Bonini, who was prevented from
attending by indisposition ; and after the apology had been
made, and Miss Paton had been led on to sing, it was
found that the musical parts from which the band were to
play, were not in the theatre. She was obliged to with-
draw while the music copyist went to procure them, but
he was gone such a length of time that Miss Paton pro-
Posed to sing " Mary of Castle Carey," which waa readily
accepted, and rapturously received. She sang the admired
ballad, " Sweet home," in the most chaste and finished
style, and was encored twice in the duet with Signor de
" Ciovenette the fate," the effect of which was
considerably increased by the superior comic powers of
Si;,-nor dr W•gnis.
The. Society were also indebted to the following vocal per-
firmer, :—S:gnor Begres, bliss Hamnsersley, Miss Vents,
bliss %Villis, Miss Pali, Mr. floulden, Mr. Atkins, Mr.
6)olson, jun., and a young gentleman it hose name we
understand is Francis.

Alias Vents sang very correctly " Let the bright Sera-
phim;' accompanied on the trumpet by Mr. Harpur.
Mr. Atkins, who possesses a very firm, full-toned bass
voice, made a bold attempt to display it in the recitative,
" Rejoice, my Countrymen," in which the late Mr. Dart-
lernan so eminently excelled. In this attempt Mr. Atkins
acquitted himself extreniely well, and gave it very cor-
rectly.
The vonth of the name of Francis sang " Angels ever
bright and fair" in a very expressive style : he also gave
the " Solditm tired," in which, with the exception of the
failure of a few notes, he surpassed every expectation, as
it is not a song calculated for a boy. The accompaniment
on the trumpet by Mr. Harpur was a masterpiece.
Air. S. W sley gave an extemporaneous performance on
the organ, in which style of playing he eminently excels.
A great novelty of the evening was a duet for two Into]•
pets, by Signori Garobati, from Florence. The execu-
ti•in anti variations were astonishing, produced by a nom-
Llr of keys on their instruments, which have more the
apirelrance of large bugles than trumpets, and the tones
produced from them MOT,* resemble those of the former than
the latter. They were several times greatly applauded.

- --
Yesterday. at half-pant four o'clock, the Duke of York,
as Commander-in-Chief, held a Levee ar his office in the
llorsetuards, which occupied his Royal Highness's oaten-
ti in shout an hour. The following were among those
pr:.cen t :

(kw-rail Earl Cathcart. Etrl of Cork, Lord Foram. if Miles Nightinwale, Hart, sod Scott ; Lieutenant-Generals Sir Thomas.
1131.,0 rat 11,111; 2ilajor-Ctencral Stevenson, Load Gwydyr, and
about thirty others.
The Duke of Clarence returned to Bushy on Monday
afternoon.

1 esterday the Princess Sophia visited the Duke of York,
at his house in Snith Audley-street.
Yesterday morning the Duke of Gloucester arrived in
town from Lulwotth Castle.
Prince Leopold left his residence in Pall-trial yesterday
everLtig, for his seat at Claremont.
The report yesterday of the state of the Lord Chan.
cello: was, that his Lordship had passed a very good night,
k rd and is a great deal better this morning.
Gralthatn arrived in town on Salutes; from

ANRCDOTE Or Tlh LATE EMPEROR
ALEXANDER.

At a moment when the death of the Emperor Alexander
is the mulliret of univeraalregret, the following anecdote
will not be read without interest.

" In 1808, the Emperor, in riding from Kowno to Wilna
in Lithuinia, had gut before his suite • he sittldeill y per-
ceived several persons on the banks of the Wilna, who
were employed in dragging something out of the river.
His Majesty dismounted, and perceivt.tl en approach-
tog that it was a corpse. The Emperor was alone and
unknown to the peasants, who did not know what to
do with the body. When it was drawn out of the water
Alexander caused it to be extended on the ground, assisted
himself in undressing it, rubbed the temples, the hinds,
and the soles of the feet ; but all these means were useless.
Some inouwnts after, whilst the Emperor Was still em-
ployed about the unfortunate person who had been drown-
ed, his suite arrived : it was composed of Prince Wolkon-
sky, Count Lieven, and the English Doctor Wylie, sur-
geon to his Majesty. All meant of re-animation were again
tried; the doctor tried bleeding, but the blood would not
flow. The Emperor continued rubbing, though the body
gave no signs of life. After more than three hours' labour
the Doctor declared, to the great regret of his Majesty,
that all farther attempts were useless, and that the unfor-
tunate person was undoubtedly dead.
" Fatigued as the Emperor himself was, he begged the
Doctor not to abandon the undertaking, and to try bleed-
ing a second time. Mr. Wylie signified by a nod that he
was persuaded of the uselessness of any further attempts,
but yielding to the wishes of the Emperor, he tried to bleed
him a second time. The blood flowed, and a sigh was
heard. No language, says the Doctor, can express the,
emotion and the joy of the Emperor. He raised his eyes to
heaven, and exclaimed, My God, this is thr happiest day of
my lite,' and the delightful tears of gratitude bedewed his
cheek. The zeal and the efforts of the attendants were redou-
bled; the physician thinking that a sufficient quantityof blood
had been taken from him, endeavoured to atop it ; the
Emperor tore his handkerchief, and bound up the arm of
the patient with his own hands. The latter, full of wonder
and of joy, saw himself in the paternal arms of his sove-
reign. His MAjesty would not leave him till he saw him
out of danger, and had caused him to be conveyed to a
house where he could have all the attendance that he stood
in need of. The Emperor, with great generosity, paid all
the expense of his recovery, and provided afterwards for
his maintenance and for that of his family.
The Royal Society of London, established to save indi-
viduals apparently dead, having learnt this anecdote, una-
nimously resolved to present to the Emperor, through the
medium of the Earl of Douglas, the English Ambassador
in Russia, the gold medal of that Society, and to beg that
his Majesty woull permit his name to be inserted among
the honorary members. The Society caused this fact to be
published in a separate publication, under the title of A
Case of Resuscitation by his Algjesty the Enwrap. of Russia,
Sc.—London, 1814. The medal has on one side the figure
of a child endeavouring to rekindle by blowing a light which
has just been extinguished, with the following motto: Late!
scintilla
.forsan, and below the inscription Soc. Load. in
reviiseitationern intermortuonsm, instil. 1774. On the re-
verse is a crown of oak leaves, in the middle of which is
the following : Alexandra Imperaturi &wields Regia is-
maau donut.

The Duchesv de St. Leu and her son, Louis Napoleon
have arrived at Rome.

We hear from good authority, that Viscount Granville,
half-brother to the Marquis of Stafford, is tk succeed the
IVarquis of Wellesly in the government of Ireland. Lord
Granville is a can ningite, which augurs well fur the Ro-
man Catholic cause.—Drogheda Journal.
It gives us sincere satisfaction to state that Sir William
Curtis is nearly recovered from his late severe indisposition.
The worthy Baronet is still at his Marine Villa.
• The Lord Mayor, the Lady Mayoress, and part of
their family, attended the evening service at St. James's,
Clerkcnwell, on Sunday last, of which service his Lord-
ship's Chaplain, the Rev. R. C. Dillon, is the Minister,
appointed lately by the Bishop of London. We are glad to
see this service so well attended, as Mr. Dillon appears to
us to be a man of talent, and, what is far beyond talent,
in earnest in the discharge of his duty.
A new writ was on Monday ordered to be issued for the
county of Northumberland, in the room of Thomas C.
BraniliinT, Esq. deceased.
iVsawica.—On Saturday the Hon. George Wynn, ac-
companied by some friends and dependents of the Earl of
Warwick, began a canvass of this borough. Being a per-
fect. stranger lie introduced himself as a follower to the great
Lord Sutnerg, and as ad. cided enemy to Catholic eman-
cipation. The election begins on Friday.
The reason ►hy the speech.i at the " Grand National
Dinner" in Dublin were not reported in the public prints,'
was, that the managers of the dinner, while so liberal of
" honorary invitations" to persona resident in England,
were too sordid to give their friends of the press in Dublin
a complimentary ticket. In consequence of this the re-
porters attended merely as visitcrs, and declined writing
any of the speeches.

Mr. Sapio is engaged at Drury-lane, and makes his first
appearance in Bishop's new grand opera of Aladdin, with
Mr. Sinclair, Miss Stephens, &c.
Am ERICAN TIMATRICAII.II.—The managers of the Phi-
ladelphia theatre had concluded an engagement of twelve
nights with Mr. Kean. His first appearance was to be on
the 11th of January. Mr. Hamblin had mule a very
succesaful debut at New York as Hamlet. Paul Pry was
playing there with great;success. The principal character
aru performed by Hilton of the Park Theatre.

THE ossar STACPOOLL CAUSE.—A singular circum-
stance occurred in this city (Limerick) at a very early
hour on Monday morning last. A gentleman, who mar-
ried one of the co-heiresses in the Stacpoole cause, and who
received 28,0001. in her rsght under the dectee, was ar-
rested, with his wife, on a writ of Ne erect liegno, at the
suit of the solicitor, Mr. Antony Hogan, for his costs, just
as they were stepping into a carriage, as is generally stated,
intending to go to France. This scents verf extraordinary,
as we understand Mr. Hogan established for the claimants
near 300,0001. in interest alone, after several years' expen-
sive litigation. Mr. Hogan, we are informed, intends to
follow up his claim for coots against the rest of those pst-
ties who have acted so ungratefully and unjustly towards
him.—Limerick Chronicle.

HOIRIB/.11 Occuaarwcx.—On Wednesday night, at
eight o'clock, a most horrible occurrence took place in the
town of Newcastle, county Limerick. Rerjeant Holland,
of the 62d Regiment, who was stationed there on the re-
cruiting service, was walking up the street with a young
man who had offered himself for enlistment ; when they
got to the top of the square, and not one hundred yards
from the barrack, the person he had been walking with
stepped aside, and joined three other men, who imme-
diately approached flerjeant Holland, and deliberately
fired a shot at him, which took effect, and the contents
struck him in the left arm, between the elbow and the
shoulder, inflicting a most desperate wound, the entire of
the flesh having been torn away from the under part, and
the balls or slugs passing through at the upper. From the
extent of laceration it appears probable that it was a blun-
derbuss those nightly assassins made use of to carry their
diabolical purpose into effect. The poor man lies in a
wretched stste.—Lirnerick Chronicle.

filigatmAa OCCURRIxes.—The following remarkable
circumstance took place under the observation of the gentle-
man who has favoured us with the particulars : Last
spring, when walking in the flelds, be saw a small hawk at-
tempting to soar aloft with some prey in its mouth, but
evidently the weight of its capture prevented its efforts, and
dragged is towards the earth. It was pursued by a hare,
which ever as it came within her reach attacked it with her
paws. The hare eventually succeeded in knocking it
down, when its prey fell from its mouth. At this mosnent
the gentleman ran forward, and the hawk and its pursuer
both made their retreat : upon his arriving at the spot
where the prey bed been relinquished, he found it to be a
fine leveret, whose anxious parent had interfered in its be-
half. It was wounded in the side of the head, and was
bleeding, hut the gentleman left it laid in a furrow, where
it would doubtless receive those further attentions from
the hare which maternal solicitude would prompt, but
which his presence prevented front being bestowed.—
Ork Herald.

TIE BRITISH PRESS.

TUN PAW:I'I4N LOAN.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE BRITISH PRESS.

SlR,—Oberving in your Paper of Saturday some obser-
vations on the price of Peruvian Stock, I tun induced to
address these few lines to you, being one of those unfor-
tunate per. ins who purchased it long since, when it bore
the highest quotations. I regret to find that most of the
holders cannot coincide in opinion with you, that the divi-
dends will be paid punctually, for the following very sub-
stantial reason, viz:—That this Government has already
scandalously failed in its engagements contained in the
formula of the Bonds, to remit to England, by tile end of
the year 1825, the sum of thirty thousand pounds sterling,
,to be applied as a sinking fund ; the first redemption to
be made on the Ist of January ast, which all the world
knows has never been done. g 0 far from which, it ap-
pears, by the latest advices from Lima, that the money
set apart fur that porpose has, by order of Government,
been returned into tne Treasury, leaving their unfortunate
creditors in Europe to look for their dividends where they
may. • Upper and Lower Peru have who separated, and
(mined themselves into independent Staten ; but nothing
is as vet known what is to be done with the debt con-
tracted when they were united. In short, Mr. Editor,
thin Government is on the very verge of bankruptcy, and
its credit all but annihilated, not less from political cir-
cumstances than from its experienced had faith. It is
even now said that the April dividends will not, because
they connot, be paid. _This Stock would not be depressed
in a ratio so disproportionate to all the others, were it
not for some Galt comae which I trust the contractors
will ere long he called upon to explain at a public meeting,
that will shortly he held.
By inserting these remarks in your journal you will
greatly oblige your obedient servant,
Bth Pebruary. INCA.
Query. Is any part of the two millions of dollars lately
brought by his Majesty's ship Tartar, destined for the
repayment of the Loan ?

PRACTICE OF THE IN,VOLVENT DEBTORS'

COURT.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE BRITISH PRESS.

Si a—The readiness with which you have inserted se-
veral suggestions of mine upon the practice of the Insol-
vent Debtors Court convinces me you are sensible of the
great importance of the subject, and how loudly its daily
abuses call for some alteration. When I heard the Chief
Commissioner give notice of his Rule of the Stith of last
month, relative to the future retainers of attorneys, to
commence from the 10th instant, I could not avoid pub-
licly expressing my regret that, while censuring an evil
and applying a remedy, he should, in the same breath, so
strangely delay its operation till three days before the end
of the present Hilary Term, thus allowing the agents the
exclusive benefit of nearly all the cases to the Pith of
April next ; and that by confining his attention to this one
Rule he should think others unnecessary until they arose
out of sonic fresh case. Accustomed as lam by educa-
tion, but more by experience, to look rather at the dut;es
than the outward professions of any public men —yet,
delayed, and even disgusted as the Commissioners of this
particular Court must daily be, at what they very properly
call the ignorance and meanness of those persons by whom
they are surrounded, I cannot but think they are sincere
in wishing to see their practice more respectable. But if
so, why not throw the business open? Why not see that
those who practise, and their clerks, are qualified to do so,
by some or all of the very plain remedies I have sug-
gested? Why tell the whole profession that because some
miserable clerk forged the consent of a creditor to the
waver of a notice, no attorney should be competent to
verify such a consent even upon his oath? Why prevent
the attorney from serving his own notices, or checking and
correcting the conduct of the messengers even on the last
days of service? Many an Insolvent gets remanded for
no other reason than because the attorney cannot transact
his own business, while much valuable time is wasted in
useless attendances at the Messenger's office. IVhy not,
by proper and timely recommendations to the different gaol-
. ra, accommodate and protect the attorney in the dis-
charge of his duty at the prisons, and why not afford him
the same remedy for his full costs to the last stage of the
business, as in the superior Courts? Surely nothing can
be more easy to accomplish than all this, and at once—in-
stead of by the slow and partial method hitherto used.
The fault rests entirely with the Commissioners, for till
this be done, though a few respectable men may rarely at-
tend their Court, and they may rail against the rest who
are absent without distinction, for carelessness, by far the
greater number who do attend will be men of a very oppo-
site description, and such as with their agents are already
well-known to them.

I am, Sir,
Your obliged and olledient servant,
February 6. A PRACTITIONER.

THE CONGIIFSS OF MILAN.

[From the Currier Frareair.]
The intention of Austria was to procure for herself the
cession of the city and fortress of Placentia, with a pail
of the duchy of the same name. As a compensation to
Maria Louisa, she was to give her Spezzia, and a part of
the river of Genoa, which she would previously have ob-
tained from the King of Sardinia, to whom the Emperor
proposed to cede the Novarrais, the Milanais, and other
districts, besides a pecunisry indemnity. Austria designed
to make Placentia a fortress of the first class ; the Aus-
trian engineers had already drawn up the plan, and the
estimates which amounted to sixty million florins; it was
even proposed to make the Po go all round the city.
All the princes of Italy were to contribute to defray
the expense. The object of this scheme was to op-
pose a barrier to littreimortane invasion and to protect
■ part of the Imperial dominions and all Lower Italy:
Metternich's principal object in going to Paris was to
sound the French Ministry concerning this plan ; but he
could get nothing from them but an evasive answer. When
the Congress of Milan was opened, the greater part of the
Italian princes were favourable to the plan of Austria;
hut the King of Sardinia objected that he would no longer
have any kingdom, if the enemy were under the walls of
Placentia ; lie was seconded in his opposition by a note of
the French ministry, which declared against all innovation
and all transfer of possessions among the states of Italy.
This circumstance disconcerted Metternich's plan ; the
Congress &permed, and the only advantage that Italy
derived from an assembly, the expense of which she
defrayed was the commutation of punishment granted
to some carbonail of Lombardy, 'Parma, and Modena,
and the recall of the Neapolitan exiles. Piedmont and
Rome were inflexible. The Emperor Francis was so
chagrined at this result, that when invited to lay the first
stone of the magnificent bridge of Trebia, which his
daughter Maria Louisa was about to build, he would not
even enter Plauntia, though only at the distance of an
Italian mile and a half.

STRIKE OF THE COTTON SPINNERS IN BIII.EAST.—••
On last Tuesday a Meeting of the Spinners, who have
lately turned out fur an advance of wages, twit place in a
ball court in Smithfield. We applied for admission, but
were refused, in consequence, as we were told, of the af-
fairs about to he dismissed being of a private nature.—
A orMere
A most distressing accident occurred this week in the
county of Clare, which has involved several families of re-
spectability in profound grief. Coleman O'Loughlin, Esq.
of Port, brother to the Counsellor of that name, and two
young men, lons of Andrew Kerin, Esq., of Ballyallah,
near Ennis, went on Wednesday morning, with a servant
of the former gentleman, on a sporting excursion. On the
lake of Dromore, about six miles beyond Ennis, for the
purpose of duck shooting, they entered a small boat of a
flimsy light construction, and pushed from the shore with
the intention of remaining out for some time. Unfortu-
nately, from that moment none of the four persons
wyre seen alive, nor any vestige of the boat ; hut next day,
(Thursday), two of their hats were recognised floating on
the water; the worst fears of their friends were instantly
realised, and every exertion having been used, in the course
of yesterday two of the bodies were found, Mr. O'Lough-
lin and one of the young Kerins. The other brother and
servant have not been yet discovered.—lriolt Paper.