The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-09-28 00:00:00

MR. HENRY COOPER.

This Gentleman, whose death we announced yesterday,
was the son of a provincial counsel of eminence at Norwich.
He went to sea with his distinguished countryman Lord
Ndson, and was, when a ho y, present at the battle of the
Nile; but he early quitted the naval profession for that of
the law, though lie retained much of the frankness and
gaiety of manlier which distinguish seamen, and de.: acti-
vity and strength of frame which a seaman's habits create.
Ile was afterwards Attorney-General of the Bermudas, at
the time when one of the Cockburns was Governor; and he
retained to the last the friendship and esteem of many of
the Ikroludians. A case which came into the Admiralty
Court at Bermudas, and which he afterwards argued before
the Council here, was one of the opportunities in which be
first distinguished liiins2lf. Oa the appointment of the
late MT. S.rgcant Blosset to the Chief Justicesbip of Ben-
gal, Mr. Cooper, who was thou rapidly rising on his circuit
(the Norfolk), became one of the leaders, and at the two
last assizes was in almcst every cause. lie possessed great
activity and versatility of mind. No one, according to the
testimony of those who saw most of him, combined with a
fluent an 1 powerful eloquence,* better judgment and nicer
ski!: in conducting a cause. But his best and highest fo-
rensic quality was his great moral and professional courage,
his unshaken attachment to what he considered to be a
good cause. No consideration ever warped him from his
duty. Ile was proof not merely against those speculations
on the best probable means of personal advancement, which
many men reject as well as he did, but against that desire of
standing well with the Judge, of getting the ear of the Court,
of obtaining the sympathy of men of professional standing,
which it requires much more finnness to resist. There
was no one on whom a defendant, exposed to the enmity of 11
Government or Judges, or to any prejudices, could rely
with greater certainty that he would nut be compromised
or betrayed by his advocate. In a word, there was no man
less of a sycophant. He had a conlidence that he could
make himself a name by his own merits, and he would have
made it

" Hut the fair guerdon when we hope to find,
Conies the blind Fury, with the abhorred shears,
And slits the thin-spun life."

Mr. Cooper was, at the time of his death, eight or nine-
and-thirty, and though occasionally affected with those
bilious attacks which few men of great application are free
from, his general strength and vigour of constitution made
his death as uneapectc*l as it has been afflicting to his
iends. Ile had been about twelve years at the bar, and
was a member of Lincoln's Inn.
_ _

Mr. Cooper had been some time employed in procuring
materials for a life of Lord Erskine, with whom he was
particularly intimate, which he had undertaken to write.
We suspect lie hail not made much progress in the work,
when death terminated all his labours.

latsn ELECTIONECRING.—The Hon. Cerirral Mahon
has announced his intention of again standing for the re-
pr sentation of the County Roscommon.—The Hon.
Mr. Blanc:. (son of Lord Blaney), is a candidate for the
rep:, sentation of the County Monaghan.—lt is s ild that
Lord Bingham (stm of the Earl of Lucan, and nephew to
the Countess Spencer) will be a candidate for the county
of Mayo at the next general clection.—Dablin Paper.
A new street, to lead from the Parade to the great
IVestern road, has been commenced at Cork.

We hear that a rich load of copper has been lately dis-
covered in the Virtuous Lady mine, in the parish of North
Buckland.—Eretcr Post.

An extensive English ;ilk mlnufietury is sl,ertly to be
es:ablishcd at Thomastown, county Kilkenny.
Ilaven most LOXDON TO DOWCASTIII, AND BACK.—
Mr. D. Wes:, whose pedestrian feats are recorded, started on
Thursday night at twelve o'clock. to go from Os! Ilampatead-mad
Chapel, 0.1 and from Doncaster ($2l miles) in four days and six
bows. The wager was, that rite pedestrian should be at 11oncaster
(11:2 mitts) in two days, for l 00) a ivereigns, and the .eeond en.
gagement. for another hundred soversign% was, that he di.) no, ae.-1
complish the undo taking. The match is rather more than three
miles an hour. stoppages included. The pedestrian restated
Wandsford the first day, and took not moo than a quarter of an
hour's rest. This spot is halt the distance, and he won the first
hundred by beating thsie twenty minute., and at, return:AlN to
Itussingtun B.idgr, lout mi:Ls b a k, Lttfore lie tuuk a do:sc.

MAXIMS OF SIR MORGAN 0 DOME R r, MAIM

IVe moderns are perhaps inferior to ocr snentors in no-
thing more than in our epitaphs. The rules, nev-rthellna,
for making a good epitaph are exe_rdingly si:uple. Yea
should study a concise, brief, and pi.,uant diction. YOU
should state distinctly the most remarkable points i.t &Ls
character and history of the defunct, avoiding, of course,
the error into which Pope so often fell, of omitting the
name of the individual in your verses, and leaving it to Le
tagged to the tail or beginning of the piece, with a separate
and prosaic "herjueet." Thirdly, tiwac should be, if pos-
sible, some impror.:riert of the subject, some instal sy-
religious or patriotic maxim, which the passenger earriao
with Min, and forgets not. I venture to present, as a
happy specimen, the following, which is takeu from a
tomb-:tone in Winchester church-yard, and which tradititto
ascribes to a late venerable prelate of that see, Di.
Hoadlev

•' Private John Thorns lies buried here,
Who died of drinking cold soul! beer:—
to flood Christian ! drink no beer at all,
Or, if yon will drink beer, don't drink it small."
Nothing can exceed the nervous pith and fine tone of
this, both in the narrative and the didactic ports. It is
really a gem, and confers honour on the Bishop—on whom,
by the way, a clever enough little epitaph was written
shortly after his death by a brother Whig and D.D.
Bishop Iloadley was, in this doctor's opinion, a heretical
scribe, and his monument encroached too much on one of
the great pillars of the cathedral.
. .

-w Here lying Hoodlcy lies, whose book
Was feebler than his bier.
Alive, the Church he fain had shook,
But undemines it here."
Of late they have got into a trick of serving op the
routed pig without his usual concomitants. I hate the in—
novating spirit of this age ; it is my aversion, and w:11
undo the country. Always let him appear erect on hii
(opt legs, with a lemon in his tnouth, a 'pig of parsley in
his ear. his trotters bedded cn a lair of sage. One likes to '
e a Ig appear just as he used to do upon the board of a
Swift, a Pope, an Arbuthnot. Take away the customs of
a people, and their identity is destroyed.
Claret should always be decanted. I find it necessary to
observe this, because the vile Frenchified fashion of 'hos-
ing the black bottles about is fast coming into vogue in
certain quarters. These outlandish fellows drink their
wine out of the black bottle for two reasons—first, that
they can't afibrd crystal, and, secondly, because sending
al, their best wine over to us, they of course are in the
habit of consutnieg weak secondary trash among them-
selves, which will not keep, and has therefore no time fur
depositing grounds. But why should we imitate such crea-
tures as these ? The next thing, I suppose, will be Li
have ruffles without a shirt, anti to masticate frog's blubber.
No good can come of lowering our good old national pride,
antipathies, and principles- in general.
There are two kinds of drinking which I disapprove of
—I mean dram-drinking and port-drinking. I talk of the
drinking of these things in great quantities, and habitually ;
for, as to taking a few drams and a few giants of por:
every day, that is no more than I hare been in the custom
of doing for many years back. I have many reasons that
I could render fur the disgust that is in me, but I shall be
contented with one. These potables taken in this way, fa-
tally injure a man's personal appearance. The drinker of
drams becomes either a pale, shivering, Llue-and-yellow-
looking, lank-chopped, miserable, skinny animal, or Lis
eyes and checks are stained with a dry, fiery, dusky red,
thin which few things can be more disgusting to env
woman of real sensibility and true feminine delicacy of
character. The port-drinkers, on the other hand. get
blowsy about the chops, have trumpets of' noses, 'covered
with carbunc'cs, and acquire a muddy look about the eyes.
Vide the Book of the Church, passim. For these reasona
do not, on any account, drink port or drama, and, per
conver.rum, drink as much good claret, goad punch, or
good beer, as you can get hold of, for these liquors make
a man all Adonis. Of the three, claret conveys perhaps
the most delicate tinge to the countenance : nothing gives
the air of a gentleman so completely, as tbat elersitt las-
situde about the muscles of the face, which, accompanied
with a gentle rubicundity, marks the man whose Wood is
in a great proportion rim-de-Bosrdcaua. There is a pecu-
liar delicacy of expression about the mouth alma, which
nothing but the habit of tasting exquisite claret, and con-
templating works of the most refined genius, can ever be-
stow. Punch, however, is not without its own peculiar
merits. It' you want to see a fine, commanding, heroic-
looking race of melt, go into the Tontine Culler-room of
Glasgow, and b..thold the effects of my friend Mr. Thomas
Hamilton's rum, and the delicious water of the Ara*
fountain so celebrated in song ' • or just stop fora minute at
the foot of Millar-atreet, nerd see what you shall see.
Beer, though last, is not least in its beautifying powers.
A beer drinker's cheek is like some of the finest species of
apples, .

" the side that's next the sun."

Such a check carries one back into the golden age; re-
minding us of Eve, Helen, Atalanta, and I know not what
more. Upon the whole, I should. if called upon to give a
decided opinion as to these matters in the present state of
my information and feelings, say as follows :—Give me the
cheek of a beer-bather, the calf of a punch-libber, and the
mouth of a claret-biblxr, which last indeed I already have.
N.B. Butlers sho aid be allowed a good deal of port, for
it makes them swell out immensely, and gives them noses
a-ht-Bardolph ; anal the symptoms of good eating and
drinking should be set forth a little in earicatuta upon
the outward man of such folk, just as we wish inferior
servants to wear crimson breeches, pea-green coats, and
other extravaganzas upon finery. As for dram-drinking
I think nobody ought to indulge in it, except a man under
sentence of death, who wishes to make the very most of his
time, and who knows that, let him live never so quietly,
his complexion will inevitably be quite spat in the course
of the week. A gallon of good stout brandy is a treasure
to a matt in this situation ; though, it' I were in his place,
I rather think I should still stick to my three bottles of claret
anal dozen sears per dims; for I should be afraid of the
other system's effects upon any nervous system.
In helping a lady to wine, always fill the glass to the
very brim; for custom prevents them from taking many
glasses at a time: and I have seen croselooks when the
rule has keen neglected by young and inexperi.:Lecd
dandies.

The King, if Sir Thomas Lawrence's last and best pic-
ture of him may be believed, wears, when dressed for
dinner, • very short blue surtout, trimmed with a little
fur, and embroidered in black silk upon the breast, and all
about the button boles, B:c.—black breeches and necking",
and a black stock. I wish to call general attention to this,
in the hopes of seeing his Majesty's example speedily and
extensively adopted. The modern cod is the part of ma
usual dress, which has always given most disgust to the
eye of people of taste ; and I am, therefore, exceedingly
happy to think, that there is uow a probability of its being
entirely exploded. The white neckcloth is another abomi-
nation, and it also must be dismissed. A blue surtout,
and blue trowsers, richly embroidered down the seams, form
the handureest dress which any man eau wear within the
limits of European costume.
The Havannah segar is unquestionably at the bead.
You know it by the peculiar beauty of the firm, brown,
smooth, delicately-textured, and soft leaf, and, if you have
anything of a nose, you can never he deceived as to its
odour, for it is a perfect honed. The Chinese cheroots are
the next in order ; but the devil of it is, that one can seldom
get them, and then they are almost always dry beyond it-
demption. The bat Chinese cheroots have a delicate
greyish tinge; and, if they arc not complete sticks, put
them into au air-tight lessel, with a few slices of a pond
juicy melon, and in the course of a few hours they
will extract sonic humidity from their neighbours. Some
people use a sliced apple, others a carrot, either of which
may do when a melon is nut to be had, but that is the rea3
artiee, when attainable. As to all the plans of mo'steoing
*agars by means of tea-leaves, rum-grog, &c. they as,
utterly absurd, and no true smoker ever thinks of there.
Manilla segars occupy the third station in my esfren. •
their enormous s:ze renders them inconvenient. Ow hag,
being seen sucking away at a thing like a walking-wt.,
I generally find that Caiddun, of London, has the bets • #
gars in the market. George Cotton, of Edinburgh, is st.s.•
very recites-At: in thee: articles. But, as 1 believe 1 w'e
remarked before, a luau must atnuggle, iu the preaea sta.4
of tin' code.
N. B. It will be observed that I have -

W. 14 J
chug* my