The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-05-13 00:00:00

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

CUSTOM-I/011SX. MAT 11.
SNIPS ENTRII ED IN WARDS.—The Donor, Ducker. trona
Trieste; Governor Myers, llogarth, from Memel; I'iber, Rexene,
tioni Ilainburgh • Triton, Rogers, from Denia ; Peace, Condley,
front Louth; Queen, Jatmet, from Lisbon; Swift, Pyne. from
St. Michael's; Indostrie, Singdahlnen, from Laurvig and Chris-
tiania; Vier Gebroeders, Nieuwland, from Woman); Johenne
Marie, Olsen, from Christiania ; Albion, Stonehouse, from Me-
mel ; Acorn, Christie, from Teneriffe ; Northumbria, Wright,
Mary, Dobson, Fortuna. Schnaciel, from Memel ; Anna 3larga-
rettot Elizabeth, Preien,.front tiottenburgh ; Hoffnung, Langlnegi
riche, front Rostock ; Denten; Regency, from Dantzte ; Preemie,
Liedeke, from Pillau ; Editha, Benson, from Adra ; Metro KGs_
tine, Nissen, from Fainoe; Petrel, Cross, from Pernambuco; Mer-
curv, Morton, front Faro; Hashes Anker, Foyn, from Frederick..
stint . Superior, Darwin, from Boston ; William) Galt, Wald),
teem St. Domingo; Aimwell, Anderson, George and Ellen. Alli-
son, from Charente; Camilla, Prowfe, from Oporto ; Union,
Perry. Davenport, Parry, from Cork ; Queen Elizabeth, Attwooll,
from Dublin.
ENTERED OUTWARDS.—The Mirables, Hopper, for St. Vin-
cent's; Brothers, Brulton, for Bremen ; Diana, Jay, for Leghorn ;
Hem, Poppen, for Teneriffe ; Co!umhia, Wilson, for New South
Wales ; Amphitrite. Margie, for Jatnaica ; Maria Anna. Vander
Kaa, for Antwerp; 31stluse, Lutibing, for Antwerp and Brussels;
Ceres, Warren, for Madras and Bombay.
CLEARED OUTWARDS FOULLY AT GRAVESEXI).—The
Integrity, White, for Trinidad ; Commerce, Fournier, for Calais ;
Britannia,'Fox, for Ilamburgh; Wellington, Ailed, for Jamaica;
Rotterdam, laming, for Rotterdam ; Maria, Thomson, for Madeira.
Itie of Prance, Madras, and Bengal ; Simpson, Simpson, for mom.
bay ; Jack Tar. Anderson, for Jamaica.
CLEARING T WAN DA.—The Robert and Sarah, Wilson, foe
Ilainburgh; George, Davis, for Rio . sneer° Patentia, Wahl-
berg, fur liottenb'urgh, Elsinore, and Stockholm ; Venus, bus-
moth', for Elsinore and Riga; Vronw Janeje, Wellsma, for
Ainateniant ; Choice, Barran, for Archangel.
FROM LLOYD'S LIST.
Fatstol/TII, MAY 10.—Saileti the Nassau, Tremsyne. for Sierra
Leone; the Providency, Noyes, foe Gibraltar; the Margaret,
for Lisbon ; and the Cadtenne. —, for Alexandria.
PLYMOVTD. Nlar 10.—Arrived the Mary, —, from Dart.
mouth for Newfoundland. Off the port the Cane Grove, Thomson,
fot St. Vincent's.
PORTVIIIOCTH, MAT lE—Arrived the William and Ann,
Goodall. from Memel; Hope, Swinbmn, from Got.enblorgh; and
a large fleet of colliers from the eastwanl. Sailed his Majesty's
cutter Starling, on a cruise; and Sir Francislhake ateam-packet,
for Plymouth.
Drat., 31 alr 11.—The letters by the mail coach, which should
hare arrived yesterday, are still unaccounted for. Sailed thin morn-
ing for the Raver the Hon. Company's ships Martinis Camden and
Marchioness of Ely. The Lady Melville is off Dover. Passed
through fmia the River the Chieftain. Patterson, foe St. Vincent's;
Integrity, White, for Trinidad ; Wellington, Allen, fox Jamaica ;
and Eliza, Johnson, for Antigua.
LIVES POOL, 3IAY 10—Arrived the Lindnay, Dixon, from New
Orleans—sailed t2d March, in company with the Parsons, for this
portSuccesn, Constable, front Gibraltar ; the Fortune, Law,
front Oporto; the Lisette, Beyer ; the Ann Dorothea, Maids, and
the Tranby, Zeplin, from Rostock. The cargo of the Francis,
Patterson. lost on her voyage from Bahia, has been saved, and
carried into Macao.

LIMERICK, 31st 9.—The Mechanic, from hence to Baltimore.
which was on shore near (:teas Island, has been got otl•and brought
up to the quay. About two thinls of the cargo landed, the re.
minder dunolved. the has been surveynt, and condemned as un-
worthy of repair, and will shortly be sold.

The Catherine Omen transport, from Sierra Leone, has arrived
ofr Brighton, bringing letters to the 24th 31ath. His 31kiesty's
ship Conflict had arrived there previous.
Vrasti.s arnert WITIL—The Pearson, Brag, NC. Orleans
to Liverpool. 4th ult. nil Double Headed Shot Keys ; V,rronnt,
New York to Pererdirgh, 23i1 Gree"^"k to Quebec.
24th; Inglis and Wilberforce,
Newcastle to Mirainicht ; and
Midas, Dundee to glebcc, 2:ith, by the Lindsay, arrived at Li-
verpool.

Yesterday being a dies en's, the Courts of Bench
and Common Pleas were closed. The Lord Chancellor,
however, sat to hear lunatic petitions.
There is a Bill before the House of Commons to amend
the 7th and sill William 111., for the more easy recovery
of small tithes ; awl the 33d Gco. it l. for the recovery of
tithes. The amendment is, that where the Justices are
patrons of the church or chapel, the tithes are to be re-
covered before two Justices of any adjoining county.
riding, or division.

1 -

NELL GIVYNN.
The following curious mem—Orr—s of this celebrated female,
published many years since in a fugitive miscellany, are
not university of preservation:—
MEMOIRS OF NELL. GWYNN. THE CELEBRATED'
MISTRESS OF CHARLES
Ellen Gwynn, or Guyn, so far as appears to ns from all
accounts hitherto known, had no education at all. What
we learn of her is, that she was born in a night-cellar (State
Yeerns), sold fish about the streets, rambled front tavern to
-tavern, entertaining the company after dinner and sniper
with tones (her voice being very agreeable) ; was next
taken into the house of Madam Ross, a noted courtesan :
admitted afterwards into the theatre-royal, as early as the
year 1667 (see the drama of the Maiden Queen, and others
of Dryden's plays for ten years successively); was reinress
both to Hart and Lacey, two famous actors, and kept by
Buckhurst (see a note in Royer's translation of Gee
MONT'S Memoirs, which Mr. Dryden told Bayer) if I
mistake not, whom Charles 11. sent on a sleeveless errand
to France, in order to pave his approach to her. From that
period she began to be pretty well known, and is mentioned
by Be ItNET and other historians. Nlemairs may be found
concerning her in the following books, and many others :
ANT. Woon's Ath. Oxon.; Memoirs de la Cour d'Angle-
terre, par Madame DU Mots; and Memoirs de la Vie du
CompteGrammont, English translation.
As this giddy and dissipated creature gave rise to a noble
and most worthy family, one would have nothing devised
against her by way of romance ; she hail some very good
qualities to contrast against her bad education and vicious
habits.
Without proofs and citations, one can pay but e propor-
tionable regard to many farts reported of her in a late pain-
phlet, which is certainly well written; nevertheless, many
assertions there clash with accounts better known, and of-
fend against probability.
As she entered on the stage about the year 1667, I can-
not well see how she could apply to Betterton at that time,
as a sort of a protector ; since Betterton then, far from
being a manager, or having any considerable interest in the
play-house, had hardly passed his theatrical noviciate ;
having. irst played in the year 1639, when he was appren-
tice to Mn Rhodes, bookseller, at the sign of the Ship,
Charing-cross, and tinder his master's direction, who had
a share in the patent, accompanied by Mr. Kynaston, his
!e' low-apprentice, who played the women's parts, and Mr.
Betterton those of the men. Sir IVilliani Davenant must
have been the • person applied to, who was then patentee
at the King's house. Betterton was then a mere youth,
and just making his fortune, under the actors of the old
stock ; each as Angel, Caeleman, and others, who were the
mama** of Black-friars, and who vanished almost endrely
about the year 1666; whether through chagrin or accident
cannot now be ascertained. What concludes stronger is,
that Betterton left the theatre-royal, and acted at the
Duke's before and at the time when Nelly appeared on the
former stage.
Behold another seeming contradiction in theatrical chro-
nology Nelly's amiable lover is said to be the person who
acted Creon ; which, by the way, was Sandford, a matt of
a remarkable hard visage, deformed, and who had the air
of an assassin. Moreover, this event is supposed to happen
before Nelly came upon the stage, 1667 ; and (FAipus was
.tot represented till about the 1677,•10ng alter she was the
King's mistress; nay, it may be queried if she acted so late
as the year 1677.
Jr no way appears that Lord Rochester was ever ens-
reared of her. Mrs. Barry was his passion, and Mrs.
Bewtel antecedently to Mrs:Barry, at the time when Mrs.
Gwynn trod the stage ; and as to the King's never seeing
her till at a certain nobleman's house, it is well known that
he had seen her uninterruptedly on the stage from 1667 till
about 1671, and fell in love with her on her speaking the
epilogue of Tyrannic Love, which seems to have been
'written by Dryden on purpose. 'Tis doubtful too if she
ever played at Dorset-garden.
Nelly was highly favoured by Dryden. For many years
he gave her the most showy and fantastic parts in his co-
reedies. It looks as if he played her at the Monarch for a
considerable time; since, not to mention the epilogue last
spoken of, he wrote on purpose for her an equally whimsi-
cal and spirited pThlogue, prefixed, I think, to Aureng-zebe.
At the other house (viz. : the Duke's, under Killegrew's
patent), Nokes had appeared in a hat larger than Pistol's,
which gave the town wonderful delight, and supported a
*bad play by its pure effect (perhaps Afanternouehie or, Me
titizen turned Gentleman; a comedy, by Ravenscroft).
Dryden, piqued at sthis, caused a hat to be made the cir-
cumference of a hinder coach-wheel, and as Nelly was low
of stature, led what the French call miTnontic piyannte,
the made her speak under the umbrella of that hat, the
brims thereof being spread out horizontally to their full ,
'extension. ,The whole theatre was in a convulsion of ap-
plause ; nay, the very actors giggled, a circumstance none
had observed before. Judge, therefore,-what a condition
'the merriest Prince ohne was in at such a conjuncture.
. .

..__....__ _
'Twos beyond odso and orlvith, for he wanted little of being
suffocated with laughter.
In a word, Madam Ellen (as the drama often styles her
after she was declared the King's mistress) had no great
turn for tragedy, nor do 1 recollect her in any pert of mo-
ment but that of Valeria in Tyiannie Love, to which Dry-
den raised her partly through partiality, and partly as it
was necessary for her to die in that play, in order to rise'
and speak t'he epilogue. In comedy she was more ex-
cellent : nevertheless, she must not be ranked as an actress
• with the Qtrins Davenports, Marshall', Bowtels7Better-
tons, and Lees, :la .ecle d'or Jr Chariest //. which held in
its high lustre frtm 1683 to 1678. But of what the French
call rajoue, she was a complete mistress; airy, fantastic,
coquet, sprightly, singing, (lancing ; made for slight, showy
parts, and filling them up, as far as they went, most effec-
tually; witness-Par/mei, in the Maiden Queen (to which
she spoke the epilogue), Jacinto in the Meek Astrologer, &c.
It is highly probable that Madam Ellen might have
made a mote decent figure in life, hail her birth been for-
tunate add her education good. A seminary like the
streets and cellars of London is infinitely worse titan crawl-
ing in woods and conversing with savages. We make this
remark, because she possessed many good qualities, which
no human disadvantages could quite destroy. She had no
avarice • when her power encreasetl, site served all her
tbeetricid friends. She strewed particuler gratitude to
Dryden; and valued eminent writers, as Lee, Otway, &c.
Site was almost the only mistress of the King who was
guilty of no infidelitz towards him ; nor dill she relapse
after his decease. Knelled with natural sagacity and wit,
she made no ill use of them at court, paid no attention to
sniniattas, nor ever acted as their creature. Her charities
were remarkable ; and, what was singular, she piqued her-
self on a regard for the Church of England, contrary to
the genius of the then court. When Cromwell's tall per-
• ter, Daniel, was in Bedlam, and had his library allowed
him, it is said that the most conspicuous part of his books
•was a large bible, given him by Nell Gwynn.
•Once as she was driving up Ludgate-hill, in a superb
'coach, some bailiffs were hurrying a clergyman to prison,
•Siw stopped, sent for the persona whom the clergyman
anentioned as attestator' to his character, and finding the
account a just subject for pity, paid his debt instantly, and
procured him a preferment.
She was the most popular of all. the King's mistresses,
and most acceptable to the nation. An eminent gold-
smith, who died about fifteen years ago, in the seventy-
ninth year of his age, assured tne, that when he was an
• apprentice, his master made a most expensive service of
*.plate (the King's present) for the Duchess of 1' •
He remembered well that an infinite concourse of people
,crouded to the shop out of mere curiosity ; that they threw
•out a thousand ill wishes against the Duchess, and wished'
the silver was melted and poured down her throat; but
'said it was ten thousand pities his Majesty bad not be-
stowed this bounty on Madam Ellen.
Her picture, painted by Lely and others, pronounce
bet to he very handsome, though low in stature and red-
hailed : there is a bust of her now to be seen at Bag-
nigge-wells, which, though coarsely executed, 'hews her
to he what the French call en hon point. This place was
formerly one of her country-houses, where the King and
Duke of York frequently visited, and where she often en-
tertained them.
_ -

---
At Guildford, the contest on IVedtiestlay for the election
-of Coroner for the county of Surrey was extremely levore.
At the close of the day's poll the numbers were—
oCarter - - . 67 Rand . 537
Words - - - bUli I Jelltrue . - Sib

lEEE

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
SECONDARIES' OFFICE, CoLtmax-STsEET, BiAT 12.
CANTILLOW v. MATE.
In this case a Jury was sworn to assess damages, judgment
having been allowed to go by default, in an actionlorought to re-
cover the moiety of the charge of building a pa ty-wall between two I
houses.
The case occupied the Coart a considerable time. The defend-
ant ass the beneficial occupant, at an improved rent, of a portion
of groom( in J.:win-a:rem belonging to the Goldsmiths' Company.
By allowing judgment to go by default he acknowledged himself
!table to pay a ,moiety orthe 'expense of erecting a psrty-wall.
There was an important question as to the amount that should
be paid for this part, it being proved, on behalf of the plaintiff',
that it cost 15 guineas per rod, and he sought payment at that rate.
On the Fart of the defendant, the Act of the 14th George 111.
cap. 7:1, was set up, in answer to the demand. In the 31.1 th and
41st sections it le enacted that one moiety of the expense of build.
ing rev party-walls shall be paid by the beneficial occupant on the
improved rent, at the rate of 71. 15s. per rod, deducting IL Cs. fur
the materials, if any, of the old wall. In this case the materials
were all new, and it was contended that 71. !is. per rod was all that
could be recovered by the plaintiff, although the work had cost him
' double that sum.
The Counsel for the plaintifFcontentleel, that the Legislature had
virtually repealed this statute by subsequently imposing so high a
duty on bricks as rendered it impossible to execute the work on the
uro,s then spccificd, setting aside the increased price of labour,
and of other things.
M the part of the defendant it was answered, that the equity of
the case well warranted the application, and that there was no in.
justice in adhering to the authority of the statute.
The Jury, under the direction of the SEcostnartY (who pro-
. mistd to make a note of the point), assessed the damages according
to the rate specified in the statute.

INSOLVENT DEBTORS' COURT, THURSDAY, MAY
Alexander Alexander was opposed by Mr. Cooke at the instance
of Elias A Grahams.
The case involved a qoestion of partnership.
The insolvent stated, that be attributed his embarrassment and
consequent application to the Court, to li;s having been arrested by
his late partner, the present opposing creditor. Elias Abrahams
became his partner in Feb., llth2,at which time a deed au executed,
which instrument is now in his (Abrahains's) possession, but a
copy was delivered to the witness. The body of the paper now
produced was written by Abrahams; the contents were as follows
Tnis is to certify, that I agree to continue in co-partnership
with Mr. Alexander Alexander, accordirg to former agreement, on
condition that the said A. Alexander receives halt of the net pro-
' fits after the whale of the expences arc paid.
(Signed) " EI.TAS ABRAHAMS."
In the course of the Insolvent's evidence, lie stated that he did
not receive al investment of 1.20nt. worth of goods from Abrahams,
for the purpose of sale, in the capacity of agent or supercargo; no
such consignment vas made to him from Charleston, South Ca.
tolina.
Mr. BEATH, for the insolvent. submitted that his client ought
not to be examined relative to the document produced.
Mr. Coos f: said, that he had no means of rebutting the inrol.
vent's testimony, as llr. Abrahams was abroad; vet he (Mr.
Cooke) nevertheless submitted that the insolvent's schedule could
nut stand, ns he had not deserib.d himself as " late carrying on
business under the firm of Alexander and Abrahams."
Mr. HEATH said that he could produce twenty letters to prove
the existence of a partnership.
('oost continuing to urge his objection on the informality
of the description,
Mr. Commissione► Boerwie said, that there was no rule of Court
en the subject, and he other`Commissioners concurring in that
view of the case. the objection was over-ruled.
The insolvent's discharge was ordered to issue.