The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-04-13 00:00:00

MASQUERADE-ARGYLL ROOMS.

Last night " a grand masquerade and carnival," as the
programme had it, took place at the Argyll Rooms. Mas-
querades have never become property naturalised in this
country, nor are they ever likely to equal in brilliancy and
effect similar entertainments on the Continent. Thereason
of all this is very evident. John Bull is 'uut little of an
imitative animal—he is " himself alone"—one and indi-
visible ; and is utterly incapable of going out of himself,
or shaking off the trammels of his individuality in search
of either profit or amusement. If he condescend to be di-
verted, it is much ; but he never goes cut of his way in
search of amusement, and least of all would he contribute
to the amusement of others. In the lighter and more ele-
gant arts, the mouldings and ornaments which adorn the
structure of society, we must yield the paint to our more
mercurial neighbours : we claim to surpass them in the
fundamental principles and solid portions of the edi-
fice, and it is to be hoped we do. However that be, in
music, dancing, and most of all. the " merry masque,"
we are, as well from nature as habit, infinitely their
inferiors. The principle of an Englishman's character
is mcentration : those of a foreigner contrast and variety.
In Italy they wear the mask in the pursuits which consti-
tute the slopk of their existence: consequently carnivals
arc nothing more among them than ordinary existence a
little sublimated and heightened ; and, with the aid of an
exalted temperament, they delight in rushing into the
midst of its vortex, and assuming characters the most gro-
tesque aryl !emote from reality. We are in a perfectly
thusimil r and opposite situation. These entertainnw.nts
are ea o lc; in our climate, and, notwithstanding all our
care end cultivation, are Lot soon likely to take root in oar
colder ar d more sterile soil. The masquerade of last
nigh: was a complete verification of these remarks. But
w.! pause to do justice to our friends at the other side
o the Channel, wbo distance us as much in those
slain; as they themselves are inferior to the Italians.
This by way of parenthesis, as a tribute to he inhabitants
of the Emerald Isle; and now to get hack to our f ienl
C. Wright and Regent-street. We had 1 st nig' t much
noise and little novelty—characters and dres, es a tt ng tint .•
upon town, and both the worse for the wear. There wore
dosses as s doer as parsons, and harlequ'ne who had the
gout, Scotchmen who had never crossed the Twe.d, and
sailors who didn't know the difference between a bridle and
a bowsprit. Then there were as usual, milkmaids who had
never been off the pie?, Turks who spoke English with
remarkable fluency, Spaniards without cloaks, ballad
singers possessing every requisite for their profession with
the exception of a voice, and several blackamoors of
the fair sex, as an Irishman who stood by us ob-
served. Add to this classification, tipsy hermits, stale virgins,
modest barrister, and a quantity of " barren spectators;"
and you will hays a very fair idea of the motley group.
But not to indulge our exaggerating propensity too far
—seriously to speak—the Masquerade of last night was, in
many respects, inferior to other similar exhibitions we have
had in opportunity of witnessing in the Argyll Rooms. We
are desirous of giving praise where it is fairly due,accordingly
we do not mean to withhold it from the music, which was ex-
cellent, as were also Mess:s. Wand and Wright's supper and
wines. Among the characters best supported, were an
Irish Lucky Molly, who excited considerable attention, and
a Wild Man who looked savage enough to play the bear at
Messrs. Hippolyte and Monq's, in Threadneedle-street.
If any accident should happen the original, and those
rival hair-cutters find a difficulty in getting a substitute
on the Stock Exchange, we recommend them to apply to
the gentleman who enacted Orson last night. There was
also a good Torkshizetnan, Distressed Mother, Little Pickle,
and Old Maid: are doubt whether the latter article was
g;nuine. There was a vast deal of dancing, and the
majority of the' company contrived to keep it up till an
advanced hour this morning.

Thursday last a meeting was held in Barnstaple, to ad-
dress a p?tition to the Legislature against granting further
concession to the Catholics.

Yesterday the Lottery began and finished. No. 9,19.5,
a prizc of 20,1001., was sold to a society of upwards of
forty gentlemen, by Eyton, at his Foreign and British
Stock Office, No. 2, Cornhill, and Lombard-street.
Yesterday No. 8,185 (class A), drawn a prize of twenty
thousand pounds, was sold by Hazard and Co. in a half
and eight sixteenth shares ; in addition to which Hazard
and (70. sold in shares, No. 9,579, a prize of two thousand
pounds, and eight other capitals. Hazard and Co. are
contractors for the new 'Grand Scheme, containing prizes
of 30,0001., :0,000/. 3,0001. &c. &c., all to be drawn Slat
May.
The Ticket, No. 7,031• (class 13) drawn yesterday a
Prize of 20,000/. was sold by Swift and Co. of No. 11,
Poultry, IV. Charing-cross, and n, Aldgate High-street.
Y EST E RDAY.—Bish's luelcags in conspicuous.—No.J,o34,
a Prize of 20,0001. was sold by Bisb, in sixteen sixteenths.
He also shared and sold ten other Capitals, viz.—

....
7,034, s Prize of 20,0301.
474 a Prins of £1.14i3 6,31i3 a Prize of £315
7 2:2 - - 1.01:5 521 . - - 220
!4443 - - (U 2476 - - .....ii
C,oril - - - 213 7.522! - - - 220
9.063 313 5.111 -
—The fortunate holders may. as usual, receive thii value
of their respective shares on demand, at Bish's offices, 4,
Coruttill, or 0, flaring-caws.

.~~

INAUGURATION OF THE NEW PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES.

, M I
At twenty minutes put twelve theW MarsASIIINCITOXhaIs made the ARC
appear.
sore in blue scarves, succeeded by Hie °keep of both Houses of
Congress, who introduced the President Elect. lie was followed
by the venerable 1:x-President and fAmi!y, by the Judges of the
Supreme Court in their robes of office, and the Members of the
Senate, preceded by the Vice-President, with a number of 3letn-
beet of the House of Representatives. Mr. Adams, in a plain
suit of black, ascended the steps to the Speltlet's clan, anti took
his sesta" The Chief Justice was placed in front of the clerk's
table, baying before him another table on the door of the Hall, on
the opposite side of which sat the remaining Judges, with their
faces towirds the Chair. Silence having been proclaimed, anti the
doors of the Hall closed, Mr. Adams rose and read, with a clear
and deliberate articulation, the subjoined Address. The time oc-
cupied by the delivery of this address was about forty minutes. As
soon as the last sentence was pronounced, a general plaudit, com-
mencing in the galleries, but extending in a degree throughout vhe
whole assembly, continued for some minutes. The President Elect
then descended front the Chair. and placing himself on the right of
the Judges' table, received from the Chief Justice a volume of the
law's( the United States, front which he read, to a loud and clear
voice, the oath of office : at the close of which. the plaudits went
repeated, mingled with cheers from the spectators who filled the
galleries, and immediately followed by the discharge of a salute of
artillery.

The congratulations which then poured in from every aide, oc-
eupied the hands, and could not but teeth the heart, of the Presi-
dent. The meeting between him and his venerated predecessor
had in it something peculiarly affecting. General Jackson, we
were pleased to observe, was among the earliest of those who took
the hand of the President; and their looks and deportment towards
each other were a rebuke to that littleness of party spirit which can
see no merit in a rival, and feel no joy in the honour of a compe-
titor. Shortly after one o'clock the procession commented leaving
the Mall, but it was nearly an hour before the ehrtering groups
which had crowded every seat and avenue had completely retired.
The President was then escorted back as lie came, and, on his at-
rival at his residence, received the compliments and respects of a
great number of gentlemen and ladies who called upon him, who
also generally paid their respects at the Mansion occupied by the
Ex-President.

Of the several Inaugurations which ;re hire seen, that of yester-
day was mosttnearly approached by the second inauguration of Mr.
Madison, as President of the United States.

THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS.

In compliance with a usage coeval with the existence of our
Federal Constitution, and sanctioned by the example of my prede.
ceesors in the career upon which I am about to enter, I appear,
my fellow-cid:ems, in your presence, and in that of heaven, to bind
myself, by the solemnities of religious obligation, to the faithful
performance of the duties allotted to me in the station to which
' I have been called.
In unfolding. to my countrymen the principles by which I shall
be governed, In the fulfilment of those duties, my first resort will
be to that Constitution, which I shall swear, to the best of my abi-
lity, to preserve, protect, and defend. That revered instrument
enumerates the powers, and prescribes the duties, of the Executive
Magistrate; and, in ha first words, declares the purposes to which
these, and the whole action of the Government, instituted by it,
should be invariably and sacredly devoted :—to form a more perfect
union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquillity, provide for
the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the
blessings of liberty to the people of this Union, in their successive
generations. Since the adoption of this social compact, one of these
generations has passed away. It is the work of our forefathers.
Administered by some of the most eminent men who contributed
to its formation, through a most eventful period in the annals of the
world, and through all the vicissitudes of peace and war, incidental
to the condition of associated man, it has not disappointed the
hopes and aspirations of those illustrious benefactors of their age
and nation. It has promoted the lasting welfare of that country so
dear to its all; it bas, to an extent far beyond the ordinary lot of
I humanity, secured the freedom and happiness of this people. We
' now receive it as a precious inheritance front those to whom we are
' indebted for its establishment, doubly bound by the examples
which they have left us, and by the blessings which we have en-
joyed, as the fruits of their labours, to transmit the same, unlit].
paired, to the tucceeding generation.
In the compass of thirty-six years since this great rational cove-
nant was instituted. a body of lees, enacted under its authority,
and in conformity with its provisions, bas unfolded its powers, and
carried into print-al operation its effective energies. Subordinate
departments have distributed tile Executive functions in their va-
rious relations to foreign affairs, to the revenue and expenditures,
and to the military force of the Union by land and sea. A co-or-
dinate department of the Judiciary has expounded the Constitution
and the laws ; settling in harmonious coincidence with the Legis-
lative will, numerous weighty questions of construction. which the
imperfection of the human language had rendered unavoidable. The
year of Jubilee, since the first formation of our Union, has just
elapsed ; that of the Declaration of our independence is at hand.
The constimmation of both wits effected by this l'onstitution.
Since that period a population of four millions has multiplied to
twelve ; a territory bounded by the 3lississipi, has been extended
from NU to sea ; new states have been admitted to the Union. in
numbers nearly equal to guise of the first Confederation ; treaties
of peace, amity,. and commerce, have been concluded with the
principal dumunotiffoCAhe earth ; Riffpbople of other nuking., In.
habitants of regions, acquired...not by etmiquest but by compact,
hare been united with us in the participation of our rights and du.
ties, of our burdens and blessings ; the forest has fallen by the axe
of our woodmen ; the soil has been made to teem by the tillage of
our farmers; our commerce has whitened every ocean • the do-
minion of man over physical nature has been extended by the in-
tervention of our artists ; liberty and law have marched hand in
hand ; all the purposes of human association have been accom-
plished as effectively as under any other government on the globe ;
and st a cost little exceeding, in a whole generation, the expendi-
ture of other nations in a single year.
Such is the nnexeggerated picture of our condition under a Con-
stitution founded upon the republican principle of equal rights-
To admit that this picture has its shades is but to say that it is still
the condition of men upon earth. From evil, physical, moral, and
political, it is not our claim to be exempt. We have suffered,'
sometimes by the visitation of heaven, through disease ; often by
the wrongs and injustice of other nations, even to the extremities
of war; and, lastly, by dissensions among ourselves—dissen-
sions, perhaps, inseparable from the enjoyment of freedom, but
which have, more than once, appeared to threaten the dissolution
of the L'nion, and with it the overthrow of all the enjoyments of
our prelim: lot, and all our earthly hopes of the future. The
causes of these dissensions have been various ; founded upon dif-
ferences of speculation in the theory of Republican Government ;
upon conflicting views of policy in our relations with foreign na-
tions . • upon jealousies of partial and sectional interests, aggra-
vated by prejudices and prepossessions which strangers to each other
ate ever apt to entertain.
It is a source of gratification and of encouragement to nie, to
observe that the great result of this experiment, upon the theory
of human rights, has, at the close of that generation by which it
was formed, been crowned with success, equal to the most san-
guine expectations of its founders. Union, justice, tranquillity,
the common defence, the general welfare, and the blessings of
liberty--all have been promoted by the Government under which
we have lived. Standing at this point of time ; !coking back to
that generation which has gone by, and forward to that which is
advancing, we may, at once, indulge its grateful exultation. and in
cheering hope. From the experience of the past, we derive in.
structive lessons fur the future. Of the two great political panics
which have divided the opinions and feelings of our country, the
candid and the just will now admit, that Will have contributed
splendid talents, spotless integrity, ardent patriotism, and disin-
terested sacrifices, to the formation and administration of this Go-
vernment ; and that both have required a liberal indulgence for a
portion of human infirmity and error. The Revolutionary wars of
Eurom commencing precisely at the moment when the Govern.
menu of the United States first went into operation under this
Constitution, excited a collision of sentiments and of sympathies,
which kindled all the passions and embittered the conflict of parties,
till the nation was involved in war, and the Union was shaken to us
centre. This time of trial embraced a period of five-and-twenty
years, during which the policy of the Union, in its relations with
Europe, constituted the principal basis of our political divisions,
and the mime arduous part of the action of our Federal Govern-
ment. With the catastrophe in which the wars of the French
Revolution terminated, and our own subsequent peace with Great
Britain, this baneful weed of party strife was uprooted. From
that time no difference of principle, connected either with the
theory of government or with our intercourse with foreign nations,
has existed. or been called forth, in force sufficient to sustain a con.
dotted combination of parties, or to give more than wholesome ani-
mation to public sentiment, or legislative debate. Our political
creed is without a dissenting voice that can be heard—that the will
of the people le the source, and the happiness of the people the end,
of all legitimate government upon earth—that the best security for
the beneficence, and the hest guarantee against the abuse of power,
consists in the eedom. and purity, and the frequency of popular ilec-
tions—that the general Government of the Union, sod the separate
Governments of the States, are all sovereignties of limited powers ;
fellow-aerviints of the same masters • uncontrolled within their re-
spectivespheres; uncontroilable by eiteroachments upon each tithe.—
that the firmest security of peace is the preparation, during peace,
of the defences of war—that a rigorous economy, and accounta-
bility of public expenditure., should guard against the aggravation,
and alleviate, when possible, the burthen of taxation—that the
military should be kept in strict subordination to the civil power—
that the freedom of the peers and of religious opinion, should be
inviolate—that the policy of our country is peace, and the ark of
our salvation union, are articles of faith upon which we are all now
agreed. If there have been shore who doubted whether a confede-
rated representative democracy were a government competent to the
wise and orderly management of the common concerns of a mighty
nation, those doubts have been dispelled. If there have been pro-
jects of partial confederacies to be erected upon the ruins of the
Union, they have been scattered to the winds. if there have been
dangerous attachments to one foreign nation, and antipathies
against another, they hare been extinguished. Ten years of peace
at home and abroad, have assuaged the animosities of political con-
tention, and blended into harmony the most discordant elements of
public opinion. There still remains one effort of magnanimity,
one sacrifice of prejudice and passion, to be made by the individuate
throagkout the nation, who have heretofore followed the mondani@
of political party. It Is that of discarding every remnant of ran-
cour against each other; of embracing, as tvuntryMen and friends.
mod es yielding to talents and virtue alone, that confidence. which,

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