The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-05-04 00:00:00

TIIE MASQUERADE.

" The East Grand Illasquemde this Season !" It is with these
word* that the srbilri elegaNtiarmat al the ()pc-a
-house commenced
a must prodigious advertisement of the masquerade of last evening.
Accustomed for a long time to we this sort of preparatory promise
end in very " lame and impotent" performance, we did not appre-
hend any considerable disappointment trim the surpassing excel.
lence of last night's amusement. Loving, however, to behold
humanity in its best and most undisguised shapes (and never are
our fellow-c►eatures less in disguise than when concealed by masks
and dominoes), we entered the theatre with a certainty of witnessing
a good deal of fun and frolic, mixed up with quite as much of
absurdity and dullness. But even abaurdity is tolerable when it is in.
tended for our gratification ; and philosophy can always convert dull.
nese itself into matter of instruction. Thus prepared for being pleased
with everything before us, whether good or evil, we assumed the
very of the season, and joined the motley throng of masqueradera.
In order that those persona who do not carry their own mirth and
sunshine about with them might find something to laugh and won-
der at, the directors had provided sundry clever artists to exhibit
their tricks of legerdemain, their wooden puppet performers, and
thee flying meth miral chariot. These were well enough in their
way,but we have admiral and criticised Mons. Cornillot elsewhere,
and cannot spare hint even a seutenee of praise or dispraise for his
surprising and unrivalled deceptions of last night. There was a
Mons. Derived with a flying chariot, which was somewhat curious,
and he accompanied its motion with appropriate music. composed
and perforated by himself. But this is not the kind of thing which
is to be looked for at a masquerade; and though it is in vain to
expect that our Wort should ever be realized, yet we may look
fur some variety, force, and originality in the character--ter
some wit and merriment iu the trick; and disguises. The cha-
racters of last night were neither numerous, well conceived,
nor well supported. The old groups of shepherdesses, kitchen-
maids, flower-girls, miakeresses, Italian dames, and antiquated
dowagers, wandered dtsconsolately about the stage. If female
invention was so much at fault, it is easy to conceive how great
must have been the failure in our own hex. They appeared to be
made up out of the draperies of Monmouth-street and Rag-fair.
Irishmen, Highlanders, colliers, Quakers, &c., the same wiriest'
and characterless tribe which have strutted and fretted across the
scenes of niaaqueradt a ever since they were imported into England.
Now aid then something like character and humour presented I
itself, Lut they vier: es the visits of angels, " few and far between."'
There was a .101 l Flagon who displayed a great deal of coarse
drollery. We have noticed this person at several masquerades. I
as possessing very considerable humour and originality. Per-
haps it is an tasy character to support, and requires very
MSc else that; effrontery, animal spirits, and low humour.
A metionfta preacher ahewcd sonic talent in his peculiar way:
he singled out every mask which looked at all like a cox-
comb, and dealt out to them the most severe and cutting tar-
assms, muter the pretence of grave 1111:1 solemn exhortation. We
were much :unused with the wit and coxcombry I,f a /and Cher-
gerfiehl, who exhibited no slight portion of readiness and self-
possession in parrying the attacks of a chimney-at:cep and an Irish
haymaker, who bad combined to disconcert him : there was more
point and truth in his repartees than could have been fairly ex-
pected at a public masquerade. " The Trath" furnished two or
three representatives, who certainly kept up the reputation of their',
regiment by their exceeding affectation and infinite dullness. The
other masks had no:hirg particular about them which deserved to'
be noticed. Indeed, the greater part of the company (which wan
not at all numerous) consisted of persons without masks or demi.
noes ;—o( old debauchees, whose faces have been for years a part of
the furniture of our areets,--and of incipient rakes from the se.,
'loons and edit lobbies. These, of course, contributed nothing but
their own " sweet ttexiiea" to the general fund of amusement.
The supper was but tolerable; and the common wines at the sup-
per table were of the commonest tatter:—better could not be ex.
petted; and the promises in the bills were, as usual. very unsafe
[ authority to found any hopes upon. After all, the masquerade was
not remarkable for any tl•iag but licavineas.

SPAS AND WA-MR:NG-PLACES.

Eit'rom the Ni r ifoothk MacuziKe.l
We have put to scorn the surpassing wisdom of our ancestors,
dim-sighted beings that we are !—we have 31`Adamized our turn-
pike-roads, anti encouraged stage-coach travelling at the rate of
eight or nine miles an hour—we have improved our murals or our
police, and contemptueusly set at nought the rosinantes and saddle-
k•a of our forefathets—we have annihilated the brave race of
highwaymen, who, in more ancient (and consequently better) days,
kept the roetry of life in lull display ; for now robbers and beggars
on the roads, those stimulants of the courage and eleemosynary
propensities of MIT ancestor*, are almost extinct, and will won be-
come objects of grave attraction to the Royal Society of Anti-
quaries. Thus it is to innovate on established usages. The better
sympathies of man have now no adequate room for action ; no
pathetic partings now occur on commencing a Journey front York
to London, knitting closer the tics of social election and keeping
the beg passions in exercise. The 3leinba of Parliament its
Cumberland or Cornwall, instead of making his and attending
divine service before parting from his faintly at the rookery with
secret forebodings, or mounting his horse at the hall-door and pro-
excling down the long avenue of tees throigh which the wind
whistles in ominous music (followed by the tearful eyes of his
family and neighbours, who stand gazing till be is out of sight,
and summing up the perils of his precarious journey), now enters
a poet-chaise or a mail-conch, and reaches his destination in the
number of hours which it had occupied his predecessors days. How
strange that these times are still envied ! Yet such is the nature of
man, and such is his desire for that which is out of his reach,
whether past or to come, that could he recall them again, he would
anxiously and foolishly. desire something equally beyond his power,
to the full as inconvenient and worthless as the travelling habits of
his forerunners. These were my thoughts, when, with a small,
portmanteau in my hand, I proceeded to a coach-office in Picca-
dilly, undetermined, until I came in sight of it, whether I should
go to Bath or Cheltenham.
Morning fide
Came forth with pilgrim steps in amice grey.
and the busy hum of London was beginning to stun the ear. Find-
' ing the Ilath coach full, I booked myself for Cheltenham, and in
five minutes afterwards was fast leaving " the wen" behind me, as
Cukbet in his spleen has nicknamed the metropolis. 0 that my
grandsires had seen me bowling along the road at nine miles an
hour I how would they have 'tiled up their eyes in astonishment,
and have called upon the parish parson to lecture toe, upon my re-
turn, on presumption and wicked interference with old usages,
while his rosy gills, redolent with fat ale, would have been distend-
'ed with horror at my ungracious preferance for the new-tingled
vehicle of conveyande !
There is something very pleasing in the first view of Cheltenham
its situation in a rich vale, its clean appearance, and the mass with
which it is envirnned (the intimation of trees Is too much neglected
near all our towns) combine to recommend it to the sight of the
visitant ; and it he have resources of his own at command, he will
find it pleasant enough for a short time. If he have not, as in all
similar places., he will find that nothing can be more overwhelming
than the ream; which will not fail to attack hint, like a nmladie dm
pays, witnin forty-eight hours after his arrival. The inns at water_'
ing-places are more than usually agreeable ; and in the coffee-
rooms, the necessity of a slight intercourse among persons mutu-
ally strangers, sometimes generates a specks of acquaintance which
operates NS a partial remedy for the disease. It is true you pay
through the nose even for this ; but you expect nothing else, and have
the luxury of being well waited upon for your money. I like a good
inn at a watering place file a abort time ; the bells ringing, the nu-
merous lights, the splendid rooms, the pretty chambermaids, and
the instant fulfilment of commands, are agreeable things, when one
is determined to be easy at any price. After a journey of I I hours,
I seated myaell at the Royal Hotel, in a handsome coffee-room,
where eight mahogany tables with surfaces like mirrors, and a rich
carpet under my feet, intimated that mine host was not wanting
in attention to the truly British comforts of his guests. I now pm.
pared to take " my ease in mine inn," dressed myself for dinner,
and took my station at one of the central tables. Near me was a
gentleman, whom I soon discovered too be a partner in a London
banking-house ;—a solitary partridge composed his meal, to digest
which lie swallowed his bottle of port--only " one halfpenny worth
of bread" to his " intolerable quantity of sack." Ile was conmiu-
nicative—had left town for relaxation—did not know whether he
should remain where he WIIR,or run over into Tales to see a friend—
had a great notion of purchasing a iVelsh lake, two or three miles
long, with an acre of land on one side of it for a cottage—had heard
such a thing was to be sold cheap, and should much like to have it,
as he was fond of fishing, and could speed a month or two there
every yesur—pleaded guilty of never having read Uotac ‘Valton,
which led me to conclude that his piscatory talents se e little supe-
rior to those of the indefatigable ar.ista in that line, who meditate
twelve hours on a summer Sunday over the canal in the City-road
At the table immediately opposite where I haul placed myself, was
oils of that class of persons co nnsonly denominated lend-genteel.
(laving a tolerable knack at finding out characters and pmfessions
under similar circumstances, I soon wormed from him that he was
a tradesman in Bond-street, able to enjoy, if he please, the oliunt
cam diptitate. Ile displayed a strange mixture of ignorance,
and consequence, with foam not unsuccessful attempts at gentle-
manly airs. I do not mean the word gentlemanly as toy Lord
Chesterfield would have understood it, but that bastard species,
which the observer may constantly see at Long's or Stevens's.
%nth these two characters the time was easily whiled away until
the hour of retiring to rest. John IVealey, I think, observed, that
there was no book ever published but some good might be learnt
frnm it; anti it is notch the sane in reading mankind—there is no
character but will develope something new to him who makes man
his study. It is also an agreeable way of taking lessons; for we
learn without scenting to learn, and knowledge flows almost imper-
ceptibly into the volume of the brain.
The first consideration on rising in the morning, at si:nilar place
of fashiorutble resort is, how shall the day be spent. The journey
I thither has been performed fir relocation ; and Cie idea of reading,
writing, or thinking within doors, is out of the question, or why
have we left landau ? The visitant, therefore, usually de.ermines
on a promenade, for the purpose of seeing and bring seen. I
therefore rambled to the Springs, which at times are sadly deficient
in the quantity of water on demand ; and by no means, in this
respect, to be ctsmpared to the sweet, retired, and snug Leamington,
where there is enough and to spare for bathers and drinkers at all
seasons, however numerous they may become. The walks in the
shade of the trees at Cheltenham are delightful. The constant
residents at these watering-places are made up of a large propor-
tion of card-playing old maids, retiring widows, half-pay officers
with atonal) fortune, and hypochendriacs. These are to lie found
at all times and seasons, and tithed an example how vapidly some
of our fellow-mortals pas* their hours. Small-talk, cards, compli-
ments, rensarks upon the weather, with a sptittkling of scandal that
serves to keep the appetite alive fir more, perform the sante rotund
incessantly, till life's " fitful fever" is over, anti one is at a loss to
find any reasonable excuse for the purpose of such were mechanical
[existence. I know no better sample of what mar be called stagaout
life, than this species of inhabitant of our spas and watering-
! places eshibita. Existence seems in estate of neLtation—they look
too vacant for any residence but the shores of Lethe—" thought
would destroy their paradise "—they seem a forlorn corps, exiled
from the masa of the people, high or low; a condemned registient,
kept apart front the army to live and die in inglorious obscurity.
The other classes consist of sick visitants, whom the healthy scent
luclined to expel from their rightful alodes; and the busy And
active itilmluitants who draw the means of subsistence equally from
all the other classes. .

It might naturally be supposed that towns which have grown
up tinder the pretence of pleasure and relaxation, would abound
with entertainments. calculated to relive tedium and increase the
charm of society. Such would actually be the case in any other
country than ours, where the reverse is really the fact. A starving
theatrical company may (if n theatre exist in the place at all) be
teen playing before empty boxes, or a few strangers, unknowing
and unknown. A ball t• : and then, where exclusion and stiffness
govern every thing, and pleasure is little more than a name, and a
promenade on the same given spot, constitute all the amusements
to be found in them. A relentless antisocial spirit rules every
thing. All look at each other with suspicion. The aristocracy,
real or feigned, legitimate or illegitimate, dread coming in contact
with the tradesman ; and the tradesman often labours to rasa for
one of the arias , and he often labours so well that he can
scarcely be distinguished, except by sometimes overacting his part.
Coteries are formed, the members of which imagine themselves the
must select and high-bred circle in the realm. The horror of an
atnegtonation by some of the visitants, teen in the streets, with

. AUCTION MART NEW READING ROOMM. Obese wham they pretod tpdeepise, Ia onlp eijsuttell by the paflette •
dread of water in hidfoplseina. The pretty feces of the girls are
Yesterday at noon a General Meeting of the Subscribers took taught by their mammas to assume a kink of unwanted moans at
place in the Board Room, in order to adopt such measures as the strangers whom mixed company may throw in their way. The
would rend to render advantage to this recendy-instituted Aiwa- silly pretensions of the vain an never an strongly marked as in a
elation,fashionable sop ; anti all the brood of Folly may be seen tinkling
On Mr. SHUTT 'ACWORTH taking the chair, he addressed the its showy bells and strutting in inflated inanity of mind in a
meeting in Crinfrhatolatory language on the progress already made, manner very different from its appearance In the general run of our
and stated, tliat recent as the Institution had been formed, it con- cities and towns. Indeed the best entertainment for the idler is to
shoed of tip Wards of 150 memliers, among whom were gentlemen watch their workings, from the brainless coachman-aping peer, to
of the highest respectability, connected with the landed and mess_ the soap-maker's lady of Wapping. Like fantoccini moving along ,
cantile interest of the country, from whose united talents.the most in the mine dance, full of Self.preteimion—ignorant, but fashion-
pleasing results were likely to be related. able—coarse in manners, but wealthy—how amusing is it to con
Mr.WW'IIe STAN t.E r expressed regret that a mistaken nmion had template such a scene! to view it with all" its gaily-gilded trim quick
gone forth, that members were to be admitted by ballot, than glancing to the sun," and to read in it one of the bitterest lessons of
which nothing could be more erroneous, or dissonant to the semi. .rtason'a humilietion, of wo thlesstiess of purpnte, that the picture
menu of those who conducted the Institution; and he hoped the of man's life Whorls t Let me not be thought too severe; there it
gentlemen connected with the press would make it known, that the witch mingled in surh a scene that is noble, polite, generous, and
only eligibility required hoot applicants was, that they be recurn- affable, from the highest ranks of life to others More humble. lt
mended by a .Member. I is the low ensemble, the pat features of such a Scene to which I
A Sr ritic n BEd wished to know, whether the pmvincial papers allude.
filed in rite office might not be introduced, after a certain hour, ! I know ca species of idleness on painful as that of a stranger
into the Reading Bonn,. I lounging train post to post and from street to street. seeming
Mr. SIIICTTI.EWiIIITIT explained, that the papers were sent •• To drag at each remove II lengthen'il chain."
gratuitously, and wen• they introduced into the Reading Room. it . and that in the midst of a busy ',opals:ion. The perpetual ricer-
might be deemed by the proprietors as inimical to their interest, renceof similar things fatignes him : he stru?gles to bear tip e.-ainst
and check the circulation ; every member could have access to the I the pressure of the wearisome tautology of surmunding onjecta.
office at all times during hones of business. The space of time between breakfast and dinner la:mimes insup-
After some reinarka by Mt. :MANNINO. and a desultory conver- , portable. The visit projected to endure for two or three weeks is
nation 111110:1g the members as to the hour when the reading-mom ; shortened to that number of days, and he returns home motet...keit,
should close, it was agreed that it should remain open until tight ' with lassitude, and with the unvarying uniformity of the scene
o'clock in the winter aid nine in the summer. I where he had promised himself so much satisfaction and pleasure.
A Committee was then appointed, consisting of Messrs. Shuttles The student is always at home in such matters ; the philosopher
worth, Foster, and Atlanta, Directors ; and life:tars. Bailey, Gold-I can find el', TTIIOII/1 in stones ; the poet can admire nature, and conn.
rid, Upton, and Carrick, Proprietcfra. pose his I+ 'Nest on the sea shore, or under the trees at Cheltenham ;
it was also agteed that the number of subscribers be limited to ; but the generality of mankind have not similar resources to fly to,
MO, and that each subscriber be subject to a deinawd of his ticket , and must, without them, he inevitably exposed to the inconvenience
un entrance. if expedient. Ito which I advert. What adds to the evil is, that most of these
It was also further agreed tn, that the morning and evening fashionable places of resort are neither town nor country, but pos.
papers should he taken in double copies, and that all popular re- I sew the evils of both without corresponding advantages. For my_
views, magazine s, maps, and all other periodieal mirk., connected , self. I always put up in my portmanteau. my common-place book
with coinineree, landed property, dec. dra should be regularly a d drawing materials, and take care to have a horse at my cont-
supplied. 1 mend at my jourrey's end ; with them and a lounge at a library I
Other rules and regulations were then agreed to relative to the ; pass toy time very crimfortably anywhere. when I happen to have
internal regulation* and deportment of the ineltulwrs. Ino acquaintance in the place I visit. Never did I feel more lonely
After winch thanks were voted to the Chairman, and the Meeting than once at Buxton, where I happened to sojourn a short time
adjourned sine die. I al bout knowing a single resident. In the wilds of the Peak, while
. . .

, .
admiring nature, I Ins 7 ed my time well enough; but when I threw
myself, as it were, on my species, entered Buxton:, and found my_
self alone in a crowd, as an Irishman would say, I experienced the
full mirery of the situation. I luckil7, however, fell in with a
poor devil who seeimil exiled from his kind as well as myself.
Svmpohy drew its toward each other. A cotree.room incident in.
duced the necessity of speaking. We dined in contiguous boxes;
entered into conversation ; and each was, I believe, pleased with
his companion, at least if an unbroken intimacy of fifteen years he
any proof of such a point. Neither of us were of intrusive dispotiL
firms, and equally little inclined to make the first advances to on
other, had we each been at Buxom WIN I fur a year. It sufficed,
however, that hirtune brought shout an event which, as often hap.
pens in life, neither of us could have foreseen ; and I am indebted
to that moment for the long and tried friendship of an honourable
and clever man, which I shall ever holi in the highest estimation
—that of my excellent friend, Sir C.-- --, 0.

A letter from Odessa, dated Afwil 6. sayn--" The news
from Constantinople are to the 31st March. On the 19th
March three frigates and other light ships sailed for the
Dardatiellts, where there is assembling a squadron, which
is to land ten thousand men on the coast of the Morca.
Saida Effendi continued dangerously ill."
Private letters from Lisbon, of a recent date, state that
great preparations are making for sending out an expedi-
tion of 7,000 troops to Brazil.
Accounts were yesterday received from Para to the 11th
March ; and we have before us a letter written by one cf
the three Englishmen who, contrary to the recommenda-
tion of the Consul, remained at Para _

PARA, MARCH
I write you in conseqncrice of the hasty departure of hie Thin:
tannic Majesty's Vice-Consul, and of all the British subjects, with
the exception of (mentioning the names of two other Gentlemen).
I conceive it my duty to inform you that their flight is without
adequate reasons. The British residents sailed on the 4th ; since
then unexpected taws have come in from Nlarajo with beef; and
to-day an exrdition, sent against a very superior force, has ro
turned qnite successful ; in other respec3 nothing but tranquillity
may be expected.
Dein! x, M.ty I.—Yestcrtlay the stated Quarterly As-
sembly was held for the purpose of electing a Lord Mayor
for the year ensuing, when, after a ballot, Alderman
Drury Jones was elected by a majority of three.
The Knight of Kerry has been under the necessity of
absenting liiinsAf from Parliament, by the precarious state
of health of a member of his family. Ile has paired off to
the Easter Recess, with Colonel Leslie, who is at Bath.—
Cork Paper.
_ _

The Sheriffs of our city, John Savage and Charles Pin-
ney, Esqrs. proceeded to Bath, on Saturday. the fitli ult.
as a deputation from the Corporation, to invite the Earl of
Liverpool and Mr. Canning to a dinner at the Mansion
House. The Noble Lord felt himself compelled to decline
the honour of the invitation on account of ill Iv alth, and
the Ilonottrahle Seen tary in coi:;equence of his t eing
obliged immediately to return to London. They both ex-
press:d themselves highly gratified with the compliment.
—Bristol Journal.

A correspondent says—" Mr.ll. Campbell, L.L.D.F.A.S.
who offered his services some years ago to the Africa:l
Company, has determined to proceed to explore Africa at
his own expense, the melancholy deaths of Messrs. Bow-
filch and Belzoni having left the field of enterprise open in
that quarter of the globe. Mr. Campbell has already been
several milt s up the rivers of Cameroons and Old Calabar,
two of the supposed mouths of the Niger: he has also been up
the Congo. Ile is an officer of the navy, and topographer
and editor of the Poems of Oasian, and author of several
respectable works."
FAUX PAS ix lIIGII Lire.—The discovered infidelity
of the lady of a wealthy M.P., and the intention of the
injur.ed husband to apply for a divorce, were on Saturday
and yesterday the themes of conversation at the west-end
of the town. The lady is not a native of this country,
has a large family, and is considerably beyond 40. We
have heard some objections stated to the possibility of a
divorce taking place, but to which we cannot particularly
afude.—Afursing !'spry.
We understand Mr. Payne Knight has bequeathed his
matchless collection of medals, drawings, and bronzes,
worth at least 30,0001., to the British Museum. They in-
clude a single volume of drawings by the inimitable
Claude, which we recollect Mr. Knight purchased for
1,6001. from a private individual, who, a short time pre-
viously, hail given :11. for the same volume. Mr. Knight's
general library is by no means particularly distinguished for
either rare or splendid works.
_ _ _

WA 'I 5,5 TI.LEF cop have been favoured with an
account of a new optical instrument of very considerahle
ingenuity, invented by a Mr. IVm. Leslie, of Lausinburgh,
United States, for seeing through water, and thus ex-
ploring the bottom of rivers, &c. It consists of a tube that
may be varied in length as occasion shall require, about an
inch broad at the top, where the eye is applied, and regu-
larly enlarging to the bottom, which bears a proportion to
the other end, about 10 to lin diameter. Each end is
glazed. The great reason why one cannot look through
water to the bottom, is the reflection and refraction of the
rays of light upon arriving at the surface. This glass over-
comes that difficulty, by extending the eye, as it were, into
the denser medium, and making use of the light which is
in the watcr, where the rays pursue right lines, as well as
in the rarer medium of the air. For use in the night, it is
fitted with lamps suspended near the bottom in a shorter
cylinder, which goes on over the top of the tube, and
descends till the bottom of the cylinder is as low as
the bottom of the tube, and there it is secured.
In the space between the cylinder and tube, lamps are
suspended ; the mouth of the cylinder, as well as the
tube, heirq glazed. To let off the smoke of the lamps,
and supply them with air, two small pipes, the first
front the top, and the second front the bottom of the cylin-
der, lead up the side of the tube. The lamps throw a
strong light around, and the bottom of the river is easily
examined. The advantages of such an instrument will
readily occur. Among other interesting ones, the speedy
recovery of drowned bodies is one, and it would doubtless
be the means of saving many lives. Lost property too may
be found, and the impediments to excavation discovered,
anti their removal facilitated.—Mechanic's Magazine.
The following useful works have been lately published
by Mr. Colbitrn. 8, Sew Burlington-street :—A Manual for the
Preservation of Health, by Sir Arthur Clark, M.D. L.a hit. lid.
Also, by the same Author, •2. The Young Mother's Assistant, in
the Prevtntion of Diseases in Infanta, a new and improved edition,
CO.: and, 3. An Essay on Diseases of the Skin, with Remarks
on the Effects of Sulphurentift Fumigations, 9s. lid. 4. The Art of
preserving the Sight unitnpaired to extreme Old Age, and of Re-
establishing and strengthening it when it becomes Weak. By an
experienced Oculist; the sth edition, improved, St. lid. 5. The
Florist's Manual, or Hints for the Construction of a Gay Flower
Garden. By the Authoress tat Botanical Dialogues; new edition,
with coloured plates, M. tid. 6. The Art of Preserving the Feet,
or Practical Instructions I r the l'rerention and Cure of Corn*.
Csllosities, he. Ity as experien,ed Chiropodist; 9d
edition, ss. And, 7. The Art of Employing Time to the
ltreAtry Advar.'age, the true source of Rawness. Oro.
9s. bd.