The National Register.
London, England, 1815-06-04 00:00:00

CONNUBIAL DEVOTION.

The following singulsr instance of connubial devotion is extract
from The Caz:tte de France otlay, the3sth May :
An event has just happened at Rambouillet which has produced
deep sensation at that place. A person of the name of Domini!, rch
had for►uerly been a testaurateur at Versailles, and had retired to
smsll farm, which he cultivated for sonic time, at A olLirgis. twa
Rambouillet. Iu 1803 he lost his wile, whom he tenderly loved
'and whose tomb he visited. daily, from the time of her interment. 0i
the 20th May, lltiminil took an affectionate leave of his friends, tellinl
them that he was setting out on a long journey. At night he du; 14
the remains of his wife, tilled her grave ith wood—placed the bones
Upon it—fastened his feet with a strong iron wi e to a cramp, which
he had secured in the wall contiguous to the grave—set tire to the tag-
guts, and threw himself upon the pile. His body was thus con:umed
with the remains of his wife. He had tixed in the wall a piece o!
freestone, upon which he had rudely traced this epitaph :
'• Here lies a man who enjoyed happiness fur halt a century ! he
mixed his ashes wlth those of his wife In IRis."

In a niche formed on one of the sides of the tomb was deposited
the portrait of his %vile, with this inscription :
" Augustin Duminil to Mary Jane Ration. his wife. died Wt:
ATI il,lBC6', aged 50 years. She was bentiful. 311 years ; virtuous and
amiable all her life ; now power can separate our ashes."
To the external wall of the tomb was affixed a label written with
tremulous hand :

" Do not pity me ; for this is a- ennsismnurtion, which I have long
and devoutly wished—an object which I was resolutely hem upon ac-
complishing. Do not blame Me—do not despise me—do not insult Inc
I makes present of my wife's picture to the Commune.
" This 21,t May AI:), two o'clock in the morning—in the momen
of precipitating myself upon the !tames, in order to rrj in my waif:
Dualuti.."

A French Praam from Brest to Havre, with ammunition
Src. detained by a Btiti.;ll frigate, on Saturday last, has sine
arrived at Portsmouth. It is now ascertained to he hi
Majesty's ship Desiree that detained het ; and as the Dcp
siree left Portsmouth very recently on a cruize, it is pie,
,sumed she had Admiralty orders accordingly.
The Princes of Wales artherr Mitatf,in the 34th ult.

wimellftll.lb6.

.117 NE

CHAN IREY's STATJ

KING.

Yesterday Chantrcy's admirable Statue of the King, for
tie of London, was opened in Guildhall for public in-
F.!-.ection. Among thosc who testified their approbation of
the SCIIIIItOCS ert appeared the Dukes of York and Kent,
Tart of Buckinghamshire, End of Aberdeen, Lord Melville,
Lold Sidmoutli, Lord E. Somerset, the Chancellor of the
Excile.,;tiev, Eat! of Liverpool, Lot d Falmouth, Lord Yar-
n-mull, Lord Bishop of London, 'Earl of Ilarrowby, Lord
Chichester., Sir W. Scott, Right lion. Mr. Rose, Lord Ellen-
Mr. At buthnot Mr. Fitzgera!d, the Solicitor and
Attorney Cenerals, Mr. Lushington, Mr. Croker, Mr. Cal-
vert, and Mr. Cooke. The following inscription is cut on
the pedestal that sustains the statue:—

George the Third,
Born and bred a Briton ;
Endeared toe brave, free, and loyal people,
Ily hi% public •irtwes,
By his pre.eminent example
of private worth i►► all the relations of domestic lik,
By his uniform course of unaffected piety
and entire submission to the will of HVIIVC11;
The wisdom and firmness
of his
Character and Councils.
• Enabled him so to apply the reduces of his empire,
so ,o direct the native energies of his riubjects,
that he maintained the dignity of his Crown,
Reserved inviolate the Constitution iii Church and State, •
And secured the commerce and prosperity of his dominions
During a 101 l period of unexampled difficulty.
In which the deadly contagion of French plinciptes,
And the domineering aggressions of French power,
Had nearly dissolved the flame
and destroyed the independence
of every other Government and Nation in Eorope.
the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Commons of the City of London
Have e-ected this statue,
In testimony
of their undeviating loyalty and grateful attachment
to the best of Nines,
In the Filly Lifth Year of his Reign.

PROLOGUE TO THE FAMILY LEGEND.
WriHen by Waller Scott, Esq.

SPOKEN BY MR. 13ARTLIZY.
'Tis sweet to hear expiring sulutners sigh
Thro' forests, tiTzed russet, wail and die;
5v.,.: atoti sad I.:*.cst notes to hear
Ot'di.tnnt ninsic dying on the tor;
Jut tar more sadly sweet on foreign strand,
To hear the Legends of our native land,
Liiiked as they come with every tender tie
blemorials dear of ycuth and infancy.

Chief thy wild tales, romantic Caledon !
Wake keen remembrance in each hardy son ;
Whether on. India's binning coasts he toil,
Or ph,tigh Acadia's*, winter-tittered soil,
lie hears throlibing heart and moisten'd eyes,
And as lie hears, wind dear illusions rise!
It opens on his soul his native dell,
The woods, wilthwaviog and the water's swell, •
Traditions theme, the tower that threats the plain,
Tile mossy cairn that bides the hero slain,
Die cot beneath whose simple porch were told,
?lY 1-..1-cyhair'il patriarch, the tales of old,
'1 he infant group Oat Misled their sports the while,
And the dear maid ho listened with a smile ;
ne wanderer, while the vision warms his brain,
denizen of Scotland once again.

On western seas who e'er has rais'd thr sail
By Mall's dark coast has heard this evening's tale.

The plaided boatmen restiho on his oar,
Points to the fatal rock amid the roar,
Of whit( ning tvavem and tells whate'er to nisi*
Our modern stage shall oiler to your sight.
And Britons, born beneath these milder skies
Will not, I trust, our simple lore despise.
Do )e not love, when summer calls ye tort*.
To climb the healthy mountains of the north,
To llama her glens. her torrents and her calrel;
And trunk on cocky coast the war of waves,
Priting her lonely bitch the rude blast braving,
As Willow me the Thames' f;iir margin waving.
()Nil not your hearts each gaol on toteign abore,
%Vim draws in freedom's cause hi, broad claymore,
While nianliei thoughts all ancient discords smother*
S.l) ing with ingenious wainith " be is my brother.°
Then be the favour of a generous race
to kindred kindness rhheuil our Highland tale to graces

On Thursday night Mr. Bannister had his farewell benelit
at Drury-Lane Theatre, and took his leave of the Stage,,,ua
which occasion he delivered the following address:—
Ladies and Gentiemeti,—Seven and thirty years have elapsed
since I Gist appeared before you, my kind benefactors ; and I feet
that this instant of separation is much wore awful to sue than the
youthful moment when I first threw myself upon your indulgence.
Dining my strenuous exordium; to obtain your favour, bow muck
have those exertions been stimulated and rewarded by the piddle?
And one vanity of toy heart, which it will ever be impossible for me
to suppress, mu►t be the CORI/4AM recollection of days in which
you fostered me in my boyhood, encouraged site progrescivrly oo the
stage, and after a long and continued seat• of ter vice, thus cheer
me at the conclusion of my professional labours.
Considerations of health warn me to retire : your patronage lint
given nee the means of retiring with comfort—what thanks can I
sufficiently return fur that comfort whirl you have enabled me le.
obtain ?

This moment of quitting you nearly overeoases me ; at a time
when respect or gratitude call upon me to impress my leafing. widt
more eloquence than I could ever boast, those very-fee/Ma* de-
prive me of half the hatable powers I may possess upon estuary
oceasions.--Farewell my kind, my dear beurfactors,

lie was exceedingly affected, and could with difficulty
express his gratitude to the audience. The Theatre wag
crowded with fashionable and genteel company, anxious to
pay the last tribute of sincere respect to a veteran favourite.
who never trifled with the public, but on all occasions dis-
played his professional talents with cheerfulness and •with
the best effect, and in a manner not less creditable to him-
self than entertaining to those who have so often witnessed
the versatility of his comic and pathetic powers. In short
Mr. Bannister was one of the brightest ornaments of The
stage. When a boy he was intended for the Arts, and at
that period had made a considerable progress in drawing.
It was customary for his father, the facetious Charlesßatwria-
ter, to give him half-a-crown for every specimen of his im-
proving abilities. Being one night in want of pocket money.
he produced a well-executed head to his father, who wag
just then going upon the stage, but not. getting his usual.
gratuity, he berged leave to borrow that sum; to this appli-
cation the wit replied, " Why, zound: you are just like an
ordinary, come when you will, its lut?1-n-crown a head !"
—Mr. Bannister's first appearance was at Drury Lane Theav
tre, in the character of Dick, in the farce of the Apprentice,
for his father's benefit, in 1778. The following season he.
made his debut under the friendly tuition of Mr. Garrick, in
in the part of Zr.phte, in the tragedy of llakomet. In thy
summer of 1780 he ::,,feared for the first time on the Hay-
market boards, as C 3; adac, in Who's the Dupe. His great
F.ueeesF, the fllowing se:lson, at Old Drury, as Dabb!e, io
the Fur:,:rit, induced hint to quit for ever the buskin fur

I I 91