The National Register.
London, England, 1816-07-14 00:00:00

176

fortnne. A vain man may b'econte rich, becaii,e his vanity may
thirst for only a single mode of gratification. An ambitious man,
n b9.le:rout,a sportsman, may severally control their expenses:
but a man who is inveterately thoughtless ot consequences,
and callous to reproof--who knows not when lie squan-
ders money, because he feels not those obligations which
constitute or direct its uses—such a man it is impossible
to rescue from destrnetion. We gu farther -we profess not to
conjecture to what individuals the above reproach of forgotten
friendships has been applied. If against persons of illustrious
rank, there never was a more unfounded accusation. Mr.
Sheridan, thronghout his a hole life, stood as high as he ought
to have done in the quarters alluded to. He received the most
substantial proofs ot kind and anxious attachment from these
personages ; and it is to his credit that lie was not insensible to
their regard. If the mistaken advocates of Mr. Sheridan were
so much his cue:flies as to wish that he had been raised to some
elevated office, are they not aware that even one month's active
a.tendtioce out ut twelve he was at all times utterly incapable
of gis in:;? But what friends are blamed for neglecting Mr.
sS;ii-ridan N' hat friendships did he ever form? We more than
dwaht %%hailer lie could fairly claim the rights of friendship
with guy leader of the Whig administration. We know that he
has publifti.v asserted Mr. Fox to be his friend, and that he has
des elt with ouch eloquence on the :sweet, and enjoyments of
that connexion : but it has never been our fortune to find out
that Mr. Fox hod on any public or private occasion bound him-.
self by reciprocal pledges. Evidence against the admission of
such ties on his part may be drawn from the well-known anec-
dotes of what occurred within a few da)s of that statesman's
death. The fact is, that a life of conviviality and intemperance
seldom favours the cultivation of those better tastes and affec-
tions which are necessary to the existence of intimate friend-
ship. That Mr. Sheridan had as many admirers as acquaint-
ances, there is no room to doubt: but they admired only his
astonishing power •: there never was a second opinion or feel-
ing as to the unfortunate use which he made of them.
We have now per formed an honest duty ; and, in many par-
ticulars, as humbling and most distressing one we have found
it. Never were such gifts as those wl ich Providence showered
upon Mr. Sheridan so abused—never were talents ho miserably
perverted. The tern*" greatness" has been most ridiculously,
anal, in amoral sense, most perniciously applied to the character
of one who, to speak charitably of him, was the weakest ut
men. Had he employed his matchless endowments with but
ordinary judgment, nothing in England, hardly any thing in
Europe, could have eclipsed his name, or obstructed his pro-
gress. It is the peculiar praise and glory (door political con-
stitution, that great abilities may emerge front the meanest sta-
tion., and :mire the first honours of the community. It is the
nobler praise. and purer happiness of our moral system, that
great vices throw obstacles before the march of ambition, which
no force nor superiority of intellect can remove.

The recent news from India has given an interest to
every thing relating to the political state of that country;
and the movements of the chief country powers are look-
ed to with some anxiety. By letters from Lord Moira it
appears, that Scindiah, whose interference in the war is
matter of great apprehension, was at Gwalior with his
army. It will be remembered, that this celebrated
fortress was ceded to the English by the treaty conclu-
ded with the Mahrattas by Lord Wellesley, in 1804, and
then considered as the main bulwark of our defences in
that quarter. It was, however, afterwards restored to
Scindiah by Lord Cornwallis, under express orders from
this country. The Madras army under Colonel Dovcton is
srsembled at Elichpoor in the Dekkan, in a high state of
efficiency, and 30,000 strong. The subsidiary troops of
the Nizam and the Peishwa are at Jaulna. These forces
are considered adequate to the business of keeping Scin-
diah and the Rajah of Berah in check ; and, besides, the
Bombay army is ready to move when ordered.
Extract of a letter, dated George-town, Demerara,
May 2d, 1816:
" At length the thunder has burst upon the devoted colonies.
Yon will base all the particulars of the insurrection at Barba-
dots, and I only now wish to give you a faint idea of the
alarm in this rich and flourishing colony. When we may be
called to the combat, I know not; but our situation is most
distressing. Onr population is about 50 blacks to one white
person. Our force consists of about sor 600 troops in the ex-
lensive colonies of Demerara and Essequibo; and the only
militia that can be of any use are those in town, consisting of
about 300, badly disciplined. We have no place of arms, no
fortifications; an open defenceless town, with a small batter)
towards the river. open entirely in the rear. Martial law is
not yet proclaimed, bat we expect it every hour. lam given
to understand it is our governor's intention to call out the sea-
men from the merchant vessels to do garrison and town duty.
P,operty is dreadfully depreciated; as estate, worth, a few
months ago, 20,0001., may be purchased, I should think, for
12 or 15,0001.; and every other description of property in the
same situation."

A letter from Milan, dated June 14, says—" From the
observations made with the Pluvimeter at the Observa-
tory, it appears, that since 1773, about the era of the
introduction of Conductors (to preserve buildings from
lightning) upon the old Continent, the quantity of rain
Las increased in the enormous proportion of one-fifth, and
the decrease of heat, and the ("oldness of the earth, has
been in the same proportion.
" A great number of curious persons and men of
learning are gone to Villeja, in the Duchy of Placentia,
to be present at the excavations, which were to be con-
tinued on a great scale; they have been re..umed upon a
plan opposite to that which has been hitherto followed.
Since the death of the Duke nothing has been done to
discover the city of Villcja, the capital of a flourishing
republic, and which disappeared by a catastrophe, of
which the details are in Pliny. Some private baths
have been discovered, and gold medals, of the reign of
Trojan. Two statues of Vesta have also been discovered
by several marble coltunns. It is hoped the whole city
will be discovered. Villein will rise from its ruins to
astonish the world. Two hundred thousand francs have
been placed at the disposal of the antiquary, Peter Lama,
to dirc:•t all these Inhoun, in concert with the engineer,
Circoncelli,"

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.