The National Register.
London, England, 1821-06-04 00:00:00

years, to acts of submission the most dcgrading—in
short, to any thing whatever which he might choose
to dictate—thus proving the verity of the old

observation, that the same•man who is an arrant

coward will, in case of an opportunity, /thew himself
a perfect bully : in faith, we wish their cowardice
were once more called into action, if they cannot be
independent without conspiring against the liberties
of the world.
The friends of misanthropy and apostacy have
again met to commemorate tile anniversary of Cleft
tutelar saint. We have received so many accounts
of these Pitt Dinners that we must omit them all,
to avoid the imputation of partiality—suffice it to
say, that the London P tt Dinner was graced with
the presence of Lord Eldon and some others, who
have found following the steps of the " Heaven-
born Minister" a very productive pursuit, which has
enabled them to bask in the sunshine of plenty,
profuseness, prodigality, and riches, at the expcncc
of the happiness of their country—which has made
Lords of Coal-fitters' sons to make all but Beggars
of those who moved respectably, before their names
were known, except as the sons of an honest Widon
keeping an ale-house.

_

Extract of a letter from Captain Livingstone, of
the Cerberus East India ship, addressed to his owners,
dated Cape of Good I lope, the 12th of March, 1821 ;
—" With heartfelt sorrow I inform you of the loss
of the ship Cerberta, on the morning of the 10th,
at three A. M. in consequence of the ship missing
stays. We were standing MT and on waiting for
day-light to come into Table Bay. She ran on shore
on the eastern side of the Bay, opposite to Green
Point.—We had great difficulty in saving the pas-
sengers, as the surf rnn so very high on the beach.
I had on board five ladies, seventeen children, and
four gentlemen. The distress we were in when the
ship struck may be more readily conceived than de-
scribed. I never saw such a melancholy sight
before, the sen making a fair breach over the ship ;
the boats after hoisting out were upset, and five of
the crew nearly lost their lives. One man, Chris-
topher Stevenson, in endeavouring to reach the
shipfrom the land, was drowned."
SOCIETY or ARTS.—On the 30th ult. one of
the most respectable meetings we have fur a long
time witnessed, took place at the Freemason's-hall
_ _

in Queen-street, for the purpose of hearing the an-
nual report of this society, and witnessing the dis.
tribution of the honorary medals to the successful
candidates in the several brunches in the fine arts,
manufactures, &c. The report contained many
interesting facts, strikingly illustrative of the suc-
cess of the exertions of the society. After it had
been read, his Royal Highness the Duke of Sussex,
who presided, distributed the honorary rewards,
accompanying each with some appropriate observa-
tion. The first gentleman named was C. Fysehe
Palmer, M. P. to whom were given two gold medals
and a large silver medal ; the two first for planting
280 acre*, with 893,420 forest trees, and 30,700
oaks for timber; the latter for sowing 216 bushels
of acorns, -on 240 acres. The next was a large
gold medal, given to I'. Wilkinson Esq. of Fitzroy-
square, for sowing 240 bushels of acorns on 260
acres. The small or Ceres gold medal, was given
to Sir W. Temple Pole, Bart. Shute House, near
Axminster, for raising 196,000 oaks from acorns.—
To Henry Potts, Esq. the large silver medal, far
planting 194 acres with 528,240 forest trees; and
to Edward Dawson, Esq. the la roo gold medal, for
embanking 166 acres of marsh land from the sea.—
To the candidates in the polite arts there were 41
medals of different kinds distributed. Mr. W.
Salisbury, of Brompton, received the Ceres silver
medal, for matting made of the typha lalifidia, or
bull-rush, which promises to be a source of employ-
ment to many poor persons. The Isis gold medal
was g;vrit to Mr. Bishop, for his discovery of mill.
stone of superior quality. In mechanics there were
14 inventions, Lieut. N. H. Nicholas, R. N. re-
ceived the large silver medal, for a semaphore of
superior construction. Mr. S. Barlow, of the royal
academy at Woolwich, received the Jorge gold
medal, for the invention of an instrument to correct
the local variation of the ship's compass. The gold
medal was also grunted to Mr. Jacob Perkins, of
Fleet-street, for a most important invention of in-
struments to ascertain the trim of a ship, whether
loaded or unloaded, at sea or in harlsair. This
gentleman also received the large silver medal, for
the discovery of a method of ventilating the holds
of ships, and warming and ventilating apartments
A letter from Trieste of the 15th May states,
that two vessels arrived there on the 13th from
Egypt, on board one of which three persons had
died of the plague. They were sent to Venice to
perform quarantine.