The Sun.
London, England, 1823-05-14 00:00:00

CALEDONIAN FANCY BALL.

One of the most magnificentfites ever seen was the Scottish
Gala, on Monday night, held at Almack's. The most gorgeous
splendour prevailed throughout.—The company (uncommonly
numerous) began to arrive at half past nine : at half past ten
the Chieftains of the principal Highland Clans appeared,
with the Duke of Argyll at their head.—At eleven the
great folding doors to the saloon on the ground floor
were thrown open, and the name of the Duchess of Kent
was announced. The Duke of Argyll, in full costume,
hurried to the private door, opposite Duke-street, and pre-
ceded her Royal Highness, and suite of Ladies, from the
entrance along the room, up the staircase, and into the ball-
room, bowing repeatedly on his way with his usual grace.—
The other Chieftains paid the same honours to the suite. Next
appeared the Duke and Duchess of Clarence, to whom the
same honours were paid. Lastly came the Duke and Duchess
of Gloucester. The three Ladies looked remarkably well ;
they wore dresses of gold lama ; silk head-dresses, enriched
with diamonds and feathers. We never saw delight more
strongly depicted than it was in the faces of the Duchesses
of Gloucester and Kent. Indeed, the objects around must
have produced a wonderful effect on a stranger, and we
believe that it is the first time those illustrious Ladies
were present at a similhr spectacle. The rooms, decorated
with wreaths and festoons of flowers, emblems, &c. ; the
Ladies' dresses in the style of every country, the aggregate in
more than eastern splendour, consisting of golden tissue, the
mass relieved by an embroidery of diamonds. All the Ladies
were objects of peculiar attraction on that night.—The dancing
commenced immediately after the procession of the orphan boys
attached to the Caledonian Asylum—for it was for their benefit
this ball was given.—The procession commenced at half-past
eleven : notice was given of its approach by the sounds of the
bagpipe. The boys were marshalled in the saloon ; and, in the
full Highland garb, proceeded up the staircase, preceded by the
Piper, playing—" Wha wou'd be a traitor slave?"—ln single
file they walked round the room, returned, and disappeared._
The true Highland Fling was given
.at the ()Net by Mr.
Stewart Nicolson and one of the Ladies Paget. It then became
one of the most animated scenes ever witnessed, the spirit of
which continued unabated till half-past two; many then de-
parted, but it lost none of its interest. tin foUr o'clock. There
were a thousand persons present, not one of whom could gain
admittance without permission of the Lady Patronesses, Lady
Gwydyr and the lion. Mrs. Hope. We never saw so finished
an exhibition as this, in every respect, whether we allude to
the beauty of the Ladies or the dignity of the Gentlemen, for
there were forty-six heads of Highland clans present—an as-
semblage unexampled.

NAVAL 6; MILITARY BIBLE SOCIETY

Yesterday the Anniversary Meeting of the
Society for the Distribution of Bibles amongst sailors and sol-
diers was held at the King's Concert Rooms, which were ex-
cessively crowded, chiefly by Ladies, who appeared to take a
strong interest in the spiritual welfare of the objects of the So-
eiety. Lord Viscount LORTON' took the Chair.
The SECRETARY read the Report, which represented that
the Society had been greatly cramped by their want of ade-
quate funds • but they were determined to proceed in their
course of makingl all in the army and navy, soldiers and sailors
of Jesus Christ ; and not to sheath the spiritual sword whilst
one remained who did not submit to the sacred standard.—
The institution had received strong aid from the Auxiliary
Societies in Ireland and Scotland, and also from the Ladies'
Association, at the head of which was the Duchess of
Beaufort. The exertions of the Ladies in behalf of the
soldiers and sailors had been by far the most efficient, and they
had made the greatest subscriptions to the Society.—(Ap-
plause.)—The Society had appointed an officer to travel from
station to station and offer Bibles and Testaments to the sol-
diers; and he had distributed altogether nine thousand copies
of the Scriptures, and had succeeded in getting in return up-
wards of one hundred pounds. This agent had been eminently
successful in supplanting blasphemous and seditiens tracts,
which he feared had been extensively circulated amongst the
soldiers. Notwithstanding_ the endeavours which were made
by persons to seduce the soldiers, there was a strong desire
amongst them for the Scriptures, which desire was manifested
by the actual purchase of them. Nothing could be better than
the plan of selling the Scriptures at the cost price ; for the
chance was, that the man who paid for them would read and
prize them more than if he bad them for nothing. The Report
conluded by an exhortation to the friends of the Scriptures to
come forward,' and save the soldiers from the current of infi-
delity.which was let loose upon them. •
Lord CALTIIORPE, in moving that the Report should be
received, said there was peculiar propriety in the friends of
Christianity Coming forward to communicate the benefits of the
Scriptures to the preservers of their country. They owed it to
them in gratitude ; but it became an imperative duty when
they found that those odious effbrta that were making in every
part of the country, to sap the fbundation of their faith, were
also extended to the soldiers. Nothing could so well tend to
humanize and make war less savage as the Scriptures ; by
making soldiers. Christian warriors, and preparing ilium to en-
dure, with fortitude and patience, the trial*. and-hardshipa to
which they acre subject.—(Great applause.) •
Mr. STEWART seconded the motion, whichwas.carried una-
nimously.
Major MACKWELL, of the lion. East' India Company's
service, said he believed there was now not .a more religious,
and consequently a inure humane body of soldiers, than those
who composed die body of the British army. lle tad himself
heard a testimony paid to their humanity by the French King.
He was present when that Monarch, after the battle of Water-
loo, called around him the Comonande4 and Staff of the British
army.. When he was surrounded by the soldiers, he addressed
them in these words in English Gentlemen, I am indebted
to you for much. I speak not of your valour ; that I leave to his-
tory—but I speak of your humanity. I thank you for your
humanity to my poor people. I thank you as their father"
(Applause). lie concluded by moving a Resolution of Thanks
to the Royal and Noble Patrons of the Institution.
Lord GAMBIER addressed the Meeting at great length.
The motion was carried unanimously.
The Rev. Dr. Clarke, Captain Gordon, of the Royal Navy,
and Major General Ord, spoke warmly in favour of the object
of the Meeting.
Captain BLAYNEY, of the Royal Navy, moved a Resolu-
tion in an able speech.
Captain H. Gonnow, of the Royal Navy, addressed the
Meeting at great length, moving acknowledgments to other So-
cieties for their assistance.
Several other speeches were made by Naval Officers, when
thanks were voted to the Chairman ; and after a liberal sub-
scription had been made, the Meeting separated.

POETRY.

J. P. hEMBLE.

" Sicut fortis equus, spatio qui stepe supremo
Vicit Olympia, nunc senio confectu quiescit."
Ennius. Vide .0 c. dr Senectute.
[Written by H. S. VANDYKE, Esq.]

The proudest of the Romans, where is he ?

The hero of Corioli who fell
Amidst his enemies, in majesty,
Like some high tower or mighty citadel
Sinking among the fees who storm its wall—
Grand in its ruin—noble in its fall.
And where is he, whose evil spirit stole
At midnight to his tent? And he whose soul
With fortitude and Stoic-firmness bore

The tidings of his son's untimely doom,
Yet sank at last, and sank to rise no more,

With the departing glories of lost Rome?

Where—where are they ? Alas! they once have been—
But canish'd—died—when Kemble left the scene.
No more he strikes beholders' hearts and eyes •
With all the lightning of his energies :
No longer sways the rabble with his nod,
Nor stands at Volscium—towering like a God.
With valorous might, which hostile force disdains,
No more he thunders o'er Philippi's plains :
Nor charms the breathless Senate with th' intense
And soul-felt magic of his eloquence.

Yet will he live when many a loftier name
Shall seek the nothingness from whence it came:
And when that noble form shall coldly rot
In Death's embrace, unnoticed and forgot,
The recollection of his worth will be
A fadeless halo round his memory.
Mind rests upon itself—this mortal clay,
This dross of being, may with time decay;
But, as it mingles with its parent earth,
The mind from Heaven receives a second birth.

'.Methinks I see him as the aged Lear,
Crown'd with the wild sublimity of grief--
So does the monarch of the woods appear,
When storms have left him neither bough nor leaf.
Methinks I view him as De Montfort now,
With frenzied gesture and convulsive start ;
Despair and terror on his pallid brow,
Remorse and guilt and anguish in his heart.
Oh, thought ! forget the horrors of that sight,

Which froze the crimson current of the blood !
Lo ! Thilspur comes, impatient for the fight,
And wild and daring as a mountain flood
That thunders to the vale with mighty shock,
Uncheck'd by rugged trunk or broken rock.

The scene is changed—the vision has departed,
And Denmark's melancholy Prince appears,
Nursing pale thought and almost broken-hearted,
To call down Pity from her throne of tears,
And ope the genial springs of sympathy
That lie within the desert of the breast.
But, mark Leontes next, whose jealousy
(E'en as the poisonous viper seeks the nest
Of some fond bird to ravage and destroy
Makes desolate the dwelling of his joy.'

Again the scene is changed, for Wolsey stands
And gives with feeble voice his last commands--
A beacon placed amidst the stormy waves •
Of grandeur's sea, to warn ambition's slaves.

Behold reclined the ever-musing Jaques,*
Whose soul with forests, mountains, vales, and lakes,
Holds free communion, and is deep imbued
With all the luxury of solitude. -

Where is Penruddock 9 Where the brave Macbeth g
The hardy Mehard--dauntless even in death ?
Where now the ,Stranger? Where the guilty John g
And, last and best, where Posthumus, who won
The spotless heart of slander'd Imogen
! they live in memory's page alone,
And are no more, save in the minds of men :

We see—we hear them not for he ik gone,
Who with the chain of vast conception drew
Past ages back upon us, and who knew
To charm to life the images sublime
That lay unheeded 'neath the waves of Time.

Yes ! he is far from England, and from those
Who once have seen and never can forget
The sun of Tragedy that brightly rose
The sun of Tragedy that grandly set.

Oh ! may his mind, in calm retirement, gaze
" Through the long vista of departed days,"
And all the honours he obtain'd before
Come back, like sweet reality, once more,
To soothe the thoughts of retrospective age,
And cheer the close of life's brief pilgrimage ;
Then shall Melpomene bewail his doom,
Shall strew her leaves of cypress round his tomb,
And, sighing, say, whilst mourning KEIIBLE'S fall,
" This was the noblest Roman of them all !"
• Jaynes is always pronounced as a dissyllable, and is so re-
quired by the measure in the play.
•

••• The foregoing lines, written previous to the death of the
admired subject, may be numbered among the very best Poems
which that subject has occasioned. •

FELIX FARLEY.

ON A 'PICTURE OF MODE9TY, 11Y Guth°.
The blushing cheek; the chin that seeks to rest
On the soft surface of the rising breast;
The lip where love's delicious accents
While modest fear forbids the vioce to flew ;
As when the red ripe cherry's bursting skin
Reveals the purple pulp that glows within,
1 he luscious drop half issuing from its side
Hangs on the edge and seems afraid to glide;
The downcast eye where love and virtue shine,
The smile of innocence, the mien benign ;
These are the outward signs of inward grace,
Whose charms nor grief nor sickness can efface.
Which, once like seal of talisman imprest,
No earthly change can loosen from the breast ;
Nor hoary age with wintry touch decay,
Nor death from mem'ry's tablets blot away.

ORTHOGRAPHY.—The following curious lite-
rary production was addressed to the Governor of the Work-
house, at Alvington, in Gloucestershire, by a pauper seeking
relief there, as his proposed terms of going into the house ;
‘ for the azement of my timed mind, I have set down the
principle part of what I subzist upon Tea for breakfast, a little
fort and butter; for supper & dinner, a Little mutton and bred.
Alf a pinto of Good beer with dinner, and alf a pinte with
supper—betweene breakfast anti dinner a boiled egg and
a little bread--in the evening tea—The bread which I heave
been accurtomed to eate, is from the bakers fresh and lite
Good fresh milk butter—the mutton Lane-1 always sleep in
blakits. In this way I heave continued to Liev for mor than
18 months ; without these trifels I cannot do'

The Pupils of St. Bartholomew's Hospital last
week presented Mr. STANLEY, Surgeon, of Lincoln's Inn-
fields, and Demonstrator at the above Hospital, with a hand-
some piece of Plate (an Epergne) value 15U1.