The Sun.
London, England, 1824-09-04 00:00:00

TIVERTON ANNIVERSARY SCHOOL MEETING•

'On Thursday last was held the Anniversary
Meeting of the Gentleman educated at Blundell's School, Ti-
verton. The Rev. ALDEnSEY DICEEN, the Head-master,
on the occasion, preached a most .excellent Sermon. The
Meeting of this year was rendered of extreme interest to all
persons connected with the School, from the circumstance that
a present of plate was to be made to Mr. Ley, by Gentlemen,
some of whom had been his scholars, and others who had been
his school-fellows. The Plate consisted of three large circular
Silver Salvers ; one of them 24 inches in diameter, and the
other two 9 Inches each ; the whole superbly wrought, and
weighing together 293 ounces. In the centre of each Salver
was an exquisitely finished Engraving of Blundell's School,
with the Green, Walls, Gate, and adjoining Grounds,—and
underneath was the following inscription :
lOHANNI LEY, AM.
SCHWAB BLVNDELLINAE PER. ANNOS XXXVII.
E. IAGISTR
ERVDITOII PROBO LIBERALI
EGREGIE
PERFVNCTO TANDEM AIVNERE
DISCIPVLI ET CONDISCIPVEI
GRATI GRATANTES
111. D.
ANNO MDCCCXXIV.
The workmanship and taste of these Salvers were much ad-
mired. They were furnished by Messrs. Griffin and Co., of
Leadenhall-street, London, who spared no pains or expence
to produce an elegant specimen of their manufacture. The
Engravings and Inscription excited universal atsprobation. It
had been arranged to present the Plate to Mr. Ley in the
Lower School, but it was found, on the return of the procession
from church, that scarcely one third of the company as-
sembled could be accommodated within the School, and there-
fore an adjournment was immediately made to the Green. A
Table was placed near the centre of the Green, on which a
fine damask table cloth was spread to receive the Salvers ; a
large circle of spectators (of several hundreds) was formed
round the table, including, in one portion of it, the boys of the
School. As soon as the necessary arrangements were made,
Sir John Duntze, Bart. and Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, Bart.
conducted Mr. Ley to the table in the Green. Mr. Frederick
Leigh was deputed by the Committee who had been appointed
to purchase the plate, to present it, and he was attended by all
the Members of the Committee. Mr. Ley, on his approach to
the table, was received by the Committee, when Mr. F. Leigh
holding the large Salver, and supported by the Rev. C. 0. Os-
mond, and the Rev. John Clarke, each of whom held one of
the small Salvers, in a short address, presented the Plate to
Mr. Ley, as a sincere token of respect, the gratitude, and the
friendship, of gentlemen some of whom had been his Scholars
within the ancient walls of the School, and others had accom-
panied him in the same place in earlier life throtosh the dis-
cipline provided by the immortal and beneficent founder, to
add to the moral and intellectual character of his country,
and
of his native place in particular. fie alluded to the excel-
lencies of Mrs. Ley, through whose kindness and attention the
boys had ever found under Mr. Ley's roof, the tender care of
a mother, and the comforts of a home. He then paid a short
but well-deserved compliment to Mr. Carrington Ley, Mr.
Ley's son, lately elected to the UudersMastership of the
School, and concluded with a quotation from the Inscription
on the Plate.
Mr. Ley then advanced a few steps, and, in a powerful,
learned, and affectionate address, accepted' the honour paid him.
He said, he was anxious to acknowledge their gratifying
testimony in a manner suited to Isis own feelings, and worthy
of the kindness and the value of the present ; but standing
before an assembly by whose presence he had not dared
to hope to be thus favoured, he feared that neither his
talent nor his nerve would bear him through the attempt.
He felt at that moment that what had been said of pain and
grief might with equal truth be affirmed of the sensations
that had been their source in joy and pleasure,—" ?eves 1"-
quuntur ingcnics stupent," and he appealed to that part of his
audience who could beta judge of' the net emotions of the heart,
because they could best feel them, whether utterance was not
most frequently denied when the claims upon It were most im-
portunate. Tlie moment at which that honourable testimony
had been bestowed was most cheering. There was a subject
rteospwelicitcfl:l: just
could not advert without pain, though to pass it
in silence would appear as if he shrunk from it :ust escaped
from a, Court to whose decision he however bowed in most
silence, they had cheered him with a most noble
testimony of their regard, lie begged his friends to dismiss
all anxious regret on 1-iis account; he had scrutinized both his
motives and his conduct at the bar of conscience, and was satis-
fied, by a verdict from a Judge within his own bosom, whom
no malevolence could impose on, no calumny mislead,—there
were expressions, anti a specified act, imputed to him from
which his soul turned with disust ; was it not sufficient to
drag him into a Court of Justice? Ile could have borne it all
had they not endeavoured to bring him down to their own de-
graded level. The opinion of his friends that day expressed—
Warranted—his saying with the gallant antagonist of the Em.
peror Charles " I have lost all but my honour." The wooden
bowl of Camillus would have been a more appropriate or-
nament to the habitation preparing for his retreat in the
of lwifeo,uutriltavtletegyralciaedd
aadsorienieltilanituwibilteh, aanicribwletraTeeci
• te skill of the artist, their kindness had given it a
the exquisite •
seevieitn,inwg
of Verres. In addition to its intrinsic worth, and
value apwahciictlyt no injury, could deprive it of, and no art could
associations that must always accompany it, would dispel
the deepest gloom,
and impart a warmth and relish to the
humblest fare.
His friends, who had exerted themselves in applying the li-
beral bounty of the whole, had proved their delicacy in pre-
senting it through the person of one who had so many claims
upon Ids regard anti esteem, Of whom he would say more, but
that he feared to offend his delicacy; there was one part of that
gentleman's address which he could not pass unnoticed : the
compliment paid bins through his wife, the partner of his cares,
was doublY valuable by connecting her name with his own, as
no compliment to a married man was so gratifying as that con-
veyed through the object of his affections. It was his hope,
whenever it should please Providence, that the superb present
in which they bad embodied their regard could no longer be
held by those who had an interest in the scene that was then
passing, that some method might be devised of protecting it
within the walls of their immorial Founder, as a lasting monu-
ment of his friends' approbation, end a proof that the time he
had passed within them had not been spent dishonourably, or
without utility. Mr. Ley then retired to the Under-Master's
house, amidst the loudest and most enthusiastic cheers of the
Company assembled.
Few scenes have presented a more beautiful sight; the fine-
ness of the weather, the immense assemblage of spectators,
graced and adorned by the presence of so many ladies in ele-
gant attire; the anxiety of the boys, just returned to School in
health and happiness, to bear their full part in the ceremony
of the day ; the splendour of the Plate; anti the excellent man-
ner in which the arrangements were made,—all contributed
to produce as striking a spectacle as could be witnessed ; to
this external exhibition must be added, the display of grati-
tude and affection towards Mr. Ley, and the manly feeling
anti honourable expressions of that gentleman in return, who
had all his life made the discharge of duty his first his only
object, and whose conscience assured him that for no consis
deration, and in no situation, had he sacrificed his honour.
Here then was the triumph of charmer, which, in this land,
never fails of reward from the liberal and the good ; the result
Of minds matured and enriched by education, lay moral and re-
ligious instruction.
The gentlemen who had received their education at Blundell's
School afterwards dined together at the Three Tuns. The
glow of feeling which had distinguished the ceremonies of the
morning did not abate in this fresh scene. The spirits of the
party best told the satisfaction that pervaded each man's heart.
31any addresses were made ; amongst the speakers, our worthy
County Member, Sir T. 13. Ackland, Bart. who enlivens every
meeting by his manners, and enriches every subject from the
treasures of his head and his heart, bore a distinguished part.
The party separated at an early hour, to prepare for the Ball
in the evening, which was fully attended ; thereby showing
what indeed requires little to prove it,—that English gentlemen
hold themselves in readiness to perform the varied duties of
social life ;—their hearts are open to receive enthusiastic ins.
pressions when distinctions are to be paid to honour and to
worth ; they arc warns yet decorous, at the festive board ; and
are not surpassed in expression of gallantry when the lovely
daughters of their Country chains their attentions.

COAL, MARKET, Stn.. 3.
Ships at Maiket. Shif►s hold
16 Newcastle . . 13
Sunderland • -

Price.
• 3l• Od to 37a 94
• 294 Orl to 40* 34

inight for a man named
A. few days ago the gaoler of Cupar Fife,
!nand concealed betwixt the soles of a pair of
shoes, wltich
A. D'lPharg, obramd
,biefeiLltrg- br
two
springsaws,
with
which he might in a short time have effected his'
liberty by cutting the iron grating of his cell. .1

BRITISH AND FOREIGN DIGNITIES

COM PARED.

Fit nobilis, nascitur generorus,is the principle
upon which this curious and often momentous
tract is written. Englishmen confound nobility
with peerage, whereas in every country the land.
ed proprietors are the natural nobility. For-
merly, while all persons of coat-armour were
styled noblemen, all gentlemen were styled per.
sons of quality. A Peer is only a person of rank,
unless he be a gentleman ; but every gentleman
is a person of quality ; for in the opinion of a
herald, quality and gentility are synonymous. In
short, according to the proper explanation of
gentry, their families must always have borne
arms ; the descendants of a yeoman can never be
gentlemen ; they, however, may make very
spectable lords. Wealth, which is omnipotentt
will always prevent the revival of feudal distinc-
tious ; and, therefore, omitting the mere curiosi-
ties of this book, we shall give extracts, which
enlarge our stock of valuable information. The
House of Commons did not originally mean Corn'
inners in distintion from Peers. " The connytu.
anintcuisentteiry onlyrce the
,orcombmaruonnis and
tyofthteenakniitis in kingdom,
The House of Commons therefore signified the
House of Communities (pp. 2.9, 30.) for comm:"
'sitar, like Societe:, means people partaking Old
same rights, and was equally applicable to
the most exalted, and to the most bumble
classes (pp. 30). The word Commoner has
only of late years crept into circulation."--;
a man by the mere circumstance of a
Against the principle of estimating the value °I
certain
quantity of acres having been now, or once in'
the possession of his family, we in reason protest.
Such pretensions confer no service upon the °,
mankind. When the defence and legislation of
the realm were in the hands of the tenants in
capita, there was a rational ground for account.
ing them pillar, i of the state; but society 10
now assumed so different a form, that a " gen:
tleman of blood," merely as such, has no politt•
cal character whatever. We speak in no dePred
dation of family pretensions. They are often
high supports of virtue. We mean that they are
We there.
no longer matters of public relation.
fore pass to the very useful contents of this work;
viz. the warning it gives, by our confounding the
forms of foreign nobility with our own. An on'
German Baron is equal to an old English coon"
try gentleman ; a new German Baron to a pug'
chaser of a coat of arms. A Baron of Langue•
doc to a country Esquire. A Roman Duke and
a Sicilian Prince to a Baronet. In France, Mar'
quis, Compte, Vicompte, or Baron, were hid**
rent ; the only important question was not whit
title any individual bore, but whether he reel,'
was a gentilhomme, or man of ancestry. The
indiscriminate use of the word gentleman by u 9
is productive of infinite mistakes abroad, as aP*
is Ger,
pears by the following anecdote : A
man Baron iu London having waited for his
barber, a journeyman arrived in his stead,
and informed him that the old Gentle•
man had been taken ill, but that he would'
have the honour of shaving him. This anecdote
the Baron used to relate whenever any English'
man was presented at his Master's Court, to io;
barbers." In Germany every Gentlem
sinuate that the English gentry were as t°,
styled a Baron, as in England every Gentleman
is styled an Esquire ; but an English sonrea
daughter, ignorant of the comparative value of
_
titles, thinks by marrying a Baron to become o
Peeress of Germany ; " for, as a Baron is a peer
a: in Great Britain, no doubt, a Baron is a Peer old
the world over." She soon finds out her
take ; and " disgusted by repeated humiliatiol;'
this couple make up their minds to fix their "6,
page, with a coronet and supporters,
deuce in England, where they mount an equip
arid, on
strength of their baronial title, pretend to a P,"
cedency above the first gentry in the lanr
family, who have been taken in by
We could mention English girls of respectable
_fa
Germ.T:
Barons, now living in England, and who are litur:
better than swindlers, and are impudently
rogant, through the ignorance of our countß.
men, as to the real bearing of the rank and title
„f
of a German Baron. Pe t seems, from 48 that"
sOL
ano may purchase the title at a sum between
and 1001. from the Court of Vienna, or 0.1".,`r
,
courts ; and we have heard that an adyertil,
quack doctor of the lowest kind, absolutely nefignd
tinted for the purchase of a German Baron'', pc,
would have succeed ed,had not the circumstance ho
cidentally become known to our Ambassador, wood
party observes.
prevented the grant. Every person gningAbr. •ty
should read this bill of fare of foreign nobglio. t
dishes, because, as Sir James Lawrence veryrilt
ntv oug.
livre tournois to a
" Our persons of qua" 'bankers
to know the value of foreign titles, es fe,ir French
know_ the value of foreign coins ; oneV„ri as a
tAmPte is as inferior to an English as to
pound sterling."---A4 used
foreigners. " The late King of Wirtemberg 00,
to say, that he could form no idea of en Enheir
gentleman till he had visited several at d
the country.
country
seats, and seen their manner of liviae
country.". (Edinburgh
----

On Saturday last, the 211ittrunl'Ellt.he Lady of PUiIiP
1 iPiel''
in hiaker-street, Portman.s;uare, ofa s •
•

_lLev 21i
(It An
Brown, o f Ccr ar
ai tohixEeb Jul)*
suhlitr.
e, gtracbsfi'
ileAv.t
Esq., of Furnivars.nn, to Elizabeth, fourth daughter
- f the

-. . .
,e, St'
DIED.
On Monday, the 30th ult, in the 25th year of his tr,loo
:Tai ii:ani
dieyiaa IIO:
hauviihs.'incionmlJfi b
..
at" r'
' 'ivoTeo flooding,..
melancholy
sd
Laneyacohorn2afysi;°liyß e
rrdelcea,rw, Essex.in
,-
,aektitrpbsut: street
alevicar cms i'vj 'eoblee di: -sd Cambridge,galtdon.ng "' aiv o 're nwl--d-Te,:;:eda:ci et :` i.°
' 1
. %., 1 iasz,ndaatyt,wdoleo:c3iothekuetc: John Butler, Estith•.eof.dSeesiillt:4l.7ll,oo:..i.
amore:
oAfftatineYinvvaartuaabnileofsrtienarndi.. ,to
took
eenirf t Ceperoltcau nwevtee at announceliflo
The,m ei bcr et
irn•
sT
sr
ujz : "1 I
el- 'I 3 e:, e ;
; the Poor of the neaighebouwornhuloond • ley ellae u
sive lo Tnouro . ~.„0, s
flay;
and a daughter : the health of the latter, we a „Toler the
ay; still continues in a very precarious state; she is ; sev..,
Miler Ladyaryhhi
care of Dr. Bradley, who pr scebed for her in 1.011"°1000 gy
rpvious to the death of Lad; AistieY was about to re
WeYnlouth for the benefit of sea air. ' (Dev• Pa0:r.:10,.....,00e".
II
recret sh:rfli::
—wpenriluachna
Lettgnti
te
ws
°chop ,
to

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