The Sun.
London, England, 1824-08-04 00:00:00

POETRY.

THE OLD MAID'S PRAYER TO DIANA.
Since thou and the stars, my dear Goddess, decree,
That, old maid as I am, old maid 1 must be,
Oh ! hear the
.petition I offer to thee,
For to bear it must be my endeavour !
From the grief of my friendships, all drooping aroupd,
Till not one whom I loved in my youth can be found,
From the legacy-hunters that near us abound,
DIANA, thy servant deliver!
From the scorn of the young, or the flouts of the gay,
From all the trite ridicule rattled away
By the pert ones who know nothing better to say,
(Or a spirit to laugh at them give her) ;
From repining at fancied neglected desert,
Or vain of a civil speech, bridling alert,
From finical niceness, or slatternly dirt,
DIANA, thy servant deliver !
From over-solicitous guarding of pelf,
From humour uncheck'd, that most pestilent elf,
From ev'ry unsocial attenti n to self,
Or ridiculous whim whaSoever
From the vapourish freaks or methodical airs,
Apt to sprout in the brain that's exempted from cares,
From impertinent meddling in others' affain,
DIANA, thy servant deliver !
From the erring attachments of desolate souls,
From the love of spadille and of matadore boles,
Or, of lap-dogs, and parrots, and monkeys, and owls,
Be they ne'er so uncommon and clever ;
But chief from the love of all loveliness flown,
Which makes the dim eye condescend to look down,
On some ape of a fop, or some owl of a clown,
DIANA, thy servant deliver !
From spleen at beholding the young more carest,
From pettish asperity, tartly express'd,
From scandal, detraction, and ev'ry such pest,
From all, thy true servant deliver;
Nor let satisfaction depart from her lot.
Let her sing if at ease, and be patient if not ;
Be ppleased when regarded, content when forgot,
Till Fate her slight thread shaU dissever 1

A ItTUUR O'Co NNO a; who married the daughter
of CONDORCET, has a letter in the Paris Journals
denying the authenticity of the work published
under the title of Memoir-es rle,Condorcet sur to
Revolution. He states, that he has examined the
MSS. from which the pretended Memoires are
said to be extracted., that he found them to consist
of 29 notes or letters, scarcely sufficient to afford
34 pages of printed text, and yet out of these
scanty materials two volumes, containing 729
pages, have been manufactured.
OCCULTATION OF TUE PLANET HEILSCIIF.LL.—
In the evening of Friday next, the 6th instant, the planet
Herschel' will immerge on the east side of the moon, at 2 min.
45 sec. after ten : the planet will remain obscured till 14 min.
45 sec. after eleven, when it will emerge on the western side.
At the immersion, the planet will be 9 min. and at the emer-
sion, 44 min. north of the moon's centre. The moon will
have passed the meridian of Greenwich about ten minutes pre.
vious to the occultation.
On Thursday the ceremony of laying the firsi
stone of the New Corn and Hop Exchange in Canterbury
took place. About half-past three o'clock in the afternoon, the
Mayor, accompanied by Lord Clifton, one of the representa-
tives, of the city and the Members of the Committee, pro-
ceeded from the Guildhall to the Shambles, the acite of the
a intended building; after the necessary preparation,
quan-
tity of Coins of the present reign, and some of very ancient
date, with two impressions in lead from the Masonic Seal, were
deposised in a cavity in the atone, together with the names
of the Members far the City, and the Mayor, Recorder, &c.
&c. written on parchment, after which the mortar was spread
by Lord Clifton, with a silver trowel, and the stone was
lowered to its resting place amidst the cheers of a great
number of persona there assembled. His Lordship then ad-
dressed the meeting, and said that it was not the first time
that lie had met the citizens of Canterbury near the same
spot, and that it would always give him pleasure to meet
them on any occasion. He was now assisting to lay the
stone of the New Market House, which he trusted would
hereafter prove a benefit, and add to the prosperity of the
city and its neighbourhood. Tao business of the day being
over, the Committee retired to the Rose Inn, where they
were joined by some of their fellow-citizens, and partook
of an elegant dinner, served up in Mr. Clements's usual
good style. Upwards of forty sat down, and the utmost
harmony and conviviality prevailed throughout the remainder
of the day, during which a great many loyal and constitutional
toasts were given, enlivened with a variety of songs, which de-
, tamest the company tea late hour. , Three butts of beer were

VitisitainneireßttigginWilti-rT in the Butter'
Market. The City Band likewise paraded the streets which
added considerably to the general toy which pervaded all
classes.—( Maidstone Journal, Aug. 3. )
SAmcumtair ItcycNcE.—Yesterday two lads,
employed to collate the printed sheets in the warehouse of
Messrs. SPOT Tiswootiz, New-street-square, having quar-
relled, agreed to decide the difference by a pugilistic combat:
after a round or two, one of the fistic heroes cried " hold,
enough ;" and the other was consequently proclaimed the vic-
tor, with the reiterated acclamations of his juvenile compa-
nions. The other looked much chagrined, and in about halt
an hour afterwards, stealing behind his conqueror, plunged a
large clasp knife into his belly: the poor boy immediately fell,
crying out that he was murdered ; whilst the treacherous per-
petrator endeavoured to make his exit during the confusion ;
this, however, was prevented; the wounded boy was sent off to
St. Bartholomew's Hospital, and the other to the Compeer, un-
til the surgeon's report is ascertained.
ltfor IN GLASGOW.—WethleSday night, about
eight o'clock, the Gallowgate, Glasgow, exhibited a scene of ex-
treme confusion and alarm, owing to the disorderly conduct of a
number of young recruits belonging to the 99th regiment, who
having been drinking their arrear money, had got quite intoxi-
cated, and commenced fighting among themselves, and at inter-
vals attacked such of the spectators as came in their way. The
people retaliated, and the whole were intermixed in a general
light; the combatants frequently knocked down and trampled
on each other, and the blood was beginning to flow pretty freely,
when several of the sergeants, with a party, arrived from the
barracks, and with great difficulty interposed between their
men and the crowd. They declared they raid not wish to
quarrel with the town's people, and if any of them were in-
jured they should have every redress. The soldiers then en-
deavoured to drag the drunken recruits along with them, but
they became refractory, struck at their superiors, and made
desperate struggles to get free; some of them broke loose
ant renewed the fight with the inhabitants, but they were
at length mastered, after they had received a severe elms-
tisement from the serjeants, and driven within the barrack
wall, the gate of which was instantly dosed on them. A
party of the soldiers then searched all the adjoining public-
houses, and tinted such of their men as were found in them
into the barrack. The officers, in the most conciliatory tone,
requested the crowd to 'disperse, as
it was quite unworthy of
Scotsmen to be following;few lads of 16 years of age, who
a
had merely got themselves drunk, a state to which they were
all tsar from being strangers. A serjeant said the regiment
wished to be friends with the town's people; he had fought
and bled for the cause of his country ; sad her enemies, not her
per-
suasions used seemed to have a much better effect than driving
the people away by the point of the bayonet,
and the neighbour-
sons, were the people he wished to encounter. The gentle
hood was soon after quiet.—(Scotch Paper.)
Yesterday evening a crowd of persons assem-
bled opposite the shop • Brookes, chemist,
near the Marsh-gate, Westminster-road, in of Mr.
con-
sequence of a young man having been bit by a
dog, and taken there for medical advice.—
The wound was in the thigh, which Mr. Brookes
examined, and instantly applied
a quantity of
burning caustic to it. T hedog at the time
was led by a string, but muzzled, io the pos-
session of a woman, when the animal flew at
the man. The dog was secured, and late last
night it did not appear affected with hydrophobia,
and great hopes are entertained that the injury
may not prove serious. The young man after-
wards walked home, but the crowd remained
round the house of Mr. Brooks for a considerable
time ; nor could they be prevailed on to disperse
before he had placed extra lights in his shop,
opened the doors, and informed them that he had
actually left the house, and was the, person who
just passed through the crowd.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

BRIDGENORTH.-FRIDAY (LAST DAY.)

The Sweepstakes of 50gs for all ages, was won by Sir G.
Pigott's Patshull, 4-yrs old, beating Sir T. J. T. Jones's gr. h.
Sir Edward. Air. B. Thompson's ch. c. Hengist, Mr. F. Law.
ley's b. f., and Mr. Mytton's Comte d'Artois, paid.—A capital
race, and won in high style by Patahull.
The Members' Plate of 50/. given by W. W. Whitmore, Esq.
for all ages. The best of three four mile heats.
Mr. (leary's b. c. Libertine . - 1 1
Mr. Bowman's gr. g. Little Driver, 4-yrs - 2 2
Mr. A. Jones's br. c. by Lismahago, 5-yrs - 3 4
Mr. Lord's b. c. Clansman, 4-yrs - - 4
Mr. Roger's gr. c. Sir Edward, 5-yrs - dr
This was admirably contested, and two finer heats were
never run. Won by half a neck.
The Hunters' Plate of sgs each, with 15gs added by the
Town (Seven Subscribers), was walked over for by Mr. T.
Pickernell's ch. g. Sylvanus.