The Sun.
London, England, 1828-09-23 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE.-(THIS DAY.)

INSOLVENT DEBTORS' COURT.
,Frederic Lancaster was brought up this morning
rka.'re-hearing, upon his petition to be discharged.
un the former examination some doubt arose in the
read-nf the Commissioner as to the validity of the
bt of the detaining creditor, and the insolvent was
remanded to give- the Court an opportunity of
tcarnining the former. This morning accordingly
narriet Robinson Was called into the witness' box,
44 gave the following account of the debt in
Cuestion, in answer to the interrogatories of the
lnunisoioner
I um a dress-Maker, and have been so for six or
?Yen years. I lent the prisoner 91., and he owes me
121 besides for wages. I lived with him as his
housekeeper: I lived with him for six or seven years.
The 12/. was due-to me last Christmas. He paid
34 more since then, though I lived with him up to
:nu'. I had.no Wages due to me in 'June, except
the 12/. I arrested him in June.
The COMMISSIONER—When you arrested him in
Jane why did you not demand also the wages up to
j
Une ?—To this question there was no answer.
He leis had paid me wages before I lived with him as
housekeeper for six or seven years. Ido not
',now how much he paid me, nor when he paid me
1e last money. After 1 left him I arrested him.
,4
consulted a Mr. Hyslop upon the subject. I ar-
."ted him becaose I could not get my money. The
lrisolvent gave me a bill of exchange about three
Rionths ago it was after I left- himthat he gave it
me. I have not got the bill ; my friend.has got ,
It ; my friend is not here.
The • CoMisSIONER—Who is your friend ?
Wi mtness—Mr. Richardson. I gave it to him a
.„i'veek ago to take care of
• Witness
-enZumisStoNsu—Where
.tl'd you give it to him ?
witness—At his house.
CoscuissiONEit—Where does he live? Witness,
titer allowing the question to be. two or three times
4peated; said, I gave it to him at his friend's house.
iSOSIMISSIONER—Where. does his. friend live ?
WitrieSs' (after tilting -pause)ln Holborn. .• -
CoustissitoNEß—ln what part of Holborn ?
Witnessr, (another pause)--I do not ktiow exactly ;
A
not go there.
CommtsstoNEß—You said just now that you did
ICY Witnos7-Igave it to my friend to giVe to him.
tosrstissioNEß—What is your friend's name ?
Witness—Mr. Hyslop. I gave it to him to save
tae the trouble. Mr. Richardson is an attorney. I
gave him-no instructions to arrest the insolvent.
Mr. Hyslop, who was standing close behind the
Witness, here said something to her in a whisper;
'Pon which—
The COMMISSIONER said, if he again attempted to
41°•so, he should be sent out of Court.
I did say I wr.s a dress-maker ; but I was not so
While I was living with him.
CoMMIStzIoNER—Why did von not claim your
Nes up to June, which would have made your
;Vat 181. instead of 121. ? Witness—l did not think
.iiere was a chance of getting them.
ColrmrsstoNEß—The chance was just as good as
getting the remainder ? Witness—The 121. was
fr
one year's wages. I left him three weeks before
arrested him.
The COMMISSIONER—And yet you made no claim
for
the last six months' wages Witness—l did
not-give it a thought.
The COMMISSIoNER--Let the insolvent be re-
ded until this bill of exchange is produced. .
Vir, attorney for the insolvent said he would go
thPli. Richardson's for-the bill, if the Court would
tame the. case again at the latter part of the day.
The COMMIssIONER declined to do this, and said
that 41f:insolvent must be brought upon a foture day.

LITERATURE.

PARRIANA, OR NOTICES OF DR. PARR.

BA' E. 11. BARKER, ESQ. AND OTHERS. TOI. I.
LONDON. 1828.
Dr. Parr, independently of his great classical
attainments, which his biographers have magni-
fied into something, miraculous, deserves to he
handed down to posterity as a fine sample of
that now almost- exploded class, the flogging
schoolmaster. He was a stern unflinching
flagellant, like Fielding's Thwackum, and by
hammering knowledge into the head through the
medium of the tail, conferred the most important
benefits on his generation. Dr. heate, of Eton,
and Dr. Valpy, of Reading, men a million times
superior to the degenerate disciplinarians of the
present day, are, we understand, worthy scions of
the same excellent school. But alas! their day
is past—their arms, like those of Ovid'S Milo,
hang uselessly by their side—they can scarcely
do justice to a chicken ;
fait Ilium et ingens

Gloria Teuerorom
Of this fine - race Dr. Parr, was deservedly the
idol, He flogged-with such scientific excellence
—not that we would willingly disparage the
talents of Dr. Keate in the same line—that it -
did aleeling heart good to see him. There was
no injudicious expenditure of birch—no
random flourishes:—no rude inequalities of
excoriation—the discipline_ was dignified and
impartial—conducted on.: mathematical princi-
ples—faultless.as a work, of art, and more like
inspiration than acquirement. Strange,- however,
td say, notwithstanding the Doctor's acknow-
ledged genius in this line, his present biographers
have passed him by with a silence bordering on
contempt. One anecdote, alone transmits .to
posterity the beauties of Parr as a flagellant !
We are reminded in every page of his amazing
profundity, his splendid sarcasm, his wit, his
fancy, and his wig ; yet - of his powers of judi-
cious flagellation we hear nothing. That this
cannot proceed from ignorance, the volume
throughout abundantly proves, for men of all
ranks and standing in literature,
_most of whom
were on intimate terms with the much aggrieved
subject of their praise, rush forth to contribute
their stores. The first of these• worthies is a
clergyman named Stewart, who prefaces his de-
tails of the Doctor with a copious catalogue of
his own lucubrations in prose and verse.
Anxious to do homage to Parr, and at the same
time to blend instruction with entertainment, he

informs us that—
" The day before I started from town, 1 dined tele-a-tele
with a gentleman of much celebrity in Linealn's-inu-fields,
when the subject of.my next day's journey came naturally
on the tapis. I was asked—' had I ever met Parr ?'—
Never.' Well, then, thank your stars that you have
met with one able to furnish you with useful hints about
him. He has no manners. You must expect none. He
is a bear ! . Wherever he goes, you, are. suffocated with his
beastly use of tobacco. To be sure, he is a lump of learn-
ing ; and when I have said that, I have maid all. I repeat,
Sir, you will see a lomp of learning—nothing more!'
" Too learned to be a pedant, and too pious to be a pre-
tender, he freely poured forth the copious stores of his ex-
haustless knowledge, to improve his fellow-men, and hung
up the blazon of his honours in the shield of Ms
liberality."
The Doctor's colloquial, powers, writes Mr.
Stewart, were extraordinary—en yowl—
" Some time before his decease, he had made the ac-
quaintance of a most learned and exemplary prelate of the
sister kingdom, who had !ought the Chalybeate of Leam-
ington fur the restoration of health. The Archbishop
dined at Hatton, and the Doctor showed off upon the oc-
casion in a style to distance all competition. His volubi-
lity was so extreme, that the Prelate ceased to do honour
to the substantial repast before him, crossed Isis knife and
fork upon his plate, and sat in mute astonishment at the
phenomenon."
The idea of an Archbishop preferring Parrs
conversation to a good dinner is marvellous, and
not to be thought of without astonishment. Of
the Doctor's irascibility Mr. Stewart says, " I
could compare his bursts of passion to nothing
but the tropics, so fierce, so appalling, so sudden.
There was no distant rolling ("the thunder, it
burst upon the head at once." How awful !
how imaginative ! Of Parr's " unusual bril-
liancy" we have the following specimen
"Parr and I were on a visit about twenty miles from
Hatton. One day we Were sumptuously regaled with part ti
a fat buck, from the park of a neighbouring Nobleman. The
dish was iu high repute with the Doctor, and the flattering
politeness of the donor, the cordiality of our host, and the
excellence of the venison combined to make Parr more than
usually brilliant over this favourite repast. lie left table in
oue of his happiest tempers. • During coffee, he placed
himself on a sofa, among a bevy of young ladies, and in his
loudest key, summoning me from the opposite end of the
room, thundered forth--' Stewart, do you mean to play
the fool to night ?" Nu, Doctor, I do not feel inclined.'
I don't believe you, and for two reasons ; the first is, be-
cause you are an Irishman; the second is, because you are
a man of genius. As for myself, I 14e I shall, play the
fool as long as I live.'"
As a sample of the Doctor's judgment (no
wonder that Mr. Stewart thought it infallible);
we are treated with the following. Its modesty
and perfect freedom from egotism are by no
means its least recommendat:ons
When we passed through Warwick, the London
Papers, .that arrived that day, had been put into the coach
at the Post Office, and I had occasionally read parts of
them aloud as we proceeded. to Stratford. Upon leaving
the latter. place, Parr did me the honour to bear a too
partial, testimouy to my reading. Stewart,' said he,
' you are a superior reader—you read most distinctly. I
tell you, Sir, you are both ax agreeable and energetic
'reader. Proceed ; it gives use pleasure to hear you.'"
Speaking of the Doctor's friendship, Mr.
Stewart informs us, with a pompous gravity wor-
thy of Gibbon, that hi insisted. on his wearing
two waistcoats or two shirts, whichever he chose,
(he should have made him wear all four,) when
he quitted Hatton. Of his poetical judgment
we have this equally characteristic proof
" One morning.
be (Stewartdoquitur) sent. far me to
attend him in his library. I found him seated at one side
of the fire, Mrs. Parr leaning against the mantel on
the opposite, .and a chair placed for me between them.
' Mrs. Parr,' he began, you have seen Moore it, this
spot some time ago; you now see Mr. Stewart. The race
of true poets is now nearly extinct. There is you,' turn=
ing to me, and Moore, and Byron, and Crabbe, and
Campbell,—l hardly know of another. You, Stewart,
are a man of genius, of real genius.' "
Passing this gentleman " of genius, of real
genius" we
Parr, criine to another who signs himself
a Pupil
and whose best anecdote is the
of
following :--
1 remember an instance of the Doctor's
servant
tor'sattat
broughtnthienttr)
his: fr
him aienndost'e, on gafwrelri:lh he dinner,
thecried out Jemmy is
come,' and rising from his seat, soon left his boys."
This " Jemmy" was Sir James Macintosh.
Our next biographer, is " a Minister of the
Established Church. This individual is as
"
famous for his courage as Mr. Stewart for his
modesty. lie is actually afraid to look the

Doctor in the face ; the least glance of his eye'
electrifies him.
_Necking ,of Parr, when ani-
mated, he says in ,one-place, I .was speechless,
and.astounded with fear." . In another, " I was
panic-struck with
_apprehension ;" in another,
Parr's ferocity, Was "' ferocity in all its wildest
grandeur ;" " the flash of his anger was in-
expressibly terrific." Of the Doctor's portraits,
" one," he observes, " is too seraphic, not suf-
ficiently mortal." This is exquisite. An old
schoolmaster, with a tobacco pipe in his mouth,
and a red night cap on his head, looking too
seraphic ! not sufficiently. mortal ! ! " Oh,
gracious," as young Millainant says in the play,
" hold my sides, or I -shall split." But, as if
this anecdote were not of itself abundantly ridi-
culous, our " Minister" indulges us still further
with the following. By it we are let into the highly
important information that Parr was fond of good

eating :
" Parr was fond of a shoulder of 'mutton roasted. I
have heard him give directions that it should be sent. to
table, covered with a brown incrustation of salt and flour.
His favourite part of -the joint, to which he liked to help
himself, liras that whiO contained nothing but fat—it lies
opposite the pact which is first carved. This he would
cut, not into slices, but into a large circular lump."
Our next historian is a Mr. John Symmons,
(or John Symrnons, :Esq.; of Abermarlais,
Llandovery, South Wales, as with laudable accu-
racy he delights to style. himself), who to the
modesty of Mr. Stewart, and the brilliancy of the
"Minister," adds beauties peculiarly his own.
In every line he takes special care tolet us know,
by some hacknied classical quotation, that John
Symmons, -Esq. of Abermarlais, Llandovery,
South Wales, is a very first-rate scholar. Latin
in italics, and Greek in small capitals, glitter in
his text, like stars ;. and, e need scarcely add, are
'.the only brilliarifthingS, in it. In speaking of
Parr's favourites, among whom he indirectly
ranks himself, he. says :---
. _

4, Woe to the mediocres and pretenders! who came
within his grasp,—those persons who frequently bear
down modest men of real learning and genius, as iEneas
and his companions did the Greeks, by assuming theit
arms ( Graiarum errore jobarum.) All suel► persons na-
turally disliked him in- proportion as all those, who were
really gifted both in endowments of head and heart, loved
and esteemed him ;"

thereby inferring that these only who ,4 were
really gifted both in endowments of head and
art," (like John Symmons, Esq. &c. &c.), had
the opportunity of being friends with the Doctor.
The following precious anecdote characteristically
illustrates this gentleman's powers of mind; with
him Parr's dress is, of course, of first-rate conse-

aitience :
" As I approached the house in a chaise from Warwick,
I met the Doctor taking his ride, mounted on a stout pony,
and habited in a loose zebra-striped great coat,—stripes
brown and white,—a dress well known in all the neigh-
bourhood."

Of a clergyman, a friend of Parr, Mr. Syni
mons writes as follows :

" This Clergyman was an excellent man, but rather
stiff, starch, and shy, and, though very fond and tolerant
of Parr, yet this sort of sallies, particularly before strangers,
such as I was then, called -the eloquent Llood into his
.clericol cheeks, which mantled with a momentary flush."

The « clerical cheeks" (pray what sort o'
cheeks are these ?) is a fine touch of the descrip•

tive, (though whether of the " sublime" or
"beautiful" we cannot say) ; nor must we omit

;he following-Tomentous bit of intelligence ;

its line it is equally. .meritorious :
" One morning, at breakfist, he said abruptly—' John
you know nothing of the Greek accents ?' To which 1
replied, I believed I did ; on which, to try me, he gaVe
several words, one after the other, and asked what accent,
and on what syllable in each word it was placed? I an.
swered seriatim, and happily I was right, at which he was
much pleased."
• We should be doing injustice both to John
Symmons,Esq.of Abermarlais, Llandovery, Sotith
Wales, and Mr. Barker, the Coryplueus of this
biographic fraternity ; were we to omit noticing
the amusing race of pedantry that is run for at
least finty pages between them. Mr. Symmons,
&c. is profound in the text, Mr. Barker astonish-
ing in the notes ; Mr. Symmons dazzles with
Greek in one leaf, Mr. Barker electrifies with
Latin in another ; Mr. Symmons shows off' at
the. top, Mr. Barker at the bottom of the page ;
while between them. both, the poor Doctor, as
might be expected, is forgotten. But indeed
is there one single anecdote throughout the
volume, which serves in the slightest degree to do
him justice either as a man or as an author? We
hear in every page of his learning and profundity,
&C., yet meet with not the slightest proof of either ;
be stands forth throughout " Parriana as a mere
pedantic old school-Master; not that he really was
so, but that his biographers, whatever they may
think to the contrary, have not penetration or
talent to .discover and illustrate his worth. They
have made him perfectly ridiculous ; have prosed
over his eccentricities when they should have
looked to his intellect, and informed us how he
smoked, ate, drank, and rode ; when they should
havebeen analysing his peculiar turns of thought,
and fixing hint on his proper pedestal as an
author. Of Mr. Barker himself, the Magnus
4pono of this 'nosing, long-winded squad, we
know little, except that he is the editor of the
Germany, and Agricola of Tacitus, the text of
which bears about the satne proportion to the
notes, that Falstaff's halfpenny-worth of bread
bore to his long'tavern bill of sack. At present
this plodding Gerund-grinder is, we understand,
busy with an Index to Stephen's Thesaurus, and
truly such drudgery is far better adapted to the
'mechanical quality of his intellect, than the super-
intendante of memoirs intended to develope the
mind of an individual, who,—however ridiculous,
vain, arrogant, and conceitedly puerile, the pre-
sent batch of biographers have made him,—was
great (though- not first-rate) as a scholar, en-
lightened as a Christian, consistent as a politi-
cian,-belo'ved as a friend, and exemplary as a man.
One word more : Messrs. Barker and Sym-
mons threaten, it seems, a continuation of
" Parriana." In mercy we intreat them to de-
sist; they have made the- Doctor quite suffi-
ciently ridiculous, without any further additions ;
while with respect to themselves-, really, in the
way of absurdity, we know not what further
laurels they can anticipate. Already they have
covered themselves with as much ridicule as the
imperfect limits of human nature will allow—
what more can they desire ?

Sir lIENnY PARNELL has been spending
some time at Braganza, the seat of the celebrated Doctor

DOYLE,