Star.
London, England, 1829-12-25 00:00:00

THE NEW PANTOMIME, DRURY LANE.

Although we cannot advocate *mar dramatic degrada-
tim, and uphold the barbarous practice of turning tttl
principal theatres of the capital to purposes foreign t'
legitimate Tregody and Comedy, we were, notwithstanti-
ing, forced to expressions of the highest admiration .t'.
the gorgeous scenery and itrrenious mechanith -
hibited in Drury Lane Theatre last evenii:g, te.
the rehearsal of the New Pantomime announced
for Satarday nvxt— a moving picture of Windsor— Vi:
ginia Water, and their environs—painted with the hap-
piest taleat and minutest fidelity ; exhibiting a variety
of wood and water scenery, rendered like gardens of
Eden under the magic effects of sunshine and moonlight,.
will undoubtedly draw to this Theatre multitudes of
those holiday c:owds who love to marvel at fine
sights. A swan constructed by the cunning attist.
to move with living action, and a waterfall beautiful al
Nature, are enough in themselves to satisfy, at least
one night, all the cravings of public hunger after tho
wonderful. We do not know what surprise is preparit:
at Covent-Garden—but it must be extraordinary indeed

if it can surpass the expensive efforts of its rival

IMPORTANT EXPERIMENTS ON THE
FRICTION OF WHEEL-CdRRLIGES.

A number of experiineitts were made lately on tit
Liverpool and Manchester. Railway, under the direetie2
of Mr. Hartley and Mr. Rastrick, engineers, . with a
view of determining, Ist, what are, the comparative
merits of various patent wheels and axles for •railway
waggons; and, 2d, what is the actual degre3 of frictio:t
of each; or, in other words, what proportion the force
requisite to move or propel each waggons upon a railway
bears to their load.
As the report of the engineers has not been yet made
public, we cannot inform our readers which of the ilia.-
finant patent wheels has been found to answer beet, bat
we learn with great satisfaction that the followimr
have been deduced from the experiments :
• 1. That a reduction of the proportion of the Lea: i:• : et*
the axles of railway-waggons to the circumference of t is r
wheels, causes a proportionate reduction in the friction.
2. That with loaded waggons, the bearing pent of tie.-
axles of which is only 11 inch diameter, the diameter of
the wheels being three feet or thereabouts, the friction i.
less than 61bs. to the ton, that is, only I in 400.
3. That though friction-rollers at the axles of waggon*
are in some respects advantageous, the great modern im-
provement consists in reducing the diameter of the axles.
As the waggons used on this occasion ware the sante
which were employed at the Railway Competition, in
October last, it follows that the power of she competing
engines was then underrated one-half, inasmuch as the
friction at the time was computed at 121bs. to the ton, or
rather less than 1 in 200. But the mostimportint deducticti
we are disposed to draw from these experiments is, that
steam-carriages can never be expected to run successfuhy
except on rail ro.:ds. The resistance to th*JuhLing KA: -
face of the wheels on a railway, is as nothing, and-the Irk-
, thin only 1 in 400: and admitting the power of an cebine
to carry a load up an ascent of 1 in 30 to be ouly one-
-1 eighth part of its power on a level, still the force of the
eugine wo.'eiug on a railmay must be ever pre-eini-
neutly superior to one working on our commea roads
on she very best of which the resistance and friction
together are as much as 1 in 20 in summer-tinie, and
1 in 10, 1 in 12, and never less than 1 in 1, imrieg
the wieter half of the year. For heavy goods, et a Ow:t-
rate of travelling, and on comparatively level roads, Fecant-
(hap may be used as substitutes for waggons and tans ;
but the :apid pace now required by modern impatient e mai
only be expected to be attained along railway., whir!. .4.
aviate danger, should be as completely isolated by few::
and bridging as canals now are.—Mechanic Magaaine.

Mrs. Cleave, of Ivor, Deer Uxbridge, has giv.:l).l.or
tenant, Mr. Newman, the sum of £l,OOO, being t•A
yearn' rent, on receiving the report of Mr.• Heron, a re-
spectable surettyor, that the iltrmn was in a gOod state of
cultivation, and that the tenant'was an Indneirious
and unable, through the depressed state of ai,”rieulture,.to
pay up his arrears.—Readiag Mercury.
We rejoice sincerely to find that our statement of the
death of Lieutenant Colonel Nicnota.s, of the Iteyal
Marines, Governor of Fernando Po, has roved incbrrect,
na letters have been received from that Officer, announcing
his recovery from a very severe illness. We trust this
gallant and distinguished Officer, who has been employed
on so many arduous enterprises, will long be spared to his
family and country.—Plymouth Journal.
A general bill of all the Christenings and Builals
within the City of Loudon and bills of mortality, Irvin Dee. 12,
1112.11, to Dee. 15,1599
Christened in the 97 parishes within the wails, 1,051 ; busied
1.239.
Christened in the 17 parishes without the Walls 4,695; buried,
3,750.
Christened in the 29 out-parilies in 3lidellesev sad Surrey,
17,962; buried, 14,193.
Christened in the 10 parishes in the city and liberties 44 West-
n•inste r, 4.010; buried, 4,3.59. •
Chilstened—Males,l3,674l; females, 13,354; in all, 91,0211.
.tied—tides, 14,915; femaes, 11,509; in a11,23;594. •
Whereof leave dies!, • .
Under two yssrs of age ... 6,710 ' Fifty and unity 2,094
Between two and five .... 2,347 &my tad eat May • . %Hs
Five and ten 1.019 -Seventy sad eighty
MS and ...... 949 Eighty sad deny • ' Van
Twenty sad thirty .. 1,543 Ninety and ow hinting& . • --
Thirty sad folly ........ 1,902 One hostived &Ansa „ S..
Forty and Fifty
Increased In the burials reported ebb path, tills• •

• • .4

7;;..

• 4.04*

,•

.1. o! v+.,o

• ,7*

.r411.14-‘ `

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l~:: {t

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r.v.v

WINTER SCENES.

BY JOHN MAYNF.

How keen and ruthless is the storm !
Stern Winter in its bitt'rest form !
Long, cheerless nights, and murky days:
No sun-beam gladdens Nlis'ry's ways!
The frost has stopp'd yon village-mill,
And Labour, ev'ry where, stands still!
Kv'n birds, from leafless grpves withdrawn.
Fall, torpid, on the frozen lawn—
No more, in Spring, to greet the morn,
Or build their nests in yonder thorn !
Laud bowls the wind along the vale!
Shipwreck and death are in the gale !
Lora, weary trav'lers, as they go,
Are wilder'd in the trackless snow,
Groping, in fearful doubt, between
'Deceitful ice, and gulphs unseen,
Lest, after all the danger. past,
The neat sad step should be their last !

To crowded cities if we turn,
What numbers weep, what numbers mourn !
• Unsheiter'd Sons of Toil and Care.
Cold, shiv'ring, comfortless, and bare !
Poor seamen, erst in battle brave,
Half-famisted, sinking to de grave !
Sad groupes, who never begg'd before,
Imploring aid from door to door!
While helpless Age, too frail to roam,
Is perishing, in want, at home !
Hard fate! when poverty and years
Assail us, in this vale of tears,
Till death, the dismal scene to close,
In pity, terminates our woes!

0 ! ye, whom PROVIDINCZ bath blest,
With wealth to succour the distrest,
0! lend your help in time of need!
The naked clothe—the hcagry feed !
And great, from HL►v'n, shall he your 'need !

THE LITERARY UNION.

um Addison,

I rote, the forthcoming Number of the London Univer-
sity Magazine.
It would be an idle waste of words to dilate on the
benefits likely to flow from this Institution ; because the history of
literature declares, in every page, the great advantages which hays
resulted from the social intercourse of the lovers of knowledge.
The plan of the Society is not, strictly speaking, a novelty ; it is
ruttier an attempt to restore that state of society which existed in
the latter part of the seventeenth, and during the greater portion of
the eighteenth century ; when all who loved to dabble in ink sought
the coffee-houses frequented by the literary lions of the day, and
derived as much amusement from their conversations as they had
instructions from their writings. Few have read without envying
those who witnessed the scene,—the descriptions of Dryden, sitting

in his favourite coffee-rootn, surrounded by the wits of Charles the
Second's brilliant Court; few are they who would not wish to have

"Like Cato, sive his little Senate laws(
and there are none who read Pope's correspondence with Swift,

that does not look on the social party which projected the " Satire
on the abuses of human learning," as a specie+ of intellectual
paradise, such as the world shall never again see paralleled. In
more modern times, Dr. Johnson became the centre of a less en-
viable circle; still we would have borne the despotism of the great
literary autocrat with patience, for the sake of hearing some of the
conversations recorded by Boswell. The increased number of
those who have, since the era of the French Revolution, devoted
themselves to literary pursuits, has broken up the familiarity which
once existed among all who loved to labour with the pen. The
republic of letters was virtually dissolved, and its place usurped by
a number of small coteries and petty parties which soon degene-
rated into factions. Hence came that deadly virus of political
rimosity, which so long and so lately degraded the literary cha-
racter; the merits of a poem were judged by its accordance with
those very unpoetic standards of taste, the folio volumes of the
Statutes. The histories of Greece and Rome were arenas in which
Whigs and Tories, Republicans and Monarchists, fought out the
battles of the present day with consummate talent, but with mar-
vellously little regard for the dictates of sober truth or common
sense : nay, even science scarcely escaped the pollution ; chemical
theories nearly became as much political questions, and certainly
wish as good reason, as the honesty of Demosthenes or the tyranny
of Diorysius. We have lived to see this violence abate; a few
years more, and it will be totally forgotten, or only remembered to
be laughed at" In another part of our Jouinal we have pointed
out some of the gratifying signs of returning tranquillity. " The
Literary Union" appears to us the very means by which a con-
summation so devoutly to be wished," may be effected. The fol.
loWing document expresses the designs of the founders of this insti-
tution so clearly and fully, that we insert it without any comment,
leaving the imagination of our readers to supply the bright vistas of
future improvement which it seems to open.
MICIFOILAMINIM OF MB FIRST MISTING OF '' THE LITER•SY UNION."
" It has been for some time a general opinion among the profes-
sors of art, science, and literature, and the friends to those pursuits,
that there is room and opportunity, in our great and still growing
Metropolis, for the establishment of a new Society, having foe its
object intellectual intercourse and amusement.
" In the formation of such a Society, economy is recommended

by many considerations. It would be unadvisable to make a new '
institution expensive, at a time when there ate many expensive clubs
in London ; since there is nota mere probability, but a clear prospect,
of many most respectable names, already belonging to those clubs,
being added to the Society which is now forming, if it perseveres
in o plan of moderate expense.
14 It is not desirable, moreover, that Societies for intellectual pur-
poses should be expensive, as high terms of admission might, in
some instances, be the cause of virtually excluding from thesu men
of the best character, taste, and information.
Lastly.tin isSociety established for the object which has been
stated, all considerable expense is obsoletely unnecessary ; and the
idea which his been sometimes promulgated, that clubs preserve
themselves from objectionable members by their high prices of ad-
miuloo, is fully answered by this observation, that vigilance and
moral opinion are sufficient to keep any association free from im-
proper associates, whether the terms be high or.low. •
I, Impressed with these considerations, s number of gentlemen
met, on the athof July, at the house of Thomas Campbell, Esq•
and came to the following resolutions
a First, That a Society *ball be established, amounting to five
hundred Members, for the purpose of promoting frequent meeting
and intercourse among the professors and friends of art, literature,
and science.
Secondly, That the greatest cue should be taken, in the
formation of this Society, to admit noise but men of unexceptionable
personal character.
" Thirdly, That the Society shall be named " The Literary
Union."
" Fourthly, That simplicity and mammy shall be held as lead,
ing principles of the Society ; that three or (our pounds shall be thel
• union Mull seatecrijdon rewired ; aid that a house of meeting
shall ho me* to la sr pert et basdea, as central as possible, whk'll
!dud be wS faelislail, 'and hMisamedated with proper sermatoi
• and sitliiiitteShmeiii of thnlokilty 'shill decide upon, as well a 4
Ira each iiblicationins the Society may deem proper.
• See Review of Murray's Family Library.

The present members or the Committee are, W. Ayrton, Bac
Prince Cimitilli,.Sir G. Thicket, Bart, Sir F. Freeling; Bait. J.
Goldsmid, Esq. Dr. Henderson, W. Mackinnon, i?.sq. J. Martin,
Esq. Right Hon. Sir Gore Castity, Bari. W. H. Pickersgill, Esq.
B.A. J. Smirnove, Esq. Rev. A. Wade, D. D. It. Watson, Esq. J.
WI

ebster, Esq. Thomas Campbell, Esq. Chairman.
" The Committee has engaged the house now occupied by the
Athennum Club, 12, Waterloo-place, Pall-mall. gall' the Ist of.
January, candidates for admission are requested to tend their names
and addresses, free of expense, directed' To the Secretary of "the
Literary Union,' at the British Coffee House, Cockspur-street, and
there alone. After the Ist of January, the applications of candi.
dates (in writing only,) are requested to be made at the regular ad-
dress of the Society, 12, Waterloo-place, Pall-mall, directed to the
Secretary as before.
" The Committee intends to place The Literary Union' is full
operation on the 25th of March ensuing. The objects of the
Society cannot be attained by preparations made without due
caution, with the small entrance-fee deposited. Nevertheless, the
Committee proposes to open the large coffee.room from the 14th
of January until the 25th of March, from twelve o'clock at DOOR to
twelve at night daily, during which time tea and coffee, wkb the
periodical publications, will be supplied to the members. The
various arrangements contemplated for dining, the different footing
from other Societies on which' The Literary Union' is established,
and the necessity of ensuring a rigid economy in the household ex.
penses, render the delay necessary. It is presumed none will censure
the deliberation of proceeding required to ensure comfort with
stability.
" Several members having signified their with for the formation
of a library, the establishment of weekly costverzatiooes, &c. the
Committee beg to announce that these objects have not 'been over.
looked ; but that the domicillatory arrangements of the Society
necessarily come first under consideration. It will be competent
on their completion, when the Society is in full action, for any
member to communicate his ideas to the Committee for adoption,
or to call a meeting of the Society at large, after the forms pro..
scribed in the ' Rules and Regulations of ' The Literary Union;
to submit them for general approval. Until the Society is in ful
operation, however, it is obvious that the consideration of such
and similar subjects will be premature.
" The Committee is happy to state, that two hundred and fifty
names are already entered on the lists of the Society as members,
besides numerous candidates, who have applied for enrolment, and
remain for consideration. As soon as three hundred are enrolled,
it is proposed to print the names for the use of the members.
" British Coffee-House, December 3d, 1829."