Star.
London, England, 1826-12-28 00:00:00

THE MASQUERADE.

The second Masquerade of the present season was gins last
night at the Argyll Rooms, and. considering the almost deserted
state of town, was well attended. There were cobs found Morris
Dancers, Jews, Friars, Gipsies, Nuns, Highlanders. Quakets,Turks,
Haymakers, Rower.girls, Sailors, Paul Prys, Ste. with three or
four well dressed and supported characters, by Irishmen and
Foreigners. A few male and female dominos, and an ,unusually
Inge proportion of young men of fashion, &c. constituted the
motley group.
The superb suite of rooms were dna op end lighted inertia.
cently for the occasion. The company began to arrive aeon after
ten o'clock. The usual succession of stale and practical jokes—of
dancing and conflict—of good humour and contention.-of excel-
lent music and deafening noise, followed, and was kept up until the
aunouncement of " supper." A general rusk then took place, sod
the viands disappeared in a twinkling. The dance and were
afterwards resumed, and continued to a late hour. It iertlustiat
to add, that the arrangements for insuring accommodation and

amusement were upon an improved scale. A very pretty ballet
was executed under the direction of M. Howie, and a rooms bating
been set apart for (Luddite dancing, •Clanse who IndulgodLia that'
part of the sports were secured from the interruptions expatiescal
and complained of at former Masquerades.

THE ARMY.

Detachments belonging to the 45th. 54th, and 8341 Regbusts Of
laAwry, are ordered to embark this morning, on board a steam
vee in the river, for Gravesepd, ms roots to it3tatham. A De-
taehment belonging to A. 17tb, Baiskagi4 of Foot, is ordered to
march this morning, front W tor. Windsoc.--The Depots
oftbe 16th and Net Roglatettse iratiatry. are under 'orders to
sunk um the Town.

NAVAL IN'

The 'Velma, Thom, from St. John's (N. 8.) to the ark time
lost as the ldi ult. as tie Bloch Reek. war the Smith Sea bleeds
Saved.

The Fortuna, frees Cele to Legliorti,Was driven an shore near
Carrara about the 10th instant. with Wed her mainetast,and three
anchors and cables—cargo saved. and expected to be get ed •
A vessel. supposed to he the Belmont., from Demists, was off
Holyhead on the 114th instant.
Lems.....The Caledonia. of Lath, sailed fro* Riga. mere tau
ten weeks elms, WI nee having been beard o 4 was supposed: to
lei /set. • A report has jest.reached here of her having foundered,
but the crew arrived at Hamburgh.
• Fetatours, Dm. sA—Wind ship is now standing
her from the Manacles (nre, v‘si)
• • Dam, Dec. 117.—Med N.N.L.—The homeward Weed sailed
for the River this morning. Passed by, the Sensersetshire. Ross.
from Jamaica; and Waterloo, from the westward; with
several transports.
illaomsems. Doc. 57.--Arrived. the Cadmes, Seoweett, front
Quests; 'liberty, floows,• hens St. Michael's; Lady Siserbrook,l
Reeves, frets Jamaica; Dispatch, Blaine, from Bilboi; and • the
Bissaing. Swam, franstisbon. Sailed the Waterloos Lav*n,
fdrilaidaks ; and Fly. ilosames. for St. Michael's.
lonarom. Dec. t4.—Arrived the Marshes. Wisest from
Qmbec ; and Camilla, %mow from Names. The Herald,
from Newfwandiandoekh was sank • near blochbeuir, hit been
raised with lightersi and brought to the Shoeless.

Prince LZOPOLD is at present staying at Rome.
Prince FAsTitawase. the Austrian Ambassador, trans-
acted business yesterday, st the Mee of the Secretary of tate for
Foreign Affairs.
The Earl of Diaav has arrived at his seat, the Oaks,
where be Win teen Set* line deer on Saturday seas. • grand paid
is expected. • . ,
Loud Ososos BEIIIIIIIORD has been fh* SOW time very
alarmingly ill la Dahlia, ender thecae of the mast sediment Physl.
clans; and we regret to state,thas by the lam meow his Lordship's
recovery has been despaired of. T. complidist under which his
Lordship labours is, we understand, a cancer niche went and mess
incurable character in the, nose—lt is mid dos bis Physidans are
anxious for his Lordship's removal to Landman* are apprehensive
that his complaint may.preve fatal Inferable &rival there.
Parsons, the admirable representative:of old men,
and nth* chatacters in low comedy, at Drury-lane
Theatre, was in early life a member oils poor strolling'
company in North Wales, in which wretched situa-
tion he rather existed than lived. His benefit approach-
ing, upon which alone he depended, he hit upon the
following expedient for filling the barn in which they
performed. on his night, by giving out, Whilst hawking
his tickets around the men, that he,pessessed.the know.
ledge of discovering coal mines, by merely tasting the
earth that covered them. and assured the inhabitants
that be would give than a proof of his singular an the day
after his 'benefit ; but their impatience for finding a new
mine, the old one being nearly eshaumed,was such, that
nothing but immediate proof c ould satisfy them before
they would purchase a single admission 4 Parsons note
deemed his scheme ruined, and that he should be obliged
to keep Lent by browsing v ith the goats on the
mountains until the opening of the company at Shrews-
bury. He. however, accompanied them to a common in
the vicinity of the town. and commenced bin trial in-
stanter, and to the atter astonishment of Parsons, and the
astonishment of the neighbourhood, under the very spot
he had fixed upon was found, by boring, a fine vein of
coal of no very great depth from the surface. The
consequence was. teat his barn was a 46 beeper," and
he received a handsome present front the propnetor ef
the land. His professional merits,. some time after, pro.,
clued him an engagement on the. Lnadon board*

PORTUG AL.
'bat air. dittoing is consistent and stanch be .
feelings useraeds s Portugal may be seen by the follow.
,log speech., which that Right Hon. Gentleman delivered
triter a dinner given him by the British merchants at
Lisbon, on the 24 of April, HMI, upon the occasitan of
his health being drink:
" I am deeply sensible, Gentlemen,. of the honour
done to me by this meeting, and I am highly flattered
by the sentiments with which you have been pleased to
ample my name.
"To have been a disciple of Mr. Pitt, and to have
been a sharer in those councils in which originated the
struggle for the salvation of Portugal, are the two cit.=
eminences in my political life, en which, if on any, I
look back with pride and gratification.
61 It is a pride to one tohave imbibed the principles of
Mr. Pitt, and a gratification to receive your testimony of
the just application of those principles to the measures
by which this country was saved,—principles of which
the characteristic was to cherish order and industry at
home, as the true sources of commercial opulence and
national strength; abroad, to consider the peace, and
poweriand satiety of Great Britain as bound up with the
security of other nations.
" From this system of internal and external policy.
Great Biitain derived the means, and imposed upon
herself the duty, of sustaining the long contest with
France, which preceded the war of the Peninsula.
" In pursuance of that policy, those who had the di.
rection of the British councils at the moment when the
grasping hand of France was extended to seize the
Crown and liberties of Portugal, did not hesitate to fly.
to her assistance; the good sense, the feeling, and the
'generosity of the British Nation went with their Govern-
atenrin the undertaking. But sanguine and visionary
enthusiasts, I well remember, were they deemed to be,
who thought that from the struggle for Portugal might
issue the deliverance of Europe! Such an enthusiast I
was, and always avowed myself to be. I made this
*vowel even in times when the contest was most doubt-
, ful, and, by many, held to be desperate.
" True it was, that clouds and darkness occasionally
gathered on the horizon ; but, even through thole
clouds, and through that 'darkness, I saw, or fondly
fancied I saw, a ray of light which promised to pierce
the gloom, and. might hereafter lighten all the nations.
" It is not at this time of day, or in this spot, that I
am called upon to justify those hopes against
.he im-
putation of extravagance. Whether as a just and II&
Wild consequence of perseverance in a good cause, or
whether by the special favour of Paoviorecz, true it is,
in fact, that from this nook of Europe proceeded that
impulse by which its mightiest kingdoms have been est
free: true it is, that in this steal and unpromising son
was deposited the seed of that security whose branches
now overshadow mankind. From these recollections
and usociations the land in which we are assembled
derives an animating and classic interest even in the eyes
of the most indifferent observer. For my own part, I
cannot view this city in which for so many months of
horror and anxiety the hopes of Europe lay tremblitig
for their doom,—l could not traverse those mighty fast-
nesses of nature which f e this capital, those bulwarks
behind which victory h f retired to new plume her
wings for a flight more son lig and more sustained,.
I could not cOntemplate th holy ruins amongst
which hasrebeen wandering, wean awful curiosity
pauses to inquire'ethethee the surrounding destruction
has been wrought by ancient convelsiOns of nature, or
by the sportive sacrilege and barbarous malignity of the
foe,—l cannot behold the traces of desolation in this
country, and of suffering among the people, .widsclut
rendering a just homage to the character of a nation
which by all that it has done and more, by all that it
has endured, has raised itself a pitch of moral esti
,nence so far beyond the proportion of its territory,' p..
pulatioe, or power.
" I cannot consider all these things without blessing
that wise and beneficent policy, which brOught Ear
land with timely speed to the aid of such a nation—so
call forth its energies, to Marshal its resources, to sup.
port and invigorate its unyielding constancy, and, after
its own deliverance was achieved, to lead it forth in
pursuit of its oppressor.
66 To have fought together is such a cause—to have
mingled banners, and to have mingled blood, In battles
of such interests, and leading to such results, must un-
doubtedly cement an eternal union between dip British
and Portuguese nations.
.14 You will observe,'Gentlemen, that I am anxious to
state the principle of our connexion, and of our claims
upon each other, in terms, not of comparison, but of
equality. Ido so with sincerity, because I believe that
statement to be just-i-I might do so from policy, even if
I doubted of its justness.
66 Portugal would not have been saved without
England, it is true; bat Portugal was to England,*
main instrument for the mightier tail: which England
had to perform.
We brought hither councils, arms, and British dis-
cipline and British valour ; we found here willing hearts
and active hands—a coofialbm Government—a people
brave and enduring, docile in instruction, faithful in
folloviing, patient under privations, not to be subdued
by disaster, and not to be intoxicated by' success. The
arm of England was the lever that wrenched the power
of Bonaparte from its basis: Portugal wä thefulauen
on which that lever moved. England fanned and fed
the sacred fire ; but Portugal had 'already reared the
altar on which that fire was kindled, and from which it
mounted, brightening and videning, until the world
was illumined with the blue.
" I have said that, even from motives of policy, I
would state as nearly' qual as possible the balance be-
tween Portugal and England. There is a principal of
disunion in unequal connexions. Active beneficence is
a virtue of easier practice, thaw forbearance after having
conferred, or than thankfulness after having received,*
benefit. I lows not, indeed, whether it be a greater li
and more diScult exercise of magnanimity for the one
party to act as if be had forgotten, or fot the other esti
he constantly remembered, the obligation.
Oa the part of Great Britain, let us bear in lAA
that the kitbags to which we addressed ourselves ini
Portugal, were those of national pride and indepen.;
dsace. lf those feelings were found equal to the oces-
sle* what wonder. or what regret, that they Amid'
ihave survived it? It is naturally to be expected, that
lhaving accomplished the overthrow of its enemies, the
'genius of the nation should carry itself with somewhat
of a bolder and freer port, even towards its friends.
We have no right to feel this sorely—it would be neither
just nor becoming in us to do so. We should respect,
even in its excess, an indelfendence that we have egl-
dicatelf, and should pardon eves the weyeraedhom era
ispitjt *hick we have raised.