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THE GENTLEMAN'S MAGAZINE,

For DECEMBER, 1816.

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Mr. URBAN,

Laeken, Brussels, Dec. 3. BEG you will allow me a short space in your Magazine to notice a report, mentioned by Mr. Belsham, with regard to the opinion of the late Lord Thurlow, upon the controversy between the late learned Prelate, the Bishop of St. Asaph, and the late Dr. Priestley. All the argument of the question has been perfectly stated by my Lord the Bishop of St. David's; to shew, that Lord Thurlow cannot, in reason, be thought to have held any such opinion. If he never held that opinion, he never expressed it. 1 do, indeed, absolutely believe that my late noble and venerable Relation never thought, and, consequently, never expressed himself in the terms of that report. And I believe this, as well upon the grounds advanced by the learned Bishop of St. David's, as upon my own knowledge of the respect and friendship which dwelt in the bosom of the late Chancellor towards that great and deceased Prelate. I beg you to believe me, Mr. Urban, your obedient and faithful servant,

Mr. URBAN,

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THURLOW.

tugal, in the month of March 1815, by order of the King, to be restored to the Convent of Balem, near Lisbon.

I had the opportunity of examining this Bible, unique of its kind, for several successive evenings, in the apartments of that excellent diplo matic character, in the Hotel de Brancas at Paris. It is written entirely with the pen, in nine folio volumes; and is illustrated with engravings, which form pictures in the most expressive and brilliant style.

The Chevalier de Brito had the good fortune to consign this invaluable Work to the care of Capitaine Le Chevalier Beaurepiere, a few days before the return of Buonaparte from Elba; and I have been recently informed that it again ornaments the Library of the Convent de Balem, near Lisbon. You will have pleasure in stating to the publick a circumstance which reflects so much honour on his Majesty Louis XVIII.; a King, who, in retirement and on the throne, has been a bright example of every religious duty.

Mr. URBAN,

Hampton-court, H

Nov. 28.

T is stated in r. 61, That the celebrated Bible which Junot carried off from Portugal was not in the sale of his Library which took place in Pall Mall, and that the Government of Portugal were so anxious to redeem this great curiosity, that they had offered Madame Junot 80,000 livres, but she had required 150,000." I am enabled to assure you for a fact, that the munificence and justice of his Majesty Louis XVIII. (to efface, if it were possible, the remembrance of this sacrilegious theft) purchased this celebrated Bible of Junot's widow, and paid her 80,000 francs for it. It was remitted to the Chevalier de Brito, Chargé d'Affaires de Por

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й. P.

Dec. 4.

AVING noticed in a French Journal a statement that Literature in England meets with no encouragement, either public or private, I beg you to insert the following answer to it from one of our periodical prints.

"It is well known, that a living. Writer of Poetry has received a sum for his productions which it would startle a We believe we Frenchman to name. may safely state, that his gains, for one year, by mere Literature, have amounted to 60007. In England we know nothing of Government-encouragement of Literature; with the exception of the Laureate's 2001. a year: we leave the Government to its proper business, and confine the remuneration of our writers to the Booksellers, who very wisely buy nothing that will not sell. What they can afford to give, therefore, and do give to our Authors, is good and faithful proof

of

of the means and intellect of our people; and hence it affords important information as to our general national condition and character. Mr. Moore's new Poen

is eagerly expected; and the Booksellers, we believe, hold themselves prepared to give 2 or 30007. for it. Madame D'Arblay (late Miss Burney) is now living in France; she can declare, we apprehend,

that for her last Novel, which was not her best, she did not receive less than 1500. Mr. Murray bought the last tragedy (the Gamesters) for 4001. Mr. Coleridge's Caprice of Christabel procured him, we are assured, a Bank Note for1001. The copy-right of The Rejected Addresses, and a few Parodies of Horace, was purchased for 10007. of the Authors; and 16,000 copies at least have been sold. Lord Byron's Poetical Works have produced, to one person or another, a sum that may fairly be described as forming a considerable fortune. Mr. Southey has amassed a large and most valuable

library, and lives in comfort and great respectability, solely by his literary exertions. The Edinburgh Review sells nearly 12,060 copies four times a year. It is a splendid property to its Editor and its Publishers; while 40, 50, 60, and 1007. are given for each of the Essays of which it is composed. We believe we have stated enough to make our French Author lick his lips at English encouragement of letters. He has been most unlucky in his assertions; for almost each of them admits of a denial as to the matter of fact. Ignorant, indeed, must he be, who represents Literature as neglected and unsupported in England of late years. If he had said, that the popular eagerness and liberality had done mischief in the opposite way to that of starvation, he might have written to the prejudice of the Country, which he hates for its superiority, with

some effect."

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his head being encircled with a redbot iron crown.

Damien was a fanatic, who in the year 1756 attempted to assassinate Louis XV. and actually wounded him in the presence of his son and his guards. When put to the torture, he declared it was not his intention to kill the

King, but only wound him, that God might touch his heart, and incline him to restore peace to his dominions, which had been much agitated by the disputes between the Parliament and Clergy respecting the Papal Bull Unigenitus, which was enforced by the King, in opposition to the Parliament and people, and by which the Jansenists were declared heretical.

Although the insanity of Damien was evident from his expressions, he was put to a most cruel and fingering death by the rack, which is figura tively called a "a bed of steel."

As possibly some of your Readers might not have been aware who the persons alluded to were, your insertion of the above will much oblige,

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Yours, &c.

J. S.

Tour through various Parts of the NETHERLANDS and GERMANY in 1815. (Continued from page 392.) N travelling upon the Continent, especially through France, Germany, and the Netherlands, the researches of the inquisitive Tourist are greatly facilitated by the local maps

and statistical accounts which are to

be met with in most of the principal towns. To these sources of information I am indebted for many sketches of History and Biography, which otherwise would have escaped my notice; and which, I flatter myself, your Readers are not displeased to see occasionally interwoven with the parrative of my travels and adventures. My invariable practice on landing at my inn (and which I would recommend to all who travel for information) was to hire a valet de place, to conduct me to the booksellers' shops, where my first inquiry was, whether they had any local maps, topogra phies, directories, or almanacks? from which last I have often derived much useful instruction, as well as entertainment. I found the booksellers in general well informed and obliging, many of them capable of conversing tolerably in Latin'; and some not undeserving of the praise of scholarship

(par

(particularly in Saxony and Holland), whom Frobenius, the friend of Erasmus, would have recognized as kindred spirits; and to whom Robert and Andrew Foulis of Glasgow, and, though last not least, your honoured friend Bowyer, would have given the right hand of learned fellowship. You, friend Urban, can best tell how many Booksellers and Printers of that description a learned Foreigner would find among us in the present day. I anticipate your answer-" Apparent rari nantes in gurgite vasto." And yet I acknowledge with pleasure, that I know no set of men more kindhearted, hospitable, and liberal, than the Booksellers and Printers of London, or at whose tables a Scholar finds more rational enjoyment. But whither am I wandering? At the elose of my last letter I gave you a brief sketch of the various turns of fortune which the town of Ath, in the province of Hainault, had undergone since it came into the possession of Louis XIV. m 1667. I mentioned that, after reverting to its old masters, the Spaniards, by virtue of the treaty of Nimeguen, and remaining in their hands nine years, it was taken in 1697 by a French army, under the command of Marechal de Catinat; a truly great man, whom it would be unjust to dismiss with so cursory a notice. At an early period of his military career, he attracted the notice of the illustrious Condé, who possessed an intuitive sagacity in discerning merit. The Duke of Savoy having joined the powerful confederacy which had been formed against Louis the XIVth in 1687 by the league of Augsburg, the French monarch sent an army into Italy, under the command of Catinat, who established his fameby a signal victory over the Duke of Savoy, for which he was rewarded with the baton of a Marechal; in

bestowing which the King complimented him by saying, that Valour had received its just recompence. When the war of the Spanish Succession broke out in 1701, Catinat was sent into Italy, to oppose Prince Eugene; where, having experienced some reverses of fortune, he was superseded in the command of the army by the Marechal de Villeroy, to which he submitted with a command of temper that redounded more to his honour than all his former achievements.

"I strive," said this patriotic hero, in a letter to a friend, to forget my misfortunes, that my mind may be more at ease in executing the orders of Villeroy." One of the distinguishing characteristics of a great mind is a noble superiority to the frowns of Fortune, as well as her smiles; and this praise belongs to Catinat. He had the mortification to experience, in common with many of the first names recorded in history, "The unwilling gratitude of base mankind."

And he who had gloriously reaped so many laurels in the field, found himself unable to resist the shafts of envy and malice; and at length became the victim of female court intriguė:

Diram qui contudit hydram, Notaque fatali portenta labore subegit, Comperit invidiam supremo fine domari.

HOR.

The instruments of Catinat's disgrace, if that term could be applied to such a man, were Madame de Maintenon, the well-known favourite of Louis the XIVth, and the Duchess of Burgundy, whose displeasure' is said to have arisen from his want of assiduity in paying court to them. Catinat, who, to borrow the words of the Historian of Modern Europe, "united the coolness of a philosopher to the fire of a hero," retired with philosophic dignity, in possession of the richest of all treasures, conscious integrity, to a small country house near Pontoise, happy in the enjoy ment of "alternate study, exercise, and ease." In that caim retreat he spent the evening of his days,

Great without titles, without fortune blest, [while oppress'd. Rich e'en when plundered, honour'd Some of the Generals who were employed after him behaved so ill on various occasions, that the whole kingdom felt indignant at seeing a man of

such transcendant merit suffered to remain in a state of inaction; but he never complained of the injustice which had been done to him. He was not insensible of fame," that last infirmity of noble minds;" but he scorned purchase it at

to

so dear a price,

As soothing folly, or exalting vice. Vanity, which hath obscured the lustre of many a hero, formed no part of the character of Catinat. He de

clined the Cordon Bleu, which the King offered him after he had been two years in retirement; and when upbraided by some of his family for refusing so flattering a mark of distinction, he calmly replied, "If you are not satisfied with my conduct, let my name be struck out of your gene alogy." And, as he was superior to vain-glory, so he was neither the slave of ambition or avarice. He could boast that he had never once solicited a place or a favour; and he carried with him into solitude the comfortable reflection, that he had never practised those arts of simulation and dissimulation so common at courts. And he might justly say to himself in the following lines which were applied to him by one of his eulogists:

J'ai régardé d'un œil de Democrite
Les sots comblés d'honneurs dus au mé-

rite :

Et je me suis, de l'orage battu,
Envelopé dans ma propre vertu.

He died at his country seat, Feb. 25, 1712, at the age of 74.-And now to resume the narrative of my tour.

After gratifying our curiosity at Ath, we directed our course through a rich and beautiful country towards Enghein, which is about 12 miles Northeast of Ath. It is situated in a valley, and contains about 3000 inhabitants. The Premier Baron of Hainault once derived his title from this place, which came by marriage in 1485 to Francis of Bourbon, Count of Vendome, who left a son, Charles de Vendome, who died in 1536, and was father of Antony of Bourbon, King of Navarre, whose son, the great Henry the Fourth, King of France, sold the town of Enghein, with its bailiwick, comprising 18 villages, to Charles de Ligue, Duke of Aremberg. The title of Duke of Enghein has long been established in the House of Bourbon Condé. The Palace, the Park, and the Gardens of the Duke of A remberg at Enghein, well deserve the attention of travellers. Near this town is the village of Steenkirk, which I surveyed with interest, on account of its being the spot where a memorabie and sanguinary battle was fought on the 3d of August, 1692. The Allied army was commanded by William the Third, King of England, and the French army by the Duke of Luxem. bourg. Never was the personal cou.

rage of William more conspicuous than on this occasion; but the palm of Generalship must be given to his great Antagonist, who, to the most intrepid display of personal valour, united unrivalled sagacity and presence of mind in the midst of diffi forced to retreat, and leave his adculties and dangers. William was versary in possession of the field. Seldom has History recorded a battle more hot than that of Steenkirk, or more bloody during the time it lasted; for it has been said, that not less than 10,000 men fell on both sides in the course of two hours. The joy of the French Court was extravagant upon this occasion; notwithstanding it was a victory which produced no result to compensate for the loss they had sustained. The victory, if it may be the genius of Luxembourg, which so called, must be wholly ascribed to surpassed that of William.

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Quantum lenta solent inter viburna cupressi."

The village of Steenkirk is between Enghein and Hall, to which I proceeded after surveying the field of battle. Hall is prettily situated upon the River Senne, on the confines of Brabant, and on the high road from Mons to Brussels, at the distance of seven leagues from the former place, and three from the lat têr. But I must defer some observations I have to communicate respecting this place, as well as the province of Hainault in general, till my next letter. CLERICUS LEICESTRIENSIS.

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Mr. URBAN,

Doc. 10.

WAS much struck with the ingenuity of the learned Correspoudent, who, in the First Part of your present Volume, pages 20 and 134, has demonstratively corrected, not only the "Monasticon," but that grand Record the Government DOMES DAY; and am not a little surprised that the correction has since passed unnoticed by your numerous and ingenious Correspondents. I am far from pretending to any accurate skill in such subjects; but you will allow me to point out one error in the Note in p. 20; where, in lines 12 and 16, for Ade, should be read Acte. In p. 134, also, lines 2, 3, 4, the words "near together in Derbyshire, Halen, Remesleage, Sciplea,' I take to be Shirley," appear superfluous.

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Sir Herbert Croft (vol. LXXXVI. p. 470), printed, in the year 1784, for the purpose of collecting the Opinions of the Author's Friends," a few copies of an octavo volume, intituled," Sunday Evenings;" ou the 92d page of which Sir Herbert says, "These are all which the Author is at the expence of printing for private perusal. The hints or suggestions of any Readers into whose bands they may chance to fall, will be thankfully received. H. C. Holywell, Oxford, June, 1784."-Boswell, in his "Life of Johnson," says, "Mr. Croft was somewhat mortified by Dr. Johnson's not being highly pleased with some Family Discourses which he had printed. They were in too familiar a style to be approved by so manly a mind."

The Sir Eyre Coote, whom your Reviewer, p. 347, recollects having assisted in his Election for Leicester in 1768, died at Madras, April 26, 1783. He was Uncle, I believe, to the present Sir Eyre Coote.

The Sunderland Library, p. 396, is preserved at Blenheim, not at Althorpe. The Noble Owner of the last-mentioned place is the Founder of his own magnificent and unrivaled Collection of Literary Treasures.

Bp. Warburton, in an unpublished Letter, written in 1764, mentions some Rents that were due to him, as Rector of Frisby (or Firsby) in Lincolnshire, forty years before that date. This preferment is not noticed by any of his Biographers. He was ordained in 1723; presented to Grieseley in 1726; and to Brent Broughton in 1728. Perhaps the present Rector of Frisby, or some neighbouring Divine, would kindly ascertain this fact, and the date of his presentation.

Edward Capell, esq. the learned Editor of Shakspeare, died Jan. 24, 1791, in bis 68th year; and was buried, probably, either at Troston, the place of his nativity, or at Hastings, where he built a house, and resided many years. The communication of his epitaph would be deemed a favour. The Picture of Hogarth, p. 421, is the Mock Election of Mayor of Garrett at Wandsworth. The church there is near Garrett-lane. There are three Prints of the ceremony, one of which is probably taken from the pic ture above-mentioned,

I shall be obliged to your Corre

spondents for any particulars relative to the Rev. Nicholas Bound, D. D. Author of "The Unbelief of St. Thomas laid open for the Comfort of all that desire to believe," and of "A Comfortable Treatise for the Afflicted." His prefaces are dated Norton in Suffolk, 1608. He was, I believe, a Fellow of Peter House, Cambridge. Yours, &c. CARADOC.

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BEG to call the serious attention of your Readers to the truly alarming list of Fires that have happened in the Metropolis in the year 1816. They are in number 41 (though many are, no doubt, omitted); and above 61 houses, warehouses, and shops, have been burnt or damaged, and of course a considerable number of other buildings in danger. I should hope this enormous evil will attract the notice of the House of Commons, and particularly of the Police Committee. The loss of Property by Fire in the Metropolis in 1816 may be estimated at 80,0007.; and yet there has been no building of consequence burnt, nor have the fires extended to many adjoining houses.

In this year several persons have been burnt to death, and several others injured; and many families escaped with difficulty. How long is the Metropolis to suffer for the want of a public Establishment, by which light carts, laden with fire-escapes, might be had always in readiness, and the inhabitants of houses on fire rescued from imminent danger, and the most dreadful deaths?

List of Fires in London in 1816. Aldersgate-street, I house burnt, several damaged.

Aldersgate-street-court, I house burnt.
Bermondsey, 1 house burnt.
Bermondsey, another house burnt.
Bolton-street, 1 house damaged,
Bond-street, 1 house burnt, 3 damaged.
Bow-lane,

1 house and warehouses burnt, several damaged. Borough, 1 house damaged. Broad-st.Carnaby-market, I house burnt. Brunswick-square, house burnt. Bunhill-row, 1 house burnt.

Chelsea Military Asylum, 2 rooms da maged.

Chelsea, 1 house burnt.
Chelsea, King's-road, Ihouse damaged.
City-road, 1 bouse burnt.

Crown-street, Finsbury-square, l'house, warehouse, and shop burnt.

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