On Narva's glorious day? Still boasts the Swede that magic might, Lead unappall'd thy squadrons forth; Yet shall we see some future hour The vapours that malignant lour: 'Mid well earn'd glory's dazzling blaze. Or by benignant peace be furl'd, Britannia's, banner broad, the terror of the world! From land to land, from shore to shore: And raise the pious vow: But now let songs of mirth ascend Yon æther's azure bow. Be this our song," May conquest's wing And guard our much lov'd Sire from sorrow's baneful sting.!" RICHARD. 1 DIALOGUE BETWEEN AN AMATEUR ACTOR Scene.-Eagle Inn, Wrexham.-Prologue discovered at his toilette in a large wig, under the hands of the Hair-dresser. (advancing) "Fashion in ev'ry thing bears sov'reign sway," And plays and perriwigs have now their day. A modish man, I burn with stage-struck passion: And for my wig,-"Tis in the fullest fashion. [Shakes his wig. Hair-dresser seizes Prologue. H. D. Sit down, good Sir! Indeed I cannot stop, I've twenty people waiting in my sh p. to this was the conduct of the Russian officer, who proved, after the battle of Austerlitz, from the Bible, a book out of which he said all arguments ought to be deduced, that Bonaparte was the-falias a) great beast (an undoubted fact) and quoted as an excuse for his cowardice," who is like unto the beast?" who is able to make war with him ?" Why, a'nt, it turn'd already? H. D. Egad it is 5-and I begin to doubt, If being turn'd so oft, it an't worn out, P. [Aside. advancing) Fashion's the thing.-A man as well may be, If not in fashion's throng- a Cherokee : All sorts, and all quite new-except the hair. While cruel beaus with perukes curl'd so clever, In crowds as num'rous and as dangerous too, We bon ton actors execution do. Yon amateur there-to the stage but raise him, How oft you'll see unshaken by alarm, Again on circuit rides his usual journey. His " seese and putter," in the Greenwich stage, While Merry Wives from city counters fill The well cramm'd coach, to roll down Greenwich hill. See Christian Shylocks, very generous fellows- Fifty appointments for the masquerade. My witch's broomstick, hump and magic train, And may next winter-and another still, APPOINTMENT DISAPPOINTED! or VON SCHLEMMER, and " Pot Luck!" An Englishman invited once A German friend to dine, On plain pot luck,-for such his phrase,- VON SCHLEMMER took his seat. said, "I vait for de POT LUCK!" Quiz. To the Editor of the Literary Panorama. Sir,-In your last, page 562, you inserted a P. A play? My friend! [they embrace. "Oh for a muse of fire, that would ascend !"— "My kingdom for a horse,"-to draw my gig-jeu d'esprit, DEATH versus SKINNER, liquor "Heat me those irons hot"-to curl my wig. [H. D. bows and exit. By all the theatres in Rome and Greece, I'll whip immediately to Bryn-y-pys. (Enter servant.) Here! Bring my doublet, and my scarlet hose, P. Let Mr. Jones then hire the Wrexham waggon, And, in that case, pop in my new green dragon, An excellent character at Mr. Price's Masquerade merchant; I have been therefore inclined to send you one concerning a PUBLICAN and DEATH himself. It consists of some appropriate lines on the name of Mr. ROBERT DEATH, who keeps the Falcon public house, at Battersea-Rise, in the county of Surry. Oh! Stop not here, ye sottish wights, Since this is clear, who e'er alights, Where, having eat and drank your fill; While yet you've Life and Breath, PARLIAMENTARY HISTORY. CHAP. IV-East-India Company.-Irish Committee of Supply.-Ways and Means. -Scotch Judges.-Sir R. J. Strachan's Squadron. The Duchess of Brunswick. Crown Rents.-Assessed Taxes, and Property Tax-Dr. Duigenan.-Reversion Bill.-Palmer's Petition. APRIL 26.—Mr. Grant presented a petition from the East-India company, praying for a loan of £2,400,000. The grounds on which the petition rested were, chiefly, the expences which had been incurred by the company, in different naval and military expeditions. The prayer of the petition was opposed by several gentlemen, who urged, that the company was overwhelmed with debts and incumbrances; and that, whatever might be advanced, ought rather to be considered as a gift, than as a loan. It was also noticed, as a most preposterous fact, that while the company were making the present application for a loan, they were paying dividends of 10 per cent. Mr. Grant contended, that the embarrassments of the company were owing to the present state of Europe; and that their assets were sufficient to pay all their debts, and to leave a surplus of between eight and nine millions. The chancellor of the exchequer, in supporting the petition, expressed his belief, that the company were creditors of the country, to the amount of some hundred thousands of pounds. It was at length agreed to refer the petition to a committee. Connected with this subject, Mr. Creevey, May 6, brought forward a motion for the production of certain papers. He contended that, instead of a deficit of £2,400,000, the company's deficit was £3,000,000; and, instend of a surplus of £8,000,000, on the general state of their affairs, there was an actual deficit of £12,000,000. He therefore inoved, for an account, first, of the amount of the company's quick stock, by computation, on March 1, 1808; secondly, of the company's debt, in India; and, thirdly, of the state of the company's trade. The statements of the hon. mover were contradicted by Mr. Dundas, Mr. Grant, and others. The first of these gentle men, considering the production of the papers unnecessary, moved the previous question; and, after a discussion of some length, Mr. Creevey withdrew his motion. [In Panorama, Vol. IV. p. 631, is inserted a Classification of Accounts between the East-India Company and the Public, likewise an Estimate of the Debts and Credits of the East-India Company in England, exclusive of their Capital Stock, as they will stand on the 1st March 1809, with other official documents.] APRIL 27-In a committee of supply for Ireland, the following resolutions were agreed to That there be granted to his majesty £10,000 Irish currency, for inserting public proclamations and advertisements in the Dublin Jan. 5, 1808, to Jan 5, 1809.-£25,000 gazette, and other Irish newspapers, froma Irish currency to defray the expences of crimi nal prosecutions and other law proceedings in Ireland.-€2000 Irish currency towards defraying the of the Cork Institution. expences -£10,824 Irish currency, towards defraying the expence of repairing Dr. Steven's hospital. £5038 Irish currency, to defray the expence of erecting certain buildings connected with Trinity Hospital.-£5012 to repay Edward Keat a sum of money paid by him into the Irish exchequer in his own wrong.£4434 Irish currency, for paying the salaries of lottery officers in Ireland. In a committee of ways and means, it was agreed, that £2,253,000, being the excess of the grants of last year above the annual expenditure, be appropriated towards the exigencies of the present year; and that the cloathing of the mili tia for one year be defrayed from the proceeds of the land tax. APRIL 29.-The house again in a committee of supply for Ireland, Mr. Foster moved, that £9250 be granted, for defraying the expences of the Roman Catholic seminary at Maynooth. Sir J. Newport, by way of amendment, moved, that the sum be £13,000. This was resisted by ministers, as unnecessary; and, on a division, the original motion was carried, by 93 against 58.-When the report of the committee was brought up, on May 5, the subject again underwent considerable discussion; and, on a division, the smaller sum .was voted, by 105 against 82. In a committee of ways and means for Ireland, Mr. Foster, in bringing forward a string of resolutions, to equalise the assessed taxes, proposed a more gradual assessment of the fire hearths: 15 hearths paid £7. It was not his object that three should pay three times one, or four, four times one, but in a more gradual increase. He meant to omit altogether the duty on post carriages.-The heads of the resolutions were agreed to.-Mr. Lethbridge proposed to the committee a duty of £5, 5s. on double barrelled guns employed in shooting real game, snipes, woodcocks, &c., but, on a division, this was rejected, by 56 against 17. MAY 4. In a committee of ways and means, it was agreed, that £3,000,000 should be raised by loan, on exchequer bills, to replace £3,000,000, which had been before advanced, by the bank, without interest, in consideration of the renewal of their charter; and that an additional sum of £1,500,000 should be raised by exchequer bills, for the service of the year. In a committee of the whole house, a resolotion was carried, for granting a pension, not exceeding three-fourths of their present salary, to such of the Scotch judges as should retire. questing relief, and in addition to the ship already commissioned for this purpose, they Lord Castlereagh obtained leave to divide immediately ordered the Spencer and Colossus the local militia bill into two distinct bills. to be victualled, and prepared for the same MAY 9.-Mr. Calcraft, in pursuance of nodestination. He would leave it to the house tice given March 3, called the attention of to judge, whether this was neglecting the galthe house to the papers respecting the Roche-lant admiral. The orders were pressing, and fort squadron. It would appear that the neg-it would surely be superfluous to add, that the lect under which Sir R. Strachan laboured, while in command off Rochefort, was almost unequalled in our naval history. From an, early period in the month of October, until the first of December, no kiad of supply was sent to his squadron, being a period of eight weeks. At length, from actual necessity, he was obliged to quit his station, which was the sole cause of the blockade being given up, and which enabled the French fleet lying in the harbour to escape to sea. The hon. gentleman concluded with submitting resolutions expressive of these sentiments, and moved the first of them. port admirals and captains were not negligent Portsmouth. If the ships were detained in Mr. Wellesley Pole, in reply, asserted, that Sir R. Strachan was not prevented from pur-buted to admiral Young the port admiral at suit by the want of provisions; on the contrary, the gallant admiral passed the Ferrol squadron, the Lisbon squadron, and Gibraltar, without asking for any sort of supply of provisions, by any communication whatever.ral Young also took upon him to send out seThe charges which had been brought against the board of admiralty might be divided into two heads; the first was, that various requisitions for relief had been made, both by lord Gardner, the commander in chief of the Channel fleet, and by Sir R. Strachan, and that these requisitions had been neglected. To meet this serious charge, it would be necessary to direct the attention of the house to the papers on the table, to show that the board of admiralty were anxious to relieve the fleet, even before they received any requisitions, still more so after they had; and that they would have effectually done so, had it not been for the extraordinary adverse state of the weather, which then prevailed. To enable the house, therefore, to judge, of the candour of the hon. gentleman, it would be only necessary to refer to an order issued by the lords of the admiraltv, Dec. 4, 1807, directing the port admiral at Portsmouth to send some of his largest ships, for the purpose of carrying out supplies of potatoes, onions, live bullocks, &c. for the use of the blockading squadrons off L'Orient, Rochefort, and Ferrol. The Mediator was appointed by the port admiral for this purpose. Dec. 18, the admiralty received a letter from lord Gardner, dated the 11th, acquainting them that the Rochefort blockading squadron had not more than eight weeks provisions., The board were then aware that the Mediator was almost ready to sail but unfortunately she was prevented by the state of the weather till Jan. 4, 1808. On Dec. 21, the board received a letter from Sir R. Strachan, re veral transports, laden with provisions, for the supply of the Rochefort squadron.-He should next proceed to the second head of charge, that of obliging Sir R. Strachan, in consequence of the delay of supplies, to quit his station off Rochefort, in order to look out for his victualling. Here it would be evident, that the same sort of weather, which prevented the ships from sailing to his relief, also foreed him from his station, for the gallant admiral in a letter, dated Dec. 21, expressly says, "we have had very tempestuous weather of late, and have been driven off the land considerably." On the 25th, and 28th of Dec. he again writes, that the weather was so blowing, that his ships could hardly have communicated by means of boats. Jan. 18, he was joined by the Mediator, the Spencer, and the Colossus, but it was not till the 25th that they could convey their supplies on board the blockading squadron, the weather was so unsettled and tempestuous. But it was not the fact that the gallant admiral had ever been driven off his station, that station comprehends a space of 20 leagues, west and by south of the Chasseron lights, and if any nautical friend should mark it out on a map, for the examination of the hon. gentleman, he would see that Sir R. Strachan was achially on his station when he received his supplies. But it was said, that one of the look-out frigates saw the French fleet come out of Rochefort; and it seemed to be insinuated, that this shewed that the whole squadron might have remained close off the coast; but surely if the hon. gentleman had asked any of his nautical friends, he would have been told that a light frigate might keep her station, when the fleet could not. Many other circumstances besides the letters of Sir R. Strachan, proved the tempestuous state of the weather at that period. It might be recollected that Sir C. Cotton's squadron destined for Lisbon, was detained in port by the weather, from Dec. 21, to Jan. 10. The -hon. gentleman concluded by moving the previous question on all the resolutions except the last. On a division, there appeared for the original motion, 69; for the amendment 146. MAY 10.-The Chancellor of the Exchequer delivered a message from His Majesty, recommending a provision of £10,000 per ann. for the Duchess of Brunswick. A bill to this effect has since been passed. Mr. Biddulph moved for a committee, to enquire how far the demised rents of the crown had been carried over to the aggregate fund. In prefacing his motion, he contended, that the amount of these rents had increased, and was increasing; that, on the expiration of certain old leases, the annual amount might be nearly £200,000; and the dae application of these rents, according to the act of the first of the king, might produce a great alleviation of the public burdens. He believed, that the greatest, and most .criminal abuses, took place in the royal woods and forests. Mr. Rose, in reply, stated, that the whole produce of these rents was about £36,000 per annum. The charges for management amounted to about £2,000. There were, besides, peusions to the amount of £9,000; added to which, the expences of repairs, and improvement of forests, &c. amounted to about £25,000 a year; so that ..the only overplus was about £1,900, which was carried over to the aggregate fund. The motion was negatived, by 37 against 12. MAY In a committee of supply, the following sums were voted:-£25,068, 6s. 8d. for alterations made in Palace-yard.-16,500. for Sierra Leone, for one year.-13,5831. Civil establishment of New South Wales. 6001. for Dominica.-3,700. for the Bahama Islands.-1,9351. for New South Wales. -2,0601. for Cape Breton.-3,100/. for. St. John's. 10,1051. for Nova Scotia.-2,500/. for New Brunswick.-6,4301. for Upper Canada. 80,119/. for paying off annuities. 14,4201. for paying off bills drawn from New South Wales.-6,0931. for roads in Scotland. 10,2501. for bridges and roads in Scotland. 2,1917. for printing Journals.-20,000l. for law charges for one year-4,500,000l. to -pay off Exchequer bills.-5,000l. to the Levant Company, tetr The Chancellor of the Exchequer obtained leave to bring in a bill, to amend and regulate VOL. IV. [Lit. Pan. July, 1908.] the collection of the assessed taxes, and the property tax. It was his intention, to simplify the collection, and put it, if possible, out of the power of either the inspector or surveyor, to make vexatious sur-charges.Frequent complaints had been made, of the conduct of such men, and he had no doubt but the complaints were truly stated, and founded on facts. In this bill directions would be given to the commissioners to see that they did their duty properly, and to have the tax collected half-yearly, giving every facility to those who thought themselves aggrieved in cases of appeal, and also to extend the period; and if surveyors and inspectors were found guilty of vexatious surcharging, the bill provided that they should pay a penalty of 100/. or three times the surcharge at the option of the person so surcharged, with double costs when sued, so as to prevent them from oppressing the poor, and if found guilty to be discharged from office. It was likewise his intention by this bill to appoint special commissioners to examine the books of the surveyors, inspectors and clerks, and to call meetings of the rest of the commissioners in order to investigate their conduct. Mr. Barham rose to bring forward a motion respecting the appointment, or rather the rumoured appointment, of a learned civilian, (Dr. Duigenan) as a member of the privy council of Ireland. The fact of such an appointment, was an object of no small importance, and were the motion he intended to propose agreed to, it would allay, in a great degree, that irritation which would to a certainty result in the minds of the people of Ireland from its rejection. After some observations on the pertinacity of ministers in persisting in this appointment, which he sid was odions to the Irish people, and improper in every light in which it could he viewed, he concluded, by moving an address to his majesty for copies of all correspondence between the lord lieutenant and the home secretary of state, touching the appointment of Patrick Duigenan L. L. D. as a member of his Majesty's privy council in Ireland. It was stated in reply, that the Dr. had not applied for the appointment. The learned doctor filled an office, as one of the judges of the prerogative court in Ireland, and it was intended to bestow on him a seat at the privy council board. He was warmly attached to the Protestant government of Ireland, and was well versed in clerical affairs.-The motion was negatived by 174 against 107. MAY 12. In the upper house, the places in reversion bill was read a third time, and passed. In the commons, the house resolved itself into a committee, on Mr. Palmer's long pending petitions for further compensation, on account of his original plan for the esta 2 E |