So fell poor Tom, of secret vice the prey, Insidious, cruel, Virtue's direst foe, He tax'd religion to assist his plan; By turns he groan'd and wept, by turns he pray'd. Still o'er our land dark Superstition reigns, He strove to forge more strong her hateful chains. Tradition old reports on Saint Mark's eveThe village churls the legend still believeThe souls of those that die the coming year, At midnight to the parish church repair; When there arriv'd, the doors asunder fly Back on their hinges roll to heav'nly har mony: The sprites then enter-so the legend goes: At one, self-mov'd, the doors spontaneous close. If chance some vent'rous wight dare curious pry Upon this scene of ghostly privacy, A torpid chiliness creeps thro' ev'ry bone, Fix'd to the spot, cold as sepulchral stone, Spell-bound, he's held in fear's strong shackles fast, Until the midnight hour of fate be past. This tale accorded with his gloomy soul; O'er simple minds by this he held controul; With ghastly looks he solemnly averr'd Those sights he'd seen, those heav'nly strains he'd heard. Nay more, compell'd was he by some dread power, Each year to watch the visionary hour, This check'd the boldest in their bold career, About this time within our village rose A novel sect, he join'd himself to those, Freethinkers call'd, this doctrine they profess'd: His views the same, they strictly coalesc'd. His are the cattle on a thousand hills; 65 "Twas thus commenc'd the villain's loose career, Back'd by the influence of fraud and fear; Their fame notorious far and wide extends, And happy he who call'd the rogues his friends. Some artful cheats which mark'dJoe's sombre mind, In point of time and place are here subjoin'd. When darkness o'er the world her mantle throws, And weary swains have sunk to calm repose, Except some straggler chance the street to roam, Who, from the alehouse reeling, seeks his home, Where late he sat the blithest of the throng, None drank more deep, none bawl'd a louder song; None boasted more of prodigies of might; A lambent flame spreads o'er its rugged hide, Dogs bark, chains rattle, groans and yells resound, More near they seem at ev'ry fear-urg'd bound; Gasping for joy, he gains his cottage door, He flies to bed, nor deems himself secure ; Shiv'ring with horror tells his injur'd wife The dreadful scene, and vows to mend his life; Breathes a short pray'r, inspir'd alone by fear, The first attempt for many a long past year. Surpriz'd he finds next morning to his cost, His house ransack'd, his cattle, poultry lost. Such feats as this 'tis said these villains play'd, And many a village sot for his debauch dear paid. [To be concluded in our next.] *Barguest, the name of a goblin, believed by the vulgar in some parts of Yorkshire, to haunt the streets and lanes of country towns and villages. Its supposed appearance indicates death, or some great calamity. It is admitted by modern critics, that the records of superstition, if peculiar to and characteristic of the country in which, the same is laid, are a legitimate subject of poetry. I feel authorized not only by this, but also by matter of fact, as the scenes I have attempted to display were actually performed by two desperadoes in Yorkshire a few years back, and by which they imposed upon the superstitious fears of those they intended to plunder. VOL. III. K INCIDENTS, PROMOTIONS, BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, DEATHS, &c. IN LONDON AND MIDDLESEX; With Biographical Accounts of Distinguished Characters. THE monthly bulletin of his Majesty's health, published at the beginning of January, was as follows:-" The King's disorder continues unabated, but his Majesty has passed the last month in a very tranquil state." Early in the morning of Sunday Jan. 8, a fire broke out in the premises of Mr. Kell, wax and tallow-chandler, adjoining the western wall of Northumberland-House, Charing-Cross, which for a long time threatened destruction to that princely edifice, as well as to the surrounding neighbourhood. Two houses westward, besides that of Mr. Kell, were destroyed by the devouring element; but fortunately, by great exertions, the duke's noble mansion was preserved, without sustaining any material damage. Several of the inhabitants of Mr. Kell's house, and of those adjoining, escaped with difficulty; but happily no lives were lost. Jan. 18, about six o'clock in the morning, a dreadful fire broke out at the house of Mr. Biggs, straw hat-manufacturer, on the North side of St. Paul's church-yari, which destroyed that and the house adjoining, and materially damaged that of Dollond, the optician, and several others. Two of the six children of Mr. Biggs, a boy about nine, and a girl of three years old, perished in the flames. The general bill of all the christenings and burials, from December 14, 1813, to December 13, 1814, is as follows: Christened in the 97 parishes within the walls, 1008-Buried, 1251. Christened in the 17 parishes without the walls, 4384-Buried, 4090. Christened, in the 23 Out-Parishes in Mid- Males...... 10,313 In all Buried. .... .... 20,170 19,783 A hundred and one.................................... ........ 592 88 1 1 1 1 1 Increase in the burials this year, 2461. It is calculated, that in the different parts of the metropolis, there are at least 5000 houses to be let, many of them in prime situations. The intended front of the King's Theatre, in Pall-Mall, is begun; it is to be formed of brickwork stuccoed with Roman cement. The Duke of Devonshire's residence at Chiswick, when completed, will surpass that of any other nobleman in the vicinity of London. Exclusive of the purchase-money paid for Lady Mary Coke's adjacent house and extensive grounds, which are now thrown into those of his Grace, it is estimated that he has already expended at least 150,000l. upon this now noble domain. An important trial between Lords Holland and Kensington, respecting the right to Holland-House, and its beautiful demense, claimed by the latter, will come on at the sittings after the next term. A beautiful, substantial, patent steam packet of 200 tons, is now building on the Thames, and will be launched in a few weeks. She is intended to go between London and Calais, and is constructed to carry between 4 and 500 passengers; she will be fitted up in the most elegant and commodious manner; from her peculiar mode of construction and machinery, she is calcu lated to be impelled through the water at the rate of 12 miles an hour, against wind and tide. An experiment was made Jan. 17th, on the Serpentine River, in the presence of a few scientific persons, to discover what practical improvements might be made in a portable apparatus (intended to be kept in readiness at the canal in St. James's Park, during the frost, where there is neither boat nor other arrangement for affording assistance at that perilous time,) for saving persons who may fall through the ice. In this apparatus, a thin copper case, three feet by two, covered 770 by basket work to protect it from injury, in 649 which the air was closely confined, gave a 1268 buoyancy sufficient to support a folding lad1678 der, with two men placed upon it, to direct 1950 the means of rescue, they had with them a portable drag, the handle of which could expeditiously be lengthened to 24 feet, to withdraw bodies from under the ice, or raise them ..8545 .... ..........1810 1343 1815.] Capt. Manby's Experiments-Vauxhall Bridge Report. if sunk to the bottom. The design was well adapted to its purpose, and, with a very little alteration, will prove an infallible mode of relief in accidents hitherto fatal. Captain Manby further proposed, in cases where the distance precluded assistance by or dinary means, to project a rope by a rocket to the persons in jeopardy. The rocket, he stated, might be an accompaniment of the above described apparatus, and the ladder be made a stand at any degree of elevation from which to fire it. The rocket exhibited for this purpose was, for greater convenience, adapted to be, and without a stick, and could be fired by precussion, with any hard substance being at hand. From the last report of the committee of the Vauxhall-bridge company, we learn, that seven piers are now safely deposited in their places; two of them, are ready to receive the iron-work, and two others with the abutments on each side of the river, are nearly in the same forwardness. The bottom for the eighth and last is made and launched. The total expense of this bridge, and the approaches to it, is estimated. at 235,000l., and there is every prospect that the whole undertaking will be accomplished for less by 34,000l. than the estimate on which it was begun for the bridge only. The sum of 16,000l. is yet wanted; and it is proposed that it shall be raised, either by the issue of 400 shares, at 451, each, or by that of notes, to be paid off on the 1st January, 1818, or converted into stock, at the option of the holders; the latter of which methods is considered preferable by the committee. The interest upon 260,000l. the total sum that will be expended in completing the bridge and roads, including interest and all contingencies, will be 13,000l. per annum. For salaries, toll-gatherers, and other expenses of management, the committee allow 2500l. and for a sinking fund for accidents, 500l, a year, making a total annual sum of 16,000l. The committee state, that to meet this sum, it is only necessary that their bridge should produce the annual revenue understood to be received at Putney; and they infer, that every share-holder will receive at least five per cent. on his subscription, together with the accumulated interest on his instalments, and that the purchasers of the new shares, issued by virtue of the resolution of April 14, 1814, will derive from them 121. 10s. per cent. with the farther chance of sharing in any excess beyond the estimated annual demand of 16,000l. upon the company's funds. The Supplement to the Gazette of Jan. 3, describes an extension of the Order of the Bath, so important as to a mount almost to the creation of a new order, The official notification is as follows: Whitehall, Jan. 2, 1815. Whereas His R. H. the Prince Regent, acting in the name and on the behalf of his 67 Majesty, Sovereign of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath, is desirous of commemorating the auspicious termination of the long and arduous contests in which this empire has been engaged, and of marking in an especial manner his gracious sense of the valour, perseverance, and devotion, manifested by the officers of his Majesty's forces by sea and land:-and whereas his Royal Highness has thought it fit, by virtue of the royal prerogative, and of the powers reserved to the sovereign in the statutes of the said Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath, to advance the splendour and extend the limits of the said order, to the end that those officers who have had the opportunities of signalizing themselves by eminent services during the late war, may share in the honours of the said order, and that their names may be delivered down to remote posterity, accompanied by the marks of distinction which they have so nobly earned; The Prince Regent, therefore, acting in the name and on the behalf of his Majesty, hath been graciously pleased to ordain as follows: 1st, The Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath shall, from this time forward, be composed of three classes, differing in their ranks and degrees of dignity. 2d, The first class of the said order shall consist of Knights Grand Crosses; which designation shall be substituted henceforward for that of Knights Companions; and from the date hereof the present Knights Companions and Extra Knights of the said order shall, in all acts, proceedings, and pleadings, be styled Knights Grand Crosses of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath. 3d, The number of the Knights Grand Crosses shall not, at any time, or upon any account whatever, exceed seventy-two, exclusive of the sovereign; whereof there may be a number, not exceeding twelve, so nominated and appointed, in consideration of eminent services rendered to the state by British subjects in civil and diplomatic employments. 4th, The said Knights Grand Crosses shall be subject to the same rules and ordinances, and have, hold, and enjoy, all and singular the rights, privileges, immunities, and advantages, which the Knights Companions of the said order have hitherto held and enjoyed, by virtue of the statutes, excepting as far as may be altered or affected by the present decree. 5th, It shall be lawful for all the present Knights Grand Crosses, from and after the date hereof, to wear upon the left side of their upper vestment the star or ensign of the said order, although such Knight Grand Cross may not have been installed; and henceforward the said star or ensign shall be worn by each and every Knight Grand Cross immediately after his being so nominated and 68 Knights Grand Crosses of the Order of the Bath. appointed, provided that it shall not be lawful for any Knight Grand Cross to wear the collar of the said order until he shall have been formally installed, according to the statutes, or unless a dispensation has been granted for the non-observance of the ceremonial of installation. 6th, In order to distinguish more particularly those officers of his Majesty's forces, by sea and land, upon whom the first class of the said order hath already been, or may hereafter be, conferred in consideration of especial military services, such officers shall henceforth bear upon the ensign or star, and likewise upon the badge of the order, the addition of a wreath of laurel encircling the motto, and issuing from an escrol inscribed "Ich Dien." This distinction being of a military nature, it is not to be borne by the knights of the first class, upon whom the order shall have been, or may hereafter be, conferted for Civil services. 7th, The dignity of a Knight Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath, shall henceforth upon no account be conferred upon any officer of his Majesty's service who shall not have attained the rank of major-general in the army, or rearadmiral in the navy, except as to the twelve Knights Grand Crosses who may be nominated and appointed for civil services. 8th, His R. H. the Prince Regent, acting in the name and on the behalf of his Majesty, is pleased to declare and constitute, those whose names are undermentioned, to be the Knights Grand Crosses, composing the First Class of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath. Military Knights Grand Crosses. The Sovereign H. R. H. the Duke of York, acting as Grand Gen. Sir D. Dundas [Feb. 1, Lieut.-Gen. Sir John Cope Sherbrooke Lieut.-Gen. Sir Samuel Auchmuty Lieut.-Gen, the Hon. Sir Alexander Hope Gen. the Hereditary Prince of Orange Adm. Lord Radstock Civil Knights Grand Crosses. Lord Whitworth Sir George H. Barlow The Hon. Sir Henry Wellesley -11. 9th, And His R. H. the Prince Regent is further pleased to ordain and declare, that the Princes of the Blood Royal holding commissions as general officers in his Majesty's army, or as flag officers in the royal navy, now and hereafter may be nominated and appointed Knights Grand Crosses of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath, Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington, K.G. and shall not be included in the number to Gen. the Earl of Ludlow Vice-Adm. Sir Samuel Hood which the first class of the order is limited by the third article of the present instru 1815,] Knights Commanders of the Order of the Bath. H. R. H. the Duke of Cumberland H. R. H. the Duke of Gloucester. 11th, The second class of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath shall be composed of Knights Commanders, who shall have and enjoy in all future solemnities and proceedings, place and precedence before all Knights Bachelors of the united kingdom, and shall enjoy all and singular the rights, privileges, and immunities, enjoyed by the said Knights Bachelors. 12th, Upon the first institution of the Knights Commanders, the number shall not exceed one hundred and eighty, exclusive of foreign officers holding British commissions, of whom a number, not exceeding ten, may be admitted into the second class as Honorary Knights Commanders. But in the event of actions of signal distinction, or of future wars, the number may be increased by the appointment of officers who shall be eligible according to the regulations and restrictions now established. 13th, No person shall be eligible as a Knight Commander of the Bath, who does not actually hold, at the time of his nomination, a commission in his Majesty's army or navy; such commission not being below the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the army, or of post-captain in the navy. 14th, The Knights Commanders shall, from the publication of the present instrument, be entitled severally to assume the distinctive appellation of knighthood, and shall bear the badge and ensign assigned as the distinctions of the second class of the order, on their being duly invested with the same; that is to say, each Knight Commander shall wear the appropriate badge or cognizance pendent by a red ribbon round the neck; and for further honour and distinction, he shall wear the appropriate star, embroidered on the left side of his upper vestment. There shall also be affixed in the cathedral church of St. Peter, Westminster, escutcheons and banners of the arms of each Knight Commander, under which the name and title of such Knight Commander, with the date of his nomination, shall be inscribed. The Knights Commanders shall not be entitled to bear supporters, but they shall be permitted to encircle their arms with the red ribbon and badge, appropriate to the second class of the Order of the Bath. And for the greater honour of this class, no officer of his Majesty's army or navy shall be nominated hereafter to the dignity of a Knight Grand Cross, who shall not have been nominated previously a Knight Commander of the said most honourable order. 15th, His R. H. the Prince Regent, acting in the name and on the behalf of his Majesty, has been graciously pleased to appoint and nominate the undermentioned officers of his Majesty's naval and military 69 forces to be Knights Commanders of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath, viz. Adm. Lord Gambier Adm. Sir Charles Maurice Pole, bart. Adm. Edward Thornborough |