TO SYLVANUS URBAN, Gent. ON COMPLETING HIS NINETY-FOURTH VOLUME. THRO' the vast regions of unbounded space, Tis thine, Sylvanus, to record the flight, The mournful tribute here to Bowdich pay, Again the Knell sends forth a solemn sound, And shall not "Wild Flowers" on each Spring's return, No civil feuds disturb his last repose, On Regal Charles the Sun of Concord rose. But lo! from waves that wash the Sandwich strand The King and Consort reach Old England's land. Yet Fate the presence of Great George denied, 'Such Heaven's high will! by sickness seized, they died. Nor Muse, forget, to tell Macarthy's fate, In battle slain with the Ashantees' state; By hordes surrounded (sad event to tell) All hail, fair Peace, that smiles on Europe's ground; Her rich domains what Palaces adorn ; While Plenty pours abundance from her horn :- Teversal Rectory, Dec. 21, 1824. WILLIAM RAWLINS. * Gent. Mag. Aug. Nov. and Dec. 1824. PREFACE. IN presenting our Annual Address, we cannot but express that high gratification which every true patriot must experience, at the progressive prosperity of our native Country. This is the Ninety-fourth year of our literary existence; and on no occasion have we had more cause for congratulating our Readers than at the present period. Great Britain is rapidly approaching to the highest pinnacle of political greatness; and promises, at no distant æra, not only to surpass in national preeminence all co-existing kingdoms, but even to vie with the most celebrated empires of antiquity. Her dominion, her commerce, her arts, and her language, are extending over the whole world-from East to West-from the Polar to the Australian Seas. Wielding the trident of Neptune, her fleets sweep the ocean, and her shipping, thus protected, fill every port. To what may we attribute this unrivalled superiority?—To her matchless Constitution-to the wisdom of her Lawsto the native energy of her Sons-and to the glorious spirit of enterprise which now distinguishes her beyond every nation and every age. Let us revert to other States, where a contrary policy is pursued, and what a sad and humiliating picture is presented! Spain, once the arbiter of the Continent, and mistress of the Seas, is now sunk to the lowest grade in the political scale, without the least prospect of amelioration. The Royal Bigot who at present governs the kingdom is completing her irretrievable ruin; for having lost her foreign possessions, and being destitute of internal resources, she must fall an easy prey to the first hostile power that attempts it. Her convents, rosaries, and besotted priests, will present a very feeble barrier against fleets, cannon, and hardy seamen. Italy, once the ruler of the world, but now immerged in the lowest abyss of papal degradation, is in a condition very little superior to Spain. She is the seat of bigotry, ignorance, poverty, and brigandage; and the Sovereign who succeeded to the Pontificate during the last year, seems a worthy compeer of his Most Catholic Majesty! Instead of alleviating the political evils of his country, he commences his reign with anathemas against Bible Societies. He has also issued an absurd and truly papistical bull, which announces a Jubilee at Rome during the year 1825, and invites the faithful to repair to that city, on the occasion, from all quarters of the globe, with full assurance of ample indulgences! What measures against the diffusion of the Gospel and the spread of pure Christianity are then to be concocted, remains to be seen. As the Papal supremacy, like the Mahometan Crescent, is evidently on the wane, at least in political consequence, every means will doubtless be adopted to arrest the progress of knowledge, which has always been considered the bane of priestcraft 20644 and all ghostly tyranny. Indeed it may admit of a question, whether the devotees of the Cross, or the barbarians of the Crescent, will first lose their political existence in the scale of Europe. We entertain the most sanguine expectations that the Turkish dominion, like the Popish supremacy, will sink into nihility before the approach of knowledge and Christian truth; and the enormous losses which the Crescent has sustained in contests with the brave Greeks during the current year, afford the most cheering hopes of its ultimate expulsion from European soil. Enjoying the blessings of Peace, and reposing under the victorious laurels of her past deeds, England is not regardless of the advantages that may arise from the cultivation of her internal resources, and the useful arts. The various laudable undertakings for the improvement of the country and the employment of capital, show at once her enterprising spirit and her boundless wealth.-Education, which necessarily excites a desire for literature and science, is now becoming so universal, that it presents one of the most remarkable phenomena in the history of society. A new impulse has been given to the popular intellect, and the immense increase of periodical publications and newspapers proves the extent of the reading community. Adverting to the Contents of the present Part of our Ninety-fourth Volume, we refer with satisfaction to our ample Indexes for a proof of the interesting subjects it embraces. In addition to the ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS, &c. we have introduced 176 REVIEWS; and the OBITUARY, which will prove of the highest utility to future Biographers, has been in some degree extended. In justice to ourselves, we cannot conclude this Preface without observing, that some of our articles are frequently copied into periodical publications without the least acknowledgment, and against this unhandsome practice we beg to remonstrate; but we were lately amused by the editor of a newspaper foisting upon his readers, as matter entirely new, a description of the Officers established in the most notorious Gaming-houses, which was copied from the First Volume of our Work, for the year 1731! We have, however, a serious complaint to prefer against the compiler of the "Annual Biography," whose wholesale piracies, we are confident, are unknown to the respectable proprietors. This literary marauder has absolutely gutted our Obituary without any acknowledgment. He has not confined his merciless shears to pages, but has actually appropriated some scores of Memoirs, consisting of several sheets, to his own use. We have no doubt but an injunction on the volume would readily be granted, or damages obtained at common law; and if this nefarious practice be again pursued, we shall thus be compelled to protect our property. MINOR CORRESPONDENCE. CARADOC observes, "It may be new to most of your readers, that the scene represented in your vol. LXII. ii. p. 784, under the very correct portrait of the celebrated Samuel Richardson, by his friend Highmore, is in the garden of Budworth, esq. nephew of the Rev. William Budworth (the schoolmaster of Bp. Hurd, Sir Edward Littleton, and many other eminent men), who married the lady whom Richardson chose for his Clementina of Sir Charles Grandison." A CONSTANT READER says, "By the decease of Henry, eighth Earl of Barrymore, in 1823, without issue, the Earldom granted in 1628 to his ancestor David Viscount Buttevant, Baron de Barry, &c. became extinct. The Viscounty of Buttevant, the premier Viscounty of Ireland, is claimed by the late Earl's only sister, the Lady Caroline Melfort, as heir general, and also by Mr. James Redmond Barry of Donoughmore, co. Cork, as heir male; the ancient Baronies of de Barry of Olethan and Ibawne, and Barry of Barry's Court, have devolved without dispute to the Lady Caroline Melfort, now in her own right Baroness de Barry of Olethan and Ibane, and Baroness de Barry of Barry's Court, originally by tenure, and writs of summons. Her Ladyship has not assumed the Viscounty in consequence of the counter-claim of Mr. Barry, the male heir. The Viscounty, however, seems, like the Baronies, to have originated solely in writs of summons; nor do any of the pedigrees refer to any patent of creation. "The Baroness de Barry having no issue, the next heir to these ancient Baronies, as well as, perhaps, to the premier Viscounty of Ireland, is to be sought among the descendants of the daughters of the former Earls of Barrymore. Can any of your Heraldic Correspondents inform me of the issue, if any, of Lady Mary Barry, who married Taylor, esq. and died in 1758? -of Lady Mary Barry, who married the Rev. Gerald Barry; or of Lady Catherine, who married John Townshend, esq. of Castletown? In the descendant, if any, of one of these ladies the claim to these ancient honours (after the decease of Lady de Barry) will vest." M. B. who has sent us casts of two Roman coins, may be assured they are not genuine, being probably forged at Padua. A CORRESPONDENT, with a view to a proposed biographical sketch of the family of of Selby, Sylbie, or Sealby, of Warendon, Bucks, wishes for answers to the following queries; viz. Whence came the first James S. of Warendon, who settled there about 1650; and of what father and mother? If a fugitive, or destitute, how came he by the means of a legal education, having been entered of the Inner Temple in 1647? Did he ever practise as a barrister? Did he or his son, the sergeant, found the family fortune? Do either of them appear as leading men in the law books, or proceedings of their day? Did either of them sit in Parliament, and for what place or places? What was their political attachments, or predilections? Answers to these queries, or other particulars, would be acceptable." T. E. asks if our Correspondents "can give any particulars of an Hospital founded in the reign of Charles I. by Lucas, esq. for 16 pensioners, who have 10l. per annum, and a chaplain styled Master. The trustees are the Grocers' Company in London, who elect the chaplain, and the pensioners are presented alternately by 16 parishes in Berkshire, and the same in Surrey. It is in the parish of Wokingham." A CONSTANT READER Solicits information relative to the Library at the Escurial in Madrid. "Besides the public Library, which had a good collection of books, and was ornamented with globes and mathematical instruments, and open to general inspection; there was also above it a private Library, containing various Arabic and other ancient MSS. particularly an early Greek one of the New Testament. Don Miguel Casiri's account of the Arabic is particularly curious, and has been published in two volumes folio; and should this Library have been plundered, his work must be highly valuable.— It would give great satisfaction to be informed that these Libraries and the many fine pictures in the Escurial escaped the general plunder of the French." A CORRESPONDENT wishes to be favoured with an account of the repairs going on at the Church of St. Saviour's, Southwark. He says, that "he has seen a drawing of the external elevation of the East end of the chancel, which is nearly rebuilt by Mr. Gwilt, and which appears to be in a better taste than the wretched repairs of the Western parts of this venerable fabric 50 years ago. It is to be hoped, that not only the chancel, but that the Eastern walls of the Spiritual Court, the Bishop's Chapel, &c. will undergo a similar re-modelling, especially as there is a prospect of the whole building being exposed to view, when the approaches to the new London Bridge are completed." |