ページの画像
PDF
ePub

ANECDOTE.

King James came in progress to the house of Sir M. Pope, Knt. when his lady was lately delivered of a daughter. The babe was presented to King James, with a paper of verses in her hand; which, because they pleased that King, will not, I hope, displease any of your enlightened readers :

"See! this little mistress here
Did never sit in Peter's chair,
Or a triple crown did wear;
And yet she is a Pope.

No benefice she ever sold,

Nor did dispense with sins for gold:
She hardly is a se'nnight old,
And yet she is a Pope.

No king her feet did ever kiss,

Or had from her worse look than this

Nor did she ever hope

To saint one with a rope,

And yet she is a Pope.

A female Pope you'll say a second Joan;
No, sure, she is Pope Innocent, or none."

02

If we look to the condition of the present Pope of Rome, as reduced by Bonaparte to a state of second childhood, bordering on the imbecility of an infant nine days old, few sensible or thinking men will conceive much more danger from his power, than what, at the time of writing the above verses, might have been dreaded from the innocent infantine Pope of England.

I am, Sir, yours,

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

NO PAPIST.

FEMALE NUDES.

[From the Morning Herald, July 7.]

MR. EDITOR,

LA

ADY Mary W. Montagu has, in her Letters, with infinite modesty, thus observed: "If people went naked, it was always my opinion that the face

C 4

would

would be the least, admired!" To further this desirable end, I beg leave to assert, that it is absolutely obscene now-a-days to wear any dress. I am supported by the authority of a French writer of great eminence, who says, "Ne sçait-on pas, que statues, et les tableaux, n'offensent les yeux, que quand un méJange de vêtemens rend les nudités obscènes."-He adds, that the immediate power of the senses is weak and confined; but is strongly assisted by the imagination, which is brought into action by the means of such demi-dresses as the ladies wear at present, and would not be at all concerned if they were to appear without any. The modern toilette is full of art: if they show little, it is to make you desire to see more; if an obstacle intercepts the sight, it is the better to irritate the passions; and if one part of the subject is concealed, it is but to lend a charin to that which is not exposed,

Heu! male tum mites defendit pampinus revas!

The morality, decency, propriety, and modesty of going naked, being clearly proved, I shall state the only reason why the fashion is not likely to be adopted. We often hear people say, Such a dress carries its date with it. Now, nakedness would have this defect in a high degree. The primitive dress of a woman at fifty would certainly carry its date with it. Artificial habiliments, on the contrary, bear no such stamp; for sixty and sixteen wear the same bright colours, and by good management appear endowed with the eame soft and downy plumage! Yours, &c.

A STARK-STARER.

ADDRESS

ADDRESS TO THE PREMIER.

MR. EDITOR,

TH

[From the Oracle, May 13.]

HOUGH an Address, according to the usual form, has appeared in the Gazette; yet this, to His Grace the Duke of Portland, from the most ancient borough of Blunderton, may perhaps not have reached you; I therefore send you a correct copy.

RABELAIS.

THE ADDRESS OF THE MAYOR, ALDERMEN, FREE BURGESSES, GENTLEMEN, CLERGY, AND OTHER INHABITANTS OF THE ANCIENT BOROUGH OF BLUNDERΤΟΝ,

To His Grace the Duke of Pd.

"May it please Your Grace,

We the Mayor, Gentlemen, Burgesses, Clergy, and other inhabitants of this most ancient borough, approach Your Grace with the most heartfelt gratitude for the wise and patriotic advice you, with others, have given to our gracious Sovereign, by which he has been induced to dismiss his late Ministers ; the tenour of whose public conduct, as well as private lives, has been marked by one regular and systematic attack upon the Reformed Religion, as established by law. We are particularly anxious to express that gratitude to Your Grace at this moment; when, obviously to the whole world, the increased and increasing power of the Pope, since the French Revolution; threatens every Protestant State with immediate dissolution and notwithstanding great pains have been taken to persuade the unwary to believe the Pretender exists no longer; yet we are not amused by such Jesuitical reports, but prepared (if not baffled by Your Grace's providential exertions) to see him again on our coasts, encouraged by the late Adminis tration, and supported by the See of Romea much

[blocks in formation]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

more formidable force than that which Bonapartecould send against us.

"We have not words to state our admiration of Your Grace's most acute discernment in establishing the nice point, to what degree a Roman Catholic Dissenter may be trusted as a military character; and we entirely subscribe to Your Grace's opinion, that from the rank of Captain, to that of General, no distrust of his loyalty and love of his country ought to attach upon him; but we see with Your Grace the great danger to the Established Church, should, by the least extension of the Irish Act of Parliament, the King be enabled to use his discretion in placing any such Dissenter on the Staff: and we also participate in Your Grace's rational fears, that suggest the immediate downfal of the Reformed Religion, should His Majesty be, further enabled to give any real Dissenter the chief command, though, from military science, valour, and to that moment tried fidelity, he might promise to become another Wolfe or Nelson.

We are also thankful that Your Grace has destroyed that alarming position, that, because a Catholic may be, without risk, indulged with the privilege of defending the empire in one part of His Majesty's dominions, he has the least claim to be permitted to do so in another. If he has had the fortune to defeat the enemy on the plains of Ireland, God forbid he should raise so extravagant a pretension, as to fancy he may be allowed to offer his services in any other place. Your Grace sees all the hazard to Religion in admitting such a preposterous deduction; and you show great wisdom by retaining all the heavy penalties to which such an officer would be subject, should he set his foot in a military capacity in England; though in Ireland he might, by the existing law, be suffered to expend the last drop of his blood in the defence of his country. We must not pass over

[ocr errors]

in silence, the constitutional counsel, which, we presume, was offered to the King by Your Grace and the present Cabinet, which exacted from the late Ministers a pledge-that they never, in any possible circum-stance, would disturb the public repose, by again moving that diabolical question, concerning the condition of the Roman Catholics; and we heartily congratújlate our country that this pledge has been cheerfully given (as we take it for granted it must have been) by Your Grace and others, now the confidential servants of the Crown.

[ocr errors]

DIED

FUTURE OBITUARY.

[From the Oracle.]

"CAROLOUS"""

IED a few days since, the Hon. Mr. *******, descended from an ancient family. He was a warm› patron of the science of pugilism; and the first that brotight into notice the Ruffian and the Chicken.

Died on Thursday last, G. T. Esq, an amateur of bull-baiting.

Died suddenly, T. T. the younger branch of a noble: family. His father left hin a very large estate, which: he run out at Newmarket.

On Friday last, death put an end to the earthly careerr of the Hon. a noted pedestrian.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

On Friday last, T. W. Esq. paid the debt of nature,, the only debt he ever did pay.

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors][merged small]

MR. EDITOR,

[From the Morning Herald.]

M ODESTY in woman is always a powerful auxi-

liary in the defence of virtue, and often will repel the enemy when reason is overpowered by the

c. 6

wiless

« 前へ次へ »