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Afar forsake their natal plain,

And hail th' approaching foe! Where vengeance thro' the val'rous fields The sanguine sword of Freedom wields,

And aims th' avenging arduous blow.
Again! they burn with vigorous fire;
Again! they fight with desp'rate ire:
But, ah! from drear Batavia's soil,
Why mourns Britannia, midst her prosp'-
rous toil?

Alone, where yonder laurels wave,
She bends beside her minstrel's grave,
The Bard, who, in his native north,
Long breath'd in bless'd effusion forth
Wild youth's impassion'd strain;
Where, Nature's happiest harp hestrung,
And Teviot's mountain echoes rung

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Triumphant o'er the giddy plain. His were the songs, whose music smooth, Shew'd life, all love and love, all truth; And wak'd to rapturous joy the soul, That beat beneath his mild divine controul.

On foreign lands, his lyre resign'd, Now vibrates with the formless wind; And, tuneless laid! the conscious note Does not in wild vibration float,

In aerial circles borne ; While from her mazy radiant ring, Sweet Fancy, flaps the drooping wing, And falls a-down to earth forlorn. And trembling Truth, with look distrest, Reclines upon her beauteous breast:

But,hush! why bodes that wand'ring noise? Hail, heavenly power! 'tis Virtue's blissful voice--

Thou sacred, dear, departed Bard!
Thy hallowed Maid, ('tis Heaven's re-

ward),

Here, grateful greets thy shade sublime, That bless'd beyond the bourne of time, Fate's ruthless powers defy.

Where brightly, eke thy hallowed name, Shall blaze amidst seraphic flame!

While dreadful Death himself shall die. Swell, Minstrels! swell the warbling tone, And soothe sweet Nature's mournful moan;

And Scotia, be that labour thine,
To watch thy honours, at his silent shrine.

Awake, ye youths of sordid gold!
Awake, with em'lous ardour bold!
See! from yon orient paths afar,
Bright Genius, turns his rapid car,

And courts your nobler flight.
Along, he fires the slumb'ring land,
And, beckoning, whirls his golden wand,
'Midst volumes of ethereal light:
Now, o'er his vot'ry's tear-spread urn,
Sadd'ning he stoops awhile to mourn;
Then, bright on beams of ether hurl'd,
Circles with boundless thought a suppliant
world.

Hark! how aloud the borean waves Are dash'd against the chrystal caves, And, murm'ring high, the echo swells Around, from Ocean's bed of shells,

And charms with hollow moan. While trem'lous o'er the troubled deep The spirits of the waters weep,

Incumbent woe, that's Mem'ry's own. And swift along the cavern'd shore, The winds convey the murmurs o'er, Where, 'neath gray twilight's gath'ring gloom,

Fair Scotia's tears bedew her Leyden's tomb H.

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TO CORRESPONDENTS.

We regret, that from the late period at which the Observer was received, we were not able to insert it this month.

The pieces by the Ettrick Shepherd will appear next month.
J. E. S. and I. I. R. will probably obtain early insertion.

Proceedings

Proceedings of Parliament.

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HOUSE OF LORDS.

Friday, January 10.

ORD LIVERPOOL moved the thanks of the House to Lord Minto, the Govarnor Gen. of India, and to Gen. Abercrombie, Sir S. Aucamuty, &c. for the late important services in the East. His Lordship, as a reason for deviating from the usual practice of confining this mark of distinc tion to naval or military, stated that the expeditions which terminated in the reduc tion of the islands of Bourbon, Mauritius, and Java, was the.result of measures un dertaken by Lord Minto upon his own responsibility, before the instructions sent by government had reached him. The Noble Secretary then expatiated at some length upon the merits of the military and naval commanders employed in these different

services.

Lord Mora cordially joined in this proposed vote of thanks, but remarked, that the principle of colonial warfare, carried on by this country at a prodigious expence, was incorrect, the power of France, in Europe, being such, that she must, at all times, upon the re-estbalishment of peace, command ships, colonies, and commerce. The motion was then agreed to nem. dis. as were the usual resolutions approving of the services of the soldiers, seamen, and marines.

No business of public importance came before the House till

Friday, January 31.

-When Earl FitzWILLIAM, agreeably to notice, called the attention of their Lordships to the state of affairs in Ireland. The circumstances, (he observed), which bad lately occurred in that country-the violation of the liberty of the subject, while exercising the undoubted right of petitioning, had occasioned a political February 1812.

schism, pregnant with all those calamities which at times, shake the foundation of empires. His Lordship reprobated the idea of restrictions and disabilities on account of religion, and entered into a his. tory of their origin. He found it in the fears justly entertained under Charles II. of the opinions possessed by the Duke of York, afterwards James II. the heir apparent, to whom the whole of the Catho lics were politically devoted. The same motives subsisted in the following reigns, and as long as claims to the Crown of those Realms, disallowed by Parliament, were maintained by Catholic pretenders. But the only cause of the penal statutes against Roman Catholics, had vanished long ago, and the effect must of course follow the same fate. His Lordship admitted that the lower clases of Irish Catholics still retained strong prejudices against their fellow citizens; and one of the advantages expected from an United Parliament was, that they would adopt measures to remove all grounds of national jealousy. Instead of which, the higher classes of Roman Irish Catholics were debarred even from aspiring to a variety of honourable and lucrative situations which his Lordship enumerated. The case was peculiarly hard in respect to the army, for the Irish Parliament had provided for the advancement of the Roman Catholic on the military estabilshment of that -kingdom; but no sooner had that army become English by the Union, than this wholesome and just provision was done away contrary to the spirit of that social contract, and without any grounds whatever. His Lordship afterwards recapitulated the various reasons which he had already adduced to induce their Lordships to agree to an inquiry, and concluded by moving, "That a Committee be appoint ed to inquire into the State of Ireland."

The

The Duke of DEVONSHIRE Seconded the

motion.

The Marquis WELLESLY defended the conduct of the Duke of Richmond and the Irish Administration, and declared his conviction that none of them would have attempted to stand between the king and his subjects. The Government, however, had been advised that the assembly of the delegates was contrary to law, and that opinion had been declared correct by the Court of King's Bench. Whatever feelings we may have towards the admission of Catholics into Parliament, did their Lordships mean to say, that an assembly, consisting of Prelates, Nobility, and Electors from different counties, was a fit assembly to be sitting in Ireland after the Union? This was not a question merely of religious indulgence, but whether every State was not justified in restraining what was injurious to the State. He held all restraint to be evil, but the danger on the other side may be greater; and if so, hold to your restraints. A Noble Earl had said, this was a question of State. Let them abate the question of right on one side, and the fury of zeal on the other, and consider it equally. He had considered, that the best mode of disarraying the disaffected in that country, would be to remove the bond that holds them together.The restrictions embodies them all-if these restrictions were removed, the different classes, the army, the navy, the law, &c. would separate, and be looking to their own individual interest. How far they should be removed, or what security should be acquired from the Catholics, he was not prepared to say. Would it be said the Catholics enjoyed no privileges, no power or weight in the State? No one could say they did not; they were admit ted into the army, into the navy, and into the law, and he was of opinion, that though there was no Popish Pretender remaining, yet that so large a body were not to be released from all restrictions, and admitted into the body of the State, without considering what security should be re'quired for the preservation of the established religion. He would advise them, till the time arrived when they might be admitted, to consider what security they had to offer that they would conduct themselves as good and peaceable subjects, and, by dutiful submission to legal authority, pave the way for their admission to those privileges in which they were so anxious to participate.

The motion was supported by the Duke

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of Bedford, the Marquisses of Downshire and Lansdowne, and Lords Somers, Moira, Gray, Darnley, Erskine, Carysfort; and opposed by Lords Aberdeen, Westmoreland, Buckinghamshire, Sidmouth, Mulgrave, and Liverpool.

Upon a division, the motion was nega, tived-162 to 79-Proxies included.

HOUSE OF.COMMONS.

Friday, Jan. 10.

THE CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, in moving the thanks of the House to Lord Minto and Sir S. Auchmuty, for their services in the East, stated that the merit of having planned all the expeditions, belonged solely to the former. After noticing, in terms of high praise, the conduct of Commodore Rowley in wresting the superiority from the French in the Indian seas; the gallantry of Sir S. Auchmuty, Colonels Gillespie and M'Leod, the latter of whom died in carrying a redoubt, he moved, first, That thanks be voted to Lord Minto for the wisdom and ability with which he had applied the resources entrusted to him, to the destruction of the French power in the East Indies; stating further, that the brilliant successes which had attended our arms were owing to that vigorous system of operations which he had so wisely adopted and pursued.

Mr SHERIDAN thought that the merits of Lord Minto had not been made out; no necessity had been stated for the Noble Lord accompanying the expedition, and superintending the military and naval operations in person. He disapproved of this civil controul, which was too like the system adopted by the French in the revolutionary war, when civil deputies from the convention were sent to superintend the commanders of armies. It was confessed that Lord Minto had undertaken the expedition contrary to the advice of every person, even of Admiral Drury himself. He then stated that greater dangers never encom, passed any army than these in which Sir S. Auchmuty had been involved. That gallant General had no alternative but a disgraceful and precipitate retreat, or an assault by storm, in which the safety of the whole army was at stake. He concluded by stating, that he thought justice had not been done to Commodore Rowley, who, by rallying our broken force in the Indian seas, paved the way for the subsequent

successes.

Messrs Yorke, Ryder, Freemantle, Grant.

and

and Elliot, supported the motion; which was opposed by Messrs Whitebread, P. Moore, General Tarleton, and Sir H. Montgomery.

The motion was afterwards carried withbut a division, as were separate votes of thanks to the officers, soldiers, &c. employed in the expedition to Java.

Votes of thanks to Commodores Broughton and Rowley were likewise carried.

Tuesday Jan. 14.

DISTILLATION FROM GRAIN.

On the motion of Mr Perceval, the House resolved itself into a Committee, to take into consideration the subject of distillation from grain. He began by calling the attention of the House to the act passed last year for the encouragement of agrieulture, by permitting spirits to be distilled from corn; and which act also tended to encourage the distilleries, and increase the revenue; he must, however, now state, that the failure of the crop last year made it necessary to adopt another measure, for the purpose of stopping distillation from corn, so as to reserve the grain in the country for the food of the inhabitants. In the the month of October last, the prices of grain had very considerably risen. It was known to every body, that the crop was a very scanty one; and this scarcity, added to the diminished supply likely to be received from foreign countries, had given just grounds to the distillers themselves to expect, that a suspension of the law for permitting distillation from grain must take place. In order, however, that neither the distiller nor the revenue should suffer, it was his intention to propose an additional duty of 1s. 8d. a gallon on spirits distilled from sugar; and also a duty of 121d. per cent. additional on foreign spirits. The latter was for the encouragement of the English distiller. For the same purpose there should be a duty of 5d. a gallon laid on Scotch spirits, and a prohibition against the importation of spirits from Ireland. He concluded with moving a resolution, that from the 5th February 1812, to the 5th of December next, no spirits be distilled from wash made of

corn.

The resolution was agreed to.

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The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, in a speech of considerable length, proposed his plan for the new arrangement. It will comprize 28 officers, including four Lords of the bed chamber, four Grooms of the chamber, seven Equerries, with the Groom of the Stole at its head, and in his absence, the Vice-chamberlain-The king's private property is to be invested in three Commissioners, one of them a Master in Chancery. The whole additional annual expence to the nation is estimated at L. 70,000. The whole of his Majesty's household is to be under the control of the Queen, who is also to receive the annual sum of L. 10,000, in conséquence of his Majesty's decreased establishment, chiefly in horses and carriages. His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales is to be allowed L. 100,000, to reimburse his expences as Regent, since he took upon him the duties of that office. The Right Hon. Gentleman concluded by moving resolutions to the effect of the above statement.

Mr PONSONBY could not see in his Majesty's situation, what required a large establishment about his person. He also objected to the sum of L. 100,000, prdposed to be granted to the Prince Regent, to cover the cost incurred by the assumption of the government; as, in the last Session, the Prince declined any assistance on that account. He therefore hoped the Hon. Gentleman would pause, and enter into further explanations, before he precipitated his measure.

Several other resolutions were then adopted, the substance of which were,-That it should be lawful for the Prince Regent, Mr TIERNEY objected to the establishwith the advice of his Privy Council, by ment of a second Court, as a thing unProclamation, after the 31st of October, known in the Constitution; and which 1812, to permit the distillation from grain,, he considerd as set on foot for the puror to continue the suspension for 30 days pose of creating a separate influence.

As

to

to the appointment of a commission to take care of his Majesty's private property, Parliament had no more to do with it than with the property of the king of France.

A desultory conversation ensued between Mr Sheridan and Mr Perceval; when the resolutions were put and agreed to..

Friday, Jan. 17.

The House resolved itself into a committee of supply, in which, upon the motion of Mr Yorke, the sum of L. 3,345,861, was voted for maintenance of seamen and marines for 1812, L. 3,500,000, for wear

and tear of the navy for the year 1812; and L. 649,750, for the Ordnance service. On a motion of Mr Secretary Ryder, amended by Mr Abercromby, a committee was appointed to inquire into the state of the nightly watch, and the police of the - metropolis.

Monday, Jan. 20.

The House went into a committee of supply, and voted L.100,000 to the Regent, for the expences he has been at, in consequence of his assumption of the exercise of the royal authority. Mr Tierney and Mr Whitbread objected to the grant, without a message from his Highness; but their objection was overruled.

Tuesday, Jan. 21.

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speech, by concluding, from all that he had said, that the fund was contaminated; that it had its origin in violence and fraud; and that in its maturity it gave protection to inferior agents in similar courses; and that throughout it was most suspicious. He called on the House to look to what might ensue from permitting it to remain on its present footing. Look to the dreadful consequences if ever it should happen, which he would not suppose probable, but which was possible, that a monarch of this country should hereafter exist, who had the misfortune to have an adviser, ill

acquainted with the principles and analogies of the British constitution, or caring little about either;. not having studied the character and temper of the people, or disregarding their resentment; rash enough to consider boldness as the surest way to power, and blinded by his avarice, so as to be desperate enough to venture on so dangerous a career-if ever it should happen that the crown was cursed to have, and to listen to such a minister, as Charles the Second had-listened to Lord Shaftsbury, only look at the fearful result; at the ruin of commerce, at the loss of honour, and the degradation of the English character for ever. (Hear!) Only suppose that such men might ever exist, and that a Prince might be advised to acquire a personal, uncontroled property, at the same risk with regard to America, tha Charles II. gained by the Dutch war, what ruin of every description would be the consequence? and yet gentlemen opposite argued, that all this might be done by law and the constitution, even without that mockery of responsibility-an act of in

Mr BROUGHAM rose to call the attention of the House to the subject of the droits of Admiralty, which were deemed to be vested in the crown, and which at present amounted to not less a sum than L. 8,000,000. Mr Brougham very forcibly expatiated on the danger to the constitution from such a sum being vested indemnity. He did not mean to say, that

the crown without any accountabilitythere was no safeguard against its being portioned out amongst undeserving favourites or mistresses; it might, in short, be converted to any use, public or private, harmless or dangerous; and more especially was it of the worst tendency, as it made it the interest of the crown to levy war in a way least consistent with its own honour, or that of the country, and without that frank, honourable, open declaration of hostilities, which, until lately, had been thought consistent with old English faith. (Hear, hear, hear!) The Dutch war, in the reign of Charles II. presented the worst, most infamous, and degraded specimen of this system, › (with the exception, perhaps, of the attack on Copenhagen, and the Spanish frigates.) The Hon. Gentleman finished an eloquent

he thought these events likely; but similar occurrences had once taken place; it was possible they might again happen, against which it was the duty of Parliament to provide. He was now done; and thanking the House for the attention with which they had honoured him, apologized for the length at which he had detained them. Again he called on them to pause, before they voted any increase to the civil list. The constitution knew of but one course a limited monarch, with a fixed expenditure, settled by Parliament, to which he was accountable. He concluded by moving several long resolutions, agreeing with the tenor of his speech

That all other funds in possession of the crown, otherways than by grant from Parliament, applicable, in the manner pointed out by them, and to be accounted

for

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