Of Ocean's pathless waste; a feeble cry, Scarce heard amid the elemental strife.-Such are my pleasures, such the thoughts I love.

Me deepest horror suits-my darken'd soul Hates the bright visions of deceitful Hope, That, like a rainbow, mock the childish grasp.

Yes! scenes of woe and death me please; since when,

A voluntary exile from a hateful world,
I curs'd the villain man who rudely tore
The dearest bonds that knit my soul to earth.
A wily serpent, bright, and full of death,
Stole to my happy couch, and in the ear
Of fond believing woman, whispered low,
Envenom'd words, wreath'd in soft flow'ry
speech.

Sin look'd so gentle, and so tempting sweet, That honour could deny the semblance nought

I crush'd the poisonous reptile, but his sting
Remain'd incurable with honour, joy,
And love, and peace, fled my polluted bed.
Thus died my hopes; my happiness is sunk,
Deep in the grave where lost Eudosia lies.

JUVENIS.

VERSES WRITTEN AT "HABBY'S HOWE," 28th June 1812.

HOW bleak the aspect Nature wears

Since Ramsay here her features drew! Is she thus bowed down with years? Or was the Poet's pen untrue?

So still and lifeless seems this place, Methinks thus Nature look'd when new; And thus Creation's infant face

First burst on Adam's wond'ring view. Yet all sure how I need not tell

Those objects round have charms to me; The simplest shrub that decks the dell, The laziest rill that ruts the lea,

The meanest bird that sings elate,

From furzy knoll, or bending bow, To cheer its faithful, list'ning inate,

That warms their callow young below.

For, oh! rapt fancy finds that all
Endearments never nam'd impart;
And recollections sweet recall,

Rever'd by every Scottish heart.
Haply in yon sequester'd nook,

At many an olden eventide, Where murmuring steals the glassy brook, Fantastic round its shelving side.

Youth em'lous tried what strength could do, While age told deeds that strength had

done;

And laurels bound the victor's brow
Dearer than warrior ever won.

Haply from yonder bending thorn,

No more with blooms or verdure drest, Has Patie many a sweet sprig torn,

To grace his Peggy's snowy breast. As oft beneath its awning sweet,

He lurk'd to shun some gossip's sneer, Till love within his bosom beat

Time to the light foot hast'ning near. O ye that can interpret kind

Love's token-beauty's blushing cheek; Who words, in looks averted, find

That palsy maiden tongue to speak.

Know gen'rous conquerors kindly feel,

For vanquish'd foemen's wounded pride; And bid not innocence reveal

The only truth she strives to hide.

"Twas thus that Patie, gentle, kind,

His Peggy from each rival bore. Go, reader, emulate his mind,

And love's primeval reign restore. What tho' the blind decree of fate Has doom'd to Poverty's confine, Her whose lov'd bosom beats elate, In softest sympathy with thine. That form so fair, that face so sweet,

That spotless cheek and speaking eye; Where all the graces seem to meet,

Not worlds of wealth will ever buy.

Adieu! lov'd spot, light's ling'ring tide,
Retiring sheds its sweetest gleam;
The sun-beam leaves the mountain's side,
The shadow melts adown the stream.
The lark, scar'd by yon sent'nel star,
Descending drops th' unfinish'd lay;
The heathcock's larum, heard afar,

Warns my intruding steps away.

J. M.D.

PRO

HOUSE OF LORDS.

Wednesday, July 1.

CATHOLIC QUESTION.

THE Marquis of Wellesley, after a very long speech, in which he took a most comprehensive view of the question, and supporting concessions to the Catholics, upon the law of nature, and upon the principles of the Christian reformed church, said, that if it had been practicable, he would have advised the consideration of this subject immediately as that was impossible, he should conclude with moving a resolution, "expressing the intention of the House to take into consideration, early in the next session of Parliament, the state of the laws eperating against the Roman Catholics of Great Britain and Ireland, with a view to make such conciliatory arrangements as might be essential and necessary to the peace and prosperity of the United Kingdom, and for the better security of the Protestant establishment."

The Lord Chancellor combated the opinions of the Marquis Wellesley, and others, who were for conceding to the Catholics, and gave notice to their Lordships that he meant to move the previous question.

The Dukes of Kent and Sussex, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, spoke at considerable length in support of the Catholic claims.

Lord Ellenborough was at a loss to account for the new light which appeared to have broken in upon Parliament on this question. A very new and extraordinary illumination had lately burst open the minds of some Noble Lords in that House. The Noble

Marquis, (Marquis Wellesley,) had first seen this new light, this day - star,-since the 30th of last January.—(Hear! )—Until that time, he must pass among the persecutors. Before he was converted, he might say as the Apostle of the Gentiles, who had been present at the martyrdom of Stephen, that though he himself had not stoned him with stones, yet he was consenting to it, and took care of the young mens' clothes who stoned him. The Noble Lord, however, had not given the House his reasons for this sudden conversion. A Noble Earl (Harrowby) had also seen this new light, and was now in faSept. 1812.

vour of the motion. As for himself, he was a man of plain and simple habits, and loved consistency and truth above all things. He never could bring himself to look upon the Roman Catholics in the same light as the Protestant dissenters, as they owned a foreign allegiance. He allowed, that this objection might be something weakened by the present circumstances of the Pope; but it must be recollected, also, that it was Bonaparte who had him in fetters. Under such circumstances, he still saw great danger from this foreign allegiance, and therefore he should oppose the present motion.

Lord Holland, Lord Mulgrave, Lord Melville, Earl Camden, the Duke of Norfolk, Earl Moira, Earl Darnley, the Marquis of Lansdowne, Earl Stanhope, and Lord Grenville, supported the motion of Marquis Wellesley; while the Duke of Cumberland, the Earl of Liverpool, Earl Harrowby, Viscount Sidmouth, and Lord Redesdale, opposed it.

Upon the question being put on the amendment moved by the Lord Chancellor, there appeared-Contents 74; proxies 52; 126-Non-contents 74; proxies 51; 125— Majority one against Marquis Wellesley's

motion.

Friday, July 10.

A short discussion took place in the Committee on Mr Palmer's Compensation Bill; the Lord Chancellor, Earl Lauderdale, and Lord Redesdale opposing it, and Lords Moira, Erskine, and Holland, speaking in favour of the Claim. Several divisions took

place, on all of which there appeared a majority in favour of Mr Palmer.

Friday, July 17.

Lord Holland wished to ask the Noble Earl at the head of the administration, whe ther the letter from the French government, and the answer of Lord Castlereagh, on the subject of a proposal for a negociation for peace between France and this country, and which had been published in the French papers, were authentic? (see page 555.) Tho' he did not think that it would be proper to consent that Joseph should be king of Spain, he was at the same time convinced, that there was not the same objection to the ac knowledging the title of Bonaparte; and he trusted, that no opportunity for negociation

would

would be lost on account of any scruple on that head.

The Earl of Liverpool said, that he had no difficulty in admitting that the correspondence in question was substantially correct. Whatever objection some might find to the language of the answer, there were few, either in Parliament, or in the country at large, who would find fault with the matter of that answer. All would agree, that if the acknowledgment of Joseph Bonaparte, as king of Spain, was to be made a necessary preliminary by the French Government, no negociation could be entered upon by the Government of this country on such a basis. It had, therefore, been requisite to call for an explicit declaration on that subject, in the first instance. No communication in reply had been received, and there the matter had rested.

Lord Holland moved the order of the day for the second reading of his bill, respecting ex-officio informations. The Noble Lord proceeded to state the hardships under which people prosecuted under this law laboured. He knew the case of one man, against whom, in three successive years, there were three several informations filed. In one of these he was acquitted, and two others were kept hanging over his head. His expenses were £.260, consequently he was amerced and fined by one man, not by the verdict of 12 honest jurymen. Since the year 1800 the account stood thus: from 1800 to 1807, only three informations; 1807 to 1809, fortytwo; and from 1809 to 1812, forty-one ;so that the proportion between the two latter periods and the first was as 14 to 1. Judge Blackstone laid it down, that this power should be exercised only in the case of "enormous misdemeanours against the King's government, in which a moment's delay might be fatal." If this doctrine were acted upon, there could be but few cases in which it would be expedient to depart from the constitutional mode of presentment by a grand jury. His Bill went to limit the period between the commission of the offence and the time of filing the information, and the time between the filing of the information and the day of trial. He concluded by moving, that it should be read a second time.

Lord Ellenborough opposed the Bill. He contended that the process by information was as old as the time of Edward I. and that the legality of it had been uniformly admitted by our best lawyers. If the limitations proposed by this Bill were adopted, many serious inconveniencies would be felt in prosecuting public peculators, such as Mr Davison and V. Jones. His Lordship concluded with moving, that the Bill be reject

ed; which motion, after some observations from Lords Erskine and Stanhope, in support of the Bill, and a short reply from Lord Holland, was carried, on a division, by 16 to 7.

Thursday, July 23.

Lord Liverpool, in reply to several questions from Lord Holland, said that ministers would be at all times ready to enter upon an exchange of prisoners upon a fair and liberal principle; that they had made every exertion in their power with our allies, to procure the total abolition of the slave trade; and that their attention was seriously occu pied with the inconveniencies experienced by the British West-India planters, from the existing system of commercial intercourse between the colonies and the United States.

Monday, July 27.

PEACE PRESERVATION BILL.

On receiving the report of the bill for the Preservation of Peace in the disturbed Coun. ties, Lord Holland rose to express his disapprobation. The bill, his Lordship ob served, consisted of three parts: one was to empower Magistrates to search for arms; secondly, to empower Magistrates to require arms of all persons of whom they might, or might not have suspicion; and, thirdly, to forbid certain assemblies made unlawful.With respect to the third, he was ready to acquiesce in that; but though he did so, he conceived it was a strong provision, tending to do away the other parts of the bill; for, if it were true that organization and combi. nation had taken place, it would follow, that the remaining part of the bill could not be necessary. With respect to the seizure of arms, he would not say that circumstances and certain exigences might not render that proceeding necessary; but they had, at the same time, to consider what were the features of a free Government. It had been acknowledged in every free Government, that the people had a right to carry arms for their defence. It was one of the princi ples of freedom. It was one of the marks of the Constitution, distinguished in the bill of rights, and such a right ought not to be sported with. He did not mean to say, that, because it was the right of the people, it might not be proper to disarm the people st particular times; but he would say, that they ought not to lose sight of the great principles of the Constitution without the most mature deliberation. His Lordship concluded by giving notice of his intention to move three amendments; first, to make the word Magistrate plural, viz. Magistrates; secondly, to add, "reasonable cause of suspicion," in the clause for searching for arms; and, fi

nally,

nally, to expunge the word "night," meaning, that there should be no nightly visits.

Lord Sidmouth was of opinion, that by taking away the arms, which operated as a temptation to the rioters and disorderly persons, safety and protection was afforded to those, who, with arms in their possession, would be constantly annoyed. The evidence, and particularly the oath, detailed by the Committee, had certainly furnished reasonable ground for the present pressure with respect to the cessation of the disturbances. They had not yet subsided. The search for arms was yet carried on with the most savage fury. He had a communication informing him of an attempt made by a ban ditti in Cheshire. They went to the residence of an old man, eighty years of age, and on his refusal to give up his gun, broke his thigh, his ribs, and left him in a situation which afforded no hopes of his recovery. His Lordship instanced another case, where a man who had been called on to give up his gun, consented to do it, because he found that the men who demanded it had been well informed with respect to his having a gun. He contended, from those instances, that the individuals would not have suffered, had they been without guns. His Lordship only justified the bill as a measure of necessity.

After some further conversation between Lord Darnley, Lord Holland, and Earl Camden, Lord Holland moved the amendments of which he had given notice. The first and second were negatived without a division. On the third, to omit the word night, the House divided. The numbers

event which his Royal Highness must ever deplore. The zeal and unwearied assiduity with which you have persevered in the discharge of the arduous duties imposed upon you by the situation of the country, and the state of public affairs, demands his Royal Highness's warmest acknowledgments.

"The assistance which you have enabled his Royal Highness to continue to the brave and loyal nations of the Peninsula is calculated to produce the most beneficial effects.

"His Royal Highness most warmly participates in those sentiments of approbation which you have bestowed on the consummate skill and intrepidity displayed in the operations which led to the capture of the important fortresses of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajos during the present campaign; and his Royal Highness confidently trusts, that the tried valour of the allied forces under the distinguished command of General the Earl of Wellington, combined with the unabated spirit and steady perseverance of the Spanish and Portuguese nations, will finally bring the contest in that quarter to an issue, by which the independence of the Peninsula will be effectually secured.

"The renewal of the war in the north of Europe, furnishes an additional proof of the little security which can be derived from any submission to the usurpations and tyranny of the French Government. His Royal Highness is persuaded, that you will be sensible of the great importance of the struggle in which the Emperor of Russia has been compelled to engage, and that you will approve of his Royal Highness affording to those Powers who may be united in this contest, every degree of co-operation and assistance, consistent with his other engagements, and with the interests of his Majesty's dominions.

"His Royal Highness has commanded us to assure you, that he views with most sincere regret the hostile measures which have been recently adopted by the Government of the United States of America towards this country. His Royal Highness is nevertheless willing to hope, that the accustomed relations of peace and amity between the two countries may yet be restored; but if his expectations in this respect should be disappointed by the conduct of the Government of the United States, or by their perseverance in any unwarrantable pretensions, he will most fully rely on the support of every class of his Majesty's subjects, in a contest in which the honour of his Majesty's Crown, and the best interests of his dominions must be involved.

"Gentlemen of the House of Commons, "We have it in command from his Royal