1815.] Julian's Death-Dr. Donne-Sir Lewis Dives. but in the instance put by Humanitas, who states that they were married by banns, the objection now made by the husband, that he was under age at the time, will not avail; so that Humanitas is mistaken in describing the object of his very just commiseration as neither wife, maid, nor widow. She cannot be deprived of the title of wife, and may securely attempt to assert her legal rights to a maintenance for herself and child, (if any the fruit of the above-mentioned marriage;) but to direct her in the judicious prosecution of them will require the advice of some professional person. I am, &c. To the Editor of the New Monthly Magazine. SIR, A correspondent in your last lays be fore your legal readers a very affecting case, of a minor having married a woman, and then deserted her, upon a plea of infancy. The question he there puts is, "Whether the marriage can be set aside on proof of the minority? and, if so, what remedy can be given to the unfortunate woman?" Now, Sir, I submit that, as a publication of banns is equal to a licence with the consent of the parents or guardians, this marriage cannot be set aside by the mere disagreement of either of the parties. With respect to the remedy, if there has been a deed of settlement, an action at law will lie on the covenant therein; but if none, the best course for the wife to pursue will be to seek relief in a court of equity, which will allow her a main tenance out of the property of her husband in proportion to its extent. I am, &c. AMONG the pious frauds which too frequently disgrace the pages of ecclesiastical history, may be reckoned the account of Julian's death, concerning which your correspondent VERITAS makes inquiry in your last number, p. 418. That monarch had rendered himself so obnoxious to the Christians by his zeal for paganism, and by the absurd attempts which he made to restore the pomp of polytheism, with all its altars and mystic rites, throughout the empire, that his death could not be registered without some circumstance to mark the special interposition of the divne agency. 517 The story of the witty prediction of the Christian grammarian at Antioch, in reply to the question of Libanius the sophist is told by Theodoret and Sozomen, from whom it has been retailed by most writers who have treated of this emperor's history. But the saying and action attributed to Julian, in his last moments, have no better authority than the former of these historians; for though Sozomen relates it, he does it in a very slighting manner, and evidently without believing it himself. Ammianus Marcellinus, who was present when Julian expired, gives a very different account of his language and behaviour. Instead of that frantic or theatrical scene, which is so highly coloured in the anecdote, it appears that Julian behaved with a gravity suitable to his condition; and so far from uttering any blasphemous expressions against heaven, his words were such as might have become a Christian in the same circumstances: I submit gladly," said he, "to the eternal and unchangeable decrees of the gods; and, though in the spring of my days, I am sensible that he who is inordinately fond of life when called upon to die, is as much a coward as the man who wishes to die when he ought to live." The extracts from the memoir of Dr. Donne, in your last number, do not furnish any more information concerning that ingenious divine, than what may already be met with in honest Izaack Walton's life of him; but your correspondent has committed an error in making the "witty Charles," as he calls him, the patron of the doctor instead of James I. By the way, can any of your readers inform me where the story is to be found, or on what authority it rests, which gives the dean the credit of discovering a murder in the parish of St. Dunstan, by the simple occurrence of taking up a scull in the church-yard? From the letters of James Howell it appears that Sir Lewis Dives, inquired after by HENRICUS, (at p. 427,) was at Madrid when Prince Charles made the romantic journey to that court, with the favourite Buckingham, in quest of a wife. Howell, who speaks highly of the abilities of Sir Lewis, has inserted in his entertaining collection three letters to him, of which two were written when the former was in the Fleet prison, and the latter in the Tower, in the year 1646; but the other, which is without date, and addressed to Sir Lewis Dives at Paris, was evidently composed at an earlier period. Wood, in his account of Doris 518 Lichtenstein corrected in regard to Vanderkemp. laus, who was assassinated in Holland, says, that when the Rump Parliament in, England heard of his death," they became so much enraged, that they resolved to sacrifice the life of a certain royalist of note, Sir Lewis Dyves, then in their custody; and they certainly had done it, had he not made a timely escape." (Athen. Oxon. vol. ii. p. 339.) Accord ing to Clement Walker, it was Sir Arthur Hazlerig who moved that six gentlemen of the best quality in England might be put to death, as a revenge for Dorislaus, and to deter men from the like attempts hereafter. (Hist. Independency, p. 173.) Dec. 5, 1814. A. Z. PROFESSOR LICHTENSTEIN CORRECTED in WHETHER VERITAS, LAMBBA, and J. R. be one and the same person, in a continued attack on Dr. Vanderkemp's character is immaterial,-my object in troubling you once more, and I hope finally, is to state the truth, as far as I know it. Veritas states, that Vanderkemp's memoirs 66 were written by himself;" whereas the title-page of that pamphlet assures me that it was compiled after his death, and by order of the Directors of the Missionary Society. And if he will "wade through the immensity of matter" contained in page 1, of that shilling performance, he may ascertain the time of the doctor's birth, and in page 33, the period of his death. Veritus quotes Lichtenstein as saying that Vanderkemp married at the age of Seventy-eight a Hottentot girl of thirteen." What will the impartial reader say of the veracity of these redoubtable champions when I state, that Vanderkemp was born in 1748 and died in 1811; consequently he was only sixty-three, or not sixty-four, when he died. And yet this" amiable traveller" marries him at 78! 66 The same veritable traveller might also diminish the age of the girl, (or woman rather, as she would be deemed in that country;) for, if I am rightly informed, she was older, but how much, exactly, I cannot say. And, if I dare presume once more to correct this amiable traveller, I should tell him he was erroneous in calling her a Hottentot. At what age Dr. V. married this girl I am unable to state; but, reasoning from circumstances, I suppose he could not be more than 57 or 58. Yet, Sir, as Veritas [Jan. 1, questions my veracity, and sneers at my authorities, though I think any reasonable man would have been satisfied with them, I shall beg to substantiate all I have advanced on this subject by citing two authorities with which I have been recently favoured. Being in company with a gentleman lately returned from his travels in Africa* a few months since, it was natural for me to wish to have his information on this very subject. And here follows a quotation from his letter now before me : "I do not recollect how old Dr. V. was when he died; but from the age of his eldest boy I should suppose they were married six or seven years, and I never heard that they lived unhappily. Dr. V. never married a Hottentot: she was a slave, and was brought up in a pious family in Cape Town that I knew very well. Her age is not an uncommon age to be married at in that climate. For if a girl passes her twentieth year unmarried, whether her colour be white or brown, she is, as we say, "put upon the shelf," or in the list of old maids. He never, that I heard, was parted from her; but she came to Cape Town with him, and attended night and day during his last illness: and he left all his property to her, and her two children by him." What can I now think of the insinuations of Veritas, though he does re fer to his "admired traveller!" Admi rabile dictu! My other testimony in favour of Vanderkemp is from a printed letter from Mr. Read, (Dr. V.'s fellow missionary,) to his excellency Sir John Cradock, the governor of the Cape. "Your excellency will undoubtedly be acquainted with the death of our highly esteemed friend and brother, the Rev. Dr. Vanderkemp, whose loss to us, and to the poor Hottentots, we consider irreparable. He had for these 11 years past the chief direction of the settlement at Bethelsdorp, an institution under the peculiar protection of his excellency General Dundas. His attachment to the poor Hottentots, the sacrifices he made for their welfare, and the zeal with which he espoused their cause, is universally known, and his memory will be held in veneration for ages to come by that nation," &c. &c. I ask, whether Mr. Read would have liar to the public, shall be given, if Veritas * His name and residence, though famishould demand it. t The Transactions of the Missionary Society, No. 25, p. 30-36. 1815.] Mr. Porter on the Tragedy of Sulieman. dared to speak so highly of Dr. Vanderkemp to Sir John Cradock, if he had not been a most exemplary man? Let Lichtenstein and his admirers think as they please, one may defy them to produce a man through all Africa who will have the effrontery to calumniate such men as VANDERKEMP! However, I am willing to concede, if Veritas will accept the concession, that Dr. V.'s marriage was an act of imprudence. But shall a blot in his escutcheon, a speck in his character, a proof of his imperfection, stamp the missionary cause with infamy? Who thinks of vilifying the House of Commons because one of its members may be concerned in a hoax on the public? Until a cause can be fairly identified with its agents, no logical inference can be made out against it. I am not afraid to inform your correspondent, that other African missionaries have married native women, and live happily with them; and I certainly think it tends to promote the cause of Christianity, when men, who devote their whole lives to its propagation among Heathen nations, can do it from principle; for there are no casts in the religion of Christ, in which, to employ St. Paul's language, "There is neither Greek nor Jew, Barbarian, nor Scythian, bond nor free, but Christ is all in all." As for the attempts of Veritas at wit and scurrility, I will only say with the poet "A moral, sensible, and well-bred man THE Editor of the Rejected Theatre could not have chosen a more appropriate motto for the title page of his work than the preceding, nor in the instance before us, a more true one; for the manager of the theatre must, ere this, have regretted his rashness in refusing a play burthened with so inconsiThough we have inserted a communication on the same subject from this correspondent, in a preceding sheet, we have thought it right to introduce the above into the present number, in hopes that it will close a controversy, the farther prosecution of which would, we fear, answer no good purpose. EDITOR. 519 derable a number of faults, and glowing with so many excellencies. The Tragedy of Sulieman, which forms part of the 5th number of the Rejected Theatre, cannot fail to excite the interest of every reader who peruses it with attention; and I hope the following observations and extracts will serve to shew that my praise is not unfounded. To declare that it has no faults would savour too much of enthusiasm or partiality, and candour obliges me to say, that there are several which darken and eclipse its merits. The first scene is far from prejudicing the unconcerned reader in its favour; before we turn over the first leaf we find a direct imitation of our immortal bard, and the pettish reader is apt to close the book with disgust, and exclaim with the poet "I hate e'en Shakespeare thus at second hand." Every one will discover the closeness of It was a very awful night. In troth, soon; ; A ball of fire spent its destructive rage The lofty minaret to shattered ruins, &c. The night has been unruly: as we lay Lamentings heard i' th' air, strange screams And prophesying, with accents terrible, The obscure bird clamoured the live-long Some say the earth did quake. MACBETH. This comparison will be sufficient; though the former extract is not a com plete imitation of the latter, yet the remaining part may be found to resemble the description of the storm in Act II. of Julius Cæsar. The frequent repetition of the expression, Thy highness, is inelegant, if not improper, for Sulieman continually makes use of the plural our, when speaking of himself, and Osmyn and others frequently address him by the singular one of thy highness. In Act I. p. 15, is another glaring imitation of Barbarossa. Thus much for the faults of this highly respectable production, and they are easy to be amended. The morose critic 520 Farther Particulars of Miss Whately. might, perhaps, by strict search, discover many of more weight than those I have mentioned. Happy am I to say that its beauties would require much more room in your pages than you would be disposed to allow, if I were to point out all that are striking and original. The characters are distinct and well drawn; that of Sulieman affords admirable for the actor's abilities; scope Paulina is original; and Osmyn raises our interest and good wishes. Some plays possess the greatest share of cllect on the stage; others in the closet: this is of the former class. The incidents are numerous and striking; aud, had Sulieman been performed, it would, I doubt not, have received the applause which it deserves.-A few extracts of the most striking beauties may not be unacceptable to your readers. Is not the following poetry of the first class? "Methought I was again in Spain, at home, And seated on the margin of a brook, Beneath the shade of an old moss-clad elm, Where I have often pass'd the summer's eve. The sun had sunk beneath the western verge Of heaven, and but some faint rays still linger'd Upon the summits of the highest hills. All nature sought repose; the feather'd race Forsook the bending sprays; the herds sped home; The distant tinkling of the sheep-bells died; At intervals, attuned her plaintive pipe, The speech, beginning "My liege, I am no traitor," in the same act, is excellent, and declares that, whilst we possess poets who can write thus, dramatic genius is not yet extinct in our country. Osmyn's speech to the soldiers, Act. II. Scene 7, is of the same class: the thought contained in the following lines is on an equality with the rest. For is it not a truth that, in these times, Who gains advancement at his hand, but floats A little while in Honour's atmosphere; Vain is the task to attempt to point out all its beauties within the compass of my paper, or even to do it justice. The plot increases in interest to the last act; and the defeat and despair of Sulieman could not fail to impress a favourable sensation on the mind of the audi [Jan. 1, tor. Osmyn's exclamation "Rot there!" though it may be after the manner of the old dramatists, is yet inelegant; not so Sulieman's dying speech, "I have yet breath enough to curse thes, slave! May Alla's hottest vengeance light on thee And Palma! May curses follow all-DeathFor a moment I would struggle with thee.—" I shall now leave this tragedy, with though I am unauthorized to judge, yet further impressions in its favour, and, I dare take the liberty of recommending it to the perusal of your readers, with nearly an assurance of their approval. If such pieces as this had been produced on the stage, the dramatic genius of England would not have fallen into de served contempt. R. PORTER. MISS WHATELY. To the Editor of the New Monthly Magazine, SIR, I COULD not avoid feeling some de gree of surprise on reading Dr. Wall's account of Miss Whately, but which account he afterwards corrects in some degree by admitting she had an education such as is usually given to the daughters of respectable farmers. I shall take up the narrative where the doctor ends, and inform your correspondent that she did keep the house of her brother, who was not only an attorney of fair, but of unimpeachable character; and that she married the Rev. J. Darwall, vicar of Walsall, Staffordshire, by whom she had several children. Three of them are now living; two at Breewood, and one at Walsall. After the death of ber husband, which happened about twenty Wales, and afterwards to Hope Mansel, years since, she retired to Newtown, in near Ross, Herefordshire, where she resided till within these few years; and is now, I believe, living with one of her daughters at Breewood, in the full enjoyment of her faculties, though at an advanced age. As I have had occasional opportunities of seeing and conversing with Mrs. D. I can assure your corre spondent, that a more delightful companion is rarely to be met with. With a mind highly cultivated, and the most engaging manners, she is the delight of all who have the pleasure of her society. The poems, which the doctor mentions, were published, and I believe some of them are to be found in the "Elegant Extracts," and, as he observes, are “not unworthy the best of our poets." I am, &c. Paddington, Dec. 9, 1814. T. F. Anstruther Musomanik Society. 1815.1 ANNIVERSARY of the ANSTRUTHER LITE denominated MUSO RARY SOCIETY ego mira poemata pango Occupet extremum scabies.-HOR. On the 30th day of September last, he first anniversary of the institution of he Musomanik Club of Anstruther, was elebrated there, in the Hail of Apollo, with all the pomp and festivity becoming he worshippers of that enlivening deity. it four o'clock the brethren (whose umber is precisely that of the nine Iuses,) being attended by many hoorary members, passed into their ball, hich, from its tasteful decorations of liage and other ornaments, struck ery eye with admiration. The walls the chamber were hung round with ctures of all the celebrated ancient id modern poets, under whose names ere written short extracts from their arks, in English, French, Italian, Geran, Latin, and even in Greek. Every air was entwined with laurels, myrs, and nettles; the mixture of the leaf the latter, though rather unclassical, is singularly appropriate and happy, it denoted the sharp and prickly nare of that satire with which the assoited rhymesters are determined to ng their calumniators. The dinner is choice and elegant, doing great nour, both in the selection and preration of its dishes, to the genius of provisor. Every dish was symboli, and had its inuendo, denoting either pride, or the vanity, or the irrihty, or the poverty of poets. Ditly before the Laureat, whose head 5 overcanopied by an umbrella of 75, lay the immense roe of a cod-fish, ich was meant to be a type and ire, not only of the great and alarmmultitude of modern bards, but also that wonderful richness and fecundity NEW MONTHLY MAG.-No. 12. 521 of brain, by the favour of which they are enabled to send out productions so rapid and so `voluminous as to put even Homer, Virgil, and Milton, to shame and confu sion of face. Much mirth was excited. by a Purnassus of paste, which stood in the centre of the table; it was twin-topt, and had on each summit a small sprig of laurel; on its side appeared a Poet of paste, apparently in the act of clambering; his hand was stretched out towards the laurel sprigs, and from his mouth issued a parchment scroll, with the motto of the society's seal therein written, " Vos, O Lauri, carpam!" On this hill of pastry the brethren cracked first their jokes, then their teeth, all the while secretly wishing that the prototype hill might prove as nutritive and substantial in its benefit. was The cloth being removed, a sacrifice of nine copies of their "Pustimes" straightway offered up, on a tin censer, to Apollo, every bard applying a lighted candle to the offering, and singing, during the time of combustion, a song for the nonce, to the tune of "Fare thee well, thou first and fairest!" The bards then took to their cups, and, after drinks ing "The King," the following invoca tion was sung by one of them : TUNE-"Hey, Tuttie Tattie." O'er this scene do thou preside, Should Misfortune sullen lour, Sweeps the fiend away. Never dreams of day. Unextinguish'd spark of sky, After this invocation, the recorder re * Vide the Transactions of the Society, lately published under the title "Poetical Pastimes, or Gambols round the base of Parnassus." 3 Z VOL. II. |