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Roman Antiquities.-Select Poetry.

There can be little doubt that many antiquities have been destroyed or dispersed from ignorance of their nature, and that many interesting remains, which might have furnished matter useful perhaps to the historían, have recently been broken up without any notice having been taken of them.

In making the new buildings lately behind the Cold Bath Fields Prison, a number of piles were dug up, and some stone work was found, which we understand appeared to be the vestiges of a bridge of great antiquity. In making the new buildings by the old Pancras church, the mounds which were accounted by Dr. Stukeley to be the remains of a Roman camp, and which is highly probable, notwithstanding the wildness of his other conjectures respecting it, have been See Itinerarium Curiosum.

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entirely obliterated. The Spitalfields Mathematical Society, learning that the Roman camp in the fields beyond White Conduit House would soon be obliterated by the brickmakers, have had a drawing of it taken.

With respect to some later antiquities, less care has been taken. In taking down the autient church of St. Katherine, to form the new St. Katherine's Dock, the tomb of John Duke of Exeter was opened. The cranium is small and retiring. The teeth are remarkably perfect. It appeared that his tomb had once before been plundered of the lead. His will, in which he bequeaths to the high altar of the church "a cuppe of byrol garnished with golde, perles and precious stones to be put in the sacrament,” and a number of other valuable effects, is to be seen amongst the Tower records.

SELECT POETRY.

THE POWER OF HOPE.

AN ODE.

HOWE'ER unwelcome thoughts intrude,
Or doubts perplex, or hopes delude;
Do trusted Friends betray,
Or children disobey;

Does Fortune prove ungenerous-still
In spite of every pressing ill,

In spite of all that's felt or done,
We freely, fondly muse upon
Success and happiness in store,

A fairer scene, a brighter day,

What duties have I not foregone,

That I would, could, and should have done,
While feasts of gay delight thou didst declare,
Thou would'st, ere long, for me prepare!

And, tho' thou ne'er the truth didst tell,
Thou didst delude with such a 'witching air,
That I still called thee kind, and thought
thou meantest well.

I said, I thought, thou meantest well:
And so again thy promises believ'd,
And so was I again deceiv'd:

At twenty-three this strong fallacious spell

Than all the scenes that charm'd, or days Still binds me to itself-e'en now

that went before.

Sweet Hope, the solace bland of woe,
The balm of anguish and distress,
Fair guest of prisoned loneliness,
How much to thee do mortals owe

Of all the comforts they possess:
"Tis thine from Sorrow's pallid check,
To wipe the pearly, tender tear,
And soothingly to speak

Of joys unfelt as yet, but near;
'Tis thine to chase Despair and Dread away,
And on the heart to pour the sunshine of
the day.

'Tis thine, as 'twere, before our eyes To pieture vivid fantasies,

To show us what we have not seen,
And make us what we have not been,
Or rich perchance, or great, or wise;

'Tis thine, when storms begin to low'r,
Texalt our future 'bove our present state,
And by the touch of magic pow'r
Ideal forms substantiate;

"Tis thine to point to other homes and plains,
And scenes and realms, where Mirth and
Goodness sports and reigns.

How oft have I believ'd thy wiles,
And courted, Hope, thy heav'n-lit smiles;
For I have been from early youth to thee
An enthusiastic votary :

Sungilt and fair, the prospect lies
And scarce a cloud obscures the skies:
Thus

thus am I constrain'd to bow

At thy blest shrine, sweet Hope! oh come!
For once my day-dreams realise,
Ande'er, as thou wert wont, my bosom make
thy home. G-c-E B-Y—N.
L-dd-g-n, Rut-shire.

THE SOLDIER'S GRAVE.

THE moon shone bright on the green fera

and brake,

Her silvery beams had illumin'd the lake,
And the Convent bell chim'd on the air,
To summon the Nuns to the vesper prayer.
It pealed forth a dull and solemu sound,
I seem'd to be treading on holy ground.
All Nature appear'd at rest and still,
Save to the slow murmuring of the rill;
But yet could I hear the cadence of song,
That the breath of the zephyr swept along.
It flow'd on the breeze all sweet and holy
And waken'd the Muse of Melancholy;
As the lone echo was winging its flight
Around, 'mid the darkness and gloom of
night,

Not far from a clear running stream, full
shone

The Moon's pale light on a marble stone.
I look'd

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I look'd thereon with a watchful eye,
And there was writ a mournful elegy;
Nature was hush'd in the silence of sleep,
And the trembling willow had seem'd to weep.
The fairness of Luna was darkly hid,
Beneath the night's dull cloud was canopied,
And my spirit of soul was sunk in gloom,
While pondering over the warrior's tomb.
I mus'd-and thought that I saw arise
The dread vision of Death before my eyes.
I'mus'd-and saw his grim aspect appear
Beside a black pall spread over a bier;
Near him stood Time with his scythe-
looking on,
[were gone.
And mocking the days and the years that
My hair stood on end, and my heart felt dead,
I gaz'd on again—but the visions had fled
I cast my eyes round with a look of despair,
And heard but the gush of the midnight air;
No cipher was sculptur'd here to tell
The name of the Hero who nobly fell;
No idle trophy here had deck'd his grave,
No pompous display of Heraldry, save
The lion couchant, the colour, and spear,
To tell that a Warrior's tomb was here;
The love of a Briton was well exprest,
For a Briton had left him here to rest;
"This Hero in his Country's cause had stood,
And for his Country had shed his blood.
Proud Fame had aroused his passion of heart
In the conflict where Death had play'd his
part;

He had fought right well; full many a day
Had he borne the heat of the battle fray,
And was one of England's brave sons who fell
In Victory-as will her records tell,
He fell (if her History speak the truth)
He fell in the bloom and the prime of youth,
Valour with him had led on to the fray,
And Valour with him had held forth her
sway."

This was the noble epitaph
Which mark'd the hero's cenotaph;
There now he lies beneath the sod,
O'er which perchance he once had trod,
With triumph beaming in his eye
Before the vanquish'd enemy.
That eye which oft with fire had shone,
When Glory crown'd the deed he'd done,
Was now obscured; his mortal worth
Had now for ever clos'd on earth.
The heart that once exalted high
The charms of love and harmony,
When free from care and free from strife,
Or perils of a soldier's life,

The heart that once had held command
Had rous'd the lion of the land;
Had felt love, valour, fame, and all
That honours man-exalts the soul
Above the needy trash of care,
Above the crouching arm of fear,-
Has now for ever ceas'd to beat,
Lies mould'ring 'neath the traveller's feet,
Lies free from worldly hope or pain,
To pass to nothingness again.

The laurel that once crown'd his brow
Gives place unto the cypress now.

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Heard ye that sound as of wailing and woe
Pouring afar from the ranks of the foe,
"God is come down to withstand us, and
where,
[despair?"
Where can we hide us from shame and

Hark! 'tis the bray of the battle, again
Israel's army is vanquish'd and slain;
And 'midst the wild tumult and slaughter
forsaken,

The glorious Ark of the Covenant, taken!
Where has that mourner of Benjamin fled,
Fear in his features, and earth on his head?
Bears he that message of wonder and fear
To Eli," who sits by the way-side to hear."
Trembling and faint, and well stricken in
years,

Long has he waited with failings and fears, And the flushing of life his pale brow has forsaken, [taken.

As he hears that the Ark from his people is D. A. BRITON,

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HISTORICAL CHRONICLE.

FOREIGN NEWS.

SPAIN.

A letter from Murcia, dated Dec. 2, states that, from the Straits of Gibraltar to the waters of Carthagena, the number of Colombian corsairs, large and small, is very considerable. All our ships, whose cargoes are valuable, become their prey, and, to complete our misfortune, those which are not laden they sink or burn. We see landed on our coast, every day, the unfortunate crews On the 3d of ships taken, sunk, or burnt. inst, the Commissary of Marine of Almeira received advices from different maritime

These

points on the coast of the kingdom of Gre-
nada, in which it was announced, that on
the second, and on the morning of the third,
fifteen vessels had been captured.
corsairs, having resolved to annihilate our
mercantile navy, have taken their measures
so well, that no ship can escape them. They
have armed small boats, which pass along
the coast touching the land, enter our ports,
and carry off ships. This has just happened
at las Roquetas close to Almeira, where they
have seized in the port a large three-masted
vessel, which had taken refuge there.

RUSSIA.

The last Annual Obituary of the Russian Empire, published at St. Petersburgh, records the death of a man at the very advanced age of 168, near to Polosk, on the frontier of Livonia. He had seen seven Sovereigns on the throne of Russia, and remembered the death of Gustavus Adolphus. He had been a soldier in the thirty years' war; at the battle of Pultowa, in 1709, he was 51 years of age. At the age of 93 he married his third wife, with whom he lived 50 years; the two youngest sons of this marriage were 86 and 62 respectively in the year 1796; the oldest of his other sons in the same year were 95 and 92 respectively. The entire family of this patriarch comprises 188 descendants, who all lived together in the village of Pollatzka, which the Empress Catharine the Second caused to be built for them, grauting, at the same time, a considerable tract of land for their sup port. In the 163d year of his age, this modern Nestor was in the enjoyment of the

most robust health.

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of all Good, for the blessings of health and
abundance, and peace, which he has deigned
to bestow on the American people. It is
also mentioned as a just topic of congratu-
lation, that with a small but unhappy ex-
ception, the European countries are at
peace, and most of their Governments are
acting upon the principle, that the proper
end of political institutions is the happiness
of the people-In adverting to the Foreign
Relations of the United States, the Presi-
dent naturally directs his first attention to
Great Britain. He notices the important
changes lately effected in our system of
commerce and navigation. The system of
the United States, he says, is a liberal one.
Ten years ago they offered to other mari-
time nations to place their respective ship-
ping on an equality as to tonnage and im-
port duties. This offer was after a time ac-
ceded to successively by England, Sweden,
the Netherlands, the Hanse Towns, Prus-
sia, Sardinia, Oidenburg, Russia, and, in a
modified degree, by France. Some restric-
tions yet remain which it is desirable should
be removed.

The next topic to which Mr. Adams ad-
verts, is one which, however popular in
America, will carry little weight with it
elsewhere; we mean the claims of America
on France, Naples, Denmark, &c. for in-
demnity on account of the robberies perpe-
trated by Buonaparte.

A more gratifying part of the Message,
is the announcement of a Treaty of Naviga-

tion and Commerce concluded between the
United States and Colombia, and an intima-
tion that similar treaties will soon be con-
cluded with several of the other South
American Republics. It is also an import-
aut piece of information that the United
States have been invited to send Represen-
tatives to the Congress about to be assem-
bled at Panama, and have accepted the invi-

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PART [1.]

Foreign News.Domestic Occurrences.

637

Purchase of Indian Territory 500,000 he strongly urges a permanent Naval Peace
Roads and other Improvements 1,000,000 Establishment.
Interest of the National Debt 4,000,000
General Expences of Government 7,000,000
24,000,000

Thus it appears that though eight million dollars of debt have been paid off, only two of these have been required to be raised by Loan; consequently, the Revenue has af forded a surplus of six million dollars applied in extinction of Debt. At this rate, the whole remaining Debt, which is only 81,000,000 dollars, would be paid off in 13 years.

The organization and discipline of the Army, the President says, are effective; and he highly praises the new Military Academy and Artillery School. From these he passes to the Treaties with the Indian tribes (prudently deferring the disputed questions on the Creek Treaty till a future Message), and winds up this branch of his remarks with a notice of the surveys made by the Engineering Department, with a view to the opening new communications to the interior, &c.

The next great object is the Navy. The President dilates upon the employment of the cruising squadrons in the Mediterranean and Pacific seas, and the suppression of the Slave Trade and of Piracy, not forgetting an incidental compliment to the Marquis De La Fayette, who was conveyed across the Atlantic and back under the American Flag; and it deserves to be noted that as Mr. Adams had warmly applauded the maintenance of institutions for a Land Army, so

The communications by post in the United States are wonderfully extensive, and yet the Post Office Establishment now (for the first time) produces a surplus receipt of 45,000 dollars.

The remainder of the Message evinces in Mr. Quincy Adams a very laudable zeal in the cause of science. He speaks handsomely and justly of "the generous emulation with Britain, and Russia have devoted the gewhich the governments of France, Great nius, the intelligence, and the treasures of their respective nations to the common improvement of the species" in geography and astronomy, and holds those Governments up as splendid examples to be followed in this respect by the American Legislature. He, in like manner, quotes the examples of England and France, in their scientific improvement of weights and measures, suggests the endowment of a University, and the construction of an Observatory, and recommends certain enlargements of the Executive and Judiciary departments, as required by the great increase of population, and the wide ramifications of foreign intercourse.

Mr. Adams sums up his discourse with the remark, that "Liberty is Power." We rejoice to see, in the Messuage of Mr. Quincy Adams, a spirit of candour, and a readiness to do justice, not only to the good intentions, but to the liberal conduct of the British Government.

DOMESTIC OCCURRENCES.

INTELLIGENCE FROM VARIOUS

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PARTS OF THE COUNTRY. A gentleman in Arbroath has in his session a document anent the Abbey of Aberbrothock, which shows the extent of tronage that had once belonged to that magnificent building, with its religious establishment, and the privileges that the Abbot enjoyed. Cardinal Beaton was Abbot from about 1524 to 1540. The last commendatory Abbot of Aberbrothock was John Hamilton, second son to the Duke of Chatelherault, who was afterwards created Marquis of Hamilton. This Abbey was erected into a temporal Lordship, in favour of James, Marquis of Hamilton, son to the former, upon 5th May, 1608. It afterwards belonged to the Earl of Dysart, from whom Patrick Maule of Panmure, gentleman of the bedchamber to King James the Sixth, purchased it, with the right of patronage of all the parishes thereto belonging. The Abbots of this place had several privileges which others did not enjoy. They were exempted from assisting at the yearly Synods, and Pope Pius II. declared his resolution in 1461 to excommunicate all those who would

trouble them upon that head. Pope Bennet, by his bull, dated at Avignon, grants to John, Abbot of Arbroath, the privilege of making use of, and wearing the pontifical ornaments; and they had the privilege of giving the minor orders. King Robert de Bruce granted ten marks Scots to this Abbey.

The Caledonian Canal Navigation is now opened between the Eastern Sea at Inverness, and the Western Sea at Fort William, to the depth of 15 feet water on the shallowest parts.

The success of the Darlington Railway Experiment, and the admirable manner in which the loco-motive engine does all, and more than all, that was expected from it, seem to have spread far and wide the conviction of the immense benefits to be derived from the construction of new railways.

A plan for making a Railway from Selby by way of York, through the Vale of York to Newcastle, with a branch to Sunderland, is under consideration. It is proposed to be effected by a Joint Stock Company, who will previously fix with the landholders for the right of passage, and so render an immediate

resurt

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Intelligence in London and its Vicinity.

resort to Parliament not absolutely necessary. It is conceived that, giving the landowners double the annual value of the land for the first 20 years from breaking ground, and treble for the next 20 years, and afterwards quadruple, and limiting the Company not to take beyond a certain fixed rate of charge, will induce the landowners to promote a measure so highly advantageous to themselves and the public. It is calculated the present distance between the extreme points may be reduced about 12 miles; that the rate of charge will not exceed 3d. per ton per mile; and that the speed with which articles will be conveyed will be six miles per hour.

Earl Brownlow, Lord Lieutenant for the county of Lincoln, has informed Captain Manby, that in the recent tremendous gale, eleven persons were saved by his mortar from a stranded vessel on that coast. We understand that 318 lives have been preserved by that method of affording relief.

LONDON AND ITS VICINITY.

A recent Gazette contains several notices of projected improvements in the City, in Westminster, and the suburbs. In the eastern parts several new roads are intended to be formed; and in the north, a new road connecting the Hackney-road with Kingsland-road. In the City a new street is projected from Moorgate to the Bank, (connecting Finsbury-square with the centre of the Metropolis). To the westward a new street is to be formed, from Lincoln-InnFields to Holborn, (which will complete the passage from the latter street to the Strand, through the intended opening at Pickettplace, Temple-bar). It is intended to enlarge Hungerford-market, improve the adjacent quays, and establish a fish-market, (so long wanted in that part of the town). And the parish of Lambeth, having gained so large a population, is to be accommodated with a new bridge, from the Church to the Horseferry-road, and a street from the same to Stafford-place, Pimlico, which will connect the Borough in a straight line with Hyde Park-corner. And further westward, it is intended to make a navigable canal from the Thames to Kensington.

The only two houses which abutted on that ancient site called the Sanctuary, at the upper end of Prince's-street, leading to Tothill-street, are at length levelled with the ground. Workmen are also now employed in preparing the foundation of the intended new Parliamentary Mews, by lining the excavations with lime, in order to insure its dryness and durability. It is understood, that in addition to the improvements thus proceeding in this renowned part of the metropolis, there will presently be another new square, facing the northern side of the Ab

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bey, and corresponding, in some degree, with the fine enclosure which runs parallel with the entrance to the Sessions-house, Westminster will here assume, in consequence, an entire new aspect. The houses at present in Gardener's-lane, together with many now standing in King-street, are likewise to be pulled down.

The pulling down of the old King's Mews fronting Pall Mall East, and by Charingcross, and the old houses, sadler's shop, public-house, &c. commenced December 29. About half the Mews area, that portion next St. Martin's-lane, has been enclosed with wood fencing, for the temporary accommodation of the military, &c. The improvements preparatory to making the grand opening from the Haymarket to St. Martin's Church, will proceed forthwith.

Considerable curiosity has been lately excited by the appearance of an immense structure now building by Messrs. Taylor and Wright of the Borough, for the manufacture of pins, in the Borough-road, close to St. George's Market, the west side of which faces an opening to the London-road. The dimensions of the building is in length 185 feet, in width 40 feet, and in height 50 feet, and contains upwards of 120 windows, besides loopholes. The pins are to be made entire by one blow of the machinery, to be worked by steam, at the rate of 10,000 per minute, chiefly for the export trade.

Rennell v. Bishop of Lincoln. - In the Court of Common Pleas, judgment in this case has been delivered.—The question was, whether the wife and administratrix of the late Rector of Weldon and Prebend of South Grantham, in the Cathedral Church of Salisbury, had a right of representation to the living of Weldon. The Judges, in giving their opinions, took a retrospective view of the history and constitution of the Church for upwards of 600 years.-Mr. Justice Park observed that Archbishops appeared to be anomalies in ecclesiastical history, having been first set up as an encroachment on the legates of the Popes; but, after the reformation, the encroachment, though an anomaly, was continued down to the present day.-Mr. Justice Gaselee was of opinion that judgment ought to be given for the plaintiff, thereby giving the widow the right of presentation to the vacant living. The other three Judges were of a different opiniou, and judgment was therefore given for the defendant.

An action was lately brought in the Court of Common Pleas by a Printer, to recover 941. from Mr. Stockdale, the publisher of Harriette Wilson's Memoirs, for work and labour done. The claim was proved, but the Counsel for the defendant maintained that the work was so immoral, so licentious, so much calculated in every way to injure the true interests of society, that no man engaged in assisting to bring it before

the

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