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stitution was maintained in all its Protestant consistency; the heaviest burthen of political evil that could oppress our national weal was prevented, and the greatest blessing that Britain can enjoy was secured. We repeat it, therefore, that to him, whose unawed stedfastness so materially tended to substantiate all this good, the gratitude of every true lover of his country is eminently due, and dear for ever to the heart of every Protestant Briton must be the recollection of the deed.

It is gratifying to trace in one individual so many proofs of superior worth; and we confess, that while our pen is thus employed, we feel an unwillingness to check its course. We admit that it has been guided by a laudatory hand; but what man, who has such a theme before him, could so constrain the convictions of his heart, as to permit his pen to withhold that tribute of praise, which not a single inhabitant of the land, if he be acquainted with our parliamentary history during the last fifteen years, would feel himself disposed to refuse. We are well aware, that indiscriminate panegyric is justly suspected in the principle which suggests it; but in the present instance, we know that our humble offering of commendation conveys the sentiment of all to whom the estimable subject of this Memoir is either personally or relatively known; and if there exist any person to whom our encomiums may be in any degree unacceptable, that person is the noble individual himself; for it is well known, that genuine desert shrinks from the publicity of its merits, to which, in spite of itself, it must ever be exposed. To this individual we would offer our apologies for this intrusion upon his feelings, but that in doing so, we must apologize for speaking the truth, and acting in strict conformity to moral justice-an apology which his own sense of right could never wrest from him, and of which we trust we may be permitted with equal inflexibility to deny the propriety. We now present our readers with those few details of Lord Colchester's progress towards his present well-deserved eminence of station, to which we have ventured to attach the term, biographical; but it is evident, that in such brief Memoirs as those to which the circumscribed limits of our Miscellany confine us, we can scarcely presume to dignify our delincations with the title of Biography.

LORD COLCHESTER was born in the year 1755. He was sent, when very young, to that fount of classical learning, Westminster school, at which so many of our best scholars and ablest statesmen first drank of the pure spring of elementary knowledge. Here he soon distinguished himself by the promise which he gave of future excellence. From Westminster he went to Christ Church, and fulfilled this promise by those first fruits of a well-cultivated and fertile intellect, which ranked him among the most intelligent progeny of his Alma Mater. The recollection of his early talent has been evinced by the respectful compliment which has been paid by the Society of his College to his maturer excellence, in placing his portrait, as Speaker of the House of Commons, among those of the other worthies of that collegiate community, who from age to age have increased its reputation by the splendour of their ta lents, and the eminence of their worth.

When he came of age he found himself in possession of a considerable for tune, but as his earliest habits had been those of industrious application to study, the strength of his mind did not allow the powers of his intellect to merge in the sloth of affluence. He entered himself at one of the Inns of Court, and attended the chambers of an eminent practitioner at the Chancery bar. By the society, on the rolls of which he was admitted, he was called to the degree of an utter barrister. He then proceeded upon the circuit, and, as we have been informed, acted as junior counsel to Mr. Erskine, in the celebrated trial of the Dean of St. Asaph,

At the general election in 1790, Lord Colchester stood for Helstone, in Cornwall, the representation of which was disputed by no less than four candidates.

A new charter had been granted by his present Majesty, the validity of which was contested upon this occasion by the members of the old corporation, who claimed under a charter of Elizabeth, confirmed by Charles I. The same body had already obtained a decision of a Committee of the House of Commons in their favour, and on this occasion, thought fit to revive their pretensions on the same grounds as before, but with inferior success.

In 1796, Lord Colchester, who had. been seated after some delay, occasion. ed by an appeal to a committee, was re-elected for Helstone, in conjunction.

with Lord Francis Godolphin Osborne, whose family possessed considerable influence in the Borough. In 1802, he was nominated both for Woodstock and Heytesbury, and having thus an option, he chose the former.

Although Lord Colchester does not appear to have cherished the ambition of distinguishing himself in the various Courts of law, yet he was not inattentive to those professional advantages which are derived from a legal education. We accordingly find him, as a legislator, producing a remedy for a grievance which had long been complained of; namely, the defective state of the promulgation of the statutes.

In 1797 and 1798, Lord Colchester acted as chairman of the select com. mittee of finance, and presented a number of important resolutions in its name, which have proved highly beneficial, by being enacted in the form of

statutes.

When Mr. Pitt first proposed the income tax, that measure was warmly canvassed by the members in oppposition; but it was, on the other hand, ably defended by his lordship.

Previously to his obtaining the high office lately occupied by him, Lord Colchester acted as the principal Secretary of State in Ireland, under the administration of the Earl of Hardwicke; he was also one of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury; and a Privy Counsellor of that kingdom. After evincing his talents in these exalted stations during a very critical period of national difficulty, a still more brilliant prospect opened to him. The Chair of the House of Commons became vacant, and he was the successful candidate for that important situation.

With what ability and usefulness to his country he fulfilled its duties, has been already shewn; with how much industry, and what intense application he attended to his duties in the House, and the business of his office, the cause of his resignation sufficiently proves. His health was materially affected and very precariously conditioned, but we rejoice to add, that the personal infirmity consequent of his indisposition, however distressing to himself, and painful to the affectionate sympathy of his friends, is not of that description which is likely to deprive the country of his services in the House of Peers. His complaint is seated in the optic nerve, and it is not happily without the hope of remedy.

When, upon his resignation of the Speakership, he was raised to the Upper House, the favour of the Sovereign was universally hailed as the consummation of the people's wish-The honour had been reaped by a continued series of arduous services; and the reward was honored by the merit of him who received it.

Mr. Abbot is author of an anonymous tract" On the Use and Abuse of Satire," 8vo. Oxford, 1786.—"Rules and Orders on the Plea Side of the Court of King's Bench, from Easter Term, 1731, to Trinity Term, 1795," 8vo. 1795.— "Jurisdiction and Practice of the Court of Great Sessions of Wales, on the Ches ter Circuit," royal 8vo. 1795.-" Treatise of the Law relative to Merchant Ships and Seamen," Svo. 1802, 3d edi. tion, 1808.-" A Speech in the Committee of the House of Commons on the Catholic Question,' "* 8vo. 1813.

As the title of Lord Colchester has been erroneously supposed to be attached to the family of Lucas, we take this opportunity of correcting the error, by observing, that Colchester gave the title of Viscount to Thomas Lord Darcy, who in 1626 was also created Earl Rivers, with limitation to Thomas Viscount Savage, his son-in-law, both which titles became extinct in 1728. His Lordship was the second son of the late Reverend Dr. Abbott, who was rector of All Saints, Colchester, and possessed a patrimonial property in that town. Lord Colchester was mar ried on the 29th of December, 1797, to Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Sir Philip Gibbs, Bart. of Springhead, in the Island of Barbadoes. His Lordship has a beautiful seat called Mayfield, at Kedbrook, near East Grinstead, formerly in the possession of the Earl of Abergavenny. Here he has usually resided with his family during the few intervals of leisure which he could seize from the toils of that office which he so ably and conscientiously filled.

That he may long enjoy the consolatory recollections of a Fita bene acta, in all the satisfactions of that elevated condition to which it has led ; and that this enjoyment may be perfected in the happiness of those who are dearer to him than himself, is the unfeigned wish of every one who has mind enough to estimate the value of superlative worth, and heart enough to rejoice in its welldeserved recompense. H.G. W.

The Speech to which we have alluded.

LEGENDS OF LAMPIDOSA.

COLLECTED BY A RECLUSE.

(Continued from page 108.)

THE ITALIAN.

NELL me not of our Ariosto

learned Doctor Busbequius Buonavisa to his nephew Count Blandalma, as they walked in the great square of Padua: "All the books in the Vatican or the Alexandrian library, if they could be found, should never convince me that woman is not an evil. What says the Talmud? What said the Council of Nice and the Koran, and the Institutes of Menu-and-ay, and our own college?-Do they not all agree that the Creator did not send woman till he was asked, lest we should tax him with malice?-Woe to the father of daughters!" said the Rabbi Ben Sirai; and I answer-Woe to husbands!"

"Sir," replied the young man, meekly, "I might also defy you to shew me any poet, historian, or philosopher, from Hesiod to Voltaire, who has not contradieted himself at least six times on this subject."

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"Well, boy, well!--and what does that prove, except that when women were created, fools became necessary? -But what were they in Hesiod's days, and what are they now? Ask Ovid, Lucian, Terence, or Petronius!-Hear the English sage in 1617- For what end,' says he, are women so newfangled, unstaid and prodigious in their attires, unbefitting age, place, quality, or condition? Why do they deck themselves with coronets, pendents, chains, girdles, rings, spangles, and versicolor ribbands? Why are their glorious shews with scarfs, fans, feathers, furs, masks, laces, tiffanies, ruffs, falls, calls, cuffs, damasks, velvets, cloth of gold and silver?-To what end are their crisped hair, painted faces, gold fringed petticoats, baring of shoulders and wrists? Such stiffening with cork -streight'ning with whalebone-sometimes crushed and crucified-anon in lax clothes, an 100 yards I think in a gown and sleeve: then short, up, down, high, low, thick, or thin, making themselves, like the bark of a cinnamon tree, best outside!'-Answer me, Signor Ludovico Blandalma, answer me.

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"There can be no answer, uncle, to such a congregation of questions, unless 1 repeat the catechism of your friend Jacobus de Voragine, who composed Europ. Mag. Fol. LXXII. Sept. 1817.

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it, perhaps, when he meditated matrimony. Hast thou means?—thou hast one to keep and increase them-Hast none?-thou hast one to help thee.Art in prosperity ?-thy happiness is doubled-Art in adversity? she'll com

she'll drive away melancholy — Art abroad?-she'll wish and welcome thy return-There is no delight without society-no society like a wife's."

"Hold, hold!" interrupted Doctor Busbequius-" listen to the obverse side- "Hast thou means?thou hast one to spend them-Hast Done?

thy beggary is increased.-Art in prosperity-thy share is ended-Art in adversity?-she'll make it like Job's.

Art at home?-she'll scold thee out of doors-Art abroad?-if thou beest wise, keep thee so. Nothing easier than solitude, no solitude like a bachelor's -Why, how now? Whence comes that offuscation of face, Ludovico?"

"Nothing, Sir," replied the nephew, smiling, with downcast eyes-" a flush, perhaps, from indigestion."

"Fuliginous vapours, child! Savanarola and Professor Menadous prescribe diazinziber, diacapers, and diacinnamonum, with the syrup of borage and scolopendra, to remove them. This is an irregular syncopatie pulse, which indicates a chronic disease."

"Very possibly, dear uncle, for I have taken a wife."

"By the heart of man! (which is no profane oath, as I know not what the thing is made of) I am glad to hear it!-A wife, saith the Hindoos, is the staff and salvation of her husband; meaning, no doubt, that she chastises him in this world. I congratulate thee, Ludovico, on thy progress through purgatory."

"Spare your raillery," answered Blandalma, with a deeper flush, "I should not have announced my marriage to a cynic so professed, if I had not also had reason to acknowledge my conversion to his system, and my intended separation from

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"From your wife, nephew!" interposed the cynic, charmed with this opportunity to reason on both sides of the question-" abstractedly, a wife is an evil, but relatively she is a benefit, because she exercises the cardinal virtues."

"Sir, there was no enduring her diabolical temper." "That is another prejudice of ignoD d

norance, nephew. We have no reason to believe that Satan has a woman's tongue; but admitting that a shrewish temper and a demoniacal one are synonimous, I can suggest a remedy. When your wife is eloquent, answer her in the words of Aristophanes "Brecc, ckex, ko-ax, ko-ax, oopoop!"-Or there is another expedient: -the stones in this market-place, as you know, were once employed as public seats of exhibition for all the insolvent debtors in Padua, and they would be equally useful if vixens were required to stand on them barefoot. I have no doubt that the famous circle at Stonehenge was contrived by the wis dom of ancient Britons for that purpose."

Whether either or both these expedients would have been successful, remains in eternal doubt, as the next moment brought Ludovico a special inessenger, announcing the death of his wife on her way to the baths of Pisa. As this event happened at a distance so convenient, there was no occasion for much solemnity of mourning; one of her relatives, with whom he was not personally acquainted, had arranged her funeral; and Ludovico carried his sable mockery to "midnight dances and midnight dances and the public show" with great satisfaction. But as custom is second nature, the unusual tranquillity which he now enjoyed became gradually an incumbrance, and he began to regret the varieties and inequalities of bis domestic life. His uncle, after quoting Isocrates, Seneca, Epictetus, and every other ancient reasoner against melancholy, prescribed travelling, and determined to accompany him in his tour through the Mediterranean isles him self. As a busy indolence was Ludovico's only motive, and his uncle had none except his delight in curious research among antiquities, their first disembarkation was on the isle of Mytilene" Here," said Dr. Busbequius, as they walked from the ship's boat along the windings of a graceful coast, and looked towards a cassino half covered with orange-blossoms-" here is the fit residence for a man whose imagination can give no flashes of light except on a summer's day, like a Swedish marigold !-here, in the ancicnt Lesbos, the court of Cytherea, and consequently exempt from shrews, as all isles are usually safe from scorpions."-Ludovico sighed in silence,

and approached the garden-gate, where the owner stood awaiting their arrival. The terms of their admission as temporary guests were easily concluded with Signor Furbino, who received them with Italian civility. But when they required his signature to the contract, he informed them, that ceremony would be performed by his daughter.—“ I abhor all reference to female wisdom," said Dr. Busbequius-" it always makes a man more uneasy than his own: Why must we have a female signature ?""Sir," replied the master of the villa, "I have been naturalized in this island long enough to acquaint you with its laws. Here the eldest daughter possesses all the rights allotted to a first-born son in other countries: the second is her menial servant, wears only a coarse brown garb, and is condemned to celibacy. If unfortunately a third daughter arrives, she claims all that her parents may have accumulated since the eldest's birth, and the fourth in suc cession is her servant, or Calogria. Thus, gentlemen, our daughters are alternately heiresses and slaves, and our sons must seek their fortunes in other lands, or be humble vassals at home, since all the wealth, liberty, and power, belong to our wives.".

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Why, then," exclaimed the philosopher, this is worse than Egyptian boudage; even in Cleopatra's days, her subjects allowed women to command only one day in the year! Sir, it is plain you require a courageous leader to break these hideous fetters; and if you dare follow me, I will harangue your countrymen in their senate-house till they resolve on emancipation."— "You would find none but women there, Sir!" answered Furbino, laugh. ing; "and your own emancipation would be rather doubtful. As for my self, I am not very unfortunate, being a widower with only two daughters; but I must act as the steward of the eldest, and one of you, gentlemen, must sign this contract in her presence."

Highly amused by his uncle's vehement indignation and eagerness to combat this prodigious system, Blandalma willingly ceded to his seniority the pri vilege of guaranteeing the contract. With his college-peruke placed on one side, his left arm behind, and his right advanced with the roll of parchment in the posture of Cicero's statue, Dr. Busbequius presented himself before the Lesbiau lady, who sat alone in a superb

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apartment, leaning on her embroidery. "Madam!" said the philosopher, elevating his eyebrows and fixing his round person precisely erect, "though every code of laws and every national opinion, from the lex Julia of the Romans to the talk of a Cattabaw chief, allows us to form contracts, either public or domestic, without female aid, I am instructed that your consent is necessary before we can be domiciliated here."“Is talking your profession?" said the Lesbian, fixing her large bright eyes on her orator- if it is, you shall teach my macaw. I want him to learn Italian with a pure academical accent; and I admit no strangers unless they conform to our customs. Have you any name or business here?"-" My name," retorted her guest, "which was never asked before without respect, is Busbequius Buonavisa, physician and professor of philology in Padua; and when my nephew has recovered his health, I thank Heaven, I shall have no business here." -"Now!" said Lesbia, "does a physician dare to see a sick man?"-" What would our academy have to do, madam, if men were not sick ?”—“ Nothing, Mr., Busbequius; and therefore our custom is to chastise a physician every day until his patient recovers."-"But, good lady, my nephew is only sick in mind, and requires no medicine except wine and a clear atmosphere, which, as Boerhaave saith”—“I have no objection to hear you talk," interrupted Lesbia, “provided you are useful in the meantime-either hold my lap dog, or this skein of silk while I unwind it. But is not your real name Boerhaave? I have seen your face before in his picture; and if I could learn Latin, I would read his works, and be physician-general to the island"

The latter part of this speech so nearly resembled a compliment, that it 'reconciled him to the first; and Dr. Busbequins, forgetting how ill his portly resemblance to Boerhaave qualified him for a silk-winder, quietly performed that office while he made an oration on medical science, and ended it by signing the contract as Lesbia dictated. It must be confessed that she unravelled her silk with fingers of exquisite beauty, and employed eyes whose brilliance was heightened by the artificial eyebrow and rich complexion peculiar to Mytilene. The philosopher returned to his nephew in a very eloquent mood, and disturbed his rest more than half the night by

descanting on the absurdity of this island's customs, and the necessity of correcting them. Before day-break, he had convinced himself that it would be wisest to enlighten and reform the ladies of Mytilene, and for this purpose he resolved to teach Lesbia Latin. Blandalma shrugged his shoulders at his uncle's quixotism; but as the sovereign lady of the family did not require or permit his attendance, he resolved to enjoy, the pleasures of her villa. And as his former sufferings had disposed him to compassion, he took some pains to acquaint himself with her younger sister, whom the fantastical laws condemned to perpetual servitude. After many solitary rambles in the orangery, he saw a female there laboriously arranging its trellis in a dark brown habit of the coarsest cloth and most ungraceful form, with a long and thick veil which concealed all her face. Her hair was closely gathered under her hood, and her hands appeared of an olive tint roughened by labour. It was not difficult to recognise, the unfortunate Calogria in this costume; and if her fate had been less entitled to benevolent concern, she would have won it by the meek humility in her gestures, as she offered her basket of oranges. This simple action, though probably due to the languor of his faded countenance, was sufficient to claim Blandalma's gratitude, and to manifest the natural grace and courtesy of the Calogria. As the custom of Mytilene forbids that unhappy class of females to converse with strangers, she made no verbal reply to his civility, but her silence had more charms than eloquence. Nor was Ludovico slow in observing her activity and skill in her father's household, and patient submission to the tasks imposed on her by her capricious and imperious sister. She had no leisure, perhaps no wish, to cultivate, finer talents; yet she found means to display the sweetness of her voice in Lesbian songs, and to prove a delicate and ready wit in her brief replies to the billets hazarded by Ludovico. For the mystery which involved their intercourse soon touched his imagination sufficiently to rouse him from indifference, and the obstacle created by the laws of Mytilene became an incitement. This mystery, and its enlivening effect on his mind, would not have escaped inquisition, if his uncle's attention had not been equally occupied. With a serious

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