THE EUROPEAN MAGAZINE, AND LONDON REVIEW; FOR JUL Y, 1783. IT fhall be our Endeavour to give our Readers authentic Anecdotes of SILAS DEANE, Efq; in our next. MEMOIRS of his Serene Highness the DUKE DE CHARTRES; of whom a finely engraved Likeness was given in our last. L OUIS PHILIP JOSEPH D'ORLEANS, Duke de Chartres, and Heir of the Houfe of Orleans, is in the 37th year of his age, being born April 13, 1747. His ferene highness is great grandfon to that able statesman, by whofe prudence and abilities the kingdom of France was enabled to recover itfelf from the diftreffes into which it was plunged by the ambition of Louis XIV. and the fevere checks that monarch met with from the victorious arms of the allies under the conduct of the immortal Duke of Marlborough. The French might, at that time, have been justly thought a ruined people; but the wife and vigorous meafures purfued by the Duke of Orleans, during the long minority of Louis XV, laid the foundation of that power to which they have arifen in the prefent day. His ferene highnefs has had but few opportunities of fhewing that military bravery for which the French nobility are fo justly celebrated. He was on board the French fleet under M. d'Orvilliers, as a volunteer, in the famous engage ment, with, Admiral Lord Keppel, on the 27th of July, 1778, where he had no opportunity of fhewing his courage. In private life, the manners of his ferene highnefs is truly amiable; he is the af. fectionate, husband of a daughter of the Duke de Penthievre, High Admiral of France, the reverfion of which post is fecured to the Duke de Chartres. By her. he has three children, to whom he behaves. with the greatest degree of paternal tendernefs. During his late vifit to this metropo lis, the Prince mostly appeared in a plain undrets. He expreffed himself to be muchpleafed with the general appearance of the country, and the manners of the people; as well as with the polite notice taken of him by the British court and nobility. His highness is fond of the chace, and ranks among the foremost of the French nobility in encouraging the sport. of horfe-racing in that kingdom. ITTING on a bench in St. James's gardens, when a boy, who had heard her Park this afternoon, reflecting on the afk me about her lofs, came running with viciffitudes of things, a lady ftept up to it to me. I gave him a fhilling for his. me, and demanded a paper the had dropt, honefty, and waited a confiderable time. on the feat a few minutes before. I pro- for the lady's return, but no claimant. tefted my ignorance of any thing of the appearing, I returned with the feeming kind, and the walked away highly mor- treafure in my pocket to my lodging. As tified. She had not turned into Spring-foon as I had feated myself to tea, curi ofity urged me to peep into this manufcript, and fee what it contained, which gave rife to that uneafinefs in the lady. I read it with fome pleasure; and as the lady and the Man of the Town, in all human probability, may not meet each other again, I will befriend her fo far as to give the contents in this number, which will fave her the trouble of advertiling, and be a feast for the laughing part of my leaders. The humble Petition of an IRISH WIDOW, well known to the Frequentcis of St. James's Park. Addreffed to the WIDOWERS of LONDON. Humbly Sheweth, THAT your petitioner left the famous city of Eblana, vulgarly called Dublin, about the middle of last February, and came to this wonderful mart of all that's rich and rare, in full confidence of fecuring a husband. Your petitioner did, not leave her own dear country with the trifling credentials of one of its mountances, to obtain a paffport to the firft affemblies in this charming city, but came with as brilliant a pedigree as Cadwalla der, and talents of the fuft magnitude. Your petitioner, in refpect to her deceafed hufband, (who was unquestionably an Irish gentleman, and no way allied to the fpalpeen families of her country) appears ftill in her weeds, which are in fact but the trappings and the fuits of woe," as her late husband, though in every refpect an Irish gentleman, ufed her very ill, and did not merit a tear of affection to his memory. Your petitioner has many excellent qualities, every one of which the has a voucher for, and can produce to any British gentleman who may do her the honour of his acquaintance. These qualities your petitioner begs leave to fubmit to your judgment, and doubts not but fome eftimable character will take your petitioner to be his bofom friend and conjugal companion. QUALITIES of the IRISH WIDOW. If the gentleman (for fhe has not a doubt that any one elfe will have the afjurance to addrefs her) has a taste for poetry, or fhould be by profeffion a poet, and fould be employed in fome arduous undertaking, fuch as a verfification of Gibbons Roman Hiftory, or O'Halloran's Hiftory of Ireland, he has it in her power to be of wonderful fervice to him, for the fweeteft rhymes fpring beneath her pen as thick as mushrooms; and as the witty Dean of St. Patrick's fays, "verfe without rhyme is like a body without a foul, or a bell without a clapper," which in ftrictness is no bell, as being neither of ufe nor delight: And in another place he says, you are ever to try a good poem as you would a found pipkin, and if it rings well upon the knuckle, be fure there is no flaw.". Some infenfible people, to whom I have mentioned this, infift on it the Dean was ironical, which I am certain is no fuch thing; for any one can fee by his writings that he was paffionately fond of poetry, and that he could rhyme as faft as a weaver throws his fhuttle. If your petitioner thould have the good fortune to be addreffed by a gentleman defirous of being fully acquainted with every family fecret in the neighbourhood in which he refides, your petitioner is fo well verfed in this fcience, that no gentlewoman of her country can cope with her;-tor one interefting anecdote any other informer can produce, the will en gage to exhibit ten, and all from the firft hands, as he is fortunately bleft with the most infinuating address. Should a difturbance arife from fuch amusement, your petitioner has it in her power to quell it instantly, by flapping the door in the complainant's face, and calling him a dirty fellow, juft as the intelligent gentlewomen of Ireland do. Your petitioner detefts the Scotch, and humbly begs none of them will trouble her with their addreffes. Your petitioner by being bred an Irish gentlewoman, is above turning her hand to any domestic concern, no, not fo much as mending a hole in her stocking.-She is aftonished how the English ladies, who pretend to gentility, can pay attention to their family concerns, and take fuch pride in keeping themfelves and their children fo tight and clean; it looks fo like a fervant elevated on that score alone, from the kitchen to the parlour! A real gen→ tlewoman of her country never cares a fig for her domeftic affairs, but leaves every particular to her fervants. Nor does the ever appear walking in public, mixing with the vulgar, with a tuck'd-up gown, but always appears in public in a chair; or, fhould the condefcend to visit a friend a few doors from her own house, the trails a long train, which gives fuch a vaft dignity to the figure of a gentlewoman, that the never minds whether the ftreet be dirty or clean. Your petitioner is in fome doubt that this will not meet the approbation of the widowers of Lon don, don, who, fheis informed, rail very much at fuch characters: but the affures fuch gentlemen as may be inclined to pay attention to her petition in other respects, fhe could no more conquer this etiquette of her noble ancestors, than she could condefcend to ftir the fire when it grows dim, or fauff a candle, when it wears a head as venerable as one two hours unfauffed befide a corpfe at an Irish wake. Your petitioner is convinced there are many widowers in this capital, as well as Dublin, who do not relish millines' bills; fhe affures fuch gentlemen, that the views thofe ladies in the most odious light, who appear conftantly with new millenary, for nothing can be a greater proof of vul. garifm; dirty gauze, ribbons and lace is the very fublime of the fashion, in her country, and should be fo here; and as fo many refpectable widowers have with reverence hoarded their late wife's ftock, the will have no objection to wear any of the articles, provided the gauze in any of them was never washed, which she abominates, and which is as much beneath the dignity of an Irish gentlewoman to wear as new gauze. Your petitioner earnestly requests ro gentleman will trouble her with a propofal of marriage, who has got any children, and may expect her attention to them, as the cannot poffibly break thro' a fyftem fhe has long adhered to, which is, of devoting her whole time to herfelf only, which is, and has been for ages, a leading feature in the portrait of an Irish gentlewoman. If your petitioner should have the felicity of meeting with an antient Briton, as deeply read as herfelf in genealogy, (that vivifying cordial to a finking foul) the fhould think it a double happiness; and though she can view the faces of many of her ancestors, many centuries beyond the Julian war, yet she shall think herself honoured in a connexion with him, as very few who come together now can trace their pedigree beyond a peer of William the Conqueror's creation, or an old Lord Mayor of London, whofe connexions all the world knows are not a degree above vulgar treeds-people. Your petitioner, fince the came to this kingdom, has taken notice of, with indignation and contempt, the attention and reipe&t paid to fervants, who are used in this country like chriftians, which is very ft nifhing, as every body knows they re the frum of the earth. In her country the treated as they should be, as the planters treat their negroes: if they fhould fall fick, they are turned adrift, and not suffered to contaminate the family with their odious diforders; and if they grumble at their hardships while in health, they are well horfe- whipped, stripped, turned into the ftreet, advertised, and prevented from getting another fervice! As your petitioner plainly fees fhe cannot behave in this manner to English fervants, fhe must be allowed the priviledge of chufing the wretches of her own country for her domeftics. If the gentleman, who may have the happiness of being connected with your petitioner, fhould have any acquaintance among the treeds-people of this capital, he must drop any further intercourie with them, on the confummation of their puptials, as the petitioner never did, nor will affociate with fuch vulgar people; it is not the realizing a plumb (as the citizens call it) can entitle fuch creatures to fit in the company of people defcended from illuftrious ancestors. She must peremptorily infift on this article, as he could as foon fit down to dinner with fuch upstart gentry, as with a dozen tattowed Indians. Your petitioner, delighted with the noble generofity of the English, who never hunt till they are out of breath in pursuit of fortune, like her countrymen, candidly confeffes her want of that trifle, fo uretfential in a woman of family: this the thinks right to mention, left fome mifbegotten gentleman fhould addreis her on the fcore of fortune. Your petitioner's perfonal attractions are upon a level with her fortune:-this, the hopes, will prevent the followers of beauty from peltering her with billetdoux, acroftics, love-elegies, and birthday fonnets, to be found in bundles in the cabinet of every woman, with a trifling fet of features. Any gentleman who may feel himself inclined to favour this petition, will meet the petitioner any day of the week, from ten till two, and from five till ten o'clock, fitting, like Patience on a monument fmiling at Grief," on one of the chairs in the mall of St. James's Park. If the petitioner fhould happen to be indifpefed, and fhould not attend, he begs the gentleman will be fo kind as to carve his addrefs on the old tree planted in King Charles the Second's buxom days, or leave it with the centinel who ftands near the Duke of Marlborough's, who will not fail to deliver it into her own hands, as the is known to every foldier in the Britia dominions, her deceafed husband being a lieutenant and furgeon in the English fervice: or, if the gentleman fhould burn with an unconquerable paffion on reading her admirable qualities, The is to be heard of at Paddy Maddegan's, five doors from the fign of the Good Woman, (that is, the woman without a head) in Bow-treet, Covent-garden. N. B. She begs the widowers will pay an immediate attention to her petition; and fuch of them as feel an inclination to vifit her, the requests they will do it in HENRY and ELIZA. a few days. They must knock very often at the door, elfe they cannot get admittance, as the house is at prefent in the greatest diforder about fomething your petitioner cannot here account for. One of her countrymen called yesterday to fee her, and knocked with the thickeft fhillela fhe ever beheld; at laft he got entrance, fwearing every ftep he went up ftairs he never was in fuch a houfe fince he was born. Your petitioner firmly believes the houfe is haunted! A SENTIMENTAL TALE. BY CLIO. (Continued from Vol. III. Page 352.) THERE is nothing, perhaps, which gives the human mind greater pleafure, than fudden and unexpected meetings, under fortunate and propitious circumftances.-My dear Harry and I experienced the truth of this obfervation. I fet off with Mr. and Mrs. Manrick, in very good fpirits.--Our journey was rendered perfectly agreeable, by every accomme lation we could with; and instead of flying through the country in that mad and uncomfortable way, which is now fo much the fashion, and fo characteristic of the people who are called the great, we took every opportunity of leaving the high road, to take a view of the many elegant feats and beautiful gardens that abound in that part of the kingdom. Had not my mind been much agitated by anticipation, and my ideas ever flying forward on the wing of expectation; in fhort, bad I not been in purfuit of my dear and long-loft Henry, I fhould have enjoyed much more this delectable route. There is fuch an union of fouls, Eliza, as we have often affected there is, and all thofe tender refinements, thofe heavenly fentations, which have often been the fubject of our converfation, do really exift in fome bofoms;~they do exift in the bofoins of my valuable and most amiable fellow-travellers. — Favoured mortals! your's are the undecaying treafures of the mind; your's know your own confequence and happinefs, the croud at large think you mere cyphers in the creation. -The man of wealth, and the money-getting man, will feer as he pronounces your names; and because you are not amaffing thoufands, as he is," you are nobody, poor creatures, both knaves and fools."-The man of fashion and diffipation will call you "people nobody knows," and because he does not meet you conftantly át the opera-houfe, the gaming-table, the drawing-room, and the watering-places, "you are mere bores, ftupid petrifying wretches, and monstrously outrá.". The poor, indeed, the diftreffed, and the fons of forrow, will bless you when they name you; the good and wife will give you their benediction, and the angels of heaven will beltow on you the smile of approbation. We laid ourselves up for two or three days at a large and pleafantly fituated inn, in the neighbourhood of York.-One. afternoon, finding myfelf poorly, I begged my friends would excufe my declining to accompany them in a little excurfion they were going to take. Towards evening I found myself revived, and strayed into the garden with a heart full of various reflections:--I began to feel uneafy at the flowness of our progrefs towards the refidence of Harry.-I wished to be rid of the uneafy fenfations fufpence gave me, "The foul's calm funshine, and the In this humour I fat me down in a and longed décisively to know my fate. heartfelt joy." POPE. Hail favoured few!-But it would not have done to have peopled earth with fuch beings as you are;-our fyftem was wifely ordered to be kept a-going by fouls of a different complexion, and the groupe is principally made up by the children of Avarice, Ainbition, and Enterprize. Hail favoured few! though you feel and very reclufe feat, thickly fhaded with Propitious to me prove, Give Give to my arms the long-loft youth, Nor let this heaving breaft, No longer let ine round the earth Grant that this journey may fecure And fave me from the grave! Bid anxious Doubt forfake my foul, put the pencil and the lines together in my pocket, and taking out a little volume of poems lately published, I amused myfelf for fome time.-I had not been reading long, when I was frightened into a fwoon by the fudden and haity entrance of my beloved Henry, who fell on his knees, and feizing my hand, exclaimed aloud, "Good God! my Emily, do I indeed behold you!"-When I recovered I found myself in the inn, furrounded by Mr. and Mrs. Manrick, my dear Harry, and another gentleman.-I was fome time before I could compofe myself at all; when I did, after a mutual embrace, he related to me the ftrange and providential manner in which he met with me.- He was returning to London with the gentleman, his friend, on horfeback, and they were stopping to bait at the inn we were at. - - After refreshing themselves, they walked into the garden, and fortunately by the very bower in which I was fitting.He was diftracted, and overwhelmed with joy at the fight of me, he faid, and could not avoid the fudden and abrupt way in which he flew to me. "But how, Emily, came you here?— How long have you been in England ?” and a thousand fuch questions he asked me. -Our feelings were all alive-we were loftin wonder, amazement, and rapture;-it seemed all a dream ;—and tho' we knew we were together, we doubted it. To fatisfy his impatience, while our friends walked into another room, I told him briefly the EUROP. MAG. circumstances of my story fince we parted:-He was loft in attention;-I faw the agitations of his foul in his face, as he wiped the filent drops from off his cheeks. Our not having heard from each other ftill remained a mystery, as he affured me he had frequently written. After being in London a month or two, and finding his health on the decline, he removed to the fituation he had now left, where, fortunately, he had acquired that robuftnefs and glow of health, which he poffeffed when I first knew him. "And where were you travelling to now, Henry?" faid I:-" To thy arms, Emily," he replied;—" I should have ftaid but a day or two in London, and then have fet off for France.-I had ten thousand doubts about whether you were really living, or what might be become of you. Your conftancy, indeed, I never doubted;-here, I believe, our feelings were reciprocal." "They were," I replied," fedding a tear or two, which he did not perceive. The next morning I told Mr. and Mrs. Manrick, as I had obtained the prize I was travelling after, I should beg leave to return to town.-We parted with very many mutual good wishes. The gentlemen ordered their horfes to be led on, and we took poft-chaife to town. It is impoffible to conceive the joy of our friends in London at feeing us together; and the more fo, as it was the with of my parents, in feveral letters they had written, that our union might be effected in England, if we met, and Harry's health was reftored. |