Seventy-nine Years ago.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5034, 21 June 1884, Page 3

Seventy-nine Years ago.

NEWSPAPER ITEMS OF THE TIME. [Specially Written for the " Star. j ] " Attend, oil ye who list to hear Our noble England's praise." " The if o rning Post proclaim For every rich or high-born dame." A copy of the ilfoi-nmgr Post, No. 11,G15, and dated November 11, 1805, has been kindly placed at our disposal by Mr D. Macfarlane, of Annat, a son of the late Lieutenant Dugald Macfarlane, the old Waterloo veteran, whose figure was erstwhile so familiar to Christchurch citizens. As a valuable relic, the age-dimmed newspaper has been regarded reventially ; as a now fragile tissue, it has been handled with as much tenderness as would be displayed by the owner of a matchless •* ase from the Royal factory of Sevres. How full of interest it iB, this time-worn newspaper ! November 11, 1805 — when George the Third was King; when Nelson had covered himself with glory by annihilating the maritime power of France, and had died— 'Was in Trafalgar Bay — amidst the thunders of one of the most brilliant victories the world had ever known. The news of the events of that memorable twenty-first of October was even yet inprocessof cireulationin rural England, and in the metropolis all men were talking, with mingled tears and smiles, of the heroic <feeds never to be forgotten. Will not even the advertisements of this yellow

old sheet, whereon the duty stamp is most . legible, mirror the time ? Ah ! here we : have it : ' NELSON'S GLORY.— This day is published the '■ undermentioned Songs, sung with unbounded '. applause in the Entertainment of NELSON'S GLORY, at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, I written by T, liibdin. That entertainment was to conclude i with " a representation of tho late triumi phant navil engagement ;" and at Drury i Lane the attraction offered was "The , Victory and Death of Lord Nelson, the overture and music composed by Mr P. i King and Mr Brahain." Then we see > offered the " only " bust of " that truly great i character the Most Noble Admiral," and, •■ almost side by side, casts of the original , bust, " executed in marble by the Honor- • able Annie Seymour Darner, and presented •■ by her to the City of London." As for the 1 City, the old Bheet contains a glowing > account of its gala day. There had been s the usual water procession in the State . barges, and when the return was made i from Blackf riai*'s bridge, " the horses were ; taken from Mr Pitt's carriage, and he was i drawn in triumph to the Guildhall." At the ■ subsequent banquet, too, the Chancellor of . the Exchequer received a perfect ovation ; i to quote the Morning Post, "the last peal ■ of applause was like an electric shock, it , wa3 loud, unanimous, and reiterated." Mr • Pitt, the Post goes on to say, " returned ; thanks, and in his usual strong and ener- ; getic language said, 'England has saved itself by its firmness, and let ua therefore hope that the example set will be followed by all the rest of Europe.' " This was on : Saturday night. The enthusiasm would be intensified on the Monday morning, when the Post published the "glorious and happy intelligence ** that Lord William Fitzroy, captain of the iEolus frigate, had brought despatches announcing the capture of " four more French line of battle ships, belonging to the combined fleet, by the squadron under the command of RearAdmiral Sir Richard Strachan." There are pictures of social life, too, in this old newspaper. We learn, from the advertised prospectus of a school for " young persons," that the following subjects were attempted to be taught to the young idea :— The Greek and Latin Classics, Versification, Composition, Writing of Themes, Letters, &c, in Latin and English, English Etymology and Syntax, Geography, with a general' view of Astronomy, comprehending the use of the Globes, Mapa, Orrery, &c, Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Plain and Spherical Conic Sections, &c. One wonders what the et cetera included. A youth who had acquired some " liberal education " of this sort, advertises his desire to dip yet further into books, to which end he proposes to bind himself apprentice to a bookseller, preferring "a serious dissenter's family, if really so." On the other hand, " a man of fashion" is getting rid of his library at auction ; and thereby we are made aware that for the covers of books, red, yellow and green are ' fashionable colours. The man of fashion \ had to pay eight shillings a yard for the best quality of Irish linen, — a price not to 1 be wondered at, when it is observed that [ two gentlemen who purpose to proceed ■ from London to Holyhead advertise for a third pereon to share tlie expense. We 1 learn, too, how sermons were manufactured ; the clergy are offered ready-made, sermons, 1 " printed in imitation of manuscript, 1 warranted the originals never preached." ! 111-natured people might say that these clerical aids ought to be reproduced, since they are guaranteed to be " rational and , impressive." The Margravine of Anspach, whose mansion is about eighteen miles , from London, is about to sell her effects : [ they include " lofty four-post and field bedsteads, "vith rich cotton hangings and , excellent seasoned bedding;" they also include " two hundred dozen of empty bottles." Two oi> three columns of the Star might be filled with interesting items ; but one more, taken from the shipping news, must suffice. Those were not the times for " Round the World in Eighty : Days":— Plymouth.— Half-past five p.m. — This moment came in from Bengal, after a passage of five months, the East India packet Teignmouth, of 18 guns, with despatches of consequence, with which Captain Whales eot off express in a post-chaise.