3 whose decease has been recently announced, was born in the diocese of Spoleto, on the 6th of August, 1760. Being destined by his parents for an ecclesiastical station, he took holy orders about the usual age. He remained in obscurity until the year 1793, when he was declared archbishop of Tyre by pope Pius VI. He was afterwards sent as nuncio to the court of the elector of Cologne, but had no opportunity of distinguishing himself on that occasion. In 1804, he was employed in the same character at Ratisbon, when the diet took into its consideration the state and exigencies of the churches in Germany, after Napoleon's arbitrary encroachments and acts of secularisation. The zeal of the nuncio was sufficiently evinced in the public conferences; but it does not appear that, either at this or any other time, he displayed striking abilities; and, indeed, if he had been particularly able and eloquent, he could not have stemmed the torrent of Gallic influence. After his return to Italy, he lived in privacy, not only during the sway of his friend, pope Pius VII., but also while Rome formed an appendage to the French empire. On the expulsion of Napoleon from France, he was sent as nuncio extraordinary to the court of Louis XVIII. In 1816, he was promoted by the pontiff to the dignity of cardinal, and, in 1820, was appointed vicar to his holiness at Rome,that is to say, he was intrusted with the spiritual administration of that capital. This honor is usually conferred on some one who is distinguished by his piety. Such might then be the character of the cardinal della Genga, even though it has been said that he was licentious and fond of pleasure in his younger days. On the death of his patron, in 1823, he was elevated to the pontifical supremacy, and then assumed the designation of Leo XII., intending to take Leo IV. as his model in church-government. His predecessor had adopted a system of government more liberal, and more accordant to the increasing knowlege and improved spirit of the times, than could have been expected from an ecclesiastical sovereign; but Leo, retaining all the high-church zeal of a narrow-minded priest, resolved to re-assert the high claims of the church, and to enforce strictly all its ordinances, whether they were connected or not with real piety. In his negotiations with foreign powers, he used a high tone with out effect; but his internal government, being less opposed or checked, was frequently vexatious, and sometimes oppressive. He revived the old custom of obliging the Jews to confine themselves within the Ghetto, where the walls were repaired, the hinges of the gates put in order, sentinels regularly posted, and all ingress and egress forbidden after an early hour of the evening. Another vexatious decree, which professed to have the morals of the people for its object, was that which prohibited the practice of drinking wine in any osteria, where the customers were not also served with food; and a strong bar or railing (cancelletto) was erected in every drinking-house, beyond which the buyers were not allowed to pass. It had been the custom of the laborers and servants to bring their meals from home in the morning, and retire at the usual hour to enjoy their dinner at a public-house, where they might moisten it with vino de' Castelli. The new ordinance deprived them of this convenience ; they were obliged to remove their portion of wine from the tavern as soon as it was procured, and were to be seen taking their meals in the streets, on the steps, and at the doors of houses; and, as the male servants at Rome are mostly on board-wages, this unseemly spectacle was daily exhibited by the livery-servants of cardinals and nobles in front of their palaces. Regulations were also threatened, but not put in execution, forbidding women to appear on the stage, and prescribing the use of a three-cornered hat, and other distinguishing marks of dress, to all married men. Among the edicts actually published, there was one which subjected those who misbehaved themselves at the theatre to the cavalletto, or to a whipping in the pillory. Pasquino did not fail to take advantage of these absurdities; and consequently his statue, one morning, presented the following epigram, which was soon circulated all over the city: Al teatro il cavalletto, This pasquinade may thus be translated.-At the theatre the pillory hangs over us; from the comforts of a public-house we are debarred; the Jews are imprisoned in the Ghetto: and our sovereign is always in his bed. O what an execrable govern ment! While his holiness was strict in trifles, he did not punish crimes with sufficient severity. The brigands, in his reign, committed the most daring outrages; they pillaged academies, massacring the provosts, and taking the pupils away for the sake of ransom: they added all sorts of insults to their violence, and, it is said, wantonly cut off the beards of all the inmates of a Capuchin monastery in the neighbourhood of Albano. What was Leo's conduct in this emergency? He withdrew the few troops that had been stationed near the scene of danger, and sent the cardinal Pallotta with a proclamation, calling on the banditti to abstain, and submit themselves, in the names of St. Peter and the Virgin! The consequences were such as might have been expected; the robbers became more audacious than ever, and entering a small town, where the pope's legate had taken up his head-quarters, on a Sunday when the inhabitants were at mass, they tore down the proclamation from the church door, dragged the mayor of the place from the altar, and murdered him on consecrated ground. After six weeks' trial of the efficacy of the sacred name of the Virgin, and of the respect of the banditti for the Apostolic Church, but not before he had exhausted a purse of 200,000 crowns, the cardinal returned to Rome, where he became an object of ridicule in every circle of society, except the papal court. When this pontiff was elected, it was concluded from his bad state of health that his sway would be of very short duration; yet he lingered to the present year, issuing orders from his bed-chamber for the government of the church. He was not a man of a strong mind; for, if he had been thus gifted, he would have frequently shown it in his administration. He attended more to ceremonies than to the essence of religion, without considering that forms are nothing, while the substance is every thing. His aspect seemed to indicate timidity, and his manners were mild and gentle, courteous without dignified politeness, and apparently kind without real friendliness. BIOGRAPHICAL AND CHARACTERISTIC NOTICES OF DISTINGUISHED PERSONS LATELY DECEASED. Mr. Curwen. An improver of agriculture, that useful and necessary art, may be deemed a benefactor to mankind. In this light the late Mr. Curwen may be considered; and, as he was also a respectable and upright senator, some respect is due to his memory. He was the descendant of an ancient family in the isle of Man, whence he removed into Cumberland, in consequence of his consanguinity with the family of Curwen,-a name which he added to the appellation of John Christian. In 1784, he acted as high-sheriff of the county. He commenced his political career in 1786, in which year, on a vacancy for Carlisle, he had a warm and at first unsuccessful struggle, but was established in his seat after a petition. His fortune was similar at the general election in 1790, when, after a double return, he was declared duly elected. He was frequently re-chosen until 1812, when the tide of popular favor began to flow against him. He was opposed by Mr. Henry Fawcett, and very early quitted the field, in just anger (his friends alleged) at the fickleness of that manyheaded master whose humors it had been his pride and pleasure to serve. On Mr. Fawcett's death, he was prevailed upon again to offer himself, and was elected after a sharp contest with Sir Philip Musgrave. In 1818, he offered, against the wish of his Carlisle friends, to contest the county in union with lord Morpeth; but his lordship declined, and Mr. Curwen retired, satisfied with showing that he possessed an influence which he did not think it prudent then to exercise. In 1820, he once more presented himself to the freemen of Carlisle, and was at first very coolly received, but was returned. At the Cumberland election, which shortly followed, he declared himself a candidate for the county, and succeeded without a contest. In early life Mr. Curwen was actuated by a just sense of the importance of rural improvement. This incessantly engaged his attention. By subduing the sterility of his own land, fertilising the waste, draining the swamp, stimulating the inert and softening the hard tenacious soil, he ensured a luxuriance of crop which astonished the ordinary farmers. He introduced every kind of improve ment, which, under his fostering care, became still farther improved. He called forth the capabilities of the land by every practicable mode of cultivation, and by rearing and feeding, in the most œcono 1829.] cure. Biographical Notices of Persons lately deceased. mical way, every kind and breed of animals which experience had approved, and which assiduity or money could proHe particularly studied the means of rendering the food of cattle more nutritious, by preparing it for their use by steaming, in preference to simple boiling, thereby retaining the saccharine qualities of the roots. The drill husbandry he also adopted with success; in short, he neglected no expedient, or rational practice, which could in any way tend to the perfection of agricultural science. His skilful operations may be said to have given a new character to the business of farming. His excellent example imparted an impulse to agricultural exertions all over the kingdom; many old prejudices and erroneous customs were banished, and his improvements amply remunerated every farmer who had the sense to adopt them. Active and temperate from youth, and strongly attached to rural pursuits, he enjoyed an almost uninterrupted flow of robust health during his long life, until within the two last years, when his constitution exhibited symptoms of decay. In the session of 1827, he began to experience the inconvenience of late hours and crowded houses. The freshness of the Cumberland breezes afterwards produced a beneficial effect upon him; but, as winter approached, his debility returned, and he found himself unable to encounter his senatorial duties during the whole of the last session. He died in the seventythird year of his age, leaving three sons and two daughters. He was not a man of learning or refined taste, but possessed a good understanding, which he evinced both in speaking and writing. speeches in the house of commons were creditable to his good sense, as were also his observations on the state of Ireland. His Mr. Henry Matthews.-He was born in 1789, educated at Eton, and afterwards became a fellow of King's College, Cambridge. In 1817, he left England for the continent, on account of ill health; and, on his return, published his Diary, which is well known, and generally admired. In 1821, he was appointed advo cate-general of Ceylon, and fulfilled the duties of that office with the warm approbation of the government, until October 1827, when he was promoted to the bench. The short period during which he exercised his judicial functions, fully realised the expectations even of those VOL. X. 193 who had been in the habit of listening to and admiring his brilliant efforts as an advocate. His natural talents were of a high order. Strength of mind, quickness of perception, and accuracy of judgement, directed and tempered a warmth of feeling which influenced every action of his life. His attainments were those of an elegant scholar and a polished gentleman: his manners were courteous and enga ging; he had a good heart, and was attached to truth and justice. Miss Elizabeth Sophia Tomlins.-This ingenious lady was the daughter of a solicitor, the well-known clerk of the PainterStainers' Company. She manifested her poetical talent at an early age, and subsequently turned her attention to the composition of tales and novels. Of these performances the most popular was the Victim of Fancy, founded on the model of Goethe's Werther. It evinced much of the pathos of the original, without the objectionable tendency of its moral. Her original productions consist, farther, of the Baroness D'Alunton, two other novels, and many fugitive pieces, contributed to respectable periodical works. A writer (apparently her brother Sir Thomas) says, "In the noble spirit of devotion to a father, whose severe notions of duty led him to receive the sacrifice only as a right, Miss Tomlins resigned the advantages attendant on beauty and talent. To educate his numerous family, and to perform the labors of his desk, she overcame the fascinations of literature; and, amidst the scoffs of the vulgar, and the high regards of the noble-minded, she actually superintended his profes sional concerns for seven years before his death. She then retired to a cottage which, for forty years, had been in the occupation of the family; and there, in the society of her mother and three sisters, she continued to pursue the peaceful tenor of her way." Her death was occasioned by an unfortunate accident.Being thrown from the back of a frightened horse, she received bruises, which, though not perceptibly mortal, proved unexpectedly so on the following morning, when, in an apparent fainting-fit, she expired without a struggle, in the 66th year of her age. The Rev. Dr. Alexander Nicoll.-If the life of this learned divine had been prolonged, he would probably have become as distinguished an Orientalist as Pocock or Hyde. He was born near Aberdeen in 1793, and received in that 2 c town his early education. By extraordinary diligence in his studies, and a thirst for knowlege unusual at his age, he soon attracted the notice of the most eminent literary characters in his neighbourhood, by whose influence he obtained an academical annuity at Baliol College, Oxford, where he became as remarkable for studious habits, as for a regular compliance with all the forms of discipline. Among other pursuits, he particularly studied the Oriental languages, in which his progress was very rapid. When he was nominated one of the sub-librarians of the Bodleian, the noble collection of Oriental MSS. gave him an opportunity of pursuing his favorite study to the greatest advantage. He continued Dr. Uri's catalogue of those manuscripts on a plan much more extensive and complete, and published a volume in 1821, a work so well received by all judges of Oriental literature, as to secure him a high reputation not only in his own country, but also on the continent. In 1822, he succeeded the present primate of Cashel in the Hebrew professorship and a canonry of Christ-Church, a preferment most unexpected by him, and for which he was indebted entirely to his merit. This change in his fortune did not produce any relaxation in the pursuit of his studies; he still went on with his catalogue, of which he had finished the Arabic department, when death put an end to his labors. He was twice married; first, to a Danish lady, who died suddenly, and several years after to Sophia, daughter of the rev. Mr. J. Par sons. Mr. St.-George Tucker.-This gentleman long flourished in the United-States, under the appellation of "the American Blackstone." He was judge of the province of Virginia for nearly fifty years, and administered justice on the purest principles. He was father-in-law to Mr. John Randolph, the American patriot and orator, and brother to the present treasurer of the United States, Mr. Thomas Tudor Tucker, the friend of Washington, who declared that Mr. St.-George Tucker's poem on liberty was equal to a reinforcement of 10,000 men. He had the command of a regiment, and was severely wounded in a charge of infantry, when a bayonet was driven through his knee-pan, which gave him a stiff knee for life. He was brother to the late Dr. Tucker of Hull, and uncle of the EastIndia director. General Mack.-If not a first-rate general, Mack was at least a distinguished officer. He was born in Franconia in 1752, and entered the Austrian army in his youth. During the war with the Turks, he was placed upon the staff, and obtained a captaincy from marshal Lascy. General Laudohn disliked and grossly insulted Mack, as a creature of Lascy's. The captain replied in a spirited tone, "Sir, I have the honor to tell you, that here I serve neither M. de Lascy, nor you, but the emperor, to whom my life is devoted."-Soon after this unpleasant rencontre, Laudohn having hesitated to attack Lissa, under the idea that it was defended by a garrison of 30,000 Turks, Mack swam across the Danube in the night, accompanied by only one soldier, penetrated into the suburb of Lissa, between twenty and thirty miles from his own camp, carried off a Turkish officer, and, on the ensuing morning, informed his general, that the town was garrisoned by only six thousand men. This bold action won the esteem of Laudohn, who on his death-bed recommended him to the emperor. In 1793, Mack, as quartermaster-general in the army of the prince of Saxe-Coburg, directed the operations of the campaign. Early in 1794, he was sent to England to confer with the ministers and, on his return to the Netherlands, he drew up a plan for a general attack on the French, which, however, proved unsuccessful. When the French invaded Naples, he was appointed to the command of the Neapolitan army. Having sustained several defeats, he was suspected of treachery, and, to avoid the fury of the Neapolitans, compelled to throw himself upon the mercy of the French. Treated as a prisoner of war, he remained in captivity until 1800, when he effected his escape. On the renewal of the war in Germany, in 1805, he was stationed at Ulm, where, though forty thousand men were under his orders, he surrendered his troops as prisoners of war without an effort for their relief. On his return to Austria, he was arrested, tried by a military commission, and condemned to death; but the emperor was pleased to mitigate the sentence, and his actual punishment was the loss of rank and two years' imprisonment. and probability now favor the idea, that his judgement, rather than his loyalty and honor, had failed him. Candor A DIALOGUE BETWEEN AN IRISH ROMAN-CATHOLIC AND AN ENGLISH PROTESTANT. Patrick Lawless.-Well, John! we have triumphed at last over your prejudices and obstinacy. JOHN BULL-It may be well for you, Patrick; but it is not well for those who differ from you, and who have reason to dread the grant of power to the enemies of their establishment. Pat. You mistake, John;-we are not your enemies; we are loyal subjects of the same gracious king, and, though we do not serve at the same altar, are embarked in the same constitutional cause. John.-You hate our reformed constitution, because it will not allow the king or the clergy to profess your corrupt faith. I admit that your hatred is less strong than it was before the recent acquiescence of the parliament in your high claims; but you will not be satisfied until you gain favors and concessions for your church. Pat,-Favors and concessions, indeed! In the case to which you allude, we shall only plead for our rights, which no government can justly with-hold. Without alluding to Great-Britain, where the majority of the people are protestants, let us consider the state of Ireland, where more than three-fourths of the population are catholics. This part of the community may be said to constitute the Irish nation; and is it right that the few should control the many, on pretence of the ancient conquest of the country, and compel them to support heretical ecclesiastics, who do not point out the right way of salvation. Keep the churches which you have, but do not demand tithes from our people, who, being in a state of general poverty, 1 find it difficult to maintain their own priests. The protestants speak of us as a sect, and there is no great impropriety in the term, considered with regard to the whole of the united kingdom; but, as far as 'Ireland is concerned, our church, for the reason before stated, ought to enjoy the predominance. John. When the protestants first arose, your island, by prescriptive right, was subject to the authority of GreatBritain, and the reformation of religion in this country naturally led to a corresponding establishment in Ireland. The rancorous opposition of the Irish to that justifiable act of government precluded them from the benefit of toleration, because they were not content to enjoy their religion in peace; and, even after toleration had been allowed to them, it was expedient to with-hold from them that power which their doctrines and principles would still impel them to exercise in an arbitrary and unconstitutional manner, in any case in which their rivals might be essentially interested. We fear not a recurrence to the stake; for the catholics, we are confident, will never dare, under any circumstances, to renew those enormities which marked their former prevalence; but their arrogant.dogmas and odious principles have not been abandoned, and with those who entertain such notions the protestants cannot safely coalesce. Pat. This is idle talk, John;—you have no reason to be afraid of us, even if we should ever gain an ascendency in the legislature, which, you must admit, is a very improbable case. All animosity ought now to be given up on both sides; let us act like brothers and friends. That is the wish and intention of the king and his ministers, and of the two houses of parliament; and the people, following such an example, ought loudly to applaud the new settlement. John.-I am afraid that your friends will not regard the compact as final: but let them remember the hint thrown out by their chief parliamentary friend, importing that any practical symptom of discontent, or any attempt at farther encroachments, may lead to such measures as will humble their pride and confound their audacity. Pat. There is no fear of such a result. If we desire more than we have already gained, we shall at least be temperate and respectful in our demeanor, and humbly offer our proposals to the legislature. John.--As humbly, I presume, as the late catholic association promulgated its demands-that is, in a tone of sharp remonstrance and insolent menace. We must have no more bullying, Patrick. Pat.-No more sneers, John. Let the association receive its due praise. What did its members claim? Only the rights. of their long-oppressed fellow-citizens ;and, while they asserted those claims, they exerted themselves more than the viceroy himself for the preservation of peace and tranquillity. John. That I deny; on the contrary, they threw the nation into a ferment, and their conduct was evidently seditious. |