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of the country under the superintendance of Governmentwhen the people saw how his Majesty's Ministers managed the public money that was left at their disposal, how ruinous and destructive must be the project that would consign to such discretion the landed property of the nation." My Lord, I am inclined to think these were not your identical words, for on the 17th of August, 1816, I had the honour, as Chairman to a Committee of Distribution from the Spencean Philanthropists, to present your Lordship (through the hands of Samuel Brooks, Esq.) with a pamphlet, entitled "Christian Policy," wherein your Lordship must have perceived, that no such intention could ever have possessed the mind of the author, who also well explains the opinion of the Society upon the application of the supposed rentals arising from, the national domain, the whole land of the country, or, as the author expresses it, the people's farm. No where, my Lord, does that publication, or any other publication, or any individual of the Spencean Philanthropists, entertain, encourage, or recommend a measure so pregnant with evil to their country, or with, notions so injurious to the cause of liberty and the interests of mankind. No, my Lord, they take an extended view of Governments from the earliest records of history, and discover that their depravations have proceeded from the too easy means by which Governments have obtained the property of individuals; but the Spenceans are the first Society that ever arose in the world to promulgate a system which would prevent the oppressions of a rapacious Minister, and at the same time discovered the means to uphold with splendour the Government of a country, and the glory and happiness of the people, and who have devised a plan to relieve individuals and a country from tax, toll, excise, or custom duties. They are the first who have ventured to declare the natural rights of mankind, and to shew how extremely practicable it would be to relieve their fellow-creatures from the distresses which have in all ages more or less agitated the affairs of men. The extreme practicability of their plan it is that alarms their opponents and interested persons. One party fear their opinions and prejudices are in danger of being exploded, the others, that they are about to be reduced to poverty, or to be deprived of the means of handing down to their posterity the influence they enjoy in this generation, in consequence of the domains they have got To be continued.

AMUSING CHRONICLE,

A Repository for

MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE.

No.XXIV, Price 4d.) March 1, 1817. (Vol.II.

It was our intention to have given a print of Mr. KEAN and Mr. BOOTH, in Othello, and for that purpose, the Artist, who designed the Three Misses Dennett's, went to the Theatre last Saturday, but "Othello's Occupation's gone."

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THE NARRATOR, No. XIX.

SCATTERED THOUGHTS on the ANTIQUITY of the HARP,

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I SHALL not attempt correctly to describe the origin of this instrument, the time of its invention is hid behind a cloud too deep for my penetration.

The Irish historian assures us that his countrymen receiv ed the harp from the Phoenicians, and that the sons of Erin

Printed by T.Kaygill, 36, Frith Street, Soho.

were the first to teach its melody to the Cambrian bards*, and this assumption, from a well judged policy, the govern ment of England have firmly corroborated, by stamping the harp on their coin, and making it current for ever.

The antiquity of the harp, however, is sufficiently manifest in the name; H. E. A. R. P. formed the sound to express it by our Saxon progenitors, and at this day, all the northern nations of Europe know it by no other appella

tion.

"Ossian's Harp still yields a dying sound among the wilds
of Morven."

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Respecting the influence of its chords, while managed by the hands of the scientific, nothing can be more soothing to the bosom of sorrow; the strings of the harp have been known to give regenerated spirits to the weary, and the mind made gloomy by domestic applications, has yielded at its cheerful measures to

"Laughter holding both his sides."

The modulations of this instrument have also given rise to much poetic fable; and there are so many instances to be collected of its power to fascinate, that to record them, would be to intrude on the limits of space and patience.

I was led to these considerations by the high respect I entertain for the ancient manner of minstrelsey, but more particularly so from a late occurrence, during a short stay made in the principality of Wales, where melody, blended with all the pathos of sensibility, made me a willing captive to the power of the lyre; this sort of enchantment, however, is not often to be met with, not even in our highest circles. The works of many of our modern composers, are by no means calculated to produce the pleasing effect, because they are no more in unison with the soul of the poet, than the song of the nightingale, with the tempest that awakes the unfathomed ocean, leaving such a wide space between sense and sound, that their sound may apply to one metrical composition as to another; but let me forbear the critic, and proceed.

Shortly after the market hours were over, I entered the Lamb Inn at Swansey Town, for refreshment, and had

Griffith ap Conan, King of Wales, is said to have brought the harp from Ireland about the beginning of the twelfth Century.

barely taken my meal, when the waiters entered, and disturbed me by fixing a large oaken table in the middle of the room, and a double arm-chair in its centre, drawing round all the forms and stools to be collected: the farmers from the mountains had disposed of their cattle, and their wives and daughters of their various commodities, and were now entering to make merry before they returned to their habitations. I was surprised at the singularity of the scene, 'till a tall white-headed old man made his appearance, led in by a very handsome youth bearing a large pedal harp; they all hailed him by the name of Parry, and instantly hoisted the venerable minstrel into the seat prepared for him, when taking their stations, all became silent as is the interior of a more sacred place. The harp was placed by the young guide before Parry, when the blind bard of Cambria began sweetly to finger the chords of enchant

ment.

His song, divided into three parts, was the story of Llewellyn, Prince of North Wales; in the more affecting parts, when he came to the fall of that unfortunate chief, the minstrel made a most tender impression on the feelings of his auditory, and although a stranger to the language, I could not help, from the concord of sweet sounds, feeling an indescribable sensation, and, at length was so softened with the rest, that I could not help starting the tear of sensibility. After this, the bard gave so many fits of jocularity, good humour presently called up smiles, and awakened pleasant thoughts over the friendly cup; and now the minstrel departed with his conductor, seemingly well satisfied with his portion of remuneration. Pleased with the amusements and the imagination unclouded, I drew out my tablets, and set down the few scattered thoughts that follow.

Minstrelsey, connected with poesy, was in use with us of Britain, long before the Saxon invaders had obtained a firm footing in this Island, as will appear from the evidence of the sculptor, as from the records of the historian. Its professors, it is true were but relicts of the Druids, but then they brought along with them that disposition to improve, that soon made them respected, and, bending their art with the poetic spirit, they became the delight of such as had yielded to the habits of civilization..

Learning, which under Augustine the Monk, began to expand itself, was now become the minstrel's province, for

this, the bard was admitted into the mansions of distinction, and honoured as the sage of tuition, and as well as the poet and musician, became the historian of the family wherein he was cherished and retained. The valourous deeds of his protectors employed his leisure, and by his romantic_genius, sometimes inflated to hyperbolical magnitude. Fancy at length adorned his songs, and gave animation, while the melody of his voice in unison with the chords of his harp, riveted those attachments which lead to profit, and often to high consideration: the profession was soon looked up to as the primal source of festive pleasures, and it was even admitted that they were the peculiar favourites of heaven; that when the Creator had finished his labours, he informed the bard to sing his praises, and of the beauties of his creation; princes did not disdain to become their companions and imitators; they were sometimes employed as heralds, and often as negociators, and their persons held sacred by the enemies of their nation. It was in this disguise our Alfred penetrated the Danish camp, and discovered the vulnerable parts of the invaders, whom he afterwards overthrew. Nor were the princes of the Norman race less attached to the charms of minstrelsey: Richard, Cœur de Lyon, delighted in the compositions of Blondell, his favour. ite bard; they would often play together, and as that king was found to be transcendant in arms, so was he acknowledged in the magical measures of minstrelsey. While in Palestine, it was Richard's secondary amusement, and the king encouraged its cultivation among his brave companions in arms, until most of them, as well as the sword of Mars could handle the lyre of the bright Apollo. At length, by the defection of his colleague, and the restless spirit of his brother John, Richard made a peace with Saladine, and left the Holy Land; but on his way to England was shipwrecked on the coast of Italy, and his person seized on, by Leopold, Duke of Austria, who in a most unjustifiable man ner thrust him into secret confinement. Blondell, the king's beloved minstrel, had no sooner heard of the fate of his master, than he determined to search about the world for his recovery; to that end the minstrel took his harp, and wandered over Germany as an itinerant musician, and at length found out the cell that cloistered his most honored sovereign.

To be continued.

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