526 
intellectual efforts, and the same may 
be affirmed of the greatest men who 
have flourished in cloquence, in poetry, 
or philosophy. - No man was ever en- 
Stephensiana, No. XXV. 
{Jan. 1, 
communicative to all who approached 
him. His countenance was lighted by 
intelligence ; and, in his personal contour 
and, manneys, he was one of the most 
dowed With a greater share of constitu- 
tional vivacity: ~he was sportive and 
playfal in his relaxations, and free and 
graceful men of his time... Nature had 
been Javish on him, and. he did uot 
abuse her gilts. # Sitio 
STEPHENSIANA. 3 gonloboe 
ity 
NO. XXV. > 
The late ALEXANDER STEPHENS, Esq..of Park House, Chelsca, devoted an aclive.and 
well-spent life in collecting Anecdotes of his contemporaries, and generally entered ina 
book the collections of the pussing day ;—these collections we have purchased, und propose to 
present asvlection from them to our readers. As Editor of the Annual Obituary, and many 
other biographical works, the Author may probably have incorporated some of these seraps ; 
but the greater part are unpublishéd, and stand alone as cubinet-pictwts of men and 
manners, worthy of a place in a literary miscellany, 
KSEE 
— 
LIBERTY. OF SPEECH. 
HIEF Baron Eyre, in his charge 
to the Grand Jury, on the. coin- 
mission for the trial of persons on the 
charge of high treason, in 1794, made 
use, of the foilowing liberal expres- 
sions :—-* All men may, nay, all men 
must, if they possess the faculty of 
thinking, reason upon every thing 
which sufliciently interests them to 
become objects of their attention; and 
among. the objects of attention of 
freemen, the principles of government, 
the constitution of particular govern- 
ments, and, above all, the constitution 
of the government under which they 
live, will naturally engage attention, 
and provoke speculation. ‘The power 
of communication of thoughts and 
opinions is ihe gift of God; and the 
freedom. of it is the source of all 
scienee,—the first fruits, and the ulti- 
mate happiness, of all society ; and, 
therefore, it seems to fellow, that hu- . 
man laws ought not to interpose, nay 
cannot interpese, to prevent the com- 
munication of sentiment and opinions, 
in yoluntary assemblies of men.” 
LADY. HAMILTON. 
After the return of the royal family 
to. Naples, the queen repaired on- 
board the Foudreyant, and, having 
embraced Lady Hamilton, she hung 
round her neck a rich chain of gold, to 
which was suspended her majesty’s 
portrait, superbly set mm diamonds, 
with’ the “motto” of— Eterna * grati- 
tudine.” Seon after this; Lord Nelson 
was déclared’ Duke of Bronte? he is 
said to ‘fave resisted; uitil’ Lady 
Hamilton on her knees constrained 
him {0 xceede® to‘ the proposition.— 
‘Nhe presents 'reecived by Sir William 
and Lady Hamilton,.on this occasion, 
were estimated at 6000. guineas; ..! 
IRISH WHISKEY. ¢< sjoltieq 
The fondness of. the Trishman*for 
his whiskey;. L have. often «curiously 
observed ; above the wines of France, 
he quaffs his native punch’; and among 
the vines of Spain le’ longs ‘for*it. 
This love is only like the’Swiss ertio- 
tion for the Range des Vaches ; but this 
preference did not appear so Strange 
when I found their faculty declarme 
they knew no spirit‘ less: noxious in 
dilution. It is still the eustom in 
Treland to impregnate their, whisky 
with fruit: some years ago black cur- 
rants were generally used, and-gaye a 
very pleasant flavour; but, unfortu- 
nately, some doctor happened to take 
it into his head, that the currants made 
the whisky very urinal and . ener- 
vating, and immediately the influence 
of the gentle sex became evident: 
currant whisky disappeared, from 
every table in the island, and has not 
since been seen. i pA 
FIRST DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE 
IN NORTH AMERICA, 
Early in the year 1775, a convention 
was held in the town of Charlotte, 
composed of two members. from cach 
of the military companies in Mecklen- 
burgh county. The object of the con- 
vention was to take into consideration 
the existing state of, things, and_ to 
deliberate on the best measures, for 
resisting the encroachments which 
were making by.a foreign enemy on 
their liberties and property, Their 
deliberations soon , terminated in,a 
unanimous agreement to throw olf) all 
allegiance to the government of Great 
Britain, and declare themselves inde- 
' pendent, 
