Viewing page 61 of 285

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

68] ANNUAL REGISTER 

land to this port struck against one of the Scilly rocks, and split in half: all the crew perished, except two men, who being in the forepart of the ship, were driven upon the rock, and remained there three days; when one of the was observed, by some persons in a boat, to make a signal, who immediately went to their relief, and gave them some rum, which revived the man, who made the signal, but the other, though in good spirits before, on his seeing the boat approach them, was so transported with the prospect of their deliverance, that he never spoke afterwards, but died as they were carrying them to the shore." 

18th. Being observed as her majesty's birth-day, the ball at St. James's was remarkably brilliant, and was opened by the Prince of Mecklenburgh, and the Duchess of Grafton.

21ft. This day his majesty went to the house of peers, and having opened the parliament with the usual solemnity, made a most gracious speech from the throne, to both houses. For the speech, &c. see the article of State Papers. 

24th. At a court of common-council, three cups, one of 200l. value, the other of 100l. value each, were voted, the first to Brass Crosby, Esq; late Lord-Mayor of London, the others to the Aldermen Wilkes and Oliver, for the noble stand they made in the business of the printers, against (as it is expressed) an arbitrary vote of the H__ of C___ns. 

A new invention, of great utility, is now under the consideration of a committee of the Society for the Encouragement of Arts and Sciences, in the Strand, of which the following account is given, viz. In the whale fishery, the practice now is for the man who is called the Harpooner, to stand at the head of the boat with a large dart, or harpoon, in his hand, with a rope fastened to it, which he throws with all his strength, and great dexterity; the whale, on being wounded, immediately swims away with the harpoon sticking in him, to the imminent danger of the whole boat's crew, who are obliged to go within a few yards of a fish, and are liable to be sunk with a flap of his tail. The present invention is adapted to remove the hazard of such a situation, and to add more to the certainty of the operation, which the seamen call striking the fish; it is a dart, or harpoon, of much the same nature as that now in use, but, instead of throwing it with a man's arm, it is so contrived that it can be fired at the whale out of a swivel gun, with the rope fixed to it, at a considerable distance; the gun may be properly pointed, and occasionally fixed on and taken off, and three of them may very conveniently and readily fixed to a boat. An experiment was made last week at the Greenland-Dock, Deptford, before some gentlemen of the Committee of Arts and Sciences, some commanders in the Greenland trade, and other gentlemen, merchants, &c. by firing it at a tub, or butt, in full motion, when it was found to answer very well, and it is thought it will be used in actual business by the first ships that go to the Greenland fishery. 

The remains of the late Lord Baltimore, who died 25th abroad, were carried from Exeter-Exchange, in the Strand, where they had lain in state, in order to be interred in the family vault at Epsom. his lordship had injured his character in his life by seduction, so that the populace paid no regard to his memory when dead, but plundered the room where his body lay the moment it was removed. 

This day arrived Monsieur Koch, secretary to his Serene Highness the Hereditary Prince of Hesse Cassel, with the melancholy account of the death of her Royal and Most Serene Highness of the Landgravine of Hesse-Cassel, who departed this life on the 14th instant, at Hanau, universally lamented. 

The late Princess of Hesse, by her will, has given all of her estates to her two younger children, except annuities to all her servants equal to the wages given until they marry, or get places where more wages are given than the annuities; and has appointed Lord Harcourt and Lord Berkely executers. 

28th. Between nine and ten o'clock in the morning, there was a great darkness for near an hour throughout London: it came on gradually in a thick fog from the S.E. and, extending to the N.W. went off without either snow or rain. 

Last night was opened, for the first time, the much-talked-of receptacle of fashionable pleasure, The PANTHEON, to a crouded company of between fifteen hundred and two thousand people. Imagination cannot well surpass the elegance and magnificence of the apartments, the boldness of the paintings, or the disposition of the lights, which are reflected from gilt vases, suspended by gilt chains. Beside a number of splendid ornaments that decorate the rotunda, or great room, there are a number of statues, in niches below the dome, representing most of the heathen gods and goddesses, supposed to be in the antient Pantheon of Rome. To these are added three more of white porphry, the two first representing the present King and Queen, the last Britannia. The whole building is composed of a suite of fourteen rooms, all of which are adapted to particular uses; and each affording a striking instance of the splendour and profusion of modern times. It is thought the company would have been still more numerous, but for the sudden notice of the death of the Landgravine of Hesse Cassel, which prevented many from going, on account of not having been prepared with mourning, and which took off a great deal of the splendid appearance that might otherwise have been expected. In point of consequence, the company were an olio of all sorts; peers, peeresses, honourables and right honourables, jew brokers, demireps, lottery insurers, and quack doctors. 

29th.
The judges gave their opinions upon the great caufe of Perrin and Blake, in the Exchequer-chamber in the Westminster-hall; in the decifion of which cause the judges of the King's-Bench had differed: the late Mr. Justice Yates being against the judgement pronounced by the majority of the court consisting of Lord Mansfield, Mr. Juftice Afton, and Mr. Justice Willes. In the Exchequer-chamber the judges are divided ; but though the court fat from nine o'clock till near four, they had not all time to deliver their opinions. Those who did so, were Mr. Juftice Nares, Mr. Juftice-Black 
[F3] 

Transcription Notes:
long s looks like f, except that either no crossbar or only a nub on the left side of the staff (written as 'ſ') ---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-05-11 15:00:22 Transcribe exactly as document says, including long s (written as 'f'). You can write the modern word in brackets but do not replace. ---------- Reopened for Editing 2023-05-11 20:39:00