FEW

NEW circumstances have excited a greater sensation of grief in the public, than the death of that gallant young officer, Lieutenant-colonel Lake, in the moment of a glorious victory. We hope, therefore, that the Portrait which adorns this number of our Magazine will be peculiarly acceptable at the present time: except national honours, it is the last tribute of respect that can now be paid to his memory. The following has been sent to us by a correspondent, who was well acquainted with the private virtues and the public services of Colonel Lake. We Blatter ourselves, that whatever may be its defect in other respects, it will, in doing honour to the memory of a much lamented and gallant young soldier, remain in the pages of the European Magazine, as an example to the army, and a commemoration to posterity.

GEORGE AUGUSTUS FREDERIC LAKE was the second son of that gallant, able, and distinguished veteran, the late Lord Viscount Lake, whose name must always be remembered with reverence and gratitude by those who have hearts to feel, or heads to understand, the interests and honour of Great Britain in India.* He was born in 1780, and entered the army in 1796, beginning his military career in Ireland, where he acted in the capacity of aide-de-camp to his noble father, during the whole of the period of Lord Lake's command in that country; in the course of which, the subject of our Memoir was present at the actions at Castlebar, Vinegar Hill, and Bally namuck, at all of which he displayed that resolute fortitude which was one

of the marked features of his father's character on every occasion of difficulty and danger.

In 1799 he was appointed to a company in a regiment that was on service in Holland, which he immediately joined; but on his landing in Holland, the army was on the point of re-embarking, and the Duke of York sent him back to his father.

In 1801, he accompanied Lord Lake to India, and was appointed acting-adjutant-general of the king's forces, and military secretary to the cominanderin-chief in India, the duties of which situations he discharged with the utmost assiduity and ability, and with great advantage to the public service. During the whole period of his residence in India, from 1801 to 1807, he held the office of deputy-quarter-master-general of the king's army, under an appointment from his majesty. During the greater portion of that period, however, he performed the duties occasionally of acting-adjutant-general and quartermaster-general of the king's forces, to the great satisfaction of the officers and soldiers of the whole army. His conduct was particularly distinguished during the Marhatta war, and was commemorated by the pen of the distinguished statesman under whose auspices his illus trious father, Lord Lake, carried to so high a pitch the military glory of the British nation in Asia. "Among those" (says LORD WELLESLEY,* in the 98th page of the "Notes relative to Marhatta Affairs) “who distinguished themselves greatly, and merit the highest commendation, was Major G. A. F. Lake,

* For a Portrait and Memoir of Marquis Wellesley, sec Vol. LII. page 411.

of his majesty's 94th regiment, son to the commander-in-chief, who had attended his father in the capacity of aide-de-camp and military secretary throughout the whole campaign, and whose gallantry and activity in executing his father's orders had been conspicuous in every service of difficulty and danger.

"This promising young officer constantly attended his father's person, and possessed the highest place in the commander-in-chief's confidence and esteem. In the heat of the action, the commanderin-chief's horse, pierced by several sot, fell dead under him. Major Lake, who was on horseback close to his father, dismounted, and offered his horse to the commander-in-chief. The commanderin-chief refused, but Major Lake's carnest solicitations prevailed. The coiumauder-in-chief mounted his son's horse, and Major Lake mounted a horse from one of the troops of cavalry. In a moment, a shot struck Major Lake, and wounded him severely in the presence of his affectionate father. At this instant, the commander-in-chief found it necessary to lead the troops against the enemy, and to leave his wounded son upon the field a more affecting scene never was presented to the imagination, nor has Providence ever exposed human fortitude to a more severe trial. Gene

fal Lake, in this dreadful and distracting

moment, prosecuted his victory with unabated ardour. At the close of the battle, the commander-in-chief had the satisfaction to learn, that his son's wound, although extremely severe,was not likely to prove dangerous: a confident hope is now entertained, that this gallant and promising young officer will be preserved to enhance the joy of his father's triumph, and to serve his king and country with hereditary honour."

Nor was this hope in any degree disappointed. Colonel Lake returned to England with his father in 1807, and was soon afterwards appointed to command the 29th regiment of foot. Ile embarked with General Spencer's expedition, and proceeded to Gibraltar and Cadiz, and afterwards to Portugal, where be lost his life in the action of the 17th of August, at Roleia, at the head of the grenadiers of his regiment, gallantly repelling the formidable charge which had been made on it by the French troops under General Bernier, and which is so powerfully described in Sir Arthur Wel

1

lesley's account of that severe conflict.* He was shot through the breast, and never spoke afterwards. Major Campbell, aide-de-camp to Sir Arthur Wellesley, was near him when he fell, and immediately went to him, expressing his hope that he was not seriously wounded. Colonel Lake lifted up his eyes, and took Major Campbell's hand, which he pressed with all his remaining strength, and soon after expired, His body was then covered with a cloak, and after the action was removed for interment. When Major Campbell was passing, many of the wounded men of the 29th regiment called out to him, “Never mind us, sir!--for God's sake, take care of the poor colonel!"

In the course of the action at Roleia, he displayed that ardent valour which so eminently distinguished his father, and manifested a degree of professional skill and personal activity which has ensured for him the lasting admiration of the army, and will transimit his name to posterity, as one who, on every service of emergency, had uniformly served bis " king and country with HEREDI

TARY HONOUR.

To the Editor of the European Magazine.

SIR,

pursuits during my leisure hours, OR some time past, among other I have tried a variety of experiments respecting the various and least expensive articles from which paper can be made; and, partly with a view to this, I have travelled through the greater part of Scotland, England, and Ireland. The result of my experiments and observation is, that by far the cheapest and most ready articles, from which paper can be made, are, the refuse of hemp and Bax, and the hempen particles of the hop and bean plant.

It is a fact, that about the generality of mills for beating and dressing hemp and flax, a large proportion, in some inland places amounting to nearly one half of what is carried thither, is either left there to rot, under the name of refuse, or thrown away as of no use, because too

* London Gazette Extraordinary, 3d September, 1808. See page 222 of this month's Magazine. A -Portrait and Memoir of Sir Arthur Wellesley was published in the E. M. for July, 1808.

rough and short for being spun or converted into cloth. Now, from the experiment I have tried, I have uniformly found that, though too rough and short for being converted into cloth, even of the coarsest kind; the refuse of hemp and flax, on being beat and shaken, so as to separate the strawy from the tough stringy particles (which can be done in a few minutes, by a mill driven by wind, water, steam, or even by a blind horse,) becomes thereby as soft and pliable, and as useful for making paper as the longest and what is reckoned the most valuable part of the plant, after it has been converted into cloth and worn for years.

But

In its natural state, it is true, the refuse of hemp and tax is generally of a brown and somewhat dark colour. what of that? by the application of a little oil of vitriol, or other cheap ingredients well known to every bleacher, such refuse, without being, in the least, injured for making paper, can, in a few hours, if necessary, be made as white as the finest cambric; by being beat, when wet, with a mill or otherwise, it also acquires a considerable degree of whiteness.

There are, at a medium, published in London every morning 16,000 newspapers, and every evening about 14,000. Of those published every other day, there are about 10,000. The Sunday newspapers amount to about 25,00); and there are nearly 20,000 other weekly papers, making in all the enormous sum of 245,000 per week At a mediam twenty newspapers are equal to one pound. Hence the whole amounts to about five tons per week, or 260 tons per annum. But though this is not, perhaps, the one half of the paper expended yearly in London on periodical publications, and what may be called fugacious literature; and not one fourth-of what is otherwise consumed in print ing-houses in the country at large; yet there are materials enough in the refuse of the hemp and flax raised in Britain and Ireland for all this and much more.

Nor is this all: for, as the bine, or straw, of hops contains an excellent hemp for making cloth, canvass, ropes, cables, and a thousand other articles, so also the very best materials for making all kinds of paper. And it is a fact, that were even one half of the bine of the hops raised in the counties of Kent, Sussex, and Worcester, instead

of being thrown away after the hops have been picked, or burnt, as is commonly done, steeped for five or six days in water, and beat, in the same way as is done with flax and hemp (independent of what might be got from scarlet runners, nettles, the haum of potatoes. &c.) there would be found annually materials enough for three times the paper used in the British dominions.

While we admire the rapid progress that is making in painting, sculpture, engraving, architecture, coach-building, and the elegant arts in general, one cannot help being astonished at the slow progress that is making in discoveries of the useful kind, in various departments. Though it has not been attended to; nor, so far as I know, has ever been mentioned by any one, yet it is certain that, according to its size, every bean-plant contains from twenty to thirty-five filaments, running up on the outside under a thin membrane, from the root to the very top all round; the one at each of the four corners being thicker and stronger than the rest. It is also certain that, next to Chinese, or sea grass, in other words, the materials with which hooks are sometimes fixed to the end of fishing-lines, the filaments of the bean-plant are the strongest and most durable yet discovered. These, with a little beating, shaking, and rub bing, are easily separated from the strawy part, when the plant has been a few days steeped in water, or is damp, and in a state approaching to fermentation, or what is commonly called rotting.

From carefully observing the medium number of stalks, or bean-plants, in a square foot, in a variety of fields, and multiplying these by 4810, the number of square feet in an acre, and then weighing the hemp or filaments of a certain number of these stalks, I find that there are, at a medium, about two cwt. of hemp, or these filaments, in every acre, admirably calculated for being converted into canvass, cables, cordage, and a thousand other things, where strength and durability is of importance, as well as, with a little preparation, into paper of all kinds, even that of the most delicate texture. Now, since there are at least 200,000 acres of ticks, horse, and other beans in Great Britain and Ireland; and since, where there is not machinery for the purpose, the poor of each workhouse, as well as

other, both young and old, males as
well as females, might (hemp having
risen of late from 60 to 100 pounds per
ton) be advantageously employed, and
gain something handsome to themselves,
in peeling or otherwise separating the
filaments from the strawy particles of the
bean-plant, after the beans are threshed
out; I leave it to you, Mr. Editor, to judge
of the importance of the idea held out
here, not only to the landed proprietors
and the poor, but to the community at
large.
And as the insertion of the
above in your useful miscellany may be
the means of preventing many, perhaps
some thousand tons of valuable vege
table materials for making paper, &c.
from being thrown away as usual, your
giving it a place, as you lately did the
result of my experiment on the prunings
of the vine, will much oblige him who
has sent you a specimen of bean hemp,
and who is, with respect and good
wishes, Sir,

Your most humble servant,
JAMES HALL.

London, Sept. 13, 1808.

N.B. Washing and stripping between two blunt knives, or edges, when it is wet, is necessary to the dressing of bean

the use of broad cylindrical wheels. That particular attention should be given to the turnpike roads and the management of the different trusts. The attention of some public establishment should be directed to the subject of highways, by means of which the whole system may be thoroughly examined, and adeguate remedies for the defects existing in every branch of it may be devised for the consideration of Parliament. That, for the convenience of travellers, the name of every town or village ought to be painted in the most conspicuous part of it.

The third report suggests a number of amendments to the different acts now in force respecting stage-coaches, mailcoaches, and return post-chaises, tending to preserve the lives of many of his majesty's subjects from those accidents which so frequently happen to vehicles of this description.

PLAN for editing an ENGLISH DICTIONARY under the DIRECTION of a SOCIETY. To the Editor of the European Magazine.

SIR,

AVING observed, of late, propo

the filaments of which it consists from the thin membrane that surrounds them.

HIGHWAYS.

Tmittee of the House of Commons HE Second Report of the Comappointed to consider of the different acts now in force regarding the public roads of the kingdom, &c. have reported

Sur

That the general Highway act requires revision and correction. veyors ought to possess extensive powers in directing the mode of repair. A more regular system of repairing and preserving the roads ought to be introduced, and all clashing of jurisdictions ought as much as possible to be avoided. All wilful acts tending to injure the public roads should be made punishable. A new adjustment of the compositions for statute duty should take place; and attention should be paid to the breadth of wheels compared to the number of horses used for draft, so as to encourage

publishing an improved dictionary of the English language, I feel myself induced to offer my sentiments on the subject, which I request the favour of communicating through the medium of your highly-esteemed miscellany. It Hust be acknowledged by all, that a work of this nature is in a peculiar manner necessary; that it ought to be at once the repository and standard for the literature of a people; that it derives its whole importance from the extent and degree of confidence which it enjoys from the public; and that it ought not to be undertaken by any one on light and frivolous grounds. Instead, therefore, of multiplying the rash attempts of individuals to effect what surpasses the powers of any one man, and thus crowding on the world several ponderous works of the same kind, no one of which is complete, I cannot help thinking, that if those who have directed their attention to philological pursuits would unite themselves into a society similar to the French Academy, the labours and opinions of many might be so combined as to give splidity, con

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