Star. — London, England, 1807-01-23 00:00:00

ANTHROPOLOGY; OR, THE NATURAL HISTORY OF MAN; Illuftrated by Anatomical Preparations, &c. MR. BLAIR's LECTURES on this Subject (for else '.iformation of Scientific and Proreffional Gentlemen, Amateurs of Natural Hiftory, Students in the Liberal and pine Arts, scc ) will re ..ommence on Tuefday Evening next, at the Bloonif dry, Uifpenfary, No. 62, Great Rufkl-ftreet ; to be coati. 000 d • Jr f fucceeding Tuefday. and Friday Evening, at Eight precifcly, until the Termination of the Courfe, which eonliP s a about Twenty Leatires. furtlier particulars, with a printed Syllabus of the whole Coarfe may be had at Mr. Blair's Hoare, No. 6p, Great Raffel•ttrect, Blcorabury-fquare. MILITARr INZWRr. OFFICE OF THE BARRACK MASTER GENERAL. STOLES •ND SUPTLIF S. (Continued from the SrAN. of Wednehley !aft.) Under the agreement and infiruelions contained in thee two laft letters, Mr. Davifon fupplied coals to the barracks in Great Britain, and ;he ifiands of Guernfey, Jerfey,andAlderney, from April, 1795, to September, 1804, for which he has been paid by the late Barrack Matter General nearly four hundred and fifty-feven thoufand pounds. In the mode of conduEling the fupply of this ar ticle, we learn that loon after June, 1795 " an ab fira& c f the quantities calculated to be wanted at each particular barrack was made nut and Cent to Mr. Davifon ; that afterwards fimilar abarads were made occafionally only, and not every year, but when made were furnifhed to him in the early part of the year ; and the Barrack Mailer General's in tendon that the coals should be laid in at the moll favourable time was made known to Mr. Havifon." Mr. Davifon's general duty, therefore, was to pro ceed on the abarafts, and to lay in the coals at the molt favourable feafons. This he nhvioufly confi dered to be a part of his duty, becaufe in the eflimates which he rent to the Barrack Office he always anti cipates a fum for coals, which, like the yen of the minty eflimated for, was generally advanced to him before the article was provided. Mr. Davifon's accounts for , coall were made up it appears half yearly, and the receipts of the Barrack Matters of the quantity delivered, with certificates of the prices on the days of delivery, regularly accom panied the accounts. But how foon after the expir ation of each half year thefe accounts came into the Office, cannot he known, as no indot fment was made on them at the time. -.prom an infpedlion of many of thefe accounts, with their accompanying Touchers, we find that the delivery in the winter months el - ten bore a very confiderable proportion to the whole delivery of the year ; notw•ithftanding it was an inarnaion in the late Barrack Matter General's letter to Mr. Davifon, on the 25th April, 1795, that the coals fhould be laid in at the moll advantageous feafcns. Mr. Da •ifon accounts for this omiffion, by laying, gi that the laying in of the coals depended entirely on his being able to get fhipping, and that he believes he took the earlieft and moll expeditious way of executing the orders after he received them." We have noted above that h,e was adling under general orders, and that in his ea: mates he proceeds on that idea ; and we find that the coals which Mr. Davifon fripplied were very r ften purchafed by him of dealers at the places where barracks were fituated. We cannot, therefore, admit the caufe affigned to be a fufficient jullification for the non obfervance of the late Bar rack M ifler General's infirueliont The lots to the public, owing to the ufual advance in price, in the winter months, mutt have beer, con fiderahle, even from this eircumaance, but whether the gain to Mr. Davifon was in ail cares in propor l i - tion to it cannot now be afcertained. When he had made agreements at a favoora'Oe time of the year with Ihippers, or with the dealers, where barracks were fi'uated, to deliver coals at the barracks at a fiipulated price, if the delivetie, were poßponed to the winter months, the certified prices which Mr. Davir:n was always paid by the Barrack Office, w .uld be higher at fuch times'than they would have been in the fummer feafon ;—and Mr. Davifon's gains on his purchafes, at fuch flipulated price, would • proportionably greater. But if his purchafes were made under filch an agreement, it is to be pre .u,ned the prices he paid would have varied propor tionalsly with the prices certified, and no benefit rr uld have been obtained by him by pollponing the deliveries at the Barracks. Th e fat, that fo great a proportion of the delive ries was made in the winter months, thews a very bl..roeable ihattention in the Barrack Office, in not itrietly enf , rcing the inhuttions " that the fupply Gould be laid in at the molt advantageous feafons." We thall notice hereafter forme very treat differ ences between the prices at which Mr. Davifon put chafed his coals and the prices certified of the fame coals; thefe differences cannot he fatisfaftotily ex plained, of a fiipulated price plained, but on the fuppo between him and the feller for a certain period ; and Come of thefe differences were attempted to be fu explained. We collated further from this iorpeetion, that al though the items in the accounts fincify the number of bufliels delivered, the errreiponcliog rates of char es are by the c }lsidro!, of 36 bufhels, and th a t the rtiticates of p.iccs (notwithilanding the pecu liar eafure of the place is of a very different de-* i feription) always reduces that meafure to chaidions of the fame Bandar d. It *eared alto that the certiSevcs did not fpeci• fy . the quality of the coals for whit h t h e pr i ce , are . given; that every both?; admitted to be received by - the Barrack Matters is ~b arged in tire half yearly ac counts ; and that tin .Icdii!tit:n or allowance is Hated nny where to be male on account of the quantity of coals fupplied. - The obfervati• as which occurred to ns, on this v i ew o f Mr. DaN:ti n's half yearly accounts, will be given hereafter. Mr. Davifon having Paid, in one of his examina tions, that he purchafed by cargoes in the North Come of the coats which he delivered at the Barracks, we were defirous of comparing the meafore of thefe Cargoes, as received at the Barracks, with the quan tity put on board ; for this purpGle we obtained from him three bills of lading of coals delivered in the Wands of Guernfey and Jeifey, in the year 1802 ; and having reduced the quantity Hated in them into babe's, we were enabled, by means of the Barrack Mailer's receipts of there coals lent as vouchers for the quantity charged, to get at the information we Wanted. SIM WAMIIII. I Cavemen per I Produce ea I Owe Mel t Delivery. vered. Unions Mary - 69rz Mantels I 7560 %theta 648 But:411 1 . 727 s ditto Bo7z ditto 800 ditto Providence - - 4248 ditto 4440 ditto 192 ditto I The increafe appears, therefore, to be very confl derable, amounting on an average of the three cai goer, to upwards of three bufhels per chaldron. Our firit impreflion was, that this increafe molt have arifen from fome fraud or negligence in the perfons receiving the coals at the Barracks, or from fume mifcondua in Mr. Davifon's Agent in the Viands. But from the evidence of Mr. Henley, a very conliderable. Shipper and dealer in coals, we learn that an increafe of this kind may arife from the mode in which the quantity put on board is calcula• ted at the northern ports ; coals are there conveyed from the fhore to the (hips in keels which curtain in general eight Newcanle .chaldrons, and the pin. chafer pays for that quantity. But as, for the con veniency of afcertaining the dues to be paid, it is calculated that the keel then contains eight chaldrons when it finks to a certain depth marked on the head and Item, it may happen that in wet weather, when the coals are heavier, the keel will not have eight chaldrons on board, and in dry weather, that it will have more than that quantity. If the coals, therefore, had been put on board the three (hips whole bills of lading we have hated in a dry condition, the quantity meafnred at the Barracks would appear to exceed the quantity Rated in the bills of lading. Mr. Daniel Wilkinfon, Mr. Davifon's late Clerk in his coal concerns, thinks that even the great in create of eight hundred bufhels on (even tboufand two hundred and feventy-two, the invoiced cargo of the (tip Union, may be accounted for from this mode of what he calls (tipping by weight, and delivering by bulk. Although the circumQanee of an increafe of this kind Teems from this Gentleman's evidence not to have been unufual, we do not &ad that the Barrack Office was made acquainted with it ; the real caufe of it,might, perhaps, have bees afcertained by inqui. ries, at the time it happened). tot as we did not feel that at the time of our mWrig the difcovery, cora dering its difiance from the period of the tranfaElion, and that George Richard Walker, by whom the bu liners was tranfaaed in Guernfey, was then a convict in Newgate, we could not hope to throw any 'addi tional light on the fubje4l, we forbore to purfue this inquiry. . We have remarked before, that, on an int - pet:Hon of Mr. Davifon's half yearly accounts, it appeared the exalt nr:- `ler of hufhels reet.l'.ed at the Barracks were always c Lirged for by him, and that nn allow ance or deci . .ion was any where made on Account of the quantity of coals fupplied. Either what is called Ingrain, or fume allowance fimilar to it, we fuppofed, had been always given to individuals, pur• chafers of large qrsantities of coals, and therefore we expetted to find that the public would have had the fame advantages in its dealings with Mr. Davifon, cfpecially as he had undertaken to fupply coals at the rate of the market price at which the whole dealers are paid by the inhabitants of the places where the Barracks are flowed. But Mr. Davifon tells us, that he never agreed fnr nor ever heard of any al lowance or dedation to be made fnr Ingrain, and he knows nothing about it." He adds. " neither would he have allowed it ; and that he has charged and been paid, he believes, fur every buthel delivered, without any &dation." In which he is confirmed by his late Clerk, Mr. Daniel Wilklnfon ; and from Mr. Stanbank's examination it appears. that Mr. Davifon was never required to make any allowance on account of the quantity delivered,and that his accounts were never checked on any principle of this kind. ' Being Itrongly perfuaded that, whatever advan tages were tdually given to individual purchafers of large quantities of coats, the public, in its immenfe purchafes, were alfo entitled to receive, under the terms of the undertaking contained in Mr. Davit m's letter of 13th April 1795, we had the opinion of the At trrney and Solicitor General on the quellion of the ccnitraiion of thofe terms.—The quellion pot to them, and their anfwer areas follows : Q Whether, although Mr. Davifon Ripulates to be paid for the number of bu(hels aftually delivered, an allowance ought unt to have been made by him, equivalent to the ingrain or allowance ufually given by wholefale dealers at the places where the coals were received? A. We underftand the allowance of an ingrain to be general in the coal trade, and we are of opinion that inch an allowance ought to have been wade by Mr. Davifon. By the terms of his letter he is to be paid for the number of bufhels aelually delivered ; but he is to be paid at fuch rate as is the market price, And without the allowance of an ingrain there does not ac;p:ar to be any market price. Having latisfied ourfelves on the point of the con- Nation of Mr Davilon's undertaking, we proceeded to inquire in what places it was dual to allow the advantages of ingrain. Mr. Daniel Wilkinfon thought, that it was allowed in the places connee• ted with the River Tharoes, but that there were more places in y.liid; i. wa • hot allowed than where it was " But Mr. Henley, whole dealings in the coal trade have been very extenfive as a (hipper of coals for the nut vrts, as Well a, inr the port of London, after explaining that ingrain. means .one chaldron on 20, and that payments are for the twenty, and the one is given over, lays, " that ingrain is allowed in the port of London, he believes by Al of Parliament, a.:11 that, except at Sheet net:, there is no general al lnwance under that name to the dealers, it depends on the agreement between the fellers and the put-. chafers ; that in the port of London, coals often pals through many hands before they come to the con fumer, but ingraio is always allowed by the creditable dealers in that p r t." He Paid further, 4 • that where it /was not allowed under that name, he knew of fin deductions from the In ice regularly allowed to pur chafers of 'large quantities:" And being afked in the words ot . Mr. DavilOn's undertaking, contained in his letter of 13th April, 1795, " If an agreement was to ropily, as a whole dealer, a large quantity of coals to be paid for by the number of buthels deli vered wax sitting to the rate of the market price, at the time of delivery, whether he would allow ingrain in places where ingrain was dually allowed ?" he anfwered, " That he certainly would not.' But, being Aced the fame quell ion, fubflituting the word " Chaldron" for that of " Bothell," he anfwered that, " in London be fhould be bound to do h." The • difference of there two words, Making it revile the I dirlinaion of his contirutlion of the agreement. If the general °rage of the coal trade pitiifies this conartalion. and it timid be eflablifhed that a put ' chafer agreeing for (even hundred and twenty bufbels of coals, is not legally entitled to any allowance of ingrain, Although if he had agreed for twenty chal dron,containing the fame number of bufhels, he would be allowed a chaldrnn or 36 bufliels over ; we can not but admire the good fortune of Mr. Davifon in framing the lan3uage of his propofal ; and we can not but ftrongly reprefent the great incaution of the late Barrack Mailer General in accepting the pro pofal, without knowing what was the import of it. That we might get all the information proper for a right decifion of this point, which is certainly of confiderable importance to the public, we examined Mr. Wand, a Gentleman alfo of very extenfive con cerns in the coal trade, but that trade confined to the purchafing of coals in the port of London, and to the fubfequent tale of them to the perfons called confnmers in Mr. Henley's examination, and to houfekeepers. He Pays, " That ingrain is always allowed on all coals palling through the port of London, if the quantity fold is five chaldrons or up wards, and that under fuch an agreement as was Rated in one of the quenions to Mr. Henley, and which was in fad that made with Mr. Davifon,—.. , " He flionlel think that ingrain would be due whe ther the word g Bnfhel,' or ' Chaldron,' was tifed ; for there is no market price in the port of London without fuch an allowance, and that it would be due in every cafe of five chaldrons and upwards fold, un. lefs there was an agreement to the contrary-" It is not for us to decide what is the right conflruc lion of the agreement. If it be that given in the opinions of the Attorney and Solicitor General, and by Mr. Wood, Mr. Davifon has undoubtedly been overpaid for all the coals fupplied through the port ' of London at lean. By a reference to the Barrack Office, we have afcertained that the whole rum paid to Mr. Davifon, under the agreement contained in his letter of 13th April, 1795, for coals palling through the port of London, betw:en that day and 24th June. 18oz, is 51,3181. ; and for the coals fupplied at Sheernefs, during the fame period, is 23831. I is. ; five per cent. on which, dedut9ing the charges for metage, carriage, and (hooting, is the value of the ingrain, which, it it be determined ought to have been allowed to Mr. Davifon, thould now, according to the evidence before us, be repaid by him. In lonic cf the out ports where we have made enquiries, although there is no allowance under the name of ingrain to the purchafers of large quantities of coals, yet when large quantities are taken, and (hips are thereby foon difcharged (which was almolt always the cafe in the fupplies to the Barracks) a purchafir has generally a dedudion on the price of the day of one penny, and two pence, and fometimes more per buthel. We do not mention this, thinking that fuch a deduaion from the price paid to Mr Davifon can be now legally claimed from him, on the ground that, according to the terms of his under taking, he was bound to make the dedudion, L - It to thew how fallacious the certificates of price ft.: t,ifhed by hir might be in reprefenting the price which ought to have been charged for the coals delivered at the barracks. For the certificates might give a very correa Ratement of the prices which the perfons figning them were paying for coals in the compara tively (mall quantities they purchafed, who, had they purchafed whole cargoes, and the other large quantities, ufually delivered at the barracks, would have obtained their coals at two pence or three pence per buthel lefs than the price at prefent certified by them. We think, therefore, that the certificates are defe.flive in not Rating what was or what would have been, the price on fuch large quantities as were delivered at the Barracks, if the inhabitants of the place had purchafed them. The price certified was, we have reafon to believe, in many cafes, what may be called the Retail Price, or Price for compa ratively (mall quantities, when the wholefale price, or price for whole cargoes, &c. thould have been certified. Mr. Wood did nct nate in his examination what the difference of price in there cafes would be, but his examination confirms us in the opinion we have given. There are Come other circumftances connected with thefe certificates deferving, we think, of fome attention. It appears that the Barrack Office relied on thofe certificates procured by Mr.Davifon as the vouchers for the prices chariged, for they had no other means in the office, as Mr. Stanbank tells us, of checking them ; yet we learn that once only were the refpcc ability and mean; of knowledge of the perfons fign ing them made the fubjeft of enquiry in the late Barrack Matter General's time, this was made in December tEloo, and was general. It was impotfible for us, at the prefent time, to make fuch enquiries with any effect ; yet we have difcovered that, in fume inflances, the perfons certi fying were not, in our opinion, thofe whom the late Barrack Mailer General could have intended, when he requited them, in his anfwer to Mr. Davifiin'slet ter, In often alluded to, to be ° perfons of the moll reffeetable defctiption ;" an expreffion which mull at all events mean perfuns free from objection. In the iflaads of Guernfey and Jerfey, we obferve, that the ceriiticaies were generally finned by a per fon of the name of George Richard Walker; from the evidence of Mr. Davifon, and his Cleric, Mr. Daniel W !Mini n, we learn that this man was a dealer in coals, and concerned with Mr. Davao under ionic agreement or contra& in fupplying coals for the 841 racks in Guernfey and the- adjacent Mind., from 1796 for about four years; and that he was afterwards his Agent in the fame bufinefs at a corn miffion of two and a half per cent. on an ellimated price of the coals delivered, for about two years more ; and he was alto Mr. Davifon's Agent in fop nlying candles to the Barracks during the whole of this time. That this perfon had a direct intereft in certifying high prices when he fold the coals to Mr. Davifon, we do not fay, for Mr. Davifon often bought whole cargoes of bum at a ftipulated price for fixed period,. But it is clear that fuch a perfen had it very much in his power to regulate the prices in thefe Wands, and that the greater the difference between the price at which he fold, and that at which he certified, the more likely it was that he thould continue in his connection with Mt. Davifon.—( To be continued) • PRUSSIA.' . . '~~ BAMBERG, DECEMBER 13. The following was the pofition of the Gr an d French Army, after it had paired Warfaw in pa r . fuit of the Ruffians :—Prince Murat was at the head of the advanced guard. He had under his corn. mand• five divifions of Cavalry, viz. the Corp s of Generals Beaumont, Klein, Mihaud, Nanfonti, a n d Hautpnit. Then followed three divifions of Infa n . try, viz. thole of Morand, Ft iand, and Gudin, and a divifion of Cavalry, the whole commanded by e t ,. neral Viallanne. The Corps of the Army of hia t u s Davoull and Augereau followed thefe divifions. Corps of Marfhal Lafnes covered the left wing on the fide of Thorn, and 'the Corps of Marthals Ber na . dotte and Soult, commanded by the Emperor Nap e . leon himfelf, formed the Centre. General Baron d'Effen commands one of the three Ruffian armies. The Army of Referve, formed nea t Kiow, is under the command of General Ceun t zhovden. - GERMAIir. • CASSEL, DECEMBER so. PROCLAMATION.—." If the numerous affemblits of foldien difiniffrd from the Heffian fervice. and difperfcd in fo many path of the country, had any defire to fee their former Elector retest, fuck a proof of their attachment would afford him very fenilit pleafurr....but, on the other hand, it would be very painf o i for hies to obferve the means there foldiers have chorea toe their our. pore ; means which only oppofe his return, and throw isupedl. manta in the way of all negotiation for that purpofe, and nui t b, at the .fame time, espofe aU the inhabitants of the country to th e greateft hazards and misfortunes. If the Heffian foldiers are se. tually defirous of manifefting their attachment to the Rieder, their former matter, and of again teeing bin, among them, they and forthwith difperfe, and return peaceably to their refpedive homes, By this condnd will the French Emperor be the more eddy O. doted to reftors to the Eledlor his territories, and to relieve then, in the mean time, front heavy war contributions. Though as have been difinillC4l from our Office by the French Owemmeat, and have taken no oath, yet we Bill retain all the obligation which our roamer fundion impofed upon us—and u we havebon inftruded by his Eledtoral Higlusefs to exert all our abilities fir the good of the country in his abreact, it is as natural for tn, Wei one of the principal Officers of our lawful Soverelga, to wills for his fpeuly return, as for the Hahn foldiers fo to do. . " You may give implicit credit to our affurances, and flue yes are again informed that no violence will be ore(' to force you inns the French fervice, it is indifpenfahly neceirary that you Osouldlay down the arms you have taken up for your defence, and thus et longer continue as °banks to the return of your Medal' to his [objects, and the only hindrance to his exertions for that purport " To this meafsire you are molt Impreffively admonithed by u, if the love of your country or your Prince is Rill dear to you. " The Civil Officers. and the Commiffaries of Referee, in eack place and diftridt, where any extraordinary alretnblage of difeharp ed Heffian foldiers may be found, are charged to communicate ale our well-meant advice in the belt manner they are able, and at the fame time to affure you,tbat all that is laid berets worthy d full credit, Once we have nothing more at heart than the good of the hledtor and the country. " F. O. WAITZ, Lite Privy Counfellor to the Medlar.' DECEMBER 31 —The following Proclamation bat been addrefred to the inhabitants and foldieta of Hefre " Inhabitants of Heck!—The Hefßan foldiers, your eblldres, your relatives, or friends, weft In the errors Into wbkh they lint been led by diraffedled perfons, tboogh I have given them the and formal affurance that none of them ball be taken by force intoth military fervice. Inhabitants of Hare ! it is incumbent on you to bring them back to their rearm, and to make them underbid that they aro the caufe of the misfortunes and calamities of the war which opprelks your perfons, your families, and, in a wet s ail that is dear to you. Inhabitants of Heffe !if all Tont attetnes &maid be knitters , which I cannot believe, thinh o 'at fedi, how much it concerns ypn not to faffer yourfelvea to be drain into the abyfs into which your country would be precipitated &log with there unthinking men. Inhabitants and Soldiers of Hegel this is the fait time thu I bail warn you of the dangers "hid threatut you. (Signed) " The Coverner-General of Heft, " Calkl, Dec. iS. " LA mimeos." The troops that have entered here within thefe few days amount to Shoo, and more are expeded. AUGSBURG, DEC as. Brannan is again opened for the convenience of the poft and for travellers, bin only in the day time. Every ftranger is received at the gates bya gendarme ! who attends him every where while he renutinsin tin: place. The garrifon amounts to about 4000 men. FROM THE MAINE, DEC. 27. The molt prefling calamity that Aids Saxony in the prefent war, is the ftoppage of all the manufar. tories. Lufatia feels a great lofs in confequence d the Englifh conquefts in South America. The cotton manufailories will loon be obliged to difcharge all their hands, becaufe they begin to want the neceffary articles from England. The ribbana weavers in the mountains are alto (landing ftill. for want of dyed filk from Berlin. Dic. so.—Some diflurbances have taken place at Cracow, of which the ftttdents of that city are acct fed as the infligators. According to the public prints, the Hereditary Patient'. of He& Calle!, in confequence of the me. diation of the Prince of Yfenberg, was admitted to an interview with the Emperor Napoleon a thort tilllo before his departure from Berlin :—the refult was favourable to her Highnefs, who had her youngei child in her arms, and led another by the hand,when the was prefented. MENTZ, DEC. 29. The pairage of Pruffian troops has caged. They are divided into four claffes, viz. the fubjeas uffia Proper, the Poles, the French, or writes at the Upper Rhine, and the inhabitants of the Confe• derated States. The full have the choice of entering into the Polith army, to ferve as labourers upon the criall, or to remain in prifon. The Poles have the choice of enrolling themfelves,or remaining in prifon. —Thole foldiers, born in the French States, and hill capable of fervice, are incorporated with the French army, and the fubjeas r , f the Confederated States are furnilhed with patfports and fent home. That his Majetty the Emperor is determined to profecute the war with vigour, is evident from tbi difpofitions making in France. The organization of the Confcripts for 1807 is going on with incredible aaivity. They are to be formed into four divifioner and will pals the Rhine in the firll quarter of the en. Cuing year. The aeivity of the National Goal& b to be extended farther than ever ; for, according tio a late Imperial Decree, the French Citizens mutt do duty in all the Departments, as all the troops Oil can be (pared mutt be fent to the Grand Army. pots are continually arriving here, which, aiier half ing the ufual time, continue their march to Sazont and Poland. Her Majetty the Emprefs continues here, and we hear no more of her return to Paris ; muck 46, we believe the will proceed to Berlin at thiii do, the year. In the mean while it i. affected, Ova i° , the fpriug the will fat out for Warfaw.