Star. — London, England, 1809-10-25 00:00:00

V FRENCH COURT MARTIAL. PROCEEDINGS OF THE COURT-MARTIAL HELD AT ROCHE FORT ON THE CAPTAINS (IF Tne SIIIPS DESTROYED IN BASQUE ROADS BY OUR NAVY. The following is the substance of this interesting document which we mentioned yesterday. The sen tence has not yet been transmitted : It appears by the account of the loss of the Ton nerre, given by her Captain, Mr. CLEMENT DE LA RONCIERE, that whilst endeavouring to avoid our fire ships, she was run on hoard of by the French man of war the Ocean, and grounded on the rocks. Repeated exertions were made to save her, but the wind proving unfavout able, the boats being for a long time absent, and the water no longer kept down by the pumps, One of which had burst, although the masts had been cut away, and the greatest part of her guns and water casks thrown overboard, she was at length deserted by her crew, after permission to that effect hard been granted by a signal of the Admiral, answering their signal of distress. The Captain was the last who left the ship. This statement was fully corroborated by the written minutes of the journal kept by the officers. The account of the loss of the Calcutta was given by her Captain, Lafon, and his officers jointly. It states that whilst preparing to engage a British fri gate, they were surprised by the explosion of a cata maran, and soon after, being nearly surrounded with fire-ships, one of which was sunk by their cannon, they cut their cables to avoid the othesr, and about midnight grounded ; but after lightening the vessel, succeeded the next morning in getting off with the tide. They were then attacked by two British fri gates and two bomb-vessels. Notwithstanding their disadvantageous position, and the paucity of their numbers, the whole crew consisting of only 230 Men, they returned our fire, when, about three o'clock, two other British ships joined in the attack. At four,, convinced cf the impossibility of saving the ship, they forsook it, having only twelve men wounded and none killed, and set it on fire, when they repaired on board the Admiral, who sent them to Rochefort. The loss of the frigate l'lndienne is thus accounted for in the journal of her Captain, signed by all her officers :—Having placed his vessel at a short dis tance from the boom, which protected the French line, she was suddenly covered with tire by two ex plosions which took place at the boom within the lapse of forty minutes, and discovered to his view the approach of several brigs and fire-ships, which burst through the boom, and advanced in flames against the fleet. In order to avoid them, he passed through the French line, and after several astonishing escapes, grounded, and waited for the return of the tide. The next clay he was astonished at finding, that not a single French vessel had suffered by the effects of the explosions and fire-ships. That day was spent chiefly in vain efforts to get afloat,and witnessing the destruction of the Ville de - Varsovie, the Calcutta, Aquilon, and Tonnerre. On the 13th he was attacked, as well as the Ocean and Regulus, by six British gun boats, a small frigate, and two cutters ; but after ,n action of several hours, that flotilla was obliged to re tire. Having thrown the greatest number of his guns, almost all his powder, ammunition,and provisions, into the sea, without being able of getting completely afloat, he was obliged to send to the Admiral for am munition and assistance, both of which were not ef forded him in an effectual manner. On the 14th he formed a battery on land, which was served by part', of his crew. At four o'clock five British brigs, and a bomb-vessel, attacked the Regulus and Foudroyant,l and continued bombarding them until seven in the evening, withomt compelling them to alter their posi tion. On the 15th, he succeeded in getting the fri gate perfectly afloat, and threw almost the whole of his remaining cannon into the sea. In the evening he thought he descried the approaching catamarans, and took precautions in consequence. On the I6th the frigate was driven aground by the wind a second time. Her masts were on the point of falling over board ; she was filling fast with water, and her sides began to gape, when her Captain called a Council of War, which determined that every hope of saving her being lost, i: was necessary to abandon her; she was set on fire, and the crew lauded near Fouras, from whence they repaired to Rochefort. The Captains of la Ville de Varsovie and Aquilon, having been taken prisoners, their statement of the loss of their ships could not be transmitted to the Court-Martial. Captain La Caine, of the Tourville, one of the ships that escaped, having been accused of leaving his ship fer several hours, whilst she was in presence of the enemy, and the accusation being corroborated by the I minutes of his own journal, was also compelled to I give an account of his conduct before the Ofticersl composing the Court Martial. It appears that when the first catamarans exploded, the French frigate la Pallas, whilst endeavouring to avoid a fire-ship, ran on board the Tourville, which then cut a cable, and was soon after threatened by the Regulus, to which a fire-vessel had fixed iteell. The Tourville then manceavred to avoid the sur rounding perils, but got aground, and the Captain ordered the gunpowder barrels to be open, in order, should the ship catch fire, that they might be imme diately drowned by means of water pipes, but his apprehensions proved unfounded. On the arrival of a pilot, he attempted to gain the mouth of the river, but with little hopes of success. On the 12th, whilst several British frigates engaged the Ville de Varsovie, the Calcutta, and Aquilon, the Tourville threw her heavy guns and cannon halls overboard, and sent al: her inexperienced and weak sailors and boys on shore, keeping only the stoutest men and marines on board. The pilot, convinced of the impossibility of saving the ship, took French leave, and the Ceptein informed that several fire-ships Were coming against the Tourville, and conscious in his grounded position of his inability to avoid or remove them, ordered the whole crew to land, and was die laFt who quitted the ship. The wind having undergi ne a favourable change, and no fire-ships hay-i ing reach( d their destination, the Captain and crew returned ( n board, with the same pilot, whom they had found On shere, and who now expressed his be lief that the ship could he got afloat on account of the alun ati , n in the wind. Several British bomb vessels and other ships approached at that critical moment to engage the Ocean and Tourville, both o f which answered their fire effectually. The next night they succeeded in getting afloat, and sailed LONDON. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25. FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OT His MAJESTY'S ACCESSION TO THE THRONE.—holiday at all the Public Offices. PRICE OF STOCKS YESTERDAY. 3 per Cent. Red. 681 . 1 India Bonds 245. 235. pr. 3 per Cent. Cons. 69/ Excheq. 2iilas , Bs. 14s. pre. 4 per Cent. 8311 Omnium If pre. 5 per Cent. Navy 100 A. City Lottery Tickets £B. 15s. Long Ann. W s 9.16 Cons. for acc. 69f We have received Dutch Papers to the 20th instant. They state their former assertion, of Peace having been signed on the 3d instant, to be premature, but add their assurance that no obstacles have occurred to retard it. The following are the most prominent ar. tides these papers contain : for the mouth of the River, but through the want of experience of the pilot, were grounded on the other side, near Fouras. On the 15th, they were set I afloat by the morning tide. and on the 16th, an- 1 chored at the mouth of the river, off the point of Vergeron. THE EVENING STAR. AMSTERDAM, OCTOBER 19. The intelligence of Peace having been signed be tween Austria and France has not been confirmed. This information arrived in Holland by the way of Stutgard and Casscl. In both. cities the public re joicings which took place in consegnence of these happy tidings, have been succeeded by general con sternation and regret. Every thing, however, seems to indicate that Peace on the Continent will speedily be concluded, if that fortunate event should not al ready have actually taken place. PARIS, OCTOBER 13. The accounts from Vienna of the ith inst. state, that the suburbs arc filled with troops returning from the camps in the neighbourhood of Vienna, and in particular from those formed at Spitz and Aggers dorff. We understand that the gcns d'armes who are des tined to escort his Majesty from stage to stage have already set out from Vienna for their differentstations. His Excellency the Marshal Duke of Ragusa arri ved here last night. According to letters from Frankfort, of the 10th instant, it was generally reported in that city, that his Imperial Majesty meant to arrive there on the 15th instant. The troops of the Duke of Saxony, under the orders of General Rouyer, who for some time have formed part of the army of the Duke of Dantzic, have marched to Vienna by Upper and Lower Austria, and are now in cantonments in the vicinity of that capital. His Majesty the Emperor reviewed them at Schocnbruu. The Tyrolese are stated to be in the utmost want of several articles ; their communication with the neighbouring States being at present more strictly intercepted than it has been before, it is utterly impossible for them to obtain any supplies of pro visions, merchandize, or ammunition, especially since the regencies of the difTerent cantons have adopted measures to shut :gip that passage. ZARA, SEPT. 4. The Governor of Zara has received intelligence from the Major General of the grand army, that the Austrian troops have been ordered to evacuate Dal matia. The . above intelligence has been communi cated to the Commander in Chief of the said troops. Should their troops not yet have received orders of evacuation, it is probably to be ascribed to the same accident which has prevented several French couriers, dispatched by the Emperor, from reaching the place of their destination, by having been arrested, notwith standing the armistice and de Toiled of their dispatches. His MAJESTY has been graciously pleased to desire that all the Russian prisoners on parole should return to their country. Yesterday there was a Cabinet Council at the Fo reign Office. The greater part of the Members were present. The Earl of WESTMORLAND has been for some time past at Apthorre, from whence he was brought to tuwn by a special messenger to assist at the Council. Yesterday the Duchess of BRUNSWICK removed from Blackheath to her new residence in Spring-gar dens. This day her Royal Highness entertained a numerous party with an elegant dinner. There is to Le a Naval Promotion which i•s to take in the ten oldest Post Captains and make them Ad mirals. It comes down to Sir TIIONIAS THOMSON. Letters from Tarragona, by a private ship, speak favourably of the state of the army under General BLAKE, and mention that his forces are provided with every thing that can prcmote'heir comfort and success. YestcrdAy the Captain and Officers of his Majesty's late brig ALLAAIIT, were tried at Sheerness, for the loss of hei in the Baltic, when they were honourably acquitted. On the occasion of the Jubilee, two fat bullocks and one hundred gallons of ale have been given by the Rev. .1. Sot, re. Vicar of Leigh, near Tun bridge, to be distributed among the poor of his small parish, allowing to each in family a pound of meat and a pot of ale—the ridows to have a double portion. Lord DARLINGTON'S estates in the neighbourhood of Muswell Hill, devised to him by the late Countess of BATS!, were yesterday brought to the hammer.— About 144 acres of land with some houses, sold as high as 30,3001. The land, in general, sold at 2001. per acre, and 12 gcres of meadow land at upwards of 4.001. per are. 8e5A0.,7--There not being a sufficient number of Aldermen assembled yesterday to constitute a Court, the Loup MAYOR ordered 'kg Rrice of the quartern 1 0:10 to reluain ac ifld. THE JUBILEE. the Society for the relief of debtors, have enabled them to extend their benevolence to an unprecedented extent on this occasion, and their arrangements have keen so formed, that the objects of their bounty will this day be set at liberty. ON THE JOYFUL EVENT OF lIIS MAJESTY'S ENTERING INTO THE FIFTIETH YEAR OF HIS REIGN. BY THE REV. WILLIAM FERNYHOUGH. Genus imtnortale manet, multosque per annoy, Stat Fortuna Domus. Hail, glorious Epoch ! hail this happy day ! On which we greet a Sovereign's lengthen'd sway— On which we greet a King on England's Throne, Whom Friend and Father Britons gladly own ! Thro' letig!li of years, by HEAVLN'S indulgent hand, Guarded, to wield the Sceptre of the land; A patriot King, by gen'rous views inspir'd, Whose bosom, Justice, Love, and Mercy fied ; Who made the Subject's good his fav'rite aim, And thus explor'd the truest path to Fame ! 'irain'd in fair Albion's land, and Freedom's school, His mind, untainted, scorn'd despotic rule ! Untainted saw that all the pride of state, . Fonn'd not the real greatness of the great; That all the pomp that waits the regal hour, Could shed no lustre on the hand of pow'r; That power in vain with glaring light wou'd shine, Unless bright Virtue guided each design— Unless bright Virtue dignified the decd Of honest Fame, that hopeless was the rimed : By Virtue's rules he form'd of pow'r the plan, And thus shone forth the Monarch and the Man; By acts of love, his People's lave lie gain'd, And welcome empire o'er their heart's obtain'd! And tho' advancing in the vale of years, Unditnni'd by Time, his virtue still appears; Bright and untarnish'd still remains his fame, And dear to Britons still his honour it name ! Like Sol, resplendent, still is GEORGZS reign, When with late rays it glorious gilds the plain ! BY THE K!NG.-A PROCLAMATION. FOR PARDONING ALL SEAMEN AND MARINES WHO MAY AT ANT TIME HAVE DESERTED FROM HIS MAJESTY'S SERVICE. GEORGE R. Whereas we are desirous to mark the 50th Anniversary of enr accession to the "Ilrone, by extending our pardon to all seamen i and marines who may at any time have deserted from our service previous to the issuing of this our Royal Proclamation : We have thaught fit, by and with the advice of our Privy Council, to pub lish this our Royal Proclamation, and do hereby accordingly grant our most gracious pardon to all such seamen as may at any time have de.;erted front any of our ships or vessels of war; and we do hereby further grant our most gracious pardon to all ma rines who may at any time have deserted from our service ; and we do hereby declare, that all such seamen and marines, whether surrendering themselves or not, or who having deserted are now belonging to some of our ships or vessels of war, or arc at the head-quarters of cur Rcyul Marine Forces, or are belonging to recruiting parties of the said forces, shall be released and dischar ged from all prosecutions, imprisonments, and penalties commen ced or incurred by reason of such desertion ; and that all such seamen or marines who have not befare the issuing of this our Royal Proclamation surrendered themselves, nor entered on board our ships or vessels, nor joined the head-quarters or recruiting parties of the Royal Marines, shall, nevertheless, receive our free pardon, without condition of further service, or being required to join any of our ships or the head-quarters or recruiting parties above mentioned ; but that such pardon shall not entitle the said deserters, whether seamen or marines, to any arrears of pay, or to any prize.money forfeited by such desertion: and we do fur ther declare, that such free pardon shall not extend to any sea men or marines who shall desert from any of our ships or ves sels, or from marine quarters or recruiting parties, after the 44th day of this instant October. Given at our Court at the Queen's Palace, the 18th day of October, 1809, in the 49th year of our reign. GOD SAVE THE KING! pROCLAMATION FOR PARDONING DESERTERS FROM 11/S MAJESTY'S LAND FORCES. War Office, October 24, jBO9 Whereas it has been most humbly submitted to the King, whe ther, on the joyful occasion of his Majesty's entering into the 50th year of his reign, it might not be desirable to distinguish so me morable an epoch by an Act of Grace to all Deserters; and his Majesty having graciously approved of his Free Pardon being ex tended to all such deserters from his land forces as shall deliver themselves up within two months from the 25th instant : These are publicly to declare his Majesty's benevolent intention, and to direct that all desertt.rs, surrendering themselves to the Comman ding Officer of any Regiment, or to any lithe Superintending Field Officers of the recruiting service, whose stations are mentioned in the margin * hereof ; to the Commandant oldie army depot in the Isle of Wight ; or, where there is no military post, to a Magistrate, shall be pardoned, and they are hereby pardoned accordingly. Such deserters, if from the regular forces, being able-bodied men and fit for service, shall be sent to the regiments from which they respectively deserted, or be appointed to such regiments in the United Kingdom as his Majesty may be pleased to command; and, when so placed, shall not be liable to be claimed by any other corps to which they may formerly have belonged : and if from the militia, shall be sent to the regiments to which they respec tively belonged. And whereas many of the said Deserters may have enlisted in other corps, and are now serving therein ' his Majesty is graci ously pleased to extend to such Deserters the benefit of this par. ! don ; and to direct that they shall continue to serve in the corps wherein they now are, upon declaring themselves to their respec tive Commanding Officers, on or before the period abovemen tioned ; and they shall not be liable, at any future time, to be claimed by the regiments in which they formerly served. The Magistrate, to whom any Deserter, as above, may sur render himself, is authorised and required to certify the day on which such Deserter surrendered himself; which certificate is to continue in force until the arrival of the Deserter at the nearest military pest, provided he proceed at the rate of ten miles a day, unless prevented by sickness, to be certified by some Medical Practitioner on the back of the Magistrate's certificate, or to be otherwise proved to the satisfaction of the Officer commanding at such military post. His Majesty has further been pleased to direct, that Deserters now actually in confinement as such, sh all have the benefq of this his Royal Pardon.—By his Majesty's command, GRANVILLE LEVESON GOWER. • Durham, Carlisle, Leeds, Manehester , Nottingham, Ips wich, Shrewsbury, Birmingham, Hereford, Bedford, Mai4 4 itone ploueester, §ontharniiton, Wols, London. NEW COVENT CAMDEN THEATRE. For these several days past preparations'Tiave been This Theatre was by no m eans so well atti?n made in every Parish of the Metropolis, and through- d e d ; last night as on any former oc cas i on s i nce it; oper'rs out lie Kingdom, to celebrate the festivities of this The snew of beauty and fa s hi on i n t h e b oxes was ec,11.: day with various marks of rejoicing. All the public siderable, although in the pit, a t fi rst pr i ce, there Iv* not more than a hundred and tw enty persons In r i buildings, and the houses of his Majesty's tradesmen instance, therefore, was the hope of peace • • th e n e t sr repetition i t t h i o e n evening Occur ning .111t1 r.ti-i-ered Ler order held forth with so much chance of s in the Metropolis, will be brilliantly illuminated in the evening. The poor of every description will this I fro T n h c e h a m m t, amusements consisted of 7,, day be fed with the bounty of their richer neighbours, and in some parishes , the subscriptions collected have In the opening scene of the Irm Chna, when M r ,. been so judiciously managed, that a small supply of LisTos advanced tothefront of the stage, some rull an in the two-shilling . gallery, hurled part of an apple at her, which fortunately only struck her fiiot coals and potatoes, for the ensuing winter, has been distributed to each family, in addition to the allow- at first much disconcerted, but soon re • .-"ae antes of victuals for the day. I presence of mind, and proceeded witi: Ler v.-or.::„! It is with pleasure we observe that upwards of one spirit in her part. The disgust of the audienc e hundred unfortunate debtors, from the prisons of this unmanly and brutal an attack, was roaniiested br, pealed cries of ".7urs him out ;" the w; , :x.11,1, 0 ,, eve, Metropolis alone, will this day be restored to liberty and their families. The liberal donations made to unfortunately, was not discovered. The play, as far as it was heard, v . •as ported ; and the satisfaction it produced was evil: — in the applauses it drew fc'rtli, until the athnis4:ccil, the half-price. Mr. You NG, in the character of .c . •;• Edward Mortimer, displayed great feelin , , and iTi; ment, and was well second e d i n t h e scent . ' or the - acting of Mr. C. K EMB L E , who sustained the r•- t ; Iqford with ability. In the discovery cf and the consequent development of Lis clr , r; , - . • . 4 -. Mortimer, the enthusiast of honour, was well p. , ;:• - ed by Mr. YouNo ; while the fearful 2irec , :iv! r : Wilford found an adequate e:pression ;,1 ante of Mr. C. 11.:481.1:. Messrs. r TON, and F.J.win:Tr, then;-,elves a l to e lz „ much eclat in their respective parts ; nnd all tiie ctit-r performers discharged their duty to the .tt. ',1"• iner •, long as the audience would permit them. On the admission of the half-pricecorps,at theterm% nation of the second act, a partial tumult commenced, which was very faintly supported, and wa s ext renit .i y trifling when compared with the tempests of forme r nights. The company in the pit, u - hen most stronq a did not amount to m ore than 250 pers ons , not fume than 50 of whom seemed to inter Ere 1- • • ) 1 any active exertions. Their Partisans in the boxes were t . err ,few. They succeeded, however, in renderino• :?); voices of the actors inaudible, and in drowning i!;e beautiful music in Oscar and Malvida, althoutth ballet was attended to with peculiar pleasure v the majority of the house. During the last scene, and l after the curtain. dropped, the half-price men joined in a full, but comparatively weak, chorus, singing We'll fight, and we'll conquer, again and again!" After which, they gave three groans for John Kemble and three huzzas for John Bull. Some skirmishes took place in the Boxes ; and a Major, of Bond-street notoriety, had the honour of thrashing a butterman, from Aldersgaw-street. A person in one of the centre bozes, who had been troublesome during the latter part of the evening, having received a hint that an escort was in waiting for him in the lobby, thought proper to make his re. treat good by jumping into the pit, and so escaping. • In the interval between the Play and the Ballet some placards were hoisted ; but their zppearance was so transient that we could not collect their coo. tents. The parts which we did see, gave us no tea son to regret our loss. 4 large face, the muscle.,-, contrected with anger, with the inscriptien, " 7 beg leave to ash what :MU want P" over it, wits cxhibir.d several times in the front of the stage, and held its reign during the whole evening. O. P. hats were ) usual, numerous, and one young man with that distia- . guishing, badge conspicuously placed in the iron; of his hat, was taken into custody and conveyed to Low. street Office. This seemed to operate as a simper on the spirits of the others, who were not quite sa noisy during the rest of the performance. Upon the whole, the opposition of last night wag extremely moderate. Tile ebbings and flowing; of popular clamour, however, have been so variable from the commencement of the present contest, that v,e cannot venture to give a positive opinion on the sn.n ject. The house was completely cleared in a guar. ter of an hour after the conclusion of the ballet, and without any of the usual vociferous expressions of loyalty, or the accustomed -haunting of God save the King." LYCEUg THEATRE.—The Opera of me cab,' w;s repeated, at this elegant Theatre, last night. Mr. PHILLIPS was in fine voice, and gave the song: di lotted to Orlando with the happiest effect. The ini• • pression was loudly answered by encores, and peals of applause.—His merit was the more conspicuous, as he derived no assistance from the orchestra.—Miis KELLY, in Floretta, afforded new proofs of future ex cellence. Her song " The Bird in nonda- rose co; Ai: was encored, and the whole scene, the best in the Op:i . 4 admirably performed. Her archness and vivacey were of the best quality. The piece went off with eclat, and the house boasted a splendid audience. The Princess of WALES and Party, the Earl and Countess of Bes.snottoooft, and several others, of the Erst rank and fashion, were present. Tuesday se'nnight was distinguished by one of the grandest Masonic Processions that the oldest man in Paisley remembers to have seen. The numerous and respectable Lodges of Freemasons met, and went in masonic order to the Abbey Church there, when the Rev. Mr. Boer delivered an excellent discourse :rat the 127th Psalm, " Except the LORD build the licreJ, they labour in vain that build it." After Divine Ser= vice, the procession went through sonic of the princi, pal streets of the town, and then proceeded to Inchin nan, accompanied by the band of the late 2d resi• ment of Paisley Volunteers, where the foundation stone of a new bridge was laid by BOYD ALEXANDER, Esq. of Soutlibar, Depnty Grand Master, under which there was laid a number of gold and ate coins, and several newspapers, likewise a piece Of plate, with the names of those gentlemen who have taken an active part in the undertaking. A greet number of people from all parts of the country ad* cent, attended on the occasion. The respective Lodgee returned again to Paisley, and spent the night In so, cial harmony. Yesterday morning early, a young Lady, in Mih bank -street, arose in her sleep, and, throwing up the sash of a two pair of stairs window, fell thereirmn, but providentially alighting on some mortar, io the area l she escaped with very trifling injury. r .:tnded %•u re Iv * id r /4 „e Y. 1 . j, . king. an Mrs. rufi Lui 4 PPIe at :red Ler 7c at y, d br 7;.. oxeye:, i Lt. i54:4 41 r of the alje e !uraz • I) r 1:;' lie C1.1:`,1 is tern . menced, :tremely former '.. strong, ,ot mere y active re val. fling u y th he t 1.1,: and joined pnz, Jcha