Star. — London, England, 1809-08-01 00:00:00

'OM THE AMERICAN PAPERS. _rue American Paper, of the 23d of June says: - The Bill to amend and continue in force the Act to interdict the commercial intercourse between the Lit. ted States and Great Britain and France, and their dependencies, and for other purposes, was read the third time, and passed unanimously. " The following Federalists voted in the affirtna- tive, viz. " Messrs. Anderson, Bayard, Brent., Condit, Crawford, Franklin, GiUiard, Gorman, Gillman Goodrich, Gregg, Gris wild, Hillhour, Lambert, Lloyd, Matbeuson,i Meigs, Parker, Pickering, Pope, Reid, Robinson, Smith, Thurston, Turner, White, and Whiteside." The Bill is inserted at large in the paper of the, 26th. The first clause says : " Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Re-. presentatives of the United States of America in Con gress assembled, that the 3d, 4th, sth, 6th, 7th, Bth, 9th, 10th, 11th, 17th, and 18th sections of the Act intituled An Act to interdict the commercial inter course between the United States and Great Britain and France and their dependencies, and for other Purposes,' shall continue in force until the end of the Session of Congress, provided that nothing therein contained shall be construed to prohibit any trade or commercial intercourse which has been, or may be permitted, in conformity with the provision of the 11th section of the said Act." SENATE OF THE UNI'T'ED STATES. WASHINGTON, JUIN E 9. Mr. Smith of Maryland, from the Committee to ',horn was referred the Bill to am end and cpritinttp in force the Act intituled An Aet to interdict the.corn rnercial intercourse betweat the United States and Great Britain and France, and their dependencies,' together with the amendment proposed thereto, re ported as a substitute, a new Bill. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. WEDVEsDAY, JUNE 21. Yesterday the Committee cf the whole House on the Non-intercourse Bill rose without coming to a de cision, reported progress, and grit leave to sit again, when the House adjourned. FRIDAY, JUNE 16. The President of the United States this day com municated the following Message to the Senate : " In compliance with the Resolution of the Senateof the 13th inst. I transmit extracts from letters from Mr. Pinckney to the Secretary of State, accompanied by letters end communications ' to him from the British Secretary of State for the Foreign De partment, all of which have been received here since the last Ses sion of Conyress. To these documents are added a communica tion just made by Mr. Erskine to the Secretary of State, and his answer. (Signed) " JAMES MADISON." LETTER FROM MR. ERSKINE TO MR. shirrH. " Washington, June 15. " SIR--I have the honour to enclose a Copy of an Order of his Majesty In Council,lssned on the '46th of April last. In con sequence of official communications sent tc me from his Majesty's Government, since the adoption of that measure, I am enabled to wstire you that it has no connexion whatever with the overtures which I have been authorised to make to the Government of the United States, and that I am persuaded that the terms of the agree. anent, &c happily coneuded by the recent negotiation, will be strictly fulfilled on the part of his Majesty. The internal evi dence of the Order itself would fully justify the foregoing con struction; and moreover, it will not have escaped your notice, that the repeal has not thereby been made of the Order of the 7th July, too; which, according to the engagement I have en tered into on the part of hit Britannic Majesty, is to. be t.brogafed with the other Orders, in consequ nee of the adjustment of dif ferences between the two Countries, and the confidence enter tained of a further conciliatory understanding. " I have the honour to be, &c. (Signed) " D. M. ERSKINE." MR. SMITH 'I 0 MR. ERSKINE, IN ANSWER. " Department of State, June 16. Sic--I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your Sots V this day, connruiticatii g the Orders in Council issued by his Britannic Majesty on the Otitis of April last. However well persuaded the President may be at all times that the arrangements so happily effected by the lase Ne o wiuttoti. would be strictly ful filled on the pact '.f his Britannic Majesty, he has nevertheless received with Sal , V' ion your renewed assurance to that effect, with the farther -set :nice founded on official communications to you from your Govern:omit, since the ailoption of the Order In Council of the 26t April, that that order was not intended to have ony connexion wt....ever with the overtures which you had beer authorized to make to make to the Government or the Uni ted States.-1 have the honour to be, &c. (Signed) " R. slarrn."' (' Most of these letters are of old date : but in a letter from Mr. Pinckucy to the Secretary of State in America, stated 74, ay 1. that. Gentleman rate., that he had bad an interview with Nir. Canning on the 17th of April, and again on the 67th of the ,are month. On the last occasion, the Orders in Cotincil which he 'retard, were presented to him for his approbation; bet "he re.; etivt d them In the form they then were, without making himself a party to them or agreeing to the alterations 1 NEW YORK, JUNE IS. We learn by Captain LAKE, from New Orleans, that the French Consul there had obtained permission from the Governor to lend about 18,000 French in h:hitants from the island of Cuba, who had been ordered away by the Spanish Government. Captain LA ca met in the river seven schooners and a sloop, and outside the bar tivte schooners, all from St. Jar° de Cuba, having tio board 1200 French passengers. A ship was to fulintr with SOO passengers. • NORFOLK. JUNE 6. The Haytian brig Victore, whose arrival was no-, tired in our last, has been, we understand, seised by the Custom,hoise, as a French vessel whose entry is forbidden by law. This case will present an impor tant question upon the independence of the island of Hayti, It is certainly true, that in conformity to the views of the late Administration, and in compliance with the wishes of the Grand Emperor, our law. hive. said, that St. Domingo is not independent. .Bow far policy may direct us to refuse to acknowledge the in dependence of that colony, we undertake notto l a cy; but sire consequence .of the condemnation of this ves sel as a French vessel, will most probably bring a pi ratical war ukon our commerce. • - WASHINOWN, JUNE st. The atm:liver who went to England in the Pact & bas tecuri.ed ti, dd. city, and it was at first said, that be had brought vw y bad news, as the friends of France were in high spirits. They proclaimed that Great Britain had "vim deceiving us; that w , ile she was holding tint the olive branch she had declared all tile world in t staze sf blockade, and thus cut up our eornmcicv by the rots. Now ! sa id they, there is but one course for us to pursue, and that is to open inter course with }r. , nce, declare war with Britain, take caoada and Nova Scotia, and establish inti.rnal nufactoras on a huge scale. 1 . S. The war party were in raptures yesterday o utt they deemed the good news bin they are moment, and the public may rely upon the fact, that the President has no serious apprehension of a failure in the negotiation. The men of war sprung up yes terday like the men of Cadmus, bristling with spears, and blooming with laurels ; but dust they were, and to dust they are returning ! THE EVENING STAR. LONDON. TUESDAY, AUGUST 1. PRICE OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK. Cons. for money 671—for August 68-1-t. Omnium 4- 1 preen.—Exch. Bills, 61. Moi. pre. PRICE OF STOCKS YESTERDAY. India :•took 187 India Bonds 21s. pre. Each. Bills, tis. 13s. prem. Englich Lottery Tick. Si). 11$. City ditto £B. 10$. Cons. for opg. 681 Bank Stock 3 per Cent. Red. 68! 3 per Cent. Cons. ti7i 6$ 4 per Cent. 844 5 per Cent. Navy 981 99 Long Ann. 18} various reports were industriously circulated yes: terday. evening, of accounts having been received of the capture of Walcheren, and the fleet at Fleshing. But till the hour at which this Paper was this day put to press, no accounts had been received of the operations of our armament.—The attack will be made with the whole force on the beach between Zoutland and D yck hock. This beach is about two miles and a half in length. Each of the batteries at the extreme points, mounting about seven guns, will be in the first in stance attacked, and, it is calculated, soon silenced, by one frigate and three sloops, with carronades. Twenty sail of the line and twelve frigates are to ride, off the landing place about a mile and a half distant from the shore. Forty gun-boats are to scour the beach, and, in this operation, they are to be aidet: by four or five mortar vessels, throwing shells over the sand-hills. The troops will be in flat boats in the rear of the gun-boats. When the gun-boats, &c. have achieved the object of their operations, they will open for the flat boats to land: As soon as the troops have effected their landing they will immediately proceed to bombard Flushing and Middleburgh. In their attack upon the former they will be seconded by our fleet. Those two places being reduced, which it is understood will be expeditiously accomplished, of course the island of Walcheren is completely in our possession. The next step in our progress will be to embark a part of the army, which will accompany a proportion of our naval force up the Scheldt, for the purpose of attempting the capture of the French fleet, which it is naturally calculated will take refuge under Fort Lillo. Our army, therefore, will be landed near this fort, in order to attack it in the rear, and to co operate with our navy. When the French fleet are in our possession they will of course be brought away, and, in order to cover them from any attack by land, our troops are to march down along the banks of the river to Santolient, where they will be re-embarked. This, it is supposed, will form the limit of the expe dition. An adequate force, both naval and military, will be left to keep possession of Walcheren, and the remainder will return to England:—Should it be found impracticable to bring the French shipping away, means are provided, through explosion vessels, rockets, &c. to ensure their total destruction. Colonel MORTON, an American Gentleman of great intelligence and respectability, who was sent from this country by Mr. PINCKNF.Y with dispatches to France, after the refusal of this Government to ratify the terms of Mr. EasKiNes agreement with the Government of the United States, left Paris on the 16th ult. and le turned to town a few days ago. When he arrived at %/Asia on board the cartel, he was not in the first instance permitted to land ; but upon an explanation being given of the character en Which he vas deputed, orders were given Olathe should be immediately allowed to proceed to Paris. When it was understood in the French capital that Mr. EnsKlxE's measures had not received the sanction of his Government, the fact was immediately communicated by the telegraph to the Emperor atVienna, and an opinion seemed to prevail, that advantage would be taken of the new misunder standing, to produce a favourable choose in the rela tions now subsisting between France and America.. It is reported, and we believe on good grounds, that BONAPARTE has returned to Paris. We should not beat all curprized to hear of his appearing as the opponent of Lord CHATHAM. The Countess of WESTMORLAND landed on Friday at Falmouth, from the Continent, having been absent from England for these three years. The Earl of ABERDEEN arrived cm Monday at Dum breck's Hotel, Edinburgh. Tuesday afternoon the Gloucester coach running to Bristol overturned near Newport, close by a stream of water, in consequence of the linch-pin slipping out, by which the hind whew] flew off, when eight outside passengers and the coachman were thrown into the water, which fortunately was not very deep. Two of the Ladies were considerably hurt, and conveyed to a neighbouring house, where one died in a few hours after. The other remains dangerously ill. The rest, with one inside passenger; escaped with only a few orto4llb k but considerably tut. We trust the above, melancholy event will serve as a warning to the pro prietilrs of conches to hewn* vigilant in inspecting, the state of their carriages. • The Lady who still sur- vives is in such a state that -those under whose roof she now lies have only been able to' learn from her, that her friends reside in or about London. - - - - - - Simday as some young men were amusing them selves on the water, near Kew Bvidge, one of them, who when of age would have been entitled to 020,000 8 fell over the side of the boat, and was drowned, • couirrir27 l :l7AZ OW IORD CANNER. FIFTH DAY.—PORTSMOUTH, JULY st. Upon the President's f' the witnesses to w:'' _ desiring with draw, as usual, Lord COCHRANE submitted to the Court, that it was not the custom of Courts Martial to exclude the witnesses from the Court during the defence. The PaittamtuT-- 41 Lord Cochrane, it is the wish of the Court, in the present instance, that the witneses should be excluded.' Lord COCHRANE---" The trial of Admiral-Harvey is a case in point, where the witnesses were•allowed to remain in Court during the reading of the defence." The PRESIDENT—" My Lord, the Court has dis cussed the measure in the present instance, and it is its wish that you should with :raw " Lord COCHRANE bowed, and withdrew. Lord GAHEIER was then called upon for his de fence, which the JUDGE ADVOCATE was permitted to read for him, as follows : Mr. PRESIDENT.—I thank .you, Sir, and the rest of the Members of this hon o urable Court, for hav ing complied with my request, that a short interval might be allowed me before 1 entered on my de fence. I have also to express my satisfaction, that the whole of my conduct and proceedings in Basque Roads, is now under your consideration, in conse quence of my having applied for this Court Martial. The necessity of this must be evtdent ; either I had to adopt this measure, or by a tacit acquiescence in the insinuations thrown out against me by Lord .0 eh. rane, have compromised not .only my own honour, but also that of the brave officers and men under my command. The Proceedings of the Court will shew, whether any misconduct has existed in the exe, cution of the service under consideration : if any has existed, of which I 'am perfectly unconscious, it is right that the nation should know it ; not as rest ing on the unsupported opinion of an individual, but on the unprejudiced judgment of this aribunal. was prepared, when I first came before you, with what appeared to me a complete justification of my conduct and proceedings as Commander in Chief of the Channel Fleet employed in Basque Roads bettveen the 17th of March and the 29th of April last, to ‘s hi ch your inquiry is directed ; but I could pot be aware of the oral testimony that was to be brought forward in support of the charge which their Lordships have, at the instance of Lord Cochrane, been induced to make against me ; namely, that on the 12th of April, the enemy's ships being then on shore, and the. signal. having been made that they could be destroyed, I did for a considerable time neglect or delay taking effec s , tual measures for destroying them. I was ready to admit, from the time of my observing on the morn. ing of the 12th. the situation of the enemy, commu nicated to me also by signal from the Imperieuse, some time did elapse b.fcre the enemy's ships were attacked ; but I was prepared to prove most incon trovertibly, that no neglect or unnecessary delay took place in effecting the destruction of those ships ; and I have now the satisfaction to find, that out of all the Officers of ttfe fleet who are summoned on this trial, the charge rests on the unsupported, and I may say already refuted, testimony of the Captain of the Ina perieuse. I believe there is not a precedent to be found in the naval annals. of Great Britain, of an Oitieer of the rank I have the honour to hold, commanding a fleet which has performed so important a service as that accomplished under my direction—approved as that service has been, by the Board of Admiralty, and considered by his Majesty's Government as even deserving the thanks of both Houses of Parlia, ment ; being obliged, from a sense of what is due to his own character and honour, as well as to the pro fession to which hebelongs, toappeal to a navaltri bunal, against the loose and indirect accusations °fan officers° much his inferior in rank. lam warranted in saying, that the execution of this service was approved by the Board of Admiralty; because in aletter from their Se cretary, dated April 22, acknowledging she receipt of •my public dispatches on the occasion—he says, he is commanded by their Lordships to congratulate me on the brilliant success of the force under my command, in the attack of the enemy's ships in the Isle d'Aix Roads, by four vessels, and subsequently by detach. ments from my fleet, which term nated in the capture and destruction of four of the enemy's sh;ps ; and to • signify their Lordships' directions to me, to express their approbation of the great exertions of Rear-Ad miral Stopford, Sir Harry Neale, and the severalother Officers mentioned by me, as having been most a,e..1 tively employed, and having particularly distinguish - ea', themselves upon this important service: Lord Coch- ' rane, however, warned the Noble Lord at the head of the Admiralty, that if this measare were attempted, he should, if standing alone, oppose it so far as re garded the Commander-in-Chief ; thus without spe cifically obecting to the thanks being given for the service pe r formed, directing his hostility personally at me, and making his attack as publicly, though not so fairly, as if he had at once exhibited formal charges. Lord'CocllßAsE, as a Member of Parliament, may most assuredly support or oppose public measures, as he shall think proper. In the present proceedings, , however, he stands in the sittation only of an. Officer r.serving under my command, as appears by the follow ing letter to me from the First Lord of the Admi- . ralty " Atimianvrt, MAY 2P, 1809. " My LORD—Having in conversation Informed Captain Lord Cochrane, that it was the intention of his Majesty's Government to move the thanks of both Houses of Parliament to your Lordship, and to the Officers, seamen, and marines serving under your com mand in Basque Roads, Lord Cochrane declared to me, that In the event of such a measure being proposed in Parliament, he should feel himself bound, by his public duty, to object to the thanks, ai far as they should apply to the Commander in Chief. Uncle( these circumstances, it has been deemed expedient so suspend the million for the Vote of l hanks, and to call upon Lord Cochrane to state the grounds on which he has intimated to the First Lord of the Admiralty his intention to oppose the Vote of Thanks, as far as respects your Lordship, that the Board of Admiralty may thereby be enabled to judge how far the grounds to be stated by I .ord Cochrane may be of a nature to suspend the motion in Par. Lament, or to call for any further investigation by the Board, ar in any other way. I have felt it due to your Lordship to give you the earliest information of this state of things, and to acquaint you, a/at a letter will this day be written to Captain Lord Coch- ' rare, in conformity to the above resolution of the Board of Ad miralty, a copy of which, together with the answer of Lord Coch rane, will he without delay communicated to your Lordship. I have, &e. (Signed) " IfULORAVE." Whether Lord Cochrane supposed he might with impunity endeavour to lower me in the opinion of my country and my Sovereign, signal marks of whose favour, had at this instant been exclusively conferred upon himself,—whether his Lordship• thought he could wit his own reputation at the expence of Tritftead.whedserhebeteeeted that his threat WOlll.l intimidate me to silence, I know not. But if ti e ; were his ideas, I assure myself the result will peeve to him that they were founded in error ; for I will ee l; such the Admiraltya an att e e g attack. that general or og ß rnLe e noert b t rd h a e e l c i referenceom letter cp :,t re, c :t_ permit any man to proceed as Lord Cochrane he done,• without availing myself of the means wheel; the laws of my country afford, to slim the futile; the and •S in rre t t i a c ry n ° o f f after making his undefined accusation against his Ad: miral, he excuses himself from explanation by a ee neral reference to the log and signal books of the fle e % 1 s without tateof k h n i o s w e i n w g n , i l f o l z. m u az a j t ud t might produce. TI erefore, because he does not ac. cord with me in opinion, Lord Cochrane, whose e s . tent of responsibility has perhaps never exceeded the charge of a sitgle ship, and to whom in judgment I will not reduce my experience to a comparison, b e , comes my accuser ; whilst from my situation, I all 1 responsible for every act ot my fleet, and fo r t h e t e e of every ship composing it. lam so confident, tie d I hope it is already evident to the Court, that Lord Cochrane has no cause whatever for accu i s.ng nie o f any dereliction of duty, that it might alnNst le sup, posed m grounds ruocttintdo s o swao e rfd t hing s his dissatisfaction. hadoccurred Lor - dshi p,v ,ih. ce i i n m l choily.tin,; ;relented. , , , n o a ‘, l e c i o . ei nirre, is the fact. More liberality could not have been siev e than - Lord Cochrane received at my bands ; tied al. though a considerable degree of disappointment w as manifested throughout the fleet on his arrival to coy. duct the service to be performed by fire vessels, ) ,, t every .officer in the fleet reedered h m the Most steady assistance, not only in valuable suggestions, the entire credit of whlch seems to have been assumed by Isis Lordship, but by every other means that zeal anal courage could afford. Lord Cochrane, on presentee. himself to me after the action, was general in con'i. Plaint of the Officers who commanded the other ship s engaged at the same time with himself, In the attack of the enemy ; but having equal means with his Lord. ship of judging of the conduct of those officers, I ch aver, that it was highly meritorious. At the time Lett, Cochrane made this general complaint, 1 had not the smallest suspicion that there existed in his mind those sentiments of disapprobation of my conduct, which by his proceedings since his return home, I am to supp ose he then entertained. It would, in such case, have been liberal, and, I think, also his duty, to has e made a communication to me to that effect. I should ti have been enabled to have guarded in some me.i-or against his attack Upon my character, on his an ival ii %Island. I scarcely need observe in this Court, that however highly courage is to be valued in an Officer, i. is always incomplete in its consequences without thl equal exercise,ot judgment and discretion ; hee l the duty of a Commander not only to destroy in enemy, but to accomplish that destruction with the least possible loss on his part; and, I submit to tie Court, whether there ever was a service, which, under all.circumstances, more required the exeree of these qualities than the one in question. T: effect produced exceeded my most sanguine expe teems; and, I believe, the expectations of the whoi fleet. The points under the consideration of the Court, appear to be the following r Whether tie lapse of time between the discovery in the rooming of the enemy% ships being on shore e and the attack, was not, under all circumstances, absolutely necee sary for the advantageous accomplishment of the intended service—whether it Wes not my duty, as Commander in Chief, to be governed by a general view of the whole of those circumstances, rather that yield to the suggestions of one, and that a very ju, nior officer ;—and whether an earlier attack would have been attended with greater advantages ;—in short, was there not accomplished, at the time the attack was made; all that could at any time have been effected ? It is in support of these propositions, I undertake to shew, as indeed is already in evidence before you, that had I not delayed sending in the ships is the attack entil the time I did, the loss of ships, and of the lives of valuable seamen, would, in tier opinion of all the officers of the fleet, have amounted to a large proportion of the force so employed...-. And yet it seems, that I am now represented of de serving of censure, for having prevented that wanton destruction ; but I am satisfied the Court will, by the result of their investigation, find, that not a single ad ditional ship of the enemy would have been destroyed by a more early adoption of those measures which it is imputed to me I delayed or neglected. 1 shall now proceed to the direct matter of inquiry and charge to which my letter to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty of the 10th of May partly applies. This letter was written on my being informed that my public dispatch of the 14th of April had been con sidered as not sufficiently explanatory; but even that letter proves short of what has now become ne cessary to submit to the Court, put as I am on my defence. Iw it venture here to express my firm con. viction, that during the whole period which is the subject of inquiry, and more particularly on the very day on which I am charged with a dereliction, of duty, it will be found by this honourable Court, that in the previous arrangement I exerted the utmost faculties of my mind to prevent any circumstances escaping me which forethought could dictate; and that at the time of attatk I acted with all the zeal for the success of the service an Officer could evince, whose duty ij, was to-Consider the proper application and preserva. tiori of his own fleet, as well as the destruction of that of the enemy. 46 The squadron under my command, including the advanced higates, having been driven from their station off Brest, by _the continued prevalence of tem pestuous westerly winds, it was on my return off that port, On the 28d of February that I ascertained the escape of the French fleet ; I had no information of the time when the enemy escaped from their port, or of the coarse they had taken ; consequently had no rounds upon which I could exercise any discreti on. Iles reduced me to the unavoidable necessity of fol lowing my orders, which in such an event distinctly directed me to detach the senior Flag Officer, with such nty; f al l- c d e t oasrelturnrUgh tn t y c s o e i l i f cl t u o de ca w w a s s a e e . d era ß l a t y o f tl o i r e en tu e r: ther orders. I accordingly detached Sir John Duck worth with 8 sail et the line and a frigate, in pursititef the French fleet, on the course pointed out in their Lordships' orders beteire referred to, which lett me with the Caledonia alone, in the mortifying situation of being oblised to return to port. 1 refer back to this event, in order to shew why the Caledonia, bearing my flag, became detached from the fleet.— - Fil e Tr --,, Th The 'r i I ~i S i , , ' • the of itis 4 if 1. at :e Sta c. of t ie. tT ne sh r:d rd to of to ip. ina Ju er, eil n of al. vas on. is y't 0 ady tire 114, aid fe om. hips .ack ord. do the lose 111)7 pose 3 inve lade ti;An • liT 4 7 ;d in that in-, it the 1 ; the 1 t/ - c 1;1: 1 .1, :I*Cct! IPCC6 vhoic f tho rning :tack, hem. ~as r.neral r thas 7 :AI , vould ;—in e the have ticns, dente in the Toss Of in thl ,unted Df de , anton by the :1e ad. :roved hich it 11 now rge to of the I'l4 it my I con- t even ne ne- m my m con. is the ie very f duty, in the