Star. — London, England, 1824-05-06 00:00:00

V amined them twice a week, and the health of the pri soners was most spicily attended to. Mr. HOBHOUSE said that the tread-mill had a ten dency to dew:We the prisoner. Every one who was exposed to the gaze of spectators when he was stuck to the wheel like a dog, must entirely lose his self-respect. He thought the punishment to be quite contrary to the spirit and . hunaanity of the F.ny,lish Law. The Peti tion was ordered to be printed. IRISH MILITIA ESTIMATES. Colonel DAVIES rose to obtain leave for bringing in a Bill for reducing the Militia Establishment of Ireland. The Militia of England, amounting to 50,000 men, cost 195,0001. while that of Ireland, which did not exceedlB,ooo men, cost upwards of 95,0001. If this military establishment were necessary for the peace and security of the country, something might be urged in favour of it; but the forces never moved out of the county where they were quartered, and therefore could only exist for upholding the pride or contributing to the amusement of the Colonels and Commanders. If the Irish Militia were put on the same footing with the Eng lish, tile country would save 30,0001. In Ireland Loge bari.Lks are empty, and the troops were quartet ed near their own country. The Honourable Member briefly adverted to the several charges which composed the amount of the estimate; and concluded by asking leave to bring in a Bill to enable his Majesty to reduce the regiments and battalions of the Irish Militia when dis embodied. Sir G. HILL was surprised that the proposition of the gallant Colonel shauld have been brought forward at this period of the Session. The main object of it was to reduce the Staff of the Irish Militia. It was true, as he (Colonel Davies) had stated, that strong remon strances had been made against it; but after they had undergone the fullest discussion, Acts of Parliament were passed fixiag the number of those who were enti tled to remuneration from the Government. Tio this he conceived that the excellent conduct of the Officers, commissioned and non-commissioned, fully. entitled them. It would be the height of hardship and injustice to turn adrift to misery and starvation those who had so meritori,iusly served their country. He submitted it therefore to the feeling of the House not to be guilty of a breach of faith in , seconding the proposed reduction. Mr. HUME was surprised to hear the Honourable Baronet complain of the motion being brought forward at this time of the Session; fur if he had attended is his place he would have known that the subject had been broached three different times. What his Honourable Friend objected to was, that such a large Staff of Officers should remain in Ireland, while there was so small a number in England. He thought that all the Colonels who had written the letter, statiag that the Govern ment had no right to reduce the Staff, should have been immediately dismissed or brought to a Court-Martial. The House had already declared that they had no right to do so. He was not aware that there was anything in the Acts of Parliament relative to the Militia which could prevent the Government from dismissing the whole Staff at this tnomei*. Mr. GOULBURN said, the question between him and the Minot:l-Able Member was simply as to the pro portion or amount of reduction. He begged of the gal lant Officer to ?member, that the constitution of the Irish 'Militia ditftned very considerably from that of the English NViitia. He •sai sure no Hollow - able Gentle man who atteu•led to the situ:l:io•n of Leland xvuuld he at a loss for th• :ca•on . why the Staff of the Militia of that cen! , •.:y was k,: cater than that of Erglind )et it had been consiaerably reduced, pro;mrtion tielv, Ia amount. At the close the war, the Staff of the Eng• lish Militia was reduced in the proportion of ten to seven—that of I:eland in the proportion of two to one; which consequently shen•ed a much larger scale of re duction in the latter than the former. To the credit of the Irish Militia Staff, it ought to be known that they were ever anxious to place themselves at the disposal of Government, and had tendered considerable service in assisting in the collection of the revenue in 1818, and in other duty in subsequent yea: s. Fur these and many other reasons lie felt himself bound to resist the motion of the llonourable Gentleman opposite. Mr. HUME explained. . _ _ Mr. C. 11. IIUiCkIINSON entertained no doubt of the meritorious services of the lush Militia ; but the Right 'lotion' able Gentleman had produced no argu ment to prove why the Militia Establishment of Ireland should be kept up on a mote expensive footing than that of England.—Colonel DA 'VIES replied. The House then divided, when there were For the motion, 10 I kaitisr it, f:ti I Majority, 16. On the motion of Mr. li►:ryr:ov the Scotch Juries 13111 passed through a Corurnittee—the Report was ordered to be received on Monday next. SLAVE TRADE. The Slave Trade Laws Consolidation Bill was recommitted, and the Report was ordered to be received on Friday next. Dr. LUSIIINGTON gave notice, that on the third reading of the Bill he should move a clause (similar to that contained in the Bill lately introduei d) rendering the trade in Slaves piracy. The other Ot.lers of the Dry were then disposed of, and the Muse adjourned at Seven o'Clock. A SHAN I'EE WAR. EXTRACTS OF LETTERS FROM THE GOLD COAST. " BRITISH ACCRA, JAN. 31, 1824.. "it is unnece;sary for me to communica;e to you the seizure of one of our Serjeants by order the Ashan- tee Despot, and other causes that have led to a war be• tween the British and that nation, as you have alri:dy been put in possession of these circumstances by my friend --. Suffice it to say, your prediction (•liat less speedy and effectual aid we!e Senr from rat2land things would go bird tt ith us) has be:ni too soon vet tried. The Ashante..s have long threatened us with an atiack ; and on 01 25,11 of last moon, inteil,gence was brought to Sir Chalk!. Nl4liti thy that they Wel e approaching the Coast ; but, ccntrary to what is usual, t h e i r for ces were by report (liminiyhed ai to their tTal numbers; the consequence was, that Sir Chatles divided forces in four divisions, and marched into the interior! The enemy, instead of dividing theirs, collected a force of ten thonsand men, and attacked the division commanded by Sir Charles himself (who did not muster 1000 mus kets), and, I regret to say, totally defeated and dispersed it ! The whole or the Whites are either killed or mis sing, but Major Ricketts and Ensign Erskine, who after marry hardships have succeeded in getting to Cape COait. Among the killed and missing are Sir Charles himself, Messrs. Buckle and Wetherill, from Sierra Leone; also Robertson, Dr. Tedlie, Jones, Blandon, J. p. Williams, and Heddle, of Cape Coast, all of whom you have seen, and several 'others with whom you are tot acquainted. H and I were with the Accra division, commanded by Captain Blenkarne, and at least a hundred and fifty miles to the east. ward of Sir Charles, when this afflicting intelligence was brought to us; and by the same messenger we were or dered to fall back on Accra, and put the town and fiat in the best state of defence. It will now be seen that the Ashantees are a people not to be utterly despised ! In short, it has come to this—if Government do not instantly send out two or three thousand troops to put down this Power, they must withdraw the British flag from the Coast, and leave the field to the cunnin , t Dutchmen to reap the harvest of their intrigue ! The moment the issue of the battle was known, the people of Elmina commenced seizing our people; and those of Shamah (another Dutch settlement) had the temerity to fire on one of the boats of the Owen Glendower ! But here they suffered from their rashness, by the total destruc tion of the town. It is a most fortunate circumstance that the frigate was in the vicinity of Cape Coast at this moment, or I know not how much more dreadful the result would have been. The divisions commanded by Majors Chisholm and Laing have returned to Cape Coast and Annamaboe ; they can get 114 tidings of either Sir Charles or the Ashantees, and it is supposed the latter have fallen back a short distance to communicate their great success to their King betOre,they renew the contest. Sir Charles's orderly, who escared from the field, affirms that Sir Charles was wounded in two places early in the action. _ _ _ " It h but justice to say, the Danish Governor, Rich- ieu has acted the pact of a man of honour towards us. He has spared neither expense nor personal exertion to assist us in putting down the Ashantees; and if the Dutch bad acted the same pat t, matters would ere this have been settled in our favour. To seem e the favour and trade of the Ashantees, the Dutch have been so mean as to instil into the minds of these people, that our object is to bring their nation under our yoke, and that if we are driven from the Coast, they (the Ashan- tees) will again have opportunities of disposing of their slaves to the Portuguese and Spanish vessels! P.S. A report has just reached us, that S:r Cliar:es is safe among the Dinqueras, a ceuntry sit'iate about: sixty-five miles N.W. of Cape Coast, a;.d in onr alli ance. I sincerely hope this report may be eotifirined, but for my part I much doubt it." " ACCRA, JAN. :A, 13'24. " The late disastrous events have brought us into very critical situation! On the 29th ult. Sir Charles directed Captain Blenkarne, the Commandant eflimes' Fort, Accra, to proceed to Akim, and there to form an encampment. The object of this was (I have some rea son to think) to menace and divide the force; o' Ashantees. We left this on the 4th instant for that pur pose; but in consequence of some dissatisfaction am• those on whom we relied for aid, our forces were but slender; and after having remained in the Aguassim Territory three weeks our forces having refused to pro ceed, we were obliged to fall back on this place. In the meantime,out good Governor,hoping by his own presence I to infuse confidence into the dastardly Fantees, among whom lie had trusted hims6f, was attacked on the 21st inst. by 10,000Ashantees, who had been near him for same days. It was unfortunate that at this time a force under Major Chisholm, another under Captain Lestrange, and a third under Captain Laing, were all at distinct camps, and knew nothing of what was going on until all was over. We have nothing authentic, but report is busy in making bad worse. We have every reason to be] eve almost all the whites have been killed. Mr. Erskine, the only officer who has returned, was wounded. Sir, Charles is said to have been wounded in two places: uothing to this day has been heard of him. The took place behind Secundeee, almost ten miles inland. Thu wounded (one hundred) made their way to that • settlement, and afterwards to the Cape, in canoes. On the ‘2.81.1) Major Chisholm returned to Cape Coast, but had not heard of Sir Charles. Ile mustered all the forces he could, and Captain Laing was sent with him to search for Sir Charles. The amount of their forces I cannot state, not having heard, but the blacks ate, 1 tear, panic-struck. 4 , Government will see 'the necessity of now doing what ought to have been done long ago. Unless three or tc'ur thousand men are sent out to beat these savages out of hand, they will keep the country agitated wail they effect the total subjugation of the coasts. You can scarcely imagine the panic which prevails every \‘ heir. 'fire defeat appeat s, by the imperfect accounts we now have, to have been complete. The forces under Sir Charles are supposed to have been only 500. What was that to 10,0(X) in a wood, surrounded and out of atumunikion ? Poor, poor Sit Charles! The treache!ous and timorous and boasting Fantees have effected a mis chance which time cannot repair. If alive, what roust your feelings be !—if no more, how horrid a death must we suppose to have been invented for you! . Major Chisholm is doing all he can to put this Castle in a state to repel every aggression. The sincerity of the Dutch is doubtful. lire enemy have not been heard of since the action ; they ate, it is supposed, returned to their encampment; tee are the most exposed to their attacks, this situation being so open. The transport had sailed only a day or two before this affair happened ; and I am now much hurried in writing this, as the ship by which I forward it is sailing about the offing, and 1 have no time to lose. She goes from this to liarbadocs. No apology will I trust be needed. This account is lam sure as imperfect as it mu-1 be unwelcome." self in the most retired part of the room. He listened with astonishment to the sentiments that were there ut tered, and said to himself, " If this be true, then am I a condemned sinner." He did not trust to the hearsay statements of others, but went home to read and judge for himself. What was his fear on fording what had been stated to be correct ! What was his joy on seeing the way of salvation open to him ! He had eagerly en deavoured to embrace it, and that individual was now, by DIVINE PROVIDENCE, permitted to address the meet ing, and to bear his testimony to its beneficial effects. (Here the Noble Earl was greatly affected, and the state ment was received with loud and continued cheers.) He concluded by expressing in warm terms his zeal for the welfare of the Society.—The motion was carried. The Bishop of LITCIIFIELD and COVENTRY addressed the Meeting, and expressed his satisfaction at the rapid march of the Society. He concluded by moving the thanks of the Meeting to the President and the Vice-President. The motion was seconded by Lord BARHAM, who ex pressed his pleasure at finding that all sects were united as if to resist the invasions of infidelity, which now made the most dreadful assaults on the souls of their brethren. The motion of thanks was carried unanimously. Lord BEXLEY moved the thanks of the Society to those Members of the Royal Family who had patronized the Society. Ile was highly delighted at finding him self surrounded by the Ambassadors in the sacred cause from every part of the world. The Rev. Dr. MORRISON was warmly received as the first rept esentative from China, and said that the diffi culties in that immense country weregreat, but not insur mountable. The hearts of the Chinese were not harder than ours were. lithe Bible could affect the heart, and convect to the until a British Nobleman, it cotdd equally affect the hearts of the Chinese—Wear, hear, and dieers). The !levet end Gentleman exhibited to the Society a copy ol the S r iptuies in the Chinese lan guaz..;e, the completion of w hich, he said, had occupied him 17 }eats. He ,ai.l it was already made the text book i:t sevei al c't the Chinese Institutions, and there could no doubt of its progress. • Ile teturned thanks irolt the Arig:o-Ff!mese to the Society. The motion was carried unanimously. BRITISII AND FOBLIGN BIBLE SOCIETY. Yesterd.iy the great General Meeting of the British and Foreign Ili6:e Society was held in the Freemasons' I flail. At a very early hour the hall was filled by cler- I Kymen, and a number of the most eminent individuals in the metropolis: in all no less than 1.800 were present. TEic NAIOUTII was unanimously called to the chair. Necretary teal the Report, which was exceed ingly voluminous, and gave a detailed account of the great progress of the society in ever y part of the globe. ,:e i ;tie of Bibles in new dialects had been greater dur ing the last yeas than on any former occasion. They had copies of - the sacred volume printed in the Esqui maux and Otaheitan languages, and the light of divine truth was now penetrating in the most benighted coun tries. The account of the Scriptures having been printed and ciseulated throughout Ireland in the Irish lan-. gunge was received with particular applause. They had also been printed in the Welsh language with notes. The Report mentioned that since the last anniversary 47 Lew auxiliary institutions had risen to their aid. The statements contained in it were throughout received with masks of high satisfaction. The Earl of HAnROWBY moved that the report should be agreed to. The motion was seconded by the Earl of RODEN, who addressed the Society at great length. He said l he knew an individual, a man of pleasure and a man of the world, who was only anxious for the world's ap plause and admiration. That individual, some time since, from motives of curiosity, went to one of the anniversary meetings of the Irish Bible Society. He was *shamed almost of being seen OlereJ. dad ird THE LVENING STAR. LONDON. THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1824. THE FUNDS. STOCK EXCH INCE, TWELVE O'CLOCK. Consols nprned this morning at 96 a, and got up to 913 i for ON Account, at which price they remain steady, with little doing. FOREIGN FUNDS. There has been a good deal doing in the Mexican Scrip, but in all other Foreign Securities very little has been done. Current Prices : New Spanish 15 to 6, Old 18, Chilian 11.74 Russian 96 97, Mexican Scrip 91 Austrian 17, French Is: Alliance Shares It; to 1, Colombian 896, Ditto Scrip 21 New Prussian 99f 100, Old 9SI, Irish Shares Ito 6, Greek 2to dis. An Express from Paris brings the French Rentes of Tuesday a t 105, for the end of the month. It is reported on 'Change that the Brazilian Luau is to be hid fur at Two o'Clock, and it will be op_ tional to take a half or the whole of it. A great number of person s who have written for shares of the Brazilian Loan have withdrawn th it letters, owing to the uncertainty of the state of affairs in that quarter of the globe. EXCIIANGES. FiaXifll7lWll, Arlen. I.ncLiqn, 26. 41. 2 Us. 36. 1/. PEIEIIIIIKGII, APM 16.-011 1.0114.1011 3 9. 11-,2; Paris, 98. 4. PH ICE OF STOCKS AT ONE O'CLOCK. 3 per tent. Reduced 953/8 5 / 8 8 per Cent. Consols 961 A, 1 / 2 -3i per Cents. 102 1 / 2 4. per Cents. Old looN. 4 per Cents. New 108% Vs 4 per Cents, Assented 101 , Y 1 5 4; Bank Long Anus. 22 15 16 23 India Stock 299 3 / 4 —lndla Bonds 82s. 83;. cl 1;i11. .8;;J ,ON) 51s. 48'. 495. Ditto Sm:tl 511. 48s. 495. Consols tor Atct. %. • The intelligence lately received from Greece, though generally layout al)ie to its independence, is vague and contradictory—particularly so far as relates to Lord BYRON and the English volunteers who have offered their services. We nave, however, received an authentic account of the recent events in the Morea, for the,cor tectness of which we pledge ourselves. It is contained in a letier limn Ytevesa : EXTRACT. PRRVESA, MARCH 51, 1824. " After three months' deliberations on the best means of carrying on the war against the Turks, the parties into which the Greeks are divided appear to be sensible that they have hitherto mutually misconceived each others views and resources : and the late attempt to stist,iin the fortunes of the Greek Insurgents, unless quickly followed up by more powerful succours, may be found in the sequel only to have aggravated their situa tion. The Philliellenists must have already perceived that the divisions and discords existing among the numerous factions are likely to baffle, for a long time to come, any means which they can employ to vanquish this real hlidra. An event happened in Mesalongi about six weeks ago, which must have exceedingly damped the a; dour of the English volunteers in their attempt to introduce the salutary reforms which they have so much at heart ; and it will have convinced them, at the same time, of the hazard of forcing the insurgent s into a course of action which is totally opposed to their habits and modes of acting. The Philhellenists, early in January, established a small arsenal and laboratory in the place, which was protected by a Captain's gua r d. " A Sulliot Captain, with his followers, having been refused admittance without regular permission from the superior Authority, in a sudden gust of passion, drew his pistol and shot the Captain (a Prussian Officer of Lord Byron's suite) who fell dead at his feet ! Some more persons are said to have lost their lives in this aff;ay.• The feelings of Lord Byron were so strongly agitated by thii cruel bloodshed, that he was seized with violent epileptic fits, which excited real alarm for his life, but from which he happily recovered. It is un derstood that the' consequences of this barbarous atrocity have been extremery prejudicial to the affairs of the Insurgents ; for about 18 or 20 expert gunners and artificers, sent out it is said by the Greek Committee in London, immediately resolved to q , sit a country where their lives were in jeopardy every hour, by those whom they went to assist. They left iq esa . longi for Zante and Cephalonia to pet form quarantine. " The insubordination of the Sulliote battalion (abor t 500 strong, on whom Lord Byron chiefly relies) could no longer be tolerated in Mis‘olonghi. With a view to withdraw them from the place, it was resolved to make a general movement of the insurgents assembled there. One of the divisions was to advance to attack Lepa nto , and the other to advance on Arta ;lot bithe:terrrothi ng has been done, though Arta from the real weakness of the garrison at the time, might easily have been surprised, and much alarm was felt for its safety when the Insur gents first advanced from Mesalongi, at the beginnirig of this month. " It is now four months since the Turkish armies retired from Greece, leaving only small garrisons at had. rangik, Zcitum, and Negropont. Yet in spite of all th e active assistance and the strong incitements used to urge them into action, they have not been able to make any impression upon those positions, or gain ground on their enemies. On the contrary, as their own internal discords have raged more violently than ever, they have them. selves entirely frustrated the plans so zealously urg e d by the English Philbellenists for appeasing and uniting their factions, and for laying the basis of a more efficient general Federal Union, according to their view of the subject." We have not as yet heard what steps Government may deem it necessary to take, in consequence of the late disastrous intelligence from the Coast of Aftica; at all events, it is probable that nothing will be done until the arrival of, official intelligence from thence. His M.ijesty's ship MAIDSTONE, Commodore CHARLES BUI. LEN, is now on the voyage to tae above quarter, having sailed from England about three weeks since. In the absence of official accounts of the melanchoiv events on the Gold Coast, we cannot but regret that there is no circumstance which affords a well grounded hope that the intelligence already received is not in a great measure true. From the circumstance that the news was unknown at Sierra Leone six weeks after the fatal catastrophe took place, the truth-of it has been doubted ; but owing to the force of the winds and the currents, the commu nication between Cape Coast and Sierra Leone is he quently much longer than that time, and the passage is indeed seldom made in less than two months. In another column we have some further pat tictilars, though not of a later date than the previous statement ; and on recurring to some accounts, of the same date as those first published, but more circumstantial in details, we find it stated, that Major Cutstiomst,who commanded one of the corps into which Sir C. M'CARTHY divided his force, had all the English soldiers with him, and that he had returned to Fort Accra ; so that no risk re mained of a surprise of that place by the Asiiantees. Sir CHARLES M e VARTHY had - with him all the mer chants, who had entered as volunteers, and a few officers ; the rest of his corps was composed of the na tives of Cape Coast Castle. Major CutsuoLm is said to have been only 15 miles from Sir C. M•Cantitv when the attack was made upon him, but did not hear of the disaster in sufficient time to afford assistance. Another corps of natives was expected to be detached from Fort Accra in a few days against the Ashantees. Those of the native troops who survived the disaster under Sir C. AI`CARTIIY, reported that they had seen the bodies of the untot Innate merchants who perisl ed, as left in a state of mutilation by the Ashantees. These facts ate derived from the letter of a passenger by the Eli z:tbeth, Captain BUNN elf, from Cape Coast to Barbadoes. —When w•e recollect how many persons, between whom there could be no collusion, nor any conceivable motive for uniting in the fabrication of intelligence of this nature, told the same story, we fear the hopes of its proving untrue must rest on very slender foundation. We understand that a ship has arrived from Sierra Leone at Plymouth, which left on the 23d March, but we cannot ascertain that any person has received let ters by her. New York Papers reached us this morning, to the 14th of April. The following are extracts from the A etu York Daily Advertiser of the 13th ultimo : NEW YORK, APRIL 15. From Captain Powers, who arrived here in twenty nine days from Para, we learn, that on the 3d March, the time appointed for the Brazilian frigate Impe ratrez, and sloop of war Maranham to sail for Para, the Camura insurgents were in possession of the island of Marajo and other small islands ; and, being very numerous, it was the opinion that as soon as the frigate and sloop sailed they would enter Para, as that appeared to be their intention, and to overthrow the present Government. FROM KINGSTON (JAMAICA) PAPERS TO MARCH 13. The inhabitants of Spanish Town have been visited by a fever, which is attributed to a dam constructed across a river, which caused the water to become stag nant. The Montego Bay Paper of the sth March states, that on Thursday se'nnight a shoal of whales were seen from the . Point Estate, Hanover, passing to the east ward ; five or six of them were cast on shore. FROM CURACOA, FEB. 28. Our Liberator, Bolivar, has again immortalized his name by the most splendid victory obtained by him in September and October last, over the armies of Canterac and Lacerna, who have been completely over• thrown. Mexican Papei s of a recent date, and the accounts from Mexico in tie New York Papers received ti.is morning, Are somewhat at variance on the subject of the New Constitution—the latter representing it as popular, and the leimer as not so perfectly satidactory. .roll 131 Test don who he 14 - e 1 r et Of ti sho ver an I tior Cei tin till or set Gc all 05.