Star. — London, England, 1812-02-06 00:00:00

• FOR SALE BY PUBLIC AUCTION, At the London Tavern, Fesxhole-street, Plymouth, on Friday, the 2! st o! February next, at Noon, THE following rare_ and very choice FRENCH WINEi and BRANDY About' 310 Cases Rt 4 54 Do. Hermitage • 40 Do. Chatypaine rnon-monsol or Still) 6 Quarter Casks Red Hermitage r Ca-.e White 60 Pipes high-flavoured and very Superior Cognise Prandy (over proof). Tile above Wir. , s and Brandies are all excellent In their quall• ties. The greater part of the former were put up by order, and for the use of private families, and known to be very superior. 'I he Itrs will he small, for the convenience of private families as well as dealers. For further information apply to Messrs.llawker a nd Sons. Briton Side; or to JOHN LUSCOMBE, Broker. EAST INDIES. BOMBAY, JULY CO. The Sessions of Oyer and Terminer and General Gaol delivery for this place were holden on Saturday last, before Sir James Mackintosh and his Associates, and continued till late on Tuesday evening following. The Grand Jury having been sworn in, the Re corder proceeded to deliver to them a charge which was rendered more than ordinarily interesting by the notification it contained of his approaching departure for his native country. We have it in our power most fortunately to give outline of this impressive and eloquent charge, and we have also been gratified by a perusal 'of the letter written by the Grand Jury on the occa sion, which we are enabled to insert, with the Re- Corder's answer; 66 Gentlemen of the Grand Jury—The present ca /cedar is unfortunately remarkable for number and enoitiity of crimes. To what cause we are to impute ' the very uncommon depravity which has in various forms during the last twelve months appeared before this Court, it is difficult and perhaps impossible to determine ; but the length of this calendar may pro. bably be, in a great measure, ascribed to the late commendable disuse of irregttlar punishment at the I , Office of Police, so that there is not so much an in-1 crease of crimes as of regular trials. To frame and maintain a system of police, warranted by law, vigo sous enough for protection, and with sufficient legal restraints to afford a security against oppression, must be owned to be a matter of considerable diffi culty in the crowded, mixed, and shifting population of a great Indian sea-port. It is no we nder then that there should be defects in our system, both in the efficacy of its regulations and the legality of its prin ciples; and this may be mentioned with the more liberty, because these defects have originated long before the time of any one now in authority ; and have rather, indeed, arisen fromehe oecrtition of time and chance on human institutions, than from the fault of any individual. The subject has of late oc cupied much of my attention. Government have been pleased to permit me to lay my thoughts before them, a permission of which I shall in a few days avail myself; and I hope that my diligent enquiry and long reflection mey contribute somewhat to aid their judgment in the esteblishment of a police which may be legal, vigorous, and unoppressive. 66 In reviewing the administration of law in this place since I have presided here, two circumstances present themselves which appear to deserve a public explanation. The first relates to the principles adopted by the Court in cases of commercial insolvency. In India no law compels the equal distribution of tee goods of an insolvent merchant. We have no system of bankrupt laws. The consequence is too well known. Every mercantile failure has produced a disreputable scramble, in which nn individual could be blamed, because, if he were to forego his rights, they would net be saei irked to ecelitahle division, but to the claims of a competitor no better entitled than himself. A few have recovered all, and the rest have lost all. Nor was this the worst. Opu'ent commer cial hr we, either present or well served by vigilant :Tents, almost always foresaw insolvency in such time as to secure themselves. But old officers, vvi dews. and orphans in Europe could know nothing of the decaying credit of their Indian hankers ; and they had no agents but those bankers themselves.— They, therefore, were the vicfms of every failure. The ride generally saved what was of little conse quence to them, and the poor almost astantly lost their all. These scenes have tiequently been wit nessed in various carts of India. They have formerly occurred here. On the death of one unfortunate gen tleman since I have been here, the evil was rather dreaded than felt. 66 Soon after my arrival, I laid before the Mitish merchants of this island a plan for the equal distribu tion of insolvent estates, ut hich accident then pre vented the adoption. Since that time the principle of the plan has been adopted in several cases of ac tual or of apprehended insolvency, by a conveyance of the whole estate to trustees for the equal benefit of all the creditors. Sonte disposition to adopt similar arrangements appears of late to manifest itself in Utirope ; and ctntairdy nothing can be better adapted to the present (leek and unquiet conditicia of theccm mercial world. Wherever day are adopted early, -they are likely to ptevent bankruptcy. A very in telligent merchant justly observed to me, that tin- der such a system the early disclosure of embar eassment would not be attended with that shame stn danger which usually produce concealment and einel ruin. In all Cases, and at every period, such nrrangements would limit the evils of bankruptcy to the least possible amount. It cannot therefore be a matter of wonder that a Court of Justice should pro 'exet such a system with all the weight of their opinion end to the utmost extent of their legal power. .1 I by no means preseine to blame rhos.-' creditors who, on the first prep:tell of this experiment, with heed their consent, and preferred the assertion of their legal eights. They had, I dere say e been ill-used by their dcbtr s, who might pneonelle be entitled tono indulgence fr.ea them. it is too much to require of men, that melee- te.e influence el' c-:ti_l diss preeminent and very just tesentmeee they should estimate a plan of public utility in the r .7ne :winner with the d tpes isteowe and disinteiesteti sp.etette—but ceperience And reelection will in time:each to - leettleit in see king to grtily ajtret resentment apeiret a culpable instil verit, they rn tact direct their hostility against the un offeidieg and heleless part r f their fake/ creditors. one detect i n this eoamtery Ert,:m of Bankrupt Laos must be owned to be considereble. It is plc). scaled by no penalties against the fraudulent conceals acne of property. Thew i; ae ent-s.ituLe for each penalties but the'determinedand vigilant integrity of trustees—l have therefore with pleasure seen that duty undertaken by European Gentlemen of charac ter and station. Besides the great considerations of justice and humanity to the creditors, I will confess that I am gratified by the interference of English gentlemen to prevent the fall of eminent or ancient commercial families among the natives of India.— The second circumstance which I think myself now bound to explain, relates to the dispensation- of the penal law. Since my arrival here in May, 1804., the punishment of death has not been inflicted by this Court. Now the population subject to our jurisdic tion, either locally or personally. cannot be estimated at less than two hundred thousand persons. Whe ther any evil consequence has yet arisen from so unu sual (and, in the British dominions, unexampled) a circumstance as the disuse of capital punishment, for so long a period as seven years, among a population ro considerable, is a question which you are entitled to ask, and to which I have the means of affording you a satisfactory answer. The criminal Records go back to the year 1736. " From May 1756, to May 1763, the capital con victions amounted to one hundred and forty-one— and the executions were f rty-seven. The annual average of persons who suffered death was almost seven, and the annual average of capital crimes as certained to have been perpetrated was nearly twenty. From May 1801., to May 1811, there have been one hundred and nine capital convictions—the annual average therefore of capital crimes legally proved to have been perpetrated during that period, is between fifteen and sixteen. During this period there has been no capital execution. But, as the population of this Island has much more than doubled, during the last 50 years, the annual average of capital con victions, during the last seven years, ought to have been forty, in order to shew the same proportion of criminality with that of the first seven years. But between the year 1796 and 1763, the military force was comparatively small. A few factories or small ports only depended on this Government.• Baween 1804 and 1811, five hundred European Officers and probably four thousand European soldiers were scattered over extensive territories. Though honour and morality be powerful aids of law, with respect to the first class, and military discipline with respect to the second, yet it might have been expected, as experience has proved, that the more violent enor mitres would be perpetrated by the European sol diery, uneducated and sometimes depraved as many of them must originally be, often in a state of mis chievous idleness, commanding, in spite of all cafe, the means of intoxication, and corrupted by con tempt for the feelingS•and rights of the Natives of this country. " If these circumstances be considered, it will ap pear that the capital crimes committed during the last seven years, with no capital execution, have, in pro. portion to the population, not been much more than a third of those committed in the first seven years, notwithstanding the infliction of death on forty-seven persons. The intermediate periods lead to the same results. The number of capital crimes in any one of these periods does not appear to be diminished either by the capital executions of the same period or of Ithat immediately preceding. They bear no assigna ble proportion to each other. In the seven years Im mediately preceding the last, which were chiefly in the Presidency of my learned predecessor Sir William Syer, there was a very remarkable diminution of ca pital punishments. The average fell, from about tour in each year, which was-that of the seven years before Sir William Syer, to somewhat less than two in each year. Yet the capital convictions were dimi nished about one third. The punishment of death is ! principally intended to prevent the more violent and atrocious crimes. From May 1797 there were eigh teen convictions fy murder, of which I omit two, as of a verb particular kind. In that period there were ' twelve capital executions. From May 1804., to May 1811, there were six convictions for murder, omit ting one which Was considered by the Jury as in sub stance a case of manslaughter with some aggrava tion. The murders in the former period were there fore very nearly as three to one to those in the latter, . in which no capital punishment was inflicted. From the number ot convictions I of course exclude those cases where the prisoner 'escaped, whether he owed his safety to defective proof of his guilt, or to a legal objection. Tais cannot affect the justness of a com parative estimate, because the .proportion of crimi nals who escape on legal objections before Courts of the Same law must, in any long period, be nearly the same. But if the two cases, one where a formal ver dict of murder, with a recommendation to mercy, was intended to represent an aggravated manslaugh ter, and the other of a man who escaped by a repug nancy in the indictment, where however the facts were more near manslaughter than murder, be ad ded, then the murders of the last seven years will be eight, while those of the forme seven years will be six teen. This small experiment his therefore been made without any diminution of the security of the lives and properties of men. Two hundred thousand men have been governed for seven years without a capital punishment, and without any increase . of crimes. If any experience has been acquired, it has been safely and innocently gained. It was indeed impossible-that the trial could ever have done harm. It was made on no avowed principale of impunity, or even lenity ; it was in its nature gradual, subject to cautious reconsideration in every new instance, and easily capable of being altogether changed on the least appearance of danger. Though the general result be rather remarkable, yet the usual maxims witch regulate judicial discretion, have in a very great majority of cases been pursued. The instan ces of deviation from those maxims scarcely amount to a twentieth of the whole convictions. I have no doubt of die right of society to inflict the punishment ot death on et:or/nous crimes wherever an inferior punishment is not siitli:ieet. I consider it as a mere niodificataet of the right of self-defence, which may as justly be exerciu , d in deterring from attack as in repelling i:. I abstain fiom the discussions in which benevolent and enlightened men have, on more sober priacipli.s, enleavouted to slim the wild. m of; at seat, confining the punishment of deter to the highest class of crimes. l do not even press :n.: in this place to gave an opinile regarding the attempt which has keen made by one wuom I consider as among the wisest of most virtuous men tE the present age to render the letter of our p ena l law more conformabl e to its. practice. My only ob i kxt is to shew that act evil has hitherto resulted from the exerche of judicial discretion in this Court. I speak with the less reserve' because the present Sessions are likely to afford a test which will determine whether I have been actuated by weakness or by firmness, by fantastic scruplesend ir rational feelings, or by a calm and steady view, to, what appeared to me the highest interests of society.' I have been induced to make these explanations by the probability of this being the last time of my ad dressing a Grand Jury from this place. “ His Majesty has been graciously pleased to ap prove of my return to Great Brita;n, which the state of my health has for' some time rendered very de sirable. It is therefore probable, though not certain, that I may begin my voyage before the next sessions —ln that case, Gentlemen, I now have the honour to take my leave of you, with those serious thoughts which naturally arise at the close of every great divi sion of human life, with the most ardent and unmix ed wishes f x the welfare of the community with which I have for so many years been connected by an honourable tie, and with thanks to you, Gentlemen, for the assistance which many of you have often af forded me in the di , charge of duties which arc neces sary indeed and sacred—bet which, to a single Judge, in a recent Court and small society, are peculiarly ar duous, invidicur, and painful." At the elo,e of the Sessions, the Foreman of the Grand Jury delivered to the Honourable the Recor der the following letter, to which the accompanying answer was sent : TO TUE if oNcr:r.AnLi VII 1.151 LS MACT:INTOEN,ICNT. RLCORDRR or 114111 BAY. M• Lonn—We, the Grand Jury, have teamed, with regret, by the valedictory charge delivered to us at the commencement of these Stations, that the connection which has fur stern years sub sisted between your Lordship and us, in the adm:nis:ratinn.of public justice, is on the eve of dissolution : hut we trust that those splendid talents which have rendered your Lordship so conspicu ous among the eminent men of the present times, will soon be called forth for the public • ervice, in a more extended sphere. Asa mat k of respect we request you willl do us the honour to sit for your pottrair, which we are des mutt of placing in the hall where you have so long presided with suck distinguished ability; and with c•+rdial wishes for your sate return to you: native coutt •ry, we have the honour to be, my Lord, your Lordship's obe dient servant,, Grand Jury Room, July 16. W. T. MONEY, Foreman Bombay, July 17, 1811. 5,a-1 request that you will prssent my grateful acknow ledgments to the Grand Jury for tlw address with which they have honoured me. Coni.ciuus rectitude must often be the sole rapport of a Magi strate, whose most unpoplar duties may be the most useful; bu' it would betray unbecoming confidence to be indifferent to the it— liberate and final approbation of a boay of gent lernen, most o: whom have been long and near observers of any official cusiluc• and who both from their private character and their public film:. antis, are entitled to sin ak in tie name of the community. However humbly I may estimate nay understanding, and how much snever I must therefore ques. ion the justness ot your com mendations, I cannot doubt their sincerity. Flattery is not an English vice ; and there can be no motive to flatter a person frum whom nobody has any tong to hope. I must, then, ascribe the par is ity which bas dic a'ed these praises to your long observation of a quality widen I may claim for myself without hesitation, and without 'Tess inption—a most earnest desire to administer justice accurcliag to the dictates of conscience and humanity. In that conviction I receive these praises as a higher honour than if I had presumed to think thou more strict ly just. As soon as I reach Ur •at I shall fake measures for com plying with the desire, so hnaourahle to me, which the Grand Jury have been pleased to express. I have the honour to be, Sir, your most ohediesit humble 1114 lUD; JAMES MACKIN POSH. SPANISH PAPERS. SUPPLEMENT TO THE REGENCY GAZETTE. CADIZ, JAN VARY 21. Lieutenant-Ge•ner.tl a:a Nicholas Mahy, General in Chief of the Third Army, writes from his head quarters at Alcoy, of the date of the Bth install . , to the Chief of the General Staff, remitting him the let ters addressed to him by Don Martin tie la Carrera, General Commandant of the Cavalry of the Third Army, and by Brigadier Don Juan Creagh, General Commandant of the Second Division of the same ar my, relative to the battle of the 26th ultimo, in the vicinity of Valentia. He mentions, that the result of that day was solely the effect of the enemy's superiority in numbers and strength ; that the fierceness and even audacity with which the Second Division fought, reflected the greatest credit on all its officers, and corresprided to the ancient met its and se. - vicei of them all ; that the cavalry, in spite of its numerical inferiority and other disadvantages, did all that could he expected, in a combat so unequal ; frustrating by their valour and their charges the first part e f the enemy's Dian, which was to place himself between the fortress of Valencia and the troops under the comm auf of General Ma hy, in order to cut off the latter, and, covering the' retreat of the same troop, partly to that fortress and partly to the points of Mislata and Chilibella, by which they retarded fle enemy's movements, fight ing with th greatest valour 611 our troops were able to effect their retreat to the points which they occu. pied in the entrenched General Mahy, inconsequence, supports the re commendations made by the Generals of Division, and particularly the Hussars of Ferdinand the V fhb, Antonio Frondoso, ( who slew a French General of Cavalry), whom he considers entitled to the Cross of St. Ferdinand, as well as several of the Chiefs who were in the action. The corps of artillery completely did its duty as usual, carrying off 'o Valencia various pieces of artillery, through the activity and intelli gence of their Officers. He concludes with saying, that he does not trans mit the letters of Generals Villacampa and Obispo, respecting what happened to their divisions on the day of the 26th ; for the circuitous route which had been pointed out to them to assemble at the above position had not given them an opportunity to draw up their letters; but he would send them as soon as he received them. LETTER FRI 24 MARSHAL DE CAMP DON MARTIN DE LA CARREtt4I TO LIEUTENANT GENERAL DON NICHOLAS MAIM Firad•quartcrs, Alden, Dee. 27. Most Excellent Sir—The cavalry under my com mand being placed on the lett of the whole position of the army, on a ground covered with fruit-trees and olives in all its extent, skirted by hollow ways, and particularly by the wall of Manisses on the right Clank, and by tie Slough of Torrente to my left and rear, I was obliged to send out reconnoitring parties to observe the approaches of ltivarroja, in the morn ing of the 26th. thus placed in the defile of Torrente CO horse. men of the regiment of the King, after having caus. ea to advance a squadron of dragoons of the same regiment in the direction atlas Ctiern , , trt the regiment of the Queen, which Ltd 4t j • e : nation. They had acquainted me with th e cnd ,.. vc•urs of the enemy to t h row a bridge over the cs r .4 . of Moncada, and at last they ii.fermed ate of tho p at . sage of the enemy's troop% and their marehi rt . Rsverroja. to It was now nine in the morning. :: ; Vd f perceived the regiment of the QUefts retiring in r u j order, with the squadron of the ling; ha e at Ix throw ir. my Gant zumutuej same time I received repeated informatiea from te ., left that. an enemy's column, of about 100 u inf.ntri infantry-, coaq.,:ing of abou t and 400 hors?. were marching with zreat spe e d t , to o tak th e me ree in ha ti tt s a n li k o , or wh o i f le i WOO grenadiers, with two squadrons ut Cairat.:e; and one of Hussars, two 3-pounders, and 2 howitztv,. —ln this situation, though circumstances ir.d:eata the propriety of a retreat, our fire not equ a lli ng the enemy's; and since I was destitute of infantry a n d artillery, I was anxious that the egvalry should rt. tain their due confidence in themselv,s, and nut r e . treat without at least trying a charge with th e sa b re. I, therefore, auemptod a movement, which was fob lowed up with the greatest order, I placed my t roop , in echellon, the first line being advanced in an °li g " direction to the road of Andaya, and the slough o f Torrente. The first echellon being formed of the cavalry of the second army, the second of ;he division s o f d n. goons of the third army, and the third, on that edit * loft, of the expeditionary corps, with the squad ron ni hussars of Ferdinand the VI Ith. When-this !mead. 'llon WAS forming, the enemy's husstars do - ate/led i ro left, charging rapidly our tiradores. The squad ron , of Hussars of Ferdinand the With being du o or . idered to face about, charged the enemy bravely, yo, lowed by the Hoss.:ri of Castile, an,' suppor t ed by the grenadiers of the 4th aril, under the direeti a i k of Brigadier Rich, with their lances in their rest, r o t . ting them to flight. One General of Division w as killed by a lance, whose insignia, hat, and nos% the Legion of Honour I transmit to your Excellency, ' especially recommending to you Antonin Fiond a soldier of the ht c , impany of Hussars of Ferdinand the \Tilt'', who, after having cut down this Gr u m, did not wait so strip him, but heroica ly folheed air the charge, kill.ng and wounding several others. At this time the cavalry in our front, who were the cui. rassiers, and 200 hussars, advanced to sup fart ther fugitive troops—upon which I also made a charge wit i the division f the 12‘1 army, cutting dnwn number of them till within 40 paces admit: infantry. The latter forming a column agtinstour cavalry, made us retreat with their fire and chain-skirt, and occa. sioned some disorder, which vt-ts soon repaired. lie fief t was left strewed with trophies of this action, mid the dead and dying of the enemy greatly meek" our's in number. the squadrons Wing formed again, I began my march towards Akira. The expealitia. nary division and the brilli int squadron of Hussars Of Ferdinand VII. brought up the rear, under dint. t:on of Brigadier Rich; and our march was conductot in the best order. Having dispatched an Officer of the Staff to Alcira, to acquaint that town with what had happened, and to prepare obstructions at du bridge, providing workman to render the boats mei less. I in Torre Eapioca a squadron of Masseurs of Valencia, to observe and cover the high nad. I thus detached the squadron of the King to feeder useless the boats on the left, and other detachments to those on the right, and to protect the ferries and. bridge of Cullera, bivouacquing in the square of this town, where I now am. I must in justce conclude this ac count, with Oft claring to your Excellency, th.tt the cavalry et* my orders have not proved inGror to any o:ber.— The squ.tdrrn of the 4th regiment of Hassan hr. ing particularly distinguished itself, and Don Quit, toval Frontin who commands it, I consider as entitled to may distinction. This corps distinguished hail)? the order and discipline with which it charged. The whole of the troops manoeuvred with the mkt coolness. The officers displ;yed skill. and the lel. diers a good disposition. By the sword and tit bolt let, I have not lost above 150 men, and I trust du; the troops of observation which are missing will rims join me: for I have a favourable opinion of their Gat cers ; and when this event takes place, I will O' municate it to your Excellency. FRENCH PAPERS. JOURNAL OF TUE SIEGE OF VALENCIA. Sorn;• days after taking Saqttnto, the army passed the Guadacaviar, and took possession of the Graoof Valencia, and p in of Si.ralio, a suburb of Valencia, on the left side ; the other p at of which was disputed by the enemy at every foot, and we were obliged to penetrate into the last houses either by sap or by mining. The Spaniard; obstinately defending the convent of St. Cl tire, the miners placed two fur naces under the convent. The explotion prociucedz considerable breach, by *Nth our troops entered. The Valencians hid cut two of the fine bridges ' over the Guadalay . iar ; the outer three were covered by the tetes-cle.pont. To confine the enemy within his totes-du pont, and to repulse its sallies, a contra- vallation was formed of ilirce - vet y strong redoubts, having seven feet water in their ditches, two funiti4 convents and the houses in the suburbs. The e neinF very much tormented our pioneers, by a continual cross fire of all kinds of shot. Ve there lost se/ev4 • miners and a Lieutenant of Engineers. 'flenemy fortified himself on the lefr, in order to dispute the passage of the river. He had an entrenchmeat with I , two b itteries, which extended from the w rks of tbe . place u) the sea. They had fortified the vill.tgetd Mislaut, Quarto, and Manisses, on the banks of the river, and which they connected together by linen with artillery. The whole of this space of grow° from the sea to Manisses is a low plain, coveredwith water, and intersected by numerous canals. Ahe'e Manisses, the gtound is more elevated, and !hw marshes are no farther fund, till Torrence and roja, on the road of Murcia. General Blake had placed his infantry from the sea to Manisses, and his cavalry above ManiuN to cover his left. Having received the expected r ein ' forcemeuts, our army was put in moti In the night between the 25th and ‘)Gth of Decembls, the Captain of Engineers, Dupont, rapidly coastructed• at a league's distance from Manisses, two bridg es above all the sources of the different waters, that t ' a; troops might not be engaged in a maze of cow s ': At daybreak, three divisions of infantry, and all wary, passed on those bridges, and drove back fr,i t!,el tla ten' INhi lang i.) ;be if;l