Star. — London, England, 1813-10-30 00:00:00

AROkei exmizivOE TO CAPTAIN LAWRENCE. „, • tr i o , AN animus raiaa.i , The Public have heard much of the following chat leige, sent by Captain BROKE to Captain LAWRENCE. If the date be correct, it must have been sent on the morning of the day on which the battle was fought. It was first received in Salem, and sent on by mail, and did not reach Boston until after the action, con sequently was never seen by Captain LAWRENCE, and has not before been published : *Rem CAMAIN BROKE TO CAPTAIN LAWRENCE. .se kits B. M. ship Shinnon, off Boston. June, 1815. • SOIA—As the Chesapeake appears now ready for ::ea, I request you will do me the favour to meet the Shannon with her, ship to ship, to try the fortune of cur respective flags. To an officer of your character, ;t requires some apology for proceeding to further partkulars. Be assured, Sir, that it is not from any doubt I can entertain of your wishing to close with my proposals, but merely to provide an answer to any objection which might be made, and very reasonably, upon the chance of our receiving unfair support. 46 After the diligent attention we had paid to Com modore Rodgers—the pains I took to detach all force but the. Shannon and Tenedos to such a distance that they could not . possibly join in any action fought in sight of the Capes ; and the various verbal mes sages which had been sent into Boston to that effect, we were much disappointed to find the Commodore had eluded us by sailing the first chance, alter the prevailing easterly winds had obliged us to keep an offing from the coast. He perhaps wished for some stronger assurance of a fair meeting. I am. there fore, induced to address you more particularly, and to assure you that what I write I pledge my honour to perform to the utmost of my power. The Shan non mounts 24 guns upon her broadside, and one light boat gun ; la-pounders on•her main -deck, and 39.-pound can onades on her quarter-deck and fore castle ; and is manned with a complement of 300 men and boys, (a large proportion of the latter), be sides 30 seamen, boys, and passengers, who were taken out of recaptured vessels lately. 66 I am thus minute, because a report has prevail ed in some of the Boston papers, that we had 150 men additional sent us from la ogue, which really never was the case. La Hogue is now at Halifax for provisions, and I will send all other ships beyond the power of interfering with us, and meet you where ever it is most agreeable to you within the limits of the undermentioned rendezvous, viz.— 44 From 6 to 10 leagues east of Cape Cod Light house, from 8 to 10 leagues east of Cape Ann Light, on Cashe's Ledge, in lat. 43. N. at any bearing and distance you please to fix off the South Breakers of Nantucket, or the Shoal iri Sr. George's Bank, 44 If you will favour me with any plan of signals or telegraph, I will warn you (if sailing under this promise) should any of my friends be too nigh, or any where in sight, until I can detach them out of my way ; or I would sail with you under a flag of truce to any place you think safest from our cruizers, hauling it down when fair to begin hostilities. " You must, Sir, be aware that my proposals are highly advantageous to you, as you cannot proceed to sea singly in the Chesapeake, without imminent risk of being crushed by the superior force of the numerous British squadrons which are now abroad, where all your efforts, in case of a rencontre, would, however gallant, be perfectly hopeless. I entreat you, Sir, not to imagine that I am urged by mere personal vanity to the wish of meeting the Chesa peake; or that I depend only upon your personal am bition for your acceding to this invitation : we have both nobler motives. 'You will feel it as a compli ment if I say, that the result of our meeting may be the most grateful service I can render to my country ; and I doubt not that you, equally confi dent of success, will feel convinced that it is only by repeated triumphs in even combat, that your little navy can now hope to console your country for the loss of that trade it cannot protect. Favour me with a speedy reply. We are short of provisions and water, and cannot stay long here.—l haVe the honour to be, Sir, your obedient bumble servant, (Signed) ' "P.B. V. BROKE, Captain of his B. M. ship Shannon:. N.B. For the general service of watching your coast, it is requisite for me to keep another ship in company, to support with her guns and boats when employed near the land, and particularly to aid each other, if either ship in chase should get on shore.— You must - be aware that I cannot, consistently with my duty, wave so great au advantage for this general service, by detaching my consort. without an assu rance. on your part of meeting me directly; and that you will neither seek nor admit aid from any other of your armed vessels, if I detach aurae, expressly for the sake of meeting you. 4 , Should any special order restrain you frctn thus answering a formal challenge, you may yet oblige me by keeping my proposal a secret, and appointing any place you like to meet us (within 300 miles of Boston), in a given number of days after you sail ; as, unless you agree to an interview, I may be busied on other service, and perhaps be at a distance from Boston when you go to sea. Choose your terms—but let us meet. " Ts the Commander of the United States frigate Chesapvalte." YNDOftsEhlt:NT ON THE ENVELOPE. " We have thirteen American prisoners on board, which I will give you for as many British sailors, if 7ou wilrsend them out ; otherwise, being privatvers tnen, they riust be detained." - bit*. OF &midi? CerillCA. • re:61114 was held a Court of Common Council of the City of London. Mr. Quin presented a Petition froth the British Merchants residing in Hamburgh at the time of its entry by the French, praying for relief..—Referred to a Committeb of general purposes. MOCK AUCTIONS. • Mr. Warrumasr moved the reading of the Resolu tions of the Court, adopted in consequence of a Peti tion and Memorial presented in May last, by the Traders of the City of London, desirous of an appli cation toParliament for relief against Mock Auctions. —Mr. Waithman then proceeded to observe, that he understood, to his great surprise, • the motion he was about to submit to them was to encounter opposition, notwithstanding the opinion of the Court had been formerly given with unanimity on the snbject. He certainly expected that the Representatives for the City in Parliament, however much they might de spise the instructions of their Constituents, when at variance with their own particular p o li t i ca l opinions, would still attend to their instntctions in every thing whgre the local interests of the City were concerned. It was the wish of the Traders that a Bill should have been brought into Parliament in the course of last Session, containing such clauses as might afford them relief against the evils complained of by them, and they instructed their Representatives to attend to the progress of such a Bill through the House of Commons. There was no want of exertion on the part of the Traders at large. When the subject was mentioned to his Majesty's Ministers, they were told that a Bill for the regulation of Auctions had been in their contemplaticn for several years, and that the ' complaints in the Memorial of the Liindon Traders might be embodied in that Bill. It was not the wish of the Memorialists that any thing should be enacted in any way affecting the fair auctioneer. It so hap. pered that the Bill brought in by Mr. Wharton, in consequence of some injudicious clauses, was unfor tunately thrown out. It was owned by all, that the Bill in question contained many excellent and unob jectionable clauses, and it would have been easy for the Members entrusted by the City of London with their interests, to have moved for a separation of the good from the objectionable clauses, and to have - made a stand for their Constituents. A new Bill was brought in, agreeably to the .wishes of a Junto of Auctioneers, in which the views of the Petitioners were completely frustrated, and their interests ne glected. A struggle was made, but in vain, on the part of the Petitioners, that some of the clauses in Mr. Wharton's Bill should be retained. The sub stance of the second Bill might be reduced to two points. First, That all goods should remain in the place where they were to be auctioned twenty days previous to the day of sale. But then this clause only applied to itinerant, and not to resident auctioneers. The second poir.t related to an increase of the duty on licences to auction. By this Bill, too, manufac cured goods were not to be charged with duty—they were merely to be put up in the order of the cats. logue. Tee Auction Bill which passed was not worth any thing to the Memorialists—it was in no wise beneficial to Traders—it rather increased the evil which they complained of than remedied it, by inducing people to go to auctions in the confidence, that as the Legislature had at last interfered in the business, they would no longer be cheated. The most glaring impositions were every day practised, and sometimes under the sanction of the names of respectable auctioneers. An instance way stated of one respectable auctioneer win) sold six hundred potinds worth of goods in one day, under a false de nomination, having been cheated by theaperson to whom these goods belonged: It men of character, with all their circumspection, could be thus imposed on, the evil was certainly such as to call for a re medy, and provision should be made against the possibility of committing similar frauds in future.— The enormities practised under the existing law amounted not merely to encouraging swindlers to defraud the public, and servants to rob their masters, but placed the honest and upright tradesman com pletely on a level with cheats and impostors. He then referred to the evidence detailed in the newspa pers in the case of Wright and Pike, which went to prove that a regular system of plunder to a great ex tent had been carried on in stealing iron goods, which were disposed of at the mock auctions. He himself had been robbed of goods to the value of 8360, by a young man, which he had discovered by their having been seen at one of these infamous places. The liberty of trade had been talked of on this occasion. Why not allow pawn-brokers liberty of trade as well? , ' . In fact, the auctioneers had converted themselves in. to pawn-brokers, and ought to be under the same regulations. ' The Report on the Auction Bill was then read. Mr. BROWN contended, that the whole speech of Mr.Waitliman was calculated to entrap the passions, instead of convincing the judgment. He should call, if no one else did, for minutes of the evidence on which the Report was founded. He thought that the Report itself was to be received with great cau tion. Those who had framed it seemed to him to have contemplated facts, not as they were, but as they wished them to be ; and having first deceived themselves, they had proceeded to practice imposi tion on others. He was not for countenancing the abuses complained of, as practiced by auctioneers, but he wished to correct them without injury to the respectable part of the trade. As to the clause on which Mr. W. had laid so much stress, the fact was not as he had stated it : Mr. Robins asked the Worthy Alderman alluded to, whether it would not be better to let the Bill stand over to another Session, than that it should run the risk of being thrown out by the clause in question ? when Mr. Waithman said, he had rather it should pass as it was. Mr. BROWN complained severely of the breach of confidence of which the last speaker had been guilty in detailing private conversations which had passed between himself and Members of Parliament, and hoped the Common Council would not sanction such want of good faith, and become abettors of such mischievous slanders. He concluded with moving that the Report do lie upon the table. Mr. MURRELL seconded the motion. He said there were feveral inaccuracies and mis-statements in the Report. The worthy Member who had brought it forward seemed anxious to abolish all auctions . throng t hont the ' This ira — what he called ' fatrionSm.—Mr. M. then commented on the details of the Report at some length. Mr. DIXON liMented that the Report hest been brought forward, and thought Mr.W. himself would ( do so in his cooler moments. Mr. Qum enforced the necessity of applying a prompt and effectual remedy to the evils produced • by the monstrous and abominable system of meek auctions, by which the fair trader and the public were so shamefully defrauded. A subject of greater importance had been very rarely. eaken into conside ration of the Court. Not only the interests of the shopkeepers of the City of London were involved in it, but the interests of all the commercial and manu facturing branches of the country at large, and the interests of the wholesale and retail traders through out the United Kingdom. It was a question that called for the union and joint exertions of the Corpo ration of London, of that truly respectable body of men the Auctioneers, and of the public. Under this impression he did expect that his worthy friend who had opened the discussion, would have proposed a leading principle for the guidance of the Court, and suggested measures corresponding with the justice and propriety of that principle. Instead of that con duct, he could not refrain from expressing his sur prise, that his worthy friend should have confired himself to the bare Report of the Committee, which had no connection of a positive or intimate nature with the subject under consideration, and was in every respect more calculated to sow the seeds of dissention, , and give birth to distractions and divisions than to promote the grand object. in view. Of the co-opera tion of the Auctioneers with the Court in obtaining an Act for the suppression of those dens of iniquity and f. aud, mock-auctions, no doubt could be enter tained, for it was no less their interest than their duty. The very nature of their business held out a certain pledge of the sincerity of their exehions. The soul and life-blood of their profession was their high ch.- racter, and the best and most solid securities which they could give, were to be found in their acknow. ledged probity and honour. He was confident that the Auctioneers would run a race of emulation with the fair traders of the Metropolis, and with the Court itself, in their exertions to suppress mock-auctions ; and that in such truly respectable- establishments as those of Messrs. Hoggart and Phillips, Messrs. Win stanley, Mr. Robins, Messrs. Skinner, Tuchin, and Forrest, Messrs. Robins, and a variety of others, a zeal, spirit, and peseverance would be evinced, no less honourable to themselves than beneficial to the public. It was in fact by utuon only that a Bill ado- - qu.4te by its provisions to remove the evils complained of, could he carried through all its stages in both Houses, with success. Mr. Quin lamented that the Report went to affect the characters of Gentlemen, who, not being Members of the Court, could not de fend themselves. These Gentlemen were represented to have stated in conversation, matters which they had no opportunity of admitting or denying, hut he would frankly say, that of one of these Gentlemen, Mr. George Robins, he was incapable, and he spoke from his intimate knowledge of him, of degrading himself by the language attributed to him in the Re port. After a variety of arguments and statements, Mr. Quin concluded with objecting to the Report,• because it stied, as certain facts, matters which were controverted by several Members of the Court who had been present; because it manifestly went to cease dissension and division, where union and co-operation were absolutely necessary; because it called upon the Court to sanction, in the, shape of a formal conviction, words attributed to persons who had it not in their power to defend themselves ; and because it esta blished the dangerous precedent, of reducing to the form of a public record, a conversation which had passed between men who had no previous intimation I that such a publication would take place. Alderman ATKINS reprobated the Report in the strongest terms ; and, adverting to an article which appeared in some of the Newspapers upon this sub ject in the month of August last, pronounced it a gross and calumnious misrepresentation of the con duct of himself and his colleagues in the repfesenta cation of the City, and other gentlemen concerned, in the conversation which took place at his house re specting the Mock Auction Bill. He totally denied the accuracy of the Hon. Mover's assertion, with re spect to what passed in that conversation, and main tained that his colleagues and himself used every I endeavour in their power to forward the wishes of the City upon this subject, not only in promoting the rejection of the measure, which proposed to com bine with the suppression of Mock Auctions a legit lation regarding revenue, which was objectionable at ; once to lend-owners, to respectable auctioneers, and to all persons interested in the business of regular auctions ; but in the advancement of the measure subsequently brought forward for the removal of Mock Auctions only. That the business even of re gular auctioneering required soiree legislative regula- ! tion he was ready to admit; for that auctioneers were in the habit of occasionally dealing in the most imposing hyperbole in their description of property to be disposed of, was qiiite undeniable. But he re- , membered a case in which a sale by auction was set aside in the Court of King's Bench, because the auc tioneer had stated that the property sold was surroun ded by a beautiful shrubbery, with a hanging wood in the distance—while the former turned out to be merely a few blackberry-bushes, and the latter a gallows—(A loud laugh.) Indeed, he himself was once induced to bid for a cottage for the accommo dation of his family, which the auctioneer described to have a beautiful piece of water at the bottom of the garden, which piece of water turned out to be a mere pool in a neighbour's land, for the accommo dation of his ducks—(el laugh.) Such impostures ought not surely to be tolelted, and he hoped that some legislative remedy would be adopted to correct the evil.—But to return to the Report before the Court, he disapproved of it for the reasons already mentioned, but particularly because it contained such groundless calumnies, while it appeared to be really the Report of the Hon. Mover, although having the name of a Committee. With the sentiments and dis position of that Hon. Mover he was very well ac quainted, and he would ask him, in the presence of that Court, whether he had, as in candour bound, ever called upon, or made any intimation whatever to him (Alderman Atkins), that he meant to use his name in the way in which it appeared in this Re port—that he mead so to slander his characterl.But .• re via a titian; and favoirite habit of that Hoe Member thus to slander public character: . A warm altercation here arose between Mr. Wert j. Mao and the Speaker (Mr. Alderman Atkins).. The litter protested against. the interruptions given br Mr. Waithman, and declared he would not be brow, beat ; and the former declared he would not submit -to insults and mouthing. Alderman Amos resumed, urging that it was tht duty of every man whose name appeared to the Re t . port to come forward. and state upon what grounds he wai induced to subscribe to such an extraordinary document. But he attributed it entirely to the ho, nourable MoVer, by whom he never would - himself to be borne doWn, nr suffer his reputation to be aspersed; and pursuing a strain of invective against Mr. Waithman, that Gentleman rose to or ; der, observing, that it was impossible fur him to sit silent under such gross insults. • . . But the LORD M AY OR decidin g in f avour o f Ald er . man Atkins, The Honourable Alderman continued his aniniict. versions upon the Hon. Mover, and in the course of his observations, expressed a wish to know upon what grounds Lord Lauderdale opposed the Mock Auc tion Bill in the House of Lords, having no doubt that those grounds were quite erroneous, while he was persuaded that that Noble Lord was induced to press his opposition by the representations of the . Hon. Mover, notwithstanding his (the Hon. Mo. ver's) assertion in the conversation so often referred . to, that he wished the Bill to pass. The Hon. Al .derman concluded with repeating his vindication of himself and his colleagues, assured that their charac ter would continue to stand well in the ektimation of _ their constituents and the country, for he relied upon the candour of the great body of his countrymen, whatever want of candour might be betrayed by the Hon. Move or 'certain other individuals. Sir JAMES SHAW reprobated the condu s ct ofMr. Waithman, in having published a private converse. tion, first in the Newspapers, and then in the Report which was that day presented to them. If such a proceeding was sanctioned, a system of espionage would be established, worse than any which had ever existed under Fouche. He opposed the adoption of the Report. It should have been confined to facts relative to Mock Auctions, and not have digressed into aspersions on the Representatives of the City,' which no man but the Gentleman on the floor would utter. Mr. Favett. rose to order. His worthy Friend, ( Mr.Waithman,) though he had signed the Report, as • Chairman, was not solely. to incur the responsibility of the asserilons contained therein, as it was same.. cloned by ail the Members of the Committee. Sir J. Straw resumed. The Gentleman he had al luded to, he had pitched upon, because by him alone could those facts be ascertained 'which had beus brought forward in the unwarranted statement in the newspapers, and the equally unwarrantable Report. He (Sir J. S.) had been averse to the allowing Auc tioneers to sell their own goods, and w.slied to pre vent the evil consequences of it,, by a clause %shell obliged the auctioneers to state in their caialogues whether the goods were their own property ; but to Clis the auctioneers had given a dissent, as determi ned as they did to a proposition to' the prevention of the practice altogether. Under these citcornstontes he . thought it would have been better to haws 4tunwai Out the Bill till the next Session, but to this pr idositiosi Mr. Waithman (arid he alone) bjected, AliJ he con:: tended it would be of some goo.i to the ftttuuel, ADA how little soever that might be, it would be better that some should be produced titan none. The pro posal in the cnigiaal Bill, to oblige the owners tc pay duty on any goods bought. in and then sold by private contract within a year, was so improper ore the face of it, that he wondered it • had ever heed proposed. • Mr. Alderman WOOD observed, that it was to be presumed the proper city officer (the Remembrance!) had given the Committee the account .of the conger• sation alluded to. He felt more strongly the nefa rious practices pursued at these mock sales, of which there were many regular stations about the metro polis. At these rooms, with mimic importance, were several persons of all kinds seated round table, who passed silver every now and then to the auctioneer, under pretence of buying, to entrap the unwary by their example. Cloth for a coat, a pair of scissors, candlesticks, and snuff-boxes, were put up to suit the supposed taste of the different per sons who were observed to enter the room. It was not so easy, however, to suppress these-iniquities as to detect them. .One very bad .practice was, that of the auctioneers acting as principals, though this was too often the case, as was even the case with the Brokers upon 'Change, who were, however, prose cuted by the Court of Aldermen, as often as they were discovered. He concluded by moving, as the most adviseable way of proceeding, .4 That it be re ferred to the Committee of General Purposes, to prepare a Petition to both Houses of Parliament, praying that efficacioui measures may be adopted foe the suppression of Mock Auctions," in pursuance of the Resolution of the Court of Tuesday, the I lilt of May last. Mr. DAVIS seconded the motion, and reprobated the profuse introduction of personalities into debate, which they had that day witnessed. Sir J. SHAW eoploined. Mr. WAITHAIAN regretted the personalities which had crept into their discussion, as much as any man; but after all, it appeared that all that the Honoura ble Gentleman had stated had been acknowledged in the Report; and there was no man in that Count so high, that his conduct as a public man might not be brought into discussion. So little firmness had their Representatives shewn, that they had yielded, be cause the auctioneers had persisted in their oppo. sition. He (Mr. Waithman) however, had no objection to withdraw the original Report, and to adopt the motion of the worthy Alderman (Mr. Wood.)—After a desultory conversation bairn's Messrs. Heygate, Wood, and Waithman, as to the propriety of the Committee reporting to the Court, the measures they thought fit to be adopted, a mo tion was finally put and carried to this effect that it be referred to the Committee of General Purposes, to consider of such measures as are proper to be adopted, to procure a Legislative provision f or t h e suppression of frauds at sale-rooms and mock auc tions, and to report from tune W time to the GAEL! Adjourned. PARIS Nws.—lt is stated in private letters from Paris, that. the inv.tsion, directed by Lord WELLING- ' ox, has caused a great sensation there, but of a na- ..ure very unlike that excited in England by the bril- liant proipect of the Lottery, to begin drawing on Wednesday next. The demand for Tickets and Shares is now excessive, and this is the moment to iecure, en easy terms, an ample fortune. Das HAYES', late one of the fight-haled We, at the Opera-House, and who is supposed to have realised a fortune of R 20,000 is this country, and recently lett London for Paris, is now serving as a common sol- dier, lathe last raised levies of France. He came susiong the conscription, and not being able to procure a substitute, he was fotced to serve in his own per- son, and i mmediately appointed to a regiment of ?co/agars/ • . .