Star. — London, England, 1820-01-11 00:00:00

FESTIVTIES, END CII.4RITAIILE DONA TIONS. The PRINCE REGENT, on his late visit to Warwick Cainle, left £lOO in the hands of General Sir C. GRE TILT.E, to be expended for the use of the pour of Wai wick, which was done last week by distributicqz warm coats to the men, and as many vinte• cloaks to the females. The Countess of LINDSEY. with her usual benevo lence, gave a fit beast, weighing upwards of seventy s:cile, to the poor of L'tling:oa and Tallington, in C!•.: istrnas week. Lady SOPHIA WittcHcorE gave a good old Eng dinner of roast beef, plumb-pudding, and ale, to •',ftv poor people of Glar_ton, at the Horse-Shoe Inn ; .Ind aided to this bounty a supply of clothing for of them. _ _ _ Three fat Oxen, the annual present of Lord GWY ;IR, were distributed to the poor of Grimstliorpe ELlenham on the day bei4e Christmas-Day, with p r . , porti.na.e quantity of bread. In all seasons, the residence of this Nobleman at his magnificent seat, Linceloshire, is productive of comfort to the neigh- Louring poor. Christmas-Eve, at Brocklesby, the seat of are :licit Hon. Lord Yitarsonoumt, 100 stone of fine beef were distributed amongst the poor of that parish ; sixty-tour families are clieved there weekly with n ew bread and broken victuals, viz. thirty-two on Tuesdays, an I thirty-two on Pi idays. These last :,ct, nF berevoleuce are not confined to the poor of p ro ale;ilv, extend for several miles round Lord • Y.+ aeoßou(in's hospitable mansion. • At Ct, i.z mas, Dr. \Vitus's annual gift of warm clotl7inz was distributed to the whule of the poor of (ire trc•rd ; tti ho derive also much comfortable nou rishment fr.:m good soups, &c. from his house, ever, ?a v. Generai DowoEswer,t.'s annual donation of beef ctoen.), wai disc, ihuted - Amongst the poor of Lit t;e l'cnton, on St. Thc.mas's Day. Amory the numerous charities of the season, are these of Sir WI L LIAM' and Lady WEtity. Two large cxen have been liberally distri:)uted to the poor in ti:e of I)ertcn and Harstcn, and cloJling to the, rot necessitous; also soup given tw:ce a week to the poor in Denton.—On the i-t of Nov ealber last, ci..,..;lity-cight children, educated in Dentoa and liar tt,)ii by WILLIAM and Lady WELar, tot which iimar:ls of sixty girls are re;;ularly clothed by her I.Ady.,in? .w.. 1 her daughters), were regaled at the ‘titli roast beef and plumb-pluldin, a gcn.iitie specimen of old English hospit7.lity, as we doubt :lot, to the worthy ..i.: :ors, as it tv,is acceptable us th,,,e who partook of it. Lady Otivln SPARROW, a few . -, :tys at.o.zave .4 einner l!er Brampton Park, to the children of BraifT:cn School, one huildred and tweaty-:hree in nuraher, w*.:o are clothed and educated solely at' her Lalysaip's expense. At .11nwick Castle, the magnificent residence of ftc Dake of NORTHUMBERLAND, old English hos;:i tality i., kept up, uniting the social enjoyment ut the , ur:. - m.lihng Gentry with generosity to the poors.T Cl•ahing is gi‘en to great numbe: s of both sexe-. Six tine bullock:: have beet' di-tribute.i. • The Marquis of NfoRTHANIPTON, in addition to his , 2nnual donation of jackets, gowns, flannels, and firing , to the poor ut the villages of Castle Ashby, Chadston, Yardley, and Easton Mandit, as %yell as, the villages on his Lordship's estates in Wai wick shire, has this season adopted the same plan which lie acted upon last, that of giving employment to a re a number of poor labourers, which, at the same time that it adds to the beauty of his Lordship's seat,, ;tits it in their power to maintain their families by own industry. Li consequence of the very depressed state of the I. , ,iicultural Interest, the Hight Hon. Sir JOSEPH It ANK S has recently been pleased to give directions! 1 / 4 ) ;:is Lincolnshire agent to make such reductions of e-:.z as may enable his numerous tenantry to meet LI: emergencies of the times; renvii king, that olm• le:ce would Utlcird him no enjoyment•, conld he be line that the comforts of his tenants and dependents underwent any diminution. _ A tradesman at the west end of the town makes a InGst nut-itious soup from salt beef liquor, ad(ling vas, barley, roots, Stc: which is delivered twice a week (i-,va!nitously) to twenty poor families. wi:h 0 . ...e-51% . ...a par: of a goartern loaf to each ; he is as si'..e2 ,r Lady of fashion only Nith a nhscril;- ticf of 1 J. The soup is to be continued on f(4- two 150 nv_sals per week are to se poor and c ,- ..rnfo:tleis for about three-nalfPente er , .-h ir. c7.7pene—a laudable example, worthy of b.. Ll:owed. Eca llysal-t, t!le se::t 3f tile Afarquis of ANG I. E,EA, Las nec a ,ccr.e o; great festivity, duriag the ChriA- Inas holidays. TR I:DEC:A11 FEST IVITIES.-111C Ancient a 4ish hos i!iiitv never more tastefally di•.playcu :nan it is' Christruac, by Sir CirattLEs Morcii.lx, Bart. It commenced on tLe2i st nit. will an agricultural exhi bi:ion, whe:e acc , )arn:odation was afforded those who favoured - .vith their stock.—The ;irl.ianity and alfal)ility of the Baronet to e - :ery in. d:vidual, together with 11;s most marked gratiticalion a: tile ordinary. Up s.ards of a hundred and f - Zty perscr.% -,were daily tatert:zined under his roof, where 11 , L.thing could tArc:d the attent:on of his ann.— :s . ho the honours of his table in a ni.inne: to create bot only general admiration, but endeared her to .:I.—The severity of the weather prevented the r , .ual races on Twelfth Day ; but at cr,:i:ier hi neighbours joined his party, and celebrated tne an festival with lotteries, quadrilles, counti (es., &c. till a late hour in the morning. In t h e , -arse of the week the company visited the • , 'der the patronage of the worthy Baronet, atid, '1! their liberality, strongly marked their aFpro- Lr.ion of it. FE,TIVITIEC AT ASITRIDOE CASTLE—DUriET last :k the hospitable seat of the Earl and Countess of i.flugir.waTEtt was a scene of gaiuty ; all the fami n the vicinity were visitants. The Earl and Cou:.:ess of VERULAM, General CAPEL, the STAN ‘'')Pr.., the Ladies BnowxLow, Captain and Mrs. (:u,T, Earl and Countess of 21fAcctesFtzt.n, and his Itryal Highness the Duke of GLOUCESTER. Great I;.orz in the field in the morning ; music and cards in *vening. The Royal Duke was very successful • ';'. game—Speculation . 1 A series of more happy •s have been .Worn seen. LAW INTELLIGENCE. COURT OF KING'S BENCH, JANUARY 10. MADRAZO V. WI t.LIS. This was an action brought by a native of Spain against the defendant, Captain of his Majesty's ship C:ierub, for seizing a vessel belonging to the plain tiff, ca!led the Escrubadore, toge:her with her cargo, ,:onsisting of 290 Negro slaves, anal certain goods, rnerchividize, and stores, valued in the whole at £34,500. The case, according to the evidence, was in sub stance this :—The.plaintiff, a native of St. Andero, er Spain, had, in the year 1817, equipped the crubadore at the Havannah, fora trading, voyage i r slaves, to the number of 520, on the coast of. Africa. In the month of October, she arrived off the coast of Africa, and took on board, in the course of that and the folhrwing month, at Ningo, Porto Novo, and other ports, a very considerable number of' slaves, men, women, and children. In the month of January following, being still on the coast of Africa, she fell in with a Portuguese vessel, called the De Forso, with the Captain of which she bar tered tobacco, muslins, cotton, and other goods, for an additicnal number of slaves, making in the whole 290. In this exchange, it appeared that the Portu guese Captain had received more value than the Ne groes were worth, and the Captain of the Escruba dore, in order to redeem himself; sent ;in armed force on board the Portuguese ship, and compelled the Captain (as was alleged on the part of the de fendant) by violence t re.rad the surplus value.— In a few days afterwards, the Portuguese vessel fell in with the defendant, who commanded his . Majesty's ship Cherub, stationed on the coast of Africa. under Sir James l'eo, to prevent the traffic in slaves, and to protect merchant ships from piracy, when the de fendant was informed of the alleged piracy, com mitted by the Escrubadore on the l'ortuguese vessel. Ile immediately went in pursuit of the Spaniard, and ea the 17th January, 1318, he came in sight of the Escrubadore, then lying at anchor off the coast. The moment the latter saw the Cherub bearing down upon :ler, the cut her cable and pushed off to sea, but she et as presently overtaken, and boarded by ;he defendant, by whom the Officer in command Captain being then dead) was charged with pi-- ra,:y !ii.),)11 _he Portuguese vessel. The supposed act of piracy was explained as a voluntary restitution of the vaiae which had been overpaid to the Portu- re sc, is the baiter of slaves ; but the defendant, hos\ el made capture of the Escrubadore, and ;.ta,k possession of her cargo and stores, released the u2hapi-y slaves, who were then in a most deplorable state of health, from their manacles, and, in the re- A:I:, carried the vessel to Sierra Leone, where she art ived in the month of April, when the Negroes were set ac lit:rty. The defendant afterwards carried the Escrt2lnuore to Jamaica, where she was delivered, o,r the 30th of July, to a British subject, named MLacheil, the agent of the plaintiff. It was alleged, shat the defendant had himself purchased part cliche g00..s and nierchandize, which were sold to the highest bidder, on board the Cherub, by the Captain's clerk. Tie of the stores and inerchandize, indepen dently of the slaves, was estimated at 4.:6,100, and the saves themselves at £9l) per head whereas, on the part of the deiendant, the proceeds of the stoles and merchandise were stated to amount only to 1.425. It appealed that the bounty allowe.i by the Govern ment at Sierra Leone, for slaves taken in this manner, was -1.:20 per head. The condition of the uallapiei Negroes taken on board the plaintiff's ship, was de scribed as most deplorable. The small-pox and the dysentery had b,roken out amongst them ; and when they were released from their confinement, very few were able to stand, and still fewer able to 1;e1;lre they reached Sierra Leone, a great many had died, and a number of others shared the same fate Ater they were landed, notwithstanding the greatest medical skill and kind treatment were exerted for their recovery. One half of the cargo consisted of men, and the remainuer of women and children. It appeared, before this capture was made by the de iendant, he had seized another Spanish vessel, called the Consejo, laden with Negroes, and that the Cap tain of that vessel was afterwards hanged at Jamaica to: piracy. Under the circumstances above stated, the present action was brought. The case on the part at the plaintiff, was supported by the single tes ti.:!ony of a Spaniard named Pellisere, an Offi c e r on hoard the Escrubadore. The case of the defendant was supported by the testimony or Lieutenant Stokes, Lieutenant Benson, Lieutenant Austen, Officers on board the Cherub, and Mr. Kennett M'Catiley, one of the Members of Council at Sierra Leone, the ob ject. of whose to timony was to go in mitigation of damages, the Learned Counsel for the defendant having adnutted that he had no defence to the.action. Before the defence was concluded, The CHIEF JUSTICE interposed and said, that he had very great doubt, whether a foreign subject cauld recover, in an English Court of Law, for the value of slaves captured from him in the act of en deavouring to transport them from Africa, because the effect of the late Act of Parliament, fur the Abo litioa of the Slave Trade in his Majesty's dominions, was to declare that odious traffic absolutely unlawful? That being the pi - neat impression o f his mind, he should direct the attention of the Jury simply to the question of such damages, as the plaintiff was enti tled to recover fur the loss of the ship's stores and the rrterchandize seized by the defendant. The Jury, however, might take into zonsideration the question of loss sustained by the capture of the slaves, and they would find such damages upon that part of the L:oe, as appeared to them to be reasonable, leaving it to the defendant to move the Court upon the ques tion, as to the plaintiff's legal right to recover upon that part of the claim. The Learned Counsel on both sides acquiesced in this !node of proceeding suggested by his Lordship. The Jury having received the Learned Judge's directions as above-mentioned, they retired for about an hour, and on their return found a verdict for the plaintiff—Damages £21,180, which sum was com posed of an allowance of L3OOO for the seizure of the ship's stores and goods, and £lB,lBO in respect of the supposed profit on the return cargo of slaves. MIDDLESEX SESSIONS, JANUARY to. LIBEL.—THE KING V. ITUBBORD. GeoTe Hubbard, a Half-pay Officer in his Ma jesty's service, was indicted for the publication of a false and defamatory libel, of and concerning (;harks Lewis. It appeared that an unfortunate young wo man was some time ago killed near the Military Asylum, Chelsea, by a cart running over her. The parents of the deceased being unable to provide for her a decent burial, • the defendant humanely solicited a subscription, and applied the money so raised in the most correct and 'immutable way. The prosecutor, who is a baker at Chelsea, residing within a few ' doors of the defendant, had made some observations respecting the misapplication of the subscription money ; and the defendant, tenacious of character, thought proper to resent the insinuation by posting on the walls of Ch e l sea , a cert ifi cate f rom the mother of the girl who lost her life,' in which she declared that Mr. Hubbard had honourably and humanely applied all the money to her relief. The defendant also posted another bill, in which he stated that the prosecutor, instigated by the Devil, had uttered a false and infamous calumny. These placards being circulated to injure the baker in his trade, he was compelled to commence this prosecution. Mr. ADOLPI/U§, in behalf of the prosecutor, pro posed to proceed no further, if the defendant would submit to a verdict of guilty, and consent to admit the calumny did not originate with his client. Mr. Hubbard refused to accede to the proposition. Mr. Lewis, the prosecutor, then stated on oath, that he never said the d e f en d ant h a d misapplied the money. The defendant said, he would bring evidence to prove that the prosecutor had traduced him, and that what he had written *as perfectly true. The CHAIRMAN impressed upon the defendant, that, in the present case, the truth of the libel was no defence whatever. The defendant then content!ed that the paper in question was no libel at all. The publication was provoked by the conduct of the plaintiff: it was called for in vindication of his (the defendant's) ho nour : for, had he acted the base part impureJ to him, he would be justly degraded from his rank as a 13riti,h Officer, and his wif• and children would have cause to hide their heads in shame. The CHAIRMAN had no doubt that the paper was a libel ; and regretted that the defendant should, by the heat of his feelings, have beer, betrayed into so rash an act.—The Jury found him Guilty. The COURT, feeling for the situation in which he was placed, allowed him to be discharged, taking his recognizance in £lOO, to appear, if called on, for judgment ; intimating, at the same time, no judgment would pass provided he kept the peace, and did aot re-publish the libel. The defendant, on these terms, was discharged.— Several petty assaults were tried. AYR, JANWARY 6. Since the apprehension of Al‘Glicer and a part of his gang, for the robbery at the farm-house at Bor land, near this place, one of his sisters, (who carried the Cap of Liberty from Ayr to the late Kilmarnock, Radical Meeting, with a female associate, both of whom were represented in the Newspapers as " beau tiful and well-dressed Ladies, from Wallacetown," and received the . ban ks of the Meeting for placing the Cap of Liberty upon the heal of the Chairman), were lately lodged in our jail.—A few nights ago, these Ladiei called at the said farm-house of Bor land, and after asking out the farmer's daughter, and inquiring what evidence she intended to give in respect to the late robbery? threatened to burn the house should her evidence tend to criminate M'Gheer or any of his gang; but, fortunately, they were imme diately taken into custody, by some men who hap petted to be in the house, and conveyed to the county 'jail. It is proper to remark, that one of the M‘Ghee7s, now committed for trial, carried the " Union" flag at some of the late Radical Meetings in this county. Walter Rai/lie, and Janet Simpson, his wife, re siding in the Grass-market, Edinburgh, have been indicted to stand trial before the High Court of Jus ticiary, accused of sedition, in having sold or circu lated cert:tin Numbers of W.oler's Black Dzea,:f. HIGH COURT OF JUSTICIARY, EDINBURGH, JAx.B. —The Court met this morning at tell o'clock. Gilbert M'Leed, William Carss, and Hugh AP Kendrick, who verb ordered to appear at the Bar this day, are now in ,Jail in Glasgow, on a charge of sedition ; and their appearance, to answer for a contempt of the Court, was postponed to Wednesday next. Government have lately purchased sortie acres of ground, in a fine situation, in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, to make a new Botanical Garden for the University, which will be laid out and formed under the management and superintendance of Professor. GRAHAM, and will be of the greatest advantage to the Students of Botany, at Edinburgh: The inhabitants of this town (says the Leeds Mer cury of ati.irclay), were a good deal surprised and alarmed by the assembling of a detachment of horse soldiers, at about ten o'clock last Thursday night. On inquiry into the cause of this nocturnal muster, we find, that strong indications of riot had manifested themselves at Stanningley, a clothing village in this neighbourhood, owing to a dispute about the rate of wages, between Mr. JOHN VARLEY, one of the prin cipal manufacturers of that place, and the work people—'-See the STAN t?f Tuesday]. On Thursday n last, matters wore so menacing a appearance, as to induce the MAYOR of this Borough to direct the Chief Constable to repair to the place at a late hour of the night, accompanied by a military force, to be in readiness, in case the civil authotily should be found unequal to the preservation of the public peace. We are happy to add, that the night passed over without any disturbance, though the cause of the prevailing disquiet continues to exist. LAST LOTTERY, the First-drawn Prize was enti tled to 1:‘2.0,000, and"was Sold by WEBIL—To-mor row the First-drawn Prize will he entitled to 00,000 Conscls. The fprtunate Ticket may yet be pur chased, at either of WEBB'S Offices, 9, Cornhill, or 17, Ludgate-street. The Lottery that begins To morrow, contains Four of o of them will be decided in the First Five Minutes. To-MORROW the Lottery will commence Drawing, and ALL the Tickets now on iialo must be decided. The Scheme contains Point Prizes of £20,000, and Two of them will be then decided in the First Five Minutes.--The Last-drawn Prize of - I.:20,000 sterling, and the Last-drawn Prize of 20,000 Guineas, were Sold in Shares at No. 19, Corithill, and 2G, Oxford street, the fortunate Offices of G. Ciatttou. 'TO THE EDITOR OF THE STAR, • • Sin —I thank you for the insertion of my letter in your Paper of the 30th ult. You advise paying off the National Debt at once; and this, you say, may be done without any sacrifice of capital. It would .be difficult, lrvever, to persuade one having £lO,OOO in the Funds, or landed property of that value, that the paying £1.500 thereof, towards the reduction of the National Debt, would not be a sacrifice of capital. Conceiving the plan I have suggested to be the least objectionable of any that has yet appeared, I beg leave briefly to r--state it ; viz. an immediate assessment of per •cent. on funded property ; that the sum thus produced (120 millions) be funded, at two and a half per cent. and that the contributors be stock holders to the amount of their assessment ; that the remainder of the Stock be redeemed at pal, by a pro portionate assessment on all capital in the kingdom ; and that the assessed be requited to purchase Stock at two and a half per cent, to the amount of their as, sessment. Also, that all persons, without exception, holding, or who in future may hold, any situation or sinecure under Government—receiving pensions for superannuations from the Public, or holding any living in the Church, be required to pur chase Stock to the amount of one half-year's In come, and, on promotion, to the amount of one half the difference of the increase. Thus the Interest. may be reduced one half, by a trifling sacrifice of Capital, as the (.?- per Cents. at the pteient price of Stocks, would be worth £56 to th e C onti ibutors. Were the debt reduced one half by the expedient here recommended (which is all I propo.e its accom. plishing), and the CHANCELLOR of the EXCII EQUER'S expectations of an excess of Revenue of £5,000,000 confirmed, a diminuti3n orTares, to the amount of t 25,000,000, would immediately result—a further re duction, were it even practicable, would be impolitic. It is only by the adopti in of this, or some soch measure, that a reduction appears to me to be pi ac ticable. Should it, however, be judged by. yourself, or :toy of your Correspondents, to stand exposed to objections, I should he happy to see a statem~n*n these in some succeeding number of your respectable Journal. Your constant reader, R. s. 2dinorks, January 8, 1820. The Duke of Sussex dined with Sir WILLIAM Bunrtouou on Saturday last. Dur List, JAR. 6.—The Lords Justices who are t• hold the Commission of the Lord-Lieutenant, during his Excellency the Earl of TALeor's absence, which will not exceed six weeks, are— His , Grace the Right Hon. and Hon. William Stuart, the Lord Archbishop of Armagh, and Primate of all Ireland ; the Right Hon. Thomas Lord Manners, * Lord High Chancellor; and the Right Hon. General Sir George Beckwith, Ci. C. B. Commander of the Forces. FIRE AT THE SOUTH-SEA HoUSE.—Tbis morning at three o'clock, the watchman on duty at the South-Sea House, was alarmed by the crackling of %Need ; en inspecting the different offices, he at length discovered that the Treasury was on fire. lie instantly ran and awoke the head cashier, Mr. Towson, who has apartments in• the house. On Mr. T.'s opening the door of the Treasury, he found the whole of the floor on fire. The engines were immediately gut out, and the reservoir being frozen over, the ice was broken by the watchman, in doing which he fell in up to the neck. The flames were fortunately extinguished, after destroying a part of the room. Had it been one half-hour later before the discovery was made, the whole of that wing of the building, next Threadneedle -street, must have been in fla►nes. DESTREGTION OF MAGDALEN HALL, OXFORD.— Further particulars : OXFORD, JANUARY 9.—A desolating fire was dis covered to have broken out this morning, aboirt three o'clock, in the northern extremity of Magdalen Hall, in this -University. A great proportion of the inha bitants was immediately roused ; and in spite of the unseasonable hour of the summons, great numbers promptly came to the spot, and contributed their zealous aid in working tour engines, and thereby quenching the flames. Scut seven o'clock the fire was got under ; but, unhappily, not until a consi derable portion of this venerable pile was consumed to a cinder. Sixteen sets of Gentlemen's rooms were completely destroyed ; and as they were all tenanted (although, from its being vacation time, the Mem bers of the Society were almost ail of them absent from the University), the destruction embraced a great deal of furniture, and many valuable collections of books. Owing to the extreme severity of the weather, many of the pumps in the neighbourhood were locked up with frost, and there was some diffi culty, at first, in procuring an adequate supply of water. The accident, it is supposed, arose from the indiscretion of a young man who happened to be re sident, and who went to bed without extinguishing his 'candles. They afterwards communicated with the 'furniture of his room, and occasioned the con flagration. He was, however, luckily awakened from his perilous condition, and r.o lives were lost.— No praise can be too great for the exertions of those who came early to the spot. The Bishop of OXFORD was amongst the number, and was exceeded by no one present in the anxiety and earnestness of his efforts to extinguish the flames. I am happy to be able to add, that the house of the Learned Principal (Dr. MAC BRIDE), and the neighbouring lodging of the Rev. Dr. Rouyn, President of Magdalen College, though, atone period, in the greatest jeopardy, remained, in the end, untouched by the devouring element. Both these venerable characters are now absent from the city elf Oxford. NEWSPAPERS.—The following is a StateMent of the number of Newspaper Stamps (exclusive of the Irish) which were issued from Somerset-House during the last two years, for the London anu Country Newspapers, at four-pence each : Fur 1818 - - - 21,018,610 For 1119 - - - . .21,e75,05i4 Being an increase to the Revenue during the laq year, of 819,4434 four-pences! CULTIVATION OF DARTMOOR.—A Society is to be instituted for the permanent employment of the pat. per poor, which will commence with 2000 childrel. His Royal Highness the PRINCE RLonsr has con sented to become Patron of the Society; the Arch bishop of CANTERBURY, President ; ,and .fifty Vi ce . Presidents, to be chosen from the Merchants of the City of London. The prisons are in future to b e called the " Metropolitan Schools of industry.'; i