Star. — London, England, 1813-02-20 00:00:00

he THE EVENING STAR. LONDON. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1813. p.-we 01 STOCKS THIN DAY Al' ONE O'CLOCK: Prd c9f—Cons. Aflf f—Cons. for se. 561-4 per Ct. 731 5,,er C.rr. 34.70. dit..•=0M:111.1111 71 , Bank Stock 219t —Long Ann.. 15+0—Exch. Bills 411. 62. pr. ing to ley ray or It 7ish ups to to ilar the Ser' g of ng , a ye , or fib Thursday afternoon a person arrived in Town, who had landed at Dover that morning, in a mysterious manner, tram the French toast. It is now under sto. d that this Gentleman left Paris on Monday last, and he is said to be the bearer of the usual Annual ExAwe, and of the Message and Addresses thereon, but their contentshave not been permitted to transpire. We are, however, informed, that immediately after the rising cf the Conservative Senate, Botmemtre set out from Paris to Mayence, where he is td hive an interview with the Emperor of Austria. The ob ject of this interview is said tte be to prevail upon FitANcIS to be present it the Coronation of the Em press Louisa and the King of Ronk: This may be held out to the Parisians as the object of BoNAPARTE'S jcurney, but on this side of the water it requires little political sagacity to penetrate into his real views. —The fact is, that nnlesi the Prince of SCHWART tering° and the Austrian Army effect something snore than they have done during the recent cam paign, BoNApARTZ'S Empire must necessarily be much circumscribed. Our Readers must all recollect the inuendos thrown out against the Austrians in the 29th Bulletin. They were, in fact, blamed by implication for All the disasters of the retreat from Smolensko. With all his vapouring, therefore, about a fresh campaign, it is evident that BoNaritare can Undertake nothing with safety until he is assured of the sincerity of Austria. The Gentleman who brodght the above intelli gence also communicates a fact of considerable im portance, hut not altogether expected. The financi3l distresses of the French Government are great beyond precedent. As a last resource, BONAPARTE is said to have directed circulars to be sent to all the depart ments by the Finance Ministers, craving a voluntary contribution from every person in the State, and fix ing 100 livres as the smallest sum which will be re ceived. It has been added, but upon what authority we have yet to learn, that the above Gentleman is the bearer of' proposals for opening a negotiation for a General Peace. Be this as it may, a veil of mystery still covers the object of his visit. One thing is cer tain, however, he has had several interviews with Persons high in office. ••••••Nd• Since writing the above, we have bet informed that the Gentleman above alluded to, comes from the house of the Banker Nalco, of Paris, and on com mercial business Only. This may possibly prove eetrect. It is stated in General Orders at Quebec, that a very small division of the British Army under Lieu tenant-Colouel Brow, had had an action with the main body of the American Artily, Under the com mand of Brigadier-General SMYTH, on the 28th of November, on the Niagara frontier, near Fort Erie, which terminated in the defeat and repulse of the enemy, who, relying on his nutnerical superiority, proposed to the British Commander to surrender the fort. The British force consisted of detach ments of the 41st and 49th regiments, and some na. five troops, commanded by the following Officers lieutenant-Colonel CURSE, Majors Onsisav and &Tr, Lieutenants, BARCLAY, LAMONT, and KING, &c. The two latter were wounded, and fell into the hands of the enemy, and their detachments were re duced to 17 or 18 men. The enemy's loss is pre sumed Very great. On the 28d of November; a British force, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel M.Mtuaw, at tacked and took the American post on the Salmon River, near St. Regis. ' On Wednesday last died, at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, Mrs. Batts, wife of the Medical Officer of that Establishment. PRINCPAS or WALits:—Yesterday at one.o'clock, a full meeting of the Cabinet Ministers took place at the Secretary of State's Office for the Home Department, Whitehall, upon the subject of the Princess of Wauss's letter; it is supposed it was then determined whether any, and what measure d should be adopted in conse quence. Much has been said, and more insinuated, respect ing a BILLY FAucerr, whose name -stands connected with what was termed " the Delicate Investigation." We hav e i n a f ormer paper i n f orme d our Readers, that in tke course of that investigation the parentage a a child of that name came under the consideration of the Noble Commissioners, and who, having care fully examined the necessary witnesses, stated in their keport as follows : " The child, Eh t.t.if FAuca - r, r, was, beyond all doubt, born in Irowntovi•strett Hospital, on the 11th July, 1562, of the body SIPIIIA AUSTIN." Tile fact was this. Some time previously to the in vestigation, her Royal Highness the PI INCIISS of WAL)-q, then 'residing At Blackheath, took tinder her ?rmection, from poor parents, this child, to which she tit taken a lilting. The father, as the people of }la,;(!trath i..nd its vicinity, said at the time, was a 1:71:-imi:h at Deptford. This child was taken into ';- 1- louschoid of her Royal Highness and her eie ; was frequently in her presence, and taken r '" l to: airings in her own carriage. This boy, it is 'a'd+ was alleged in the charges, which 'echo the in tigr-ivn, to be a child of the Parscass, and was ' r. ne...thbject of t h e two ma i n c h arges o f pregnancy an d ` J very, whi c h were f u ll y di sprove d i n t h e i nqu i ry i n tit , . \‘,i ,: li very fi rst instance. The minor imputations, ch many think ought instantly to'hve been aban ill...Tied, remained on record till removed by the ► " , ,note of Sflst API% 18°7* ~`.. NAPAL 11VrBLLionte. . , • The following N o ii ce was this dat e d at Llo yd': : " s Lloyd's, February 20. " The Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty have been Plea sed to inform the Committee, that there near -are, and were pre vious to the Silt instant, two strong sou atireas of Bridsit ship* eruisbl In the neighboarbood of the Western Islands and Ma deira.* PLYMOUTH, FEBRUARY is. Put back, the PaLICAN, of lkitUts, the wind hav ing blown strong from the Westward. She was bound to Falmouth. It has foiniany hours blown a very heavy gale from the westward. This morning a Merchant brig broke from her moorings in Ha moa te, ran foul of thekstaow scliOoner in Stonehouse p"01, carried away the bowsprit of the latter, and both went on shore. They are, hovever, got off, and have returhed to their moorings. Nye P. M.--The weathet has inhderated a little. Have just learnt that an American vessel is arrieed in Torbay, prize to his Majesty's ship BURTRILLANT4 and two other Americans at Bideford ; one of which, 'a brig, of 300 tons, is prize to the SUPERB, 74 guns. Wind W.N.W. and very fresh. PORTSMOUTH, FEBRUARY 19. Arrived the Costrr, of 20 guns, Captain BLANEY, from Cadiz, last from the Westward. Sailed on the 4th instant, with six sail under convoy which are I gone to the River; she captured an American brig laden with flour and rice, front Virginia, bound to Portugal, close off Lisbon ; in consequence of some 1 - regularity in the licence t also arrived the Velocity, CRICKSIAY, from Malaga and Gibraltar. Sailed the NORTH STAR, of 18 guns, and HOPE, 18, on a cruize. i'he SCEPTRE is now delivering instructions to the ships bound to the West Indies, and it is reported she will sail as soon as the wind comes fair, without waiting for 12 ships from the Downs. His Majesty's ship ETHALION will also sail for Lisbon, Cadiz, and Gibraltar, as soon as the wind comes fair.—Wind S. moderate weather. DEAL, FEBRUARY 19. Came down from the River the Cumberland, WlL xtxsort, for China ; the Admiral Berkeley, TAYLOR, tor the South Seas; the Camperdown, Dovr, for St. Vincent's, with a large fleet of outward.boundi re main, all well after the gale, as are also his Majesty's ships.—Wind S.W. and moderate. -YARMOU CH, FEBRUARY 19. Sailed this morning on a cruize the WRANdLER sloop of war, and the FLYING-FISH schooner, fot the Downs.—Remain the SOLEBAY, OBERON, and three cutters. RAMSGATE, FEBRUARY 17. During yesterday the wiiid blowing strong at W. and shifting towards night to S.S.W. several vessels have taken shelter in the harbour, among them the brig Mary, Captain KIDD, of Kincardine, from Gib raltar to London, with loss of anchor, cable, and top mast. A Prussian brig, Endraglit, Captain G. H. Quartow, from Bourdeaux to London, went ashore n Sandwich flats, and stranded during the gale on Monday night, was this morning got off and brought into the harbour; her cargo consists of nuts, clover seed, brandies, &c. which was taken out. The ketch James, Davis, of and for Southampton, from London, has put in with loss of both anchors and cables. DUBLIN. FEBRUARY Id. We have received information of a most melan choly occurrence on the coast of Donegal, by which a number of lives have been lost. For some time past a very abundant take of excellent herrings, had continued to reward the industry and enterprize of the fishermen on the Oast. in and contiguous to the harbour of Killybeggs. On Friday night last, a fleet of boats, induced by the prospect of greAter success, having ventured too far from the shore in search of fish, encountered on their return a strong gale, when many of those most deeply laden, unhappily perish ed, with all their crews, amounting to between 40 and 50 persons. This most unfortunate event has plunged an entire county in the deepest distress, and in its consequences, will involve a number of poor families in utter rain. One of the effects of the late high south western gales has been the deslruction of the southern spire of the remains of Reculver Church, on the coast of Kent. The gale of Thursday blew down Old Gorleston steeple, at North Yarmouth, which has weathered many a storm, and been a land-mark for seamen for centuries past in corning into Yarmouth Roads. Its height was computed to be 33 yards. LAW INTELLIGENC.R_ ADMIRALTY PRIZE COURT, DOCTORS COMMONS rLBRUARY 19. THE HOPE AND OTHERS. This was the ease of the Hope, and three other American vessels, captured in December last, in the prosecution of a voyage to Spain and Portugal, with cargoes of provisions. A claim was given by the owners, on the ground of the vessels being exonerated from the character of hostility, and protected from condemnation, by having on board letters from Mr. Allen, the British Consul at New York, and Admiral Sawyer, Commander on that station, purpottipg to licence them for the voyage, and intended as a safe guard and protection to them throughout it. A va riety of objections were urged at great length by the captcir's Counsel, to the nature and extent of the pro tection, deducible from these documents ;—and the cases stood for the deeisron of the Court this day, upon the validity of those objections. Sir WILLIAM Scott observed, it was difficult to give any precise designation to the letters which, it was contended, furnished the protection in these cases; a great part of the previous correspondence being lett out of sight, the Court was left to guess at the contents ; it was therefore only fair to infer, that it contained a proposition to Admiral Sawyer, that the business should take the course it since had. It was perfectly clear, that there must have been such a pro position, from the evidence of the subsequent facts. 'file papers could not, abstractedly, be considered as - afforaing nay priteetron ; thoie who gave them not being invested with a competent authority to give them that effect. Exemptions from the consequences Of hos tility, are amongst the highest acts of power; they are the acts of the Sovereign alone,and must flow direetly from him, or those in official situations tinder him.-- It was not to be contended, that Mr. Allen, the Vice: Consul, was clothed with this authority in the present case ; and an Admiral, though he may have conoi derable power with respect to the forces under him; cannot grant an exemption of this nature beyond the ' limits of his own command.. The only question, therefore, was, whether there has not sinte been an Act of the State, ratifying those acts which the law calls spurious; whether, in fact, the Government has not given them an authority they did it( t before pos sessl It appears, that Mr. Foster had been in the habit of granting licenses of this sort ever since the Order of the British Government of October 13,1812; and that he had been authorised, or recognised, in so doing, by that Order. Thus the policy of the measure, and the mode of adopting it, had both been sanc tioned by the British Government; when Mr. Foster retired from the country, and the transaction then as sumed the present shape, certainly an awkward one and not entirely trusted tp by the Americans themselves. The direct course, however, cannot always be adopt ed—difficulties *ill occur to prevent it; and the Court saw no reason to presume, that under the difficulties which existed in the present cases, the course adopted by Mr. Allen and Admiral Sawyer might not be the t best. It had been said, that Admiral Satvyer might have granted them, personally, and sent them to America by way of Halifax ; but there may not, per haps, have been any safe and direct communication. Mr. Allen appears to have acted with every degree of fairness, in the four instances which gave rise to the present question; and as the measure is, in substance, precisely the same as that resorted to by Mr. Foster, varying only in its form, that informality could nbt be a fatal objection to the principle of the measure it self, as recognized by the Order of the 26th of Qcr. 1812. Taking the whole of the sates therefore toge ther, he was of opinion that they clearly came within the meaning of the Orders In Council. He would ask, if the documents produced were not of the na ture of certificates and passports, what were they ? mere nullities; and the Order would be inoperative. He had therefore no hesitation in decreeing restitu tion of the ships and cargoes ; but as the captors were justified in their detention under all the circumstances, it must be subject to the payment of their expenses. COURT or KING'S BENCH, FEBRUARY 18. DELAWNY V. STUBBS. Mr. PARK stated, that this action was brought by plaintiff, a silversmith, against defendants, coach makers, as acceptors of a bill of exchange. In sup port of his case, he called the following witnesses: Kent swore that the acceptance was the hand wrivng of one of the defendants. Quarterly, clerk to plaintiff, swore that he saw Mr. Burton indorse the bill, who lived, at that tittle, at No. 3, Southampton-row ; that be was a chance cus tomer, and the witness refused to trust him, on ac count of the bill, until he had inquired whether the hill was Stubbs's. That Burton left the bill, the in quiry was made, and witness trusted Burton to the amount of the bill. That two or three days after, Burton bought a brooch, for which he did not pay ; and on calling at Southampton-row, he was told that Burton was gone, and desired to look after his money. He stated that the bill was not indorsed when sent to Stubbs's. Dikes swore that he knew Stubbs, jun. by sight ; that he took the bill to defendants, asked, was it their acceptance ? was answered, that it was ; and that it would be paid. He never saw Burton before this day. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL stated, that he had a de cisive answer to this action, and he hoped that it would afford a lesson to all persons to avoid that ob noel ousbrood, the advertising money-lenders. The defendants were coach-makers ; the father was from home attending to his business, and left the c( nduct of the business to his son, a very yoting man, who, finding some difficulty in money matters, applied to an anonymous money-lender. In consequence of his application a person called at his counting-house and left a note, stating that Mr. Burton had waited upon Mr. Stubbs, as to the loan of 8200 or 8300, and would be happy to see him at No. 3, Southampton buildings. The Solicitor-General advised all persons when they found themselves in difficulties, to apply to their creditors, and British creditors were never kri , a4m to oppress the honest when unfortunate. But if application be, made to a money-lender, ruin, although it may be postponed, is ineritable. He then stated that Stubbs, as might be expected, was punctual to the appointment with the money lender, who prevailed on him to accept two bills of 8100 each. The moneylender of course took his bills to a silversmith, who would sell him goods at an exor bitant price, knowing that the goods would be in stantly taken to the next pawn-broker. For his trou ble, Mr. Burton modestly charged X2O. On his ar rival, the elder Mr. Stubbs was arrested for the amount of one of those acceptances; he made every enquiry as to Mr. Burton, but he was not to be found—on enquiry, he heard that the other bill was in the hands of a Mr. Manning, and that Mr. Manning was in the King's Bench prison. On Mr. Stubbs, junior, going to that prison, he was astonished to find that Mr. Manning and Mr. Burton was one and the same person. On the subject of one of those bills Manning had been brought as a witness' in custody of the tipstaff, who, just before the trial, implored the Solicitor-General to have it put off, as Manning had, on tipstaff turning his back, made his escape in company with a Jew attorney. The tipstaff made every etertion to discover Manning, but for months was unsuccessful. At length, having learned that some person had swindled the people tot . Ply mouth to the amount of several thi•usand9, it mew red to him that this must be Manning ; he was cor rect, and took him into custody. The Solicitor- General stated that he would call him . % that he had two good defences, the one usury, the other forgery. He • hoped he would not be considered as wasting their time in opening at rather more length than usual such an atrocious case, since it gave a warning to the unfortunate not to apply to those scourges, l Advertising Money-lenders. He then called Win ning, who objected to answer any questions, as tend ing to criminate himself, and appealed to his Lord ship ; who said, he would take care that he should not be asked such questions as would tend to cr mi. sate then said, he lived, in March, M One, at some eaa in the New Road, it might b Southampton-phce. [The note addressed to Stubbs, jun. in the name of Burton, was put him his hands.] He said he could not swear as to the hand-writing— would•not swear that it was his hanJ.writing. Lord ELLENBOIIOUGH thought that this examination tended to criminate witness, and that it was unimpor tant, as defendants would be liable to plaintiff as ac ceptors of the bill, although drawn in a false name. The SOLICITOR GliNkitAL said. that the examina. tion went merely to the usury, and it was not the bill that was in question. .Manning again said, he co uld not s i rear to t h e writing ; he could not tell whose hand.writing it was. It might probably be his, he could not say it was not. Lord ELLENBOROUOII said, he did not think the witness would give way ; if it were from impedes. liin of memory, his memory might be helped, bat that was not the case of this witness. Manning Swore, that he saw Stubbs, jun. at his lodgings, he believed, in consequence of a note. He believed the meeting was about money transactions : he had nb belief upon it : he could not swear as to his own hand-writing. Lord ELLIENIOROUGII said, they were in progress to destroy the credit of their witness, and appeared likely to destroy it enti r ely ; a nd aske d,: what service that could be of to them The Somerroa.GEN MAL objected to that principle, when carried to its full extent, that there was no man of the character of the present witness, who wodld not think himself happy to get rid of giving his testimony' by doing some act to render himself inf a mo us . H e then then the case of Bensted, who placed a boy so stupid as scarcely to deserve the name of human be. kg, with a gun in his hand, and desired him, when a person of the name of Briggs came to feed his cow, to pull the trigger, which he did, and killed Briggs. Lord Kenyon first tried the boy, respited the judg ment, and got him a pardon ; and Bensted was tried, convicted, and executed, on the evidence of the boy that was a stronger case than the present. That the rule would tend to defeat the ends of justice, and that the testimony ought to go to the Jury. Lord ELLENBUROUGIi stated, that he was minus. derstood ; that lie did not mean to say that the wit. ness was incompetent, but that every Judge, when a witness has appeared not to regard the sanction of aft oath, and has sworn what was false, had charged the Jury not to attend to such a witness ; that such a case had occurred before him, and he had left the evidence to the Jury. stating, that as he bad sworn what was manifestly false, he was not to be believed. The case of an accomplice was very different; and even an accoMplice, without some evidence to sup. port him, was not credited. That it was for the ift: term of mankind that such a witness should not be believed when the interest of others was concerned. Manning did not recollect making a memorandum when Subbs was present. He believed it to be a copy of a memorandum made by StObbs. He believed it to be in his hand-writing; the upper part he believed to be in his hand-writing, the under part not. Mr. PARER then objected, that by the statute of Ann, he Was liable to imprisonment for taking more than 2 per cent. for procuring money, but this ohjea• tion was overruled, as he had not received any money. Manning then objected, that there was a criminal prosecution against him for uttering bills, knowing them to be forged I and again appealed to his Lords ship, who laid, that however criminal a man Might appear to be, it was his duty to protect him from criminating himself, and 4 4 I think it has a tendency to criminate him." Quarterly was then called, and swore, that the witness was the person who indorsed the bill in the name of Burton, who directed him to call at South ampton-place, and to whom he sold the brooch.' Lord ELLENISOROUGH told the Jury, that he and they were ignorant of what was underneath, and from the evidence they mstat find for the plaintiff. Verdict fur plaintiff. The Sotacrroa•GersanaL then moved, that Man ning might be committed on a charge of forgery, and that the note might be impounded. Lord ELLENBOROUGH declared, that, except in ex. creme cases, he should not commit on an examina. tion i he knew, that several excellent Judges, not noiv alive, had refused to do it in all cases, but he did . not say that he would carry it so far. The note might certainly be impounded. FEBRUARY 19.—OATItS V. BRYANT. This was an action on a bill of eschangey agaird the acceptor. The defendant kept as inn at Barna, the bill was drawn by his son, for IMO, and accep4 ted by himself. The plaintiff had discounted the bill through the medium of one Stevenson, who pro: fessed himself a bill broker, and the son, who drew the bill, stated, that, being distressed for mooey, he discounted the bill at two months for seven per cent. with Stevenson. To contradict this statement, Stevenson was who proved that no more than the legit discount Wll paid, with 2' per cent. for his commission; but upon a cross-examination by the Solicitor-Genend, he varied in his evidence, and coughing much, the Aoli citor playfully offered him some lozenges, to wilich he said, u Sir, you are a very good doctor."..z." Yes," replied the Solicitor, I have given you a sweating !" 61 You have, indeed, Sir," said he, but I wee once your saddle r, and you behaved very well to me then.'° 6 6 Did I?" replied Mr. Solicitor General, 66 you give me a good character, I wish I could return the come pliment I"—After his examination was closed, the Jury did not credit him, but found a verdict for the Defendant. COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, FEBRUARY 19. HOWARD Q. YOUNO. In this case the plaintiff, formerly First Mate of the Lord Eldon East Indianan, sought damages fc-t• an assault and imprisonment by the dcienilaat, who was his Captain. The cause of complaint was not justified. It appeared to have been the result of tin , just pique on the part of the defendant, and t'aelury gave a verdict for £3OO damages. Tte account of the ex :cution of Editb Aforrery, murder at Hanklow, in Cheshire, wh has apps tied in the new %papers, 1, nnfohnued—:lie u.th.ipi.. ) ,J.pnc being not yet considered in a fit state to unners; the awl ul sentence of the law. The report of the death of JOFL 8anc0..., on C - 1 26th of December, k re.eated in so n any Ow e-, that we suspect th Edi or mu.t hav e b a misinformed . , - aJe him to piss througa Stutgard on the 1; • y. .