Star. — London, England, 1810-01-09 00:00:00

I.NDIN INTELLIOERdt. Da fa: arrival of the PRINCESS CHARLOTTI frigate,) from st. H e lena, With the LORD KEITH, MONARCH, an d EARL SFENCEit East-Indiamen, Government and ,}, e Directors of the East-India Company have been put into possession of the latest intelligence from Ma dras. We learn that the reports which had created so muc h a l ar m, were greatly exaggerated. Lord MINT° bad sailed from the seat of Government with his Se cretary, Mr. EDNIONSTONE, in the GENERAL STUART IndialllaO, for Madras, where the Governor, Sir G. 11. BARLOW, with his suite, still remained, having - t oy, as a measure of precaution, retired from his th ual residence in the city, to the Government House io the Fortress ; this is the only circumstance of mo ment that has yet been allowed to transpire on this ar c delicate business ; but we trust that *e shall very „al have to state, that harmony has been completely aaestablishcl. The appearance of Lord MINTo at !art St. Gorr., it was conceived, would produce the tat consequendes tovvaed effecting this desirable end. The brig ARUM had been sent with dispatches f r om the Governor of Ceylon, to Lord CAL/SDON, at the Cape, giving an account of the disturbances at Madras. After deliveringishose dispatches, the same vessel proceeded to St. Helena, with duplicates of the sere dispatches for the Governor of that place. It is now said that no extraordinary additional f orc e will be sent to India. The number of troops I, rea dy to be sent there does not exceed 5000 men : of 2000 consist of the ordinary recruits for the re eiments serving in India ; in addition to wl-om one regiment, already under orders , will be taken on from the Capes The Court ofEarectors are stated to bare attentively investigated the Memorial-from the s mart() the Governor General, and hays advised upon the subject with some experienced General-Officers. The following additional particulars respecting the capture of Isle Bourbon have been communicated by spassenger on board one of the Indhunen just arrived : On the 21st September St. Patti, in the island of tourbon, was taken by the squadron from the Isle of France, %leder Commodore Rowatar, consisting of the RALIONABLI4 64, BOADICEA, SINUS and NEREIDE fri gates, and OTrait sloop of wain, assisted by a party. of the 56th Regiment,-and some Sepoys, under Lieute nant-Colonel Kean's°, of the 56th. In the roils's were taken the Caroline frigate of 48 guns, the Streat ham and Europe Indiame.n her prizes ; a privateer, formerly the Grappler gull-latig, and several other small vessels; the whole (except the Europe, sent to borabay) were sent to the Cape under convoy of the On ER sloop of war. The NEREIDE sailed for the Cape ' the Captain of the Caroline, and about 180 French prisane-s, and arrived there on tie 18th 0 .tabor, after a pas.sage of 17 jays. No Officers were killed on the capture of St. Nara. Comr aboutodore e ROWLRY and the md eir cruizing ground off the Isle of France 64 The Streatham's cato had not been touched by the enemy, but that of the Europe bad nearly all been landed. The storehouses in Which it bad been depo sited, were afterwards. burnt, a circumstance which . accounts for the Streatham coming home a full ship, and for the Europe's return to Bombay, where she is to reload." The Isles of ourbdn airy France are about 400 miles to the east of Madagascar. Bourbon has ao port, but it has three convenient roads or,stations for shipping, which are safe in favonrible weather. The Isle of France has two excellent harbours, in the im provement of which no expence has bean spared : the One to the.north-west is called Pert Bourbon ; the hther, to the south-east, Port Louis, where is the principal town and scat of Government. It has been ss.pposed, that in consequence of this fortunate enter f:!te. against St. Paul's, in Bourbon, the Isle of France, which ie distant *owe 35 leagues, must sur. :ender a: discretion. It is proper, however, to state the means of defence possessed by the inhabibratsa should they be disposed to resist our small armament. —Port Louis, which is now exclusively employed as 2'e:rig - Az on account of the difficulty of egress from l':at Bourbon, is on the north side, acid its entrance is far:ash a channel formed by shoals, which project a'otaa. two-thirds of a league into the sea. When a ship arrives opposite to this channel, the south-east winds prevailing here, prevent her from entering the pert under sail, and she must either be towed in by beats, or warped in with cables. In addition to`this neural means of defence, the French have constructed ' two forts, and as many batteries, which are mounted with heavy cannon, and entirely prevent the approach t the harbour, should any ship trs the experiment of faltering it under sail. The port of Bourbon is also fortified, and an army would find it extremely difficult to pass the mountains tithe different situations on the island. There are several places between the north east extremity to Port Louis, where crews might be landed from boats, but these ate defended by bat teries, and the interior is a continued thicket. With the exception of a small plain on the north-eastern limner, the rest of the island is of a steep mountainous t:iaracLer, where the vales, forming the beds of tor rents, are obstructed by huge fragments of rock. PORTSMOUTH, lAN. 7. Arrived this morning at the Motherbank, his Ma jesty's ship PatscEss CHARLOTTE, with the Monarch, Earl Spencer, and Lord Keith East-Indiamea under convoy ; his Majesty's ship MILFORD from Basque Roads, and the RATLER sloop of war from Newfound land. Sailed the Adventure, Brunswick, and three other running ships, for the West-Indies ; and the COQURTTE on a cruize.—Wind S. S. E. JAN. 81—Arrived his Majesty's - ship STATELY with a convoy from the Downs, among them are the Traf ficker for Gibraltar, the Cato, Major, and Triton, I transports. A fleet of transports are expected' from Lisbon, two having already arrived, the Mary, HEN DERSON, at the Amy, BuaNErr. Dropt dcown to • .6t. Helen's, his Majesty's ships IMPETUSUI and Ty *IAN. Nothing sailed-to-day.—Wind S. DEAL, JANUARY 7. Remain in the Downs the outward-bound that put back on Saturday, and the Wexford, Ocean, and Winchelsea East-Incliamen.—Wind S. S. E. JAN. B.—Came down from the River his Majesty's skip ULYSSES, and remains with the outward bound. YARMOUTH, JANUARY 7. • Sailed the Eliza armed ship, British Fair and Susan cutters. Arrived from a cruize off the coast of Hol- . 1 land, the Tat:ratios and DRAKE sloops of war. The Acorn gun-brig is bound to Heligoland with trans ports, and the CENSOR with the Saldanha to the Nore. In the Roads—Prineess Carolina, Defence, Roebuck, Saldanha, Tartarus, Bold, Starling, Acute, Censor, Musquitto. Refitting—Chanticleer, Ernest, Havuc, Hearty, Onyx, Flamer, Snipe, Patriot, Emms and Cheerful. JANUARY 8 .-- Sailed this morning for Heligoland, the ACUTE, with transports Patty and Zealous, with stores.—Ships Of war remain as per last. FROM LLOYD'S LIM GRACESENS,'JA N. 7.--Arrived the Auroik, Swart, from Mid elleburgh ; and the Vollintine, Samford, iropt Quebec. —Sailed the gleaner, Harrison, for Martinique ; Ceres, Cock, for Sierra j Leone ; liawkesbury, Radley, for Jamaica; Indefatigable, Brand, I for Demerara; and the Sidney, Beals, for Malta. JAKvARt S.—No arrivals to-day.--Sailed, the Astrea, Askell, for Surinam ; Rose, Houston, for Dublin ; George, Bacon, and Swift, Hawkins, for Oporto ; Dart, Malcolm, for adeira ; and the Beatrix, Robertson, for Lisboa. EAST INDIA SHIPPING. • In addition to the particulars stated yesterday, we are enabled to give the following : The Ocean, Union, General Stuart, and Tottenham, had ar rived at Bengal; horn Madras, and were loading for England. The General Stuart afterwards sailed with Lord MiNTo, and his Secretary, Mr. EnstostsToNt, for Madras. The Lotd Durcan, Baring, and Carnatic, from Madras, had also arrived at Bengal. The Providence, Boyne, Warren Hastings, Fort William, Eli zabeth, and PerSCVer3llCei (country ships), were loading at Ben gal, for England. The hotneward-bound fleet from Bengal was to be dispatched in the beginning of September, and would consist of a great num ber Of ships. No account whatever has been brought home of •the seven missing ships. Ihe Nottingham and Perseverance from Madras, arrived at Penang on the 1 8 th August , bound to China. The Lord Castle reagh had arrived at Penang from Bencoolen, and sailed again 18th August, for Bengal. A very fine new frigate was launched on the 12th Aligner. The following is a correct List of Passengers arrived by the under-mentioned Ships, viz. Psi EARL. Seer:mt.—Lieutenants Dudingstone and Lang stone, of his Majesty's 17th regiment, from Bengal; Cecil Smith, I Esq. from St. Helena ; Ro w . Ste p henson, Es q . and S. W. Rawle, Esq. Merchant, from Penang; Miss Charlotte Sandford, Miss Isabella M‘Gregor, Miss Eliza Burelem, Miss Mary A. Binger, Master George Sandford, Master R. G. M'Gregor' Master J. Burslem, Master J. B. Bone, Master Andrew Fell, and Muter Matthew Power ; H. 8 . Meer, R. Bentren, and W. H. V. Pohl- , man, Danish Officers, Prisoners of War. PLR LORD Krurn.—Ensign Wrn. Standley, of the 9th Regl-I meat of Native Infantry ; Mr. Edward Case, Lieutenant J. H. Burgh, and Mr. F. Deviant., Midshipman of the Royal Navy; Miss Jana Ferguson. Miss Jane Adams, Min Charlotte Adams, mut Mager James S:unpson. • Captain BERESFORD is appointed to the POICTICHS ; 1 Captain T. Gam?Es, to the Musstu, vice JAMES, de ceased ; Captain A. GoßooN, to the RATTLER. Cap tains KITTOE, RAITT, 8.-JAN:Es, BELL, and SHERIFF, are promoted to Post Captains. The num, Odossum, and Charybdis, which sailed Lily from Portsmouth, are gone to the West bales /COAL brniarifit • -mk• - _ -.:‘. FALMOUTH, JAN. d. Attired the Humber aimed ship (Toni the • Cl lftlet kr.sit gib** low THI Ctia; DOA* VIC et . TM BIBIBAL %kilt, To Ent 011016 0 Miry packet, Captain POCOCK, with a ititil, from the Leeward Islands, SS days from Tortola, (the hail d tbi Hill° 6 4ble Sir Baa Low• gegi:-1441.1C• 13 - Cla" 1 " • will not be in town until to-morrow) the Prince . of nor Is _s-ftio4t - Frit Se. Cleo*: t Wales packet, Captain lIRKNISS, with a mail from 44. The (C n "thdd eitc .complkin ft" F t rids/ is the t relta Palasil. sc ) ot Liester- Lisbon, in silt days. nant Colonel Munro. . • TORBAY, JANUARY 5. 45. When an army steps so far aide from the path Sailed this morning, bound to the Avestward, the of its proper an 3 legitimate duties, as to become- GIaRALTAR, TONNANT PH(EBE, Antruusa, ARGO, become the insrtument of Purl, to mizin .political views, and s to undertake the reniotal of 'Governors or Ministers, 40 guns, and Human, with a convoy. Arrived the we should have expected that any grievance ,they hired brig LORD COCHRANE, from a cruize.—Wind should adduce; in support of a proteeding so foreign S. E. fine weather. to their own character, should consist at least in some act of grievance and intolerable oppression. The PLYMOUTH, AND PLYMOUTH-DOCK, JAN. 6. measure which is . the subject of this complaint is, ott Arrived the SURVEILLANTE frigate, 38 guns, Capt . t he contrary, an aet of ghee and jerstice. It is not Sir G. R. Conan, from a cruize between Basque the unjust arrest of any of for purposes of op- Roads and Quiberon Bay ; left the squadron under Peession and vengeance, but it is the relief of an offi- Admiral Srorermo, on Saturday morning last, and cer, amongst the most respected in the army, froth the most tyrannical and detestable abuse of power by the same evening, off Belleisles fell in with the DE- which an innocent add highly meritorious individual FIANCE, 74, Capt. HOTHAM, the boats of which ship was ever oppressed. had cut out, that afternoon, froth a strong-defended 46. We shall ever consider the prosecution of Co position, and close under the ftirtifieations of the Pa- lonel Munro, and the part which Lieutenant Gene lais, (Belleisle) a very large British West-Indiaman, ral Macdowall bore in that transaction, as acts of extreme injustice so far as they relate to the indivi. which had been taken by a French pirivateer ; she vidual who wasthe subject of them: But these mea ls estimated worth upwards of £BO,OOO, and may be tures were not less culpable in °thee points of view. hourly expected in here, as she was to sail on Sun- Both the advice which Lieutenant Colonel Munro day last, in company with a Portuguese Brazilman, gave to abolish the tent contract, which we consider taken by the CHRISTIAN VII. convoyed by the Mt- as the real ebject of the proceeding ; and the Memo. teal conveying that advice, a few lines in which were NERVA frigate, Capt. Hewetes. Arrived also the made, without any imaginable foundation, the osten amen brig of war,fromi crui Le in the Channel ; the sible gfound of the charges preferred against him, PINEBE frigate, 36 guns, from the" Eastward, and has had been not merely approved, but applauded by come up Hameraze to be repaired. Sailed the Mie - every authority to which they could officially be sub- FoRD, 7-I guns, for Portsmouth ; INTELLIGENT gun - mitred ; by Sir J. Cradock, Commander in Chief of the army Of which the accusers of Colonel Monro are brig, on a cruise ; the NONPAREIL schooner for Fal- officers ; by the Governor and Council of Fort St. mouth ; and Peoeue sloop on a cruize. The PHEA- George, tvhb hold the supreme military authority un saNT sloop went from Hamoaze to the Sound. der which those officers served ; by the Commander JAR. 7.—The Ciesen, Isferrueux , ST. GEORGE, •in Chief M India, to whom, as officers, they owed and Ammer, are ordered round here from Ports - implicit reverence and respect ; and, lastly, by the mouth, and may be expected to-morrow or Tuesday. Governor General in Council, the Supreme _and highest British authority-in the East. To charge Arrived the Ceocus, 18 guns , from Falmouth ; the either the measure which had been adopted under MINER frigate, Capt. HAWKINS , from Quiberon these authorities, or the reasons upon which it Was Bay, with the West-Ind.arnan cut out of Belleisle by the boasts of the DEFIANCE , and the Brazilman taken recommended, and which had been sanctioned and by the CHRISTIAN Vllth•—The DREADNOUGHT, 98 approved by the same authorities, as e base and in guns, Rear-Admiral SOTHEBY , is ordered to get famous crimes," was a studied insult offered by those ready for sailing, to relieve Admiral Seopeonn , in Officers, and by Lieutenant General Macdo wall, who the &mote, (either in Basque Roads or Quibemn APported and co-operated with them, to every au- Bay) who is coming home to attend the funeral ob- thority which it was their duty to respect. This pro sequies of his revered parent , the Counte ss of Co e n- I ceeding aimed also distinctly at withdrawing the ma -Lee o f Wed- nagement and direction of all military arrangement TOWN, whose death appeared in the S nesday last. regarding the regulation and economy of the army from the legal authority of Government, in order to place it in the shape of Courts Martial, under the di rection of the officers of the army themselves. Lieu tenant Coloeel Munro was the nominal culprit, and the articles were to bear the absurd, and for that reason, we must believe, the collusive and pretended acrasation against him of calumny and gar clef ; but the tent content ' s? rather iis - abolition, was in effect to be the subject, for no other substan tial subject existed, of the trial. 47. We should, indeed, have been surprised, as well as concerned, if any considerable part of the 'coast army had been prevailed upon to stain the pure and honourable character of their profession, by lend ing their countenance in any shape, or in any stage, to a proceeding stamped as this prosecution was with { injustice and oppression, and founded in such motives as all the circumstances conspire to indicate. 48. But it is said, Colonel Munro was only to be tried, and if innocent would have been acquitted— yet the Memorialists themselves alledge that he was already condemned —" having incurred. the suspi cion of having acted in a manner that was most ge nerally considered to have been criminal." e Hav ing incurred the ruspicion," are mere words of form The meaning of the passage is a positive assertion that Lieutenant Colonel Munro had acted in a man ner that was most generally considered to have been criminal—we assume this to be the meaning of the passage, because there was no question concerning the facts. 49. It is difficult to imagine that such a charge as that which was preferred against Lieutenant-Colonel Munro, should have rested only on vague reports, and that the officers who signed should not have used '.alt the means in their power to obtain the perusal of a paper on which they meant to found an accusation 'of libel. We must, therefore, presume, that the, Memorial on the Tent Contract was in the hands ofl those who charged its author with defamation. From ! that Memorial, therefore, never denied nor disavowed I 'by Lieutenant-Colonel Munro, and capable of cer tain and easy proof, is to be collected—e the manner in which he had acted," and if that manner of acting was already most generally accounted criminal, sen tence was already passed so far as faith tan be given to the Memorial intended to be presented to this Go ternment. We trust, however, more in the honour of the armythan in the party feelings of theMemorialists, and we hope they were too sanguine in their expecta tions of so unjust a sentence. But although the ac- , quittal of Lieutenant-Colonel Munro must be supposed possible, it was not fit that such an officer should be brought to the bar as a criminal for his honest sere. vices. It was not fit that the mode of providing car-. riage for the camp equipage of the army, approved and adopted as it had been by all the legal authorities in India, should be appealed from those authorities to a board of officers. It was not fit that this first step should pass without opposition, in the process of usurping the regulation of the army from Govern ment to the officers of the army. It was not becom ing that the Supreme Government, the Commander in Chief of India, the Government of Fort SeGeorge,l and the late Commander in Chief of that Presidency, Sir J. Cradock, should hold up their hands as culprits before a tribunal of o ffi cers sitting on judgment upon the delibe rate measures of their Governments. 50. The whole proceeding was monstrous, and we repeat, in the strongest terms, our warmest approba tion of your just, legal, and indispensable interposition on that occasion, to vindicate the honour of your Go vernment, and to shield one of your best and ablest ` servants from an arbitrary and oppressive abuse of power. If you had omitted to do so, you would have failed in the most sacred duties of your high station, ^ mil " have' 'dila bi LieitemintA.es........_ to bd only the es* etiitiivritit St lini idthittatif that the Ititttlitl ii addressed in the 1 and vie deem his'authbrity exclusive of the public, Administration. ' , legal ptrrier ii illegal ; and commit of the Governor in G. judgment, and beyond all donbt, . such abuses. This does not suppose ... indiscrithinate interference. We assert Government of Fort St. George, • power to comb, in extraordinary of their own authority, and agains .merits combined With the oppression men, by a gross abuse of the power confided, to the Commander in Chief, in the direction of Military pro. secutions. , 52. If this opinion were ivrong, thei44iitigher authorities, vat() have power to pronotince . it erroneous and to provide another remedy ; which in 'that case would be necessary for the evil supposed: • 53. -In the Meanwhile your opinion ryas binding ; and, when confirmed by ours, is still Mae so on the army of Fort St. George, who are 'not the judges either in the first or last resort on that subject. 54. This is not a quesion in which the Officers of the Army could be justified to interfere: It concerns the extent of your legal powers under the Conttitution. of your Government ; Upon which they cannot sit in judgment. If the Commander in Chief, Lieutenant= General Hay Macdowall, differed With yuu, as tie af fects to do, on that point, he might have properly stated it to the Court of Directors and to hisltlajesty's 30- vernment, for their decision; hut, when he' appealed . that question to the Arms" , which is subject to your authority in India, as he did bt his General Order of the 28th January , carried that Contiorersy to a tri bunal, ths incompetency of which he well knew ; and before which, the agitation of such a question, as it could tend to no useful Conclusion, so it could hardly fail to kindle animositf . and excite discord, tending assuredly to sortie Mode or other of public disorder, And perhaps eventually • to 'nliditary insubordination, sad mutiny itself ; in the progress of which, calamity 1 and distress were sure to'fali first and heaviest oit his own friends and associates. 55. We pass naturally' from the General Order just mentioned, to the dismissal of the Officers who pub lished it to the Army ; and our Sentiments on that subject must materially depend on the ()pinion we en tettant of the character and tendency of the order itself. 56. In deliberating-on the subject, we have not thought ourselves bound by the frirm under which the substaace and real purview of this paper has, for ob tous reasons, been disguised. 57. It purperts to be a reprimand to Lieutenant- Colonel Munro ; but substantially it conveys in every line a ' reprimand to the Government of Fort St. George ; and that repriMand is addressed to the Army subject to hi authority. The subject matter of the censure, passed ostensibly on Colonel Munro, renders it inseparable from a censure on the Govern ment.. The offence charged upon that Officeniti hit appeal to the Ptiesident in Council, from aft arrest ;mg , posed upon him by the Commander in Chief, and the General Order itself informs the Army; that the ap peal Which is the inbject - of his repriffistd,watfollowed not by the reproof, but by the protection of GM:Ta mer% ' ' 58. Lieutenant-Colonel Munro had exhausted all the means . he - Possessed of claiming relief from the Commander in Chief hiMSelf. This it was his duty to do in the first histance. But when justice was de nied in'that quarter, and when the hand of persecu tion pressed close upon him, we are decidedly of opi nion, that be had a right to claim the protection of the Supreme Military Authority, which is vested by law in the Governor in Council of Fort St. George. 59. If that Government possessed a legalgower to intervene in a case of abuse, it could not be criminal in the party suffering under it to claim their protec tion ; and the conduct of Lieutenant-Colonel Munro could not justly be made the subject of a reprimand. 60. That the Government of Fort St. George is not restrained by law from this particular exercise of the Supreme Military powers which it possesses; was ac knowledged by Lieutenant-General Macdowall him self, since he obeyed their order for the release of Lieutenant-Colonel Munro. If that order had not only been undue encroachment on his own autho rity as Commander in chief, but had been beyond the legal and competent powers of those who issued it, he would have been bound to obey it, as he distinctly professed himself to be. 61. The Government of FOn St. George did not exceed therefore their legal powers; and the only question that could be made was, whether they exer- Vised that properly in the particular instance ? On .that point, undoubtedly, the Government of Fort St. George is subject to the responsibility which is inse:. Parable from the exercise of all delegated authority. But to what tribunal were they amenable ? Where was it proper ? Where was it for the public interest, that Lieutenant-General Macdowall should carry his appeal ? To the Army of Fort St. George, or to the Sang and Court of Directors ? '62. That he should convey this question to the Ar ely in the shape of a reprimand to Lientenant-Colo- AlelNunro, appears to be in contradiction to his own sentiments on the subject, as we have just stated them ; 'for, if the Government of Fort St. George had a le gal power to release Lieutenant-Colonel Munro, it could not be criminal—it could not, in any degree, be culpable ; it could not incur the penalty of a re primand—but it was his clear right and privilege to Claim the legal and competent protection of Govern ment from the oppression of the Commander in Chief. 6S. If the- Government, on the contrary, did not possess those powers, Lieutenant-General Macdowali owes them no obedience. 84. If the legality of those powers be disputed, not - withstanding the testimony borne to it by Lieutenant General MacdOwall's submission, it is again to be asked to what tribunal that disputed question ought to have been submitted, to the Army or the Supreinz Authorities in England ? 65. It is also to be inquired, whether, in a CODiro very/ between the Commander in Chief *Ft ,the Go_ vernment, concerning the limits of . disks ye authorities, it was fit that Lieu —: MAC • dowall should arrogate the declaim sanctioned' alone by his 'Witch** . 3 4 # 4 • warrant to hold Courts Commander in Chief ,txclosive in that branch 3. But the Attie of st I the sUpreine military Council eittends, in our oilbt, to the preiention of suppose an habitual and' We assert only foi the orge, a right and a legal 'try cases, to the support Kamst seditioui encroach- opptession of innocent 6 IS at Is, ch Id U. of 4 at n ad ya- tke h I Of re ring Of ring ood in C. mu• out