Star. — London, England, 1808-05-05 00:00:00

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE:* ST. PETERSEURGH, APRIL 2. On the part of our Court, the following memo= rable declaration has been published, in consequence 6f the arrest of the Russian Ambassador at Stock holm " The Emperor hes announced to all the Cabinets of Europe, and his own : , :hjee!s, his constant endeavours to obtain from the King of Swt.dea what is due to him from subsisting rreatics—at the same time that he demanded from his Swedish Majesty his co-operation against England. After hiving more than a month since taken this step, hislm perial Majesty was concerned to find, that while he was endea vouring to procure a good understanding between Russia and Sweden, the latter pie forted the friendship of England, his enemy. " His Imperial Majesty bad not concealed either from the King of Sweden, or all Europe, that the welfare of his people required him to employ all the means which Providence has bestowed on bins for the safety and welfare of his people. " Faithful to his system of moderation, his Majesty declared, Moreover, his readiness to invert the steps which he had taken, into a mere measure of prudence, If the King of Sweden would immediately, and Without furtherdelay, fulfil his obligation; and co-operate with him and the King of Denmark, to shut the Baltic against the English fleets. " The silence observed by the King of Sweden, the accounts given in public papers of the conclusion of the Treaty, by which subsidies, a fleet, and part of the land forces of Great Britain were placed at the disposal of that Monarch—in short, every thing bespoke the real sentiments of that Prince with regard to Russia, every thing clearly shewed that his Imperial Majesty could not expect any favourable change in the sentiments of the King of Sweden, and that it was time for his Imperial Majesty to satire his subjects agaihst the calamities which bad been secretly prepar ing for them. His Majesty was accordingly compelled to alter the character of his measures. 6 ' Hs Imperial Majesty has reeeived intelligence that his Am bassador in Stockholm, on the 20th of February, (sel March) was put in a state of arrest, by the King's order ; that all the persons belonging to the Russian embassy were also confined in one House, by his command; that that Monarch has even proceeded so far, as to order all the papers and letters of the embassy to be put under scat; and the whole embassy to be guarded 'by the military. His Majesty has, therefore, to protest against an act of violence com mitted against his prerogatives, and the dignity of his Crown, and which concerns all other Powers as well as himself. The diplo matic body resident in Stockholm, was so perfectly sensible of the truth of this assertion, that it immediately protested against an act of violence, unprecedented in Europe, with the exception of Turkey. " The Emperor might use reprisals, but he has preferred di recting his Ministers to double the attereines which they have always paid to the Swedish Ambassador, who is still in St. Peters burgh, and to provide, that he should have the power to take his departure from hence whenever he pleases, and that he may not experience any difficulty or unpleasant occurrences, either here or on his journey. " His Imperial Majesty informs hereby all European powers, t'iat from this moment he considers the province of hitherto Swe inli Finland, which his troop► have not been able to conquer but to consequence of several actions, as a province conquered by his arms, and that he incorporates it for ever with his Empire. His NTa j, sty trusts that Providence will continue to bless his arms in this war, and a.sist him to remove from the frontiers of his empire, thole evils to which the enemies of Russia have endeavoured to expose it. ' Given at St. Petersburgh, the 16th of March, lees." PRIVATE LETTER—BANKS OF THE ELBE, APRIL t. " This morning all the Spanish troops who still remained at Hamburgh and its environs received or ders to march to Altona, and go into quarters there till further orders. When a detachment cf them ar rived at the'gate of the city, the Danish soldiers on duty refused them admittance, upon which the Spa nish officer who commanded them waited upon the President of the Senate of Altona, who told him th u he had received no orders from his Sovereign to receive them, and that he had several days before made the same declaration to the French Comman dant at Hamburgh, General Damas. The Spanish officer then said, that his orders to enter were posi tive, and that he must oppose force to fors. The President still persisting in his refusal, the Spaniards entered with fixed bayonets, and soon after were bil leted on the inhabitants. It is reported that French regiment's will in a few days come to Hamburgh and its environs, parti cularly, it is said, the corps of General Victor. •" We have a report here, that the Swedish fleet from Carlscrona has made a successful expedition against the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic." EXTRACT OF ANOTHER PRIVATE LETTER. " APRIL s.—The Prince of Ponte Corvo has bad frequent conferences with the new King of Denmark, in which he expressed to him his surprise at the de fective state of the military preparations in Zealand, even for the defence of the country against England and Sweden ; and also at the little progress made in the measures necessary to co-operate with the French and Spaniards in the invasion of Sweden. He left Zealand because he did not think himself safe there, it an attack should be immediatelymade by the combined British and Swedish fleets. He also left his head quar ters at Odensee in Fuhnen, and retired to Colding in Jutland. He is said to have transmitted to Bona parte some very strong remonstrances on the imprac ticability of conveying his army to Sweden, without the most imminent danger of being destroyed by the British and Swedish Maritime Force ; but all the answer he received from his Master was, that he ex pected he would send him no more dispatches, unless they were dated from Stockholm. o A French Artillery Officer of rank has lately written a letter from Dalmatia to a brother officer in the North of Germany, in which he assures the lat ter, that the Expedition against the British territeo ries in the East Indies will certainly' go forward both on the part of the French and Russians, whose com bined armies are to co-operate. Marmont is to have the chief ccmmand. The French army, reintbrced by troops from the German confederates, will march from Dalmatia to Astracan, where it will be joined by the Russians. " Lucien Bonaparte lives in all the seclusion of a private man at Rome ; and all the offers of his bro ther Napoleon to make hint a Prince or a Sovereign haw been rejected by him. He refuses to acknow le.ve the latter by the title of Emperor and King, and assigns as his reason, that he had power enough as First Consul of France, as a re public, and should have remained true to the cause of republican representation, for which he formerly fought. By order of Napoleon, the name of Lucien Bonaparte bean erased from the list of the Impe rial family. The fate of the Pope and his territories will now probably be soon decided. It is said, that at first the Pope would not admit to an audience the French Ge. reval who so gallantly planted the artillery of his my against the Pope's Palace on his entering Rome. The French Minister, it is reported, intro duced Miollis without the knowledge of the Pope, who then could no longer avoid the interview. He Would not speak to the General a single word on state affairs, but referred him to the Cardinal Secre tary. The French General, instead of kissing his Holiness's slipper, only made a bow, when Pius sar castically asked him, " Siete Catolito voi ?" Are you a Catholic ? Miollis answering in the affirmative, the Pope gave him the usual blessing. LETTER FROM ABO, MARCH 11. a This day our formal entrance into Abo took place, together with the act of taking possession of this Grand Duchy in the name of our sublime Mo narch. The Governor, the Dignitaries of the Church, the Deputies of the slobility, the high public Func tionaries, and the Municipality, at the head of the collected citizens, met us before the town, arid re ceived us with the most decided marks of pleasure.— i Provisions of every kind, according to the informa tion just received, are here in great quantities ; and 200 cannon, .as well as 90 pieces in Taugerbut, are become our booty. " Yesterday evening we received intelligence of the capture of Biorneborg. The remains of the Swedish army, commanded by General Klingspor, which had been thus far driven back, have suffered much in the defence.pf Biorneborg. They have lost a Colonel, 3 Staff-officers, 9 officers, and 350 men, and the bag age, and have been forced to retreat toWasa, where however, he will find he has been flanked by the column of General Tutschkow, and he will have con sequently no other resource reraaining than to sur render, since the passage across the Gulph of Bothnia .into Sweden is impeded by the floating ice—and in retreating by Borneo, along the uninhabited coast of East Bothnia, all his melt must necessarily perish 1 with hunger. " Thus has our worthy leader answered the confi dence of the Monarch. On the one hand, he has added to the Empire in tl:c space of exactly one month, with the least sacrifice possible, eight pro vinces, the population and culture of which are not inferior to that of the best Ritsiiun Governments; and on the other hand, the conduct of the troops, the severe discipline they have maintained, and the un interrupted continuation of the occupations and indus try of the people, have interwoven new laurels on the wreath et Russian victory—mere especially in a land where the events of the years 1710 and 1741 did, indeed, furnish most convincing proofs of the bravery of the Russian , :, but where it was reserved for our times to chew him to the inhabitants, as a man, a protector, and a benefactor. Swcaborg is still wanting to us. Should this be taken also, the conqueror may then fairly undertake the capture of Gibraltar—for there exist only two such tiwtresses, raised by nature, which can resist the mo- I dem art of war." 66 NlAacti 12.—T0-day Count Buxhovden invited the constituted authorisies, and the most distinguished inhabitants of the town to a grand public dirt r, and the new subjects of Russia drank w ith joy the of their Sovereign, on this, the day of his accessicn to his Throne." NEUSTADT,MARCH 38. Lieutenant Von Eswald, of the hussars in garrison here, has ventured with some of Lk people over the icc into the road and took a Swedish vessA. HANOVER, ArRII, I. _ _ Military executiGn has thin day been levied uprn several persons in arrears for tie forced I:ian. It is said, that General Serairkr receives an annual in. come of 15,000 livres from the country of Hano ver ; and General Milhaud, the like sum from West phalia. _ . BANKS OF THE DANU3E, AP - ATT. 7. The last accounts from Istria state that General Marmont is marching to the coast with the greatest part of the French troops in Dalmatia. The motive of this movement is yet unknown. STETTIN, MARCT-{ ‘2l. For some days past all ships and large boats hav2 been laid under an embargo here, and are crpedi , tiously fitting out for sea. It is said to be for the pur pose of effecting a descent in Swed.m. At Stralsund, too, many ships are ficting out for sea, and the Com mittee of Government has published an order on the subject. NURENUERG, APRIL 8. Our Gazette contains the following article : " Letters from some officers in the corps of General Davoust mention, that that corps has received orders to hold itself ready t march, as it will soon break- up for Southern Russia. The army will assemble at Astracan, and march tl.rough Persia for the East Indies." MEMEL, APR:I. 9. On the morning of the ith inst. the ship Agatha, of Luboi:k, Captain C. hoop, had the misfortune to strand. The vessel had been purchased by Lord Royston, at Liebau, in order to transport himself and other Englishmen, to a Swedish port. At first, it was erroneously said, that Baron Stedingk, the Swe dish Amba.ssador at St. Petersburg h, had availed himself of the ship for his return. With much dif ficulty they were saved yesterday, the Captain and three sailors. Mr. Holliday, Don Paroira, a Portu guese messenger, Mrs. Pollock, the lady of Colonel Pollock, in the English service ; Mrs. Barnes, with three children. Among the unhappy sufferers, arc reckoned at present, Colonel Pollow (Pollock), Lord Royston, Messrs. Focke, Renny, Bally, Backer, and some sailors. BANKS OF THE. I`.IAINE, APRIL 5. They write. from Stutgard, that it is believed a part el the Wurtemberg troops, and probably other troops of the confederation, will, in the beginning of the summer, march for Italy, to take part in an ex pedition which has been talked of for some time. FROM THE MAYNE. APRIL 16. it is said that a considerable body of troops is to be transported from Spain to South America. YRUN, APRIL 2. The Kingdom of Navarre has decreed, that an arch of viumph should be erecod to the French Emperor on his passage over the bridge Bidasso. FLORENCE, MARCH 21. The Provinces and Coasts of the - Roman States are occupied by 30,000 French troops. According to advices from Ancona, the French have taken two English frigates near Bari, on the Neapolitan coast, after having chased them 18 hours. NAPLES, MARCH 25. The combined French fleet, amounting to 30 sail, ha. , arrived here from Corfu, and is taking in provi sions. A landing has not yet been efrected in Sicily, though this has been aslertcd in sr;eral Jcurnals. TRIM', MARCH 14., The English Ambassador, Mr. Adair, who was at Viennas sails this evening in an Austrian ship, for Malta. Trieste has now more the appearance of a place of arms, than a peaceable treading town. The garrison has been doubled, and all the points where a landing might be practicable, are defended by bat teries. The English squadron is cruizing on the coast of Istria, and every day some of their frigates if the wind permits, come up almost close to our har bour. The Russian ships of war are at anchor, but have taken such a position that an attack on them would cost the enemy dear, as they would be exposed to all the fire of the Moles, which have batteries of 9.4. and 36 pounders. An English frigate is now cruizing at the distance of a short league of the Mole of the Old Lazaretto, and chaces by her boats all small vessels. VENJCE, MARCH 24. The French Consul-General here, M. Robert, yes terday received a letter from the French Commissary for the lonian Islands, M. Bessieres, informing him that the Rochefort and Toulon Squadrons, consisting of ten ships of tl:e Rita, several frigates, and other ships of war, arrived safely at Corfu on the 25th of February. On their appearance the enemy's ships immediately left those seat. Other accounts add, that the saki combined drens, after a few days, sailed again from Corfu, pro bably to strike some important blow. MAR(''( :'.f;. The day before yesterday a French cutter arrived here with dispatches for the Governor-General, and immediately afterwards such movements were obser ved as give reason to suppose that the small Italian squadron which lies ready in the Arsenal, and all the Russian frigates and corvettes which are here, will sail to-day or to-morrow. The cutter has proceeded to Trieste, probably to carry dispatches to tic three Russian ships of the line and three frigates which lie there. In all probability we shall soon witness im portant events in the Adriatic. The combined Rochefort and Toulon squadrons arc already off the coasts of Dalmatia, and there are even reports of a loss which the English have suffered near the island cf Curzola. APit]L 2'. _ . Since the Ergli.li ships have been obliged to retire before the combined Rocheford and Toulon fleet, a number of sips and barks have arrived here with considcrabk. cargoes from the' Seven Islands, the Ne apolitan territory, Dalmatia, &c- _ _ , The twelve to thirteen thousand bales of cotton xvhich were sr.ld by public auction at Ancona, are going to France. The Italian newspapers advise, from Zara, that the French fleet commanded by Admiral Gantheaume, which arrived in Corfu the '22d of February, set sail again the day following, but left there the ship Com merce de Paris, to relit. The fleet consists of 19 ships of war ; it returned afterwards to Corfu, and set sail from thence again the 16th of March, destined as we understand for the Morea. JUTLAND, APRIL 3. . . The head quarters of the Prince of Ponte Corvo are now at Odell:ice. PARLIZMENTART PROCEEDINGS. HOUSE OF LORDS, MAY 4. Tr. the R00)111%11 Appcal, CA RR e v. Lv was, Counsel were again heard, and further proceedings postponed until to-mon - ow ; and the further consideration of the important Banbury Peerage Cause w as fixed Cur this .lay se'nnight. Lord HAWK ESPURY presented further papers respecting Vessel,, ike. which were ordered to lie or the table. Mr. Wittorro x, Mr. PARNELL, and some other Members from the Commons, brought up three private bills, which were severally read a fir: t time. After some further routine husiness, the licuse adjourned until to-morrow, when their Lordships stand summoned upon the re • commitment of the Scotch Judicature Bill. HOUSE OF COMMONS. A ballot wl3 talern for a Committee on the Donegal; Elretion Petition, viz. Widiara Honeywood, Esq. W. R. Cartwright, Esq. Lord Bruce Sir Thos. Mostyn, Bart. John Hammer, Esq. bir John Ord, Bart. Ro'.,ert Manners, l'iAcount Clive Sturges Bourne , Esq.. Wm. Chute, Esq. Hon. A. Hope lion. W. B. Lygon Wm. Dudley, Esq. Sir Ceo. F. Hill, Bart. . . Wm. Bagwell, Fs+ Stephen Lushitigton, k:sq. Mr. CAI.CRAFT gave not:ce of a motion on Monday respec ting the Rocht fort squadron. Mr. BIDLULPI-1 renewed his notice of moving certain Finan. cial Resolutions, fur Thurschy. A new %Vrit was ordered for the election of a Knight of the Shire for Rutland, in the room of JOSEY:I WRicur,,Esq. who has accepted the Chiltern Hundreds. Mr. Alderman SHAW presented a Petition frem the Butchers of London and Westminster, against the Flaying Act now pending —Ordered to lie on the table. Mr. HUSKISSON presented sortie further accounts respecting the Droits of Admirety.—Ordered to lie on the table. Mr. HUSKIS°UN moved for an account of the disposal of 4,000,00 d. of Exchoquer Bills granted in the last Session : alao an account of theExcliequer Bills of the last session now outstanding and unprovided for : also an account of the Exchequer Annuity Bills outstanding and unprovided for ; which were ordered. He then gave notice, that he should move the necessary provision fur the same in the Committee of Ways and Means. COMPENSATION TO SCOTCH JUDGES RETIRING FROM THE BENCH. The LORD ADVOCATE of SCOTLAND having' moved that the House go into Committee to consider further of the propriety of providing for Judges of the Court of Session, Lords of Justiciary, and Barons of the Exchequer, retiring from the Bench in Scotland, in consequence of old age and infirrni:y, Mr. ABERCROMBIE had no objection to make liberal provision for the Judges of Scotland, as well as for those of England and Ireland, who, after a long life of arduous and laborious services to their cotuitry in that capacity, should find it necessary, from age or infirmity, to retire from the duties of office. But he particularly objected against any such provision for ' the Scots Barons of Exchequer, whose duties were so trivial as to render their places nearly sinecure, not withstanding the ample salaries attached to their situ ations. The report of the business done in the Court of Exchequer in Scotland, though ordered by the House, was unaccountably withheld ; it it had been produced, it would have shewn that the House ought rather to diminish than increase this expence, as it would appear from it, that they only tried four causes in a year, or a term ; he was not sure which. In fact, so trivial and insignificant was the business of that Court considered, that its Judges were not selected from lawyers most eminent for their talents and full practice, but rather from persons of the con trary description ; and even the very last appointed Baron, Norton, had never appeared in his bar gown and wig for twenty years preceding his elevation to • the Exchequer Bench. Instead, therefore, of viding lieesiOns *fox' such nien,. On their at - teat sinecure places, it worild better become the Roan,.' Commons, the guardian of the public pur se , as matter of economy, to abridge the salaries at p hi _,„: annexed to their office. The LORD ADVOCATE ~f SCOTLAND ee l . ' plied to the last speaker, and though he admitted the the duties of the Exchequer Barone W 33 not letav; still he thought that Scotland had a right to cap:: that the liberality of this country (so liberal ia question more immediately concerning Scotland • Ireland), would not deny to a Supreme Court of dicature in Scotland what they had already gre et e their own. He thought, too, that the less the Baru::; had to do the less temptation they would have to t : . tire from such light duty, and that consequently e e public money would be the less encroached upon, Mr. H. MARTIN said, that the Honourable a i; d Learned Lord had industriously avoided answering ' his Honourable Friend's argument. The question simply was—had those Exchequer Barons any the* : to do, or what service did they perform, to eritiUr them to this dale; upon the public money? & le that was not made cut, he could never consent to ply those worthy Barons lx retiring from retirement. I t had been stated, tuid that statement had not been contradicted, that for two-thirds of the year they h i e nothing to do. lie could not see upon what grouel this compensation was called for. The Hon. Mr. BOYLE ( Solicitor General if s cee land) said, he could not help expressing some sta prise at the opposition which had been made. The ' measure was brought tarward to the House not ac 2 matter (3f favour, hut of justice. These lodges formed, a supreme Court in Scotland, as much as ,thy ie Eng. land. To state thd number ot ceptscs that had core• before them, from any return node, was not a ler way of meeting the question. The House wen t, look to the real nature of the import ant businecs that Court was in the practice ot performing, wiit‘.tht• in term time or not. Previous to the Ihrior, tee n were Judges of the Court el Exchequer in Scetlani, who were acknowledged by the law of Scotia:el ;_ but it occurred to those who brought aUent that in-.. portant measure, that a Conn framed upon. English principles should be established in thet country. Ac cordingly soon afterwards an act pa :ed, which :hewed that it was only following up the articles cf the [drier., by leaving them as constituting a Supreme Cote , and as such he contended that it a:• as entitled to great respect as any Court in Westminster Hall. Be that Act it was provided that the Cent: t cf Excheque. in Scotland should have the same poeers as the Court of Exchequer in England ; that it shauid be a etti,. of Record, and then speciticd the nature of the dutie to be pet formed. Having this before them, he would ask the House of Commons, whether it was possiblr for them to withhold their protection ? lie cof,trueed with his Right Hrnourable Friend v-lto had subrae • ted the proposal to them, that it was a mere omissien in the Act which granted annuities to the Englisi Judges. But what he wished the llau cto at: -id to was, that the Judges in quection had must importam duties to perform, although they might not have so many revenue ca.:ses to t:-y as those in England had, a circumstance that was el eatly to the credit of the country in which they presided. They she-Jinten tended the collection of all the revenues in Scotland, and passed all public accounts of monies. In pant : cular, they had of late had the additional d ut y of at ' tending to all the accounts regarding the militia. Mr. ABERCROMBIE, in explanation, said, that although he had s:a:ed they were not persons of great eminence at the bat, yet he did not infer they were improper appointments, or that they were not highly I respectable characters. He was not, however, dispo • sad to alter his opinion, from any thing he had yet heard. Mr. WHITBREAD stated, that in his opinion no principle could be more wise or considerate to act upon, than to grant a liberal remuneration to all per sons in public, laborious, and responsible offices, ex chiding at the same time those that were mere jobs. The judges of the Find dcs2rve to be well paid ; and were the duties of those in Scotland equally arduous with those in England, nothing could be more wise ' than making an adequate provision for theta in their old age. A comparison had been made between the salaries of the English and those of the Scotch Judges, and from that Comparison he could not help thinking that the salaries of the English Judges were even yet too small.—(Hear Hear! Hear ! )—He should wish the present question to be postponed till certain re. turns were made which were formerly ordered. Frog what had been stated in the description of these offices, they appeared to be of a nature which would not in. cline him to grant any remuneration beyond the ac► tual duties specified in these returns. Mr. ROSE said, that while he agreed that it might be proper for the House to haiie more information upon this subject, yet he could not help ob . rving, that if the House should make a provision by way of annuity for the Judges of the Courts of Session and Justiciary in Scotland, it would not only be injudicious, but be thought invidious, not to include the Barons of the Exchequer. It would tend to prevent the country from getting men of high character to fill these offices. It might be awing to the upright judge. ments and respectability of the Judges, that so fey causes came before them. If they were men of a dif. ferent stamp, probably the number of causes might be increased. Mr. HENRY MARTIN, in explanation, said, he did not mean to speak unfavourably of the presen: Barons, nor detract from their professional cha. meters. Mr. MACDONALD observed, that he never could consent to make additional grants, merely for the purpose ofTreventing any invidious distinctions I-eing created. The Court of Ses,:ion in Scotland, he might say, adminstered the whole of the justice in that c try, the Court of Exchequer did not, And the: , :fore the Judges cught not to be put upon the same footing. When it was asserted, that thei; .-intie ....no, to the trial of only four causes in the y hale was performed, and therefore little should P • Mr. DUNDAS could not think it necessary in such a question to wait for any rev:mils beng made, as the duties of the Barons of the Ex , :!.eque; were not confined to the exercise of their judicial functions.— They frequently had to controul the Governme of the country, and had the power of advising the trea sury not to grant certain disputable salaries, and to declare they wou ld not pass t h em t h roug h their courts ; and it would be recollected how nobly sad w_ _ (plate beCOl l NVh Oll an 01 2PP° I 2grel that i r2 to Pr' bc of so