The National Register. — London, England, 1811-09-08 00:00:00

NATIONAL REGISTER. INTERESTING NARRATION. Extract of a Later from a Private in the Old Buffs ' who wls taken prisoner in the battle of Albuera, and effected his escape from the enemy t— " I was knocked down by a horseman with his lance, who luckily did me no serious injury. In getting up, I received a lance in my hip, and shortly after another in my knee, which slightly gtaied me. 1 then rose, when a villain hurried me to the rear a tew yards, striking me on Cie side of the head with his lance. He left me, and soon after another come up, who would have killed me, bac not a French officer came up, and giving the fellow a blow, told hi& to spare the British, and to go on, and do his duty with those of my .unfortunate comrades.—This Offi cer conducted one to the rear of the French lines ; and here the sight which struck the eye was dreadful—men dead, where the column stood, heaved upon each other—the wounded. tying for assistance, and human blnud flowing down the hill. I came to where the French baggage was, where I found a vast number of my own regiment, with a good proportion of officers, prisoners, like myself; numbers of them desperately wounded, even after they were prisoners. Here then I offered up my fervent thanks_ to Heaven for having escaped so sate. 1 remainedprisoner seven days; and the whole I received front our enemy (marching six ' leagues ever) day on the road to Madrid) was three ounces of rice, nine ounces of bread, and a pound of meat. However, when on the line of march, they indulged us by entering bean- Ileitis—using the same language to ul as the Spaniards to the ovinti—" ifurrah ! Hurrah! —Conceive my feelings, for, be. lieve me, 1 cannot describe theta. On the seventh evening I left them, in open day-light, and after gt ring two miles, lay down. Shortly a piceieet passed close by me, but they did not see me. Soon after I arose, and alth:iugh a mere skeleton, rushed forward to a hill, crossed it, and entered a corn-tick., where I was again &tanned by the trampling of horses. I inintediattly fell on my Face; it again pleased Heaven to save me; they passed me, and (lid not observe. I again ruse, and travelled over mountains, through valleys and rivers, till exhausted by excessive fatigue, I sat down, and was una ble to rise. Here a refreshing bleep allayed my hunger, and recruited exhausted nature. I arose, and proceeded to ayillage, where I was received according to the Scripture.—" I was naked and they clothed me ; I was hungry, and they fed me." Such treatment I never before ex perienced, as going through this ex t:nsive ceuntry, every rerson outvying with each other to soften the hardships I had endured. in sixteen days I reached Elvas, and soon atter joined my regi ment." .SPOI?TING. XING.—A most sanguinary conflict took place at natiford, Pucks, on Monday, for 201. between Burke, a bargeman, stand ing six feet, and weighing 1 6 stone, and Wahirgray.2, a farmer's son, and a reputed boxer, something less it len!Jh and weight. Both were knocked &mil by counter hits in the first round, and In the second Waldegrave received a right-handed hit, which levelled him with the force of a horse s kick. Twenty san guinary rounds were fought, when Waldegrave was declared victor. Burke was inofiensive with the lc ft hand, and his anta gonist won the battle by stopping with his right hand, and lunging it the same time with the left.—Several hundred .spectators were presttit. MATCH AGAINST TIME.—Mr. Titch, of Nottingham-street, made a bet of 100 guineas, a few days since, that he would pro duce a galloway under 14 hands, to do 50 miles in four hours, and to carry eight store. The animal started from Hampton wick on Thursday morning early, into the western road, and returned again in five minutes less than the given time, having performed the match with apparent ease. 'The half of the dis tance was per;Ormed in one hour and fifty minutes. EXTRAORDINARY PEDESTRIAN rs:/t T.—Last week, at In verness, Alexander Fraser, formerly a hair-dresser, now a letter carrier, aged nearly tiO years, undertook, on a bet, to walk two Scots miles and a half, over ground intersected with brush-wood, hedges, and ditches. in one hour, which he rriOrnied in 32 mi nutes. This was witnessed by a brawny Serjeant of the Flgin Local Militia, who, willing to show his superior agility, took an equal bet that he would outrun the light-footed letter-carrier. Old Fraser instantly accepted the heroic challenge, and to show what he could do when put to vigorous trial, took a lad on his back of 20 years of age, and thus encumbered, began his career with the Serjeant over the same intersected path which he had so recently ran. The crowd set up an univeisal shout at the mo ment of starting, and away darted the old carrier as nimble of foot as though he only bore a couple of letters in his big. The massy Serjeant toiled after, but exertions such as his were fruit less--the man of years gained the wager, leaving the permanent man of the sword only half a Scotish mile b. hind him. He ar itsod amid repeated huzzas of the spectators, who regaled the yetteraii with a . 12,hiand gill for his rai)idity of running. NA UT IC.AL INTELLIGENCE. Another ship of the line, to be named La Hogue, of 74 guns, will be launched from the Royal Dock yard at Deptford, ots Wednesday, the 18th instant, when the tide will serve at half past two in the afternoon. It is expected that the heaUtiful &g -rate line of battle ship, now building at Woolwich, will be cont.. pleted in a few months. This vessel is to be called the Lord Nelson ; and, as a grateful tribute to his revered memory, she is to he graced with the full leegth figure, and a representation of some of the achievements of the immortal hero. An heroic deed has lately been performed by the Hon. Capt . . Gore, ctmmanding the Scorpion sloop of war on thin station, and who arrived at this anchorage, with Lrigilder-General Sir CliarleS Shipley, last Saturday. A few days before the Scorpion made this island, she experienced a heavy squall to windward of Martinique, which was so sudden and so violent that she lost some of her masts, and three poor sailers went overboard, whilst it was blowing with the greateSt violence. On sAeing the poor fellows struggling for life in a tremendow; sea, their brave Commander instantly, and alone jumped overboard vrith two gratings ; and after a long time buffeting the waves, suc ceeded in saving two of the men; but the third being so much exhausted, and the sea so high, sunk to rise no more.—(Bar badoes Mercury, May 4.) Extrac? of a letter from a Gentleman at St: John's Newfound land:—" On the 3d inst. a schooner of about 50 tons, arrived here from Waterford, having been upwards of 50 days at sea. When she left Ireland, With passengers and crew, there were no less than 209 persons on hoard; 27 of whoirt died before getting in here, and 12 or 15 since her arrival; a number more are not expected to survive. It was from want of water and provi,ions that the unfortunate people lost their lives. I was told by one of the passengers, that a number of their tongues absolutely split before they died. A Gentleman had thirty barrels of oat meal on hoard, which they mostly eat, mixed with their own urine. Had they been out for one or two days more, most of them would have died. When they were landed I never beheld such a melancholy sight. The Magistrates have entered a prosecution against the Captain and owner of the schooner." ISLE. OF MEN, Avo. 4.—lVltitazo Loos ESCAPE or SEVEN MEN IN A SMALL Bong.—On the morning of the 23d of July, as the fishing-smack Tartar, of Darby Haven, was drifting in the Channel with her net-shot W. N. W. from Peel, a heavy gale of wind came on with a rough sea, which caused them td haul their train or nets on board • and, in the act of hauling, she drifted down on a boat a-head of her , and with the scud of . a sea, took the point of her boom into her forebuddiegs. Be fore the crew perceived any damage, the water was over the ballast; the leak encreasing fast, in less than ten minutes she went down; the crew, seven in number. providentially escaped in the punt. The otins boat's crew, judging the boat and men went down together, made the 'best of their way home with the lamentable news of their fate to their f'milies. But Provi dence still had them in tow. They lay in the small boat com paratively like a tub, eight feet keel and live fret beam ; and to prevent the sea from breaking in, they ranged their arms alor.g the gunnels. At day-light, the brig Lively, of and from Green ock, Captain Roderick M'Kenzie, tor Gibraltar, hove in sight to leeward, and under reefed topsails close hauled, beating to windward, the punt drifting in her headway ; and when within pistol-shot, the men, cue and all, gave a great. shout, which was heard by the Captain, but the sea rite so hollow lie could not perceive them ; apprehending something wrong below, or a man overboard, called all hands on deck; on the second shout, the sailors were astonished, not seeing any vessel near them, and on the third, one of the sailors running up the rigging, per ceived a number of men in the water, to his great astonishment, not seeing any thing under them, as the state they lay in, with their arms near the water's edge, prevented him ; with the greatest difficulty they were hoisted on board the brig one aka' another ; when on board, the Captain made this remark, " such a miracle was almost equal to walking on the water." Some time after, the Prince of ‘‘ , rales cutter, Cept. Wallace, hove in sight, and, by a signal from the brig, was soon alongside. Captain Wallace immediataly steered direct for the Isle of Man, and lauded them safe in Darby Haven, to the inexpressible joy of their despairing families. On Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning, the King's acting Serjeant - Trumpeter attended at an inn in Bartholomew Fair, and issued licenses to all the trumpeters, drummers, fifers, &c. It is not generally known, that all persons who presume to sound, beat, or play, at any opera, play, dumb-show, rope. dancing, mountebanks, or public exhibition, without such 11. cense, are liable to he apprehended and punished as rogues sudi vagabonds throughout England. •