The Statesman. — London, England, 1812-05-29 00:00:00

MG.= _ ANONYMOUS VITEN. WHEREAS an anonym° is Letter,"ander the signature of HON ESTVS, appeared ist ilis *atm. so is, Newspaper, on the 19th day of Marti lant4 dialtsinleg run' f.ihe and scandalous charges against the Nuilliaislis Cam. I nisbinuers of the Transport Board. riupetline obi*.Ofalt French Prisoners, now in this country, and fee wh do pro.ecution has been commenced ageism Proprietor of the STATISM /10: I he hereby olfea Ft I.TY POUNDS to any person who will dime of the mid Letter ; and, to enable them to make_ the hand-writiag may be seen by applying to ; Or 10 Mr. Lovell, oa the State Side of imnivery, hiriAmaw Arr. Mails. ,0: Ihro• 2 - I it 1 r vie rnsey ,, vr t.• 0 1 Rpresistort.- ll*liday at the Pith& Wiel4 THE STATESM4IY; LONDON: NAT 29, 1812. i 1 TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF THE FRENCH WEST INDIA SQUADRON. PLYMOUTH. 1ta,47. Arrived the Northumberland man of wari•Cipt. lloinAm, from off L'Orient. On Friday last be completely destroyed, near that port, a French squa dron, consisting of the Atrium., of 44 guns ; An dromache, of 44 guns ; and the Mameluke, of 16 guns. This is the West India squadron that sailed from Mintz the 9th Jan. last. The Northumberland fell in with them close to L'Orient, in the passage between the Isle de Graa and the main, and com pletely destroyed them, notwithstanding a heavy lire from the batteries. The Northumberland had five men killed and 20 wounded. ANGTI4II ACCOUNT. Camo in the Northumberland man of war from a cruize. On Friday last, 22. d instant, she fell in with, drove on shore, and destroyed, near L'Orient, the following French ships, T z .—The Andromache, 41 guns, 320 men ; tha Adrian, 44 guns, 320 men ; both burnt and blown up ; and the Menicluke, of 18 guns and 130 men, sunk, and on her beams ends.— The Northumberland lost by the batteries five men tilled and 20 wounded. The Growler gun-brig as sisted in the destruction of the friptes. Paris Papers reached town at a late hour last night, to the '2 4th inst. They do not couvey any intelli. gcuce respecting the Peninsula. The French troops esntinue their march towards the Vistula ; and the Emperor of RUSSIA is stated in an article from Ber lin, to hate reached Vilna. BONAPARTE and his Esteems were expected to arrive at Dresden on the 15th or 16th inst. Extracts from these Papers will be found in a preceding column. -~,•- ily the Lady Madison, which arrived at Liverpool en Wednesday, we have received letters and Papers from the United States to the 4th inst. The follow ing IMPORTANT DEC LARATION, which appears in the Official Journal of the Ameri can Government, in reference to this country, can. not but excite considerable interest at the present moment : " The public attention has been drawn t• the ap. proaching arrival of the Hornet, as the period when the measures of our Government would take a deci s;ve character, or rather their final cast. We are among those who have attached to this event a high degree of importance, and have therefore loojied to it with the utmost solicitude. But if tho reports which we now h ar are true, that with England all hope of honourable accommodation is at an end, and that with France our negotiations are in a forward. ness, encouraging expectations of a favourable re sult, where is the motive for longer delay ? The final step ought to be taken ; and that step is NV tvt. By what course of measures we have reached the present crisis, is not now a question for freemen and patriots to discuss. It exists; and it is by open and manly war only that we can get through it with honour and advantage to the country. Our wrongs hare been great; our cause is just; and if we are decided and firm, success is ineritable.---- Let war, therefore, be forthwith proclaiased•against England. With her there can be no motive for . de• lay. Any farther discussion, any new attempt at negociation, would be as fruitless as it would be dishonourable. With France we shall still be at li. berty to pursue the course which circumstancekmay reqUire. The advance she has already made by, the repeal of her Decrees; the manner of its reception by our Government ; and the prospect which exists of an amicable accommodation, entitle her to this preference. If she acquits herself to the just claims of the United States, we shall have good cause to applaud our conduct in it ; and if she fails tee shall always be in time to place her on the grounder her adversary. And on that ground, in that event, it is hoped sbe will be placed. Bat it is said that We are not prepared for war, and ought therefore not to de-' dare U. This is an idle objection, which ate have weight with the timid and pusillanimous only. The fact is otherwise. Our preparations are adequate to every essential object. Do we apprehend danger to ourselves ? From what quarter will it assail as ? From England, and by invasion. The idea is too absurd to merit a mom"at's considers- tion.—Where are her troops ?—But lately she dreaded an invasion of her own dominions, from her powerful and menacing neighbour. That danger, it is true, has diminished, but it has not en. .... • V THE STATESMAN. Only, and for ever, disappeared. A gallant effort, which called forth the whole energies of the nation ) bas'cut it at a distance ; but still it is one of those spaliks which peer over the horizon, and excite alarm even in those least liable to it. The war ha the Pe ninsula, which livers, require! strong armies to sop -1 Port it t fhe maintains an army in Sicily ; another i in haide; and a strong force in Ireland; and along ihetlyiwn coast, and iu the West Indies. Can any 1 null believe, that, under such circu ms t ances, t h e Bri- i tish G.vernment could be so infatuated, or rather mad, as to send troops here for the purpose of inn ' sion ? The experience and the fortune of our revolts ' tion, *ben we were comparatively in an infant state, have doubtless taught her an useful lesson which cannot have been forgotten. Since that period our population has increased three-fold, whilst her's , has remained almost stationary. The condi- i tion of the civilized world, too, has changed.— Although Greatllritain has nothing to fear, as to her independenceand her military operations are extensive and distant, the contest is evidently maintained by `her rather for safety than for conquest. Have we , I cause to dread an attack from her neighbouring pro- i vines ? That apprehension is still more groundless. i Seven or eight milli o ns o f p eo pl e h ave noth i ng to ! dread from 300,000. From the moment that war is declared, the British Colonies will be put on the de-1 fensive, and soon after we get in motion must sink under the pressure. Little predatory incursions on our frontier will not be encouraged by those who know that we can retort them ten-fold, and pursue and penis} the authors, retire where they may, if : they remain in this hemisphere. Nor is any serious danger to ve apprehended from their savage Allies.— i Our frontias may be easily protected against them. The Colonial Governments, aware of our superiority, land of the tertainty of their subjugation in case of war, will feel their responsibility for the conduct of the In dian tribes, and keep them in order. But should the war I lately terninated be renewed,the struggle will be short. i Numberless expeditions from different quarters may be led fork agajnst them. A single campaign would I drive these unfortunate people i n t o th e mos t di s t an t and descrtwilds. But our coast and sea-port towns me exposei and may be annoyed. Even this danger, which exists in a certain degree, has been much ex aggerated. No land force can be brought to bear against them, because Great Britain has none to spare for such a service ; and without a land force, ino great impression can be made. Ships of wa r can not approach near the coast except at the entrance of our great bays and rivers. They cannot annoy the sea-coast generally by their cannon ; and if detach ments of marines should be sent on shore they may be repelled by the militia where they land. It is, however, unusual for incursions to be made on land from ships of war by sailors or marines. The law of nations forbids, and humanity revolts, at the idea of mere wanton desolation ; and in that light only can such incursions be viewed. In the present war between Great Britain and France, which has been prosecuted with so much violence and i animosity, no example of this kind, on either side,' is recollected. In our revolutionary war in which the object of Great Britain was conquest, no great injury was sustained in this mode. Some of our I , towns, it is admitted, may be exposed to danger 1 from ships of war, hut with suitable precautions it 1 will soon vanish. No ship of war can stand long before a good battery well manned and well supplied with heavy artillery. An attack by ships of war only, on any of our towns, could have no ob. , ject but that of distressing the inhabitants, and if those towns are put in such a state of defence, as I to enable them to repel the attack, as all them are, or soon may be, it is not probable that the experi ment would be made; or, if once made, that it would be repeated. The importance of the pro ftection of our seaport towns is sensibly felt. It is a subject which claims the particular attention of the Government ; aid that attention has doubtless been already bestowed on it. The great question on which the United States have to decide, is, whether ' they will relinquish the ground which they now hold, or maintain it with the firmness and vigour becoming freemen. That the sense of the nation fa t 'ours the latter course, Is proved by a series of im portant and solemn facts which speak a language not to be misunderstood. From the first attack by 1 Great Britain on our neutral rights, in 1805, to the 1 I present clay, these facts have been multiplied yearly, 1 by the Acts of Congress, by the proceedings of the 1 State Legislatures, and by the voice of the people-- I Let net the Representatives of the people, there fore, in either branch of the Government, disappoint their reasonable wishes and just expectations.— The pretensions of Great Britain, so unjustly set up, and pertinaciously maintained by her Orders in Council, not to enumerate other wrongs, particular ly the impressment of our seamen, arrogate to her the complete dominion of the sea, and the exclusion of every flag from it, which does not sail under her licence, and on the conditihns which she imposes.— These pretensions involve no local interest, nor are tl4y of a trauscient nature. In their operation they violate the rights, and wound deeply the best In terests of the whole American people. If we yield to them, at this time, the cause may be consider ed as abandoned. There will be no rallying point hereafter. Future attempts to retaliate the wrongs of foreign powers and to vindicate our most sacred rights will be in vain. The subject matt be dismissed from the debates of Congress and from our • '4 dipleinatic diseassions. M anusion to it will excite contempt abroad and mortification and shame at home. Shasta any of our vessels be hafeafter seized and condemned, however unjustly, and that all will be asked and condemned verg be confidently expected, we must be silent, or be heard by foreign Powers in the humble langutigs of petition only." WASHINGTON CITY, APRIL 11, 1812. Nothing of f icial from the Hornet. A private let ter to one of the heads of departatimts here from JOEL BARLOW,. our Minister at Paris, informs that lie has concluded a COMMERCIAL TREATY WITH FRANCE upon advantageous terms, led that the southern boundaries of the United States, as acknowledged by the treaty, are as follow:—Begin ning at Amelia Island, at the mouth of St. Mar)'s river, thence in a direct line to the Bay of St. Ber nard, and thence to the mouth of Columbia river. FROM THE PCBLIC ADVERTISER, Aram 17. The above letter is dated March 3, and came by the Rossie, which arrived at Baltimore on Friday, from Bourdeaux ; it further states, that Mr. Baatow detained the Hornet to send out the Treaty officially signed. A doubt is not entertained at Washington, but the Treaty is on board the Hornet. This for ever and for ever puts a period to doubt, difilealty, or procrastination. Folly can hardly miss the only honourable path there is now left for the United States. In addition to the above, our private letters state, that Mr. Lowsots had declined calling up the Bill to permit the importation of goods from Great Bri tain, under certain circumstances ; and no expectation was entertained of its being taken up ey any other Member. Mr. LOWNDES declared, if the further con sideration was moved by any other Gentleman, he should vote against it. Vice-President CLINTON is dead ; and STRONG, the i'ederalist, who is contend ing for the Governorship of Massachusetts with GERRY, had, by the last accounts, a majority over his antagonist of 1600. The Lady Madison had been cruizing of Sandy-hook ever since the Em bargo. VIE ADMINISTRATION. This day is expected to give a tangible form to the New Ministry. Meanwhile all public business is suspended, the House of Lords having adjourned tilt Tuesday, and the House of Commons till to-morrow, when it is supposed the latter will meet for the pur pose of moving the new writs. The following are the statements of the late Ministerial and Opposition Journals, as to the progress of the negotiation : Yesterday, after a conference between the PRTNCt REOENT and gorl MOIR A, his Royal Highness was waited upon by all his late Ministers in succession ; but we have reason to believe, that the arrangement for their successors is not broken off.—(Monsieg Chronicle.) Lord MOIRA, who, as we have already stated, has made overtures to Lords GREY and GRENVILLE, to unite with him in forwarding the patriotic views of the PRINCE REGENT on this occasion, had an audi ence of his Royal Highness yesterday morning at eleven o'clock; after which the Marquis of Wetr.Es- LF.Y had also an interview with the Illustrious RE• G ENE ; aid about twelve, almost the whole of the Members of the present Cabinet waited upon the raisce, by the express desire of his Royal High ness. Of the nature of these several conferences, nothing has yet publicly transpired; but we believe we may venture to state, that hitherto at least " The Talents" do not consider the offer made to them suf ficiently alluring to induce them to give their co-ope ration (puny as it would prove) in the great work of serving their country in this important crisis of its fate.—( Morning Post.) It is no doubt the wish of the Morning Post, that all the Opposition should be excluded from the Go vernment of tho country. But we are well assured they will not be gratified in this ; and can state, on pretty good authority, that Earls Mot ILA and GREY are already recognised as efficient Members of the New Administration. Report has assigned to the latter the situation of First Lord of the Treasury—l to the former the Viceroyship of Ireland ; and Mar quis WELLESLEY is destined to be Governor-General of [Mitt. These appointments are not at all impro bable; though we still think that Earl Moxiu's ta lents would be of more real benefit to the country at large, were he to be placed at the head of the Tree sury, than seat into Ireland. The Dublin Papers of Tuesday, received this morn• ing, contain the following : Catholic Board, May 12, 1512.—Jour LsLott, of Cranagh, Templemore, in the Chair ; It was moved by Counsellor O'CowNtt.t., second ed by Capt. BRYAN, and unanimously agreeded to, Resolved,—That in pursuance of the Resolutions passed by the Board, on the 23d, of May instant, an Aggregate Meeting of the Catholics of Ireland, will be held at the Little Theatre, Fishamble-street, on Wednesday, the 18th of June, to take into consi deration the present state of Catholic Afters and the propriety of preparing Petitions to the Lee stature, for the total repeal of the Penal tem. JOHN LALOR. Chirlegme. The Ella of MOIRA was yesterday in the ikon of Lords, and left it in company with Mr. &mantes. Mr. HEIR? BOICIIAIeS name was omitted in the Litt of the Mrpjerity on Mt. S. WORTLkY'S Motion. . a TRANSPORT BOARD. The Proprietor of this Journal, who has been a State Prisoner in his Majesty's Gaol of Newgate for upwards of eighteen esonths, and conseqneuely unable to superintend the occurrences of a D u ly Newspaper, finds himself invoked in fresh difficulty in consequence of an anonymous Letter, signed Herrarrus, having accidentally been inserted in the STATESMAN, on the 19th day of March last ; which Letter contains many unfounded charges, of a most flagrant nature, against the lionoureble Comnsis. stoners of the Transport Board, regarding their con. duct towards French Prisoners of War now in this country, and for which an Information ex oiliclo has been filed against Mr. LOVELL, who attended the Court of King', Bench on the 20th of April, to plead to the charge,—whe he was allowed bnpar• lance until the first day of Term. Mr. Love Lt. feels it necessary to declare, in the most public man ner, his entire ignorance of the contents of sorts Letter, signed Ho:stews, until he read it in the STATESMAN ; and he further states his abhorrence of the charges brought against the lion. Commissioners of the Transport Board, which he believes to be false and scandalous, and written with a malignant intention. lie is fully sensible of the great public trust committed to the charge of the lion. Conseil.- sioners of the Transport Board, and of the nek. chief which might arise from so unprincipled and wanton an attack upon them, was it suffered to pass unnoticed ; and is satisfied the manner in which the national affairs are conducted in that department is both advantageous to the pudic and highly creditable to the Honour able Commissioners.—He therefore trusts, that this public avowal of his own sentiments, will coon. (erect any unfavourable impression which may have been made by the anonymous Correspondent who wrote the Letter in question. Mr. Lovern. greatly laments that the Letter of Hoessvus should hare been inserted in the STATESMAN. lie has in vain en deavoured to discover the author ; but be hopes and trusts, that his unfortunate situation will plead as an apology with the Honourable Commissioners of the Transport Board, and induce them to recommend to his Majesty's ATTORNEY-GENERAL to withdraw the proceedings which have been commenced againt him. It i 4 said that the British Commissaries in Spein and Portugal have on hand a sufficient quantity of grkia end flour for the consumption of our army for six months; and that if any scarcity is experienced, it will he but partially felt by the inhabitant*, who will suffer only from the advanced price which indi. vidual speculators will be able to effect,and not from the existence of a reel scarcity. . _ Scam= rt.trr.—The following are the French ships in the &heldt : Charienutg e.... 71 gins Beller "4 OS DAletatin 74 Duguerlier 74 Commerce de Lyon.... 74 Cesar. . . 74 L'Aoverses 74 Pettesk....... ..... 74 Albania .14 Maisie .74 The two last ships of the line are manned by Dine*. There're of o down at Antwerp two frigates, two Dutch corvettes, four gun-boats, with six 21.ponnd.. ers each, besides small craft. The flag of Rear. Ad. miral L'Hstrcsyrr, is flying in one of them, and Admiral Masts:exist in another. The Captains' names are—COURA ND, WILLAMMT, CALUSF, CO. COLEI:R, CURSIVE, and Moats. A Lublin Paper states there is a man now living who was born before the flood--the only construe. tion that we can put npon so seemingly an absurd parngriph is, that the writer waggishly alludes to the spot of his nativity being on the sea-shore. During a recent retreat of the enemy in Port 4, one of their cannon chanced to burst, which into the hands of an officer belonging to the iisitlett army . , he, overjoyed, hastily collected the watered remigns, and sent an express to the Commander in Chief, informing him that be had taken sereial pieces of artiUery. NAVAL IN7'E LK; ENC R. PORTSMOUTH. MAY ?R. Sailed his Majesty's ship Brisk, with a convoy for Cork, and the intermediate ports In the Clatter!. PLYMOUTH, MAT 27. Sailed the Melee bomb, with a convoy to the Fast ; Bul wark MO Of War to the Westward ; and the Niemen frigate Cur off Roardeaot. DEAL, MAY IS. fame down frost the River the ( - vane, Hague, fur Cle • Sailed this moraine, without comity, the Adeline, far Hayti. Fire o'CLot x.—The w ind appear to be of ;n g to the east. ward. The or tward-bound are preparing to sail under convoy of the Speculator logger. FALIifOUTH, MA♦ 46. Arrived his Majesty's ship Pheasant from a cruise. The Packets eattvard-bond olMf remain. THE MARKETS. .....0.-- CORN-EXCMANGR. May 22. This day the Market has tint away 6esh arrival, of Wheat. and the remaking supplies but inaaniiderable. sales thereof maintain last lie same may be Doted la the trade far barley and elk White Pam keep their prier. Very fevi Grey. Tick —Remit a Irilli irony. Oats are here la middling amply, and this e i aimed at little eurtaatioa. Flour con tinues at lase oriel , Wheat Pine OW ' ; s 131 1 P ins. (Floe Old) .. 75 70 Rye ... 74 02 Oa Barley e. 4 50 66 Pawed its. Malt . ~....., .., II 9 5 Pinateeda. White Peas (Dillon) 92 011 Rape geed Grey do. Beam ...—.....-,. 3311THPIEL11 MARK F.T.4.-51ty S T.. tisok the OW. per stone of Mb. Reef ....Ss. Y. to tie. 4d. I Hrtul .If Cattle 'hie 43y ' Motion ..3.. 4.1. to 64. g' l . RP11.4. ..... . . . . PO Vetal ... 7.. M. t* 01. 01. Stoney ... LIDO Pork ....04. 03 to 7s. 44 Calvet . .. 330 Lam% ....7s. 01. to Mt. Gt. Pier 11AY-MARKET. Illny Straw Clilvet ,;. a i~ 11 1' .' ,11 f . 1 1 i i I. f I 1 ... 1 „.. ...rt - • . . „ "A. ';.`;, 1 , .i , 4 ' • ' • • 1' A • • , ~ i II • 7 r