The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1803-02-01 00:00:00

lIIONTHLr RETROSPBC7' OF POLITICS, FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC, FOR JAN. 1805. Amidst the lapse of time, and the fleeting nature of human affairs, it may not be deemed altogether unnecessary to endeavour to arrest the attention of the public, from time to time, and at certain stated periods, take a retrospective view of poLtical events. To decide dogmatically on what is to come, were presumption, but to deduce effects from cattses, and augur in respect to the future from the past, has in no age been deemed unreasonable. Europe, an interesting congeries of free and en slaved States, appears to have regulated the desti nies of mankind for upwards of two thousand years. After subduing, by means of her armies, all nations on whom she has been able, en account of their geographical position to make war, she practises the gentler and still more profitable arts of commerce, by means of which her merchants and manufactu. rers arc enriched, and her industrious poor fed by the inhabitants of the most distant climes. A long and disastrous war, in which all her principal go vernments have by turns been engaged, although it bas left her the same boundaries, has Made a ptodi pious change in the relative situation of each, on ac com:t of a new. distribution of the parts. It is to be feared that her motions ate no longer balanced by the sameoluilibrium, and that the many welik and feeble, when vic'eed singly, can no longer counter poise, as formerly. the bias that may be produced in the political by the Aberrations of the few powerful Statel. If .this should prove to be the case, and that quarter of the globe which rules the other three, be considered as typified by the famous image of antiquity, some of the members of which . were of iron and others of clay, the wildest dreams of human ambition may be realized, and the world, as in the days of the first Cssaas, be regulated by Lie nod of one capricious mortal. Let us take a rapid view of the scene itosmd us. * ITALY, that once happy country, where the arts were nursed, l•t:ers revived; and the ingenioes but di cult policy of balancing the power of great nations, and thui Preventing the subversion of small ones, first ori ginated, has acmorica a new face. No longer the grave of the French, as in the Jays of Fa at ts I. and Cn A at. rsVIII. it has become one of their strcin,t est bulwarks. Venice, indeed, with a pOrt;on of Istria and Dalmatia, are assigned to a warlike power, but the fertile plains of Lombardy; and the exoxiv, frontier:: of Genon, appertain to the Cisalpine and Ligurian Republics, at once allied to, and de pendant upon France, while all Piedmont, impli citly submitting to her dominion; checks the ambi tion, and insures the submission of the nascent Com sitonwealths:l . - SPA!!.. The Ciowrnment of this country, :t.e.r having re- Mquithed Louisi.int to France, by whom it was criginally settled, planted and transferred, apps ars to be occupied about domestic regulations, the ex clusion of heretical books from abroad, and the abo lition of monasteries at home. By the P.rst cf r..esc measures, it is intended to prevent ihnovationN in rNauers cf religion and by the second, which is confided to the joint care of the Prince of PE Act and the Archbishop of Tottoo, to remit' the enor mous dil.ipidations occasioned by the war. TILE NORTHERN NATIONS, LIE present, appear torpid, froth their po,:tioi, and their seeming deficiency in respect to energy ; but Sweden and Denmark have acgered both wealth and strength from their politic neutrality. Rus'ia too, dues not seem inattentive to her best interests, for the F.mp'ror A LEZANDKR•PAULOVITCH, instead of following the brilliant but destructive career of his predecessors, wisely encouragel trade, and copy ing the example of the States of Provence, during the fifteenth century, is anxious to render the situa tion of a merchant respectable, by prevcneng nobi lity from :ece;ving a s:aia from commerce. The [louse of Aust:ia is recovering slowly from a war, in the course of which she displayed tnore bravery, perhaps, than policy ; while that of Bran denburgh, her rival, is exhibiting pregnant marks of that hereditary prudence which distinguishes the character of FaLDERICICWILLIA:4 111. and was not entirely unknown to his father. GREAT BRITAIN begins to enjoy all the advantages, as well as all the blessing' of petice. 1 his is ftilly evinced by tile an nihilation of discontent, and an increasing rei - enue. Yet the prosperity of a nation depends not so much on fiscal receipts and an o►erflowing treasury', as in the happiness of individuals, and their will and abi- Ety to bear extraordinary imposts on the spur of the occasion. If the Stocks be considered as the barometer of finance, the index under the cupola of the Bank augurs but unfavourably for those who would wish to plunge us one day into a war, about the form of government that is to regulate the distant mountains of Switzerland, and on the next make us squander away millions for the dye-stuffs and mahogany pro duced in the swamps of ITotfriras. In the mean time, the accounts from Ireland are trulylamentable; but it affords sum? consolation to find, that the dis turbances in the South, are not in the least.degree tinctured with disaffection. IREL/IND, _____ • • DUBLIN, JAN. 25. Mr. Wickham arrived at the Castle Last S aturday, on his return from Limerick. CORV, JAN. 2i. Mr. Wickham and the Solicitor G..ncral are at Limerick. An Address to the Lord Lieutenant, signed by several of the principal gentry, was pre- sented to Mr. Wickham, by Colonels Odell and Vereker. It states in substance; the disturbances in districts of the county, and calls for the incruur of troop:, as the effective means of their suppression. Secretary WiCkham's answer expresses the anxiety of Government to preserve the public tranquillity, and concludes with the following temperate, firm, and judicious passage : " In the mean nine, as several of the offenders have been ap prehended, and J 1 it appears that a very material body of evi dence, tending to affect many of these deluded persons, and leauling to a diviovery of all their accomplices, has been brought forwArd subac went to the meeting of the Magistrates, and a 4 ar • already given to furnish every aysiatait..e to the civil p6u,er, his Excellency wishes to tuggim the expediency of de laying the execution of smite of the important in...l.:lire: re commended by the Magistrater, moil the eff...ct of those already allo t red shalt Ave bceit fully Ascertained." • ••• LIMEItICK. JAN. 22. We 'lavabo doubt ink the wise and firm mea sures of Government will restore this county to perfect tranqUill;ty. Thursday morning Mr. Wickham visited several of the merchants' stores, the new quays, &c. with all of *Melt he expressed himself highly Pleased, and held a conference with the principal merchants on the most effectual mode of improving the trade and harbour of this city, and declared hi? readiness to for rard any plan that should be thot!ght adviseable to c:trry their intentions into Offect. Thursday last, Mr. Wickham was elegantly en tertaiaed at dinner at the niercaritile coffee-house, by the bankers and merchants of this city. Yesterde morning Mr. ‘Vickhain and his Secre tary !et ttf fbi Dubl.n. . FOX-CXACE. Yesterday, at one o'clock, a fine fox was nnken nelled among the ruins in the Strand; on the west ern side of Temple 114 r. 'foe Epping Hunt has been often admired for its curious field of sports men, but never was there such a strange and ano malous medley collected as upon the present occa sion ; masons, hodmen, labourers, hackney-coach ment applestomen, fishwomca, boys, girls, and ter. tiers, all in Mil cry, joined in the pursuit. —The crowd and variety were farther encreased by a large port!bn ZI the casual passengers in that great tho roughfare, attracted to the scene by curiosity, sup posing that some wonderful dischvery had been made among the rulni.—Poor Reynard, being an animal of strong instinct, first made for Clement's- Inn, in liop,m, n 3 dotibt, that a fillow-feellr.g would there insure hint a safe asylum. He had the good fortune to gain the gate, but that was nearly the total of his success; he tried every building—he ran up stairs and down stairs, but no friendly lawyer would afford him shelter—no hos pitable door would open to receive him ; he met with nothing but dvnurrers, rebutlert r and iur-rtbut ter:, while actiorf, 1;i & ormis, every where pur sued him. Finding no law in the Inn, he made a double to gain his old ground, but he had scarcely reached it, when a blow of a pickaxe put an end at (wee to hislife and the pursuit. A hodmen im mediately mounted his Frush, and a party of ma sons and labourers carried the dead body in proces sion to the Sur; public-house, there to regale them selves after the fatigues of the day, and celebrate the success of the Chace. From whence poor Rey nerd came, or how it happened that he should have taken up suchstrange quarters, we cannot conjecture. ATTEMPT TO COMMIT SUICIDE. A singular attempt to commit suicide, occurred on Sunday evening, at the Cheshire Cheese, Fleet street :—A respectable-looking .yOung man, who had frequently been in the house, and had con ducted himself With propriety, and who, from his appearance, and other circumstances, is supposed t be a Clergymet, after dining, and Offering up large libations, suddenly left the room in a state of ex treme intoxication ; in a short time the report of a pistol was heard i seihie Gentlemen in the house instantly ran into the yard, where they found the your'g man in the greatest pertubation, his moeth bleeding most copiously, and the pistol, on their en tering the yard. thrown from him. • He appeared at first much agitated, and declared he was " a dead man." Nothing further than a violent contusion of the lip, however; appeared to have taken place, and Whether the pistol was loaded with ball or not, is yet unknown. On his being taken into the house, and questioned as to his intention, he said, had his design taken, place, he should have been now in Heaven. In some further conversation, he, in a very incoherent manner, attempted to justify suicide. On being asked where he lived, he said in Mount , street, Lambeth : his conduct evincing every mark of insanity, whether from intoxication or otherwise, it was deemed necessary to place him in a state of security until the morning; he was therefore taken to the Cemptcr. Yesterda l i lo t om e underwent a private examination it the Jtutiee , Guildhall, cm which occasion, he expressed the most sincere contrition for his beha viour, aril attributed it solely to the effect of li quor. He was therefore discharged. - On Saturday, about one o'clock, as a boy was riding a horse down Drury-lane, it became restive. A gentleman passing at the time, received a kick from the animal, which killed him on the spot. Large bodies of the patrole being stationed in Hyde Park, on Sunday last, several pickpockets were taken up among the spectators, at the Serpen tine River. The New English Palladana, of Dec. 2, contains the following article : " Information has been re ceived at Philadelphia, from Cape Francois, to Nov. 17. The main force of the Blacks were en camped within twelve miles of the Cape. the inha bitants of which place were in constant dread of a desperate attack : A want of' ammunition on the part of the Negroes, alone delayed the assault, and a supply was expelled from Port Republican. The French force at the Cape was about 2000 men, andtheir enemies in the vicinity 10,000 men strong. It is difficult to decide whether the French or the Negroes are the most cruel. St. Mark's had capitu lated with the Negroes, whose final success is almost certain. Americans are allowed to depart with their property." LAW INTELLIGEATB. • 'COURT OF KING's BENCH, JAN. 31. This being the Anniversary of the Martyrdom of King Charles the,lst. neither the King's Bench or any other of the Conics at Westminster Hall sat. Sir Nash Grose merely took his seat on the Bench for the purpose of ju st ifyi ng B a il, a nd hearing mo tions of. course. ' L I C. 13 . stAactioac I:OH-STREET. • Robert Salmon was examined by the Sitting Ma gistrate, charged with attempting to rob the shop of Mr. Charles Harris, a linen-draper, •in Berkeley square. The Prosecutor stated, that he had, foi a , considerable time past, observed the Prisoner in company with several other suspicions persons lurk ing about his door. On Saturday last ha Was stand ing in his shop, and saw the' Prisoner Put his hand upon the glass of the window; he immediately rUsh- ' ed into the street, and round the glass had been cut . with a diamond, but not knocked in, as the offenaer had not sufficient opportunity to 'complete. his de sign. Mr. Harris, on attempting to take the Pri soner into custody, was assaulted - with much vio lence ; he howaver found meAns at last to have him secured. The Prisoner alledged in his defence,' that he was p ing by Mr. Harris s shop without any ill design, NJ:en he was taken into cu s tody by the 9i6 ders of the Prosecutor, who mistook him for the persons who had attempted to commit-the robbery.' The Magistrate committed the Prisoner, in order to be indicted for the offence at the ensuing sessions. MO?vTHLT AGRICULTURAL REPORT, FOR JANUARY, 1803. The severity of the weather in the present month has not been very favourable for the operations of husbandry, unless for those of getting out the ma nures upon the meadows; clover-leys, and land un der preparation for early pease and bean crops. The young wheat craps have in general a wary promising aspect, excel t..the very late sown ones; which have scarcely had time to fix .themselves so in the soil, and become sufficiently vigorous, as to withstand the severity of the frosts. The attacks of the grub-worm, and other insects upon them, have, however, been considerably checked. Much cf the old grain being now. threshed out, the markets become rather dull. Average price of corn, &c. for England and Wales, Jan. 15th. Wheai 565. 9d. ;, rye 375. Ild. ; barley 455. 3d. ; oats 19s: 6d. ; beam As. 2d. ; pease 38s. iOd. The turnip crops do not appear to be, in general, so much injured as might have been supposed, from the sudden and untisual intensity of the frosts, and the want of snow to cover and proted them. Rye, and winter tares, have a good appearance, and are promising crops h most districts where they are cultivated. In many instances they are this season so forward as to be in a state proper for ting for green f,..cid for cattle or other animals. Notwithstanding the warmth and unusual open ness, of the weather, until the present Month, the priccf of all sorts of fat stock continue high. Beef in Smithrield Market fetches from 41. to ss. 6d. ; mutton, .sa. to 6s. ; veal, Cs. to 7s. Gd. ; and pork, 4.t. Bd. to ss. Sd. In Nev.- gate and Leadenhall Markets, lied sells from Ss. €4. to 4s. sd. ; mutton, 4s. to 55.,; ve.i!, ts. 4d. tatu. 4d ; and pork, 4s. 81. to 3s. Be.. PotatGeg are nn the advance, probably from the late sererity of the weather, as from 41. 10s. to 71. per ton. Horses of 'lie good kinds, whether for the saddle or the cart, arc high. Salta popili noreina /two—SEVERAL MEN are em ployed at a constant daily expence, by the litim ANE SOCIETY, at the Serpentisie River, who request sluS err to avoid weak parts of the ice, dic. .HisMA;ESTy, for the preservaton of the liver e f his luyeets, in 17i)3, ter:Otto:ly granted a plot of ground for a Rere v ng House, which is furrrshed with aft Electrical Appa ratus, Couchette, and Warm Bath, fir resuscitation. Many of the N03.11.,v, viewed it on _Sunday with admiration.—An Institution moldy &maw me rits the warmest support of the affluent, and philan thropic, as its exertiont are at all :carom of t? e rar devoted to the preservation of life..—SL seriptions are received at Caron Dimsdale's,Langston's, Drum mond's, and at No. 8, Spital Square. On Sunday se'nnight, Mr. Justice Bats., with a party of soldiers, surprised a number of people in the act of making Batik note's, at a paper-mill, near Templeoge, near Dublin. The note-makers mad'e a desperate resistance, lit which two of diem were killed ; four were afterwards made prisoners. Mr. BELL received a *ound of a bayonet in the knee, from a woman : Ihe notes taken are executed with astonishing accuracy, acid are to a very considerable amount. . . • • Captain WitsotO the gentleman wlin *As wreck:- cct at the Pelew Islands, is just returned from China, and reports, that the Keys id tbi Ch;ste , i , Langautle i late,ly published in London by Dr. HAGER, has been presented to the gentlemen of the English fac tory at Canton, and to ,some of the Chinese fiterioi, and - that the work has met with their complete ap probation. We are concerned to state, ' that letters from Con stantinople, mention the loss of all the anti quities collected by Lord Elgin, in Greece. . This coltection v containing,many invaluable specrmeus, of - ancient sculpture, &c. was shipped on - r board a vessel, ,which put into Crigu Bay, in, stress of w , .a- L'.na the pilot letting gii the anchor ill too deep water, the ship. was driven on the rocks, and sunk in fifteen fathoms water: . . ghefolloyfirg is stated to be the presvit Military of the French Republic : INFANTRY One hundred and twelve brigades, • Thirty-one brigad s of light troops. CAVALRY... Two regiments of c trabitieers, Twenty-foar ditto heavy cavalry, Twenty one ditto dragoons, Thirty-two ditto horse chasseurs, Thirteen ditto hussars. . . ART►LLERY Eight regiments of foot artillery, Nix ditto horse artillery, Fifttreen companies of artificers, • Two battalions of politimiers, Eight ditto of the train. ENGINIERS Nine battalions of sappers, Nine companies of mine, s. thousand six hundred and twenty.cix brigades, viz.-1813 horse, and 813 of foot, the whole formed into 26 lezioui. ST. DOMINGO. F joarn:l of Proceeding: at Cape Franco's, between April and November, 1802, giv, n by a French Officer of " Rani to an Officer of a Brit'sh Man of War, then lying at Cape Francois, Nov. 21, 1802. Three or four days after the departure of the Cer- , bents, 32 guns, in April last, CH RISTOPHE, the Black General, third in command, entered the town, with a flag of truce, and negotiated a peace between the Negroes and Whites, - by authority of TOUISSA INT. In ten Hays, Generals Touissaisir and DESSALINES, first and second in command, came also and surrendered to General LEC LE RC, by whom Touissa INT was pardoned, and permission . given to reside at any of his plantations in the island; in consequence of ahich he repaired to one near Gonaives. CH R ISTOPHE and L FifiiLINES now began to act in unison with General LECLERC—One was ap pointed Commandant of the Northern district over the Negroes, the other Inspector General of Culti vators in the island. In this pleasing dream of security they continued for some time, until Des -5.51. iN Es denounced Tovssa INT • a conspirator against the French Republic, in consequence of which he was arrested at his plantation, put on board a French frigate at Gonaives, and sent to France.— For some time after tranquillity seemed to reign, till Commandant Mac Esas roused the Nailer es to their farmer depredations. They began by de stroying and burning the plantations an the island of Tortudas, burnt Port-au-Pair. and all the adjacent country. Dessa LINES Was sent against them ; but always contrived to' leave, on every retreat, his stores and annnttnition in possession of the Negroes. They now ticame•:• more enterprising, by burning again the plains of the Cape. CH RISTOPHE now ordered. t' 3. agaiost them, 'rho also contrived to let them into the pop ession of his camp stores; and every thing wore a serious aspect. General DESSA LI NES accused a General BF.L LA IR and his wife as the principal instigators of rebellion they were arrested, brought to the Cape, and shot. The conspiracy among the Negroes now began to be very ripe ; General Cc/tiny/am (a Mulatto Corn-' mandant), together with the other two, contrived to get all the Negrees in the town to join them ; also a regiment oT Blacks, the 6th, which was in . Barracks. DESSA LINES was to join CHRISTOPHE and the Brigands privately, then to march to Haut de Cap, where CLAIRVAUX waited for them ; from thence immediately to proceed to the Cape, where they had no obstacle to fear, as the Negroes and 6th Regiment were :tidy to join them, and the White inhabitants unainicd, by a &amid gitjec from the Commandete in Chief, diiecting their fire-arms to be taken from their, that they might be issued to the Blacks well inclined to the Republic. Such - was LECLERC'S infatuation. CLAILvAUX (who is naturally said to be a cowird) feared to wait the denouement, it should rapear, for he all at once de serted. Hatt; de Cap, took the 10th, and another re giment in prri.on there, and went over to the ene my. This step alarmed LEE' LEnc ; the Whites were immediately embodied as a national guard; . all the regulars mustered, and•every active exertiii made to prepare for their reception, which was hardly ac complished, before the whole host of Negroes fell on Haut de Cap, the 14th Oetobev, at midnight, and carried the town end :works by storm. At one a. m. two regiments of the Polonese troops then u:i duty, frightened by the horrid wild cries and vells of the Blacks, gave way with great lass. The French retreated to a pass p l wife and a half Gom. the town of Cape Francois; rnd .there mad! a stand until the morning , the firing o 1 musquetry was heavy while it lasted, but neither side lost many mei.. At eight a. es. the negroes set fire to the camp of the French, taking with them cannon, &c. We then continued about ten days quiet. LECLERC evacuated ;di the. small posts to the coast, drew ail his strength to the Cape, appearing much panic struck, for he em barked every thing from the Cape for Tortudas, and even spiked, all ,she guns of the town that bare on the shipping; these cirearnstances raised a general alarm among the inhabitant!, they, immediately shipped all their proper[;; there it: scarcely now a • dollar to be seen, and vessels arrived from France -with merchandise are preparing to return. .At the expiration of another ten days they attacked Haut du Cap again alit six o'clock in the morning, car ried it. and the works before ten, and drove the French. to their old stand at De la Cour, shewing a determined resolution of entering the Cape.; for this purpose they raised works on the hill, and opened two batteries on the French below them t they fortunately, hawevef, had only 121 b. balls for. 19 pounders, and this, together with their being bad engineers, prevented them from cutting the French to pieces ; the latter returned bomb-shells, well directed, which appeared to discommode theni much. The . Negroes three separate times at deid of night attempted to surprise them, making the most ' desperate attacks, but were driven off with loss : the French increased, and the Negroes slackened their fire, urtil the 6th of November, when they once more set fire to Haut du Cap,,alestroying every thing as usual. They are now encamped on a river, four leagues fr.org Cape Francois. In the mean time ',Lc LE Relied disarmed, slipped, and drowned • the whole of the 6th regiirelt, witi, a great nuns.- ; ber of the Town Negroes, together with their wives' . and children ; Ire trial was wanting at this time, - theif colour condemned them, innocent and guilty,, and their corpses.lioating in the harbour occasioned such a pestilence, that General Lec LE de was c J/11. pelle.l to retire out of the garrison, and died three or foar days before the negroes were driren off.— . Madam Lecas ac sailed the 9th from the Cape, in the Swifteure, for France ; three line of batik ships' were in the harbour with two frigates, one of which.• had only seventy men left out of a complement of two hundred and seventy. It is not an uncommon ; • • • thing on shore to see eight or ten carts full of bodies every day taken from the hospital for interment, a dozen in each ; and, upon the nearest calculation, it is estimated that there are not more than two or three thohSand effective men remaining out of th 4 whole original number. Great praise is said to be due to the inhabitants of the town (merchants, Creoles, Americans, am) for their active support against the Brigands ; it is said their assistance entirely turned the scale of the last day's attack ; they are.regularly called uporr duty, and furnish horses, &c. for the use of the; trooN. Thus it seems that the French have made a Quheron business of it, and are, as far as I can see, likely to lose the Island altogether; if it turns out so, property here will become very precarious in arr parts. i , r 0 I • l' I t f I . iii R • I S . 1 . • -A