The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1804-08-09 00:00:00

_ CHINA FLEET. EAST-INDIA HOUSE, AuGan 11, MC A 'atter fmm Captain Nathaniel Dance, Commander of the ' 7 ..4 India Camnany's Ship, Earl Camden, w 4 rsce:wed • re this morning, of which t►e fellowtng is a Coil Sid, ' 4 For the information of the Honourable Court, be% leave to acquaint you, that the Ea.•! Comde is , is dispatched from Canton, by the Sele/t Corn wittee, the list of January last; and the ships noted in the margin*, were put under my orders as senior commander ; also the Rah, Botany Ray ship, and the country ships, as per margint, were put under my charge, to convoy as far as our courses lay in the same direetion ; I was also or dered to take under my protedion a Portuguese European ship, that was laying in Macao Roads, whose supzr-cargo had solicited it from the Selea Committee. " Our passage down the river was tedious, and the fleet much dispersed: the ships being under the diretlions of their several Chinese pilots, I could not keep them enllefted as I wished. " We passed Macao Roads, on the night of the sth of February, and I conceive the Rala had an chored so near Macao as not to see the fleet get under weigh, and pass through ; although, at the time, I had an idea that could be possible, especial ly as I saw the Ocean in shore of us, getting under weigh, burning blue lights, and firing a gun ; the Portuguese ship, I suppose, must have been in the same situation as the Rolla. " During the night of the sth February, I carried an tail sail, and on the following day hove to, for above two hours, hoping to see those ships ; but there was no appearance of them, nor did they ever joist the fleet. " On the 14th of February, at day break, we saw Auro bearing W.S.W. and at eight a. vs. the Royal George made the signal for seeing tour strange sail in the S.W. I made the signal for the four ships noted in the margin t to go down and examine then ; and Lteuienant Fowler, of the Royal N try, late Commander of the Porpoise, and passenger with me, having handsomely offered to go in the Ganger brig, and inspen them nearly, I afterwards sent her down likewise; and, from their signals, I perceived it was an enemy's squadron, consisting of a line of battle ship, three frigates, and a brig. "At one p. se. I recalled the look-out ships by signal, and formed the line of battle in close order. " As soon as the enemy could fetch in our wake, they put about; we kept on our course under an easy sail ;at near sun-set they were close up with our rear, and I was in momentary espe&ation of an attack there, and prepared to support them ; but at the close of the day, we perceived them haul to windward. I sent Lieutenant Fowler in the Ganges brig to station the country ships § on our lee bow, by which means we were between them and the enemy, and having done so, he returned with some volunteers from the country ships " We lay to in line of battle all night, our M 412 at their quarters ; at day break of the 15th, we saw the enemy about three miles to windward laying to; we hoisted our colours, offering him battle, if he chose to come down. The enemy's Fair ships hoisted French colours, the line of battle ship car rying a Rear-Admiral's flag ; the bi ig was under Batavian colours. " At nine a. rte. finding they would not come down, we formed the order of sa ling, and steered oar cour , e under an easy sail : the enemy then filled their sails and edged towards us. 4 ' At onep. as. finding they proposed to attack and endeavour to cut off our rear, 1 m *dethe signal to tack and bear down on him, and tag the in succession ; the Royal George being the leading ship, the Caves next, and then the Earl amigo: this manoeuvre was correaly performed, and we stood towards him under a press of sail; the enemy then formed in a very close line, and opened their fire on the beadmost ships, which was nut returned by us till we approached him nearer ; the Ro l a, George bore the brunt of the anion, and got as near the enemy as be would permit him ; the Ganges and Ear/ C . 4,11 dam opened their fire as soon as their guns could have effea ; but, before any other sii;p could get into adios, the enemy hauled their wind, and stood away to the eastward, under all the sail they could set. At two p. m. I made the signal for a general three, and we pursued them till four p. m. when, fearing a longer purssuit would carry us ton • Watley, Alfrtd, Rgyll George, County Wexford, Gant Exeter, Earl of Abergavenny, Henry Addington, Bombay (aide, Cumberland, Hope, Dersetattire, Warren }lasting., Ocean. t The Cange'i, a flatitailing brig, was put under my °niers by the Seieet Committee, to employ in arty manner that alight (qui t t the safety or convenience of the Met, till we had p.aa d the Straits of Malacca. I was then to dispatch her to I Alfred, Royal George, Bombay Castle, and Hope. S lowd Castlereagh, Carron, David Scott, Minerva, Ar tistries, Charintc , 51saw Kissarue a labanguer, and , The Political Suite of Austria shall certainly appear THE BRITISH PRESS. LONDON, THURSDAY, Aucvsr 9. A Court of Dire tors was held yesterday at the Bast India House, when the di s patches from China were read, and the account of the engagement with the squadron of Rear-Admiral LINO'S was laid be fore them. The Secretary at the India House, with a laudable zeal to gratify the eager curiosity of the public, has favoured us with the particalars of this important event. They present the singular and unprecedented cassof a merchantman challenging a man of war, not only challenging him, but bearing down upon, defeating, putting to flight, and pursuing a squadron, led by a Rear-Admiral, in a first-rate man of war. It was the Royal Geary that atchieved this gallant exploit; the Royal Geor:e4 a name dear to every British heart, and the terror of France in every part of the world. We are happy to state that Lieutenant 1 7 .,wcru, and the officers and crew, fifty-five in number, of the Po►Mi,e, wrecked off New South Wales, were all saved : they were conveyed to China, and came to England on board the fleet which has just ar rived. An account was received in tows yesterday even ing, by the Telegraph, of the safe arrival of the homeward-bound East India and West India Fleets in the Downs, yesterday at three o'clock. A letter from our correspondent at the Hague of the 28th ult. confirms what ha wrote to us some time ago, that most of the troops in the Telel are disembarked, sad the provisions, colletled there for their use, are dispoiel of I.y public auflion From these occurrences it is coacludel, that no expedition of any consequence will sail from that part of the Batavian republic, at least until; 'a landing in England is made good by the troops on board the flotillas at Flushing, (Mend, and. Bou logne. The whole numb2r of French troops at present in Holland do not, according to this letter, amount to 25,000 men, of whom 15,000 are en camped near Utrecht, and Ova remainder in garrisons at the I lelder, in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Hague, Breda, and Bergen-op-room. Besides the corps from France that have within four weeks passed through Honda(' for Hanover, several detachments have been drawn from the French cavalry, Masseurs, and artillery, in the Batavian republic, to augment the army under &INA oor rr, who commands near 40,000 men ; but should a Continental war break out, these will be doubled, and 10,000 Dutchmen will, besides, join them as auxiliaries. General MARMON T is said to have officially informed the Batas inn Go vernment that Bo m APARTE would visit Holland this Summer, but declined ;ill pompous reception. Our correspondent at Dungenness, in his letter of yesterday, says, "The weather has been uncom monly temp .stuous on Sunday and Monday. The wind blew bard from S. S. W., indeed a perfect gale, th.tt n..)si of our blockading squadron were 'obit : Ted to leave the French coast, and anchor here, where they nJw arc, to the number of 17 sail. They will, however, sail to resume their stations with the fit st tide." A letter from our correspondent at East Bourn, dated Tuesday, says, " Last evening a large French lugger privateer appeared of Be,tchy Head. On the signal being made from thence to C:tpt. Derr of the Mtge.-a, sloop of war, then laying in l'evensy Bay, he immediately sailed in pursuit, anti hopes are entertained of his being able to came up with her " This morning the West India fleet, consisting of near ISO sail, appeared in sight, under convoy of the a5O gun ship. A fleet of large ships are also coining up the Channel with a brisk breeze, which are supposed to be the East India and China fleets." A wealthy brewer has been arres:ed in Dublin, upon a charge of rebellious praelices. The poll for the Middlesex Ele.flion closed yc,ter. slay, under circumstances that may be considered almost decisive in favour of Sir FRANCIS BuILDETT. The detail will be found under the proper head. Lord G. L. Gowsa will leave tot-n in three weeks upon his diplomatic mission to Itia-sia. The following Captains yesterday took leave at the East India House of tile Court previous to their departure for their respective destinations as under mentioned : Captain William Adticrley, of the Devayne3, for Mr.idcira, Bombay, and Madras. Captain Jame> Normann, of the Skelton Castle, for Madeira awl Bombay. The Court adjourned at an early hour till Wed nesday next. The packets by the Carmarlteg from Bencoolen had not been received at the E.tct India [louse. The Eirl Camden, East Indiaman, has several chests of superfine tea on board, sent home as a pre sent to the Et IST CONSUL from Mr. PERRON. The following is a correa list of passengers on board the ships letely arrived from China and lien coolen : Per Hamar ADDINGTON—Messrs. Allen, Wiiiism Baring, Jas. Maloity, J. White, aid Dr. White, (loin China ; Mr Justain Achain, ■ French privoiser, front Polo Penang. Per Cube D—Mfr. W. H. Aaron. Per Waxman—Mr. Edward Dennison. Per W• a tee—Memo'. Wright and Smithson. Per P - v A1.640•131-114r. and Mrs Blair and Mrs Fiyar. POT iikimill•T CASTLE—Mr. James Thomson. Lteut Samuel Flinders, Commander of the Investigater, Messrs. White wood and Sell. Per A v and Mn. Be:assise. Per Eau Cassoass—Mr. Lance, late Supercargo at Canton, and Mr. Gratnes, late Surveyor General of Lands at New South Wales. Per C • a , from Scncooleil—Ntr. N•irn. The Woodford East-Indianian was left at China on the sth of February. The Rolla extra ship, from Bencoolen, parted from the fleet in the China seas two days ;tier sailing. The W. Heotheato, from Demerara, for Liverpnel, was captured on the 4th ir.st. off ltd.rid by a trt.atli privateer, and sent for France. The Daphne, MALCOLM, from Savannah, is ar rived at Liverpool in twenty-one days passage ; the spoke the homeward-bound Jamaica fleet, consisting of 147 sail, under convoy of the Ildlcrophon and Dr Querne men of war, on the 11th July, to lat. 33. long. 75. all well. At no period perhaps in the commercial his tory of Great Britain were so many, and so va luable fleets expeded to arrive at one time, or during the present week. The China fleet—the Leeward Island fleet—the Jamaica fleet—the New foundland fleet—the Lisbon fleet —and the Baltic fleet, were all hourly expefted ; while an alarm was given of a French squadron having eluded the vigi lance of our blockade at Brest. The lowest estimate of the value of the homeward-bound trade, is be tween 16 and 17 millions : the bare duties to Go vernment are above 4 millions. We learn by the arrival of the China Beet that the Vaccine Inoculation has been introduced into China ; in the first instance it unfortunately failed of success, but the Chinese gave every encouragement to its , in trocludion, and at the departure of onr ships, very little doubt was entertained, bin this invaluable dis covery would be brought into general pradice in the extensive empire of China. WINDSOR, Aug. 7; lalt I - being the birth day of He Royal Highness the l'iinmsslLLlA, who haLattaitted.the ago of twenty-o ic. a grand gala was,gisen,,by His MA. JLsre to upwards of an hundresrdnd forty of the Nobility and Gentry at CumbeflandaLodp, in the Great Park. Exclusive of the - oh:wpm , invited, a large concourse of people were assembled round the Lodge, among whom were some malignant souls, who, deaf to the charms of harmony, during the pe r . formance of some most delightful glees, - bellowed out "Bawl& for e:Tt, N 0 Bastit." This vocifera tion was several times repeated, evidently intended as a most gross insult, which could not pass unno ticed by the attendant police officer, wh.) kindly en deavoured to dissuade them from a continuance of their improper condua ; but, finding his endeavours fruitless, he, with the assistance of several gentle men, had them secured and concluded to Windsor. It is supposed they will be sent to the office in Bow street, to undergo a proper examination. fat from the rrerath of the Streits, and considering the immense property at stake, I mad: the signal t 9 :Oa, and at eight p. r.. we anchored in a si:ua• tioorto proceed for the entrance of the Streit:: in the morning, as long as we could distinguish the ene my, we perceived him steering to the Eastward un der a Fret, f red. . _ " The 1?,..ye G.-orge had one man killed, and an other wounded ; many shot in her hull, and more in her sails ; but few shot touched either the Camden or Ganes, and the fire of the enemy seemed to be ill direfted, his shot either falling short, or passing over us. "Capt. Timins carried the Royal George into action in the most gallant manner. In justice to my bro ther Commanders, I must state, that every ship was clear and prepared for aetion ; and as I had communication with almost all of them during the two days we were in presence of the enemy, I found them unanimous in the determined resolution to de fend the valuable property entrusted to their charge to the last extremity, with a full conviaion of the successful event of their exertions; and this spirit was fully seconded by the gallant ardour of all our officers and ships compunies. " From Malacca, I dispatched Lieut. Fowler in the Ganges brig to Pulo Penang, with a packet from the Selea Committee, to the Captain of any of Ills Majesty's ships, soliciting their convoy to this very valuable fleet. " On arrival at Malacca, we were informed that the squadron we had engaged was that of Admiral Lineis, consisting of the Marano of S 4 guns, the Belle Polite and Semithvdt, heavy frigates, a cor vette of . 2.3 guns, and the Batavian ft igate, of 18 guns. " The 28th of February, in the Streits of Ma. laces, lat. 4 deg. 30 min. N. we fell in with His Majesty's ships Albion and Sceptre. I was then in a very poor state of health, and Mr. Lance went on board the Aliion, and, by his very - able representa tion to Captain Ferrier, of the great national conse quence of the Hon. Company's ships, he was induced to take charge of the fleet. " Oa the 3d of March, I dispatched the Ganges brig with a letter to the Right Hon. the Governor- General, giving an account of our anion, to be conveyed to the Hon. Court. " We At: ived at St. Helena the 9th of dun", under convoy of I lis Majesty's ships :Mica and Seem r— and sailed the 18th, under convoy of His Majesty's ship Plantagenet, with the addition of the Carmarthen, Captain Dobree, and five whalers *. " Accompanying this, i send a ant of the en trance of the Streits of Malacca, with the situations of the fleet on the 14th and I sth of February, which will, I trust, convey a more diqinet idea of the aftion, than any written description. " I have the honour to be, Sir, " Your most obedient humble servant, " NATISANILL D 11.4 CE. " Earl Camden, Alt:. 6th, 1804." ♦ NAMES OF THE WHALERS. William Fenning, Brook Watson, Thoma 4 or Young T ,m, Bette, Lit 1, the Blockhouse, term the coat of liusnea, at Nta. •RAIVALS AT HOTWELLS. Mr. O'Connor, Mrs. Villiers, Miss Percy, Mr Johnsen, Mr. Koos,!swarth, Mr. and Mrs. Sharpe, Mrs. Ransfurd, Sts, Lindsay, Mr. and Mrs. CUIT,, I Min Corry% Mai Fraser,, M,ss Chapman, Miss fraud, Miss Browne. Mr. and Me. &c. dec. Yesterday morning, His Mai kvrv, and the Prin cesses So/MIA and AMELIA, with their mull At tendants. took an airing on horseback in Windsor Park. Her 1 4 4.uzsry and the other Pstkcscsu took an airing in a sociable, on the Maidenhead Road. His Royal Highness the Duke of KEN, Hi Windsor oil Tuesday afternoor. A report was circulated. ye terday, of the death of Lord GARDNER, but no cr a.t was at- Liched t., it. On tr'.day last died at his house at the Blackrock, near Dublin, Niro HEN as. C•vss .s4rt. to Baroness WA T 1:10 ARK, and Leber ti shir tehs of MOUNTNOILIII9 and Lady ICI L.:Ai% • At his house, in Dublin, last ' • I of DUARr, in the county of K. kenny. liis . . ship marled ANNE, eldeA . i r Of ALTAMONT, and sister to the pitscut Li of SLIGO. _ _ _ On Thursday the Right Hon Joan Fosyse ar rived at Donagladee, in the north of Ireland, from Portpat: ick. liiteami, the celebrated singer, arrived in Belfast on 'Tuesday last, on his way to Dublin. Cro,ws, lyres, crowns, and diadenis, continue the prevailing ornamenta in the head.dress of a Parisian rk Bi•itent, the author of La Filer:Ai Repiia, has, to the great regret of all Paris, thrown away some of his finest music upon a bad poem, imitled and Pasgain. Thepetiti-meitres are as fickle as the women of Paris. Swords in silver and vermillion were lately the universal fashion; ir s w they wear steel swords, and steel shoe-buckles, usstead of silver. Mr. rawcarr was tn close, his engagement at the Liverpool Theatre, lass night, in the chArafters of Jack Junk, Frank Toppi;..And SKr:, in Tke lancyer, for his own benefit. Miss HARE, daughter of the late Member for Knaretborough, has arrived at Leeds within these few days, and gives a most flattering account of the gaities of Paris. A London seedsman, wlio had furnished a large quantity of seeds for Madame Bomar s r r s's bota nical establishments, and had frequently applied, in vain, for payment, was lately advised to wad in his bill addressed to 4 , the Emperor of the. Feiss u. He did so, and was isomodiately paid; ito proud was the little Corsiesinqo nave his title recognised by an Englitb srrchrian. The Roof°, George, besides plenty of other am munition, had a large quantity of gaut-pruder tea on board, which, no doubt, made her conailet shot to rattle about the ears of Rear-Admiral Linos& M. GRASALT now conduels the orchestra of the Theatre Lorovis, instead of M. Racial. GILASS&T is considered the first violin in Paris. The swimming schools at Paris, we are told by a Paris writer, are conduCted with great delicacy and decorum. There are distina schouis for the boys and girls. The Italian fashion of introducieg into an old .opera, on"reenwt, that do not belong to it. begins ta take in France. The I lereford Music Meeting will boast the un rivalled powers of Mrs. BILIMUTON. Brighton was so crowded with company dutin; the races, that a great number of spur: in gentlemen were obliged to seek lodgings at Ruttingdean, I luve, and other adjacent places. The Tontine Subscription for building Pali:is Rooms and a New Thean e, in Sw.:nsc-a, rapidly increases. The list has very recently been honotned with the names of Lord VENNON, and T. ‘ViND - A Ms EA. M. P. for Glamorganshire. Messrs. SWIISDAL and Hoc asioost have opened a Theatre at Newent, In Glotmestershire, which has been very fully attended, and greatly encouraged , by the first families in the neighbourhood. The Melo-Drawe is all the rage at Paris. The following. new We-Drawn were in reli.earsal n. the 15th last—Coesse la Clemency de Frelerzel II &die Is Belle Mdasaise I Dismeaaia» , ; and k Mot: ToooSath. A Parisian Bear wears his shoes eight dam I* coat three weeks, and his hat a month. His haft , tailor, and shoemaker, then take them back one-third of the prime cost, and supply him se new. The fashion thins changes at least twelve tie , a year. Should a sudden revolutioa take place. takes on extra, for which he pays an extraoidinat. price. Friday se'nnight, Colonel Svcrs, and the Office• of the Birstall and Batley Volunteers, gave an eleger ball at Birstall, which was attended by all the bunt and fashion of the neighbout hood. The places of public amusement in Nornich crowded almost every evening during the ass week. At the Theatre several new Comedies svi• brought forward, in which Mr. Suirsi, a Peferm of great professional merit, made his first apy ance. At Natoli's garden, on Wednesday sr • ing and evening, there were 4(XX) per.ons pn and at the Assembly, the same evening, about ' fashionables of the city and county . VIIIIMIN The Moore, Minis, grand fi4 from C 4 camp A intentioi Di of I hay with an logne st in the c cinity a at abou at six o' dark. great 11 the fir exaft. derahle tipal p talleins. in dAil for sett It is Al‘Leir the ma throng) over2o , A cc of Capi sendlai did au 73, folio% ill ik) a 4 Irish Riven ever. in nu klled had a route M.,jo 6.1 F