The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1804-11-17 00:00:00

:~ SIR JAMES CRAurunD. TO THE EDITOR OF THE. AI St s_.The case of Sir ,4: Craufird li aving been made a subject of public discuss' on, and a species 0 : vindication having appeared in Mr. Cohbett's olitical Register of Saturday last, I beg to be al owed as a spectator to give an opinion on this topic, vhich is now become the p ro p ert y of the p ublic. I .i s li to do so the mote , because fe after all the belie de nse. which has been made , and all the var i ou s li g hts in which this Gentlema n ' s motives for the step lie h a s taken have been placed , there is an internal feeling in the breast of every gentleman which re volts againet it, which leaves him, dissatisfied with tic arguments used, though he pethaps finds it difficult to r:fute them, and entirely convinced that if be had been placed in the same pit:die:lntent, he *cub; not have acted in the same manner. Mr. Cobbett says most justly, that a gentleman and a servant of the King must not stand before the world on a defence arising out of parental and con jugal feelings. We are all of us fathers, or hus bands, or brothers ; and mere is no culpable .ittlion whatever, which may not derive some palliation from such appeals. I shall venture a little farther, and put aside all considerations connected with the consequences to be apprehended by Sir James's counuyrnen in France; because, if his conduft has been tight, however he may regret the Increased ri gour of tileir imprisonment, he cannot accuse him self as the author of it; and, if he has been wrong, I do not see how the weight would lie less heavy I I 11 his oe;.vt, were the Fieoea government just or generous enough to confine the dishonour, and all its consequences, to the single culpable person. nem .31 hat J .e extraneous point, of mid wei4ht, s.i;ch must be conceded by every one, and that is, ea Illegality of the previous detention of Sir James, and of his ..ount7ymen ; because, if we do not join issue ix,. its that !luau, I doubt the cause rfeed not be brouent into cow t—Selvi rear Fahnia, but not Rksu : fur no gentleman, I apprehend, would then laugh with him or at him. Tie condo& of Sir James becomes therefore. . I, ar Cobbett Observes, a question i i morality, an : may be itated thus: Is Sir James Crany,i,hai:i-g .4 d eiei fdi egugn detained by the Frei.eb Government, and la. inn been released on hit word of honour to return at the exptrafion of two months, bound by that word of t. :our, or not ' A Casuist may answer, no ; but, if h.! has the hear: of a gentleman, or the honour of a gentleman, he must say, yes. And why, Sir ? From the simplest, yet most universal principle that binds together human society, which is--that, in every specific and mutual engagement, the con tritaing parties must be ',opposed to confide in the intention of each otha to perform faithfully his part, gonad hoc. I may have dealings with a man, wlao has a tholisanl times before defrauded or de- Rh A. a ceived me or others ; I may have existing disput. with him nn points conneCted with the subje't in w'oich I mean to pledge my word, aid receive his; fv:t I consent to wave them all ; I cafisent to be lieve him at last firmly disposed to keep his faith ..1-h me in die single particular on whith I am treating wit`.. him ; and, rutting aside all former cinsiderations. I bind myself to the ptrtormance of Icertain conditions. if hil will abide by the conditions imposed upon him. Every man case see what would Itfit the consequences io human so..iiety of a doarine tlse reverse of this; and it is not 'NOT* while to en large upon it. Had Sir dames Craufurd continued in the state of a prisoner illegally arrested ; had he. continuitig to . pr, - ,:est against that aru,cinus aft. All a having given i.o word of honour, succeeded in making his escape, who would refuse to justify him ? .He might have done so, if 1-e had been a prisoner of war !e:? No ' cap:ured, and no: fire • on his parole ; and yet the con.eqnences ro his countrymen, still Jaitairied. might have been as severe as t . ..ey are now iipprehended to 'oe. If you will give me leave, Sir, I will venture to , put a care too, and close a letret already too long. Suppose ;sir dames, with no intention whatever of escaping to England, had quietly proceeded to the Waits of Aix La Chapelle, and, resting on the sem-, iii engaged to him on his parole,hadbeenseised by the French government on vitprehn alone, had been carried back to Paris and thrown into rigorous con finement. Would he have had a right to complain ?- Most certainly. And why ? Because .hey had not kept their engagement with an honest man, who meant to keep .13., Suppose. Sir, the Frenc hl had known (no matter ily what specks of inspiration) that Sir James Craufurd did. add mean to retnro at the end, of two retiotiis. slid bad in the same manntr seized him by anticipation ; could he then have justly. camplained t t fear we must all answer in the a.; gvive ; and, ii so, I fear we must give up the jar tiicatiuit t..f .hz whole transaCtion. I write, Sir, as a mere looker fin : I love to think, that Sir James Cranford. recovering (men the tern. p.wary delusion by which he has been influenced, and from the seduCtion to which the expellation of embracing a beloved family has too easily made him yield, wall think and decide like a man of honour, what step he ought to take, in order to get into the rig.lt path, if he has strayed trom it. This is a ques tion of feeling, which every gentleman must answer me himself; and if he cat.not answer it from his own movement, I am bore he can Weir do it from the suggestion of others. • 1..1:lou, NOT. 1:: The Baravian °Aker. liar oz, who, at the age of twenty-two, is a Captain in the Russian Navy, and commands a 76 gnn ship, in the squadron off Cionsiasit, received lately from the Hussies's . Bu rns oz.. during lbs MAJEA/ V's iuspeaion of Isis Beet, a diamond ring of great value. as a proof of his se tisfaaion at the ender on board his ship. Sir SIMON Ct sect anived yesterday from Har wich, at his lioute in Gloucester-place, to the great joy of his numerous friends, after an absence of" two years, during Which he made a tour of Italy, Ger many, Switzerland, and other parts of the Conti nent. In the course of his travels he visited the touts of the several eountries through which he p.ssissl, and every whet c met a most gracious recep tit) . Fr..= Its'lr he Iturtned by Berlin, whe:e he s?zlit some time with Mr. Jac ICaCIO, the Btitish Mi nister at that court. Sir SIMON bas brought with him a great number of valuable presents from seve ral laden Princesses, to the Dilate* , of Cyst ssit- LAND. Yesterday being the day appointed for filling these noble Docks with water, the Proprietors, Di- NEW LONDON DOCKS. reactors, and persons attached to the COmpany, as sembled upoa the ground at eleven o'clock to wit ness this grand process. At twelve o'clock, they were joined by the Duke of MON raosE, the MAI.. qui:, of Bi ANDSORD, Lords HAWK i..SHURY, MEL VILLE, and CASTLERE•GH, Mr. Purr, Nir. LONG, Mr. Heseissos, and several other persons of dis tin&ion. Immediately alter their arrival, they proceeded to inspe& the walls, the dock, the vari ors bridges and sluices, and the immense pile of warehouses. Having gratified their curio sity in all these points, they took their station upon the bank of the river, about the time appoint ed for inundating the dock. Previous to this grand opetation, all the ships, vessels, and boats, in the vicinity, were ordered to keep clear of the sluices within the possible sphere of the anion of the cur rent, as it should flow into the dock. The signal being given for admitting the water, a moment of awful suspence foliowed ; at length the slaices were opened, add old Father Thames rushed forward with irresistible force, to take possession of his new do minions. It is impossible to conceive an adequate idea of the grandeur of thi' •cene. An earthquake, or any other convulsion of nature, could not have produced a greater effeCh The river appeared to be deserting its bed, and seeking a new channel. The rapidity of the stream, the foam and dashing of the swelling waves, and the reflux upon their en counter with the opposing sides of the dock, pro duced a scene of awe and pleasing terror. During the first quarter of an hour alter the opening of the sluices, the water ran with such amazing tepidity, arid, such immense quantity into the 'Jason ' as to produce an ebb in the Thames, as high. up as Billingsgate, although it was then running at nearly fel tide ; a circumstance which, of course, rendered the influx into the Dock rapid and tre mendous in the extreme. We are assured by Ovid, that when Phaeton dtove the chariot of the Sun out of its course, some rivers were dried up, and the fishes left gasping upon dry land. Without iiicar ring the traputation of fable or &lion, a similar re sult urea have been experienced in London, had this operation coetinued tot many hours. This may be easily credited, when we consider, that the whole of immense eizavation was completely ®it lat four At that • hour the sluices and draw-bridges were laid dawn, and the water appear ed in as quiet and p aceahle possession of that which has dry land since the deluge, as if it had been for twen • y years in quiet and uninterrupted possession. The ,au elation being completed, tne Directors,. Proprietors, &c accnm;ianied by Mr. PITT, Lord Mzi.vizzL, and the rest of the Nobility and Gentry from the West en I o - the tow I, repa red to the Lon don Tavern, where a most sumptuous dinner was provided. The concourse of speCtators at this grand wedding of earth and water, for such it may be called, was immense ; and, if ever the beau tiful was happily combined with the tremendous, it WAS in the contrast between the piCluresque scenery afforded by the groupes of lovely women, &c. on the banks, and the terrible rush of the wa ters into the bacon. TRIVIAL PLEASANTRIES •ELATING TO MORLAND. The life of Marland, and of his boon compa nions—those carters, smugglers, painters, pig dro vers, pitchers, And postillions, with which he peo pled the magic scenery of his piantes, seems to have partly resembled that of the wandering Arabs. They formed a son of moveable gang, hotde, or commonwealth; that, in whatever situation or cir comuances, was sure to be n/wirgr al Inner ; an.l, however various in other respeas, never failed to agree in that of belonging to one certain order of the " guards ;" each subsisting " some how or otl , et " but All in equal defiance of the :octal dt- While their chief sojoumed at a house on the Edgware Road. a gente perlonage, one day, knocked at the door : a fellow who, it seems, went by the name of " Winking Bob," was ordered to reconnoitre : s. Well, go:crnor; what do you want?" 4 . Mr. Moi land it home ?" a Don't exaetiy know just yet : what's your name, :fio matter for my name. I suppose : I want to see him—want to look at his piftures." By G— you'll neither see his pi:tures, nor him, unless you nit us a little bit of your name!" Very odd, Sir! Perhaps I want •o by a pic ture." " Mayhap you may : all's one far that ta( vs! : but you can't sec hint, 1 tell ye, without your name." " Why then tell him, Sir, if you please, that Lord D--y" 16 Oh, d—n Lords," vociferated Morland out of a garret-window, " I paint for no Loaf: shut the door, Bob; and bring up Rattler and the Puppy'' A gipsey woman, that an artist of my acqnaint ance was sketching once in a country church-yard, asked him if he knew one George Morland " Lord love him," continued she, " I wish I could find him out : he lived witii at three days lasi stanmer, upon Harrow Wild ; and drama the picture of a child of mine ih.it's since dead ; and now the gen tleman who begot the child wuuld give twenty guineas for the picture I" It does riot appear that Morland had mints, or indeed any sit, properly so distinguished : his nearest approaches to it were by a base, monkey kind of mischievous esimung ; such as daubing the handles of things with paint ; di ii,king people's li quor, and substituting water in the cup ; and other exploits of that cast. The original and masterly powers of the artist interest one pe6haps too much is the history of so worthless and so apparently spark a man. Yet there are some stories illustrative of his singular character, that tell remarkably well ; as, for instance, his visit, with his myrmidons, to Mr. Wigston, at Treat Park ; and many others; but they would hardly do in peat. So, expearng that even the above may nfed apology, 1 remain, Mr. Editor, Your humble Servant, S. S. MTELLIGENCE. OtTRT OF KING BENC;I, Westmtwsrew, 4 ,e. 15. The Court was occupied until after 1 o'clock this day, in qualifying bail ; we do nut remember for many years past so great a numiier of perms qualifying : 25001. was the Ltrge;t debt in the list. After this the Court went into law arguments, which occupied the greater part of Merest oftheday. PI t“,4IA %I v. SEI.III.E. This was a case cinder the late Act of Parliament, for indernuifying persons whose lands and premises should he taken for the public service and exigencies of the state. The Plaintiff, the Rcv. Richard Bingham, via: possessed of certain lands and premises near Gus port, which he held under lease from the Bishop of Winchester. Those premises were Atte, wards given up ro an officer of tha Board of Ordnance for the public service, pursuant to the. Aft, of Par liament. An inquisition was held, and the Jury awarded a sum of 47 sol. to the Plaintiff for a certain part of the lands, and a further sum of Idol. for another part, which he held as incumbent of the parish, and on which a house had been erected, for the use of the incumbent. The verdia was certified to the Defend Int (who was Receiver General), and win according to the Ad, was to pay the amount of such verdia. This he refused to do, upon the ground that the assessment of the damages was excessive. An anion was tried between the parties in the Couit of King's Bench, Westminster, the Sittings after last term, and a verdict obtained for the Plimtiff, sub jea to a point of law. • The question before the Court for their considera tion was, whether the Plaintiff was entitled to re cover full compensation or not ? On the part of the Plaintiff, Mr. So ewer, in a most learned argument, contended, that, under the Aft of Parliament, 'the Plaintiff had a right to re cover full compensation. The aft .was passed to! the express purpose of indemnifying persons whose lands were taken for the public service; Juries were to give such compensations as. they should think proper; and, upon a certificate of the verdia, the Receiver General WAS bound to pay the amount, on demand. There were, in this case, but two princi ple; upon which objeftions could be founded ; the one, that the issuing the warrant was irregular, which was not disputed; and the other, that the Jury had done something by their verdict, which they ought not to have done. This latter roust ap pear on the face of the verdict ; .and, unless a ma nifest want of jurisdiction appeared, that verdi 2 must be conclusive against the Receiver General.. There were three objections taken on the part of the Defendant. Ist, That a gross sum could not be a compensa tion for a temporary possession, of an uncertain duration. Cd, That the proper parties were not before the Court ; and 3d, That it did not appear, on the face of the in quisition, wirat interest the public took in the pre mises, on which the atiard was made. All which propositions Mr. Sr a RaiT most ably argued against. M. G4ZIEL&F, on the part of the Defendant, con tended, that the only way in which the provisions of the aft could have been complied with, was assess ing an annual rent, and not by giving a gross sum as compensation. I-k then cited several clauses in this and other ads, in order to shcw, thai it was not the intention of the Legislature, that Government should take any tenure of this description, for a per petuity ; but that it was meant by the ea, that an annual compensation only should be paid for .the land, so long as the exigency of the state might re quire the use of it. He further contended, that the Jury should have taken into their consideration, the interest of the Bishop of Winchester, from %%hum Dr. Bingham held the premises. This being a case of very great importance, after the Court had heard Mr: Scarcer in reply, the further consideration of the question was postponed fur aftnere day. • HABEAS CORPUS. Mr. ELM:4E applied for a hahea , corpus to bring np rite body of Robert Douglass, wholsad been im pressed, and was now on board llis Majesty's ship. the Hero, against his own inclination. This mutton was made on the grounds of Robert Douglass being a freeholder, and 'messed of a considerable landed property. It appeared by the alhdavit, that Robert Douglass had been a ship-carpenter, on board an Indiaman, and that, previous to his being impressed, his uncle, Thomas Douglass, died on the dth December, 1803, and, by his will, made Robert one of his Ex ecutors, and devised to him a considerable freehold messtrage or tenement, situate at Shoreditch, in the county of Middlesex. He then obsersed, that it was a case well worth the consideration of the Court. Lord ELL EN BOROUGH observed, that he had been aelually in the sea service on board of a merchant man : at the time he was impressed, he could not see what objeaion he could have to the King's ser vice, snore than to any other. If it had appeared that he had fairly quitted the service, and resided upon his freehold, it would have been another ques tion • but that did not appear, and the Court was bound to refuse the application. Mr. Guess applied for a Rule for 'an information in the nature of a Qua Warrants against Henry Da vis, requiring him to shew cause why he claimid to be a Burgess of the Boroug4 • j Caermarthe.. To constitute a Burgess, he must be possessed of d tree hold of 31. per annum for tour years. The affidavit stated, that at an assembly of the Borough, in 1799, the Mayor and Recorder made no scruple of receiving several persons of one patty, without any scrutiny as to their freeholds, while they' were very exalt with those of the opposite party. At that time, the late Mr. John Ball, a very wealthy matt, was Lord Lieutenant of the county, and had five persons admitted, four of whom were his own domestics, and the fifth the Rev. J. Lewis. who was brother to his law agent. The affidavit further stated upon belief, that the titles produced by these person were merely fiaitiOJl ; and that Mr. Ball aCtitally received the rents of the premises. out of which they claimed to derive their title. Informa tions had been preferred against three of them, who had suffered judgment by default. Lord ELIAMBuiLOUGH said, it was suspicions; but r.. .a more than suspicious. The of did not _ . _.o go far enough to induce the Court to grant a Role. Mr. Woo n applied or beling • of the„,j/Ant. R. Gay her/. Reftor of Soctsawakton, tot. a • Rttie*to fileta criminal information agailit".l. - 11o:throw FaAsi and J. Bower, .Commissipaers for Ase.ts.rtx,t.l9lv.ire do* tar upon him. T. e .(S la stated. that Fraacis Harris and John I. .Us,inspectors of window light's; left a notice at the house of Mr. . Gilbert, while he was from !ionic, and his.serYant sliewed them to ten windows, which he intended stop up, and which G. had nailed up, Mail he should have them properly built. Soon after. lie • received a notice of surcharge, in which he was asses- , sea to pay the sum uf,7L Rh. for his windosts,and penalty of 1001. for illegally stoppinz op tan win doses ; also the 'Willi ?•01. duty on a carriagi, which he had not used for twelie months.. A wa, past was then issued, and the assessment levied upon his goods and chattels ; and, without filing any appeal day, without summoning =giving hint an oppor tunity of appealing, according to tTie.Aia col Purl a ment. After some observations by Mr, Essktar s , on a: same side, the Count grossed a Rule to sllew cause. Lord Ei.t.eNtelitOLGlt at the same tirsa that nadirs of thi, sort should not be lit'ou o i 'it into Court, but upon good grorie.ds. , • CoNt moat PLEAS. .- SIAITHER r. isatay• - Serjeant Rvasisotan mores' thiGairt t that the conditional rule obtained by him in ibis crise, against the Eli I of Barrymore, "dr. Barry, the De-. feadans, and Mr. Reynolds, his Attorney, idivilsld bet made absolute.. Serjeant BEST OppnS4d it. h app's ed Mat la a March, 1803, proceedings were takPnby Mr. Ponl#, attorney, on behalf of the P) sintift, reed - vet sum of 731. 9s from the 'Defend:mt. -erne proceedings had been taken, and dint the Ilef:nd Int ' would have been obliged, in at:short -tame to • Iva** t paid the money, a compromise • ed anteb and it was agreed that tiro Watts' ctfflff' tie given, one at twelve. and the otbeW •eitlite.tit''' months date, and that the Earl' of 'lkirryin.sre should join as a further security for die pavnient • of them; Mr: Reynolds, the Pla;.,tifr•4Jettbi. ney, on his part, promising to l• • i.i•ictilitP for 4 all the costs incurred by the P l ai.itift. plitieffestr--f ing the suit. Accordingly the ne , e4 we•.•••-an4110-i; g but, through mistake, n o t hei• tercst, as was originally the* reel4/1,„,, the words lite bet , ' torten:7' ' • were interlined, which renderitz• pay them, on the Earl slr filitisitterf4a . uncertain ; they were retnrrielP ghlikrglOggft: for the purpose of his havist oloteff__„ th** the Earl of liarrymore, and Igfiloniagr mrtrois fendant. The Plaintiff's AttivinYy htastiffegie tilt* and sent to Mr. Reynolds,- for the (ersonts j ii - taming the notes, and the cost • pc alto& Mei,li but never could ; on which account, siefdiseirdi-4 2 t s leo r or* had obtained a eonditional Ycs4 '4t' he now prayed, should be m ,le.'abetshitecit%.• ado.'' • Reynolds should ;me up the two notes. afresh, to bear interest ; and that he shard*, :ot nasty the costs of the original 'nit, taithi4h helienliaikde himseif liable. • ' • it ..5 •• . stoal It was opposed by Serjeant Rs iT ' on elAkrol4of. l that Mr. Reynolds has never entered'froo itry.4a4 IF tett agreement to pay the costs, and Chat thole ago, Mr. Poole, the Plaintiff's Atterfier, 4 lsad tortitC . - ten to Mr. Reynolds, saying, that irthe note% wean , not delivered in the manner be had befaredeinattd-k ed, and the costs paid before a certain - (JO, •he would proceed in the original cause. ltit.Stayite4tie: not having performed either di - these things, he had considered the compromise entifety off. Rule made absolute, as to the payment, of. cans by Mr. Reynolds, but, vs ith restart to the notes,• to. stand over till another day ; at the same time, the `Court recommended it to Mr. Reynolds, to prevail 'on the Earl of BASTyMOTC to execute new notes, without interest. At twelve o'clock ihe.Cassrt adjourned; after which, Sir James Masisktsi n proceeded to Guild- Hall, and sat at eiri prima. But two causes were de fended; noithes of which were at all interesting.' PO UCE. statists:is-mous& Yesterday a labourer from the. India-Loose was charged before the Loan Avoa with taicirig..some tea horn one of the Company's warehouses, and ordered for further examivatian. A man was brought • - who • ranged. and was chart threatening him that he s. taken out drafts for money the he had taken from the Prisoner brickbat tied in thp end - Elie Prisoner gave the . self: that be had arrived in within the week, and wanted t kept the Thatched House Ta he had ten pounds scat him had got it ; that be bad nights, nor had any sleep. firmed by several letters f to St. Catkin t'ie's, and • Lordship ordcred him t friends, informed of his . Yesterday evening, at the 'aria h. nr d /tiff taw five o'clock, an attempt was midi' to rids a Tenn* woman, genteelly dressed, of 4 latmdte which she ha under her arm,- a little beynni the - worortiworksoki the Chelsea road; but she hold l! rig Ikttighj s by snatched an umbra '.! frOrn her, and tan sort alp raised the cty of stop thief, and he was puratal through Pimlico, Arabella-row, into Ratheagh. street, whera he male lino a Mews, when in inhabitant of Pirthro. knowing the course he had taken, pursued him, and fnund him in a stable, with the umbrella in his possession. tie was taken into the guard-4oits , t, near 'ht. Queen's House, where he was recognised to tee one ot thrist on duty at the Ou4rel, St. James's. Ht was taken under a proper guard, to the guard-bows fa it. James's. On SAM: day night last, as some men were fishier at a Pule distance from llawlash, a rung s'.•ark en tangled itself in their net, which, is t wo oeur4 with great difficulty, th-y towed on abnair. It weighed four hundred weight, was ni . r nine feet it I'ngtb, and ba3 a cod fish of 34 , 11 a. in its belly. III4U11141..14• . , t who appeaiie' 41 to be 40% rod by a young man arida . = 13 4 copped hittlir e t ; ney that were -s4; 4t. Prisoner a vtocliAg i agit 3. Id of it, ready.tAlitqt• ie following accoaun of ed in town ,From Llyix trued togo to. 124; thi4 Ise Tavern in Liverpool.; bins. hut did not kniEw bad a 4 been :in bed 41, leep. Tots accplant yea . % rs fotnid upao bins. signed 'llamas Snsijis,._l to be ukeu.asse 010114-1116 situation. - __~.