The Sun. — London, England, 1807-10-09 00:00:00

;the outward blOtks or extremities of each line of bloCks, with a strong boom or chain which can here be used with great effect, as it will ride paral el with the tide and not across it. ..It will then be evident that, a ship coming to New-York must . change, her course,, and stand directly for the fort, - and it is almost *certain, that her ,crossin g •the, tide so much impede her way,. that the chain would critirely.arrest.her progress,. when .she would, be swepLby.the current directly on the blocks, and left l at the mercy Of the fort. • vTf•iteshottlit..be-rhought . necessary, and admitting that this chain might possibly be forced, a like range of `Necks ,might he made (our hundred yards to .- tbe north of the last mentioned line, to'extend into the channel two hundred yards, and be can neCled in the same manner as the first, with a boom and chain • . tys would again oblige a vessel to alter i~r.4?Lirs, and stand dirq,tly from the fort ;- jeer `l. l )e.adc:c:ay by thiVarue would be sci .impeded tat ti second' clsaiu would certainly Stand. It May be said that:a Fleet of Ships would 'take " the P,ort, and .then remove the obstruCtiOns. This, is p.dolitted tole possible : but if the fort be well de ... fended, and 'of suitable Strength, with the aid of gun-boats, which can here be used with great ef fee.t, it is reasonable to believe the Fleet would 15ealso eripplect, and 'some of them destroyed,.._ Wbat then . wo u ld be' their situation ? they Can fild the' Fort; for •it entirely CoMmanded 'by 4 th'e l Vvorks on .Bedlow's Bland, and it cannot be .supposed they'WbUld'ittempt to• cotne to town in their disabled state, 'to enconnter other and more •cmilfertatts Mid.powerfulfohifications. The plan of defending. the City of New• York by sob-marine obstruCtions, has been objeaed to on sere) al grounds.' First, it ,has been doubted by whether 'blocks can he sunk where the wa ter:is Sixty feet deep, , and if they can be'sunk, Wllether they will stand the force of 'the current and :the storats. Second, that by placing obstruc tions, in the channel to such an extent, it will have injurious efrea upon* the current, and probably the ebb and.fln* of the tide. Third, that if they..could be sunk 'and made to stand, and would HhaVe on .bad erect upon the • tide, the worms in a :feW..yearivwould destroy the timber, and the Stones !! .reoilld fall.outy when it would require the. same ex ;: pence to renew them' again.: And •fourth, that Providence .has given us one of the best har rinurs 'in.. the world, 'and these obstructions would :exceedingly injure the passage of Ships going out., and coming in, and they Would occasionally „get. on ti)ese blocks, by which they might be injured, _.car , As to the first objeaion, it is answered, that up , on ;inquiry from the most 'experienced dock builders, they assure us there is no difficulty in sinking blocks y4;.iere the water does not exceed 60 feet in depth, and they have no doubt of their resisting . . the force of current: See almost daily blocks of only thirty feet-square stink in the 'East and North Ri ovrs opposite the city, where the water is thirty :: Ave : orlorty feet deep, .and .the current .opposite to -Alie::town is much stronger than it' is in • the bay, ;he obstrutitions are. contemplated to be • made. Old mariners .assert, that the agitation of water, in a, storm is- principally on the surface, and Alio hat= of the sea is not disturbed in , • any pro :Portion 'to the surfave ; this. being the case, there .cart; nu danger arise from storms, as the blocks will .not-bu within ten feet of the surface of the water at low tide. ' The soeond objeolion has more weight, as this is a .new thing, ;and we. Itave. no experiene. to us. it should have the injurious .effea upon the tide to 'the extent that some suppose, the _pbstrtidionsrought cert.linly tb . be abandoned ; as .we have no' guide to dirett us, every one: must ,ex. , TLI,;,: his own judgment. Vow-- Committee hotyover; Vitri.o4lS liws, that the I) . u)lLl'mttld may Itave some data to torn .an opi litPa. It will he .observed, that, the extent of the bar hear from fled Hook on Long lslan t, .to Cowan's ,roint, on .the Jersey shore, is near four miles , that the distance of the obstruaions contemplated to be ,ma!le, is about- of and an half miles ; that the tale np only ,half the space as fat as they go, *nd that they de not, come within ,ten., feet of the . surface at low water 5 , an d t h e w h o l e column of we ter, flowing between Long Island- and the Jers4 shore, at low water, amounts, to 00;050 square feet, and the proposed obseralious amount to 77,00 e square feet ; not one -quarter of the whole. column of the water will be °Whaled, and if the , number of square feet be taken at half tide, the ahstralions will only be one-sixth part of the whole Aimee. ,would appear, from these calculations, that the obstructions could have no injurious et re& upon the . ..ebb and flow of, the tide; the kroun't and the wharfs made on. the East side of e,ty have contracted the Rivermore than one quarter of its origilial. breadth, and our Piers now Lit in the deepest part of .the River. It has not been . observed, that the tide flaws less at this time . at Hell Gate . than it ,did re century past. The cure. no doubt, is stronger opposite the town thin it, was formerly ; bat it is believed that she same qteintity of water passes in the rover now that did nefore the river Wfit4 contracted. , The third onjeCtiopis against the durability of the bleAiee Your Committee hate taken pains to exa- Mine some of the eldest wharfs in this city. The Crane Wharf, whieh'has been built about 16 lears, has been. searched under water at low tide ; the timber appears to be perfectly sound, and net the 'least decayed. We have examined 'another iiiharf, which was said to have been built previous to the revolutiop, the' timber of which appeared to e soutid. There is no doubt there are worms in the u tuber ; they make •small holes into the logs where they enter, but do not entirely destroy the wood,— terurn the infortnation of dock-builders who have broken op old docks that have been built fifty years, the timber sorne distance below low-water mark liLis been little worm eaten, but such parts as the stenes have covered, have'nut been touched by the worM3, and wore as sound when put into the yrharf. ' 'the fourth and last objection, that it will injure the ,navigation, it is answered, that ..there will be, water sufficient' Ibr tiine 7 tenihs of our vessels to sail the oWtrations, and'such as'require a larger drA' of worer, at• times when the wind. is fair, can pass: t re`e; 1 the space of, eOQ yards intendea be left' unotistructed; Wt it may sometimes h appen , *I:le:a the wind is a-head, the ship will lose a few tides before a snitable,tima offers to come up ; and there is a possibility of some being lost by getting.en the blocks ; but, considering the great Abject of hav ing the - city safelyprofeeted frotn invasion ? these ob jeetions arc of small moment, The calculattous of expeuce to make the obst rue. tions in the channel will not exceed 200,000 dol lars, and to raise the flat sufficiently high to creel a fort upon, of 1060 feet in length, and 100. feat in 'breadth, will not be more than 100,060 dol k us ; the cost of building the fort and its necessary appenda ges,-your ComMittee have - not military experience sufficient to determine, _ •If the Corporation should think proper to adopt this plan •of defence, and to proceed 'immediately to carry it into efie6t, the next question is, in what manner the funds - are to be raised ? It is believed; from the patriotic zeal otour citizepsand from the general anxiety expressed by all Persons, that some. thing should lie don:" without delay to put this city in a poiture cif defence; 'there - would bell° difficulty in raising by loan from thecitizens, a sum sufficient to effed this.purpose, upon'CorporOon bonds, re deemable at pleasure, the interest tO be. paid 'half:- yearly. There can scarcely .bp a doubt but the government of the United States assnme and; ,pay this debt ; but in case' hey should not, ,And it Should ultimately fall twee the city to pay it, the debt and interest would he extinguished in three: years,.by*doubling he usual yearly taxes.. Would it not be best 'even . to pay the debt ourselves, rather than remain iii this exposed and - defenceless situa tion ? Our interest clearly' dietater'the propriety cif the measure. This isit work of great magnitude, and will take more than one year to completdit. The materials are .not to be had in sufficient quantities at present, but we ought to make a beginning this year with what materials can be procured, and the works may probably be finished in the course of the next sum mer. If we should unfortunately be involved in a war, in consequence of the present dispute with ' England, it will most probably take, place before any effectual system of defence can be completed, and we must submit to our unhappy situation.— But if the storm,should blow over, we ought not to desist from our determination to put the city in a stale of defence : we cannot always promisd our selves an exemption from the calamities of war.-- • On the eoth of June last, the Country felt as secure and as confident of the conthmation of peace, as it' has felt for many years.past ; but from the events that have recently taken place, it is seen upon 'what an uncertain tenure the peace of nations de pends. The advice of our immortal Washington ought; therefore; to be confided in, " that to pre serve peace we ought always to be prepaied for war." SELAII STRONG, JACOB MOTT. JOHN D. MI Ldin n. Arm York, 4Ogust 24, 1807. MAILS. ARRIV zn Dublin, g W tertorl . Dus—t Gottenburgh, t Lisbon, t Dublin, t Waterford. , PRICE, 01. STOCKS , , THIS DAY AC TWILLVIG O'CLOCK, , Consols ' 81,1 THE SUN. 401.11. M DICSAL /ALSUM AuDEAr L 0 N .D . 0, .N, FRIDIY, OCTOBLIt 9, 1807. Dispatches wire this mrirni,lg received from Ad miral PURVIS,' who, in the absence of Lord Cot. ialinwoon, commands the Fleet before' Cadiz ; but `they do not, we believe; contain any thing of im , portance. WE understand that a Proclamation has been issued at Memel, dated 2d September, by which ail English Vessels are forbid to enter that or any Prussian Port, and even Neutral Vessels, coming from a British Port, are included ,in this prohibi tion, It Is also said that BUONAPARTE has made a formal deinand upon the Emperor ALEXANDER, that all the Ports of Russia should be shut against English Vessels, A rumour was yesterday circulated in the City (which obtained so much credit as to prOduce an ef feet upon the Funds), that intelligence had been re ceived from St. Peteraburgh of a very hostile tendency.. We have made every possible inquiry into this sub je&, and cannot find that there is any foundation, whatever /for this report. There was no arrival yesterday from the Continent, and the last Dis patches received by Government from Russia con tained, we believe, the most amicable as suranCes. The circumstance of I.,Mits XVIII. having quitted the Rus s ian dominions, coupled - with the extraordi nary concessions made by Russia in the late' Ar mistice concluded with Turkey, are considered by many as unequivocal proofs of the decided influence which BUONAPARTE still possesses in the Russian Councils, and may probably have given rise to the report to which we have alluded. Wednesday FUR MAJESTY and PAlNcasses dined at Frogmore Lodge. Yesterday morning His MAJ awry, Princesses Au ousTA, SOPHIA, and AMELIA, accompanied by the Hon. Miss LOERTON, Generals CARTWRIGUT and FITZROY, and 611. TAYLOR, rode in the Great Park, and returned' at fwehre o'clock. Yesterday there was a Cabinet Council at the Po. reigniOtfice, at which the majority of the Members assitned:" The Quarterly Dividend becomes due to-morrow, and we hear it will begin to be paid to the Bankers on Monday, and to the PiioLe in general on Tues day next. This is very speedy, Und does great eredic bgth tq the .Exchequer and the Bank; ..Yesterday evening the :Westminster. Royal . V. .1u ilteers, Col. ROBIN.SOFt, were inspeEted by. Colonel. JatixtriSoig in . Hyde Parl. After the ,inspeaion, the C9rpS Went through the evolutions Usually per;—. formed ai - a review or on a field-day. RICHARD Faswiti, Esq. Chai:rman of the Board of Customs, has been at. Newcastle, &c, examining the Officers of Customs, as to theirlees and emoluments, preparatory to establishing salaries in lieu thereof: Among the aels of BUONAPARTE to prove his boasted regard for " the independence- and:eternal morality of nations," the fate of the Duke D'EN GHIEN has keen often ,mentioned, but that of PALM, the 'bookseller, is mile', more interesting to the world at-large, because it menaces (he freedom of the Press, that glorious privilege which is the source of knowledge and the guard of civil rights. ,very body ninstTaigh over thp melancholy end of an amiable Prince but in the case of "PALM every member of society must feel f - - .hitins:eff: The seizure and elecntion ofdie lauer is an a& that hiAtory, when`--she records the exploits of litrobri...." PARTE, - must notice with. peculiar . attenticin, and brand wish ipd lihJe infamy. '11?e improvempnts carrying on at Gloucester fieuse, which now belongs to the Earl of Gaosvz yoa, will 'Fender it • one VA the' most magnificent Mansions in the Metropolis. The taste and liberality of this Noble Man are as well known as his know ledge an( Publie spirit ; and as the whole plan of the•imptoVernents; we understand, was suggested by' himself, we may c4e4 'the result to be highly elegant, and Ornathental to the 400 Capital. , •- , • On Tuesday last the Freedom of the Borough of Colchestei: Was voted to the Earl of CitimtArtt" and Ric it A ai) HART' DAVIS ) Esq. one of the Members tbr that 'Borough. ' • •' A duel' was fought on 'Wednikday morning, at Warfield cotrimn,: near "Windscii, ;between Lied tenant belonging 'to a neighbouring Volun teer Corps, and Mr. a Gentleman of forturte in Wiginore-street, in conseqUence of a dispute which originaied at an inn at . Maidetihead. The exchanged a shOewithotit effect, when Mr. S. fired a setond, which Missed' the Lieutenant, who discharged his pistol in the air, and the parties re tired amicably from the' field. • , singular circumstance occurred in Piccadilly cn Wednesday evening, which though it amused the mob, was of a serious nature to the parties Concerned. A Lady, the wife of an opulent trades man in Mary-le ! bone, who was to have returned home from a visit at . Clapham that night, was accidentally met in a very aukward situation by her husband, who, on approaching the door, of an accommodating hotel, in the vicinity of Duke street, Jermyn-street, saw a Gentleman and Lady. enter a coach from. the hotel door. The female, in, figuee and person, resembled his wife. He was not, however, sufficiently near to determine whether it was her, but he followed the coach, until he be came so much agitated, that he at last resolved on the expedient of running up and opening the door ; !Which haVing execnted, his suspicion becanie veri fied, for there he beheld his companion, whose con stancy he never before suspeaed, seated by the side of a grey-headed old mans of the_most gentleman like. appearance.' The • utmost agitation was mani- , tested by all parties, and, after some time,, the ve nerable seducer_ was suffered to depart, on tving his address; and the wife, who is about 30 years of . age, was driven away alone in the coach,.by the de sire of her :tusband. • . THE COMET.7—.Mr. FIRMINGER , l ate A ss istant at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, made - the fol lowing observation on Tuesdarevenitig, Ott. 6, at sh. t7m. 29 seconds, mean time—Right ascension .tth., i 6m. 4 seconds—Declination 7 deg. 23 "Mill. 28. seconds, observed by an excellent *mall equato rial'made by the late celebrated Mr. BIRD. The length of the tail, as foutfd by the time of its pas sage over the meridian wire, extended t 0 of a de gree, and its mean breadth measured 'about 7 deg. King Lours, who is returned ,to Holland, is very ill, and has been in a bad state of health for some time. _ . • Advices from Gottenburgh state, that several Eng lish Ships at Memel had been prevented from sail ing. This measure, it is added, was adopted in con sequence of the threats of France, much against the wish and inclination of the King of Prussia. The Danish stoves are to be sent to England in three divisions—the first to Chatham, the second to Portsmouth, and the third to Plymouth. A report prevailed at Elsineur on the 24th ult. of several British Ships having been detained at Memel. Two English Line-of-Battle Ships, and a Frigate, had arrived in Elsineur -Roads, where some Russian Ships of War had -also made their appearance, the ultimate destination of which had not been ascer tained. The Crown Prince'of Denmark stopped nine mails at Nyburgh, which were on their way from Ham burgh to GottenbUrgh ; and,. by his order, six Swedish . mails were seized at Nyburgh, passing .to Ham r bitrgli; as soon as they were landed: The Post-office Messenger having them under his care; WAS sent back with the intelligence. The Ring of• Sweden, on. being made acquainted with these proceedings, ordered, by way of retaliation, that the Danish mails should be, detained whenever they arrived at• Hel singborg, which was accordingly done the following • day. • The following is an .Extrad .of a Letter from Copenhagep, dated Minotaur, off Copenhagen, Sept. 23, 180, from 'an OffiCer to his father :;—" We have sent nearly half the men from each'of our Ships, to,rig and fit out the .Danes. They have all brass guns on their poops, quarters, and main-decks: The stores in the arsenals are beyond calculation, in ad dition to which we discovered the. other day gOO pieces of brass cannon buried' under ground.. -It is the opinion of every one that we shall not be able to get the stores away in two months ; the piles of shot.are immense.' We are not to bring home any iron pieces, they are all to be destroyed. I hope to get a little prize -money by this business, it being reported, that three millions of, money has' been taken. The weather is extremely cold'here, but we live- very well 'indeed, every thing is . remarkably cheap.” • Monday night the bleaching-ground of Messrs. HOWARD and Co. at Mitcham, was robbed of &large quantity of dowlas and . ltish linen , 4. • NAVAL NEWS. PLYMOUTH, OCT. 7.—Arrived the Hound Sloop of War, from a cruize. Sailed the Plover Sloop of War, and Foxhound _of 16 guns, on a cruize to the Westward. Arrived the Danish Ship Phceiix, Capt. Basmc tau, laden with rum, coffee,'Sre. from Santa Cruz, bound-,to Copenhagen, detained by the. Betsey vateef; and the American Ship Notrine, Capt. , IitiSBORN, laden with sugar, rice, &e . from Charles ton, bound to Touningen, detained by the Satellite Privateer', • PQRTSMOUTII", OCT. 8.- Arrived this day the Serefris Storeship (armed en flute), Capt. LLOYD, from the Mediterranean, and is put under quaran tine; the Hearty Gun-brig, Lieut. WICiIiAM, Ant Schooner, Lieut. BIRD, from a cruize. SHEERNESS, OCT. 7.--Arrived the Reftard Sloop of War, Capt. MORRIS (kinder quainistine), from Jamaica ; also the following Vessels from the Baltic, viz. Bonettp Sloop orWar, Capt. Putt.Lttis ; Escort and Sentinel Pun-brigs, Lieutenants SMITH inui KING ; the latter Brig carried away her In: ha worlOng up to the Nore, and the Censor Gun-brig, Lieut. !tows, was sent to• her assistance : she i; coming into harbour td refit'. LIVERPOOL, gCT. 7.—The Ceres, BENT.L.I, from, Oporto,: has arrived at Dublin—in ]at. 4g. 57: log. IQ. re-captured the Schooner Providence, of Stranraer, with kelp, which had been captured by the Jesus Maria and Joseph, of twelve•l2-pounders and ixo.men, "the Diana, M'L2A, from Limerick, was captured 'on September, off Achill-head, by the g bove Ipanish Privateer—the Diana is re-taken by the crew, and errived at Limerick. The Privateer bad taken a Gailiot and a Sloop off the Black Rock, and a Schooner near Clare Island ; two 'of the ves sels captured are called the Ducheis of liiFhlnond, and the .111gri ~YoUNG. 4i 1s , Sky, THORN, has brought two passen! gers, Or;•..74stasCLARILF.' and Mr. GEORGE RM.. , • TALL, and four seamen, that were put on. board from the Mary, °swap, from 4.itnaica f o r this • • • • • • port, which had been captured the tot ult. near TorY Island ) by a Spanish Lugger Pi ivateer; I,‘ q. had also captured the , Sasannah, Ronixstrotto,. Leith, from Jamaica to Port cllasgow ;. the liero, LANG, of Thinbarton ; the Industry, POOLE, and Commercti, CoLs, both of Dartmouth, hence to Newfoundland. The Adustry is arrived at Greenock, with Capt. LANG OM board. -The Traveller, brut Master, in her passage from 'the coast of France to New York, on the 13th July, 'experienced the most extraordinary gale , we 'e* heard of.—She was carrying top-galtapt studding sails, with scarce a breath of wind, when a sudde l a squall blew away her top-masts.. yards, &c. The gale continued for two hours with the greatest vio lence, during which the crew were obliged to cut away every thing for the safety of . the Vessel ; the wind•theti fell as abruptly as it rose ; .and kluge IC minute elapsed between its blowing a hurricane and being a dead calm. DIAL, Oct. B:—Arrived and sailed for the River the Mary Ann, INOSAIIAId, from New Providence, i n 39 days; and .the Albion, DAMS, frOrn ; wired the William and f rom Nov bury Port for Amsterdam, laden with Sugar and coffee, and remains in the Downs with the Ships ill pet last. PAOM BARDA,DotS MIMCVAT, AVG. 16 . Every doubt of the capture of the Brig Pope Is' crow removed. This vessel, from Liverpoul bound here, after having eluded her passage within vue day's sail'of the liiand--when also no appletlensions from an enemy seemed to remain, having then spvicets one of His Majesty's cruizcrs to windward (but which unlnekily did not see bet into Ike" on the same evening, and ni,t at,ove forty miles trolls the land, with the French Privateer Schooner leant Richard, which after aliard contest captured ~er.. The Pope carried 12 6's and 26 Men ; tl,e , Frit weer mounted s 19's and 120 men.—Capt. MiSLIETERs• • of the Pope, made a 'sanguinary defence: Wittig in with the enemy at sun-set on the Istinstants he -took advantage of the night, while ,the Pri vateer kept aloof to reconnoitre, to' batten down his hatehes,.• and make the best .arrangements for: the attack, and nailed his colours to the mast, • 7 At Sun rise the anion commenced, and was tip v ith unabating spirit on both sides for an hour and a half, during which Capt. Mnahrratt lost his . right leg and left arm; and some of his men were desperately wounded. The enein.y then boarded, and carried the Brig, which lost in the cVntcst, be shies the Captain, who was now completely cut down, .the Ist. and Ed Mates, and three sewer* killed and four seamen wounded. The Priva.cet and her prize arrived at Point a Petra (Guadaloupe) on the 4th inst. and is said to have lost only three or four men, which is probable enough, from the dis parity iu numbers of those dpposed to her.' • • The town of Tonningen, it is stated in the French Papers, mad e t 6 Prince Royal of Denmark 3 Pre" sent of a vessel, fully equipped and manned, for tbe public service, at the commencement of our attack upon Zealand. f