The Sun. — London, England, 1812-10-21 00:00:00

AMERICAN PArERO. COPIES Off; LE TIERS: • ERCErirED AT THE NAVY DEIWUMENT THIN PORTER, OF THE UNITED STATEO FRIGATE ESSEX, OF 32 GUTS. At Set 5 August 17, 181. have .the honour to-infornr7ouithat on the 13th, his Britannic. Majesty's sloOp of war Alert, Captain T. L. P. Laugharne, ran down on our weather quarter, gave three cheers, and com menced an action: (if so trifling a skirmish de serves the name), and- after eight minutes firing struck 'her colours, with seven feet water iii her hOld, :much 'cut to " pieces, and three men wounded. - • I need not inform you that the officers and crew of the Essex behaved as . I trust all Americans will in such cases, and it is only to be regretted, that so much 'zeal and activity Could not have been displayed on an occasion that would haVe done them inore honour. The• Essex has not received the slightest injury. The Alert was out for the purpose Of taking the Hornet. I have' the honour to be wish greit respect, your obedientservant; (Signed) Hon Paul Hamilton, Secretary, of the Navy, Washington. • D. PORTER. At Sea, August 20. Sta,—Finding myself much 'emharrassed by the Alert, from the great number of pi isoners wehave already made, (about 500) I concluded that, be fore our arrival in America, the number would be considerably augmented, and as I found - my, provisions and water getting - short, and be- . ing - well satisfied that a plan had been ; or ganized .by' them for rising on the ship, in the event Of an.engagernent, 1 considered it to :be the interest of my country to get clear of ffem as speedily as possible, particularly as I was well assured that, immediately on their arrival in St. John's, an equal number of my countrymenwould be released, and find a sure and immediate Con veyance. 1 therefore drew up written stipula tions corresponding with the accompanying let ters ; threw all the.guns of the Alert overboard ; withdrew from her. all the men belonging to the Essex ; appointed Lieut. J. P. Wilmer to'com inand her as a cartel, put all my prisoners on board her, and dispatched her for St. John's, in Newfouudland,with orders to proceed from thence to New York with such Americans as he may re receive in exchange. At a more suitable 'opportunity I shall do my self the honour to lay before you copies of every paper relative th this transaction, and sincerely hope that my conduct in this affair may meet with your approbation.. As the Essex has been so annoying about Ber inuda, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, I expect I shall hare to run the gauntlet through their , cruiz ers ; you may, however, rest assured that all a; ship. of her size can do shall be done, and whatever may be our fate, our country shall never blush fox us. non: Paul Timinilt:on, Secre`.•^_ry of the - Nit\ y, Wasllin4zz,o. D. PORTER. {The follOwiug are the pit.pers accompanying the preceding : viz. my t vo letters to Captain Litigharne, - with vcrial and written, to the first: a copy of gi ;en to Lieu tenant Wilmer, and a copy of Captain .;.,aurliarne's certificate; certifying the number of prisoners put on board the. cartel. Alert.] A•lgnst 43, 16-12. arrangerr.cp,t saggested itself to yne, which, in my opior -. , is calculated to ad: vance the interest of the - United States, as well as that of his Britannic_ Majesty, and if acceded to by you,, shell immediately be put in execu tion : shoidd vou, object to the terms, they will not after this he repeated, and the treatment usual to prisoners of war, will in future be observed to wards your crew. Art. 1. The Alert to:be deprived of all her ar mament, and to proceed, under charge of an Officer of this ship, as a cartel, to such British port as you may deem most advisable, and to take your officers and crew, together with the British Captains and mates of merchant vessels ; with their crews, now prisoners on board this ship. Art. 2d. The Officers t 6 go . on parole of honour, not to serve against the United : States of America, during the existing war, until regularly exchang ed. The and mates of merchant vessels, and their crews, as well as the petty officers, sea men, marines, landmen, and boys composing your crew, to be exchanged immediately on their arrival in a British port, for an equal number of equal grades of American. prisoners, and are not to serve against the United States until the exchange takes place. Art. 3d. The swords of the officers to be re turned to them. _ _ _ Art. 4th. - You to remain as. a pledge for the faithful fulfilment of the foregoing articles. I -have the hOhOtir, le. (Signed) D. PORTER. • Capt. T. L. P. Laugharne, late Commander of . Xi. B, M. sloop of war Alert—Present. . After delivering the preceding letter to Captain Laugbarne, he verbally informed me, "That his officers preferred remaining with him and sharing bislate and as he was confident that some of his ship . ,'s company were much prejudiced against him . , he did not wish them to go to Newtbendland, until he could be present to appear in his own jus .tification, before they could' have an opportunity of injuring his honour and reputation as an officer,' both of which he held as inestimable, and as, a Court Martial could not take place in hiS absence." lie then wrote me the-following letter. • August, 18, 1811: SIR,-1 have the honour to acknowledge the , - receipt of your letter of this day's date, offering an arrangement for the officers and crew of his Ma jesty's late sloop Alert. ; In answer thereto I beg to inform you, I ac cept and agree to the first - , second, .and.third ar tiCies; but permit me to mention my objection to the last,, as it seems by your requiring one to re main as an hostage for the performance of the pre ceding ones, to cast (though Lain willing to be r . lieve unintentionally) an indirect suspicion on the faith of the British :Government ; s 9 universally 'known for it fulfilment of every compact entered 7 ;into by its public servants. tiotit pie to acc&iipany In' st:ip~ CoMpany ar.;l . officers ; I will pledge to you mine honour to see the articles of our -release fully com plied with on oath arrival in a British pbrt. Should you object to this; my otficCrs prefer re inaining with me till we are regularly exchanged. I have the honour, &c. ' (Signed) T. L. P. LAUGHARNE,. Late Commander of his Majesty's slpop Alert, Cart. D. Pnrter, Z.S. frigate E,sex. August 18th, 1 12. reply to fine paragraph in your letter in answer,to the' terms offered by me, I shall ob serve, that having on two' former in§tancei per mitted. cartels to proceed to British ports, without. reserving hostages, I have sufficiently evinced that I entertained the highest confidence in the honour and faith of the• British Government, as respects the fulfilment of compacts entered into by their officers nor should I have proposed •the laSt arti cle in this instance, were it not that I felt a ne cessity for holding some pledge as a justification of% f my conduct to my own Government for the unlimited confidence l'have reposed ; for the rea sons, however, 'that you have stated, I am willing to yield, that condition ;—and you may consider yourself at liberty to proceed with your•officers and crew, and on the same terms. . I have the.hononr, &c. (Signed) B. PORTER. Captain T. P. Langhorne, late Com-, mander of his British Majesty's sloop . of war Alert—Present. [Here follow copics of the agreement, pass ports, &c. and a list of the prisoners.] At Sea, September Ist, 1812. SIR,—On the afternoon of- the 30th August, in latitude- 3G. N. longitude 62. W. discovered .one o. the enerny'.; frigates standingtowiirds us • under a press of apparently with an intention •Of speaking us. Stood for hint under easy sail, with the ship prepared 'for action—apprehensive that he might not find us in the night, I hoisted a light. At nine, he made a signf;l, consisting of two flashes and one blue light, apparently about four miles distance from us. I continued to stand On for the. paint where they t't.!: seen•tintil mid night, when, not , getting sight of the enemy, I concluded that it would be best to heave-to for him until dayli,;hl:, presuming that he had .done the same, or that, he would at least have kept in our neighbourhood ; but to my great surprise, and the rnmtiLicatiou of my ofilcers and , crew, (whose zeal -oh every occasion excites adinire.- tion), we discovered in the morning that the bird had flown ! From the latitude and longitude in which we saw this vessel, and from -her fleetness-, which enabled her to disappear so soon, I think it not unlikely that it was the Acasta, of 30 gains and 350 men, sent out with so much parade; ac companied by the Ringdove,•of 22 guns, to cruise for the Essex ! Perhaps, however, she went to seek ber consort. I have the honour to be, with great respect, Your obedient servant, D. PORTER. Hen. Patti Hamilton, Sec.retary of the Navy At Sea, September 52,1312.. SIR,—On the 4th instant; off the tail of St. George's Bank, I discovered two ships of war to ;he southward, and a brig to the northward ; the brio - in chase of an American merchant ship, and I have not the sli . ghtest doubt of their being ene inies,--gave chase to the brig, which attempted to get past us to join the rest of the squadron ; this 7.v!fi prevented, and compelled her-to stand to the north ,ward ;. continued in chase until We got abreast the American ship, when we gave over chase, as the wind' was getting light, and the brig was leaving us with her sweeps out. , On shewing our colours to, the American merchant ship, -se 7. veral signal guns were tired by the ships to the southward, which made all sail in.chase of us. At four P.M. they had gained our wake, and had conic up with us very fast. Calculat'ng on mak ing my escape by some! manoeuvre in the course of the night, I hoisted American colours, and fired a gun to the windward : the shipS still con 7 tinning togain On'us, and the largest being con siderably to thewindward of the other, and about. five miles - astern us, bearing S. by W. I deter mined to heave about as soon as it. krew dark, and in the event of our not being able to pass him, to fire a broadside into him, and lay hint On board. With this view, made eveey arrangement and pre paration, the crew in'higli . spirits, and gave three cheers when the plan was proposed to them. At twenty minutes after seven, hove about, and stood S. E. by_ S. (the wind heading us off the moment we hove in. stays) until thirty minutes after eight, when we bore away W. without seeing any thing More of theta, which seems the more extra ordinary, as a pistol was fired by accident on board this slop at the moment when she must have been at • our shortest dista...ce from • them. Finding myself thus cut oil' from New York and Rhode Island,. I made the Vest of may way for the • Wlaware. • Considering this escape as a very extraordinary one, I have the honour to enclose you a sketck of the position of the ships at three different periods, which. you will perceive at once the plan of eifecting it, I have the honour to be, with great respect, Your obedient servant, D. IORTER. Hon. Paul Hamilton, Secretary of the Navy. Month of the Delaware, Sept. 7, ISI2. pursuance of your orders of the 24th June, I sailed from Sandy hook on the 3d July, shaping my course to the southward ; in the lat. of 30:52. N. long. 66. 16. W. I captured the brig Lamprey, 21 days from Jamaica ; bylier I received certain intelligence that at the time of her depar ture the Thetis frigate, with specie and a largc convoy . for England, was to sail on or ablaut the 26th June, and that several running ships were also-on the point of departure.. I consequently made every. exertion to . get 'off St. Augustine in time to fall in with them, but without • effect, as fresh gales prevailed from the south west, and in creased Until the 19th July, when we were com pelled to scud. I succeeded ii getting within a few miles as far south as St. Augustine, but was baffled in every attempt.to ,get to the westward; as th - el , :galeS continued to increase, and as there was no possibility of getting there in time to meet the - convoy, I concluded it best to - endeavour to intercept it on -the banks Of eWfoundland i to which place I proceeded, taking lialifap in my wny, and although I have be . en disappointed inoray efpeaations, I hope that the facts above stated, and the services rendered by the Essex, may be •r.oasidered a sufficient apology for departing from the letter of your instructions. • It is tititch to . be regretted that I had' not with tikea . sloop of war at the time I fell' in the convoy of-the Minerva, .(as well as on other im portant. occasions), that the ships of the convoy might he.kept in play _whilel engaged -tbe,frigate. Had this been the case, instead of taking only 200_praers, including the transports cre w, I have pot a doubt that we should bate made pri sonevs Of the whole of the troops,; as well as the frigates:and transports' crews, which. vould have exceeded 2000:nien-. I arrived here this yawning, and shall .proceed as high up as Chester, &c. i have the honavr to he, .• With great respect, &c. D. PORTER. lion. Paul Hamilton, &c. FROM TUE NATIONAL I,NTELLIGENCER WASHINGTON, .Sitar. 8. "United States Frigate Constitution, of Boston, Aug. 311 . " have the honour to inform you, that On the 19th instant, at two p. m.• being in lat. 41. 42. and long. 55. 4S. 'with the - Constitution under mTcommand,,a said was - discovered from .the mast-head,:hearing ..,by S. or . E. S. E. but at such a distanee • we could .not tell what she was. Alt said was 'instantly made in chase, and soon found we came tip with' her: At three ` p. m. could Mainly see that she was 'a -ship on the starboard tack,' under an easy sail,! close on a wind ; at halt past three p. at. Made her out to be a -fri gate : continued the chase until we were within about three miles, when.' ordered the light sails to ,he taken in, the courses furled up ; and the ship cleared for action. - At this tine the 'chase had backed his Maintop-sail, whiting for us to come down. As soon as the Constitution was ready for action, I bore down with an intention to bring him to close action immediately ; but on our coining within gun-shot, , she gave us -a broad - side, and filled away and wore, giving us a broad side on the other tack, but ivithbitt effect, her shot falling short. She continued . wearing .and manantvring for about three-quarters of an hour, to,get- a. raking :position ; but finding she -could not, she bore up, and run under her top-sails and jib, with the wind on the quarter. immediately made sail to bring the ship up with her, and five minutes before six p. m. being alongside; within - half-pistol-shot, we commenced a heavy fire from all our guns, doutileshotted with round and grape; and so well directed were they, 'and so wariniFkept up, that in 15 minutes his wizen , mast went by the board, and his retain-yard in the slings, and the hull, rigging, and sails, very much - torn to pieces.' The fire was kept up with equal warmth tor 15 minutes longer, when his mainmast and foremast . went, taking with them every spar; excepting the; bowsprit. •On seeing this, we ceased firing.; so that in 39 mi nutes after we got fairly alongside of the enemy, she 'surrendered, and had niit a spar st:inding. and her : above and" below Water so shatter ed, that a few more broadsides must have carried, her down.' After informing you that so fine a ship as the Guerriete, commanded ban able and experienced Officer," had been totally dismasted, and other wise cut to pieces so as to make her not worth towing into port, in the short Space of 50 mi;Jites', you can have no doubt of the gallantry and good conduct the officers and ship's company I have the honour to command. It only remains, there fore, for me to assure.vou, they all fought with great bravery; - and it gives me,great plea sure to say, that. from the'snrallest boy in the ship to the oldest seaman; nut a look of fear .Vias seen. They all went into action giving three cheers, and requesting - to be laid close alongside the enemy. " Inclosed have the honour to sent[you a list of killed and wounded on board the Constitution, and a report of the damages she has sustained; also a list of killed and wounded on board the enemy, With his quarter bill, &c. " ISAAC lILTLL:' " To the Hon. Paul Hamilton, Esq." PHILADELPHIA. - The. following; aescription of the state of that city, brought on by the \val., and a want of foreign commerce, is front. tile True American . • Between 300 and . 400 houSes empty, more closing ; nearly one-halt are - the most valuable property in the city, stands for business*, which formerly'commanded extravagant rent, now re duced already one-third, and May ere long be re duced onehalf in price. Merchant vessels of eV'ery description, more especially of eXtensive burthens, moored economi eally_ in the 'Borough of Kensington and the Navy-yard, to'save tae expence of wharfage : fo reign, goods Jorinerly were in abundance; now scarce ; the 'feu remaining on hand advanced to 'exorbitant prices, to Snell a degree as to prevent the indigent altogether from purchase; Shopkeepers, who once could scarce spare time for their meals, now yawning and stretching their tired inactive limbS, for N . Vant of more active em ployment ; and what more disagreeable, con templating on the (pecnniary, Of course) time to' come. If' national poverty be a national blessing, as some antiquated philosophers believed, and some modern philosophers appear to approximate with a rapid stride, we shall have it to the fill. * In high-street, at present, torty-two houses and stoles are nuotcapie,l.----N. front from Iligh=street to Nlulherry-- street, upw4rll. of 41. dozeii.hotiSes and stores have been to let more than - Line ..'e4r- 7 4.011.EAT CHANGE ! llormerly it, was fa shionabk to'iiciliase. the stock of goods of a store-keeper,. to procuro.tho ,1•00-.will - of' a stand for hnsiaess. , A poor Hibernian soldier having by some aCci dent received a ball in his back at the * battle of Salamane*, was lamenting, to one of his compa nions that he should have been so unfortunate as to be hit behind, as . his friends would imagine he was running 'away. The other reconciled him to his hard fate, however, by advising him to say, he had got up in such a hurry that he put his coat on the hind side before. MC duthim-tAti,.-;: . -qreSterclay _a Porter eniplOye'l at the sign of the White. Bear, Barbican; iyas brought before Alderman Sir M. Ihoxitg, under the cir cumstances following :.--;•;4.lartha Dirdtileo, ti young woman from •the country, stated; that t,iie came to town on Monday, by the Northampton Coach. She got off . the roof in AhierSgate , strect, at three. o'clock in the afternoon, and in the even , ing . went . with her box to the White Bear in Bar.; bican, to take, a place in the Uornsey stage, in order to 1 e c(mveyed to a faMily which had hi:ed her ,as a - servant.' The prisoner stood at the door, and considering hint to be the porter em ployed by the house, she gave het box, which he .took to . place it, as she supposed, in ti coach. In less than ten minutes atter he returned to. her, exclaiming, " de d—d if it is nut gone;"- it was then understood that her box ..va4 Jost. It contained wearing apnarsl,. and all she had. Theyoumr,wornen described herself to b; a stranger in andon, wit:lto:it friends, and re quested that .the defendant, or his empioFcr.t, would zt- least make her a compensation for the loss of her property. .Notwithstanding her en treatie.l,• no satisfaction was. viforded, end actinir, under the advice of the crowd, which assemblea in consequence of her niisfortune, she sent for a constable, by whom the defendant was taken int..l . 6istOth ,- . In an.3;ver to the charge, he said be had b!'en five r_ars as -porter at the. White Bear, and could have a good character for hbuesty. admitted that he received the. box from the cnnf plainant, and that he put it on the bout of the coach, from whence it was stolen, as lre suspected, by the driver of a hackney coach: The mistress of the White Bear' blamed the young woman forr.ot triving brought the boX to the bar, where parcels were usuaily received for the Coach. She achnitted, however, that the de fcnzh at was-her servant. . worthy Alderman expressed anOpmirm that he could not 'turn away the young woman without redress. It was a hard case for a servant corning many miles from the country to lose her all, and perhaps her place, by the negligence of porters employed to. take care of goods intended for con veyance. On *the whole view of the case, he •orderedthe defefida.nt to pay the girl forty shil lings, the value of her box.) On expressing some relactatice to comply, he was remanded for farther examination this day, and informed, that he should not be discharged beCore he had made proper satisfaction. HATToN,GARDEN.--Three well-dressed young Men were apprehended on Friday evening last, by the Ce!stables, of St. Mary-le-bone parish, aided by Ty\Tot(l the officer, under a charge of beingfound in the act of conveying a small bundle, containing a variety of gold seals, a gOld chain, and a watch together with Several silver spootis„ the property of Mr. North, ,shoplieeper, with his name and. address' . thereon engraved, were' examined this da*, , for the first time. The spoons were bent doable, and twisted in a, state fit• for fusion. The servant maid deused that the spoons were Stokn within the last th7ee weeks, during her m i stre ,„ , s ,„,,,:,„ : „„7-,..mp n t. One of the prisoner 4 sUited - , that he bought the spoons in rue tine o f his trade, as a ‘vt)rking jeweller ot goldsmith, and could find the person t he bought them from. There were Many 1.3..mir. notes also found upon them, which they nor: claimed us their own pro perty, but they were detained for inspection at the bank. kancoak, the officer,- now preferred another charge of a capital nature against, the prisoners, having seized a box and a person carrying it into the house of one gat the prisoners, which box con tained four or five hundred ;-,ounds worth of goods stolen from Eirmingbam. The prisoners were re manded. • . UNION HALL.--Fraud and Forgerg.--4ame3 Leggatt and John Barnes were brought before the Sitting Magistrate by Holmes, on a charge of forgery and fraud. It appeared, that frauds to a considerable extent have been committed of late upon the several performers at the Surrey Theatre, by persons attending at the doors on benefit nights, and selling forged tickets. Steps were taken, if possible, to detect the perpetrators of this cheat, and on Monday evening last, it being fir. Gibbon's benefit, two persons were stopped at the box entrance offering two forged tickets, by Mr. Paynel, one of the performers. On in quiry, they said they botight them 'of a woman at the door. Mr. Payne went out with them, and they pointed out a woman named Kirby, who was taken into custody by Holmes, the officer. She had then in her possession four other box tickets, which also on examivation.proved to be forged. .She stated, that she bought them of Leggatt, the, prisoner, the six for tweive shillings. She point ed Leggatt out to Holmes, and on -his being taken into custody, be confessed he forged the tickets, and sold them to Mrs. Kirby. Soon afterwards,' the Other prisoner, Barnes, cane up . to Mrs. Kirby, and offered her six pit tickets at half price. She took them from him as if going to purchase them, but, instead of paying him, called Mr. Payne, as had been agreed. on. , Hearing this, Barnes attempted , to snatch the tickets from her, but failed. He then ran away, but was pursue:i by Holmes, and. secured.. Mr. Gibbon attended, and proved that. both the pit and box tickets were forged. The prisoners were both fully com mitted for trial for the fraud. CORN-EXCHANGE, OCT. 21.--Although we bad hut a short supply of. Wheat to-day, there was no alteration in price, being but few needy buyers ; Rye and Malt remain the same as Monday ; prime samples of Barley full 2s. per quarter higher, but no alteration in ordinary ; Oats were on Monday what we quoted them, 2s. per quailer lower, and not as' erroneously stated in some other prints, 42. higher ; there is a further reduction of Is. per quarter to-day. New Wheat 87s. 117 s. 19.25. Tick Beans- - - Fine ditto - •- -19 s. Old diq9 - - Rye • 595. &Is. Small ditto ley - - - -51 s. 535. Feed Oats - , - .Ne',v Ditto - - - 6 0 s. Fi n e ditto - - - - - -87 s. D7s. Poland ditt 3 - - Fin: ditto - -100 s. Old ditto - - White Pease (hoil.)lo2s. 112 s. Potatue ditto - - 'New ditto - - - -120 s. Rape Seed - Grey ditto - - - 785.. 83s. Fine Flour New ditto -86 s. l Socoatis - - - 6ts. 70s. luos. -103 s. - 525. 5(35. 535. •••••••5. 645. - - 641.681. 105 s. 1169. 100 s. 10E.s.