The Sun. — London, England, 1801-08-21 00:00:00

REPORTS FROM THE SELECT COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE OF - COMMONS APFOINTED TO INQUIRE INTO THE STATE OF THE PUBLIC RECORDS OF THE' KINGOUNI. FIRST RIPORT.. The SClC&Ciininifitee am - oil - 11R to inquire into the state. of the Ktblic"Records of this.Kingclorn, and of-such other Public Instruments, Rolls, Booles r and Papers, as they shall. think proper i and to report to the House the nature and 'condition thereof; together With what thc) , shall jucige.ift to be done fot the better arrangement, preservation, and -• , more cOpvenient use (f the s - a:ne, have, pursupnt to the o;:der of the House," iO-oceeded to inquire „ into the several . matters referred to them ; and have agreed upon thefollowing Report :* In entering upon' this important inquir - y, your CommittA. have thought proper to begin with an examination of such measures asliave been taken 'under the authority of 'the Crown 'and Parliament, in former times, for preserving and arranging the an Records of the Realm, conceiving that such an examination might best.serve to explain the, pre: sent state of the several Establishments and Rep&i tories provided for ibis purpose, and furnish your Committee with th... , most useful lights for dire;.l - the, course of their own proceedings. _ In the first place, therefore, :yogi. 'Committee propose tO state, what they find to have been done upon this sqbjeet in former times ; in the next• place, to relate w hat has been their own course of proeee,ling the prosecution of the present inquiry, a'na finally to submit to the judgment: of the Rouse; those measures which, in their opinion, it may be adviseable to adopt hereafter, for the better preser- . vation, arrangement, and more convenient use of the contents of tiles:: several repositories. 'Each of these points.they shall endeavour'_; to state with as much corretiness.as their nature and importance re quire, .and, at the same time, 'via' as much bret;i ty, las may be consistent with . s.o, great an:extent land Variety of considerations, comprehending all the recorded memorials of our history, laws, and go vernment, froln the period of the Conquest of Eng land by the No'rinaiis, to the Union of Great Britain and Ireland. MEASURES OF FORM'E ' R TIMES. The greater' part of the eublic Records,;begin ning with the Books, of Doomsday;. have been pre servekt to gstfar.more than se'yen, hundred ye.ars, al though 'many have undoubtedly been lost. or de stroyed, and particularly during the reigns-of king Stephen, king John,' and Henry. the Third, and 'the Wars between the Houses of York and Lancaster; and it is also probable, that, during those tinie§ of Turbulence, the persons whose duty it was to have recorded 'public trantiaions, ,may have negleaect so to do. • - , The attention of Parliament appears to have been direaed yety 'early to this, object. In some of the very first Petitions upon the rolls of Parliament,. the public recOrd's are considered to be the Peo ple's evidences, OrtLined, - that they shall be accessible to all the \ King's subjeas. Ire sobse_ quesit ages, sometimes -the Sovereign alone, and ,sometimes the King and Parliaynent "Onjointly, t.trptised to in . llce special provisions" and regulations for' their tine. preseriratiort and arrangement, Lithe reign of. Elizabeth an, inquiry u;as.iiistitut.ed con. cerning the,' recordS of Pa rl iamen t,• and of the Courts of Chancery • and Exchequer. Tarries; I. a State Paper Office,. and an • Office -6,f Geneial..Re. _ - membnince for Of Nl4rters, of Record,; and a Coin. rni,sion was issued riy Chatlesj. for searching after all .I<ecords belonging' to . the Crown. - Statutes also ' were patted at various times, to proted them from falsification;•.era3llrc, and en'Abezzlemenr.r . . Unfortunate;) ;however, almost-all the provisions' • established 'by the vigilance of ,preceding reigns, were broken down by the civil wart of the last cen tury, and . i a lthough some useful- steps were taken in the' reign of Charles 'the Second, by founding the present 'offiCe fOr State.' Papers, 'and' reforming the' Tteaturies' of the- Commun . 'JAW Couris t yet' no effeaual measures were adopted to- retrieve-the ge neral- Mischiefs pr'Oduced by thOse times of-confusion until the reign of Queen . _ - At that aera, under :the san&ion of. the- Royal An: thority, and by, the advice of- Lord HalifaX, and the then Speaker of this House, Mr. Harley, after_ terwards Earl of Oxford, the design was formed and executed of publishing that magnificent cotri. pilatio'n of State Pqers and'Records which the Pub_ tic now possess under the mune. of Rymer's Fcedera— , And as that great national work chiefly related to the foreign - trantaftions *OT this country, the House of Lords afterwards, at the instance of Lord Halifax and Lord Somers, set on: foottan inquiry into the • state of • our domestic Records, as conpeaed with 'its internal laws and government. That inquiry was prosecuted without intermission and With - many salutary consequences, through the reigns of - Qucen Anne and George the First, down to the commence ii cnt of the ,reign of his late Majesty• • • BA` , aye event which look place' in 173 r, namely, the Fire which 'happened at the Cottonian Library, 'this liduse was- induced to set on foot another in- gutty, by itsown authority, still more extensive • and effe&pal , than thd former ; zind'a very elaborate ample 'in:tde at the conclusion of that proceeding, together %viill'an earneit and unanimous Address of this flouse, , in support of the Measures ctiicli it recommended, %%as laid at the foot Of the , . throne.. 'The . seile these several inquiries, made by the tut of .the two.flousesi . cOmrtehended some of - rhe,prilleipal gepositories Of thekingd'om, and in the IZeport . madc tr 3 this House by the Committee; in after stati,: t g e tat - undt . :r . their . diredien, some of the'princieill .aceth.cl Officers had compiled a Table of the 'lt 4 :-Co:'( 16 of the lk . ..:inp-clout; digested in a' regular serie's oCiitne, 'and . disArtiguilling the re poiitories in which the several Reeoftis are contain eti, they proceeded' 'to state (sijitli'''great truth, as - appears to yotiiponl(piliet:), !‘. Th',4 they had laid the foundation 'fo . r . • very necessary 414 noble Work, which must b cif singular adviitqagetp par 411 111. , 111JUip/ tuc 1411.1U11, anti Orlilg td light many valuable remains of antiquity, wbicli, for want of an easy and proper access to thern, had long been concealed from public no*e.!' Since that transa4ioni being the last great Pat. liamentary Proceeding upon this, subje#, a period has now elapsed of nearly 70 years, during which, some of the rneasures.recomtner:ded thaVßepott i 7 . , have becn'adopted 0 - el - tually,,; others however, have not been fully - executed ; o ind theiterrnediate lapse of time has progressively suceradded a Urge ac cumulation of materials in -every' department he. sicics' which the change which has taken pine in the language,-and written e,haraaer of Judicial Pro ; ceedings_has increased .the difficulties of inetod izing -.these Repositories, or 'applying- their con. tents to .purposes of pra4i.Cal use. It is appa. rent also, that ,no Parliamentary Inquiries have - been hitherto.extended to the Courts Maritime or .Ecle: siastical,snor to any of the cathedral 9r Universi ty Libraries ; that the Royal, Sloanion, Harleian, and other Colledions, which - now.-constitute 'the British MuseurP, have never been subjetted to such a ,visitation, and that, no such proceeding - lias ever been extended to any of the Public Repositories in Scotland. • (To be cnitinued. S U T H SOLENT Q,UIS DiClitE FALSUM -AUDLAT LONDON, AUGUST zr, iBor. INTe have great satisfaCtion in being enabled to state from good authority, that the British. Troops which were sent early in the last month to the Island of Madeira, for the purpose of assisting in the proteftion of that. Island if it should be attacked,. were landed there on the asth ult. and were, re ceived as ti*,,, - ViienclS and allies of the Court of Portugal. 3 1 , The Hamllarkk Mail of Wednesday had not ar rived when our-Paper was put to Press. This being the Birth-day of H i s, Roy al Highness , , the DUKE of CLARE NC E, wno complete d . the 36th year of his age, 'En EIR MA J EST lES would receive the Compliments of 'the Nobility. at Gloucester- Lodge. - Another instance. of the liberality of the Commer cial, World is to be see n i n t h e - f ront o f our P a p er , in the - Subscription entered into at - Lloyd's: Coffee: house, for - the- relief of such brave Men as have , suffered, or may suffer under the Command of Lord NELSON, in defeating the attempts of the French for the,lnvasion of this Co.trntry. The sum imme -diately subscribed was upwards of 2001. Accounts were yesterday received in town, of the death of General Lord ADAM GORDON, Colon& of the .Ist Regiment -of Foot (consisting of two bat talions), and Governor of Edinburgh. Castle. - ... • • The return of Lord ST. HELENS from Paters_ burgh ; may be very soon expeclect" According to the letters from Petersburgh of the lath ult. iVII. - GARL GARL IKg had received Credentials as EmbassadOr to succeed him there Mr. SAUMAREA, brother to Sir J. SAUNIAREZ, has these few days been, appointed to a Civil Situation at Ceylon, worth =poi. per annum. The present Administration will not be condemned, even by the Morning.Chvonide, for tardiness in shewing their sense of-distinguished services rendered to the Country. Mr: FINCH ITArro resigned- his 'office of Under Secretary 'of State, inn thetHome Department,, on Monday last,• and is succeeded by Sir GEo. SHEE. FRINCE ROYAL Of PRussiA, born on the z9th of June been las ten baptized by the name of FREDERIC (.:HAE.LES - -'A LEXANDER. 'The cere niony, whiCh was exceedingly brilliant, took place at Charlottenbourg. Among, the persons present were the Duke .-,12f OLDENBOURG, and the Prince . BishOp .of Lir s EC. Those present-by proxy were .the Empress of GERMANY, the Emperor and Em press of Rtrssi A, the Prince and Princess.of WALES, the Archduke CHARLES of AUSTRIA I the Duke of BRUNSWICK, thellereditary Prince and Princess of- MtcKLENBURG SCHWERIN, and the Margrave'of . ANSrAC,H. • Capt. YOUNG, of the Royal' Artillery, insrEteii on the glacis of the Citadel'alt Plymouth, on Tues..- day; the arms and accoutrements' of the Plymouth, or ,Prince of Wales's 'Regiment of - Volunteers 3 Langmead's Volunteer's,. PLy.motith Rangers,_Major JULIAN ; Plymouth Blues, "Major, CuLME. The very few• , arms that were yinerviteairle 'were con demned. • After 'the' inspeCtion, Capt.'Youtco ex pressed his approbation of; the soldierly appearance of the different Cdrps under arms, and also of the high 'order in which he foUnd- the arms and accou trements. • Bfimproving our native floCks with a judiciou s tnixture of the Spanish wool, Lord SOMEILVILLE has this season sold the wool of his fleck (including weder and chilv,er bogs,) to staplers in Somerset shire, at one guinea p,er fleece, which alio proved an excellent bargain - to the purchasers, the average weight being upwards of 611 b. per fleece; • Letters fromJ3uty.;.:of the-iBth insr. , state,: that the prices of l . grain.have greatly declined'. in their rnarket.".- Th4r4orice .of the finest English wheat on Tuesday wAs: ) gerl. t o o-905.. Barley 32:3 to 4.05. and, Oats 245. tolo.,per quarter. The Wheat is near.' ly all got . in,:in - :that , part-.of Suffolk, the'weather having been extremely fayourable'; the - quality and quantity exceeds , the most sanguine e:zpedations.. The following quantity. of Grain was last week . . . rte, synpoo pito Hull 4 quarters of wheat ; 2857 of oats ; 305 of :barley ; 4 of pease; .314 of yheat flour ;, 5:4. of rye flour ; io of Indiarr meal and 122 tierces of rice. . • ' The S. W. Paulson, ---, from Virginia . to Li_ . yerpool, is put back to St. Bartholomew's ;n dis_ •, . tiesS. N A i; . A L • ( I,l' : •-o • NE X S. iMPerliinf relagi, saz,umpre tracflum, fed mibi some datum. PLYMOUTH, A. 1,. • StmoAy night last the Boats of t he R enar d a nd - I.a Safi:tante Sloops of War proteeded up the river of N9rlaix in order to cut out a French Cutter which lay at anchor three miles above the Outer Batteries; -whic.h gallant attempt would certainly have been fol lowed by success, .11-.ld they not in their way fell in with a boat which gave the alarm, and they were in consequence fired upon, and obliged to retreat, - after having five men 'wounded, two of them badly, who • were brought over in a Cartel that arrived here' this morning. • • Arrived a French Merchant Brig (name un-' known), laden with wine, pitch, tar, ;cc. cut out of a Bay near Rochefort by the boats of L'lliron. del& Sloop of War, and others. • - Arrived the Revolretionaire Frigate from Cork, and L'Oiseau Frigate, Capt. Lord AUGUSTUS 1' ITZ uoy, from a Cruize off the Coast of Spzlin.• The latter came into . Harbour this morning to refit. . Arrived the Spanish Chasse Marie Franciira, laden with wheat, from St. Andero boun'd to Co runna, captured on the loth inst. by the Phcen;x Privateer of Jersey, which, vessel has Also taken five other Spanish and one French Merchantman, laden_ with wheat. TO?BaY, AUG. 19! Tilts day Mr. Pants landed here from the 'Ca'mbrian, of .1.0 guns, the Hon. Captain LEGGE, :t; 10 • ,with Dispatches from Admiral Sir ROGER Curris at the Cape of Good Hope. PORTSMOUTH, Aug. ;c).: • ARRIVED the following Ships from the West Indies, under convoy of the kohitrite and Cal. (-rata Men of War, viz. Blachford, William Manning, 'Two Brothers, Dmdalus, - Atidromeda, Alfred, Fanny, ••/Lizard, Barbadoes Planter, Rose, Severn, Dalrynpte, - Reinsclyke, Baltic Merchant, • Granville Bay, Brilliant, Mariner, Atalanta, - DJiatord,• Jane, Juno, Rose, Iteniwell, ConrettlWei Prince of Wales, Arerhuta, • Emily; ' , Mary Arrni- Enterprize, - Union: General Hunter, ,Arrived HiS Majesty!s Ships Hydra And Firr,lofle, from Weymouth. • Sailed " the Pestry;ur Bomb for the Eastward. Arrived Den Virge Christian, KNUDSON master, from Norway, and sailed to the Westward on a Cruize ; also the Swedish Brig Charlotte, ANDER SON llaster, from' Gottenburgh to Lisbon, detained by the Racoon Brig. FALMOUTH; Alia. IS. E n the Brig Nostra ,ignortz Ro.innziz, Cipt. ! , ,Vgx-LcH, from-Madeira, '22 'days passage.: landed jiri9fficer with Dispatches,_ who went off' immedi., ately for London. Arrived the American Ship George, Capt. RI,CE,, with brandy, nuts, - &c, . froth Barcelona, for orders Arrived a. French Schoobet, laden with cuime; prize . to the 4:2r1 St. Vincent Schooner; . and the 'Mil/brook Shqoner,of 18 guns, front a‘cruize. The•homewar&bound Lisbon Fleet, under con. voy of 'the Amon,• was ,off the Land'S End. this morning. SHEERNESS, Au c . 20. Tilts day Went out of .Harhoue to the Nore, His Majesty's Ship Amazon, Capt. StrrrOY. His 'Majesty's Ship Iris, Capt. BRISAC, was this day , paid off. Captain T. M. HARDY is appointed to thc COM— inand of the ls;s, or 5 6 gun's. The utmost exertions are used ,to complete the building .of the Colossus, of 74. guns, in Deptford .Dock-yard, which it is imagined will be finished by Christmas. .1' , . :Monday the SilVer Cup, given by Lord Viscount CtitiaTE . NAT, was sailed for on the River Exe, in front of Vowderhath Castle: 16 boats.were entered, but the prize Was. warmly. contested by tw,b boats froth Plymouth, one belonging . to Mr. DEER, ::Master. of La Its , misht Frigate, was'however the sue. :qsful candidate, ;:ncl received the elegant.silver cup, u:lut is guineas; froth the fair hands of the,lion. Miss Co iritTENAy.--.The.seCond prizct of s,guineas, - aud the 'third prize of 3 guineas, were wodby Plymouth boats ; the foUrth prize of a vitleas, was won, by a Lyin . p4tone boat. fri P-I . IkIUU I LI, I-1 VG. lE. THE Esplanade yesterday evening was but thin of company. His MAIESTY and Attendants, after see ing the Berkshire Militia mount the King's Guard, returned to the Lodge, where a sele& party of No bility were invited to. spend the evening with t he R9YAL FAMILY. The Queen's Band played se veral -favourite airs while-the' company were pre sent. This • morning Her Royal Highness PR INC ES 6 MARY and the Drose of Gt.,ou . c ESTER hrithed. After breakfast the Kxwa, accompanied I , Y O PRINCE • AOOLPH US, PRI NCZEiSiSOPH lA, DUET. GLOUCESTER,, and the Lazir CHANCELLOR, rOdc- Oat on horseback to Dorchester ; and retitrned back over Bincomb Hills and on.the.Beach. The QtrE - ni. and the Counteii Of 'Uxeßtpc E in a phaeton, pit I DiC E . S.S AUbJI H STA 'and Mrs. WINDI itAM in another, PRINCESSES PI. I XAB ETH, MARY :in. sociable; attended by Lady C. Dug' . Lady CATHCART, and Lady M. ERsKiNet and PRI NCESS AME L lA, with- Baroness Howe, in a crriage, took an - airing to Up ay. Major-q.eneraN4sl-1 arrived here yesterday. The Itydia and Forturie'e Frigates, commanded . by Captain Pi I GET and Lore. A.. BE AtICLERc; 'Set sail :yesterday evening for Spithead, after firing a ROyal salute. • Ytheiday a French' Privateer was taken • ne ar Portland, the firing *as heard here very plain. RO B EERY • OF THE- "AV.:Es MA IL.- 7 -The bags be.- loiiging to this Mail were found in a corn.fleld Monday last by some reapers, near the spot where the robbery was committed. The robbery was ef feeted on the zoth July last, and for which offence two persons, father and son, have been examined at Bow-street. The letters were opened, and ti l 9 :Nines of the / Bank of England taken out. Couptl .Bank Notes to.the amount of upwards of eight tho - sand pounds were left-behind, The letters were a, very wet state, owing to the repeated rains thAt have fallen, and the length - of.time they have . lair' in the fields.- 'They were brought yesterday to the Post-Office. KEMALE 14s returned to,,town in order to assist in the arrangements for th opening of Prury_larse Theatre. There seems id bP no reirson Cur believ ing the report:of his having..resigned the manage' men t. Quicx., it is said, is likely to join the Theatrical Corps of Old Drury next Season, not .to go through the, regular wear and tear of the Theatre, but to play a certain number of nights. He is one of th e very few_ Comic Alors of the present day that really plays from the impulse of genius and observal , . The question bet Ween the Flints and hying: which so much agitated the Men of Fashion in this King. dom, has again, unhappily for the peace. of the t :ay. loring kttotld,;been revived at Berlin. 'two hund red journeymen Taylors are in-a state of insurrec tivietta j o e f ,t h y.. i . s a Skil:i n e; s oi ' t tion. It is to be hoped, however,-that these alasi, , wi in fl ak no e t u , b is y mg syritttpmi will subside, and that the Knights °, P t r h u e ssi l a e i g l l t i h a e b n N i;;; li n e t s Shreds and Patches. . . The,ARCHDI7ItE CHARLES has already aisunie4 the Government of the Distrias belonging to ill; Teutonic Order. - P.e will speedily proceed to Mor genthiem in Franconia, the ordinary , residence of did Grand Maiter. - '.* . ' - 4. v ery - curie-us, and to 'the Ariaim of it, dis agreeable occurrence, lately took place at the baths . of Baden in Austria. A lady who wasretnarkablC for ,the, beauty of her complexion, repaired to 0, Baths in an elegant neglige: had hardly dippe' her hand into the 'water before she ivreeived that they were 'become perfealy black. She was unab/e, to account for -this, but determined however n ot to expose - herself to the laughter of her companions): she retired to a corner Of the':-Bath, and undressed: herself, intending to , washoiff , the-blackness, she got into..the water, intoi•wftich she immediately jumped up to her chin. On out of the w ater she foiind : her bosom,. her - -neck, an& part of her chin 'metamorphosed into, t holt ofa Negress. This . ,dreadful event occasioned the-greatest consterna", Lion. in her : mind ; a n d s h e c all e d-i n t he as si stance _her friends,.but it was Many days before they could ,succeed perkily in svathing the ilaii-n-moor , white , The cause•of the phenomenon is well know n to all 'Chemists to be in the property of the Baden Vases of blackening metals, -and the Lady had been employing cosmetics, into the composition of which metallic sub Stances had entered. Among the veterans in the Commune.of ,Tatirst there is said 'to be one of the name of J o h n Th ur eli, who is 103 years of age. He was horn i n Bur gundy in. Septemberi 60. He entered into the Re" giment of . Tor Taine in Sept . . 1716, from which ritnc he served as a private, declining all promotion. In 1735 he was wounded i r i t h e b reast b y a musque C ball at the siege of Kehl. At the Battle of Mill den he received six' sabre wounds. He had threv brothers killed at the battle of Fontenoy, and a soil, killed on the Izth Of April, in America. He serve" in all.the Wars in Germany,.Flanders, and Holland. He enjoys a pension of 600 livres. His m other lived to Li 8, and one of his uncles to' 130. • .BißmixcuArt DEPEATgD.—M. Dg PERES, Merchant, at Wesel, in Germany, has found our, iL is said, the art of 'giving the true Engli . sli polish f° Iron and Steel. He solicited of the Eleaor, not 3 Patent, but some other advantages as Inventor , which he obtained--This,,say the French Papers , will be a Morefatql shock, and do the English more harm than the loss of a Squadron ! • A few days since Mr. GREGORY, StOne-Mantl fafturer, in Prince's street, Lambeth, in coming on shore. from one of the Margate boys, it being very dark, unfortunately struck -his foot, against a ring: bolt, which precipitated him between the wharf and the' vessel into the Thames ; and though he wa; shortly after got Out, and properly treated, 'received ,so violent a contuston on the head by ge fall, as caused his death. in a few hours after. Tuesday night .Mr.kendale, .of Dean-streett Soho, had his pocket picked of Bank Notes, to the' amount of upwards of 6001. i t J. ;iii , I ,l'f?