The Sun. — London, England, 1806-06-21 00:00:00

IVAkAL NEWS. PLYMOt3TH ) JUNE lg.—Arrived the .4tlas Trans pnri.,)Lieut. HAwy..ftcs Commander, from the Cade of Good Hope, with 172 French Prisoners. Arrived the American Ship Aurora, Capt. HALLi front Malaga; laden with wine and fruit, put in fOr , • Orders., Sailed the Eurydice Frigate, with 14 sail of Vic tuallers under Convoy, laden with supplies for the Channel Fleet y and the Plover Sloop of War on a Cruize. PORTSMOUTH, Jutqz 20.—Arriveci the Rebuff and Locust Gun-brigs from a cruize off Guernsey and the Maria, )3rsoN, from Salo, and Speedwell, KENNINGTON, from London. Sailed L'Espoir and Avon Gun-brig on a cruize ; and Vesuvius arid,,:/Etna Bomb for the Downs with Convoy. HARWICH, Ju E 20.---The Lady Frances Packet,. Capt. FLYN, and the King George Packet, Captain OhtmDEßs, sailed yesterday, . the fOrtner with the Hamburgh and 13tenien Mails, and the latter' for Gottenburgh.- The Escort Gun -brig, Lieut. Smrra, brought.in ,Srnuggling Lug-sail Vessel with 192 . casks of spirits, captured on'the Suffolk Coast, which have been lodged ih the Custom-House warehoue. Sailed the the Indignant and Escort Gun-vessels on a Cruize. DEAL, .tti - NE yesterd# evening the Cracker Gun brig, Lieut. J. LEACH. Commander, with a Dogger under Hamburgh colours, laden with Spanish wool, indigo, and othervaluable articles, captured for a breach of the bloCkade, and since vent to Ramsgate. The Cracker sailed again- this bottling, with the Amaranthe Sloop of - War, on a Cruize ; and the Naiad Frigate for Sheerness. Arrived.the Bruizer Gun-brig froni a Cruize, and remains in the Downs, with the, rest of the Ships as per last. EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM TirE CAFE OF GOOD HOPE, DATED MARCH 224 " Sir David BAIRD has opened his Commission as Lieut. Governor, with a salary attached of 10,0001. per Annum. MajorTucKEß is appointed Deputy Adjutant General and Military Secretary to the Commander in Chief. Captains Soucr; and MUNRO Assistants: to the Deputy Adjutant General. Captain C. SMITH, Royal Engineers, to be Acting. Colonial Secretary. Mr. M`KciiztE, Pay Master to 71st Foot, to be Acting Barrack Master General. Brigadier General BEE ESFORD- Commandant of Cape Town ; and Captain RONALD CAMPBELL, Town Major and Commissary of Prisoners. Captain Soucc has been named by the Commander in Chief of the Cape as Prize Agent. Mr. VAN RYNEVELD has been invested with unlimitted power and autho rity as Chief Magistrate of the whole Colony. Several Dutchmen have. been turned out of Office. for mal-practices. A large sum of money has been recovered, which had been distributed by the Members of the former Government, from . the Treasury, at the time our flag of truce was• flying, and when they had determined to surrender. • " The 24th, under Colonel IVPDO'NALD, 38th, under Colonel VASSEL, 83rd under Major TROTTER, and 93rd under Colonel HALKET, are quartered in Cape Town ; the 71st under Colonel PACK, at Hynberg ; and 72nd under Major TUCKER, at Simon's Town ; Colonel GRANT'S wound has lately taken an unfavourable turn; we still hope that this gallant and excellent Officer will not remain, in much longer confinement. He is well attended by the Medical Staff and enjoys every comfort, (at the house of Mr. CONRAD GIIBE) in Cape, Town. Brigadier General FERGUSON (who led the High land Brigade on must valiantly) returns to Europe immediately. The prize money, amounts to 400,0001., and the share of a Field Officer will be 2,5001., and a Captain 1,2001., the Brigadiers will share 8,0001. each ; every day discovers some new article of public property. " The Battle of Blue-Berg proved the intre pidity and dauntless, courage of every Individual of the Highland Brigade, which advanced most. cou rageously in front of i 6 pieces of Artillery, and the Enemy's whole force; the first Brigade formed a kind of reserve, and only received ,a few partial cannon shot ; the number of wounded was very inconsiderable when the incessant and well-served fire of 16 . field-pieces, with grape, is considered. The 71st 93rd and 72d Regiments had a ,prodi kious number of their arms, canteens , and bonnets nocked to pieces by 'shot, without injuring the men. _ _ " Sir Hoa POIMANI has gained the esteem of the whole army, by , his manly, gallant, consi derate, liberal and gentleman-like conduct. He is now in pursuit of Admiral Litaors, and no doubt will gibe a good, account of him."- The Barbadoes Mercury, of the •15th of April, says :—" The Enemy's Privateers, we regret to find, have too successfully eluded our Cruizers of late; and made several valuable captures. The Ship George, of London, from Demerara, homeward-bound, was taken on the Ist inst. dose under St. Lucia, by . a Schooner of one gun and twenty-nine men, who car ried her into Martinique. The George mounted 18 guns, and had 23 men, who when landed at Marti nique, were,hooted with much indignation for their non-resistance to so insignificant 'a force. The Schooner Susanna, from hence to Surinam, has also been taken and sent into Martinique." The Cede rus Frigate sailed - from Barbadoes the 7th of May, with the London Ships for Jamaica. As a Lowestoffe Boat was going out to fish, on Thursday, running under a press of sail, a heavy sea struck her under her bow, by which accident she was upset, and a little boy, who was in her cabin, went down in her • the rest of the people were pick ed up b y a ship of war. •,- bEiVERd MIRANDA. The attention of Mankind has been so strongly excited by the bold and extraordinary E xpedition of this enterprizing C ha"- ra4er, that we eptisider it as our duty to afford the. Public all the infornlation we can gain on the subjeol, in order that they may_ be fully qware of the nature of the measure, and be able to form some opinion respeding its probable result, arising from the 'physical situation of that part of the wor,ldi and the means of defence proVided by the Go, vernrnent to which it belonged. For this purpose we pre sent our Readers with the following Extraits from a work recently published in France, by M. DE Foils, a French Commercial Agent, who travelled through those Provinces in the years 18op.z-3 . and 4, and entered u pon the most-com prehensive and accurate investigation of all that related to them, by order of the French Government, and who seems to have executed his task with remarkable industhy and, precision, and to such an extent as to have left nothing unobserved' that was intitled to attention. The defence of Venezuela, Maracaibo, Varenas, Guiana,'Cumana, and the' Island of Marguerita,'is entrusted to the Captain-General' residing at Car raccas. The immediate Governors have the right of adopting, provisionally, such measures as circum stances may require ; but, they are responsible to the Captain-General, whose . orders are to be ultimately, obeyed. It appears upon the • first view, that Pro vinces aeling upon the same plan would 'be able to make a more efficacious defence than, if each Pro vince aced separately. That, certainly, would be the case if these Provinces were Sufficiently near to each other to' give mutual assistance, but the mense' distance which separates them renders the junction of their forces a very slow and a very diffi cult measure. It would, therefore, perhaps, be much better if each Governor was allowed to aft according to his own judgment, and not to wait for the orders of the Captain-General, who may, per halos, be at a distance of 300 leagues from the Pro- . wince. Any attempt made by an enemy upon these Pro vinces would undoubtedly, in the first instance, be from the sea ; and hoWever weak their maritime strength might be, it would certainly be superior to that which proteEts these coasts, where :Spain has only a few Sloops, for the purpose of preventing smuggling, which would be easily put to flight by a 'single Frigate ; There is nothing then to be hoped for by sea ; let us inquire what resistance they could oppoSe by land to an attack upon their ,Ports. Porto Cavello, which is 55 leagues to the east of Caro, is certainly the best. defended, Port in the Provinces under the authority of the Captain-General: .of, the Carraccas. It is construeted with equal .skill and strength, and situated upon a small Island to the north-east of the city, and furnished with a nume rous artillery. There is no fixed Garrison at Porto Cavello; in time of peace a Company of the 'Regi ment of Carraccas does duty there, and is relieved every year. In time of war the Troops of the Line are doubled, and reinforced by the Militia of Valance and the Valieys.of Arrago ;, but in case of necessity all the Militia would repair thither, anti deight days 3000 men might be colleCted. Perhaps more might be hoped for from the courage and aaivity of the in habitants of Porto Cavello than from the Militia, whose junEtion is always slow, and whose courage is at least equivocal. Porto Cavello owed its safety, in 1743, to the Biscayens who were established in that. Port, and those who are established there at present certainly would not display less courage than their ancestors. An English Squadron," says the Ecclesiastical History of Venezuela, " attacked Porto Cavello on the 27th APri1,1743, but the artillery was so well served by the Biscayens, who were set fled in the town, that the English were repulsed with loss." - On the 22d 06tober, 1730, the English failed in an attack which they made upon Guiara, which is situated at 25 leagues to the east of Porto Cavello. Nevertheless, that Port was never so well fortified as it is at present; Destined to guard Carraccas, from which it is only five 'Short leagues distant, every means of defence has-been employed upon it. It is surrounded with batteries and forts; and seems ca pable of resisting the most daring, enemy. But eyed if the enemy Were masters of Guiara, he would still have many difficulties to surmount before he Could gain possession of Carraccas, as the road be .tween is very diffit 1 t to pass, and is strongly de fended. It was in contemplation to ,constru&. ano ther road, but the plan was given up, on the idea that it would endanger the safety of Carraccas. Ex perience, however, has shewn, that it is possible to get from Guiara to Carraccas without going by the present road; for, in 1594, Sir F. DRAKE landed at Guiara, 'and advanced to Carraccas, with a handful of men, without meeting any resistance, because the garrison of the latter city, who were -sent to dispute his passage, posted themselves on the road between it and Guiara, under the per Suasion that the enemy could not get to Carraccas by any other way. DRAKE, however, convinced them of the contrary, for he got possession of Carraccas, and ,remained there eight days, that is to say, as long as was necessary to pil lage.the city, which had then been built about thirty years. The city of Cumana Which is about 100 - league § to the east of •La Guiard, is very difficult of ac cess to an enemy.• , Situatectat the distance of ac non' shot froth the sea, it has . little to appr s ehend from An attack by shipping. In- case of a diseinbarkation, a fort situated upon a hill, to the east of the city, would oppose very serious obstacles to . their ap-' proach. - Besides ahY three companies Of 'Troops Of the Line which form the garrison, the Militia, com poSed of eleven companies of Whites, two of Artil lery,- two of Cavalry, eleven of Men,of Colour, three of Blacrlnfantry, half a company of Artillery; and `the inhabitants of the city and, its environs, Would oppose' to the enemy a - body of more than sob° men. The English made an attempt to gain possession of it, in 1741, but, after an thion of four hours, they gave up the attack. The _lsland of Marguerital. is • situated abont four leagues to the north of Cumana, and is strongly -.defended' by nature. • The garrison' consists of a company of Trobps of the Line, foui companies of White Militia, one of Artillery, One of Cavalry, and four companies of -Infantry of Men of Colour.' This Island is. net valuable .from its pro • du Lions ; its soil will not.admit of cultivation, ex cept in a few spots.where cotton is grown, but as a military and commercial po l ition it is very desirable. All that has been said relates only to an attack of the Ports by an enemy, but in case of a disembark ation, it is sufficient to compare the extent of the Coast with the population to form . an idea of the re sistance' which 'an enemy' would meet with who would attempt an invasion. Reason enlightened by experience is far from considering the forts of ma ritime cities as essentially useful to the defence of a country. The garrison of all these 'cities cost an im mense sum in time of peace they ought then it, least in time of war to guard the country from all in stilts from an enemy. But all they can do is to annoy . the enemy and keep him at some distance from them. If any sacred convention could be established amohg nations by which .invasions Were always to coin-., mence by an attack of fortified places, or if the Ports' afforded no other places for disembarkation', un doubtedly every attention ought to be peid to fOrts, batteries, andredoubts. But upon a coast where there is a distance of 60 or 160 leagues between the Ports, and when the. ntermediate space affords innumera= ble facilities, for disembarking, all, the - heavy 'artillery in the Sea Torts is not only useless but injurious, be- - cause it is necessary that the artillery-men d shoul remain with them, who might render essential ser vice'by repairing to the spot where the - enemy had landed. In consequence of the 'ReVolution which took place in tactics; in the war which concluded the last century, the maxim of - notleaving fortified places in the rear, and of always. securing a retreat before a battle was hazarded, is no longer regarded, and the success of the French arms is a proof of the justice of the reformation. If ibis new method ap plies to a country ,liie Europe, crowded v - ith Cities in which .art has been' exhausted to make them im pregnable, how mud' more strongly does it apply to a country which has only fortifications on the coast, and situated at an immense distance from each other, and where it will require entire months to communicate with each other in the most favourable . seasons. To attack the Ports of the sea - is only to . attack points which are best defended—whereas in landing at some distance they will neither have ar tillery nor troops to fear ; while the Vessel's which have covered the disembarkation, by afterwards cruizing before the Ports, will detain the troops in them, and consequently diminish . the force "that can be opposed to the invading army. Thus the Enemy : may penetrate into the interior, augment his. forces every day by new conquests, and by cutting off the comthunication between ,the interior and tiw Ports . blockaded by the Squadron, compel the latter to: surrender by famine. This mode of attack, however, would not succeed in the English or French colo nies for very obvious reasons. It is now time to say a' few words 'of the armed Force in the province of carraccas. The Force in the Carraccas consists of— One Company of Grenadiers 71 Men. Eleven Compailies of Ir usileers, eaelt 77 Total --g IS A rtiliery. One Company - too . 1' wu ditto of White Militia - ' 200 Four ditto of Men of Colo it - 403 Two ditto of blacks - zoo - Total 933 Militia. One Battalion of Whites, 9 Companies 8 t One Squadron of Whites • - too One Battalion of Men of Colour - 720 Total -1630 • s Valenee One Battalion of Whites - • Bto Two ditto of Men of Colour - ' • s • Total / -r530 'The Valleys of A'rragoa Militia. One Battalion of Whites - • ' Sio . One ditto ofsMen of Colour 7zo . • Total' ts3o San Carlos Militia. • One Company of Cavalry • - so Total of the Force in the Carraccas 6558 IN 'CUNIAN.4.. • • P Troo s of the Line. • Three Companies - • 2.xt * Which MIRANDA was in ,possession of when.the late accou. to Canmt frOni Admiral Co CHR NE. • + Where. Y.I,R A ND") . ;ppeats , to have experienced no re sistance. Artillery: One Company of ArtilleryMeti Two ditto of White Militia One and a half ditto of Men of Colour Total • . Militia. Twelve CornPanies of Whites Two of Cavalry ditto . - Eleven. Corn panics of Men of Colour One and a 'half of Cavalry • - Total Total iil CuMatii • ;• po 100 15 , 4 ----454 four Comp Mies MARACAIBO. Troops . of the Lille. Ar-lerf. One Company of Men of _Colour c I~4ilitia. Five Companies of Whites Font' ditto of Men of Colour Total in Maracaibo Three Companies Total LA GUIANA. Troops of the Line. Artillery. One Company of Artillery Militia. Four Companies of WThitcs One Company of Artillery Four Corhpanies of Infantry, Mea of Colour IP dB Total in• Guiana Total to.) 99? 7; , -72245 too 4Sq 360 ----Sl° 36. iso 36, ---870 ISLAND OF MARGUEP,ITA. Troops of the Line. One Company • Artillery. Four Companies of Men of Colour Militia: Four" Companies of Whites One ditto Cavalry • „. _ Four ditto of Meii of Colour Total 7 in TOtal in Marguerita General Total of the Military Force of all descriptions. - - _ ~~~: zz,:,?, lIkP 1247 Alen, 13,059' CAMBRIDGE, Ju NB- .20. THE Members' four Prizes, value 15 guineiS each, are this year adjudged to Mr. R. TREVELYAN, of St. .fc;hn's College, and Mr. WRAY, of. Trinity College, Senior Bachelors.; the subje6t, E tot deperditis ?gamin Literarian apud Gr eczi et Rdinanos Monu: inentis, qucenam.pra: ceteris si►ct desideranda? And. fo-Mr. WM. LQNGLEY, of St. John's, and Mr. WM. GRANT C,AUTLEY, of Pembroke, 3.l.liddle Bachelors ; the subje4, Utramn certamina publice Gri:ecia spec tata plus utilitatis an jamni secu►n adtulerint ?- The late Sir WM. BROWisTE'S three gold medals,. value five gnineas each, are adjudged aA follows to Mr. Cl-kkELES JAMES BLOMFIELi), of Trinity Col lege, ,for the Greek Ode ; .to Mr. THOMAS HUGHES, of St. John's, for the__Latin Ode; and td Mr. Jo- SEP.II KfRKMAN MILLER, of Trinity College, f or the Epigrams. A letter from . Haddington, dated the loth inst. relates the folloWing remarkable. circumstance A yoting ,boy of.this place, with some of his school-fellows,.haying-:frequently discoVered an owl on -the top of our old Church steeple, and not doubt ing of ,its having enest there, attempted, by climb ing..the wall.iuthe -day time, to get at . it, but his at= tempts-proved fruitless. The impression, however; of such a precious - prize being yet attainable, conti r tilling to aauate this boy's mind, even in the most profound.. sleep,' ho. arose in the night, ascend ed the Gothic edifice, carried off the favourite objea of his most earnest desire,' returned by the Windovi through which it appears he had sallied, placed.the nest upon a chair, and wenfto bed. In the morri ing he - recollected a pleasant dream of a wonderftil adventure, and was altogether astonished, as well as overjoyed, to find it realized, in • the disc over y o f t hd owl's nes(! 7 ---The boy does not exceed .ten years of age." Yesterday afternoon COlonel's CAMPBELL'S ba rouche, and Sir W. W. WYNNE'S curricle; came in contact with each other, ,at the top of St. James's street. The curricle was overturned,. but fortunate ly no person in it received any serious injury. The traces of the barouche, however ; were broken,, and ,the four high blooded horses that drew it ran off in the most ungovernable manner down the street. To wards•the bottom 'of, the street they ran against a hackney-coach with such violence as to break the pole, the perch, and the hinder axle-tree ;' the coach man was knocked off his J3ox, but did not receive any Material injury; CoI.CAmPriELL and Mr. CAU FIELD, who were on the box of the batonche, were dashed down upon the pavement, and, Mr. C: in particular, was most severely hurt. The hOrses continued to run furiously on, until their progress was arrested by the carriage running up against a post. They were then laid hold of; and all further ill.cori sequences were prevented. Mr. HOLLAND, whose death we Mentioned a few days ago, has left at least a good specimen of architedural skill in Druty Lane Theatre. There is now hanging on a tree in a garden be longing to the Earl of WARWICK, at Turnham- Green, apples of the last year's growth, as perfeet as they were last September. What renders the appear ance more curious, is their being surrounded by those of the present season. ' Literal Copy of a Letter from A DramaticAutbor to the Manager of a Country Theatre : AX' " Sir, Dinclose you a deep Tragedy, which ; ~.opctlV aled, 1 am sure, on the lowest calculation, will (haw mil - . lions of tears - from any audience in Gr6t Britain, nut eyen. the inhabitants of Rik-shire excepted.' The critics say, that many of our m9dern Plays are -calculated for the closet—but they do not tell us what Luse. A Sheriff's Officer, on being lately asked what he meant by continually saying that he was u'distin eruished member of an harmonious society, answered; that he belonged to a catch club.' Whatever measures may be finally adopted spe&ing the 'Slave Trade, it is evident that BONM. PARTE cannot be expeeied to co-operate in-any pl an for' its abolition, as he is every day employed in spreading bondage. A fire broke out early yesterday morning at a little wooden house in the Grange-row, Bermondsey, in habited by a journeyman tanner; it raged with great fury for some time, and was got under - at .length With bo loss of lives; but two children were most shockingly burnt, so much so, as to render-it neces . - sary to send them to St. Thomas's HoSpital, wi:! ) little hopes of recovery.