The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1808-01-28 00:00:00

THE BRITISH PRESS.

LONDON,
THURSDAY, hit. ss.

FLAGS OF TRUCE.

An order was sent yesterday from the office of
the Secretary of State for the Home Departmeut,

to the Lords of the Admiralty, directing, that no

flag of truce from France should in future be
suffered to land a Messenger at Deal, but that. in
the event of any such arriving, she is to proceed to
Dover, and land the Messenger at that port.

Their Lordships, in consequence, sent off a Mes-
senger last evening from the Admiralty to Admi-
ral Rowl,Ev, the Port-Admirali at Deal, Nils
dispatches, communicating these iustructions, and
orders for their execution. It is probable that some
abuse has been committed at Deal, under colour

of these flags of truce. At all eveuta, Dover is the
direct port from Calais or Boulogne, and it appears
a good measure of precaution to have one fixed

It is a curious fact, 11 wp.

ever, that though the French cannot be afraid of in-
vasion, they seem more apprehensive of the abuse
of flags of truce than the British Government.—
Hitherto motives of delicacy to Austria, on whose
honour any restriction of this kind might be con-
ceived a slur, prevented any such arrangement, but

as there remains no neutral Ansimasid7or 'gel*
the Court of St. James's, or the Thuillidiss
through whom overtures for peace r.w be I 4
and any communication for that purpose, by Dowgr
and Calais, must be direct between the two Cso-
veruments. Ministers are at liberty to make the
rule which they have .now adopted. We do not
pretend to say positively. that the present mea-
sure is any thing more than a regulation of conve-
nience and precaution ; but still we must confess.
that the late correspondence, by Flags of Trace.
was attended with souse circumstances calculated
to excite suspicion. Some time ago the Monitore
put forth a paragraph, stating expressly, that no
Flags of Truce would be allowed between Dover
and Calais.- No reason was assigned for this order.
No Flags of Truce had previously sailed, the abase
of which might have called for it. The French
°merriment, however, found out that it was a soli-
tary instance, in which the Flag ought not to cover
the cargo, and prohibited the trade. Scarcely,
however, had the mandate been issued, whets a
Flag of Truce did arrive from Franc:, and a tole-
rably active correspondence in that way com-
menced. In the regress of the correrpdPeores
the Moisiieur made another assertion, equally posi-
tive and unfounded as the former. It stated tLx
the existing correspondent* affected the Acs-
'MlAs( AMBASSADOR esclusivel,, and that nei-
ther France nor England had any concern
in it, directly or indirectly ; a sound gladly
echoed by some of the London Prints, and
these too of the Ministerial party, who never
ceased to propagate the same delusion.—Tbe
writers in the Menitear have long been suspected
of trading in the English funds, and these 0/Leila
falsehoods may probably bail. been published for
stock jobbing purposes : still, however. where there
is so much impudent falsehood, suspicion ought
to ie ever awake. We own that in the condole
of Count Sesuar.sissaa himself, whose zeal to
bring about peace has been sp highly and so no-
accountably blazoned by the 31inisterial Prints,
we do not see any thing to increase our confident
So far l,irek as the iitth instant, he peremptorily
demanded his passports, and though he received
them on the next day, he lingered here until the
evening of the moth, the very day before the meet-
ing of Parliament, without spy pacific pretence, or
any ontansilsio comae of any pisibte good N be de-
rived by England from his stay.

The arrival of the Jamaica fleet may be hourly
expected. Three ships Arrived on Tneaday et Port.-
mouth, which parted from the rest en the 4d iu.:•
The fleet sailed from Jamaica on the tOth Novon -
her. Previous to ita departure, the !lids. had arriN.
from Caracas with an account that a violent hu:: •
cane had destroyed part of the town, and do..t
much other damage in that Island.

We gave yesterday acme extracts from OA
New York, Philadelphia, and other American
papers to the 27th last, received at our Office.
There is in one of them a loon, article upon the
Embargo, supposed to he the proluction of Mr.
MADDISOW, who wall be a Candidate to alerted
Mr. Jarraasos in the Pi esidenf
From the remarks of Mr. M.tootsort, it sarPea"
to be the intention of the American Government
to confine their ships to their rite, until the Belli.
gerent Powers .tiandod,the restrictions which lune
been Unposed on neutral commerce. Foreign %a-
ids are not to be permittedto trade with the eniteci
States, be,ame, it is alltgee, the naval guliericnq
cf this couotryaould, is t!-tt cam-, Owl the