The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1807-04-02 00:00:00

intLetatreS SetrlbßON.
[Rxttacti Item American rapers.]
if! Tie Netrolk threats fig Polly Leger of thel4tit
Jan. have been published five letters, i'which,'° eays
the &tient of The Pelde's fiesed, " more than any
thing that has for a long time appeared, deserve the
serious and most attentive consideration of that part
of the American people, who yet remain firm to
the independence of their country, and uzipoisoned
by the agents of France. One of those is slireled
to the Minister of Marine in France, one to Com.
modore Barney in America, and three to General
Turreau, the French Ambassador in the United
States."
'flee first of these letters is from the French Ad-
miral Willaumez, dated 30th Sept. last, at the Ha*
vannah.—ln this he relates his cruise, and says,
,4 Just at this time I heard that Admiral Sir John
B. Warren had arrived in the West-Indies, and
only eight days after my first sailing. I conjec-
tured that Admiral Warren would proceed to New-
foundland, where I meant to let him go quietly.
July 28. at sun-set, we saw a largo ship to wind-
ward, and two brigs; I supposed, however, these
might be Sir John, and made the signal to close the
squadron and beep to windward, intending next day
to engage this Admiral to advantage. A schooner,
however, which belonged to these vessels to wi..d-
ward, and which I boarded at midniet, afterwar's
informed me that it was a part of a convoy of Ame-
ricans, consisting of 9 sail, under the escort of two
small frigates. bound to New-York, laden with cof-
fee, &c. Am by the revolted negroes of St. Do-
mingo. This news not being disclosed to me by
the master of the schooner, till some days after the
convoy had time to escape to the northward ; in-
dignant at the condud of the Americans, I imme-
diately put the master of the schooner in irons, and
all his people, and made sail in search of said con-
voy, determined to hang at the yard-arm the cap-
tains and supercargoes, in the face of their country-
men, at New-York; but being nearly off Cape Hat-
teras, the weather changed, and the gathering
storm left me no hope of arrival off New-York in
time to intercept these pirates and on arriving off
the Cape, a gale of wind obliged me to haul to wind-
ward, and wait till it was passed ; which, when it
was over, enabled me to speak a vessel, by which I
was informed that the said convoy had put into the
Chesapeake and Delaware."
After giving some birthed account of his pro-
ceedings, the storms he met with. and the damage
done his ships, he says," The unprovided cornlitlbn
of my ship, and particularly the wretched quality
of my sails, determined me to hasten my return to
France, and not wait till OFrolser ; but the numerous
squadrons of the enemy, cruising in the Gulph,
and before our principal ports, induced ate to con-
tinue out, during all the long days of summer. A
ten months' cruise would have proved sufficient to
ruin sails and rigging, had they been even new when
I first sailed ; but I needed not this hard trial to
convince me of the miserable equipment of the
squadron I was to command ; for, scarcely had
His Imperial Majesty's squadron put to sea, before
they proved leaky and unfit for sea.—Most painful
is it to me to represent to yon, at this late day, these
miserable equipments (no doubt. very contrary to
your intentions and the wish of His Imperial Ma-
jesty) bestowed upon my vessels, relative to which
I should have made strong representations, could I
have known it before my departure from France ;
tart it was not permitted me to demand any thing ;
neither to inquire into what was requisite for the
second squadron, before the first, completely un-
armed, was ordered to sea ; nor was it till after
sailing. I discovered the very bad condition of my
ships. Notwithstanding which distressing circum-
stances, I reckoned upon returning fortunate to
France, and of convincing you, my Lord, by the
reports you would have received, on my arriving
in port, of the lamentable state of my ships."
The second letter is from the Rear• Admiral, ano.
ther Willaumez, to General 'Furreau ; and this, it
deeply imports the American people to attend to.
It is as follows :
To GENERAL TURREAti.
French A inba,sailwr at Wa•hiligton,
My Loa —You have learnt, by the arrival of some
of my scattered ships in America, the ucfortunate
event by which they were separated from me. [Here
Admiral Willaumez gives the detail of the tempest in
nearly the same words as in his letter to the Minister
of Marine at Paris, to which he adds. that at this
date the lout/roper was then nearly new masted,
and proceeds to enforce to General Turreau, how
necessary it was that the ships which had put into
the American ports, by distress, should hasten to
join him as the Havanna. where his squadron, if
colleted. and united to the Spanish force, at that
place, would, io effeEl, oppose a strong squadron,
and double to that of iint English, who, at Jamaica,
he states, have only two line of battle ships. Ad.
miral Willaumes further says. that he purposed
going to Vera Cruz, agreeable to the projet of the