The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1804-08-30 00:00:00

INVASION.

DOT SR, AUGUST 27.
The cutter mentioned in my last to have been
sunk off Boulogne, was the Constihnivi, as was con-
jeattred here; the master, Mr. Mowle, came here
this morning : he says that the cutter was within half
gun shot of the shore, engaging a gun brig of 12
long guns, and two lugger-rigged yachts, painted
with white bottoms, green sides, and richly gil: ;
they were supposed to contain some officers of great
distinction; when the cutter's guns, which Mere
short carronades, 12-pounders, were near enough to
do execution with grape shot, the lugger lowered all
their sails and masts, and rowed in as fast as pos-
sible for the shore ; the cutter, following them, re-
ceived a 13-inch shell, which fell on board bctween
the companion and sky-light. went through her deck,
stove a.scuttle butt, and went out of her runt the
hole it made was so large, that all attempts to stop
the water were fruitless ; they hoisted a signal of
distress, and in a few minutes several boats from the
squadron came to their assistance, and took out all
the crew unhu-t ; one boy was standing sear where
the shell fell, handing a cartridge; he was Ic-ocked
dawn with the wind of the shell, blot received no
further injury. Notwithstanding some thousands of
shells and sho: were thrown, 'he da- sze do se to our
squadron was very small. The ierevotahri frigate
was struck by a shot, which %%n incl•%l three mein,
and an eight-inch shell fell no board the I larpy brig;
it went tironAlt :he deck, Xi:lc.: one man, and
broke a beam asunder, which lu:kily tore out the
fuse, and it tell into the hold : iote of the men in-
stantly took it in his arms. and put it into a bucket
of water. Several of the ships received shots in
their sails, Scc but no more lives were lost. Seve-
ral of the enemy's gin vess:ls w,-re dismissed, and
nn doubt but many lives were Lou, they being full
of troops. It is supposed by several officers of the
squadron, that Bonaparte was there, and perhaps
might be in one of the yachts mentioned above, as
the enemy's vessels never cam_ out MO near our
squadron before. Mr. Mowle I:ft the squadron
yesterday, at which time the enemy continued to
send nut More vessels, and the lormerialiit and
Ledo were cannonadi•ig them. Notwithstanding so
many were at anchor outside, the appearance of
the masts v:ithin the pier did nct appear to be
thinned at all.

Sir p. at.—By some persons just come in from sea,
we learn that the firing off Boul,gne is rents,. es! ;
but it is too thick to see any of the cruisers.

TOLICSTONE, AVO. 28.

From nur.heights we could yesterday perceive a
honer fire off Boulogne than prevailed on Sunday.
The fire yesterday began about ten o'clock in the
forenoon, and lasted till two About one it was at
its height. The French glut-boats spread out along
shore, and some of them went out so far to west.
ward, that they got out of reach of their batteries:
and could only be covered by flying artillery. The
wind changing, some of them were caught by our
cruisers, and Nell peppered; several conic' be seen
driven ashore, and many ne a he harbont ran on
shore at low water, to wai: the return of the tide to
again inn p,rt. Several were seen going back
into the harbour, and we suppose most of them
have returned by this time • but this day being very
hazy, we cannot see the French coast. There was
some firing again last night attest' nine o'clock.
As the French gun-blats ventured out more on Sun-
day and yesterday, more both in number and dis-
tance from their shore, it is supposed they were
urged on to do something like meeting u , or that
they were encourged by the sinking of our cutter
to be bolder than usual ; but wevoutd see that they
were heartily sickened, and we expett accounts of
considerable mischief having been done to them.
The details we cannot know here, though we could
see the general result. Yesterday certainly was
the warmest day that Las occurred off Boulogne.
neat, •corsr 411.

I have this moment learned that a lugger arrived
lee last night ft( m our squadmn off Boulogne, with
intelligence for Lord Keith on board the Meneeeb ;
but, as no regular communication has reached the
shore, all I can learn is, that on Sunday night a
considmible movement was made by the French
naval force in Boulogne harbour and roads; and
that in consequence our frigates. gun-brigs, &c.
immediately stood as close in shore as possible, and
attacked the enemy's flotilla with the utmost vigour
and effect.

When the lugger left the fleet, the engagement
was become pretty general; one of our armed cut-
ters (the C.ns•aee.•bn) was sunk by a shell from the
batteries, but only one man was wounded, and the
whole crew were saved by the boats of the fleet,
and conveyed on board a frigate. A gun-brig had
lost three men killed, and one wounded. Further
particulars I cannot at present learn.

This day the carriages for conveying t!-.e troops
i are to be ready for the nspeetion of Government.
An Evening Paper says—', Government, in the
contemplation, we suppose, of an immediate at-
tempt on the part of the enemy, have hcrun to re-
move the French prisoners from the sea coast. A
division of them were landed the Jay before yester-
day from the prison-ships at Plymouth, anJ sent to
EtliCT a.td :.they places " It did not pro4ably occur
to the wrier that Excer is upon the Meer Es, and
oot more than ten miles from the sea.

Copy of a Letter from Captain Awe A sr, of His
Majesty's ship Nerides, to Messrs. Btessmer anJ
Wllit; LLOYD'S Coffee-113use. Loci 3:1 :

" His Majesty's Slip Nauti c , Aug 27, 904,
66 G • " Plymouth hcunl.
• It is with much sat,fact.on I a quaint you, that His Ms-
jetty's sloop (Hole my ronintatul, on the Oth instant, re,ajo
twit! the es:nal lap the Wilhite Heathrow, hate Demo-
rare, frr Liverpool led^n with eon in, sugar, &c pro
you already know that the Wt ham Heath...its was cap.
torn' ..4 the 4th Ina by L.- tacncralAugereau, Fre tch priva-
tact, ,/, 12 gic.s and 111 me., ; I have only theref r • ti inatir,ll
altio..:h tile enemy la 4 d d oval their oh :le (arc-,
tire, dot nut Fro tlisorw,r• owl !,r coofiret, in
the 1:i ti• i of the Wsi 1, big min, a
pawc..c., a. 4. lee sn-r. .. r i6ll,ed—the a4ate, moth-a
paseeie..r. 110 • %Oa era
■ rh• F....c.i Pr u 2.la4c:::Ji.lorieJrs that the :irivater
•ufated .ula.i:rabis to firer had he• Ciptain and five
th•te ose Lut, fom other
ts. Ia .1 rrro Tea t urn i,06,6 Was tit.iCh greater 1 .111CCM.y
!Tr, •he Mat being r‘.inciv don troent the privateer. It
wo..ad ..»e g.ven me touch pie .tere to have lib:wed a mzn
so hrg.t.: Were if all be .s by all wheeze left beh
(S.gried) 0 6 ALDUAM."

GUILDHALL. Avow 29.

INSOLVENT DEBTORS.

An aclintmmvnt of the Sessions was this day held
before the livionoxe)Alder meft, and Sheriffs of this
city, for the ptrpose of discharging Debtors and
hearing apvals under the late Insolvent Ad.
The Keepers of the several prisons iu London,
Middlesex, and Surry, made returns Upoll oath of
the number of persons in their custody for debts not
exceeding 15001. each.

Mr. Nixon, the Warden of the Fleet prison, upon
making his return, observed, that it contained two
lists, the 'me of the primi.ers in his custody previ •
ous to the first ot dantutry last, and the other of
those vim had been removed from other jails by
habeas ecepu., and who, it aplieared from the re-
ierns, had beets in custody previous to that period.
He also stated. that he had omitted the name; of 5
prisoners, whom he :hd not feelhirmell justified in re-
tu,ning, as they had gone out of the liberties of the
Fleet nce January, and therefore could not b- con-
sidered as coming within the meaning of the MI.
The Rtcoxnee told him that he was perfealy
corred, and had shewn in thi., as in every .other
part of his contact, the stria•nt propriety. His
Lordship then discharged the Grand Jury till the
10th of September next.
Tile prisoners from Neergate were then called.
W !ham Sheville app:ied to be discharged; but
having been formerly convicted of a fraudulent con-
spiracy. and his sentence remitted on the express
condition that he should go to sea, the Court were
of unanimous o?in ion, that under filch circumstance.,
he was no- an object fit to receive the benefit of this
A. He pleaded, that he should have gone to sea,
but was since detained fur debt; however the Court
was decided.

John Windsor, another prisoner from the same
gaol, wit discharged.
Of the prisoners from Ludgate Compter, three
were discharged, and one remanded, having taken
the benefit of the former Att.
Ten prisoners were discharged from, and one re-
manded to, the Giltspur-street Compter.
Seven were discharged from, and two remanded
to, the Poultry Compter.
The prisoners from the Fleet were then brought
up t the first on the list was Col. Hugh Antrohus,
against whom a detainer for a large sum had been
laid since the Ise ofJan last : he declared most so-
lemnly, that he did not owe a single sixpence of the
debt, for which he was charged ; he also begged to
be informed, whether his half-pay was liable, as he
had not returned it in his schedule

Tire RLCORDLN told him, he must at least prove,
that the debt for which he was detained had ac-
crued previous to the Ist of January last; and, as to
his half-pay, only the arreari, were liable. He was
accordingly remanded till to-morrow.
• One hundred and five other prisoners were
brought up from the Fleet ; eighty-five of whom
were discharged, fifteen objeifted to. and sixteen re-
manded for further examination.

Mr. ALLEY obi:Red to the discharge of one
M'Alpin, on the grounds that his deh:s e::ceedesl
1.5001. the original debt being 15001. and a large
arrear of interest and costs had since accrued due :
be argued very largely upon the legal cons:maim
of the Aft ; but the matter was decided by tate
Warden producing the Prit"ner's discharge for the
whole of the debt. and stating that he was only de-
tained for the Jailor's fees.

The Court adjourned to this day, when the causes
which hare been opposed will be determined.

Lord Mat-rit.ta, while at Margate, had a confer-
ence with Lord Kuril, who case on shore for the
pureoseL , - _ . . _

The Prima, Raksou' from Anhalt, is arrived at
Plymouth ; she saw on Thursday evening last, off
St. Alban's Head, a schooner privateer, with two
captured brigs in company, steering S. S. W. St.
Alban's Head bearing N. W. distant tour miles.
The Nephme, of 9S guns, arrived at Plymouth on
Monday from the Channel fleet, which she left all
well on Saturday last, In its station off Brest. No
movement has been observed among the enemy's
ships since the return of Admiral GANIIII•UMIL to
his old position.
Letters from our squadron off Ferrol state, that
about the time when the Brest fleet attempted to
steal to sea. every night fire signals were observed
to be made by the Frenai ships in that harbour,
and that th•ev were ready to sail at a moment's
notice ; no officer was permitted to sleep on shore.
and every preparation seemed to indicate that they
intended, and had orders to sail, and were only
waiting for GIiNT Mistimes divi%ion to data a junc..
Lien. from these and other circumstances, our
officers coneude, that the Mediterranean was tile
destination of the French Admiral.

The postscript of a letter from Sandgate, dated
the 27th inst. says, " 't he wind is trund to the
; so that if it increases, our vessel,
must lure the French coat. I have heard s.lme
more firing this morning, but the atmosphere has
been so heavy, I have niA teen Able to make soy
farther ob•.ervatinns."

‘%e learn that the Board of Admiralty has come
to the cieterminatlf n of adding some companies of
cannoneers to each of the three divisions of the
Royal Mari •es. Such an improvement in our ma-
rioe artillery, we are confident, would be attended
%yin the greatest advanta:zes. When the impetu-
as•ty of our naval lightning shall be siirefled with
precision, its effea must be irresistible.
Several vessels have, withio the last week, hewn
examined at Deptford and Woolwich, as to their
fitness in being prepared immediately to serve as
fire vessels ; s nue of which have been fixed on.

A very general report prevaikd on Tuesday, that
the islands of Guernsey and Jersey had been at-
tacked by the enemy. Upon the most respe.lable
authority we can state, that there was not the least
foundation for the rumour.

His Excellency Lord HA at:micas is to !twice.
this day, the troops which have been encamped on
the Curragh of Kildare. they are supposed to
amount to Moen thousand men ; and as no place can
be better adapted for mituarr =oeuvres, great ex.
peetations are for rued of the tanntficence of such an
exhibition.

Hy a sudden mate from General St co[,Ni the 21
'oniefset regiment marched un Wednesday night
from Plymouth, fully equipped for service. with bl
rounds of ball cartrilges, and their light baggage.
The heavy baggage is to go alter them.