The National Register.
London, England, 1812-04-12 00:00:00

232

tivrtar batteries, kcc. The sliel:s of the enemy are filled with lead, and
then bored; they seldom hurst,and when they do, the explosion is in-
oonsiderab:e.
From the movements observed in the enemy's lines, and the nun.ber
of troo;:s they have detached from them, as wal as from the plans we
know were in agitation, we have strong hopes that they will soon give
up the bombardment and the siege.

PORTUGAL.
A large fleet of sixty sail of transports, under convoy
of the Leyden man of war, arrived on Wednesday at
Portsmouth from Portugal. They sailed from the Tagus
on the 25th ult. but have brought no news from the army
of a more recent date than Lord WELLINGTON'S disl .atcheF,
nor any letters from Lisbon later than the 22d. We are
still) Iherefore, to remain in a state of suspense as to the
fate of Dadajoz, confident in the skill and intrepidity of
the gallant General and his brave army but tearful of
giving way to antic;pations too sanguine, Wen we call
to mind the strergth of the fortress, and the. importance
which the French must attach to its defence.

L'ORIENis SQUADRON.
The destination of the French squadron has at length
been ,ascertained. After cruizing for twenty days in a
latitude where it was likely it might fall in w►th our out-
ward-bound East or West India fleet, it has safely re-
paired to Brest with a few unimportant prizes. This in-
foi m ition has dispelled the anxiety which the pi e3ence of
an enemy's fleet in Our seas excited. It was contained in
the following paragraph extracted from the Monitenr.
BR EST, MARCH O.—Vice-Admiral ALLEMAND, who, on the 9th inst.
left L'Orient with four sail of the line and two corvettes, after taking
several prizes, anchored in our roads on the 29th.

SCAR ITY OF GRAIN.
Mr. CURWEN introduced on Friday, in the House of
Commons, the important subject of the present scarcity
cf grain. He stated that twenty weeks must elapse be-
fore any supply of new grain could be expected, and
proposed, in order to effect a saving of 600,000 q‘nirters,
the renewal of the 41st Geo. 111. c. 16. by %,-hich it was
provided, that flour should be made only of one quality,
instead of three qualities. Taking the Winchester htulicl
at sixty pounds, the leis of grinding three qualities of
w,,s 11,4 less than nine pounds a bushel. Ile lip•
prehended, that by taking out a L'ss quant.ity ($ bran,.
a flour perfectly wholesome and nutritive -would be oh
tained, and a saving of five pounds effected in every
Winchester bushel. There was another consideration,
too, namely, that flour of this kind would not be applied
to any luxurious preparations, but would be exclusively
confined to the making of bread ; a circumstance which
right justify the anticipation of saving another week on
;he whole consumption.

The American American Congress. have voted a loan of 11 mil-
lion of dollars, most of which has been raised at 8 per .
cent. ; the interest on which is to be paid by. an addi.ion
of 1001. per cent. on all goods and merchandise inirrted,
but not to commence until hostilities actually take place.
A Bill has been intoduced into the American Ccitgres,;,
the provisions of which declare, that if any foreigner shall
be guilty of impressing any American citizen on board of
a foreign ship or vessel, he shall, if arrested, be tried and
convicted asapirate, and suffer death ; and the Ameri-
can so impressed, on his return to his country, shall be
entitled to 30 dollars per month during the time of his
detention, and may recover it by a suit of foreign attach-
ment against the debtor of any British creditoi ; and what
he shall recover, and the costs, shall be so much had what
of the debt.

MISCLLLA /ES.

APRIL 12

His Royal Highness the Prince Regent has patronised, in the spirit of
benevolence, a most laudable Institution, about to be instituted, under
the name of " The Irish Charitable Society."
Monday, there was another meeting of Irish Noblemen and Gentle-
men, at the Thatched House Tavern, to receive the Report of the Com-
mittee to whom the Petitions in favour of the Catholic claims were in-
trusted. The Petitions were handed in, which were signed by a num-
ber of persons connected with Ireland by With and property. The Pe-
tition to the Lords was to be presented by the Marquis of Lansdowne,
and that to the Commons by Mr. Ponsonny.
Astell, Charles Grant, John Jackson, Campbell Majoribanks,
George Smith, and 3weny Toone, Escjrs. were on Wednesday elected
Directors of the East India Company, in the room of six others, who
were out by rotation.
Major Mellish, we are concerned to state, has suffered by his unfor-
tunate return to the turf, having lost 5000 guineas on a bare. contt-sted
race at the late Newmarket Meeting for the Oatland Stakes, when the
Duke of Rutland's Sorcery beat his Beverley, after one dead heat, only
by half a neck!
ROMAN RELlCS.—Friday last, as the servants of Mr. Beard, of Rot-
tingdean, Sussex, were ploughing a waste piece of land, near that place,
for a potatoe plantation, they turned up, in a large barrow, dine tuns,
of different dimensions, and of great antiquity, which contained calcined
bones and ashes. The remains of an extensive Roman bath was, a few
(lays a o, discovered by some plotrghmen, ia a field in the nariAt of
Duncton, about two miles from that which was last year discovered, in
a field at Bignor.
RATS AND MICE.—A plant which grows in abundance in every field,
the dog's tongue, the eynoglosome eirinale of Linrazus, has he e‘i found
to possess a very valuable quality. If gathered at the period when the
sap is in its full vigour, bruised with a hammer, and laid in a house,
barn, granary, or Lay place-frequented by rats and mite, t :lose destruc-
tive vermin shift their quarters. The success of this method is equally
sptedy and infallible.
Monday last, a dreadful pitched battle Was fought at Cope Wood,
nea. St. Ann's Hill, between John Fogard, a farmer, and W'm Bart-
ington, a navigator, for five pounds of their own money, ui consequence
of a public house quarrel. The combatants knocked each, other about
by tremendous blows one hour and 25 minutes, with alternate a:ivan-
tages, but at length Fogatd hit his adversary a strong chance hit behind
the ear, and he fell senseless, and never rose again. He was conveyed
to the Chequers public house, about a mile distant, where he languished
about three hotirs and died. A Coroner's Inquest has brought in a ver-
dict of Manslaughter against J. Pogard, the deceased having in a great
measure provoked the combat.
• CATHOLIC MARRIAGES.—At the Middlesex Sessions, on Wednesday,
Archibald Ritchie was indicted for assaulting Maty,-the /tuft of James
Reddy. On the cross-examination of the prosecuerix, she said site was
married in a Catholic Chapel at Radcliffe-highway, by a Catholic it:4,
without banns or license; upwi Which the Court declared that such
marriage was contrary to the Marriage Act, and illegal: the indictment,
therefore, could not be maintained, and the delen .‘ant was acquitted.
Pr 0t.1.3 rain-.4llsm.—Tuesday im,rning, Mr. Agar, the celebrated pe-
destrian, undertook to zo by a circuitous route from his residence at
Kensington to Blackw,:l: r, in Hampshire, and return, making altoge-
ther a distance of 59 mileta the•space a eight hours and a hail, for a
stake of voo guineas. He started at daylight, dressed closely in flannel,
with light but thick shoes, and with his legs bare: hi arrived at Ash-
ford C'.nnnon (17 miles) in two hours and ten minutes, and refreshed
at F.n:;letleld Green, 21 miles, in five minutes less than three hours from
starting. He continued steadily at work until he did the haif of his
j ,urney, in four hours and four minutes. After being well rubbed,
' Mr. Agar pursued his Herculean undertaking, and did his seven miles
lan hour tolerably true, although he was much distressed in the last two
hours, but he won the mach in t hree minutes within time.
DISSENTERS.—it IS said, that NI r: Vent. Smith convened a meeting, a
few days ago, of the principal Dis,enters, to ascertain whether the Ca-
rholic Question had their support, or not. It is reportia: they stated to
hint, that they had no desire for more political poe.-er: that they
contented to have the laws relative to -I olerz&on properiy executedvpre
; but
they conceive them to have been departed from lately in two or three
judicial cases. That, in short, they had lived happily under the pre-
sent Protestant form of Constitution, and that they did not wish for
such a change in it, as they conceived would be produced by connecting
(':idiotic principles with Protestant. It is also reported, that one of the
Candidates for Bristol lately requested the support of the Dissenters,
wh desired first to know hisopinion relative to the Catholic Question.
Heo teplied, that he was to it, and then promised him their sup-
port.

The King of PRUSSIA has issued a Decree for eq
ping vessels to prevent the carrying on of commerce con-
trary to the Continental system —There appears from
the tenor of thew papers to be a general scarcity through-
uut France.