The National Register.
London, England, 1817-01-20 00:00:00

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

r• ROLE.
By the arrival of the Ana and Elizabeth packet, Capt.
Daniels. from Dieppe, we gcant the result of the trial
of the Custom-horse officers at Rotten, fw the murder-
of Captain Partridge, of tie Nancy packet, off Dieppe,
by wantonly firing into the vmsel as she was laving-to,
in the month of August last. Two (X the Offimders
have been found guilty, and sentenced to two mouths'
innris•mment and to pay a fine of 3,000 francs each.

9.--General Count Woronzow, who
commands the Russian Contingents in France, hits ar-
rived at I'uris, from his head-quarters ut Maulieuge.

CHAMBER OF Dr.PUTIE4, ../ANuAkv R.

M. Poyfcre de Cere presented a Petition from the
Booksellers of Paris, in which they
.elaimal the free im-
portation into France of every book published in f6reig►n
countries; with a continuance of the duty on lioAs ori-
ginally published in France, but reprinted in fbreign
countries, and imported into France. The Petition
was referred to the Committee on the Budget.
The. Chamber proceeded to the general scrutiny on
the Law respecting the Elections, when there appeared
for the Law 13:2—against it, 100.

COU iti ER EXTii:O2 DINA Ne uty 0.

The Duke of Richelieu yesterday morning visited
the Duke of Wellington, and had a long vonference with
his Grace. The Minister of the Interior visited the
Duke at the same dine, and both Ministers went away
together.
-The Kin; has created a large number of Knights of
St. Michael, for the purpose of distinguishing men who
have rendered themselves celebrated in literature, sci-
ence, and the arts, or by useful discoveries. This does
great honour to the King. It is the only Order of
Knighthood, we believe, in Europe, that pays such a
tribute of honour and respect to those who may be well
called the benefactors of mankind.

CHANIBER OF PEERS.—BULLETIN or JAN.

The Minieer of the Interior, accompanied by M.
Becquey, Under Secretary of State, and NI. Cuyicr,
Counsellor of State, presented the Election Law plan,
with the amendments made by the Chamber of Depu-
ties, and on which the King has deferred his determi-
nation until after both Chambers shall have decided on
the measure.

The plan, the receipt of which was acknowledged,
was ordered to be printed and distributed. The Bu-
reaux meet on Tuesday, at one o'clock, for its examina-
tion ; and the Chamber will assemble at two fin• its dis-
cussion.

The Chamber was :t have heard in the same sitting
the report of Special Committee appointed to examine
the propositions relative to the responsibility of Ministers ;
but the Committee gave notice by one of its members,
that circumstances rendered it necessary to delay the
report.—Adjourned.

PARIS, JAN. 13.
Much busine:s WAS done on the Exchange on Satur-
day. It is s►id, that one broker purchased more than
1,100,000 francs of annuities, at the rate of 604 _ .

Saturday, Marshal Lefebvre, Duke of Dantsie, being
presented by the Minister of War to ttie king, took the
oaths, and received from his Majesty the Baton of a Mar-
shal of France.

A very uncommon event has occurred at Boulogne,
On the 3th between one and two in the morning, at
low-water, the sea returned into the port with such im-
petuosity, that in less than half an hour it rose 5 feet,
that is to say, .2 feet above high tide. The wind was
in the N.W., blowing a tempest. in consequence of
this flo&l a great number of cables gave way, and se-
veral vessels which drifted against the jetty of the port
sustained damage more or less considerable. Some parts
of the quay have been injured. Persons acquainted
with the natural history of the sea attribute the flood
to a distant earthquake.
General Leclerc has died nt Paris. His obsequies
took place two days since in the churdt of the Assump-
tion.
A horrid ci hie came on for trial at the Court of Assirec in
Paris last week. It wag that of a man (Willy 11:1Ift of Ileitseli,
a house porter, charged with stabbing his daughter and al*:
promptedos it appeared, by an incestuous passion tOr the
former, sod actuated by a furious rage at their Wbillifila to
avoid his society. Such v-as the debasement Of this wretch's
moral'. that lie audaciously sought to justify hiuutelf by say-
ing, " that his daughter was his property !"

Vu:sNt, Dec. 29.—Letters from the North of Ger-
many inform us that Russia has just p.mnitted the frec
importation of fur:ign cloths into her doiniaiuns. The

JANUARY 20.

taxes which the Crown renounces by thi: new (?rdon-
.nar.oe, will amount to six millions of roubles for the
year 1817.

Bitussms, J.N. 11.—The expectation of a propo-
sition relative to the genend prohibition of the expor-
tation of corn attracted a numerous audience to the
galleries in the second Chamber yesterday ; but this
communication, so important to the bouthern provinces,
was not made.

The amount of the charitable snbscription for t 1
numerous poor of this city is already above 65,009
francs. At the request of their Majesties the Emperor
of Russia and King of Prussia, our Sovereign lots per-
mitted the transit through the kingdom of 9-1.5 hecto-
litres of corn -waling from abroad, and destined for
the supply of the Russian and Prussian troops in
France.

The Governor of Hainanit has published on this
r.nasion un address to the inhabitants, assuring them
there is no reason fir alarm on this account ; that the
strictest measures arc taken that the quantity- fixed
shall not be exceeded ; that his Majesty has requested
his allies in future to let the corn pass by any other
route than through the Netherlands.

The King of Naples, unlike, his namesake and cousin,
the sovereign of Spain, has signalized his restoration by
confirming the blessings of u free Constitution already
enjoyed by Sicily, and conferring others equally solid.
None but Sicilians are to be permitted tt. told offices in
the Sicilian chtmit ; the Archbishop of Palermo is in
future to be a native. One fiairth of the Neapolitan
Council of Stow is, to be composed of Sicilians: the
abolition of feudal rights, a boon which was granted
several years since, is fully confirmed. A sinking
fund is established, to place the finances of Sicily on
the same respectable footing with those of other Eu-
ropean States ; and, in short, the civil and religious
liberties of every individual in the island are protected
by the usual bulwarks of a free Constitution. When
measures thus calculated to ensure the happiness of the
people emanate spontaneously from the Throne, they
promise a double harvest of blessings, both to Sovereign
and people.

CURIOUS FRENCH LAIN-SUIT.
-1190.'"
GILLES T. RIGEL..

Gilles was horn in 17Tr1,attheWli:ige of Chambly, in the
Lots i'litimurg, of parents whose only Levey to him was the
valve of 3 acres of land. Ile came to Paris, where his comic
of earls life exhibited a picture of profligacy. However, he
took his degree in medicine ; but Ins medical s 1 Hl 4•44 It S 4
gainfol to him than his Lassie for Insinuating into &milk s, and
invading the property of lawful heirs. He surceede,l in
gaining the coulidence of M. Drval de Soyrourt, who took
him for his physician, and gave him in that capacity to his
two daughters, of whom the eldest was a valetudinarian.
Dr. Gilles SOolldiscovcred that she was attacked by cancer.
She sank into a state of deadly languor; and Gilles, who
could calculate the duration of her life. availed himself of
his skill to get possession of her fortune. He procured one
.Mitten, his friend and pupil, to sit ] a certificate. attesting
.that Miss de Soyeourt was attacked by athematic fever, for
which he had to attend her ; and the same day he wrote to
the Mayor of the second district, requesting, that in rouse.
queuee of its being impossible for her he meant to make his
witc to repair to the municipality, the Mayor would roue
hil:191:11.31. 7 in the evening, and marry them in -the patient's
chamber.
This civil officer consented to perform the office rcquerted,
and the dying woman espensed the physician, who was not
appalled by the visage of death already seated on the pillow
of his lICNV bride. lie recei.:ed from her an entire donation
of all her property, in return for which he conceded, in the
event, a very probable one, of her surviving him, the usull rug
if various landed property. This marriage was kept secret;
Miss de Soy court retained her funily name, and it was not till
the moment when she felt life departing, that she munitioned
Ire r sister to into ust her with the secret of this fatal union.
tier sister was unwilling to disturb the repose of her last
nputients by reproaches ; but, after her death, the doctor was
requested not to abuse the spoliAtory disposition in his favour
which he had extorted from ad) ing woman. He refused all
negotiation, and declared his intention to remain master of a
fortune so well acquired. It became, therefore, necessary to
resort to an action at law.

The
.in+:es of first resort pronounced, •that Dr. Gilles,
a stringer to the Soycourt had no other claims to the
gratitude of the donor than the attentions lie had paid to hi r
as a physician. They were bound to consider a marriage
concluded mider such auspices as a fraudulent sacrilege, em-
ployed ae a Veil fur Spolllololll ; that the lair protected Mal,
riage, but proscribed donation. It would not suffer a tes:a.
inciitary disposition equally repugnant to legitimacy and
morals to be legalized by a routract. It foresaw the dangers
nine!' families and society generally would incur from the
fraudulent cupidityof 311.11siC;illi without principle (or hoanur,
if be any mischance there should happen to be such a person
uu the profession:

1)r. 'Gilles, however, who did not view the matter in the
same lieht in which it presented it-t If to the tribunal of Crst
resort, charged M. Tripier, his counsel, to make a new effort
before the Hoye, Court ; anti this appeal is auw depending.
Thin advocate, in th^ course of the appeal, endeavoured to
skew, that lie was not her physician, but her hired, her ten-
der friend in proof of this he proiltieed so re pa••iimate
letters, in st hien she ho:ronrd the lamrisage of At.iiii to ea.
press her passiots. lie married her 1.1 prevent her film
dying of love: he was nut to blame it she died of a putrid
fever, afa,r hating been cured of her rheumatism and her
cancer. lie received the bequest In return for other valua-
ble considerations, and in the order of nal ure his wile shuulJ
have survived him. It might appear rattier strati.A., indeed,
and •oniet% hat irregular, that the mai nage ceremony ahnnlct
be perrorilleil at the fire side of the sick lady ; but ilia de
Sovrttart W. 1% really in much better health, that Dr. Mi•ten
auk d iu his et' rvii by complaisance, and only
with a Vie %v to savelilt new bride from the
of mnairipal

JANUARY 20.

.SINGUIAR TRIAL.

(EXTRACTED FROM A NEW YORK PAPER.)
MA RINE COURT.
It lore HENRY WHEATON, ROISEIt r Sw stsTon, 131011 ,Oust B.
SCOTT, Extirs. .1114111Crf
STI :WING —AS11%111:1' AND BATTERY.
•PETER OLFFIE L. GEOII6E M ATIIEW*4IN, R ICI4 %ED Cl. %DK,
J t MEN Al.N11:114', JOIIN NI %RAO rest., Ell% Alta CA D. 1:1.:11
JP:NI(I,4. WM. ASKEW, THOMAS M.AXWELI., AND DANILL
'AI %lOWA 1.1..
Unwise! for the plaintiff, Mr. Caines ; Counsel fur the de-
-1 endmis, Mr. Fay.
The Captain and crew of a vessel on the hick seas have no
ELM to permit or eacite Ne,atime to strive a pas-
senger, and immerse him in aWO of water, coutrary to
his will.
This was an action of assault Alld battery, alleged to have
been committed on hoard the British ship Tliamas, of Lan-
caster, while on the high seas, of which snip (:Owe/son O-4.
the Captaiu, the other defendants seameti, and the plaintiff
owe of the passengers.
It appeared, that the ship came from the chalky cliffs of
Albion, with a number of passengers, and seri% ed on thi•
Banks of Newfoundland. The sons of the deity who Title!:
the wide d9111:lill through which they had past in safety, with
joy breathing in every eye, met and conferred. Be a mai r-
rence to ancient legends, coeval with the common law, and
among thent of greater validity, it was fontid, that as often a,
a landsman came in view of the Banks before them, lir must
produce a bottle of old Cognac or rum, as un acceptable sacri-
fice to Neptune.
The nature of the sacrifice was explained to the landsmen,
and the greater part complied with 4 retinisition sitactioned
by immemorial usage; the defendant, with others, refused.
Whereupon the seamen invoked the god with sad com-
plaints: " 0 omnipotent father, King of the Ocean, behold
the rebellious suns of Terra, who have dared to intrude into
thy dominions' refusing to bend before thy divine altar, and
to render to thee an accustomed libation. Their beards, 0
father, are long, uncouth, mill indecent ; retained by them in
'defiance of thy haws, and iu defiance of thy divinity."
The Father of Occau heard, and lifted his awful head smb•
lime above the waves, attended by the Tritons, the Nercides,
and all the daughters Of the azure main.
lie saw his children, and thus responded to their coin-
plaints, through a bra/en trumpet, whose reverberations
shook the distant promontory of Chapeau Rouge, and re-coho•
eil through the spacious bay of Placentia:—" Carry these
impious mortals. from my presence—behold their beards,
which they dare to retaia in despite of my authority! They
shall be shaved."
" Si rata sinnut."
He said, and taking his razor alai shaving-box from his
Ear, while Amphitrite held M61101'504, Ito seinAl the prow, and
a,coniled by the head-rails into the lofty ship. His presence'
inspired his children with joy. But, while imparting his
commands through his brazen trumpet to the crew, the lands-
-1111:11 below trembled —" Bring hillier that tub, and fill it with
sea-water." 'Twas done. " tiring forth the long-bearded
• tribe, one by one." The command was obeyed; but Duffle,
when it came to his turn, was inclined to he refractory, and
-resisted : but who can resist when gods command ?
The razor used by Isis godship was 11141HICICD1red in the I
Taverns of :Etna, by one of the Cyclops, from au iron-hoop;
aiul, though somewhat rangit on ate edge, did good bnsiness.
f'l•-id ;dewy the tub, Manic underwent Me operation with
streaming eye, while the most mist) sultry smell from the
lather entered his nostrils. As soon as the (Mice sit' the razor
Wax AreolllllliAlled, and the awful oath, which binds even gels
above, was administered, the tot) below received him ; the
ceremony was (folic, mud the god descended into the LIOAOIII of
the " vasty deep."
It appeared that a lady passenger, named Anu Jones, was
ItObjectcd to the same ceremoriy, the humour Of whlt'h was
enjoyed by Dottie, iu common with the others. Mark vs II
personated Neptune, and the Captain acted in time capacity
of an assistant to the Deity, and was aiding, abetting, and
assisting in the ceremony,
After the arguments of the Counsel, Mr. Justice Swanton
charged the Jury, that it was the duty of thc master of a ship
•t i treat his passengers with attention' and politeness. The
Captain stood in the emit' relation to the passem;ers as a mas-
ter of an ion or hotel tlitl towards his guests. Having the
superiatendence of his vessel, the law had invested the Cap-
tain with the authority necessary for preserving the peace
and good order.
On this occasion the Captain not only failed in treating the
plaintiff with a becoming decorum, but countenaliced, and
• actually had soa.e agency in the injitry charged ia the declara-
tion. The conilact of the • defendants towards the plaintiff
as as highly reprehensible. After taking into consideration the
wounded feelings of the plaintiff on the one 11.1101, anti the
circumstances oldie defendants on the other, it would be the
daty of the jury to render such a verdict as they considered
jot and equitable.
The jury rendered a verdict in favour of the plaintiff, for
4t doliars.
• When a vessel arrives on the Equator, or any remarkable
head land, win re the row hands and pariscogers on boat d
Dave not been before, the IO:i4111t11, areollllll4 to an old wage,
frequently proceed to the ceremony of shaving, which is thus
perfiiranal :—One ()Elbe crew, %vile is the hest calculated for
drollery, is habited in a fantastic ridiculous meaner, and,
mull a speaking trumpet in his hand, personates old Neptenc.
Le goes corn aril to the bow of the s while those w
are to no shaved are kept below, and de•ceads nutil, perhaps,
he reaches the water, and from thence ascends on deck, pre-
tending to have emerged front the ocean. lie hails the crew
With his trumpet ; answer is male, anti mama! congratula-
tions pass octa vii Ills gollship and the old seamen. He pro-
- reeds td ortl-r the requisite map:trams fur shaving, which
generally consists of a piece or IMO 110011, a composition bit.
latlier made of slitsh and other offensive matters, and a tub
of osier. persons whim are to be shaved are then brougat
on deck, one by one, hlinillolded. Those who have treated
well are shaved light, while those who are refrictoi y ale
shaved hard. After Abasing, his godship proceeds to swear
the novice to divers singular observances, one of which is,
that he " wilt never eat brown bread sv lieu he can get w hits."
'flay oust shaved is then either immersed in a 1114 Of water, or
Ills it ittlekti fell from above poured un his head, anti the
frolic ends. •

A cannel., of the name of bolberton, at Bramber in 'York-
e'''. e, oli, ! a few ago w itteibtit year of bis ii4e, pus.
e d to the asuoitiit of tlircc huddled thous:A:id
poonihi, ootaittoil by rivlostr y ati.l I ugality, which he has be-
queathed uy will to a untuber of hitherto your relations.

THE NATI6NAL REGISTER.

_ .___._....
/MI INIIMB __
114 LAND.
POPULAR MEETING AT DURLM FOR REFORM' OF
_ _ _ . . ..... ..

I'ARLIA
The most numerous meetior ever remembered in Ireland,
took place 011 Alonday, the I 311 i instant, ar the Irlreen of Ila,
rold's Coosa, Ditlidin, for the pat nose Of petitioning the House
bf Coin:nous ,11111 addressing the t'rince Regent on the sub-
ject of Parliamentary Reform. Une.-ards of thirty thousand
individuals west. present. At nue o'clock, Robert Nufriti,
Ell!. was called to the chair. Mr. Hagan proposed the re-
solutions, which Mated iu substance, that the miseries of the
people had sprung from ind:•criiiiiiiate aad overmlietiiiing
tavition, from useless and burdensome cis il and military
e•tablislnueua, unmerited potshots, sinecures, &e. all origi-
nating in the corrupt state of the 1-Loose of Commons: that
they disclaimed any wish to ilintivate im the constitution,
their object being reform, not revolution ; that they eartiestk
solicited the vompera!ion of their comitryinNs in support of
reform, end recommend invednes of every city, County, town.
and parish hi Ireland, for neat parpose.--The resolutions
wire seconded by It. Norris, iuu. Esq. and earricil by itec.a
ination.—Thw taretii.g was addressee( by Mr. Eiteas
11•llnty-
nel and Counsellor O'Connell. The latter gentleman spoke
at 'cog th, and impressed the necessity of peace:* hilt dente:111011i ,
by rein is 4:int, iis ease of• any distil ter " the certainty of their
orrrtrielincit by ten re:fitments of ...(dery at that
nod, e army, and two t, cops of dicey reatlo,r immediate action.'
lie r'coinni.•u,ted ill!' 1111411i01011, and constitutional pars iii
of ielOrin, front which he anticipated many blessings. —Ge
neral Mathew is to present the petition to this Continents
House.—The 11U.Ctill4 najollflit!...l to the 13th Februai y, to
receive the Prince Regent's an.wer to the address, and the
vast cuneuin••e of persons reined to their homes with the
greatest order.