The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1818-10-09 00:00:00

IiAVANNAH.

The capital of Iliii, i.land is that well-known
town called the Havanna), fourded by VI-la.quez,
in the commencement of the sixteenth century. in
23 deg. 12 min. north latitude, 82 deg. 14 Loin.
west longitude, on the north coast, opposite to the
Florida..

The harbour is very fine, and capable of con-
tabling the largest fleet in toddy. This harbour
and the town have been fortified as strongly as pos-
sible; the Spaniards looking on this port as the key
of their !Vintls American possessions.
The only fault in this excellent port is, that the
entrance is very narrow and difficult; w much so,
that during war vessels have been taken going in;
on account of only one being able to pass at a
time, the rearmost vessels have fallen into the hands
of the pursuing ships, without their comrades
being able to assist them. This channel is how-
ever so strongly fortified, during its whole length,
that it would be hazardous in the eitreme fur au
enemy's fleet to enter. 'flie mouth has a fort on
each side; that on the east it called More Castle,
on a high rock, is a triangular work, mount-
ed with forty toners of heavy commis, having a hat-
tery nearly 101 l with the water at the foot of the
rock ; that on the west is called Punta. fad coin
communicates with the city ; this is a square fort,
strongly built, and well supplied with artillery.
The city is surrounded with works, mounted
with numerous heavy gulls. A square citadel is
erected, near the centre of tile town, and is call-
ed El Fuerte ; this work Lai also heavy C 41111014
and on this the Spanish garrison sad mirab,tauls
place their chief drileVaiilllCP. 'the Captain-fieile.
rat's palace is in it, and here the tressure is drpo.
sited ; and the fortification* are said to be cum.
minded by hills in the immediate neighbourhood.
The city coutatus clever' Roe churches; two hcs-
!Otitis, a dock-yard, 11:11.tretto, nod o-rous pub-
lic buildings ; an uquetliirt ouptiltei the ship.
ping with waiter, amid turns the saw alas au ilie
1101.karde
TLC 10W1) Va!:d: in a on the west side of

the harbour, and the houses, which are elegant, are
mostly of stone. There are several convent,' ; and
the great square is a fine ornament of the pace,--
The elittrctes we highly and magnitieently orna-
mented with gold ,end silver lamps, images, Ike.
The manners of the inhabitants are land to tie
More polished than in must of the American cities,
and they have societies for the encouragement of
the arts and sciences. paring the stay ;of the
fleet front Mexico. au immense commerce is ear•
tied on, but at this time provisions are very dear;
they are in general high in price and tbiflcult to
°bum, owing to the indolence of the natives, and
the number of penions constantly ernving here for
the purposes of cowurnerce from tile interior, and
the other American ports: all the
..vessels front the
east coast of Spanish Amelia', calling here on their
way to Europe.
The importance of this city sod harbour, has
caused it to be repeatedly attacked; it was tdirri
in 1:533. by a French pirate, but renowned for 700
dollars ; it was again taken by the English and by
the French, and by the Buccaneer, ; but the moat
memorable. attack was that executers by the British
171 1762. Admiral Sir George Pocotke and Lord
Albemarle, conducted a fleet and troops to the
Ilavaimals, and afwr a determined resistance of
two months and eight days. on the Ittli of August
the Moro Castle and place surrendered, as well as
a district of 180 wiles to the west of the town.--
The victors captured nice earl of the line; three
snore were sunk by the Spaniards; two on the
stocks were burnt, and a great many merchant ves..
eels, loaded with valuable cargoes, completed the
spoil. The valuable merchandise and specie found
in the plate., was supposed to am tto *twee mil-
lions sterling. Thus. after incredible bardslitint,
efforts of extraordinary valuer, and a display of
unequalled judgment on the part of the Common-
dere. did tins gallant force take this strung fur
tress; and were recompensed by the applause* of
their nation. the para:)zation of the enemy, and an
inimmise booty.
This city was restored to Spain at the peace of
1763 ; since which period the Otivei rot has beeii
constantly employed in increasing its strength and
retina rCea. •
The trade of this port is:computed to amnrizit
by importations (the eXpeolt.itloii% ei.lt fly ui
sugar, wax, and cutler,) to twenty millions of pais-
tres.
The inhibitanta of the Alawantiali amount to
25,0n0, whilst the total postulation of the island
of Cuba legitimated to be about 550,000.

E PIMA&
OF pm prs NEW SYSTE' OF PHYSICAL
PHILOSOPHY.

In the system of pliilosot,hy called Newtonian, Sir
Isaac Newton considered Attraction, or G ravi tat mil,
as the primary cause of material phenomena. He
couceived that bodies fall to the eat ti because they
ure attracted by the rook, aid that all matter
tracts all mutter in a proportion of the bulks and
distance; and to account fur the motions of the
planets, he tadglit, that. at their creatiou they were
projected in the vacuum of space in straight line.,
but were drawn into their cur viliirear oibite Ity the
attractive force of the site, ; and that these too
forces. the projectile and the attractive, ure aloa”t
its activity.
.•
On the oilier hnml, S r Itcharil Phillips has pu!;-
'.islietl a noir System, in which lie denies that theta
exists any inherent property of attraction in miter,
and ridicules the not.on of the p•vj.:ctile force awl
the vacuum of spare. The pli;l:ifr!ielmit of lidaic; -
rushing together he asserts is alw:7, ;in occoeliti,
not au innate property; consequen' if there is no
universal gravitation, there is toe groomd for in-irt.
log on the existence of prof-stile I red to counteract
it, aid of a vacuum for a perpetuatioa of that force.
The universal agent operating nu matter, he says,
is motion—and motion, ss transferred from body to
body, and con pounded is various directions, is
alleged, in this System, to be the efficient and suffi.
slant cause of all sensible phenomena. The fall of
bodies to the earth is traced by Sr Richard to the
orbicular and rotatory motions of the earth, of
which inotiosis all terrestrial bodies are the pa.
tieuts. The rotatory motion equalizes the orbicu-
lar momentum of bodies of various density ; hence
the known series of density di creasing. (according
to this system, in geometrical ratio) from the upper
regions of the atalitiphere towards the centre of
the earth ; and hence also the fall of relatively
heavy bodies, from the impassibility of their be.
dig revolved in any lighter strata into which they
may have been raised or rejected. All distorts:
once is therefore instantly corrected, and every part
of a planetary mass is forced by the rotatory mo.
as cotijoined with the orbicular, to set k a posi-
tion iu which it will have the least centripetal freer.
The return of a perwildicular projectile 1,:.1 the
place of veiretion is illustrate) by the well-known
phenomenon of a stone let fall from the mast of is
moviiig shit., or of notoges thrown ap durnig lists
of liorialnalishiv. The motion of the plmets are
by this system ascribed to the of
aiming central muss like the sun, whose motions
are tratisfe..red to the seterul plainats through the
gaseous medium tilling space. Mailer li. tog e--
scrutiny inert, this central motion, so transfesii
considered as the Sufficient mile of the orlncillar
minutia of the planets; and the other uottions rued
the anomalies, are ascribed to wises eaisi,,;;
tweet, and within the several masses. As vo •:4).a
exists which is oat necessarily catokal ci !:er
111.)1toil, we.-thos asc.etid from ri•t"s to V 'Wet
0.1 itVinitult ; but, as matter cur
originate its min limitary 0141R3:),
lead* us to s prin4nm mobile to that 111• C.
CAtisc of Calms!, through wi:uitt 0e 111(0!)16 psi
hove our I).i g."
Such is the vew St !,tent of "nips. It efts.
Wilda". the saint. law v forces, whet/steams:44li*
thui uscribud by l'se toa 10 eg,r...C41011;
Via. I4:ot t::4: of rid nipiinn t,l distil!"