The Sun.
London, England, 1808-10-27 00:00:00

NAVAL NEWS.

PLYMOUTH, OCTOBER 25.--:-.Arrived the Raleigh
Sloop of War from a cruize off Rochefort. Captain
J. 0. MASEFIELD, her late Commander, died on the
Ivrnize, arid his body was conveyed to Gijon, where
it:was interred with the usual respect and ceremony.
Arrived als6 L'Eclair Sloop of War from the Coast
of Spain ; and Rowena Sloop of War, from Coruri-
na—she is said to have brought intelligence of im-
portance respe6ting the French and Spanish armies,
and it is rumoured that the latter have gained a vic-
tory over the former. The town of Corunna is stated
to have been illuminated for three nights, but whe-
ther'on account of a fresh vi&ory, or on the arrival
of the British troops, is not stated. Colonel HA.mIL-
,
TON is arrived in the Rowena.

• The •Sloop Many Ann, of Eketer, `Captain 1:10D.
DER, Vias lost on Sunday night last in a gale of wind,
in Bigbury Bay, and all the crew perished.
About 50 Sail Of Alerchantmen passed up 'Chan-
nel yesterday, under Convoy 'of the Tamar Frigate.

PORTSMOUTH, OCT.;(L—Arrived his Majesty's
Ship Violet, from Guernsey; also the Levant,
from London, bound to Malaga.
His Majesty's Ship Pliirbe this day came into ;ha
harbour. His Majesty's Ship Skyla'rk takes convoy
to the Downs.

We had a most severe gale of 'wind all last 'night,
frdfn the S. W. and Many vessels, 'in consequence,
laying at Spithead, brought home their anchors.;
there are now two ships on shore in Stokesbay, the
names of which we have not been able to ascertain.
The Ship Magnet, of London, JOHN COVERDALE,
Master, laying at Spithead, drOve, during the night,
athwart another vessel laying to 'leeward, and thereby
carried away his boWSprit, and received sundry other
damages.

DEAL, OCT. 26.-Recnain in the Down's his *Mi.
jesty's Ships as per last.
The Royal Sovereign, Capt. HORNBEY, for Gibrat7
tar, is now going into Ranisgate with the loss of
aiichorS and.cables.

SIiZETINESS, OCT. 25.—Arrived the Bloodhound
G-nn-brig from Heligoland.
Came'down from Longreach His Majesty's Ship
Agincourt to the Great Nore.

SOCIETY
FOIL TITE tiNTCOURAptMENT OF ARTS, MANUFAC•

TURES, AND COMMERCE.

The first Meeting, for the Session, of this very
useful Society, took place in their Great Rootn„in the
Adelphi, yesterday evening, when Dr. Pownt.,
of the Vice7Presidentf, and we may add (from the
observation we have made on the score of attend-
ance of the other Gentlemen? who, with the Doctor,
fill the list of the acting Vice-Presidents of the
Society), one of the most efficient Chairmen of
the Institution, took the President's Seat in his
absence, and opened a Season, which, if it may
be judged from the claims already brought be-
fore the Society, bids fair to rival those which have
gone before ; the more particularly in those most
useful branches of science, which so essentially tend
to the public benefit, namely, Improvements in Me-
chanism and Agriculture ! •
Soon after seven o'clock the Secretary, Dr. TAY-
LOR, opened the business of the Meeting, and it gave.
us much pleasure to see him in that state of healtb
which he is FO richly entitled to from his summer
excursion. We are informed that the worthy Dr.
visits 'Weymouth annually in the vacation, and to
his honour we record it, we have equal reason to
believe, that he diffuses his professional knowledge
in and about that neighbourhood gratuitously to the
indigent poor.
Several interesting Papers were read from men of
great ingenuity, which tended to improvements in
Mechanism, and which will be immediately laid be-
fore a Committee of scientific men,- appointed to-in-
vestigate the merits of the Candidates who come
within this class. Nor were the Papers on the
planting of Timber Trees from Dr. TRACK ER Y, of
Chester ; on East India Products, from Dr. Itox-
BURGH, of Calcutta; on a Steep for Grain ; and
also- on improvements in Manures, from Mr. J.
Fox, of Cardiganshire ; on the cure of Her-
rings, irons Mr. G. EVRINGPIAM, of Yarmouth ;
on the culture of Hemp, from Mr. C. F. GREECE,
of Long Point ; also on the same subject,'
from Dr. LA TERIIIERE, of Quebec, received
with less avidity, so anxious are the Society to do
justice to those who chuse to bring before them any
communications.

A letter was also read from her Serene Highness
the Margravinc of ANSPACH, who is preparing from.
the grapes grown in her garden, at Brandenburgh
House, Hammersmith, a \Vine, which from the
experiments she made the preceding- year, promises
to be equal to Burgundy of the first quality, and
will probably encourage an extensive prepaiation of
Wine from English Grapes.
The Society's House, during the recess, has tinder-
, gone a thorough repair; and notwithstanding our
pi'judice against that abominable style of building,
which displays stone pillars opposed to a brick fabric,
we cannot but allow that the premises , externally
carries with them great beauty, and which is only to
be equalled by the neatness and convenience within.

A report prevailed yesterday, that a Russian house
in the city had received a letter from the Continent,
stating that groat differences had taken place at Er-
forth between the two Emperors, and that the Em-
peror of Russia had set off in great disgust for Vien-
na; No credit is given to the rumour.
Dr. INIANsEL, is.to be consecrated Bishop of Bris-
tol, on Sunday, at Lambeth-palace, by the Archbi-
shop of CANTELDURV.

AS HISTORICAL

,OF I,}l F: ,
,
M.PAIGN OF BUONA-PARTE iN

IN THE YEARS 1795 AND 1797.

PASSAGE OF TRE PO AND COMBAT OF !tomato.
BL'ONAPARI% boasts of having deceived 'BE/it:-
LIEU, by direEting his march to Plaisance, to pas the
Po on that side, while BEAULIEU was expetaing
the French army " between the fortifications of
Tesino and the redOnbts of I,a, •
vire a. I havri,nOt the
least regolleaion of ever seeng a re?:olht at Pavia ;
but let it be granted that they are there, since 800-
NAPARTE will have it -and nOw let us attend to
the real fa&s.

BEAULIP.O had continued to fall back through
Valenza and Pavia, not because he had not foreseen
the designs of BUONAPAUI'E, but because he had
immense magazines at Pavia and. Milan, and was
anxious to cover the removal of the baggage and
stores of every kind which belonged to his army
and his hospitals. BUONAPARTE wishes' to have it
understood -that EEAULIEU had been so deficient in
foresight, as to leave the passage of the Po without
defeneei but his own letter contradi&s his objet.
Ob'serVe his words :

" BE,WLIEU ordered a body of six thousand in-
.
" Tantry '1)(1 tl:vo thousand cavalry to advance to
" hieet us, and oppose our debarkation, or to at-
" tack us before we should have time to form."

Is not this a confession, in direct terms, that
BeAuLtEtt had not only divined his purpose, but
taken measures to oppose his passage ? Is it not
a most palpable contradiEtion oo the side of Buo-
NAPARTE ? But this is one of those trifling inad-
vertencies into which our hero is perpetually fall-
.
ing ; and We over=look it, in the present case, so
much the more willingly, .as we have tacharge him
with more important faults, with falsehoods of the
most gross and glaring kind ! Here is one re-
lative to this very passage of the Po.
BUONAPARTE says that BEAULIEU sent eight thou-
sand men to oppose him ; and I have it in my power
to prove incontestibly that he • did not send half that
number.

BEAULLEU having failed in his design on the three
fortresses, of which we spoke before, was convinced
that he could no longer' defend the passage of the
Po, for want of sufficient troops, since the whole of
hii army did not amount td quite twenty-four thou-
sand men. What, then, was the course which he
pursued ? He instantly dispatched orders to Pavia
and Milan, to send, without delay, to the Tyrol, by
the way of Mantua, every thing that belonged to the
Austrian army. It was sufficient for his purpose, to de-
fend the passage of the Po for a fcw instants, just to
enable him, with his handful of troops, to gain the
road to Lodi, on the other side the Adda ; and this
manceuvre completely. succeeded, and covered his re-
treat. He had detached the regiment of Neapolitan
cavalry, three hundred pontoneers, and a battalion
of carbineers, with orders to take the road of Cod-
ogno, and. dispute the debarkation of the French.
These troops fulfilled their mission, and it was not
till after several hours of a most vigourous re-
sistance, that they were compelled to fall back be.
hind Codogno.
BUONAPAUTE says, " that during the night, an-
" other corps of five thousand Austrians, which was
" at Casal, marched from thence at four in the after-
" noon, to support the body which was at Fombio ;
" that it reached Codogno about midnight, where
" General LA HARPE had taken up his head-quar-
" ters ; and that it sent forward some sharp-
" shooters, who drove in the advanced posts of the
" French. General LA HARrE, continues he, mount-
" ed his horse, to reconnoitre their force; he ordered a
" demi-brigade to advance ; the enemy was com-
pletely defeated, and disappeared; but, by a mis-
" fortune irreparable for the army, General LA
" HARPE was struck by a ball, which killed him on
" the spot—General BERTUIER immediately re-
" paired to Codogno ; he
.pursued the enemy, took
" Casal from him, and a vast quantity of baggage.",
It must be confessed that 14ToNAPARTE is an
astoishing man in his narrations. .When he has
not great things to recount, lie invents them, writes
them, publishes them ! The world blindly credits
them, and thuS makes an extraordinary creature of
him without difficulty

For example, in this passage of the Po, he labours
to have it belieVed that he had thirteen thousand
men. to contend with, and that, in despite of them,
lie crossed the Po at Plaisance, and marched to Lodi,
though he had then only a body of six thousand
five hundred men with bim ! ! ! While the real fad
is, that instead of thirteen thousand, be was not
opposed by four. thousand ! He speaks of a corps of
five thousand Austrians that marched from Casal;
and this corps never existed but in the, official report
EUONAPARTE! All that BEAULIEU had sent was,
as mentioned above, a regiment of Neapolitan ca-
valry, consisting at most of two thousand four hun-
dred men, a battalion of musqueteers, and three
hundred pontoneers. It was this detachment only
which surprised General LA HARPE at Codogno,
defeated bitty, killed a vast ualinr of his troops,

together with himself, and made neally two Or,
said prisoners, whose arrival occasioned a consider-
able degree of alarm at Lodi; as I aLn now about to
mention.

L had set out frogl =the Castle of St. Angelo, and
was prOceeditliffom PaVi2 to Lodi on the morning
of the 6tt: Or Oh of May. I was just t,vo miles
from the latter place, when I saw_a great crowd of
people, of all sexes and age+, tunning towards rite,
with consternation it their face. The instant they
perceived me, they all cried out} " Back! Back !
you cannot go. to Lodi ; the French are already in
possession of it." I would not, at first, believe
them ; but seeing the number of fugitives increase
every mOrirgewt, "could no longer doubt the truth of
I:.
their stor'y,ranu rode lx!ck aimost as far as the Castle
of St. Angelo; rwas tollowed by a prodigious num-
ber of waggons and hag,v!ge carriers, who bad
left everything behind them, and taken their holies
out of the traces as fast as po,sible, to ride in quest
of shelter into some of the distant forests.
It is nOw time to see what had occasioned all this
confusion.

About eight in the morning, the two thousand
prisoners made at Codogno, being arrived within
sight of Lodi, several of the common people gave
the alarm, 0$ td cried out, " the French ! the
French !" l'uis cry resounded through the city, and
spread a general athight among ev,ry class of the in-
habitants. No one save himself limo to examine
the truth : nothing was thought of but iNht, and
all took to their heels as fast as possible. The whole
city would have been deserted, if BEALTLIEU had
not dispatched an hussar, in all haste, to inform the
fugitives cf:their mistake, and assure them that he
was already intreuched, with his rear guard, near
the brid,e'6ihhe Adda, while his arw was
pur-
suing its March to the Tyrol.

My only object in giving this anecdote, is.simply
to shew how widely BUONAPAHTE wanders from the
truth in his account of tho ad.:lir at Codogno. If
the Rea2.er be now carious to know why the inha-
bitants of Lodi were so terrified at the first cry of
the arrival of the French, that they all took to flight,
it will.:nc tr. be ditault to account either for their
terror, or.-thcit4recipitation. Both were the natural
effeas 'of thAgeonduti which the French army pur-
sued dorineilkli whole of the Italian campaign; a
condu& on which it will not be amiss to dwell, and
which well deserves a chapter apart, after we shall
have spoken of the battle of Lodi'.

(To 6e continued.)

It is said that BU9NAPARTE sent some proposi-
tions to the Central Junta in Spain, from Erluith, at
the Saft Ance. 11r,lt ha, sent the Nlessen3ers to this
country.

A notice was yesterday posted at Lloyd's Coffee-
house, stating, that seven vessels bound to Heligo-
land, and tie from the Baltic, had been taken by a
French Privateer.

INDIA-HOUSE.-Yesterday a Court of Direelors
was held, when Captain HENRY RUSH was sworn
into the corn nand of the Ship Royal Charlotte, con-
signed to .t;Nina (Urea. The Court adjourned at
six o'clock 'till Wednesday next.
In the .Letters from St. Petersburg!), the depar-
ture of the Emperor is only slightly mentioned; but
it is positively stated, that when he reached Konigs-
burgh he paused, and it became a matter of doubt
whether he would proceed further or return. It
was not until he had reached Konigsburgh that he
was informed the Emperor of AUSTRIA was not to
be of the Erfurth Party.
The British Fleet has quitted its station off Baltic
Port, and left three Swedish Ships to watch the Rus-
sian Squadron. The V iaory, Sir J. SAUMAREZ'S
Flag-ship, was off Oland on the Ist October; she
had been; by the Aboukir and two others on
the 30th Sep,tember. The Orion was stationed off
Dragoe. Mr. THORNTON had been for a few days
oft board the firiaory, but had taken his leave of Sir
JAMES.

Three pigeons were sent off for London from the
field of battle, on Tuesday, to announce the victory
of Crib. The flight of these birds was beautiful ;
they at the outset described circles in the air, rising
higher and higher, until they found their proper ob-
jett, for which they darted off like an arrow frorn
a bow.

REYNOLDS has not resigned his dramatic pen,
though his family has recently gained a great pecu-
niary acquisition by the death ofa .wealthy relative.
The whimsical Bard has an opera of two in pre-
paration, the music of which is to come from illAz-
ZINGHI, and therefore the public are sure of having
something worth hearing.

About a year since, a man of the name of IVl'Do-
nald was arrested for debt, and after putting in 'bail
to the action, absconded. Bills were posted about
the metropolis offering a reward for appreliendit4
him, but, Iris retreat was not discovered till last Sun-
day morning, about 1 t o'clock, when a police offi-
cer and t:wo,constables went to the place of his con-
cealmeuts„igtd found him and Vie woman he coha-
bited Wiih) ip an apartment on the second floor of a
hair,...lresl.4l's in Creed-lane. The party having taken
tits.jabl,lirp,„-fsecured the door, and the lady held a
parlilyil declaring, upon her honour,
.that IVl'Donald
would surrender himself quietly if they would only
wait till to-morrow; and that in the mean, time she
would treat them handsomely for their forbearance;
but .this remonstrance being of no avail, the officers
burst open the door. tVl'Donald made his escare
out of the room by dropping from the window into
Holiday-)aid, and what is remarkable, alighted on
his lett unhurt. He was not, however, aware that
two constables were waiting in the street, to take cars
of and after making considerable resistance,
in toniqillid-oeirly killed the first man that atta:ked
11101, he'Wa9'iit length safely conveyed to the Comp-
ter.