The Sun.
London, England, 1801-11-27 00:00:00

HABEAS CORPUS

• Mr. Jkkvi.i. moved for a Writ of //abetis Cor-
pus
.to be directed to the Keeper of the common Jail
for the County ofSonzerSet, commanding him to bring.
up the body of James Ark, to be hailed. He stated,
that James Ash stood charged for" a rape; if the
Court should grant him this Writ, he said he should
also
,move for a certiorari ro remove the proceedings
before the Magistrate on this subje&_. • • This appli-
cation he made upon two aflicfavits. - The one that
of the Prisoner, who denied; in aired terms, the
offence charged. It admitted that an. improper in-
tercourse had taken place between the Prisoner and
the Prosecutrix, oa a promise Made by him to her of
a sum of money for her compliance. That some
days elapsed before the charge Was made : and a
Mr. Jones, who knew the' Prisoner for many years
to be a man of a fair- chara&er and substance in the
neighbourhood. That he Mr: Jones having heard,
of the rumour; asked the Prosecutrix, how she
.tame to spread such a calumny avihst Mr. Ash ?
She said; that Mr. Ash was a person against'whom
she had no. complaint Whatever to make. That
several days afterwards; Mr. Jones; to bis astonish.
meat; had a warrant delivered to him in his capa-
city as of the Hundred, to apprehend Mr.
Ash; which he was obliged to do accordingly, and
to take him into custody. -"I-hat he was cominitted
to the County Jail of Somerset; and had continued
there ever since. This was in Septembd last.
The person with whom the Prosecutrix: cohabited

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WaS said to have come to Mr: Ash and offered to
take a sum of money to make it up.-
Mr. instice GROSE asked 'the reason why this
application was not made sooner?
Mr. JvxYLi. said he did not know.
The Writs of Habeas Corpus and Certiorari
were then granted.

THE KING V. STEI'ENTON AND OTHERS.

This was a prnsecution'against Anthony Steven.
ton, William Forge, and Joseph Vicars, for a con-
spiracy to keep a Witness -out. of the way who had
been summoned to give his evidence before the Com-
rnissioners of Excise, of the particulars of which
we have already given an account.
Mr. ERSKINE took an objedion at the Trial,
that the summons was not a legal summons, inas-
much as it was not signed by any of the Commis-
sioners of the Excise, hut had only the name of
Mr Mavow, their Solicitor, marked upon it with
a stainp ; which point was reserved for the opinion
of o,e Court.—The Defendants were found Guilty,
subjed to the opinion of the Court, &c.
This objedion was encountered by the evidence
of Mr. Mayuw at the Trial, who proved that he
was Solicitor for the Excise ;—that he had been in
this department between twenty-four and twenty-
five years ;—that the summons in question ituas made
out according to the constant custom of the 'Excise-
Coffee for that period, to his own knowledge.
The Court, having beard Mr. ERSKINE and Mr.
GURNEY in support of this objeaion, over-ruled
it, upon the authority of several . cases, the sub-
stance of which was, that 'where there was no in..
convenience to the party, the constant custom and
form of a!,- Of such 3s this, had the authority
of law, in these minor particulars. There was
nothing, but custom, to support the praaice at the
Old Bailey of trying Prisoners for offences in Lon-
don and Middlesex, the Court being situated in
London ,only. Mr.' Justice GOULD had said, that
this depended on custom. So again with regard to
a Subpoena, which was a writ issued out of the
Superior Courts, it was the constant custom to issue
it, leaving a blank for as much as four names, to be
inserted afterwards, which was also sanaioned by
custom. The same pradice obtained in the sum-
moning of Jurymen, &c.•
Objedion over-ruled.
A motion was then made in arrest of judgment,
and a Rule obtained to shew cause the last "day of
this Term, unless the ATTORNEY GENERAL. should
desire that it should be enlarged.
Mr. STEVENTON, who is an Attorney, applied to
the Court to be at large in the mean time.
The ATTORNEY GENERAL would • not consent,
and therefore the Court could not do otherwise than
order him and the. other Defendant who appeared, to
stand committed to the King's- Bench Prison.

EXTRACT or A LETTER FROM AN OFFICER IN THE

80TH REGIMENT, TO HIS FRIEND IN EDIN-

BURGH.

" Camp, near Rosetta, in Lover Egypt,
September 4, ILI.

" On the a 4th of February, the Both Regiment
embarked in four Transports, and on. the 15th sailed
an proceeded to Bombay, under the command of
Colonel WE LEES', EY. The ship I was •in parted
company with the Fleet the second day, and made a
most tedious passage ; on our arrival, the greatest
part of the Army had sailed for the Red Sea under
General BAIRD.—Our three Companies were re-
moved to two small Transports ; sailed on the 14. th
of April, and landed at Cosseir on the I - th of July.
General BAIRD had marched with the Army to
Kenne, on the banks of the Nile. We were inime.
diately ordered to hold ourselves in readiness, and
commenced the march across the Desert, on the
evening of the 2.2. d.; after suffering greatly from
the want of water, and the dreadful fatigue of
nine nights march, we arrived at Kenne, hardly
able to stand. We had to march near fifty miles,
Without a drop of water, and that in a country
where you have the most insatiable thirst.—l have
been for an hour not able to litter a word, from the
dryness in my mouth ; the Officers had asses to ride,
bet the poor soldiers marched the whole way ; every
mile or two they were found lying,on, the ground,
sinking under fatigue and thirst.—Frequently, when
on the rear-guard, I have marched from six o'clock
at night till eight in the morning, obliged to drive
the sick On by force ; they got sO languid,- and in
such a situation, that they preferred to lie on the
ground and die, rather than march a step farther.—
One of our men was murdered in the most barbarous
manner by the Bedouin Arabs, savages who inhabit
the mountains ; they came down at night to pick up
stragglers. General BAIRD had procured boats
for the whole Army, and. had dropped down the
Nile as far as Grand Cairo (about 3co miles) before
our arrival. We embarked immediately, and after
ten days, at last had the happiness to find the Ge-
neral and Army encamped in the Island of Rhoda,
about a mile•from Grand Cairo, a very unhealthy
climate. We had 'a thousand. men in the hospital
out of our small Army ; the general complaints of
• this season are sore eyes and fevers—some months of
the year they have the plague ; the remainder,
rhcumatisms, fevers, and sore eyes. This season
60,c00 of the inhabitants of Cairo fell viaims to
that shocking disease, the plague. It is seldom you
see native with good 'eyes. The French had a
great number of their army blind., 1 was only
two slays at Rhoda when was attacked- with sore
eyes, when on picket, and continued in the greatest
agony for five days ; I expected to have lost the
t.igiit of them entirely ; it is something in the night
air that is the cause of it. The Army re-
mained three weeks at Rhode, and embarked for
Rosetta,• where we arrived on the 3 ist ult. the day
,that Alexandria surrendered, which was. a great
disappointment to General BA IRD
sand to the whole
Army, after
.bringing an Anny from the Indian
Ocean to the :`,.Mediterranean, and with the greatest
.expedition arriving almost in sight of Alexandria,
the day it surrendered to the English, is particular-
ly hard. We move to a new encampment .to-mor_
row morning, about a mile from Aboukir, where it
probable we may remain till the English Army
rmbark, and then proceed to Alexandria.".

LO NDO N Prime,' by

At the SUN-OFF

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SIR,

THE statement in your Paper of the r Ith instant,
of the astonishingly small number who have died in
Egypt, out of those who came under the care of the
Medical Staff, must give the highest satisfaaion
to every friend of humanity ; and it is impossible
not to wish with you, that the returns may be com-
municated to the Public in some official form.

But, Sir, you will no doubt still more strongly
feel that the Country should be informed who the
person is to whom we are chiefly indebted for this
extraordinary diminution of the accustomed miseries
of war. It would probably have been inconsistent
with etiquette, to include the Inspedor Gene'ral of.
the Hospitals in a Parliamentary Vote of Thanks,
yet when this trustis wisely, humanely, and success..
fully discharged, who, except the very LeaderS of
the Expedition, is so justly entitled to the grateful
acknowledgments of the Public ?
" War," says Johnson, " has means of destruc-
" lion more formidable than the cannon and the
" sword. Of the thousands and tens of thousands
" that have perished, how small a part ever felt
" the stroke of an enemy."
This, Sir, we all know, is no fanciful piaure. In
many a former contest, perhaps in some instances
even in the late one, it has been lamentably realized.
In two different enterprizes, however, the case has
been singularly otherwise, and the circumstances of
both the one and the other must heighten our asto-
nishment at the exemption. These worst calamities
of War had little or no place, either amid the swamps
of Holland or on the burning sands of Egypt.—ln
the former, of four thousand and eighty-eight sick
and wounded, who were at one time in the hospitals,
only eighty-nine died.—ln the latter, out of twen-
ty-four thousand patients, we have lost only seven-
teen hundred. _ _

If the ancient Romans conferred a civic crown on
him whd had saved the life of a single citizen,
what does not Britain owe to that most respedable
and valuable Officer, whose lot it has been to hold
the same trust in both these Expeditions, and who
in both instances has been the indubitable preserver
of life, and alleviator of distress, to so many thou-
sands of gallant sufferers ?—" I.do not," says Mr.
DustnAs, in his speech on the Invasion of Holland
(Feb. to, 'Soo), " ask any thing from this state-
ment (the Inspedor General's Report, which he held
in his hand), but simple justice to Mr. Youxc,
who deserves to be adinired for his attention, assi-
duity, and humanity."—lf admiration was then'due
to Mr, YOUNG, what epithets shall we give to the
services he has since performed, where the difficul-
ties were so much more embarrassing, and the cala-
,mities to be averted inexpressibly more dreadful ?
If ever there was a conjun&ure, which might be
deemed peculiarly liable to .all the evils which John-
son has described, it was that of our Expedition to
Egypt. What " encampment" could have been
more " incommodious ?" what " station" more
" unwholesome ?" and while a pestilential contagion
was added to the usual maladies of fatiguing service
and a burning climax, there was no other Hospital,
at least during the first period of the Campaign,
but the Ships in the Bay of Aboukir. It was in the
Admiral's Ship that the gallant ABERCR.OMBY
breathed his last. In what estimation then are we
to, hold such extraordinary success, amid such un-
precedented disadvantages and dangers ?
Sorry should I be, in calling attention to the
merits of one most deserving Servant pf the Coun-
try, to insinuate any thing in the least respect de-
rogatory to the transcendent claims of his Military
Superiors. But it must be felt, that in what con-
cerns the health of an Army, the praise or blame
must peculiarly and distinElly belong to the Medical
Superintendant ; because the event then, whether
prosperous or adverse, must depend upon causes of
which professional skill alone is competent to take
cognizance.—The Hospitals, ofcourse, must be just
as much under the Inspector General as the arrange-
ments of the Field are under ,the Commander in
Chief; and consequently, any peculiarity of success
in the recovery of the sick and wounded, is as much
to the appropriate praise of the former, as the wise
array of a battle or a siege, is to the distina honour
of the latter.

It is, if I mistake not, • the fourth time that Mr.,
YOUNG has discharged this most important function.
Sir RALPH ABERCROMBY was his friend and patron,
not in consequence of any incidental connexion, but
merely from having on some occasion witnessed his
professional skill and fidelity. From that' time,
wherever Sir RALPH commanded, Mr. YouN G: was
the man of his choice ; and their mutual attachment
became more confirmed, as the personal virtues of
each became more fully known to the other. • -
Mr. YOUNG, while at the head of the Meclical
Staff in Holland, was not only indefatigable in every
thing by which it was possible to promote the,com-
forts of the British sick and wounded, but his ardent
benevolence led him to administer every aid in his -
powdr to such of the French Prisoners as stood in
need of his assistance. His humanity, however,
had well nigh proved fatal to himself. One very
stormy night, after being employed to a late hour in
sending off some wounded Frenchmen, and return,
ing through pitchy •darkness to his quarters, his at-
tendants having been all sent, aim various accounts,
before him, his horse fell with him, and one of his
legs was so desperately fraetured,. 'that had he not
been discovered by some passengers, he must in all
probability have perished. The consequence of this
accident was tedious and severe suffering, 'and a
confinement of many frionths.
His recovery was far from being complete, when
at Sir RALPH ABERCROMBY'S particular desire, he
was -called upon to take charge of .the Medical Staff
in the Army then preparing for Egypt: With ala-
crity he embraced the joint call of duty and friend-
ship, though his own infirmities made every kind
of exertion difficult to him. ,One motive. for his
promptitude, was -a strong presentiment of what
afterward happened. Often has Mr. You NG ex-
pressed concerning his veteran friend; the identical
apprehension which EvAxDER had felt for the youth-
ful PALLAS ; and his great anxiety was, that if that
fatal event should take place, he might be present,
to administer every aid that skill or friendship could.
furnisii. He was not disappointed of this melap-

BUCHANAN NI`MILLAN, !of Bow.,Street, Covent-Garden)
No. 11Z, Strand ; where Advertisement', Orders

aoly gratification, haviorg beetv"with Sir RALrn
from the moment of his being brought on board the
Flag-ship until he breathed his last. -
Notwithstanding the unexampled manner in which
Mr. YOUNG has succeeded in his trust, his own
health is still but precarious. In his situation, fa-
tigue and continued anxiety could not but be deeply
prejudicial ; and to a heart as vividly susceptible of
all the tenderness of affeetion, as it is rigidly firm
in every circumstance of duty, the loss of so invalu-
able a friend could not hut imply a deep and lasting •
wound. Whether, therefore, he may ever again see his
Country, is still, to the writer of these paragraphs,
a matter of painful doubt. But, if it does please
Providence to prolong his life, it may be hoped that
the services of this British MachnoN will neither be
forgotten by the Public, nor overlooked by an Ad-
ministration whose patriotism is too pure and too •
exalted, to leave any room for apprehending a defi-
ciency on their part, either in justice or gratitude,
to one who, like,themselvesi has deserved infinitely
of his Country.

IVGv. 17, !Soh

COUNTRY NEWS.

HIBERNUS.

CANTERBURY, NOV. 24..

ON Thursday evening last, about six o'clock, as
Mr. Walker, of Chalkwell, and Mr. Burgess, of
Milton, were returning from Maidstone in a single.
horse-chaise) -they were stopped on the top of Debt_
ling Hill by two footpads, who robbed Mr. 'Walker
of about,ten guineas in notes and cash, at which
time two post-chaises coming in sight, the villains
made off without attempting any thing further.
Extraa of a Letter from a Gentleman as Demerara,