The Sun.
London, England, 1812-12-23 00:00:00

NAVAL 1%
S.

DEAL, DEC. 22.—Yon, have no doubt cre, this.
seen the. French accounts which arrived to-day,
viz. the official statement of BUONAEARTE'S return.
to Paris, and his account of the dreadful state hi
which;he left his army,,almost ht a state of starv-
ation•,. men and. horses dying by thousands. This
army, from its great insubordination, is no longqr
an army,_ but a large mass of despairing fugitives.
Such an account was never before heardin France,
where consternation seems almost to have reached
its height.

IMPERIAL PATILIKMENT.

HOUSE OF LuRDS,

TLIEADAY, DEC. 22.

The farther bearing of tile Scots Appeal Cause,
Cr :;da.ilie v.: Aikrnau and. others, which stood
for this day, Iva:, adjourned until after the Recess.

ROYAL ASSENT

Was given y7----COrnnlZllto the Exchequer
Bills Bill, the Wellington E3tate, Place and Pen-
sion Duties, insolvent Debtors' Amendment, Gold
Coi:1, Household Bill, Rice Duties, Spanish.
Red Nl:nes, Orders in Council, Indemnity,' Cho-
colate Dtitics, i ost, °t c•• Franking, Malt Tax,
and the Corn Distillation Bills. •

The Lords Comtaissioners were, the Lord
Chancellor: the Duke of Montrose, and Lord AVal-
shigham
The LGRD CHANCELLOR' stated, that with re-
ference to the Apreal of the East. India Company,
which stood tor -a further hz2iriug this, day, on a
Question of Tithes, such, 'coninnaniCa.tions took
Place in the forenoon as would enable him to move
the judgment of their Lordships upon the second -
clause the day after the Recess.
The House then, on the motion of Lord WAL-
ELNGIrAIII, adjourned (for the Christmas Recess)
until Wednesday; February .3d, next.

HOUSE OF COMMONS,

TUESDAY, DEC. 22.

The SPEAKER V 7,23 summoned to the House.of 1
Peers. On his return, he informed the House that
the Royal Assent had been given, by Commission,
to the Customs Cen.solidotionßill, and several other
The. *port of the Collier \Fork Petition was
brought up by Mr:P, Boone.
The. SVEAKER informed the House, that the
Three burgesses who had presented a Petition,
complaining of the return for Great Grinstead,
-tad not entered into the necessary recognizateces; -
and consequently= the Petition was lost. He.
Also acquainted the House that -he had received a
letter from theXteputy.Clerk of the Crown in Ire-
land, inclosing a Petition from F. W. Ponsonby,
Complaining of the return for Youghall. The
Petition was ordered to be taken. into considera-
tion on the same day appointed for taking into
consideration the other. 'Petitions on the same
subject.
. On the Motion of Lord CASTEgftEAGI:I, it '.ylS
ordered, that the House, on its rising, should ad,
joutn to Tuesday, the 2LI of February.
• Lord CASTLEREAbII having been returned for
the County-of Down and the Botough of Glithe-
e, stated it to be his intention tb stand for the
County of Down. A new' Writ was- ordered for
the Borough of Pitheroe. • -
A new 'Writ was ordered for the Borough of.
Malnisbury, in the room of Sri C. Saxton, -who
having been returned for Malmsbury and Cashel, •'
intended standing for thelatter. •
•
- The Registrar of the Court. of Chancery pre-
*sentet Returns of the Pleas, Demurrers, Ike. in
that Court.--Ortieeed to lie on the table.
An Hon. Member-, whose name we could not
learn, wished to ask the-Noble Lord, (Castierf.s.agh)
'what foree vvits,stationed ell America, to- protect
totir trade, against :the Americans ? He also wished
Ao observe that .apprehensions were enter ained
for the Packets from. Jamaica and othL:r islands.
It had been custonlary for them to be convoyed as
far as the Windward islands, ../"..t present, -it Allos -
thonght,"-kteduld be .desirable to convoy- them
farther on their voyage, if not all the Ivav to
England. If the attention of Government Were
not turned to tine,:e subjects, he had it in. content":
' tiation make a Motion on the subject, shorCy
, after the recess.
• Lord CAsTLEIZEACUI was next able to give the
Rononrable Member information on .the subject
to which•he bad last alluded, as that came within
the province ,of the Colonial Department. With
-respect to the farmer, as to the nature of the di:l-
- of our naval force on the American sta..-
tioti, lie was not prepred particularly to *ilk,
licit at no period had we suffered less from a war.
Our fleets had all arrived safe, ,and the losses sits-
tained-by private ind:eiduals were comparatively
sl len. '1 ire force stationed at America had from .
the .first been large, and it had been reinforced .
as soon as Government had, any reason to appre-:
;bend n werwould break out.
MANtUNG obtained leave to bring 'in a ,
Bill, to emend the Regent's Canal Pill, of last
Session, • -
Sir F. PUPDE.TT wished to know if any after,.
tion it heen paid to the ease of the Clerks- of.
the Navy O ice. He thought theirs a 'Lard "'JP,
to be dieinissed from their situations after paying'
large sums of money for theni:
Lord cASTLEREAGEI replied,' in a tone scarcely
audible in the gallery. We:understood hint to
say, the case alluded to was One of remote date,
and therefore
.could throw no imputation on the
conduct of the Noble Lord at present at the head
of the Admiralty.
ec,ir F. Btiansvi' did riot mean to prefer a charge
agains' the present First Lori of the Admiralty,
lint be thought it a serious charge against Lord
e • .:trharii. ',Fite individuals affected bad a strong
claim upon Government for their services. •
Mt: G.P.AN j. flNuired if it was the intention of
the Chancellor of to ENcliequer to presS the pro-
, visions-of the Local Tokens Bill ? •
• The CHANCELLOR of, the .XCIIEQUEII. thought
lie bad given an answer to Op question on a for-
mer occasion, ,When he had stated that he felt the
necessity.ot carryinithe 'Local Tokens Bill into
,elfect ; but, neverthetess;'as some inconveniences,
roc ht be felt fronethe want of a sufficient niunber
of Bank Tokens, he bad formetbthe design of de-
ferring its operation for some months, till a more
liberal supply of Bank Token could be furnished.
The period to which he had thOught of defer-
ring its operations would extend -to next summer,
or thereabouts.
The House adjourned
next

:o Tuesday, the 2d of Feb.

:KS YESTWIDAY.
India Stock, - •
ndia :Bonds, Gs. 7s. dis.
Old Arn.
r Exchequer Bills, Sid. per day,
I . "is. ls.'pr. . .....
iDitto, aid. Per day, Qs. „5 ..f. la r. •
0-minim, legi • . . .
Cow. bar Ir.th Jan. tWN‘.I,I,

LAW REPORT.'

Or KIN'G'S BENCH, DEC. 44.
BENJAFIELD V. ViHtI!LE.,

Thii% wrist an action by which the plaintiff; 6p•
taro Benjafield, a Magistrate of the county rifSuf-
folk , sought to recover from the defendant, the
proprietor of the Newspaper called The County
Chronicle,' a compensation in dathages for a libel.
published against hire in' The County chronicle of
the 3d of March last. The publication charged
to be a libel 'was in the following words :7
" Captain .Beajafield, formerly Editor •of The
Horning Post, has been 'charged by his -brother.
Magistrates, of Bury St. Edmund's, with obtaiw-
ing during his Editorship, an annuity from the
Prince of Wales, for the suppression of articles
sent to that paper, reflecting on his Royal High-
ness and a certain Lady ; this, Mr. Beniafield for
a• time, positively denied ; but upon an investiga-
tion, with the production of two explanatory let-.
ters front Earl Moira and Captain Cocksedge, the
fact was' completely established. The annuity,
it is true, did not appear in the Prince's House
hold Accounts. but was granted through Mr.
Wcltjie to the late Mr. Tattersall, the other Pro-
prietor. Of The Morning Post, and front Mr. Tat-
tersall, and 'subsequently his Executors, Mr. Ben-
jafield has continued to receive the annuity for
more than twenty years." To every part of the
Charge, the defendant entered a plea of justifica-
tion, and on, this issue was joined.-
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL having stated the
case on the part' of the plaintiff, and enlarged on
the:injury which so gross a charge was calculated
to do to the • character of the plaintiff, as a Gen-
tleman, and 'as a Magistrate, called witnesses,
who proved the publication, and also that the
defendant was the Propriefor, Printer, and Pub-
lisher of The County Chronicle, .in which paper of
the 3d of March last, the publication appeared:
_ __ •

Mr. Hour,. tOr the defendant, said; 'he should
have no difficulty in proving the truth of the pub-
liaation in question ; and that being the: case, he
should. be entitled to a -verdict in favour of his
client. In this the grand difference between in-
dictments for libels and civil actions, by
,which
_compensation in damages was sought, consisted.
In cases where remedy was sought by indictment,
proving the truth of the statementl world not
avail, because, as the-offence charged was c.alcu-
latcd ;to create a breach of the peace—that was
truly of a criminal nature, ar.d deserving of pu-
nishment, whether true or false. In actions of
damages, however, the case was entirely different.
Tbcre the reparation sought could only be of a
civil nature, and proportioned to the injury sus-.
tained. ' If what was stated of ;a person was true,
there co.* be no'injury for which he had a right
to‘eivil reparation, done to him in. mentioning it.
A man could not be.entitled"to compensation for
a loss %villa he had not sustained. He only could
.he entitled to indemnification for any supposed
pecuniary loss who had brought
,into market what
was saleable. Would a fair frail one, who hadbeen
too, liberal of her favours, 'be entitled- to a com-
pensation for that character which she had already
forfeited and ? On. the saute principle, could
the present plaintiff, if. he had lent himself to the
publication of he had so far prostituted
himself, as to receive money for the admission or
suppre:ssiun of them ;—in f4ct, he. was at this mo-
meutb in keeping, and receiving tin annuity on
this account ; could he be entitled to come into a
Court o; Justice; a•:±d to demaqd compensation for
for the ;OS's' of what lie hati not possessed ?

• One of the Excutors of theslate Mr. Tattersall
was called, who proved- the payment uf.the an-
nuity to Mr. Benjafield.
A letter front Mr. Beniafield himself was also
givOn in' evidvnce, in which 'he remonstrates
against the deduction froth the annu'ty of the
amount of the Income Tax, 'stating that it was
flillerstood that_the annuity was to be a clear an-
'nuity of 3101.. free from all clednotiqus ; and that
it not made so, he must be under the necessity of
applying on the subject to a certain Illusttious
Persouagc.

The Earl of MoIRA was examined as a witness,'
and proVed, that in consequence of an applica-
tion made to him on the, part of Mr. Benjatield;
repo. ting from his Lordship a testimonial as.to the'
fact of no such annuity being'payable tp him out
of the revenues -of his Royal Highness--7such a
testimonial being represented to him as necessary •
to do away the effect of certain calumnious para-
graphs which had appeared against him—his Lord -
'ship did grant to Mr. Benjafield such testimonial,
supposing and believing, at the time, that it was
.correct.—Upon looking more minutely into the
matter, however, and examining certain docti-
n;ents, his Lordship.saw cause to withdraw the
testimonial he bad given x and accordingly he
wrote a lettQr to the Bench of Magistrates of the .
County of Snffolk, assembled at Bury St. Ed-
mund's, acquainting them with this change in his
Lordship's opinion ,and impressions. 'His Lord.'
ship knew nothing, however, of the cause or
causes for granting such annuity. •
A gentleman connected with his Royal High.:
ness's revenue arising from 'the Duchy of Corn-
Wall was then proposed to be adduced on the part
of the Defendant, for the purpose pf shelving that
the annuity in question formed part of or rose
from, that revenue. This fact, however, being
admitted, any evidence on the subject became nn-
necessary.

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL, in reply, contend-
ed, that the justification was in no. respect made
out.

Lord ELLENBOROUGU complimented Mr. 'jolt
on the ability with which he had conducted the
cause of his client.' From the knowledge which
that Learned Gentleman possessed of the Law of
Libel, as his Lordship had seen displayed in a
work bearing his ,name, and which did him much
Credit, his Lordship was convinced, however, that
the Learned Counsel could not look for a verdict
in favour of his client in the present case, after
the evidence which had been given. That evi-
dence, no doubt, did go to.shew that z-zn annuity
was ...paid, and that, too, out of the Piince, of
Wales's revenue, to 'Capt. Benjatield ; but, was
there any evidence whatever of this annuity hey-
ingheen 'granted " for the suppression of arti.;:les
sent- to the Morning Yost, reflecting on his Royal
,Highness and a certain 1414 ?" The justification
,went to the whole, and to support that justi
tetra, c: :cacY tour; the wliole ..ength of the

„.
charge, and suoptheting it. iii every, ;art, must be.
ichluccd. Again, the testimony ofthe Earl of
Mdira, no doubt;.' Went to shew,,tha:t', when his.
Lordship had seen-canse to retract the testimonial:
he had given Mr. Benjafield„ he communicated
that ciienmstance to the.M4:sthites of Suffolk ;
but did this prove the
.itistificatiorof the 'allega-
tion in • the libel, that, ”in consequence of the
production of . these letters, the fact was coin
d 1. -
pleteiy estahliShe” To have proved thiS-,.and
to have mad, opt a to...gxplete justification of the
charge, as broad as the Charge itself, some of the.
Magistrates who were seated so to huye acted,
ought,to:ltve, adduced. in these. respects,
tberefbre, his Lord Ship was of opinion the plea of
justification had not been stipported,.; . and, of
course,
,that, the plaintiff was entitled to their ver-
diet.: AS to the atno&rt adfiruages, that 'Tvai a
gaestion entirely for their consideration;. and, in
the circumstances of the case, as they 115'1d been,
proved in, evidence, they would, probably' bar of
opinion tbat.,the amount of them ought not to be

great.
The Juiy; Rotw;thstaiiding-, '1'940 for the de-.
fondant.

THE ART S —DANN' E has . advanced far upon n
work which, we are persuaded, will make a dis-
tinguished figure in the ensuing -Exhibition, and
add considerably to his, well-merited repute as an
artist. The subject is highly interesting. and pie-
taresque, and is founded on a circumstance that
malty happened. In one of the remoter parts. of
Scotiand,,or the Northern isles', au infant was
seized by. an eagle, which bore it directly to its
nest, on the top of a lofty mountain.. The Mo-
ther, who was at a short distance, and - who
saw the direful event, hurried _1(, the perilous ac-
clivity, and recovered her child, who had fintu-
nately suffered-, no essential injury. The expression
of maternal anxiety and alarm, in the. face of ,the
agonilked parent, whose arms are catching the in law
while her eves are directed towards the ferocious
-bird, which is sailing, majestically away from so
unweeted a visitor, constitutes -an evert awful
and affecting in a very high degree. • The steep
and rugged ascent, the adjacent country and
river below, the eaglets .eagerly expecting food,
and the whple of the scenery, presents . one of
the most.pictureSque achievements that we !rave,
ever% seen, and does credit to the artist who se-
lected, 111:1 who has ,So .ably treated tbe subject.
The same artist-has nearly finished a whole-length
portr4it of ...Wis. HAmmEascEv,'3 tin. and her
Maternal tenderness and playful ilifancy,:are well
exhibited in the work, a.nd.the whole displaYs ele-
gance of arranzement and neatness of colouring..,
.13,vrE, .Tun. has just finished- a head of Major.
CAllAc in so spirited a style, with such c:,;pressive
firmness of touch and chaste and vivid cotouring,
that lie may be fairly'classed among the most pro-..
raising of the rising race of poi trait painters..

The e fre t of the late successes in The Ninth
will evidently, be the reduction of.our naval estab-
Ur,binent in the Bahic. Since Sweden and Russia
have made peace with. this country,-, a sgialt.naval
force there .is all that will be required .for -the
protection of our trade against the Danes. Ad-
"Moß.its, it is now said, takes - the direction
of the shipping upon that station, since ti'e re-
signation of Sir J. SAITiAtEz, xvhose- exertipnS
in a very difficul; cOnnnaidhave been moat
cilii-
tienT.- - - .

Fires.—On Vriday night a fircbroke_ out at the
Swan Inn, Wangford, Essex., which in less than
two hours destroyed the wlio!e of those extensive
premises, together, with the stock, furniture, &c.
Great fears were at one period entertained for the
safety' of the greater-part of the viilap.,e, but for-
tunately by the activity of the inhabitants, the
fbiines Were 'prevented spreading farther. poor
old woman; 83 years Of age, who was an innizte,
perished in the tiartics.—A: destructive 4tt broke
cut yes:terday 'morning., at. o'clock; in. the
premises, occupied by :Mrs. chee.senionger,
in.l3;shopsgate-street, which for :ionic time threat-
ened destruction to tlle 'building, but by the
timely assistance afforded by the firemen and
others, in procuring a ptentifuls supply of water,
the.tiames were fortunately got under; after doing
ranch daluiFe. to tlx part i,:.'whieh it firstliegan.--
Anuther also happened "last night, 'at lir:
Papp's, pastry-cook, in Chancery-lane, which,
byAlkeexertions of tip.: firemen in cutting away
the flue, fortunately saved the premises from de-
striiction. _ . .

On SalnAlav evening, betwixt five and sis
,
o'clock; as..llr. Alexander M'Dongal, rattle-
dealer, was returning from Glasgow to the Oicat
Canal Bashi, he Was'stop,ped on this side of the,
hluinix Foundry, by three men, who knocked
int down, and then carried hint over the wall,
where being in a state of insensibility, they
.robbed birn of 2051. On observing that he was
recovering' his recollection, they attempted.. to
strangle him, and left hini•severely bruised. The
villains got off without discovery.—A reward of
50./..has been offered fora discovery of the 6flen-.
dens.—(Edinburgh Coura;lt.)
A Court- Martial was held last week on Lien-
tenant R.'S. Marley., ,'of the Alfred, 'for giving
orders for defacing the King's pistols, belonging
to the- said'ship,-and • for altering the same; not
only for bis own private use, but
.for the use of
other perbons, 'contrary to the rules of the service.
The Court agreed that the charges had been in
part proVed ; but, iu 'consideration of his tormer
good character, and the Wounds he had 'received
in the public service, did adjudge him only to
lose two years' rank, to be severely reprimanded,
and to be 'admonished to be careful of his Ma-
jesty's stores in future.
• On onday se'nnight, a man employed in get-
ting ice in the centre, of the Canal, St. jOnes'§
Park, for the ice houses of his Royal Highness
the PRINCE REGENT, fell into. the water, where
be must inevitably have been droWued but for the
timely assistance of ropes belonging -to Mr.
113aottr.e,- of St. James's Park. The' man was
nearly half an hour in the Canal, up to his knees
in mud,- and his chin in water, and called out that
he was fast siniiing. The rope was tilt:own three
times before he was extricated front lyis prilous

,morning Thomqs caley, par-
stujiii to his sentence forgery, was Fxecutad
before the Debtors.' door, Newgate. This, nufor-
ttroe nidu . appeared perfeetty resigned to
,ibis
fate, 4nd niet it with becniniog fOtitpdp,