The Sun.
London, England, 1824-05-06 00:00:00

POETRY.

SPRING.
Now genial Spring again revisits earth,
Leading the rosy hours in sportive mirth,
And gentle zephyrs from Arabia's vales
Waft balmy sweets, and fragrance-breathing gales.
Beneath her feet the meads gay flowrets fling—
Creation smiles. The feather'd warblers sing
And hail the fairy reign of bright-eyed Spring.
*Now Cytherean Venus leads the dance. •
" When through the sky the silver moonbeartok dance,
" And Nymphs and Graces join'd upon the green,
" Tripping on light fantastic toe are seen.
" Now should the brows with myrtle wreaths be crown d,
" Or flow'rs with which the laughing fields abound,"
For now soft Cu id strikes his fiery darts,
Deep in the youth and maiden's tender hearts,
And now they wander 'midst the shady groves,
And blushingly reveal their mutual loves,
Affection's tale in each fond look confest,
Lulls ev'ry trembling hope and fear to rest.
Oh ! fairest daughter of the circling year,
More lovely after winter's stern career
Is thy approach. Thus does the orb of day
Shine forth and pour around his brightest ray,
When dense black clouds from Heav'n are pass'd away.
Had I a spark of Mir...roles seraph fire,
Or one sweet strain from SITAKSPEARE'S magic lyre,
Then would I all thy varied charms rehearse,
And boldly praise thee in harmonious verse.
But alt! to few such pow'rs of song are given,
As those immortal Bards receiv'd from Ileav'n.
And though like them I ne'er can hope to sing,
I love thee not the less, delightful Spring.

• These six lines are tran.lated from IIoRAcE.

ASILkNTEE WAR.

[EXTRACTS OF LETTERS FROM TIME, tIOLD COAST.]
66 Burr 'sit ACCRA, J AX• 31, 1324.—1 t is unnecessary for
me to communicate to you the seizure of one of our serjeants
by order of the Ashantee Despot, and other causes that have
led to a war between the British and that nation, as you have
already been put in possession of these circumstances by my
friend —. Suffice it to say, your prediction (that
unless speedy and effectual aid were sent from England,
things would go hard with us) has been too soon verified.__
The Ashantees have long threatened us with an attack; and on
the 25th of last month, intelligence was brought to Sir Charles
M`Carthy that they were approaching the Coast ; but contrary
to what is usual their forces were by report diminished as to
their real numbers; the consequence was, that Sir Charles di-
vided his forces in four divisions, and marched into the interior!
The enemy, instead of dividing theirs, collected a force of ten
thousand men, and attacked the division commanded by Sir
Charles himself (who did not muster 1,000 muskets), and I regret
to say totally defeated and dispersed it ! The whole of the
Whites are either killed or missing, but Major Ricketts and
Ensign Erskine, who after many hardships have succeeded
in getting to Cape Coast. Among the killed and missing, are
Sir Charles himself, Messrs. Buckle and Wetherill, from Sierra
Leone ; also Robertson, Dr. Tedlie, Jones, Barndon, .1. P.
Williams, and lleddle, of Cape Coast, all of whom you have
seen, and several others with whom you are not acquained.
11.— and I were with the Accra division, commanded by
Capt. Blenkarne, and at least 150 miles to the eastward of Sir
Charles, when this afflicting intelligence was brought to us ;
and by the same messenger we were ordered to fall back on
Accra, and put
.the town and fort in the best state of defence.
It will now be seen that the Ashantees are a people not to
be uterly despised ! In short, it has come to this—if Go-
vernment do ;not instantly send out two or three thousand
troops to put down this power, they must withdraw the
British Flag from the Coast, and leave the field to the
cunning Dutchmen to reap the harvest of their intrigue !
The moment the issue of the battle was known, the
people of Elmina commenced seizing or people ; and those
of Shama!' (another Dutch settlement) had the temerity to tire
on one of the boats of the Owen Glendower ! But here they
suffered for their rashness, by the total destruction of the town.
It is a most fortunate circumstance, that the frigate was in the
vicinity of Cape Coast at this moment, or 1 know not how much
more dreadful the result would have been. The divisions corn.
manded by Majors Chisholm and Laing have returned to Cape
Coast and Annamaboe ; they can get no tidings of either Sir
Charles or the Ashantees, and it is supposed the latter have
fallen back a short distance to communicate their great success
to their King before they renew the contest. Sir Charles's or-
derly, who escaped front the field, affirms that Sir Charles was
wounded in two places early in the action.
" It is but justice to say, the Danish Governor Richlieu has
acted the part of a man of konour towards us. 11e has spared
neither expence nor personal exertion to assist us in putting
down the Ashantees ; anti if the Dutch had acted the same part,
matters would ere this have been settled in our favour. To
secure the favour and trade of the Ashantees, the Dutch have
been so mean as to instil into the minds of these people that our
object is to bring their nation under our yoke, and that if we are
driven from the coast, they (the Ashantees) will again have
opportunities of disposing of their slaves to the Portuguese and
Spanish vessels ! !
" P.S.—A report has just reached us that Sir Charles is safe
among the Dinqueras, a country situate about 65 miles N.W.
of Cape Coast, and in our alliance. I sincerely hope this report
may be confirmed, hut for my part I much doubt it."
" Accna, JAN. 31, 1821.—The late disastrous events have
brought tis into a very critical situation ! On the 29th tilt. Sir
Charles directed Capt. Blenkarne, the Conn»andant of Janice'
Fort, Accra, to proceed to Akin), and there to form an en-
campment. The object of this was (1 have some reason
to think) to menace and divide the forces of the Ashen-
tees. «e left this on the 4th instant for that purpose; but
in consequence of some dissatisfaction among those on
whom we relied for aid, our forces were but slender ; and af-
ter having remained in the Aguassim Territory three weeks
our forces having refused to proceed, we were obliged to
fall back on this place. In the mean time our good Governor,
hoping by his own presence to infuse confidence into the das-
tardly Fantees, among whom he had trusted himself, was at-
tacked on the 21st inst. by 10,000 Ashantees, who had been near
him for some days. It was unfortunate that at this time, a force
under Major Chisholm, another under Capt. ',estrange and a
third under Capt. Laing, were all at distant camps, and knew
nothing of what was going on until all was over. We have no.
thing authentic, but report is busy in making bad worse. We
have every reason to believe almost all the whites have been
killed. Mr. Erskine, the only officer who has returned, was
wounded; Sir Charles is said to have been wounded in two
places ; nothing to this day has been heard of him. The action
took place behind Secundee, almost ten miles inland. The
wounded (100) made their way to that settlement, and after.
wards to the Cape, in canoes. On the 28th Major Chisholm
returned to Cape Coast, but bad not heard of Sir Charles. He
mustered all the forces lie could, and Captain Laing was sent
with him to search for Sir Charles. The amount of their forces
I cannot state, not having heard, but the blacks are, I fear,
panic-struck.
" Government will see the necessityof now doing what ought
to have been done long ago. Unless three or four thousand
men are sent out to beat these savages out of hand, they will
keep the country agitated until they effect the total subjugation
of the Coasts. You fan scarcely imagine the panic which pre.
veils everywhere. The defeat appears, by the imperfect accounts
we now have, to have been complete. The forces under Sir
Charles are supposed to have been only 500. What was that to
10,000 in a wood, surrounded and out of ammunition. Poor,
poor Sir Charles ! The treacherous, and timersus and boasting
Fantees have effected a mischance which time cannot repair. If
alive, what must your feelings be !—if no more, how horrid a
death must we suppose to have been invented for you !--Major
Chisholm is- doing all he can to put this Castle in a state to repel
every egression. The sincerity of the dutch is doubtful. The
enemy have not been beard of since the action ; they are, it is
supposed, returned to their encampment ; we are the most ex-
posed to their attacks, this situation being so open. The trans-
port had sailed only a day or two before this affair happened;
and I am now much hurried in writing this, as the ship by
which I forward it is sailing about the offing, and I have no
time to lose. She goes from this to Barbadoes. No apology
will I trust be needed. This account is, lam sure, as imper-
fect, as it must be unwelcome."

IC Yesterday the Duchess of GLOUCESTER and

the Princess SOPHIA visited the Princess AU-
GUSTA, at her residence in Stable-yard, St.
James's, where their Royal Highnesses partook
of a dejeune, and afterwards rode out together.
The Bishop of CnEsTEa, it is said, is to be
translated to the vacant Bishopric of Bath and
Wells; and 1)r. BLOOMFIELD is to succeed to the
See of Chester.

The Dean of HEREFORD is expected to suc-
ceed to the vacant See of Chichester.
We understand that the house of Messrs. Atxx-
ANDER. and FLETCHER have received a letter of

the 9th March from a person who accompanied
Sir G. M'CARTHy to Accra, which does not men-
tion a word of the battle with the Ashantees.—
(Morning Paper.)

• ;
COURT OF KING'S BENCH—(Tun Div.)

KILLING AND SLATING/.
Mr. ERSKINE said, he moved that a prisoner,
named Charles Redley, committed under the
warrant of a Coroner, to the county gaol of So-
merset, on a charge of killing a person named
William Demmitt, might be admitted to bail.,and
that the indictment might be moved into this
Court by writ of certiorari. The circumstances,
as sworn to before the Coroner's Inquest were
these :—The deceased lodged in the house of the
prisoner, and being ill of the small-pox, the pri-
soner turned him out of his house, which harsh
treatment was supposed to have caused his death.
—The evidence given on the Inquest by one
witness was, that the prisoner had dragged the
deceased out of his house; another witness, that
the deceased told him so; and another witness,
that the prisoner had merely threatened to turn
him out of his house. Another, that he threat-
ened to turn him out of his house, and that he
afterwards did so. Now the Learned Gentle-
man said he had distinct affidavits, on behalf of
the prisoner, denying the truth of all tho3e facts
deposed to, and skewing that no force was em-
ployed.

The Court granted a Rule to show cause why
the prisoner should not be admitted to bail, and
in the mean time granted the writ of Certiorari.

LOCH J. HARRIS.
Mr. COWLIiY stated •that this was an action
tried on two hills t-f exchange—plea, Statute of
Limitation:. Ile said, ho moved a Rule to chew
cause whether the verdict for the plaintiff should
not be set aside and a nonsuit entered, otherwise
a new trial. The case was tried before Mr.
Justice Best, it the late Horsham Assizes.
It turned upon whether a conversation be-
tween the defendant and the plaintiff's agent
would take the case out of the statute of Limita-
tions, namely, when applied to for payment, the
defendant said, " It is more than six years ago,
and us I am not in a condition to pay new debts,
it is of no use your asking me to pay old."
The Court refused to disturb the verdict.

SURREY sr.s.stoNs—(This DAY.)
Sr.sro NG Tn It EATEN tNG LETTERS.—John Hen-
derson, a genteel looking respectably dressed
young man, was put to the bar on a charge of
having sent a threatening letter to Messrs. Bar-
clay and Co., for the purpose of extorting money.
It appeared that the prisoner had sent letters,
demanding 5001., and threatening, if it were not
paid, to charge Messrs. Barclay with using opium
in their beer. Verdict Guilty. Sentenced to
twel►e months' imprisonment to hard labour.