The Sun.
London, England, 1812-05-01 00:00:00

I am, Sir, &c. &c.

A series of Bombay Couriers, to the 22d of De-
cember, contain extraCts from the papers of the
other Settlements. The intelligence is not of im-
portance. Lord MINTo returned to Calcutta on
Tuesday, the 17th of November. A meeting of
the Britishinhabitants of Madras took place or. the
sth of December, to consider the best mode of con-
veying their public congratulations to Sir SAMUEL
AUCIIMUTY; An address was ordered to be pre-
pared, a sword- proposed to be presented, and a re-
quest made that Sir SAMUEL would permit his por-
trait to be taken by an eminent artist, to be placed
in an appropriate public situation with the portraits
of other distinguished persons.
Extract of a letter,:idated Dartmouth, April, 27,
1812 :—" Tl)is morning arrived the J.ihn arid Sally,
belonging to Sontlqmpton, Charles Scody, master.
In her pa,sage froM Waterford to Southampton, off
Falmouth, Sunday last, ten o'clock she was boarded
by the row-boat privateer Sparrow, of St. Maloes,
Captain Benger (a Portuguese) who put two French-
men and four Spaniards on board. Yesterday, about
four leagues from the French coast, the master, C.
SLody, prevailed on the Spaniards to assist him,
when they secured the Frenchmen, and ran the ves-
sel here. The master informs me he saw the priva-
teer take two brigs soon atter they were taken,
which steered for the French co Ist ; that the John
and Sally was the first vessel the privateer had taken;
her force four swivels and 'small arms."

The Resolution arrived at Plymouth, on the 28th
ult. from Majorca and Gibraltar, the latter of which
she left on the 15th ult. She is said to have
brought inteliigehce, that when she sailed from
Gibraltar, an account bad been received there of a
French 80-gun ship haying arrived at Malta„which
was said to have been captured by a British 74 ;
and that the French lost 400 men, and the British
200, in the aaion.. This seems to refer to the re-
ported capture of a French ship of war in the
Adriatic.

Fears ate entertained for the safety of the Psyche
frigate, homeward-bound from the East Indies;
she parted company from the Scipion, in the chops
of the Channel, on the 1 ith ult. intending to bear
up for Plymouth, but has' not yet arrived at any of
the ports.
The Scipion, Capt. JOHNSTONE, from the Cape,
arrived at Spithead, brings an account of Admiral
Sir S. HOOD having arrived in Table Bay on the
17th of January, and that he sailed again the day.
following, to take the cowhand on the East India
station.
Thursday last, Mr. and Mrs. TILNEY LONG,
WELLESLEY made their first visit at their seat at
Draycor, in Wilts, since their-recent marriage, and
were greeted by the inhabitants and poor of that
place, and the neighbouring villages, with every de-
monstration of joy ; and on Saturday, Mr. WEL-
LESLEY, in the true style of English hospitality,
gave a dinner to all his tenants; to whom he made
a neat and suitable address, expressive of his good
wished towards tbeM, and of his anxiety to preserve
that harmony and pod understanding between land-
lord and tenant, which were so essential to the hap-
piness and comfort of both. Many loyal and appro-
priate toasts were given; and nothing could exceed
the conviviality and heartfelt delight with which the
day was passed.
A Mr. Kneele, from Buckinghamshire, engaged
yesterday, on Finchtey Common, to kill tirpigeons
from 21, for a wager of 50. guineas. What is sin-
gular, the adventurer missed his first two birds,
and killed the 18 following, but in shooting at the
List bird to decide w ,Iger,, it was winged, and died
-out of bounds, 100 yards from the trap..

ITOMEN OF 71175.E1.

NOM THE ACCOUNT OF MR. GA T.]

The state of the women-in Turkey is one of the
greatest curiosities which the empire affords. Ac-
customed to,hear and to read of their secluded apart-
ments, and the danger and ditEerilty of obtaining
access to them, I was rat..:er surprised to ,find, in
much less difference in their condition, than
that of our own females than I thought_ reconcilable
to the doctrines of Mahomet.: It must
,always be
held in mind, that the Turks-are a singUlarly grave
people ; that they have no.public amusements -which
the women frequent ; and that. even their meals
are regarded in some sort with religious solernnity.
This sedate decorum is not favourable to the liberty
of the lighter sex; and the institutes of their reli-
ligion, by preset ihing limiis to those with whom the
women may unveil their faces, imposes a restraint
apparently as strong as that which seems. tp be the
result-of the natural taciturnity of the men. Still,
however, considering the state of the country, the
women cannot be regarded as stinted in their free-
dom ; and the uniformity with which they -dress,
when they go abroad, furnish the licentious with
abundant opportunities of indtjlgence. No restric-
tion is laid on their intercourse with each other ;
and I question' if scandal be less eloquently wor,liipo
ped in the harems of Constantinople than in the
_boudoirs and drawing-rooms of London -and Paris.
The Turkish-ladies freely frequent ►he shops, and
—chat ' ith the mercers; undervaluing the gaudy coin-
modiiies on which their heafts and eyes are set, with
as many contemptuous tosses and accents as the
best bargain-makers in Christendom. Nor are they
without their due share of individual consequence
and dignity, notwithstanding the polygamy which
their husbands are Allowed. •

.The second person in the state corresponding in
rank to the Christian Queens, is the Sultana mother.
Her public officers are-grandees .ot the first class ;-
and her annual revenue is fully eighty thousand
pounds sterling. The Turks may marry the sisters
of their wives, but not more than one at a time.—
Younger orothers may marry the widows of
their elder, but the elder are not perMitted tp marry
those of the younger. Elder brothers enjoy a supe
rior rank, approximating to that of fathers. They
.ire permitted to see the faces of the wives of the
younger.

Divorces- in Turkey may take place at'any time;
by mutual consent; but whenever the husband re-
pudiates the wife, he is obliged to bestow on her a
provision proportoned to his circumstances.. Di-
vorces are recorded in the same Chancery in which
marriages are registerest. Adultery is a capitol of-
fence. The women are not permitted to frequent.
the public moschs ; but there are priestesses who go
from house to house on the purposes of religion,
and who serve, in all respe&s, the duties of male
ecclesiastics; an arrangement more delicate than
that of the Roman and Greek churches. The cus-
tom of allotting to women a separate part of the'
house, though now peculiar only to the, profeSsors
of the principles of Mahomet, %%as general over ad
Europe till-the middle of the fifteenth century ; and
the ancient domestic arrangement of the Grerks
differed in nothing from that of their present mas-
ters.

BRITISH NAVAL FORCE,—The following state-
ment is extra led from the Official Returns up to
this day :—At sea, 86 of the line, t t fifties, 126
frigates, 105 sloops, 9 bombs, I 12 brigs,,37 cutters,
50 schooners ; total 536. In Port and fitting, 31
of the line, 3 fifties, 33 frigates, 32 sloops, 2
bombs, 31 brigs, 7 cutters, t 6 schooners; total 155.
Guard-ships, 5 of the line, 1 fifty, 5 frigates, 5
sloops!; total 'l6. Hospital. ships, &c. 37 of the
line, 4 fifties, 3 frigates; total 44. In Commission
159 of the line, 19 fifties, 167 frigate%, 142 sloop,
It bombs, 143 brigs, 44 cutters, 66 schooners ; total
-51. In Ordinary, 70 of the line, 1,2. fifties, 7
sloops, 10 brigs ; total 64, forming a grand
_total of
1024 vessels'of war, 264 of the line, 35 fifties, 245
frigates, 186 sloops, 15 bombs, 166 brigs, 44 cut-
ters, and 70 schooners. Of this force there are in
the Mediterranean 103 vessels-32 of the line. Off
,Spain and Portugal- 76-18 of the line. In the
English Channel, 72-16 of the line. In the North
Sea, 65-6 of the line. In the Downs, 48-4 of the
line.

• By an account presented to the House of Com-
mons, it appears that the amount of Unclaimed Di-
vidends in the Bank, on the Ist of December last,
was 1,23f,2331. of which a sum of 876,7391; was
advanced to Government, pursuant to Adt of Par-
liament, leaving in the hands of .the Bank, at that
date, a balance of 357,4941.
The wife of a respetiable farmer, at a village in
the neighbourhood of. Liverpool, died a few days
ago under melancholy circumstances. About two
years ago having had aquarrel with a female servant,
the-young woman; after leaving the house propa-
gated a report, that an improper connexion had for
some time subsisted between her late mistress and
a man in the neighbourhood. This rumour reach-
ed the ears of her husband, who rook 'it so much
to heatt that he quitted his home, and never re-
turned till a few weeks since. His wife 'was so
affected by this desertion, and (he cause of it, that
she fell into .a decline, and on her husband's return,
was past recovery. She earnestly solicited an in-
terview, which having obtained, she assured him
on the word of a dying person, that she was entirely
innocent. He believed her, and a reconciliation
took place, but too late, as she died a few days
afterwards. The young woman being threatened
with a prosecution, confessed her guilt, and attested
the innocence of her mistress, and has in conse-
quence been excommunicated in the neighbouring
churches.

A dreadful. boxing match took place on 'Monday
last, at Basing, near Hartly.row, in Hampshire,
between James Colbourne, a bargeman, and Harry
Willoughby, a coachman, for ten guineas a side.—
Both were hit blind before they bad fought twenty
minutes, but they were relieved by the lancet, and _
the combat renewed, until after fighting an hour
and twenty minutes, they were too exhausted to
set-to. They however recovered, and fought alto-
gether two hours. Colbourne won the battle, but
tie is not expeeted to surNive. The loser bad not
quitted his bed on Wednesday.

LONDON FA S' WO S.

FROM ACKERMANNIS REPOSITORY OF ARTS FA-
SHIONS, MANUFACTURES, &C.