Star.
London, England, 1808-06-01 00:00:00

MR ROME POIVAM.

Mr. LUSHINGTON, after observing that he
brought forward this subject in consequence of a mo-
tion by Sir F. Burdett, respecting the King's Droits
of Admiralty, proceeded to state that the Legislature
had very properly, years ago, prohibited any trade he-
tween Ostend and the East Indies. An Honourable
and gallant Captain (Sir Home Popham), had, how-
ever, gone to Ostend, in the year 1787, ►aving pre-
viously applied to the East India Company for leave
to go to India for two years. That was refused, but
at rength he prevailed, on an assurance that he would
reside during that time at a Danish settlement, called
Fredericknagore, relinquishing his half pay as a
Lieutenant in the Navy. He got to India in a foreign
vessel, and it appeared, by certain documents, that
the gallant Captain, in the year 1789, Was trading
illegally, to say no worse of it, and it was also cer-
tain, that by that traffic he had realized a considerable
sum. He was connected with a house at Ostend, a
house of the most notorious description for illegal
trade, and he soon thereafter returned to Europe
The gallant Captain meditated a second voyage, but
it did not appear that he got fresh leave from the Ad-
miralty. In his second expedition, therefore, he made
the voyage under Tuscan colours, for which a sum ofl
621. 10s. had been paid. He made the voyage out
and home, and the gallant Captain was not aware
that in sb doing he was violating the laws of his coun-
try. After this, in the Etrusco, he came to the Cove
of Cork, where he pretended he was taken under con-
voy by the Diadem ; but that was not the case. A
Lieutenant on board that ship was ready to prose
there was a prize-master on board the Etrusco at the
time, and he could prove that fact at the bar, if ne-
cessary. He then proceeded to accuse the gallant
Captain with having, in a variety of occasions, resor-
ted to false papers for purposes of deception. Off
Dungeness, however, the contfuct of the gallant offi-
cer was called by him, Mr. Lushington, "smuggling,"
and he was not disposed to retract that word. (Loud
cries of hear !) The gallant officer went on shore at
Dungeness, and when he returned five boats came
alongside into which were put several chests of tea,
rhubarb, and other articles. This was at twelve at,
night. The Etrusco was soon thereafter brought into
the Thames, from the roads of Ostend, by Admiral
Robinson, and was condemned in the Court of Ad-1
miralty as lawful prize. The gallant Captain was in
London at the time of the trial in August, 1793, and
he did not think fit to appear. Mr. Lushington, at
great length, proceeded to condemn the payment of
25,0001. to Sir Home Popham, as being a wanton ex-
penditure of the public money, to which he was by no
means entitled. Admiral Robinson had not got a
shilling for the capture of the Etrusco, and that Ad-
miral was within call to prove that fact. He con-
cluded by moving a resolution censuring the payment
to Sir Home Popham, of 25,0001. as injurious to the
naval service.

Sir HOME POPHAM complained of the different
persecutions which had been fomented and kept alive
against him for years ; since this question had been
agitated, the Editors of Newspapers had been un-
commonly virulent. He then read a paragraph from
one, which accused him of carrying arms and am-
munition to Tippoo Saib ; having denied this asser-
tion, he said it was impossible for an Englishman to
act so disloyal; but if he had acted in the manner
imputed to him, he ought to be tied to a stake in
Palace-yard. There were other paragraphs of the
same nature in almost every other Paper published in
London, which he thought it his duty to treat with
contempt. There was another circumstance which
he had to complain of, namely, an Hon. Gentleman
opposite (Mr. Calcraft) had on a former evening,
asserted in his place that his appointment as Captain
of the Fleet in the Expedition to Copenhagen, was
an outrage on the feelings of the Officers of the Navy,
and had given general disgust. To prove the con-
trary he read two letters, one from the Commander
in Chief, Admiral Gambier; the other, from Sir
Thomas Graves, highly approving of his conduct
and appointment, which was a sufficient proof that
no prejudice existed against him. He then denied in
positive terms that he had gone to India clandestinely
or fled from justice in this country. His conduct in

that had been approved of by the Govertn'tr.C.A.„..A,
Lord Cornwallis, and certainly he was not awaretat
he had in any instance vicilatZd the laws of his min.
try ; and in proof of what he asserted, he read a
letter from his Lordship to the Court of Directnrs,
detailing the services he had rendered in that quart(r
of the globe. It is true, that when he went t- !Rd:,.
he was not in his Majesty's service, lie went nitre in
a private character, and denied his having been g„iltv
of smuggling either in Ireland or at Dungeness,
in proof of the former, he had a letter from :qr.
Fitzgerald, of Cork ; and as for the five chests (t.
tea seized at the latter place, he did not know :171.
thing of them, only that they had lai:ett given he
mate of the Etrusco to the Hastings' pilot, for pilot.
age over dangerous sands. By the capture et that
vessel he had suffered a pecuniary loss of 45,0001.
which he thought a severe punishment NVilhellt
feelings being again carbonized by the ag:tra,r.
the question.
Mr. I'ERCEVAL. asked across the table if Ilk
present motion was intended to criminale the KAUAI
officer, and being answered in the affirmative,
Speaker observed, that it was a rill.. i;t
such cases for the I{un. Member to withiray...---:;17
H. in imediately withdrew.
Mr. LONG defended the docisien of the Treaql,
in granting to Sir 110100, on his memmiai, 05,0001,
Mr. CA I.olt A FT maintained his Reiner ass'...-
tions, and read a letter from Admiral, Keats, Sto;
ford, and S. hood, stating, that the appointment .f
Sir Home. as Captain of th.• Fleet, had giver cli•
gust ; as he had never lten in a battle, nor undo: t..;
command of an Admiral.

Sir .10.1 i N N ICHOLL contcal•cl. that tlie 711,41. n
awarded to the Honourable B3:l.,itet was not P.:".a:
money, but tilt property :he \\
was the true character of the gram. ? Whs this
a terni..sion of a forfeiture, incurred in violating the
monopoly enjoyed by the East India Company.—
The Learned Gentleman went into a history of the
voyage of the Honourable •Baronet to India,
was tor the purpose of providing for his family.
When there, the Government counived at the Ira
carried on by British subjects. From this topic he ;
ceeded to represent to the House the immediate ine-
fives that induced the advice given to restore Sir lic‘i!.e
to his rights; and this, he contended, was done with.
out any injury to Captain Robinson, who should no:
I have urged so severely as he did the forfeiture against
a Brother Officer.—[here a voice under the gallety,
which we understood to be that of Admiral Sir C.
Pole, cried out, " Order! Order ! he was no Brother
Officer I")—He lamented that there appeared
so much irritation in this debate, as he was per-
suaded that in their cooler moments Gentlemen on•
both sides of the House would at last acknowledge
that restoring Sir Home Popham his proper right,
Justice, and barely justice, was. done : that no other
person was wronged of theirs by it ; that the public
was not injured ; and that those who advised the
Crown in making the grant, had the greatest and best
consolation in their own minds for what they'*i.tid,
exercising an impartial duty to their Country, tlitir.
King, and their conscience.
Mr. WINDHAM was not disposed to admit the
distinction between the case of the Honourable
Baronet and the Treasury ; it was one and the
same. He deprecated the idea held out by the Right
Honourable.Gentlerrian, of abstaining from inquiry
as regarding the
,Treasury, because Mr. Pitt was
no more. You might as well interdict inquiry during
the whole period of that great man's administration.
—lt had been admitted that the trade was illegal,
and that was the great blame ; and it had also hee:x
contended, that no injury. had accrued to the coun-
try. He should like to hear, howe,ver, who it was
thought it was not injurious. The Honourabl.:
Baronet had to be sure taken upon himself, in more
instances than one, to judge what was best for the
country—He had placed hiinself in the situation of
a Government, a situation which, if allowed to exist,
on all occasions, might involve the nation in the most
ruinous consequonces. The Right I lon. Gentleman
reprobated, in ironical terms, the language of the
Learned Gentleman respecting Captain Robinson's
conduct. The Learned Gentleman seemed to think
that the Captain ought to have been brought to a
Court Martial for doing his ditty in seizing the Hon.
Baronet's ship, and in-attempting to put a stop to a
little innocent smuggling: The consequence, however,
to Captain Robinson, of fulfilling his duty was th s,
that he is nearly ruined—Hear! hear!—This was the
sort of reward he met with ; hut what was the rcward
which the Hon. Baronet obtained.? Why, a 'Treasury
warrant for '25,000.! " Is that the way (said Mr. \V.)
you would deal with smaller offenders against the Re-
venue Laws ?"--(Hear I hear !)—Those Laws were
very severe, and every day furnished examples of
severe penalties inflicted, sometimes upon innocent
persons !—(Hear ! hear !)—An abatement of the ri-
gour Administration would find necessary, for many
an unfortunate man came under the cognizance of
those Laws, having even a better plea in defence than
the Honourable Baronet ; but woe betide them if they
expected mercy !—( Hear! hear!) The Learned Gen-
tleman had this night taken up a new chxracter, in de-
fending those who offended against the Crown Laws.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
said, that however the present case might be disguised,'
the real fact charged was a misapplication of the public
money against Government. Sir Home Popham had
done great services to the State when Mr. Windham
was Minister at War ; and although he might have
forgot them, itnppeared that Earl Spencer had not.
Besides all this, the grant to Sir Home Popham was
what was done every day in the Court of Exchequer,
and the Solicitor-General, on his left hand, had thi;
moment whispered to him, that he had done it nine
times this morning.
Mr. WHITBREAD observed, that Sir Herne
Popham had not denied one fact that was charged
against him. He had, to be sure, urged the affair of
Copenhagen, as justifying every thing ; but he had for-
gotten the circumstance of being driven into Bc:nhay
by stress of weather—a misfortune, which he, like ail
great men:—(A laugh)—had turned to his ad-
vantage, by smuggling his cargo on shore there,
because he found others doing the same. This was
like a thief taking shelter at Hounslow from the non,
and then going out to rob on the highway, telling us
as an excuse that other gentlemen of the same des-
cription were taking shelter along with him. In con•
elusion he had merely to state, that Captain Robinson,
who captured Sir Home Popham's smuggling ship.
was willing to make oath at the Bar, that he was et'

I

W'
Mr-
/vide
Pugle

Yet"

THE EVENING STAR.

LONDON.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1.

PRICE 07 STOCKS TIM DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK ;
004504, for money, 60111—for July 654-omnium

PRICE. OF STOCKS YESTERDAY.
114 Stock 529 238 India Bends ts. di.. par
S per Cr..t. Red. 674 Imp. 3 per Cent. 651 661
per Ceot. Cnrs. 67 6811 Excheq Bills, 3s. Fs. 4s. pre.
IperCent. 811-F2` English Tickets 211.
sm. c. Necv, 941 1001 100 Cons. for aCC. 68} 69it
Lorptim.l6l 11-labs

In the preceding columns we have given copious
extracts from the Dutch and French Papers, relative
Io
the affairs of Spain. Spain ! unhappy Spain ! you
'ave lost nothing by the abdication of such a con-
temptible family as could by any means be induced
m transfer to another a right to reign over you.—
rnier such heads you had no chance whatever of es-
aping the yoke which was preparing for you. Wile-
Eer they have not reigned long enough to put it be-
'l^d the reach of yottr power to maintain your inde-
t.mdence, time will spew. Whatever be the issue, you
tray eventually be benefited, but cannot possibly be'
:lured by any change that removes from you a fa-
mly capable of bartering away your sovereignty.
NAPOLEON has now in his power all the Members
dthe Spanish Royal Family, except Don Pedro, ne-
rew to the old King, now in the Brazils with
rc Portugnese Family. Ministers, we hope, will make
*proper use of this circumstance. 'This scion of the
Royal Stock should be transplanted to the Spanish pos-
vislo;s in the new world, as the House of Braganza
has been. With him the South Americans would be
rejoiced to secure their own independence, and be pre-
served from falling under the yoke which now threa-
tens their mother country.

FOREIGN JOURNALS.

>•ast as this Paper was going to press, we received
Hamburgh and Altona Papers to the 18th May.
Their contents are important, but our time and limits
°IIIY allow us to give the following articles :
A letter from Vienna, dated April 20th, published
the Nurnderg Gazette, announces some cornmotions
!7! Constantimplc, the particulars respecting which
tt not yvt accurately known. The letter alluded to
7tlS thus

" Horrible rumours from Constantinople are now
circulation : A courier, hastening through this city
In Paris, brought intelligence, that on the day of his
?arture from Constantinople (in the middle of
I.lrch), a great revolution had broke out there. He
heard the discharge of musquetry in the streets of the
'ad at the distance of twelve leagues the unin-
rapted thunder of artillery was still resounding.
71.,e design of this rebellion was unknown to him."
The following is another letter on the same subject:
ALTONA, MAY 2.

Agreeable to letters from Vienna, a new revolu-
:cn li;ict broke out at Conctantinople, the particulars

of which remain, however, unknown ; all that ha&
transpired was that the whole corps of the Janissaries
had declared itself against the war with England."

BANKS OF THE ELBE, MAY 9.

We have now certain intelligence that a great iium-
ber of Officers and seamen, belonging to the late
Danish fleet, are going overland to Flushing, and
other French ports, where they are probably to
man the new-built men of war, as well as the squadron
fitting out there for the purpose of carrying large
bodies of troops to Sweden and Norway. Hamburgh
is so exhausted by the passage of troops, that in many
houses not a crust of bread nor a bed is to be found.
Almost all Hanover is in the same miserable condi-
tion.

FROM THE MINIM:BCH PAPERS OE TILE 4TH TO THE

17rn or• MAY, INcLusivr.

Field Marshal Count Vincent Van Callauralt and
Von Dura have been appointed to the command of
the Army of Observation, which is assembling on the
frontiers of Wallachia. According to the Vienna
Ccurt Gazette of the 29th April, the dismissed Ministers
of the Sublime Porte, Seid Haleth Effendi,Minister of
Foreign Affairs, and Caper MustaphaPancha,are both
sent into exile; the former toVierkuhaje, and the latter
to Demstion. Public tranquillity was, on the 24th
March, for a short time disturbed, in Constantinople,
but soon restored, and the ringleaders were imme-
diately executed.
The Russian Ambassador at Paris, Count Tolstoy,
is stated in a letter from Vienna, to be on the point
of leaving that capital.
On the 6th April, a slight shock of an earthquake
was experienced at Lisbon. A much severer shock
was felt on the 26th of March, in the vicinity of Peg-
nirol, a great part of which town was destroyed.
Lucien Bcnaparte arrived on the 17th of April at
Florence, under the name of General Bouilly. Let
ters from the above place say, that he is I:kely to re-
main there for some time.

The Frcr.ch troops who are in Italy, 50,000 in
number, have received orders to march to Spain.

By 'the American Papers brought by the LORD
HOBART packet, we hank received intelligence from
India of the latter end of December. The following
is one of the most interesting articles of this descriptiun:

" PHILADELPHIA, MARCH 24.

" Yesterday arrived at this port, the ship Bingham, Captain
Barden, in 97 days from Calcutta. When the Bingham sailed, v
report was in circulation there, that war was likely to take place
between Scindea, Holcar, and the Company. A severe skirmish
had taken place between one of the native powers and the British
at Kanora, in the Amass country, in which the British lost 60
commissioned officers. This report was current at the sailing of
the Bingham; but was not permitted to be put into print.—This
certainly must have been something more than a skirmish. if 60
officers were killed, according to the usual ratio, the loss of pri-
vates must have been immense."

Yesterday at twelve o'clock their MAJESTIES and
the PRINCESSES arrived at the Queen's Palace from
Windsor, soon after the Prince of WALES and the
Royal Dukes paid their respects. Her MAJESTY, the
PRINCEsSES and Duke of SUSSEX, honoured Lady
Citmum-tr. Frson with a visit. The Dukes of CUNI-
LERLAND, KENT, SUSSEX and CAMBRIDGE, dined with
the MAJESTIES. In the evening their MAJESTIES had
a select party to tea and cards.
Yesterday morning Te Drum was sung in the Portu-
guese Chapel, in South Audley-street, for the late
victories gained by the Swedes over the Russians in
Finland.

Colonel MURRAY, Quarter-Master-General to Sir
Jolts Mooan'%,Army, arrived late on Saturday night
from Gottenburgh. The troops remained at Gotten-
burgh when he left it.
We mention with pleasure as a tribute due to the
exertions of the present Sheriffs, that the metropolitan
prison of Newgate may be quoted as an example of
cleanliness and good order to all the prisons in the
Kingdom. There has been no case of fever within
its walls for many months, and there are not at this
time more than one or two persons in the sick wards
out of five hundred prisoners. Hitherto Newgate
has been considered as the focus for typhus fever, and
in the summer of 1801, six or seven patients died in
it per day of a contagious fever.
Yesterday a Court of Common Council was held at
Guildhall, which was numerously attended. The
Committee appointed to examine the Petition of John
Christey, an impressed Freeman, reported to the Court
their proceedings thereon, which were read, and or-
dered to be printed, and a copy sent to every Member
of the Court. They also reported their proceedings
on the case of another impressed Freeman and Li-
veryman, Nathaniel Young ; that an application had
been made to the Court of King's Bench, for a writ
of Habras Corpus to bring him up, which the Court
refused to grant, upon which a very animated discus-
sion took place, and the Committee were directed to
take every step in their power to assert and support
the ancient rights and privileges of the Citizens of
London.
Yesterday about eleven o'clock, Sir Taos. HARDY
attended at the Chamberlain's Office, Guildhall,
where he was presented with the Freedom of the
City, and an elegant Sword voted to him by the Cor-
poration of London.
Yesterday the Loan MAYOR ordered the price of
Bread to he continued at 110. the Quartern Loaf of
Wheaten, and 10d. Household.
Bullock, the Bankrupt, whose sentence of death was
humanely commuted to transportation, sailed on Fri-
day last on board the Admiral Gambier, Captain
HARRIS, for Botany Bay.
Yesterday, after some soldiers of the 9th Dragoons
had lodged some deserters in the Savoy, they returned
to a public house, and neglecting to unload their mus-
kets, one of them hastily dropped the butt-end of one
of them on the floor, which caused it to go off, and
his hands being placed on the muzzle, the ball passed
Through them and lodged in the ceiling. He was
conveyed to fit. Bartholomew's Hospital.

k‘arT7C,lL INTELLIGENCL

TORBAY, MAY so.

This day the Channel fleet got under weigh to pro-
ceed down Channel, but it becoming a calm they were
obliged to come to anchor again. Arrived his Ma-
jesty's ship TONNANT, Admiral DE COURCEY, to join
the rest of the fleet. On her heaving in sight, she
saluted the ships in the Bay, which was returned
again by his Majesty's ship DREAD:TOUGHT, Admiral
SOT/lEBY.