Star.
London, England, 1809-05-15 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

The Ross Militia began theirmarch thin morning
from Woodbridge Barracks; in Sussex, to Harwich
in Essex.
The 2d troop of Norfolk Yeomanry Cavalry, com-
manded by Sir Gaonoa KHADOI4, have volunteered
their services to any. part of his Majesty's United
Ningdom.
on Wednesday the Hon. Colonel HARBORD and
perces' regiments of Local Militia marched into
Yarmouth to perform 28 days exercise.
The Yarmouth Regiment, commanded by Colonel
GOULD, was embodied yesterdityfor 28 days exercise.
Several corps from the test and Eastern Districts
will embark in the DOwns immesliately, and the fleet
will sail before the King's birth-day. Further drafts
will be sent out to all King's
regiments in Ptirtugal: se-
veral cavalry regiments, and a brigade or two of
Foot Guards will go.
The French Government have refused to exchange
the French prisoners taken at Martinique, who have
been brought home to Quiberon Bay in the Belleisle,
of 80 guns.
Saturday, at Chelsea, witnesses were examined in
support of the Hon. Captain COCHRANE'S defence.—
Lieutenant-Colonel ELLEY was examined at his own
request, he having been appointed by his Majesty to
the Staff of the Army in Portugal. He was to leave
town this morning for Portsmouth. The Court ad-
journed at three O'clock till to-morrow.
A General Court Martial was held at Musselburgh
on the 27th ult. on Captain ALEXANDER CHISHOLMs
of the Inverness-shire Militia, accused of insubordi-
nation and disrespectful language and gestures to his
superior officer. The Court found him guilty of in-
subordination and using disrespecting language, and
ordered him to be severely reprimanded, and sus-
pended from rank and pay for three months. The
sentence was approved of by the Commander of the
forces, and intimated, on Monday, to the regiments
in Edinburgh Castle.

The Court-Martial on Admiral HARVEY is fixed for
Monday the 22d instant, at Portsmouth. The charge
is, for using improper language to Lord GAMBIER,
the Commander in Chief of the Channel Fleet ; in
consequence of Lord COCIiRANE having been appointed
to attack the French fleet in Basque Roads. The
Court will be composed of the following Officer : •
Admiral Sir R. Curtis, President.—Admirals Holloway, Sir J
T. Duckworth, Sir H. E. ionhope, Douglas, Campbell, Wells,
Sutton, and Ottway. Captains the Hon. A. K. Legge, Beresford,
Irwin, and the next senior Captain at the port. M. Greetham,
F.,•ci. Judge Advocate.—Charles Bicknell, Esq. the Admiralty
Solicitor, is to assist him.
A Court-Martial has been held in the West Indies,
on the Master and remaining crew of the Carnation
sloop of war, to account for the capture of that ship,
on the 2d of October, off Martinique, by a French
National brig. The result was, that the master was
honourably acquitted, the Serjeant of Marines sen-
tenced to suffer death, and twenty-six of the crew were
sentenced to be transported to New South Wales, for
cowardice. The serjeanr of marines has since been
executed. The men under sentence of transportation
are coming home prisoners in the Belleisle.
Captain GALWEY is appointed to the Dryad frigate.

In consequence of the death of the B►sxor of Lox.
Dow yesterday, the great bell• of St. Paul's was tolled
an hour, according to ancient custom, on the death
of the Sovereign or of the Metropolitan Bishop. His
dissolution had been almost daily expected during the
last three weeks.

A fire as fierce and destructive as any that has, for
a long series .of years, spread terror and dismay
throughout the metropolis, broke out last night in
a vessel adjoining Billingsgate Dock, at a very
short distance srom the water-edge. It was firsttlis-
covered a few minutes before ten o'clock ; but al-
though every possible effort was made for its ex-
tinction, it spread so rapidly, and gained so cm-
plete an ascendancy, as to baffle all exertion.

- The flames extended themselves almost instan-
taneously to the other shipping, and from them
again to the line of warehouses running from the
Dock along Dyce Key, &c. Notwithstanding the
prompt assistance afforded by the engines, which
reached the spot in a very short period from the com-
mencement of the fire, such was its rapidity and vio-
lence that the water seemed merely to give fresh
strength to the flames. The range of warehouses,
filled with sugars, tar, oil, hemp, turpentine, tallow,
Rc. &c. were all successively consumed, and the vo-
lumes of fire, though generally speaking almost uni-
fcrmly thrown up, were rendered more furious and
horrible every ten or fifteen minutes by some new
combustible matter which they caught.
The fire communicated in a gradual but rapid man-
ner to the vessels next the shore, and it began with
assailing the masts, sails, and rigging of those in the
immediate tiers. The sight from London and Black-
friars Bridge was awfully affecting, and it was at one
pe-iod apprehended that it would be impossible to
preserve the whole of the shipping in that part of the
River from absolute ruin. Fortunately the tide fa-
vouring about eleven o'clock, by the efforts which
were made for the preservation of the vessels in the
Dock, several were towed out, although with extreme
difficulty. Four were completely burnt, and about
the same number damaged. A floating engine, which
was worked with great skill, was of considerable ser-
Vet in preventing the extension of the flames along
the River. The vessel on board of which the fire
broke out, had nearly the whole of her cargo in,
which was destroyed.
The extensive warehouses of Ralph's Key, Smart's
Key, Young's Key, and Dyces Key, with their va-
luable contents, are entirely destroyed---Wiggons's
Key is partly so. Among the vessels consumed are
a large brig from Hull (the Zealous), laden with
hemp, tallow, &c. ; a Margate boy, and a Deal ves-
sel, laden with spirits and wine.
The fire is said to have been caused in the following
reannner :—A lamplighter imprudently struck Ins
link when burning againsta cask of spirits of turpen-
tine, which it would appear must have been leaky,
and the contents immediately took fire. A watchman
then came to the lamplighter's assistance, and the
cask was pushed forward with the view of rolling it
into the Thames : it took a different direction, how-
ever, and fell into a ship lying alongside the wharf.
The dimes first broke out very near that part of the
Key where the Margate and Ramsgate hoys usually
lie for the reception of passengers.

,••

it

NAVAL IVTILLIGENCE.

LOSS OF THE DORIS TRANSPORT.
This vessel was on her palage from Portsmouth to Lisbon,
with a number of others, under convoy of the Frederickstein,
Bonne Citoyenne, &c. The Frederickstein made the signal to the
Bonne Citoyenne to cline a strange sail, which proved to be a
Falmouth packet. The Bonne Citoyenne was going back to her
station in the convoy, when the above transport ran foul of her,
and received so much damage that she sunk in fifteen minutes
there was hardly time to save her crew, and a detachment of the
3d Dragoons, who were on board: thirty horses, all the baggage,
and other property, went down in the vessel. The Bonne Cl-
toyenne received much damage.
EAST-INDIA SHIPPING.

The CEYLON and DIANA, which sailed from the
Cape the 21st February for St. Helena, with his Ma-
jesty's skips POWERFUL and ALBION, sailed from St.
Helena the 10th March with those ships and the THAis
frigate ; also the ALEXANDER from Bombay, which
place she left the 4th January last. The DIANA
parted company the 24th April. The other ships
above mentioned arrived off Weymouth the 13th in-
stant.

The PIICENIX, ANN, TIGRIS, SURAT CASTLE,
WEXFORD, PRESTON, and a Botany Bay ship, had
sailed from St. Helena on the Ist of March, under
convoy of his Majesty's ship GRAMPUS.
'The TIGRIS (one of those ships which had sailed
from St. Helena the Ist March) had parted company
in a gale, and arrived off Portland the I3th instant.
FALMOUTH, MAY 12.

Arrived the American brig Phoenix, from I3our-
deaux in eleven days : she states, that when she left
that place it was reported there, that Marshal SOULT
had been defeatei on the frontiers of Portugal, by the
combined British and Portuguese army, under Mar-
shal BERESFORD ; and also that Marshal VICTOR, who
was to penetrate by the eastern frontier, was in full
retreat.