Star.
London, England, 1807-10-27 00:00:00

TO. THE EDITOR OF THE STAR.

Weymouth, Odtober
Sir—A few days ago an article appeared in your
paper dated from thib place, Rating that the prices
of fifh and coals were kept high here—the former by
keeping them back from market—the latter by mo-
nopnly. Ir.‘u have been grofsly imvfed upon in
huh there flatementg. In fad our market is as well
Applied with 6th as any on the coati, and at as mo-
derate prices, and coals are here cheaper than at
London—nor can any kind of unfair monopoly take
place as the veils come here for a market, and the
dealers, as in every other place, buy according to
the demand they have, and like other merchants, are
rivals to each other. A CONSTAhT READER.

MARQUIS WELLESLEY.

NUMEhR XII.

Ste—The recent very fcvere lofs fittlaintd by our
fmali army in Egypt, may, I am airtid, he partly
atctibed either to a want of minute initruetions re.
fpeFling the flrielefl attention being paid to the reli-
gious prejudices of the natives, and kteping inviolate
the Mofques and other places of Wrrthip. or to thofe
infiruetions being difregarded, whereby religious zeal
was kindled, and many Matnelukes who did intend
to join our tiandard, became inflantiv our enemies.
In either cafe, the tire& produced, on feeing our tick
and wounded in their Mofques, was the lame, and
may therefore render the following anecdote cot only
acceptable, but deferving attention, as hating all tially
occurred within the two years of the
Lion of Marquis WELLIISLEY, in Britifh Irak:a :

In no part of the weild are religious prejudices
carried to a greater event than among the Hindool
and Brahmins, or plielis in particular, throughout
Afia ; yet, fo fenfible were theta people at the famous
temple of Jaggunaur, then under the Mahrattah Go-
vernment, of the loitering proteetion of the much-
injured fubjed of thefe letters, that cn the arrival of
the troops with Colonel Harcourt, near goolPriefis
aflembled to debate whether the Pt ovince of Cuttack
fhould be given up to the Englilh, or continue with
their affidance under the Mahrattah Government ?
At length it was agreed to refer the fubjed to the
decifion of the idol ; a (lip of paper was accordingly
put into each hand, and the doors of the temple care-
fully doled: on the follnwin:.s morning when many
thoufani perfons were aflembled the door was opened,
and a li:tie boy fent in, who returned with the Mar.
hatch paper tern to pieces, and the one relating to
the Englith Gnvonment entire. Ridiculons as this
circittnttance may appear to your readers, yet it tends
to thew, not only the minute attention paid by the
Noble Marquis to the political negotiation with the
Brahmins, but Alb loch an intimate acquaintance
with the Mule chandler in general, as is Icarcely to
be paralleled even among our molt famous Otienta-
lills.

If we however reflea, on the vaR influence of the
Roman Catholic Priefts over the deluded people in
Ireland, even within a few years, and that, in addition
to the circumftance above Rated, the molt pat titular
inftruaions were given by the Noble Marquis to the
Commanding Officer, to protea from violation, not
only the lives and property of the inhabitants, bu
alto the fanaity of the Temples and institutions of
the Brahmins ; we !hall not be furprifed that this
valuable province, which interrupted the continuity
between Bengal and the Ganjam diftrift, was taken
polliffion of by the Britiffi forces, without any further
material oppotition.
Thus was the valuable province of Cuttack, which
every preceding Governor for the laft forty years
had endeavoured by negotiations toobtain, at length
annexed to the Britifh Afiatic poffeffioas, by the
pnliiical wirdorn, energetic fpirit, and unequalled
abilities of Marquis Wsttesxer, in fo far as refpeets
the celerity of difpatch of military expeditions, as
three feparate detachments were actually is the pro-
vince before the European inhabitants in Calcutta
had any intelligence of troops being fent for this
purpofe, although the eliftance did not exceed two
hundred miles..

The acritti6tioti of the Province of Cuttack is ren-
dered the more valuable, as containing the Cole por-
tion of fea coati, which, from its extent, was difficult
for our {hips of war effeaually to guard, and on
which therefore (what} it continued in the poffe(fion
of a Prince hoflile to the 'Britiftt interefls) the French
might at all feafons have landed fupplies to be tranf-
p.rted to the upper part of Hinds:3ll,ln, previous to
the total annihiiation of their influence by the Noble
Marquis ; of uh:dc political abilities as a fiatefitan,
the nation at large will eventually be fenfible, when
the names of his accufers are buried in oblivion.