Star.
London, England, 1823-09-05 00:00:00

SIR ROBERT WILSON.

It is stated in a Morning Paper, that Sir Itosistat
WILSON renounced the honours conferred ton him by
the King of Portugal, and returned the insignia of a
Knight Commanler of the Tower and Sword, with
the following letter :

" British schooner Nassau, off Belem Castle, Aug. 15.

" is with pain that I take a step which may in some
degree appear to be personally offensive to his Majesty the King
of Portugal, when I have no such intention, being too well aware
of his Majesty's present situation; hut after the ungenerous, vin-
dictive, as well as lawless treatment I have experienced, under
circumstances that would have secured me protection and hospi-
tality front the Governments of even the most barbarous nations,
it is impossible for me to wear the insignia of a country whose
Government has so outrageously violated these duties.
" The very possession of these insignia implies obligations on
I my part which it is not for my honour should any longer exist,
and therefore I have to request that you will take proper mea-
sures to have my name erased from the Commanders roll of the
Portuguese Older of the Tower and Sword.

" Ilaving formerly refused sU pay and pecuniary remunera-
tion from the Government of Portugal during the time I was
employed in its service, I have the satisfaction now to feel that
I am released from every sort of acknowledgment, and that the
service which I rendered Portugal in an extreme moment of her
peril, and crisis of her fate—services which cannot be denied,
have thus been gratuitously given.—I have the honour to be,
" Your Excellency's most obedient humble servant,
" To his Excellency the Count Paimella, " It. W.
Nlinister for Foreign Affairs."

In a Cadiz paper of the 21st of July, a kind of no-
tice is given for the French Admiral of the blockading
squadron, that the last English vessel from New-
foundland, with cod-fish,' had gone away with her
whole cargo, no purchaser having been found.
A shock of an earthquake was felt at Madras on
the 2d of March, extending though the Nilgherry
and the country-in that direction, as well as gene-
rally along the coast. The shock was also perceived
in Travancore, but twenty minutes later than at Ma-
dras, and als.) in the island of Ceylon.
The sum subscribed for erecting an equestrian sta-
tue in honour of the Marquis of HASTINGS, amounted
at Calcutta, on the 11th of March, to 13,450 rupees,
above 1:1,300 sterling.
In the Court of Assizes, at Rouen, on the 30th
ult. in a case of fraudulent appropriation of a sum of
Money, as a principal witness had just taken the oath,
and was beginning his testimony, he fell lifeless at
the bar, struck by a fit of apoplexy. Medical aid,
which was resorted to, could not restore animation.
The American expedition under General ASHLEY,
employed to ascend the Missouri for the purpose of
exploring the western districts of North America, was
attacked on the 2d of June by a party of Ricaree In-
dians, in number abour six hundred, who maintained
a very obstinate contest before they were repulsed.—
The Americans had twelve men killed and eleven
wounded. About three•fourths of the Indians are
said to have been provided with London fusils, carry-
ing a ball with great force and exactness, and which
they handled with peculiar dexterity. The Ricaree
'lndians
are described as a very formidable enemy to
traders ascending the river, and the contest with the
Americans, while it afforded them an experiment of
their strength,would not create an amicabledisposition.
Letters from Liverpool state, that the Prince of
Brazil packet, FORBES, from Liverpool to Guayaquil,
had been constrained by the Colombian Government,
on the 20th of March last, to assist in conveying the
troops from Guayaquil to Callao, forming the Co-
lombian expedition sent to the aid of the independents
in Peru. The master had been deprived of his com-
mand. The Colombian Government, however, had
guaranteed the safety of the vessel until her return to
Guayaquil, at which port she would load a cargo
Etirope.

The following circumstance is a remarkable in.-1
stance of the non-contagion of the yellow fever : A
young Englishman, who arrived at St. Thomas's with
a young and beautiful countrywoman, whom he had
secretly married, was attacked by the yellow-fever.
When the dibease was at its height, and the symptoms
of inevitable death becam• apparent, the young
woman, determined not to survive the object of her af-
fection, placed herself by the side of her dying husband
in bed, embracing his body. She remained for ten
hours in this situation, and was with difficulty re-
moved after he had breathed his last. She did not
experience the slightest symptom of the disease.
FREEM ASON ay.—ln the sortie from La Isla, on the

16th of July, and during the heat of the action, a
Spanish Officer pursued a French Officer to some
distance from his men, and being in the attitude of
raising his sabre to kill him, the Frenchman made a
Masonic sign, which instantly arrested his antagonist's
sword, when they shook hands and parted.—An
American Captain, named HARRIS, who was lately
captured off Cuba by pirates, has published a narra-
tive of the outrages committed by them, to which a
note is added, stating that ,4 he was indebted for his
life to the circumstance of his being a Freemason,
having met with several Masons among the pirates,
who interceded for him." •
Wednesday se'nnight, a fish called a finner, (one
of the white tribe) was towed into Whitby by some
fishermen. It was found dead (by a light collier) in
Boston Deeps, and brought down to Robin Hood's
Bay, where the fiJtermen took charge of it. It mea-'
sured 28 feet in length, and 14 round in the thickest
part. It was taken to Mr. CHAMPION'S oil-house, to
boil for blubber.
LIGHTHOUSE/.—We learn that the Commissioners
for Northern Lighthouses have contracted for the erection of a
lighthouse on Ormsay, a small island, on the western extremity
of the Island of Illay. The central, or light tower, will be about
80 feet above the level of the top of the island, and about 160
feet above the level of the sea. As the foundations are already
dug, and materials in preparation, it is expected that the whole
will be completed in the course of next year. The benefit that
will result to the shipping interests from this erection will be
obvious to all those who are acquainted with the coast, and k
affords an additional proof of the attention and liberality of the
Commissioners. An advantage of another description is also ate'
ticipsted. The elevation will prove a most pet feet direction to
vessels wishing to visit the village of Portnahavee, which, from
its situation, lad from the great facilities and accommodation it
affords to strangers, would be a far more convenient point of de-
parture for those wishing to visit Staffs, Icolmkin, or the Giant's
Causeway, than any other point in Argyllshire • especially as
excellent sea-boats, and tactful boatmen, CIS at all boars be found.
on reasooable terms.