The Statesman.
London, England, 1812-05-28 00:00:00

THE S'I'ATFSMAN.

TO THE EDITOR Or THE STATESMAN.

Slit,--We have had a marvellous communication
to-day, said to be from•no less a personage than the
Right Honourable, pardon me, the Right Worship.
fat the Mayor of this Borough, now in your City, as
;the full representative of all our India affairs,—
Apropos, I am told his Worship, on being asked-
what he thought of the Indian sea, with due official
reserve, declined a ,direct answer, cunningly ob.
serving, however, that it was a very dry subject.—
' .11.:Na I and the whole squad off!---Oh !Mr. WORT..
LEY, Mr.WORTLZY, how you have perplexed us!
lit the coufideut hope that the ffraleheren Ministry
would not be displaced to make room for the Be!.
lingham. Administration, we had resolved upon giv-
ing a lift to the early friends of the late principles of
Mi. PITT, by a public dinner. But what shall we
do-7what can 'we do. now I Even the Courier sayi
he .knows not what is now to be done.—Bless
us ! are we come to this ? The Courier knows
i not what is now to be done! Surely, surely,
the very principle itself of mischief must be ex-
hausted, when this fellow is at a loss for a job.
Trade is scarce indeed. Every thing Is embarrassing.
1I im quite confound. Only think, Sir, the death
iof Allr,,acevit.„, Up went the Cons 1 • London,
„ . , ,,. 0 Stn...
down went cottarin Liverpopl. Good Goo! how •
is this to be accounted for? What signifies merit.
iWe have lost all standard by which to ascertain it.
But Lord WELLESLEY will carry on the. war mere
extendedly, and, of course, more expensively.
Will he?. Where is the stuff? This is odd. To me
it looks like heaving the cargo overboard to save the
ship. Well ! well! As to the funds, the more they
go down, theeasier, you know, it will be to pay then.
Ha! ha !! ha! I! In America, I remember, I paid 5001.
fora breakfast. This is the way to get rid of the stock.
But if trade returns, up go the public securities, and
we shall all be ruined. Prosperity would play the
very devil with us. WELLESLEY and CasrgiNo—
aye, aye, all goes right again. We run no risk of
being ruined in this scow. But the Catholics must
be emanclpated, and the Orders in Council taken oil. ,
They must redeem their pledge—no such thing—they I
will only ply the interest of it; what they have raid i
is conditional, not absolute. It is a mere cud, de-
posited irr the first stomach, in order to be chewed
over again,'and digested or spit oat, as it suits their
future views. I rely upon the economy of Lord
WELLESLEY, and the wisdom of Mr. CANNING. We
are past all power of declamation. Majoribus pre-
luiri, said friend C LORGE ; but, I say, who the
devil were they ? You must know, Sir, that
we have sent an Address of condolence to the
__MONT ;
_and to-day I was shockedto hear that
it was to be left at the Secretary of State's
office. No Knighthood then. Sad work ! Sad
work ! We deeply deplored the loss the country
sustained, and we talked of the lofty elevation of
1 Mr. Peactvat.'s talents. I thought loftiness was de-
vatiou : we must give ever laughing at a speedy
Peace and soon; or the cause of liberty all over the
world, and every-rchere else. We talked too of the
bright display of his milder virtues. Some say
this is bad taste; at all events it is a new one.
We must change °us hack writer, and get some-
thing with a bit of blood in it. I am told
that a certain Irishman, who had two strings
to his bow, broke a brace of them, and has sent the
remainder down to Lincoln to be sold for the benefit
of Mr. FINNERTY. But I have now done.' The
current of my heart has lost iti progressive motion
and runs in-the opposite direction. How dietrently
I am affected with the disappointments and sufferings
of the man whose heart bleeds for Ireland, and the
heartless monster that made Ireland bleed.
Liverpool, May :I,l$lY.

John Clerk, Esq. of Vdin, in Scotland, lately de-
ceased, was well known as the inventor of ti.at sy s.
tern of naval tactics, under which the British navy
has acquired such unrivalled glory. Never, in any
former instance, have the speculations of the closet
been more powerfully felt in the affairs of the world.
In looking into the history of -naval warfare, we find,
that, previous to the year 1780, there was no way of
forcing on unwilling adversary to a close and decisive
action ; aitd the French accordingly, when they met
a British fleet eager for battle, always conti ived, by
a skilful system of naval manceiwres, to elude the
blow, and to pursue the object of their voyage :
either parading on the ocean, or transporling troops
and stores for the attack or defence of distant settle-
ments; and thus wresting from the British the fair
fruits of their superior gallantry, even while they pas a
tacit tribute to their gallantry, by planning a (I..f.Nt.
sive system to shelter them from its r fleets ; in which
they succeeded so well, that the hostile fleets of Bd.
tails and France generally parted after some indeci-
sive fits. g. This desideratum in naval tactics was
first seen and remedied by the inventive genius of Mr.
Clerk. He plainly demonstrated, with all the force of
mathematical evidence, that the plan adopted by the
British, of attacking an enemy's fleet at once, from
van to rear, exposed the advancing ships to the formi.
dable battery of the whole adverse fleet, by which
means they were crippled and disabled, either for
action or pursuit : while the enemy might bear away,
and repeat the same matatiwrty until their assailants
were tired out by a series of such fruitless attacks.—
He then suggested a more decisive and certain mode
of fighting ; and, finally, he pointed but the grand
and bril ioat manoeuvre, so congenial to the charac-
ter of British "seamep, of piercing the enemy's line,
which instantly ensured a close action. The system
of naval tactics was 'bus perfected; for the British
sailor, disdaining stratagem, only wanted to fight
his enemy on equal terms, and relied on his own
valour for the event. Mr. Clerk's discovery was
communicated to Admiral Rodney ; and its value is
attested by the brilliant victory which followed, and
by that unbroken series of successes which hare ever
since distinguished the naval history of the country.

The FRENCII SQUADRON.—Ft appears from ac-
counts furnished by the Patent, the vessel released
with prisoners by the French squadron, and which
arrived at Plymouth on Sunday, that this squadron
Ileft Nantz on the 9th of January, and kept the sea
till the departure of the Patent—upwards of four,
months.—The ships taken and destroyed were all
running ships. The Frenchmen often jeered their pri-
soners, by saying, " 4 Englishmen were all asleep, all
snug in harbour." Off the coast of Portugal a plan
was formed by the prisoners on board the French
Commodore to take possession of her, and for this pur-
pose they got possession of the arms chest, and stowT
!ed it forwards. This plan, however, failed, from the
; the circumstance of the prisoners not having ac-
quainted the English Captains and Mates on board
with their intentions. Many of those were push-
ing about the glass with the. French Officers when
i the daring attempt cnmmenced, and failed for want
of proper leaders after they had obtained possession
;of the gun-deck of the frigate. From this circum-
stance, and from the scarcity of previsions, of which
there was only three weeks' stock left, the French
determined on putting all the English, Prussians, and
I Danes, ou hoard the Patent, which had just been
captured in ballast, and sending them away to shift
for themselves. They retained as prisoners all the
i Spaniards and Portuguese. Tz:e h n &a- d and twenly-
' fice, including Captains and Mates, Were put on
board the Paient, of whom I.4oarrived in that vessel,
the rest haviog been pressed at sea. The frigates had
a great deal of specie on beard, and any one of the
; four composing this most s tccessful squadron would
prove a most valuable prize •for any of our frigat.a.

A. B.

LOSS or Tilt IRLANI, CAPTAIN IC.FTT \R.—With
deep concern Is e announce the loss of the ship Irlam,
Capt. Keyxar, wrecked on the Tuscar rock; in the
Irish Channel, on the morning of Sunday se'nnight,
ithe 10th inst. at four o'clock. She had on board t
!large detachment of the 16th or 'Bedfordshire Regi-
ment of Foot, returning from the West Indies. The
distressing situation of these tinfortenate people, af-
ter the ship strut*, it is scarcely possible to describe ;
a tremendous sea, which drove her bottom incessantly
against the rocks, placed them In momentary ex-
pectation of eternity, as at'this period of the tide it
was utterly impossible, from the surf, for the boats to
approach the Tuscar rock. The water poured in so ra-
tpidly below, that some were unhappily drowned be-1
fore they could reach the deck ; and others, in their ! On Friday s'ennight an 'inquest was held at +Long •
attempts to extricate themselves, were bruised jaitt .Settonyi hey J. J.W. .0 tires, Vent. Colonel., on the
most shocking manner, by the heavy baggagMd • body. of *John'Bakee (labourer 'to Mr,, Hickson, of
limbers, which the sea was forcing in all directions. that placo), who was scalded to death ilia shrieking
.When the tide retired, men, women, etnd. children ' way. The dec?ased had been employed in brewing
were necessitated to cling to theriggingand ship's side, ale, and • had set the mash in the tub, which stood
as she lay on her beam ends. After remaining benumb- upon a crate!), when, in reaching to sp. a I come
!ed with wet and cold in this w retched state for several sacks across thevat, a hoard laid across theletedles,
hours, every hope of deliverance being almost reliu. i an,l itpciu which he stood, gave way, and the prior
squished, they were by the great at d praismiorthy es. ! fellow fell headlong into the tub. A lad who was
ertion of Capt. Keyzar,aud.Mr. Bradshaw, the Chief- i luckily in the brew-house at the time (about five
mate, slang by ropes and lowered into the boats, : o'clock in the morning), hearing him fall in, ran to
and dragged in the same way by men (who forte- . his assistance, and got his head above the Nun-,
stately happened to be on the 'Nicer for the purpose ' when Biker got hold of the side of the tub; but not
f building a light-house) up the rock. Tne infants ' being able to recover himself, lie got his legs over
4( the officers and soldiers, many only a few mouths into the tub, and walked through the scalding wort;
old, and one born on board the ship, were drawn up . Medical aid was procured with all possible speed, and
in- potatoe bags. From this desolate condition, the poor fellow survived, in excruciating pain, until
'which was nearly as bad as the wreck, being desti- ! Wednesday last (tell days after the accident), when .
tute of every article of provisions and clothing, ,he died, leaving a wife and three children to lament
roost of these miserable sufferers were rescued the loss of a very creditable member'of society.
.by the humanity of Captain Matthewson, in the brig ; Lorenevery.—At Taddiegton, in Derbyshire, is
Sarah, of Workington ; whose kindness its bearing now living, a woman, in the 1066:year of tier age.
down under every risk to. relieve them, and sharing Her hearing is rather imperfect, but her eyesight is
With them his small .stock of provisions on board, so good, that . she can thread a common siz^d needle
will ever redound to hie honour, as a Christian, and without spectacles. Her oldest child (a daughter)•
a man of feeling. Captain Matthewson, after en. Is siring, in the 80th year of her age; and her
deavevireg te .land the detachment •in Dublin, was youngest (a son, with whom. she lives), is in his 68th
obliO, by adverse winds, to steer for.Beaumaris, in. year. Her mother lived till she was 108 years of
the Isle* A4lesea, where they arrived on the 12th age, which she herself bids fair to exceed, Lever
inst. some without evep sufficient clothing to pro having had any particular sickness throughout her
tect them from the weather; this melancholy accident already very long life.
havit%depriveA them of every thing but their lives.
, Thornton"last
weZdwillWright,slaurbterelilfarkel Rilaisinti "htY Messrs.
The Officers of the detachment, 'we are happy to add, havaeed a calf, Wee a wonderfullymo re than i 4 Iftworie oftec.‘tirel, heoe :dr
were all. saved, viz. Nit. Nagent e .Cieuts. Timperly, and fed bl Mr. Those; Lambert, at by, whim weighed
Walton, Ross,' O'Hara, Gregory"; Ensigns Hayes, eiVrr"
much resembled Day's Durham Oz, Whit a the mil .` •
(141 b. to the stone), 16 srorseVdissurshjoosiqss, she
liannigan ; and Assistant-Surgeon O'Reilly.- ' breed.