The Statesman.
London, England, 1809-08-01 00:00:00

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L 0 Irfil J 60.47 Sit If PE R.

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The (lAA allasitibuteiniotwd:stunue o'clock., the
Pr dent c Med spotilenedamnsgs.sito proceed
in .is dePore.„t
• ~
The PII4IIOIIIPVIIIOIII obsarted, that It there
were any witnessed firl..,ent, It Wig the pleasure of
the Court that they lioul4. witlitlritsr•,
Loa Cot: RA :es immediately earns trorrsuartl, and
su'lmitt it to the C..tirt, alit, according. to the I•Nta.
bl shed elision of Courts Alartialt it teas out 6-suitl
to de' ode vritnessoi during the risibly', the de.
fear...
The PaseitorgT.--$‘ My Lord Cochrane, it is
th • wish of the. Qonrt, in the present inutattecs
th the witnesses sboold be deluded."

I, rd Cocne A"I e. --" [,beg to observe, that in
the CM of Admiral Iflr4y, which exactly In
point, the witnesses %ere allowint to remain in
Court during the reading of• the defence. I sob.
eit therefore Chit, without any irregularity, the
winsome, nay ronsuin-in Corr.."
The easslnssyr --" My Lord CoehrAne, the
Co irt have deilberated open the subject, and have
resolved that the witstaisershall not be present ;
your Lordship will thereftire bate the goodness
to withdraw,

Lord Corirane then retired, and the President
intimated to Lord Gambier, that his Lordship was
at li7mrty either to read his defence fanatic ele ap.
}Mot any person he phased for that purpose.
I.•iril GA 31 111 I.itm exceedingly obliged
to t (:uurt fur their indulgence. Mr. Grecthain
has i:eeo sa kind as to say he would read it for
we."
T• a PalalaltaT..—" Certainly ; ur any one
70.1 Lirdship pleases."
toilows the Defence of Lord Gillum',
irh . ti, from its extreme length, ri e are c pelled
to postpone till to.murrow :—lt was read by the
JUDGE A DVOCATF, and was replete with argu.
went and sound sense.)
Alr. EDWARD Pla I kFax.totss called end sworn.
Q. Were you employed sounding or surveying,
in liasqiie Roads and to Ark Aix Itriads„ prasious
to the 12th of April ?—A. Yeas and.reconnuitering
the position of the enemy.
Q. state the general service on which you were
employed.—A.l war mostly employed on the Long
Sand, and found that it extended foil three
varters of a mile to the eastward and northward
limn where laid down. I nill state to the Court
all its bearings (described to the Court), and much,
sh 'Hower water than that laid down in the Charts
and Neptune Press:cots.
Q. 'Was the space fyr anchorage for large ships
inutli confined its Aix kriads ? A. The space is
mach confined ; have noi sounded myself ; I
will state to the Court hp.:' ascertained the space
is mach confined, and likewise the position ; the
whole space they occupyin length of line is three
quarters of a mile ; this report was given by Sir
U. Seale to Lord Gambier ;'the enemy's fitvt,
the last time reconnoitred, were about South and
by Wee, by compass, }rue -the eitadtit lit Aix
Ii e id.

Q. Is the navigation of Aix roads difficult for
large ships, as far u you know ?—A. Very much,
so.
Q. What is the rise and fall of the tide ? A. I
▪ sup; se from eighteen to twenty ftxtt ; the
lug of the Caledonia %ill prove this act.
Q. Do you know of Lord Cochrane's making
any report to mu of the poNitton of the enemy's
fleet, previous to the 11th of Aura, in conse_
quenre of his having reconnoitred them ?—A.
Most certainly I do, th .y were placed nearly
earth east, and nest no. th west, by corn' ass, i 0
th.• best of my recollection, the dal before the
attack.

Q. Dill you know, previous to the 12th of
•pril, of any anchorage about the Buoyart Shoal,
near the Pallas Shoal, for line of battle ships,
without the range of the• enemy's shot !—A.
did not, nor have I acquired knowledge of it
since.

Q. What distance was the British fleet from
that of the enemy, when at its first anchorage
at Basque Roads ? —A. The Caledonia, from the
citadel of Isle d'Aix, was distant 11,900 yards,
near six nautical dales, by ailmeasarement of
angles, which I took for the purpose.
Q. Where were you on. the morning of the
11th of April ? A. On board the Lyra.
Q. Where were was the Lyra at that time? A.
They were working out from Isle d'Am towa, ds
the Bret.

Q. Were the enemy's ships that were aground
lying so close together, that the yards of two of
them were locked together ? A. I think not.
Q. Had any ships gone in on the morning of the
12th of April) to attack the enemy's shi,is, at
what time was it possible for them to return ? A.
They could mot have shifted their situation before
the water would have shoalod so much, that they
would have grounded.
Q. Had you an opportunity of observing the
strength of the current of the title in the harbour
of the Isle d'Aix ? A. No.

Q. Was it such, as far as you did obterre it,
as would admit of a fast sailing ship working user
it, and beating out against the flood, as the wind
was on the 12th of April ?...A. By report, I
should imagine that no ship or cutter could, by
what I hare heard from Pilots, and the narrow.
mess of the Channel. _ _

Q. If then a part of the fleet had gone into
the road of Aix, when the Imperiense made the
first signal in the nsorning,must it not have remained
within three-quarters of a mile of those batteries,
till the cbb made in the afternoon ?-..-A. They
might have shifted by the flood, but then they
would have got in a worse situation.
Q. Were you in the Road of Aix, after the Bri-
tish ships were placed fur the purpose of attacking
the ent•tny ?--A. 1 was not.
Q. You have said that three of the enemy's
ship, were in a line ; were you afterwards bi any
atuatian tiiat enabled you to tell they were nut