The Statesman.
London, England, 1823-11-26 00:00:00

THE STATES MAN

THE LATE LORD ERSKINE.

ORIGINAL ANECDOTE&

It was an amiable weakness in the late Lord Erskine,
that the evictor of bis friendships sometimes exposed him
to poignant diseopointinent, where he was prepared to
expect reciprocal attachment, and grateful return. Of his
experience of this kind he was known to speak with feeling
i o more instances than one.
When the affairs of a certain illustrious personage
required to be liquidated, Mr. Erskine, who was then At-
torney General to the P---.of W—, was joined with the
late Lords Thurlow and Loughborough, in attempting
the desired adjustment. Before the arrangement could
be completed, the anxiety which had long urged the last
mentioned Nobleman to obtain possessiou of the tieals, had
induced his Lordship to cultivate the confidence of his
It— H--, to the exclusion of his colleagues. Mr.
Erskine, unaware of the design, had gone one day to
C--- H--, where being informed that the P— was
occupied, he waited in an ante room till his H--
was at leisure to receive him. He had there remained a
considerable time, when at length he was surprised by the
appearance of Lord Loughborough, on his passage from
the P—. After paying the usual compliments to his
Lordship, Mr. Erskine was introduced to his It
ll—, and being chagrined at having so long been
detained, while he had other appointments to keep, he
took occasion to express his surprise that he was not ad•
witted to the It -- presence, at the time Lord Lough.
borough was there ; as he supposed his Lordship cottral
have no other business than th tt on which Lord Thnelow,
land he were engaged, and were agreed.—" You are mis-
taken, Brskire," the P--- is understood to have replied,
" the view which Loughborough has taken of my affairs,
is different from that of Thoi low and you. The times, be
says,are so democratical," [the pea iod it will be recollected,
was about 1792]" that it would not be good policy for me
to relinquish, the appearance of state ; but that I should,
on the contrary, gild double, if necessary."
Mr. Erskine, in relating this anecdote, said he replied,
that he was no longer surprised he had not been
admitted then with. Lord L iughhorougla ; as the opinion
which his Lordship held was that in which he could not
concur.—Mr. Erskine added that, soon after this occur
rence, Lord Loughborough, under the sanction of the
P— —, commenced a negotiation with the Duke of Port-
land, which eventually led his Lordship to the Woolsack:
and that, ere many months elapsed, his IL--
j withdrew his countenatice from hinsselt, and his opposition
j from the measures of Pitt.

SHIPPING INTELLIGSNCE.
-...ivii...--

DEAL, November 23.--Wind %V.N.W.--Aerlved and
sailed for the River the Good Intent, Black, front Alexandria.
in 81 days.—Sailed this morning with the greatest part of the
outward hound, H. M. ship Antelope, Lieut. Lytle, for liar
muds, and the Netherlands, man of war cruiser, for the Medi-
terranean.—Four p. m. the following vessels hare put back,
viz.—Ann, George Molten, flornhay Merchant, Caroline,
Amato's Crew, Venitia, London and Glatton ; and the fol-
lowing continued to the Westward.—Lloyds, for Ifonduras ;
Reward. for Jamaica; H. M. ship Antelope, Lord Wellington,
for Plymouth; }lobe, for Llsoon ; and Margaret, for Gib-
raltar.

FALMOUTH, November 24.---Wind E.B.E.—Arrived the
Ebenezer, Sangrave. from Gibraltar, in 12 days ; sed Prowl.
dente, --, from Denis.—Sailed the Thomas, Nichols, for
London.

PORTSVOVTH, November 25.—Wind N.—Arrived the Jane,
Gray, from Oporto.
LIVRRPOOL, November 24.—Arrlvcd the ilfarhatten,
from New York ; Perfect, Prince, and Corsair, Petre, from
Charleston; Alexander, Urquhart. from New Orleans; and
Electra. Harrison, from Philadelphia.
The Penrose, from Westport to Liverpool, was driven
on shore near Cambletown, during a gale 234 inst. and It is
feared will be totally wrecked.
_ _

The Ferdinand, Turk. from London to 8 einesmuode, was
driven on shore near Eisinor, 13th inst.
The Diamond, of Peterhead, has been run down off the Co'
quest, by the Triumph, of Aberdeen.
A boat marked "Charles Finlay, Kincardine," was packed up
24tb inst. off the Needles.

We understand that the Clio, of 18 guns, commanded by
Captain Strangways, returned to Fort George, on Wednesday,
the 29th ult. with Mr. Adele, Rector of the Inverness Academy,
on board, after a cruise of fifteen days among the O.kneya.and
in the Moray Firth, between Caithness and Kinnaird's Head,
for the purpose of trying the performance of his eye tube to the
telescope of a sextant, for taking altitudes when the horizon is
invisible. The altitudes taken by this eye tube are not affected
by ail ,lip or depression of he heriron. When Mr. Adam ob-
served, standing on one of the guns, so as to see the horizon
over the bulwarks, a screen wns placed before the horizon
glass of his sextant ; and when he observed standing on deck,
or on large gimbols, placed in the main hatchway, to obviate
the effect of the ship's motion, the bulwarks intercepted his
view of the horizon. Under these circumstances, after reject-
ing a few observations, the mean difference of one hundred and
ninety nine altitudes ofthe sun, moon, and stars, taken by the
eye tube, from those taken at the same time, in the ordinary
way, by the officers of the Clio, and corrected for dip, amount-
ed to only one minute and ten seconds. We understand that
considerable care and practice are necessary before the eye
tube can be handled successfully at sea, but that when observ-
ers have learned to use it, the latitude, the tiniest the ship, and
consequently the longitude, may all be determined by it, when
the horizon is invisible; and that, by means of it, either the
large t r the pocket sextant may be successfully employed on
shore, as a substitute for the theodolite, upon making the ne-
cessary allowance for the parallax of the instrument, in name
of index error, which, on becoming sensible, must vary in-
versely with the distances •f the reflected terrestrial objects.—
( Wink u eyk Observer.)

LAW PROMITIONR.—ItUiIIoUffI Nithout end on this sub
jert have been circulated from day to day. We st sted that
we understood that the Solicitor General was to be Chief
Baron. The rumour of yesterday was that both the
Attorney and Solicitor Generals have refused the offered
promotions. They are both young at the bar, and it seeing
are unwilling so soon to give np the profitable reniunera-
, lion which professional practice, in their grades, so'
abundantly pours out. Besides, there is nothing in the
political horizon which denotes a change. Indeed, never
was the premium of insurance against political casualties
so low in the market. Those high judicial appointments,
therefore, which were formerly the object of professional
ambition, as well as a security against the precariousness of
Court favour, are now not only not grasped at, but actually
refused. Moreover, from the character of the Tory talent at
the Bar,Ministers are actually at a loss to find La4.yers ade-
quate to the duties of the House of Commons. Take Mr.
Copley from the House of Commons, soy they, and where
can we find a successor amongst our supporters? The Term
is now nearly at a close, and the actual judicial vacancies
are not filled up. Perhaps, as the meeting of Parliament
draws nearer, some reminis.inces in a certain quarter of the
exertions of Messrs. Brougham and Williams will operate
as a flapper.—(Morning paper)
CANTgRRURT. Nov. 25.4111C111WAY R08131111T..-•About
one o'clock in the morning of Sunday last, a robbery took
place in the Military Road of this City, opposite the in-
fantry barracks. The object of attack was a Welch drover,
who had attended our market with a drove of oxen; and it
appears, bad disposed of a part, and had driven the
remainder into a held, near the barracks, to graze; on his
return, he stopped at the Two Bells public house, to
refresh himself. Here, it would seem, he staid, until the
potency of the beverage bewildered his recollection, and lie
forgot the way back to his lodgings; two kind friends,
however, who were, we hear, in company, proffered their
services to direct him home, and, instead of leading him
to his proper destination, led him the way above mentioned
knocked him down. and took from his person property to
the mount of 1031.—(Ktatiels Chrum.)

COUltr OF KINO'S 11F.NC11.—(ruin DAT.)

The Comstol SERGEANT prayed the judgment of the
Court on a person named Wood, who had pleaded guilty to
an information for having sent a challenge to a professional
Gentleman named Paine. The learned Gentleman wild that
the parties concerned in this case bed Dot beau able to
come to any amicable arrangement.
Justice Hamer addressed the defendant, and coin
merited upon the enarmity of his offence in endeavouring to
provoke the plaintiff to fight a duel, which might have
caused the loss of life to one or both the parties. The
sentence of the Conn was, that he pay a fine of 1001.,
be imprisoned for three months Ist the King's Bauch
prison, and find securities fur his good hehavuo'►r for three
years, himself in 5001. and two securities in 2501. each.