Alexandria daily gazette, commercial & political. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1808-1812, 1811-12-11
Fran tile Bosfon Cenanel.
INFAMOUS P1RTLALITY.

The Paris Moniteur OF the 9Th October has
furnished an official article which fully con.
firms the fact invariably asserted in the Cen.
tinel, that the scandaious robbery of Captain
Beal OF this towr, was perpetrated by tho
French frigate La Clorinde, Of 4. guns but
which robbery by her, the Chronicle, with
much per,inacity, and French insoichce and
folly, mas denied and labored to transfer the
guilt of the Frenchman On some unknown En-.
glish cruzer. And this too, the American
public will remember, ha. been done afer
Captain Beal bad solemn,y averreG on o.tb.
that the frigate which plundered him wa.
French, and manned by Frenchnrn, in which
last particular, TO man who has ever been on
board French frigate, as Captain B. had
been, could be deceived. In TN. bzse zttempt
to transfer French guilt, and fix !; Oh nation
innocent OF the crime; and with ap5.rent IN
teDtion to invalidate Captain Besll's protest;
the Chronicle has had the meanncss and !a,Iy,
TO take advantage Of very natural mistakes:-
Thus, becarse one of the French officers ei.
tner told him, that the frisate's n.n,c was
L'OneDt;. or because Capt. 3 thus ,nisun-
derstoood his lingo for L'Ciorirde. ills cir.
cumstance has been wire-drawn to exonerate
the Frenchman from the robbery, ard 20 fix
1t upon the British; as also the circum-
stance OF the newspaper misdate Of October
for September Paltry subterfuges.
In this official article, Captain Creia gives
journal OF his voyage from Brest, (Which he
lett the I'd Feb. 1871, in company with the
trlgates Renonme and La Nercide. since cap
tured by the Brltish) to the Isle of France -
OF the action off Madagascar, the 10Th Nav;
OF his escape and return to the Atlantic, where
he cruised some time, In search, as he saws.
OF supplies;-of the c,p.ure of many vessels:
and OF his return to Brcst, the latter end Of
September, with his laureis, aid bis booty.-
he salves over his robberies-ss any oiher
robber would-of the American vessels he
burnt and plundered-as sworn to BY Captain
Matthews and others; but he furnishes AMONG
many others this fact. that on the 10th Sen
TENDER he WAS in the latitude and longitude
In which Capt. 3. swears he was so barha-
rousiy treated, and robbed by him. Here theo
is damnng proof" Of the violation df our
neutral rights IN the high seas By F.ench
Imperial frsate, nearly year after the B,r.
lin and Milan DEGREES were declared TO have
been revoked; and which friga.e Sailed from
rance three months after they had been stated
10 have ceased operation en- our Commerce
Inc captain OF the CIoriidc told Cant. Mat.
news he had orders 10 sink, burn OF destroy
american vessels; and his conduct Showed
That ne acted under those orders Have tiey
ever been recalled If they have, where is
the tn evidence OF the fact? If they have not
How can 1t be affirmed, that the decree. m
which they were founded, are repealed +? Lei
the French correspondents of the Chronicle
answer these questions. But the above f.cts
One OF the sapient +" arguments" made use
OF In the Chronicle to gull its readers and out.
rage American decency, is, that the idiom
OF the French language will not admit of
irlgate ut first inserted, any vessel of wary TO
peer masculine name and therefore il !,
alguhed" that the freebooter which robbed
captain b. must have been an Enelisbman m.
der the disguise of French name Of which
they were Ignorant of the gend,r!! We
know generally speaking, tina, French I'll
gates bear feminine, and men Of war mss.u-
iine names. But We also know, there are ex.
cePuons to the rule. We have not French
Navy List among our books; and i. is omitted
IN the French Imperial Calendar :-i,ut We
90 Know, that vessels of all rates have mas-
cui'he names. We will state few as saa-
Pie.nL Oiseau, So guns; lie Montreal, 80;
lie Petite Aurore. Ia; lie Sans Culottes, So,
Lac oien 'enu, 80; lie Babel, 20; SC.