Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1817-10-24

There are degrees ofhoror. Its commoa
saying, that" there is honor among thieves
but this is not the sort of honor that honorable
men would aim at: and COM. Porter, in callius
Hillyar one of the most honorable of british
ndrM officers" expressed exactly the same idc;.
as u lie mad said that IL. was one of the ieast
dtsi0RoraLte OF them: I negative compliment
anu evidently used IN this way-the he sisnatisn
" ~ BrHtsh nGrOL 0Hfcef;S, Individually mark
irS itS extent and chaI acter: for e.nl porter's
opinion fthoSe, is notorious 10 al men, II we
refer 10 The 9th VOL OF tue W eekiy REGISTER
page 5io, we see that he seat has message TO
captain Nash, OF The Saturn race, tvnO over
hauied tie Essex JUNIOR oif our COAST saving
he " was satisfied that most OF tile British naval
otncers we're not only destitute Of honor but
regardless ct the honor of each other"--and i'm
vol y. page S9i be urges his sentiments at
large, oO>ervng"l have been cOwatdiy deceiy-
Ell add hdsely attacked, while cOntidInr in the
Neutrality OF port and in the word OF British
ohcer, While he profesSId 10 ME frem,ishl,,
aud gratitude" E" have told ONLY ih..
trntl, OF which let those Judge who best Know
6rtf'&t harat eDieerS but the whole letter
Shouiu DE read 10 get his full and deliberate oni-
mon OF them. The following extract from his
ohieiai letter, giving AN account OF the capture
OF me Essex see Vol. VI. page SiIl is concln
sive az 20 MS con>iStency--he>,V saws In iustic..
10 com. Hliiyar, must observe that aihouu,,
eau never be recoRciled TO the manner nj hia
attack on the Essex, or TO his court,cf hofor,.
the action, he has, since our capture she,yr,
me greatest humanity to NV wounded whom
ne permitted me 10 land, on condition that the
Unlted States should bear their expences
Ac-~-and he goes on To state that the victor
Issued orders 10 respect the private propertv
oI mdlviduals--whlcb, however" were not so
Stricuy attended Ia as might have been CIV.
pecteu adding, Z" siiOuld not have consid
cred this last circumstance of sufiiciens i'm,
portanee to notice, did IL not mark a stouy diff
ference between the navy Of Great Britain and
va, ,ha' ci .ne United States highly creditabIe ~
count of the action. see vol. VIII D. col which,
Is an unconinoniy fair report couSiderino Tia
source, says that the Essex had anchored so
near the shore" rs 10 preclude The pn, srIi,v M.
either oil his majeSty's ships PASSING abeaI ot-
her, aud thus JuStIheS com. Porter i'm his a.
pihlon as To the " manner" of the attack FTb.
iact Is, that the Phoebe and Cherub were sent
out 10 capiHre the Essex, on the principle az
the maxim Of the Old mau 10 his SOP. get ,nn-
hey, honestly, # you eau bit get rioneu :" tie
rule that prevailed when COpeRaaSea was ar
lacked by Nelson, in which he meanIy saved
himself from the destruction that he SO well
deserved, bN the respect That the Dane. maid
la his far II truce. fN
10 those who recolIect the scenes ar Havre
dc tirace and the River Raisiu AZ Hanntnn
anu Washington CIty-;ind what .ID9etjeG,, il .
tnere that does not recoiloct theia;--itisSup.r
ilhous To OTTER any remarks in support of Com
Fo'feFS opinion of the honor OF British off,
GERS ana II should he borne in mind that ~ ;s
OF BritiSt ng0at officers lie speaks The foIIov-
ing autientlc anecdOte, never before pubiish
cd, may assist little in fixing their charac-
ter may be perfectly relied upon as relating
an GOSOtNte fdct: An American citizen wha ,yas
on BOARD os admiral Narreus ship when tle
expedition returned from Havre de Grace re
ia!es, That the sailors, with their hats decorat
ca Will! rIbbindS stolen fro IN Miss Oliver and
other ladies, were receiN ed with great glee and
niSh appreciation. One of the Iieutenanis ,Yhn
hdd acted braVeiy in tat gallant affair nm on
terlhS ne ward room, exclaimed, ''Ah-d-n,
nae, have we not had rare sport with the van.
heeS ana he weRt on TO detail all the pilfer
ings ana house burningS with the pertect nan
chdie'ice of a veteran. - But how did vou ma
mage 10 burn down many houses so soon2-
ehquIred another Of The lieuienants The be
no replied 10 this" y, d--mme we iust
ialied feather bed or two, with some articles
OF furniture into the middle of the floor. clan
pea Il match to IL, and away wcnt bed and
honse and ally ct even this miserable wretch
might have been TOO honorable TO have burnt
wounded prisoners to death, as was certainly
GERS, AT the hiper RatSin
ne iact is--it iSnOt among the least of Por-
terS honorS that he is feared and hated bv
t Me men, as much as he despises themf-
CT Al Is pleasant 10 see that partial cxceD.
ton is partially made in favor of one Of them
~ he editor of the Z" Enquirer is regpect
InIiy requested TO insert tue pIecetlinr-and
tAoSe who nave copied the article frorI that pa
giving il place.
We should not easily have forgiven Com Porter if
nc mao not expressed his 10 Com Kin
yIt ioT his humanity to the OF tbs gallant cTe
". t"e Essex. ana herein was the best III tbs
worId or saying that the latter was among the ,nnss
o',1IaOie OF British naval ofcesseeug tlat in the
Ia P1iH tha goes To constitute IN hOnurabe man he
SO Much devided nom The ColnOn conuci Of his conn.
usnen We Tecoiect The affair OF the Chesapeake III
cate aer heT captnTe by the shannon aud cannot eas
iy forget the Jersey prison ship.
" Hated by knayes, and knaves to hate
be TINS ms motto this his fate"