North Wales Gazette

LONDON, MOfnJV, FEBRUARY" 19. The Trench frigate Ja Canoniere, of 50 run, which has reigned-so long in the Eastern I seas, where she has so much annoyed our t-rade, has met at last with that fate which awaits French men of war when they venture out of their ports. She was captured last Sa. tnrday off L'Orient, by the Valiant, of 14 guns, Captain Bl;h, and arrived at Spithead yesterday afternoon. She has on board a large sum in specie, jewels, diamonds, and pearls, which, added to the value of her cost- ly hales of goods, will make her worth, it is said, nearly 2,000,0001. sterling. The celebrated Surcouf has slipped out from the port of St. Ma lues in a frigate, built un der his own inspection by the special order of Bonaparte. She is supposed to be the strong, est built frigate ever constructed, her scant- lingsbitn-, equal to those of a first rate: she is able to mount 50 guns, isfi tted out for a voyage to India and China, and is reported to have- presents on board. A very numerous meeting was yesterday held rn the open air. Palace-yard. of the freeholders o4 Middlesex, when resolutions were passed to present petitions to the King and the House of Commons for a parliamen- tary reform. A bill of indictment was, we understand, fonnd OR Saturday last, by the Term Grand Jury, against IRc. Proprietor of a respectable Morning Paper, for a libel on Lord- Castle- reagh, in the publication of Mr. Fiiiiierty's letter upon the subject of certain alleged grievances sustained in consequence of orders issued from the Office of the War Department, and, we believe, from the Admiralty, to pre vent Mr. Finnerty from going out with the Expedition to Walcheren, and to send him home if he had one. Such part of the letter ill question as consisted of a narrative of the facts that occurred during Mr. Finnerty's voy- age and his sojournment in Walcherei, was inserted in this Paper at the tliiie, ill compli- ance with a request contained in a letter from the author, which we published, stating, that though we could conceive many good reasons why His Majesty's Government should no' deem his presence desirable in Walcheren, stil- we thought it our duty to allow him, or an) individual who thought himself aggrieved every degree of facility that we conveniently could, to lav his case before the public. The greater part of the letter being, as well as we could judge, from a hasty perusal, the reca- pitulation of the items of an old political ac couat between Mr. Finnerty and the Irish Go- vernment, wiili which Lord Caslleieagh wa. sa Id to have been connected, we purposely Emitted it as irrelevant to the immediate matter of charge and grievance, arising out of the orders to send Mr. Finnerty home from W vlcheren. The part that we ommitted con- tains, we believe, the particulars upon which the indictment is founded. Lord Castlereagh, it seems, was no party to the order for send- ing home Mr. Finnerty. being out of town when it was issueti though his Lordship, it is admitted, approved of the order it is fur- ilier said in the Noble Lord's behalf, that he 1a id no concern wirh the transactions between the Irish Government and Mr. Finnerty, fur- ther than to remit an imprisonmenlto which Jflr. Finned y -walt sentenced.-Pildlt. # Sir Francis Burdett, and the other partisans of Liberty and Reform, have complained much of the interference of the Attorney-Ge- neral with the liberty of the Press; that is of the prosecution of the puhlishers of seditious libels. But how do some of these gentlemen themselves act when they have an opportu- nity fcf calling down the vengeance of the law upon obnoxious printers and publishers. It oaght to be known from Johnny Grote's botyse to the Litiid's-eii(l, that Gwilliru Lloyd Wardle, the pretended advocate of our liber- ties of the press, and of the nation, has de- pending, at this moment, no less than Four Jctions against various authors, printers, and publisher*, Jr. rOiJl menting upon his publit onoduei ll!l Besides one, which he consented f<» drop on payment of all costs (untaxed). and surrendering up the author to be proceed- ed a^ni ist instead of the publishers first, against Mr Gillet, printer, for the publication of a pamphlet, intitled, the Rival Impostors secondly, ag mist Me srs. liell and Decamp, Proprietors of the oiional Hegister$third- ly, aufainsf'the supposed author of certain se- vere strictures contained in the 28th number of the Satirist and lastly against the Propri- elor of The Morning /W■ • • — Pilot. The Catholic question, on which some po- liticians make the salvation of the British isles to depend, is expected to he speedily brought forward in Parliame.it. It is much to be re- gretted by the friends of religious liberty, that the cons'-ientious adherence to any form of worship founded on the faith of the scriptures, should disqualify able and upright men from advancing the mteresls of their country in public and honourable stations. It now ap- pears that the Irish Catholics have raised all insurmountable" stumbling block in their own way to enfranchisement, by refusing the pow- er of a negative in the el&ctiou of thfcir.bishop* to the King. The English Catholics, it is said, are willing to concede this; alld ata late meeting in London they passed certain resolu- tions highly cred.tabte to their loyalty and patriotism. Protestant Disseniers.-It issaid that Lord Sidmouth intends, in the present session of Parliament, tn bring forward the measure which his Lordship proposed in the last, for regulating the grantin of licences tk) Protes- taut dissenting preachers. The principal re- guiations we understand to be, that "persons chiming licences to preach, shouldsiate, if Dot the grounds of their dissent, the, deiiotiti- nation, at least, of dissenters to which Ihey profess to belong that they should be recom- mended by the religious society of which they are members; that they should be attached to a known and distinct place of public worship; and that they should not be at liberty to of- ficiate habitually elsewhere, vnthout a fresh licence." His Lordship also porposes an aug- mentation of the number of churches, or chapels ot ease, to accommodate theiucreased population. At the sitting of the Court of King's Bench, on Saturday se'nnigM, Mr. J. Richardson, barrister, who held the office of Filazer and Clerk of the Writs and Errors of the Court, in trust for tord Kenyen, resigned that-situation upon the noble Lord's attaining his full age. His Lordship attended in propria personrs, when the Lord Chief Justice delivered, the grant from the Crown into the hands of his Lordship, who was accordingly sworn into office with the usual ceremonies. A question of considerable importance to all manufactories, that require furnaces, forges, or large fires, came on to be heard before Mr. Holstern, the Sitting Magistrate, at the Public-office, Union Hall, in the Bo rough, on Monday, under the following cir cumstances :-A short time since fire was seen i coming out of the chimney of the hat-manu- factory of Mr. Pricket, who resides in the parish of St. Thomas, in the Borough ? and it being supposed to be a common chimney, and to he oiv fire, an alarm was given, and, inconsequence, engines attended, and those who took the first engine, applied for, and obtained from the Magitrates, an order upon the parish, for thirty shillings, the reward allowed hy Act of Parliament. The parish officers applied to Mr. Pricket for a remune- ration. which he objected to, on the ground that his chimney, as well as all others in his business, was built upon that construction, that it was impossible to sweel) it without pulling to pieces, and they all cleaned them- selves J and if he was liable "to pay for the fire, on that particular day, coming out of his chimney, he should be liable every day and he could not carry on his business with- out. He instanced the glass-houses and iron- foundries in various parts of London, Bir- mingham, and different parts of the country, where fire was seen coming out of their chim- nies continually. The worthy Magistate al. lowed all that Mr. Pricket said, but on exl- mining the Act of Parliament, there were no exemptions, and it described chimnies genera! iy. tit, however, declined determining til) such an important question, without consult- ing other Magistrates. The decision was therefore adjourned On the 13th February, 1809. his Majesty's schooner Viper sailed from Cadiz for Gibral- hr, and we art* sorry to say, has never since hcen heard of, consequently all hopes of hei safety are now at an end. In this vessel went passenger, Robert Arbuthnot, Esq. late Chief Hicretarv to Government, for the island 01 Ceylon, the loss of whutn is deeply lamented hy his relations and friends. Letters from the Cape of Good nope hy th; last ship's, communicate the following remark- able occurrence:—The Island or Bossen, or Penguin, sometimes called Seal Island, at the Wetcrn extremity of Taok Bay, has entirely disappeared beneath the waters. A cotivijl- iion was felt at Cape Town in December, only two leagues distant, by which SOllie damage was occasioned to the houses, but we do not find that any lives-were lost at that place, and it is supposed that the earthquake extended to liossen. The Island was about two miles in length, and one injireadth, and was. although flat, somewhat more elevated above the sur- face of the sea than the contiguous island of Elizabeth. The Dutch, when in possession of the Cape, kept a guard of twenty-four men on Bossen, and it was employed as a place of i banishment for criminals, to the ittii-nlllr of from 70 to 100, who dog limestones to supply materials for the buildings on the adjacent continent. No women were then permitted to reside here, not even the wife of the port- master, It was not allowed that strangers should visit it, since a Danish ship, which had lost great part of her crew, and was refused assistance at the Cape, sent a boat on shore, dispersed the guard, and received on board as many malefactors as was necessary ro navi- gate her to Enrope. At the Southern extre- mity of the island, a flag was hoisted oil the v approach of any vessel. The mock Earl Percy has made terms with Mr. Thomas, the London money-lender. The former has returned, in adrfitiuu to the 10,0001. already mentioned, 40001. more, thus making altogether 14,0001. of the 18,0001. advanced t,) him. As a douceur for the trouble the Yoble Lord has had, he is allowed to retain the balance, with a security for the past, and iniL.noifi' frkr th** futtir** The famous Spanish heroine Augusta Sara- gossa, had arrived at Gibraltar some days hfore the last letters came away, dressed in her uniform as an officer of the Spanish army. This ladv had her husband and son killed by her side at the siege of Saragossa, and herself received three wounds, in the ditferent action^ she was engaged in during the siege, .where she shewed the most heroic bravery. The French sent her prisoner towards France, but she made her escape at Pampeluna. She has a commission and a pension from the Spanish Government, and is now going to join her regiment in Arragon. She is a modest good looking woman, 30 years of age, and her maianers and her appearance are hi-hly pleas- ing. During the administration of Lord North, the friends of that Minister conceived they were serving his Lordship's interests by shutting the doors of the House of Commons against the reporters. Somehow or other, however," the newspapers were filled, as usual, with Par- liamentary debates and it was even alledged, that they wens furnished by the Members them- selves. Lord North, at last, stepped across the House one day to Mr. Fox, and saïd with great good humour." Heally, Mr. Fox, since we have turned reporters ourselves,thespeeches are so clumsy, there is so much misrepre- sentation, and so much nonsense, that we must open the gallery." .1

BANKRUPTS. Thomas Salts, Preston, Lancashire, plumber and g-Iazier.Richard Ockeuden, Bo peep, Sussex. -William' Forge, Witham, Holderness, York, thrashing-machine-maker.'—Isaac Donnithorne, Truro, Cornwall victualler.Tohn Jones, White- chapel road, Middlesex, cordwainer.——Jonas Binns, Oxford-street, Middlesex, founder,— Edward Lowton, Mark-lane, London, merchant. —Samuel Chambers, Maidstone, Kent, corn- merchant.—James Cranfurd M'Leod, Huntley Hotel, Leicester-fields, Middlesex, uterahaiit.- William Atkinson, Paradise-street, Rotherhithe, Surrey, broker.—Jacob Stone, Bridge-road, Lambeth, Surrey, seedsman.—John Whitaker, F ranois-sfreet, Tottenhaui-court-road, Middlesex, book-binder.—John Ivory, Mark-lane, London, broker.—Samuel Sanders, Dove-row, Hackney- fields, Middlesex, wine-merchant.—George Pal- | mer, Plymouth, Devon, haberdasher.

ACCIDENTS, OFFENCES, ffc. Portsmouth, Feb. 6.—Yesterday and this day a Court-martial was held on board the Gladiator, on the Hon. Capt. Lake,, of H. M. ship Ulysses, for charges of cruelty and op- pression, in having put one of the crew of the recruit brir;, which he commanded, oil shore on an uninhabited island, in the West- Indics, about two years since, because he had been guilty of theft. The unfortunate .rhan was providentially taken off the island by an American ship, which Providence directed that way and on the return of the ship to America, the circumstance was made known, published in the American papers, and much dwelt upon as a proof of our tyranny on the seas. It was this circumstance that brought the guilty transaction to light in England. The Court agreed, that the charges had been fully proved, and did sentence the Hon. Capt. Lake to be dismissedfrom his Majesty's service. An elopement has taken place, which will inake a very considerable noise. The elegant Miss Elwes, daughter of George Elwes, Esq. eloped with a young clergyman of Ox ford, of the name of Duffield, who was as- sisted in the plot by two other Gentlemen of the cloth, on Wednesday morning last. Mr. Elwes, is, perhaps, the richest ready-monicd commoner in England. He is heir to the peculiar, virtues of his economical father, and is estimated to be worth near a million of floating disrtoseable cash, and she is his only child. She is under age, but was not made a Ward of Chancery. The plan devised by the three clerical Gentlemen was we!! concerted; One of them, under pretence of paying liilf addresses to a Lady on a visit to Mrs. Elwes, contrived to be received into the family in the character of her lover, where he was treated with the utmost respect; and this gave hitn opportunities of arranging the matter for hi* friend Mr. Duffield. On Wednesday morning he prevail eo on Mrs. Elwes to accompany bis own intended wife a shopping and ill their absence he handed, with the utmost openness* Miss Elwes to the door, near which a chaise aiv-d four was ,drawn up. He met Mr. Elwes in the hall, who asked them where they were going she was without a hat. or bonnet, and said she was ollly going to her mamma, who Was waiting for her. The He\. Gentleman proceeded with her, placed herMil the chaise, by the side ot her gallant, aud returned to the house with the ntinostunconcern. Mr. Elwes had inquired iii the mean time, how long Mrs. Elwes had been out, and seeing her conductor return, inquired where his daughter was ? The cler,y-y ii)an, w it It perfect sangfroid, told hfm he in 116 had delivered her to the mandesti-ned to make her happy; and that she was off to Gretna Green, where he advised him to follow, and assist in the ceremony. T hedist.ressf Mr. Elwes, and still- iliore of Mrs- Elwes, on her return, rÎJay becoliceiv-ed. h< y both set off in a post-chaise nud four, on the North road but we believe they 'proceeded no fart heir than St. Alban's, where not having heard the least account of their route, they resolved to re- turn and yesterday no tidings had beeu re- ceived of the happy pair. A very alarming riot took place at Grave- send on Thursday, which was renewed on the following day. The following particulars have lJeen "e,cei,vcd, bllt we Dope the slate. r ment will prove to be all exaggeration of the facts A party of artillery drivers, about 12 or 14 in-number, from the barracks at Northfleet, came into the town late$t night, armed, some1 with bludgeons, and others with swords, headed by two or three corporals, and paraded aholtt in amosl riotous manuer. They first attacked a feeble old man, whose office it i-It to ring the tide-hell, and beat him so dread- fully that his life is at present considered 1ft danger. ThcJ-lhcn proceeded to comhut ali sorts of violence in every part of the town through which they passed, striking at every person they met. The alarm having become- general, many of the inhabitants, headed by a set of watermen belonging to the place, at- tacked and drove their opponents out of the town. The remainder of the night passed without any disturbance. On Friday morn- ing six or seven of the offenders were brough before the Mayor at the Town-hall, and are now in safe custody. One of them, a corpo- ral, appeared to have been the ring-leader, ivfrd to have stimlllatcd thc others to acts of vio- lence, the extent of which is not yet ascer- tained. On Friday evening a party of soldier* entered the town, nsselllhlcd round the cage where they were confined, and threatened to rescue them. A remonstrance from one of the inhabitants was answered by a torrent of oaths and curses. At this time the market bell rung, an alarm was raised, and the people flew tu the spot like lightning; one soldier was seized, and the others immediately took to flight. But they were pursued by the III- habitants, who knowing the shortest way to* wards Northfleet, intercepted the fugitives their route, and brought back about 12 or 1* of them iritriurnph to Gravesend, and deliver- ed them into the hands of the civil I)oiver.- They are nIl now guarded by about 20 special constables, who were sworn in for the pur- pose; and on Friday night, at ten o'clock, a party of the Cobham Yeomanry, assisted, by the artillery of the town, hadformcd a guard, and » ntered on duty. M. Mndreoliand Mr. Brioschi ascended, short time since, in a balloon at Padua. Wliell the fnercury had fallen to 15 inches, about the height of three miles and a half, the latter began to fecl.all extraordinary palpitation Of the heart, without any painful sensation 111 breathing. When the mercury was down to twelve, four miles and a half, he was over- powered with a nleasinp' sleen. thai snr.n be- f n came a real lethargy. The balloon ascending, and when the mercury was about nine inches, neaT six miles, M. Andreoli per, ceived himself swollen all over, and could u°j move his left hand. When the mercury fallen to 8, about six miles and a quarter, th*j balloon burst with a loud explosion, began to descend rapidly with much tioisco which awoke M. Brioschi. It fell about 12 miles from Padua, without any injury to the travellers. On Buonaparte's first entrance into his ca, pital, after ""the conclusion of the last treaty with Austria, the Hotel de rille of Paris gave him a most magnificent entertainment, at which all the vassal King's and Queens wef naturally invited. The following are 801116 particulars of the singular exhibition kind of ampitheatre, acommodating abo11' three thousand persons, had beqn for the good people of Paris, who were,, ho^ ever, separated from the Imperial aud Roy3' guests by a strong party of guards. 1he tables were disposed in the forrii of a I)Ofg f shoe, according to the ancient etiquette public court dinners in France. At the of the table sat Buonaparte, alonej in all arril chair, and with his hat on, which^ie kept ring the whole dinner. OI his ight, rna; shalled in due order, were the Kings of own making,, on stools, and barc-headt'd', °I'' posite them, in the same order, their wort"" consorts. At the desert,however, Bouonapaft^ in order to shew the Parisians tluit his apl'fl rent want of common manners arose sole'* from (conscious superiority, and that he notwithstanding, a true Frenchman in hi'P^ lite attention to the Ladies, stood up, u°c j vered, with a tolerable grace, and went roU'j whispering some nonsense to each of august females. This done, he again ¡nIt ug his hat, returned to his arm-chair, wherCtlt stretched and yawned, as if in a tete-a-leie \II Josephice; and remained musing musing silence during the reat of the eutertal ment. of A sow, little more than 12 months the surprising weight of36 score, wassla'j? lered by JOI)LI ltll()(ty and sot( mere market,, Salop, last week; It inches thickness of solid fat Oil the chine* (- was bred by Mr. Bradshaw of Newlofi

CALEB PY HITE FO ORD, ESQ. This gentleman, who was well known in the fashionable and liteTary world, died at his house in Argyle-street, London, on Sunday morning, at the age of 76. x Mr. Wbitefoord was born at Edinburgh, in tl a the year 1734, and being intended by his fa- ther for the church, was educated at that uni- versity, where he distinguished himself by an uncommon proficiency in classical knowledge. The profession, however, for which he was designed; not according with young White- foord's wishes, he prevailed on his father to place him in the counting-house of his friend Mr. Stewart, a wine-merchant, in London here he remained for some years, until the decease of his parent enabled him to cum. mence business on his own account. Mr. Whitefoord did not permit the avoca- tions of his trade to engross time so fully as to debar his attentions to literary amusement. His essays, poems, and cross-readings evince the sprightliness of his satire, and the noveltv of his wit. These he contributed to his friend Mr. Woodfall, in whose paper they first ap- peared; and many of them were afterwards collected and preserved in the Foundling- hospital for Wit. The shafts of his ridicule were directed- n against the petitions, remonstrances, and or Mr. Wilkes, and the other pa- triots of the day, and so great was his success, that be not only obtained the approbation of administration, but, it is said, was requested by a person, office, to write a pam- phlet on the subject of the misunderstanding between, this country and Spain, relative to the Falkland Islands. That task, however. he declihed, but recommended Dr. Johnson as the ablest person who could be selected for the purpose. Johnson's work, and its effect on this occasion, is weft known. Mr. Whitefoord was a member of the Roy- al Societies of London and Edinburgh, of the society of Antiquaries^ and vice president of that for the encouragement of arts, manufac-, tures, and commerce. His acquaintance and friends consisted of the first literary and po- litical characters of his time and it has been said, by Adam Smith, that although the Jun- to of wits and authors hated one another heartily, they had all a sincere regard for Mr. Whitefoord, who by his conciliatory manners kept them together ia, amity and good hu- mour. We conclude this hasty sketch of a man of distinguished talents, a zealous friend to his country, and a very respectable member of society, with the following characteristic epitaph written many years since by his friend Goldsmith, and printed iu the Retaliation" of that p<Hgt. Here Whitefoard reclines, and deny it who can, Tho' he nierrity liv'd, he i's now a grave man. Rare compound of oddity, frolic, and fun, Who relislv'd a joke, and rejoie'd in a pun { Whose temper was geaerous, open, sincere, A stranger to fi;tttiy, a stranger to fear, Who sea tier'd around wit and humour at will, Whose daily bon-mots half a eoluinn niisrht fill A Scotchman fro.ai-pride and from prejudice free, A scholar, but sure no pedant was fie. Merry Whitefoord, farewell t for thy sake I ad- mit, = That a Scot may have humour, I'd almost said wit; This debt to thy mein'ry I cannot refuse, Thou best humour'd man, with the worst hu- muse." -— ■ I tn in ■

THE CANNONIERE FRIGATE. The following additional particulars of the capture of the Cannoniere, are taken from the Hampshire Telegraph of SaLllrdaJlast The circumstances attending her capture shew the peculiar good fortune of Capt. Bligh. On Thursday se'nnight the Defiance, 74, Capt. Ho- thani and the Valiant, were in company together, when Capt. Hothani, as senior officer, made the Valiant's signal to follow him to join the squad- ron in Quiberon Bay. The Valiant being then a-stern of the Defiance, could not weather the point to get round into the Bay, but the Deliance did. It being light winds the following day, the Valiant could make no progress 5 and in the course of the night she fell in with the Cannoniere, and chaced her from day-light, on Saturday morning until noon, when the wind took the Cannoniere by the head, and threw her round upon the Valiant's broadside, and she struck, no other ship beitigii,isigtit.-Iler capture is almost entirely attrihuted to tight bafBing winds, with which the Valiant rather gained upon her, as she was three miles from her at day-hgbt, and when she struck she was about one mrle. Under any other circumstances she would have escaped, as she out sailed, ia six hours, everv ship that ever chaced her before. She had been from the Isle of France 93 days, and had been chased fourteen I' ume Qurtng the passage. It had been long known that she was to return to Europe laden with the spoil of the principal captures which the French had made in the East Indies during the last three years. Our squadron off the Isle of France, aud our cruizers to the westward, were on the most vigilant look-out for her; and but for the seemingly untoward circumstance of the Valiant not being able to fetch Quiberon Bay at that particular time, she would have been safe in Belleisle in a few hours after the time she was fallen in with. On her passage out to the Emft Indies she ran into the Cape of Good Hope, soon after it had been taken by Sir Home Popham, hut perceiving the English flag flying, she cut her cables and escaped. Since that time she has heeu cruizing in the Indian Seas, to the terror of all our trade there; but wanting repairs, which could not he done at the Isle of France, the Governor of that island, De Caen, lent her, for a consideration, to the merchants, to bring: their goods to France her cargo cost 800,000 dollars there, and the merchants called her La Confianee. She was formerly La Minerve, in His Majesty's service, and was taken at Cherbourg, by running aground in a fog. She had 73 passengers on board from the Isle of France. About eighteen months since she was chased by Sir Edward Pel- lew, and the Caroline frigate, at which time the Captain of her says, he had four millions of dol- lars on board, and a box of diamonds, the value of which he does not know. Her present cargo is expected to yield the captors about 150,000). She had only IS guns mounted when captured; the others were left at the Isle of France to make room for the cargo. She will be sent round to the river, as East India produce canuot be sold in any other than a London market.