the side, from the heavy rolling of the ship, which nearly covered the whole of our starboard guns. We still waited the attack of the enemy, he now standing towards us for that purpose; on his coming nearly within hail of us, and from his manœuvre perceiving he intended a position a head, where he could rake us without a possibility of our returning a shot, I then consulted the officers, who agreed with myself that our having a great part of our crew killed and wounded, our bowsprit and three masts gone, several guns useless, we should not be justified in wasting the lives of more of those remaining, who I hope their Lordships and the Country will think have bravely defended His Majesty's ship; under these circumstances, however, reluctantly, at fifty.inutes past five, our colours were lowered from the stump of the mizenmast, and we were taken possession of, a little after six, by the American frigate Constitution, commanded by Commodore Bainbridge, who, immedietely after ascertaining the state of the ship, resolved on burning her, which we had the satisfaction of seeing done as soon-as the wounded were removed. Annexed I send you a return of the killed and wounded, and it is with pain I perceive it so numerous; also a statement of the comparative force of the two ships; when I hope their Lordships will not think the British flag tarnished, although success has not attended us. It would be presumptuous in me to speak of Captain Lambert's merits, who, though still in danger from his wound, we still entertain the greatest hopes of his being restored to the service and his country.

It is most gratifying to my feelings to notice the gallantry of every officer, seaman, and marine on board; in justice to the officers, I beg leave to mention them individually. I can never speak too highly of the able exertions of Lieutenants Hevringham, and Buchanan, and also Mr. Robinson, Master, who was severely wounded, and Lieutenants Mercer and Davis, of the royal marines, the latter of whom was also severely wounded. To Captain John Marshall, N. who was a passenger, I am particularly obliged for his exertions and advice throughout the action. To Lieut. Aplin, who was on the main deck, and Lieut. Saunders, who commanded on the forecastle, I also return my thanks. I cannot but notice the good ronduct of the mates and midshipmen, many of whom are killed, and the greater part wounded. To Mr. T. C. Jones, Sur geon, and his assistants, every praise is due for their unwearied assiduity in the care of the wounded. Lieut.-General His

lop, Major Walker, and Captasn Wood, of his staff, the latter of whom were severely wounded, were solicitous to assist and remain on the quarter deck. I cannot conclude this letter without expressing my grateful acknowledgements, thus publicly, for the generous treatment Captain Lambert and his officers have experienced from our gallant enemy, Commodore Bainbridge, and his officers.

I have the honour to be, &c. HY. D. CHADS, First Lieutenant of His Majesty's late ship Java.

P. S. The Constitution has also suffered

severely, both in her rigging and men, having her fore and misen masts, maintop-mast, both maintop sail yards, spankerboom, gaff, and trysail-mast, badly shot, and the greatest part of the standing rigging very much damaged, with ten men forty six men wounded, four of whom are killed, the Commodore, Fifth Lieut. and

since dead.

(Extract.)

St. Salvador, Brazil, Jan. 4, 1813. SIR,-I am sorry to find the Americans did not behave with the same liberality towards the crew, that the officers experienced; on the contrary, they were pillaged of almost every thing, and kept in irons.

St. Salvador, Brazil, Jan. 5, 1813. SIR,-With the deepest sorrow I have to inform you of the death of Captain Lambert, on the 4th of Jan. of the wounds he received in the action with the Constitution American frigate; in him the country has lost a most gallant and valuable officer, and myself (who have served under his command some years), the officers and crew, a kind triend.

His remains were interred on the 5th of Jan. with military honours, in Fort St

Pedro, and it is with much satisfaction I add, that every respect was shewn on this occasion by His Excellency the Conde Dos Arcas (Governor), and the Portuguese in. general.

I have the honour to be, &c. (Signed) H. D. CHADS, First-Lieutenant of His Majesty's late ship Java.

J. W. Croker, Esq.

Let us now turn to the events of our late campaign in the south, and inquire whether they tend to strengthen or destroy the validity of my argument. And, first, the glorious battle of Salamanca, and the consummate ability displayed by the hero in his advance to Madrid, and his retreat from it. To the victory of the noble marquis, placed in a detached and military point of view, no man is more will ing to allow all the glory attached to it by its fondest admirers than myself. As a military achievement, it was in every way glorious to all concerned in it; and it might have been politically so, had England yet a military character to seek. But to what nation or people is the fact unknown or denied, that Englishmen are brave; and that filmness in repelling, and ardour in making an attack, has characterised their conduct in the field, in all times and places, and in all causes, good or bad? It is the business of the soldier to fight; and the prize of victory at all nes is glory. But what is this thing called glory? Does every man who seeks it, find it? Do all who fight for it, and conquer, pos. sess it? Do not its laurels sometimes fade, on the brow of the living; and sometimes thrive, and sometimes perish, on the tomb of the dead? If a man go forth to seek the elements of life in glory, and choose that which is false, he deceives Timself; and if he be sent by another, he is deluded and be

trayed into the snares of death or dishonour. Victory in a bad cause may not only be barren of any real good, but productive of more mischief to individuals and nations, than defeat in a good one. Vain or false, as well as true glory, there doubtless always was, and must continue to be. Of the latter des cription many will have that to be, which was acquired by our late campaign in Spain, while others suspect it to be of the former class; the only test to try points of this nature by, is reason and experience. From Salamanca's famed plains, the hero we find advancing to the Spanish capital. For the sake of consistency and principle,it seems to have been so contrived, that the triumphant entry of a Protestant hero and army into Madrid should be productive of no remarkable result (exclusive of the destruction of some of the remaining partizans of the fugitive King Joseph, and a ball or two most costly and magnificent, given, it seems, to please the Spanish ladies and the British officers) save and except the re-es tablishment of that enlightened, humane body-the. Inquisition.— By this glorious counter-revolu tion, Spain, at best, without her beloved Ferdinand, could be but half blessed; and England wholly and eternally accursed and ruined iu that country, as subsequent events will testify. The evil geni us which ever presides over the councils and destinies of evil-doers, now conducts his lordship under

1

the walls of the castle of Burgos. Here the blood of four thousand brave men was uselessly spilt on the ground; our lamentable deficiency in the art and the means of engineering exposed to the view of friends and enemies; and, while an army of fifty or sixty thousand men were held as it were by a hook -in the nose, by a garrison of two thousand men for six weeks, the routed French, and their panicstruck marshals, had time to rally, recruit, and return to the charge; and then, behold! Prudence (poor thing! who had been left in the rear in the business of advance) was now dragged forward to sound a retreat. According to act of parliament, the advance to Madrid was glorious, and the retreat from it was glorious: but, to common sense and plain reason, the advance to Madrid would have been glorious, had it been for the express purpose of destroying that which they have for years been fighting to uphold; and the retreat would have been glorious, had it been to the shores of England, instead of the frontiers of Portugal, But we have been told, by a noble senator in parliament, of our triumphs over the moral feelings of Spain: this may be supposed to allude to the proud circumstance of our hero having been chosen generalissimo of the Spanish forces. But what were the fruits of this triumph? Why, it spell-bound, and rooted in a manner to the earth, the native forces of Spain; while the French detachments and divisions were allowed, unmolested, to inarch and counter-march through every part of Spain, up to the intrenchments of the British camp; and this advancing enemy was allowed to pursue our retreating army, as was the case with Sir John Moore, without a single Spanish regiment moving to annoy the

pursuers, or succour the fugitives,

Allowing, for a moment, that in this war we are morally right, is it not possible that the principle on which it is conducted may be politically wrong? May not a nation dissipate its treasure and blood in defending an ally, who does not in reality desire such defence? And how are we to judge of a people's sentiments, but from what they say, and what they do?~ Look at the conduct of the Spanish patriots, as they are foolishly called, on the retreat of Sir John Moore, then at the list of the killed and wounded at the battle of Salamanca, at their conduct on the late disastrous retreat of our army to Portugal, and at the course of exchange between the two countries; and attend to what they have said in the assembly of the Cortes. It seems, our hero lately visited that assembly at Cadiz; and, from the mouth of one of its members, was assured, that it was the determination of the Spanish nation, not only to assist the great lord in carrying the war to the Ebro, but even unto the banks of the Seine: and it is triumphantly reported by the war party here, that we are to have the blushing honour of clothing and shirting 50,000 shirtless creatures (or have them ready-clothed and equipped, with a part of the twelve millions we have put into their pockets), to accompany his lordship next summer to Madrid, and from thence to Paris.

"This is a delightful and inproving prospect, no doubt, in the eyes of those whose happy lot it is to receive our bars of gold and gaineas; but what think those who have to provide them? Our crusade in Spain cannot be considered in any other light than as a speculative adventure of the reigning party; what, then, are its profits and losses? It is confidently as

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The

serted, that the French have lost in the Peninsula six hundred thousand men. It has never been intimated, that the loss of the French in any one campaign has exceeded that of the allies. Loss of the latter, in the last campaign, are under-rated at forty thousand men; the cash expended and lost, up to its close, twelve anillions. Against this, place the glorious battle of Salamanca, the capture of Madrid, two or three grand balls there, the resurrection of the Inquisition, a number of great and small guns, gunpowder, and shot, carts, and tumbrils, horses, and prisoners, taken. In the retreat from Madrid and Burgos, a great number of great and small guns, powder, and shot, carts, tumbris, horses, prisoners, baggage, &c. lost: and, then, against this loss, place glory; for, at the end of our homeward-bound jour ney, the military chest was found empty. But then, again, our triumph over moral Spanish feelings: against this place the neutraliza tion of two hundred thousand Spa niards, and the sum of £100,000 in bars, and £500,000 in guineas, lately remitted, to pay the troops; all which, like the twelve millions before expended, will disappear, and ultimately find its way into the imperial treasury: for the moment our backs are turned, and the Frenchman steps up to the door, the Spanish hoards are poured forth, and that in the greatest abundance in the towns and districts most frequented by the English, and where the greatest apparent poverty prevails. What makes this unexampled scere of cullibility and wretchedness in En gland, and duplicity and desolation in Spain, the more melancholy, is, that there is not the smallest chance of its ever ending, as long as we have a shilling left to expend on the material of war or prosely

tism, a power remaining willing to take a subsidy or subscription, receive a missionary or a bible: for, although the greatest monarch on earth has been compelled by our frantic conduct to make it death to introduce a bible into his dominions, and the continental war no longer presents to us any thing but swift and sure destruction, the rage for military glory and religi ous adventure abroad appears to increase upon us every hour, and the dæmons of intolerance and persecution at home seem every moment ready to break loose and scatter the firebrands of discord and desolation among ourselves."

Sir H. Halford's account of the uncovering the Body of King Charles the First.

These

"On removing the pall, a plain leaden coffin, with no appearance of ever having been enclosed in wood, and bearing an inscription, "King Charles, 1648," in large legible characters, on a scroll of lead encircling it, immediately presented itself to the view. A square opening was then made in the upper part of the lid, of such dimensions as to admit a clear insight into its contents. were, an internal wooden coffin, very much decayed, and the Body, carefully wrapped in cere-cloth, into the folds of which a quantity of unctuous or greasy matter, mixed with resin, as it seemed, had been melted, so as to exclude, as effectually as possible, the external air. The coffin was completely full; and, from the tenacity of the cere-cloth, great difficulty was experienced in detaching it successfully from the parts which it enveloped. Wherever the unctuous matter had insinuated itself, the separation of the cere-cloth was easy; and when it came off, a correct impression of the features to

which it had been applied was observed in the unctuous substance. At length, the whole face was disengaged from its covering. The complexion of the skin of it was dark and discoloured. The forehead and temples had lost little or nothing of their muscular substance; the cartilage of the nose was gone; but the left eye, in the first moment of exposure, was open and full, though it vanished almost immediately: and the pointed beard, SO characteristic of the period of the reign of King Charles, was perfect. The shape of the face was a long oval; many of the teeth remained; and the left ear, in consequence of the interposition of the unctuous matter between it and the cere-cloth, was found entire.

"When the head had been entirely disengaged from the attach.ments which confined it, it was found to be loose, and, without any difficulty, was taken up and held to view. It was quite wet, and gave a greenish red tinge to paper, and to linen which touched it. The back part of the scalp was entirely perfect, and had a remarkably fresh appearance; the pores of the skin being more distinct, as they usually are when soaked in moisture; and the tendons and ligaments of the peck were of considerable sub

The hair

stance and firmness. was thick at the back part of the head, and, in appearance, nearly black. A portion of it, which has since been cleaned and dried, is of a beautiful dark brown colour.That of the beard was a redder brown. On the back part of the head, it was more than an inch in length, and had probably been cut so short for the convenience of the executioner, or perhaps by the piety of friends soon after death, in order to furnish memorials of the unhap py King.

"On holding up the head, to examine the place of separation front the body, the muscles of the neck had evidently retracted themselves considerably; and the fourth cervical vetebra was found to be cut through its substance, trans versely, leaving the surfaces of the divided portions perfectly smooth and even, an appearance which could have been produced only by a heavy blow, inflicted with a very sharp instrument, and which furnished the last proof wanting to identify King Charles the First.

"After this examination of the head, which served every purpose in view, and without examining the body below the neck, it was immediately restored to its situation, the coffin was soldered up again, and the vault closed."

BIRTHS.

At Hanwell-Paddock, the Lady of the Rev. Dr. Bond, of a daughter.

The Lady of the Rev. R. Yates, of Chelsea College, of a daughter.

At Wrotham, Kent, the Lady of H. L. Spencer, Esq. of a son.

Mrs. W. Cannon, of Hast Hyde, St. Peter's, Herts, of a son and heir.

At Woodlands, Streatham, the Lady of S. Manning, Esq. of a daughter.

.At Pilgrim's Hatch, Essex, the Lady of Lieutenant-Colonel Cook, of a son.

At His Lordship's house, in Portman

square, the Right Hon. Countess Grey, of her eighth son and fourteenth child, thir teen of whom are living.

At His Lordship's house, in Bolton-row, the Right Hon. Lady Walpole, of a son.

At Brighton, the Lady of LieutenantColonel H. W. Rooke, 3d Guards, of a son.

Lady Catherine Forrester, youngest daughter to the Dowager Duchess of Rutland, safely delivered of a son, at her Grace's house in Sackville street.

On the 11th inst. the wife of Mr. H. Gardner, of Hermitage street, Wapping, of a son.