view to the welfare of the princess Charlotte, and the important interests of the state, the intercourse between the princess of Wales and the princess Charlotte, should still be subject to regulation and restraint. Feb. 20. The Lord Mayor of Dublin arrived in London, entrusted with a petition from that city against the claims of the Catholics. SHERIFFS APPOINTED FOR THE YEAR 1813. Bedfordshire, Richard Parks, esq. WALES. Anglesea, J. H. Hampton, esq. Brecknockshire, E. Thomas, esq. Cardiganshire, R. Richards, esq. Caermarthenshire, T. Phillips, esq. Caernarvonshire, J. Griffith, esq. Denbighshire, T. Griffith, esq. Flintshire, C. B. T. Roper, esq. Glamorganshire, W. Jones, esq. Merionethshire, T. Edwards, esq. Montgomeryshire, R. Leake, esq. Pembrokeshire, G. G. Vaughan, esq. Radnorshire, D. Read, esq. Feb. 22. A bill, after much discussion and considerable opposition, passed the House of Commons, for appointing a Vice Chancellor, to assist the lord Chancellor ; it passed into a law, and Sir Thomas Plumer was appointed to fill the situation. March 1. The princess of Wales addressed a letter to the Speaker of the House, desiring the Parliament fully to investigate her conduct during her residence in this country; that she might either be proved guilty, or treated as innocent; she required the Speaker to communicate the letter to the House of Commons. March 3. A treaty of amity and subsidy was signed between Great Britain and Sweden; by this treaty, Great Britain agreed, by naval co-operation, to assist the Swedes in obtaining possession of Norway; and ceded to that power the island of Guadaloupe; Sweden to furnish 30,000 troops on receiving a subsidy of one million sterling. March 5. Henry White, editor of the "Independent Whig,' was tried for a gross and scandalous libel inserted in that paper, on the character of the duke of Cumberland; the jury found him guilty, and he was sentenced to be imprisoned fifteen months, and pay a fine of 2001. March 7. A part of the gallery in the church of Roskeen, in the north of Scotland, giving way with a sudden crash, the congregation being greatly alarmed, made a violent rush to escape, by which two females were trampled to death, and a great many other persons dreadfully bruised. March 10. The Russian troops entered Wilna, having taken, in and before that place, from the French, eight generals, 398 officers, 24,330 privates, 385 pieces of cannon, two colours, one eagle, and the whole of their magazines. March 17. Mr. Whitbread presented petition from Sir John and lady Douglas, stating, that they were ready, and desirous, to re-swear to the facts respecting the princess of Wales before a competent tribunal, so as to subject themselves to the penalties of perjury, in case their statement was proved false. Mr. Cochrane Johnstone and Mr. Whitbread, made several motions in the House of Commons, relative to the princess of Wales, in consequence of her letter to the Speaker, tending to bring the whole of the affair of 1806 again into discussion; but the House did not support the propositions considering no public good could result therefrom; and that the Princess was fully acquitted by the minutes of the privy council, of the only charge which could render it a case for Parliamentary interference. March 18. Sir Everard Home published a declaration of facts relative to Sellis, the suicide, in complete refutation of the slanderous reports circulated against the duke of Cumberland. March 20. The hulk of the Captain, man of war, of 74 guns, took fire at Plymouth, when, to prevent her getting among the other ships, by burning her cables, she was sunk by discharging great guns at her. March 21. A shock of an earthquake was very sensibly felt at Exmouth, Sidmouth, and other places along the coast; no damage was sustained. March 23. Her royal highness Augusta, duchess of Brunswick, died, aged 76; she was mother of the princess of Wales. March 27. The monument erected by the corporation of London, to the memory of Mr. Pitt, was opened for public inspection; the inscription is by Mr. Canning. March 30. A destructive fire broke out in the premises of Messrs. Green and Co. at Manchester, which destroyed them, and also the premises of Aspenwall and Co. and several adjoining warehouses; the damage was estimated at 50,000. March 31. The remains of the late duchess of Brunswick were interred in St. George's chapel, Windsor, with great funeral ceremony. April 2. The French general Morand was defeated and killed at Luneburgh, on the left bank of the Elbe, by the united Russians and Prussians. April. 3. The whale fishing ship, Oscar, was wrecked near Short Ness, on the coast of Scotland; and out of a crew of 43 persons only two were saved. April 4. A fire broke out in the large house, six stories high, in Skinner's-street, called the "Commercial Hall," the capital prize in the city of London lottery, valued at 25,000l.; it burnt so rapidly, that in less than two hours the whole building was a heap of ruins; more than 20 different persons inhabited various parts of the house, whose property was nearly all destroyed. April 5. Sir S. Romilly moved the commitment of a bill to take away the corruption of blood as a consequence of attainder of treason or felony; the bill was lost, as was also another bill, brought in by Sir S. for altering the punishment in cases of conviction for high treason. April 12. A detachment from the American army under general Harrison, captured the fortress of Mobile, in West Florida. April 13. Lieut. general Sir John Murray, with the allied British and Spanish troops, defeated marshal Suchet, near Castella, with the loss, on the part of the French, of 8000 killed and wounded. April 14. The wall of Mr. Barton's flour warehouse on the London-road, Liverpool, fell down in the night; the persons in the house, viz. Mr. and Mrs. Barton and her daughter, were precipitated into the cellar; Mr. Barton was dug out lifeless, and his daughter much bruised, but Mrs. B. escaped with slight hurt. April 16. Thorn surrendered to the Russians, and Spandau on the 18th. April 17. The livery of London presented an address to the princess of Wales, congratulating her Royal Highness on her happy escape from the conspiracy aimed against her honour and her life. Napoleon left Paris, and arrived at Mentz on the 20th; the French army consisted of nearly twelve corps, besides the Imperial guard; the viceroy of Italy was appointed second in command, and Berthier chief of the staff. April 20. A fire broke out on the quay at Poole, which destroyed the customhouse, a public house, and a whole range of buildings contiguous. April 21. The villa at Beaconsfield, formerly the residence of Edmund Burke, esq., and lately of Mr. Dupre, was entirely consumed by fire; the damage done was estimated at 30,000. April 23. Died, Nicholas Schiavonetta, an engraver of considerable eminence. April 27. The town of York, the capital of Upper Canada, seated on lake Ontario, was captured by the American troops under general Dearboru, assisted by a flotilla commanded by commodore Chauncey. April 28. The remains of king Charles the First were discovered in the vault of Henry the VIIIth. at Windsor, inclosed in a plain leaden coffin, bearing an inscription," King Charles, 1648." Sir Thomas Plumer appointed vice chancellor of England. Died, prince Kutusoff Smolensko, a very distinguished Russian general. Marshal Ney, who took the lead of the French army on the left, arrived in front of Erfurt on the Saale, and the intermediate corps were rapidly closing in; the allied armies of Russians and Prussians were concentrating in the neighbourhood of Leipsic; on the death of Kutusoff, the command of the Russian army devolved in Somerset-street, Portman-square, April 30. Mr. Grattan brought in his bill for the removal of the Catholic disabilities, and it was read a first time. May 2. The allied army of Russians and Prussians attacked the French army, occupying a strong position between Lutzen and Weissenfels, in Upper Saxony; the battle lasted till night put an end to it; the slaughter was dreadful on both sides, but differently stated by each party; the Allies admitted 10,000 killed and wounded, and the French allowed the same loss on their part, but stated the loss of the Allies at double; both claimed the victory, but the day after the battle the Allies retired. Killed, at the battle of Lutzen, his royal highness the prince of Mecklenburgh Strelitz, nephew to her Majesty queen Charlotte. May 4. The fraud practised by Anne Moore, of Tutbury, who pretended to live without bodily sustenance, was detected by a committee appointed to watch her; she signed a declaration, admitting the fraud, and that she had taken food occasionally for the last six years. May 5. A bill was brought into the House of Commons to remove certain penalties imposed upon persons denying the doctrine of the Trinity; which afterwards passed into a law. The vice chancellor of England took his seat, for the first time, in the court of Chancery. Brigadier general Proctor defeated the Americans at the Miamis, who lost, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, upwards of 1000 men. May 6. During a severe thunder storm which happened at Greenwich, part of the steeple of the church was struck, and fell into the church-yard; Stepney church also received some injury from the lightning. May S. Bonaparte established his head quarters at Dresden, the capital of Saxony; the king of Saxony joined bis army to that of the French emperor. May 13. Mr. Grattan's bill, with several amendments made in the committee, was read a second time in the House of Commons, and committed. May 21. The hon. Mrs. Gordon, in a fit of insanity, threw herself out of the first floor window in the house of her daughter, and The French army, commanded by Napoleon, made an attack on the Allies, who had taken up a position on the heights overhanging the Spree, with the centre of the front line at Bautzen, the capital of Upper Lusatia; the passage of the Spree was forced by the corps of Oudinot, Macdonald and Marmont, and a furious assault was made on the centre of the Allies, commanded by Miloradovitch, which he resisted with great steadiness; at length, after seven hours hard fighting, the numbers and impetuosity of the French so far prevailed, that the Allies were obliged to fall back to their second position at Hochkerchen. On the 21th another sanguinary conflict took place. At day-break Napoleon moved to the attack of the Allies in advance of Wurtchen and Hochkerchen; they were strongly posted on a chain of heights connected with the range of mountains separating Lusatia from Bohemia, which bounded them on their left, whilst their right terminated in a flat and woody country; the line of the Allies resisted in every other part, but the right flank, under Barclay de Tolly, being urged by a superior force, was obliged to change its position; and though supported by Blucher, Kleist, and D'Yorck, and recovering part of its ground, was at length so much outflanked, that at five in the evening the Allied army found it necessary to retreat. The loss of the French during these two days, was stated by themselves, at 11 or 12,000 killed and wounded; the duke of Friouli (Duroc) was among the former. The Allies claimed the capture of 3000 French prisoners, and twelve pieces of cannon; but the French statements gave a different result. May 24. The House of Commons having resolved itself into a committee on Mr. Grattan's bill, the Speaker protested against the admittance of Catholics into Parliament, the Privy Council, and the Judiciary bench; and concluded with moving, that the words" to sit and vote in either House of Parliament" in the first clause, be left out in this bill; after a long debate, a division took place, on which the votes were, for the clause 247, against it 251; majority for its rejection, 4; Mr. Ponsonby then said, that as the bill without this clause was neither worthy of the acceptance of the Catholics nor of the further support of the friends of concession, he would move that the Chairman do now leave the chair, which was carried without a division, and thus the bill was abandoned. May 26. The British army, commanded by lord Wellington, arrived at Salamanca, from its winter quarters, at Freynada. May 27. The Americans having collect ed a powerful force by land and water at the head of lake Ontario, effected a landing, under the command of general Dearborn, near Fort George, on the Niagara, and proceeded to attack the place, which, after a gallant resistance, was evacuated by the British garrison under colonel Vincent; the American army, estimated at nearly 10,000 men, pushed on towards Queen's Town. The Irish Roman Catholic prelates held a meeting in Dublin, when they unanimous ly declared, that the ecclesiastical clauses contained in the bill brought before Parliament, were utterly incompatible with the discipline of the Roman Catholic church, and with the free exercise of their religion, and that they could not, without incurring the guilt of schism, accede to such regulations. May 30. Hamburgh having been evacuated by the Allies under general Tettenborne, it was again occupied by the French under general Bruyere. May 31. Napoleon having advanced through Silesia towards the Oder, with no effectual opposition. established his headquarters at Newmarkt, not far from Breslau, the capital of Silesia, which was entered by Lauriston on the 1st of June. On Sunday evening, Thompson Bonar, esq. and his wife, were savagely murdered in their own house, at Chislehurst, in Kent, both were dreadfully mangled, and Mr. B. was found quite dead, and his wife just expiring, and incapable of speaking; suspicion fell upon their Irish footman, named Philip Nicholson, who confirmed it by cutting his throat, but not doing it effectually, he afterwards confessed the fact, but assigned no motive for the act; but said, it was an idea struck him when asleep, that he must kill his master and mistress, and that he accordingly jumped out of bed, and committed the murders with a poker. Sir William Garrow, knt., appointed attorney general and Robert Dallas, esq. solicitor general. June 1. Captain Broke, of his Majesty's frigate Shannon, attacked the United States frigate, Chesapeake, and captured her by boarding, in fifteen minutes; the enemy's frigate had heavier metal, and a larger compliment of men than the Shannon; the action was fought close to Boston lighthouse. June 2. Zamora and Toro surrendered to the allied British and Spanish army. June 4. An armistice was signed be tween the French and Allied armies, to last till the 20th of July; and six days notice to be given of the recommencement of hostilities; commissioners were ap pointed on both sides to endeavour to negotiate a peace. June 5. Colonels Vincent and Harvey, with the troops under their command, at tacked the American camp, near Burlington, in the night, when the enemy were completely surprised and routed, and the camp captured; two brigadier generals were taken prisoners. June S. An inquest was held on the body of Roger Brograve, esq. brother of Sir George Brograve, who put an end to his existence with a pistol; the jury returned a verdict of Insanity; losses in gambling was the presumed cause of the rash act. June 12. Sir John Murray, who had been entrusted with the siege of Tarragona, invested that place on the 3rd; but having information that marshal Suchet was advancing from Valencia, he resolved to raise the siege, and accordingly embarked his forces without effecting the object, leaving behind him several pieces of heavy ordnance. The right hon. lord viscount Whitworth appointed lord lieutenant of the kingdom of Ireland. Henry Dampier, esq. appointed one of the judges of the court of King's Bench. June 14. This, and the following days, the allied army under the command of the marquis of Wellington crossed the Ebro and marched towards Vittoria. A treaty was signed between Great Britain and Prussia for securing the independence of Europe. June 16. A convention was signed between Great Britain and Russia, to put a limit to the destructive projects of the French. June 21. The allied British, Spanish, and Portuguese armies, under the com mand of the marquis of Wellington, attacked the French army commanded by Joseph Bonaparte in person, with marshal Jourdan as major general, near Vittoria, and completely defeated them; forcing all their positions, and taking 151 pieces of cannon, 415 ammunition waggons, and all their baggage, &c., and a considerable number of prisoners; the enemy were pursued to Pamplona. June 25. The British, under Sir Thomas Graham, made an attack on St. Sebastian, but were repulsed with loss. June 30. Died, at Paris, the Abbé de Lille, author of several esteemed poems, both original and translated. - July 1. Died, in his 69th year, William Huntington, who called himself "S.S." (sinner saved,) a celebrated preacher among the dissenters, who built a chapel for him in Gray's-inn-lane. July 2. The Dædalus, frigate, captain Maxwell, was wrecked near the island of Ceylon; the crew and part of the cargo were saved. July 3. Admiral Freemantle, with a squadron under his command, took the town of Fiume, in the gulph of Venice, by storm, and captured 90 vessels of different descriptions in the harbour. July 4. On this day, and on the 5th and 7th, the three divisions of the centre of the French army, which remained in the valley of Bastan, were successively dislodged from their strong positions by Sir R. Hill, and were obliged to retreat into France. July 5. The Lord Mayor, accompanied by the aldermen and sheriffs, went in state from Guildhall to Whitecross-street, to lay the first stone of the new debtors' prison, for the city of London; and after the ceremony dined with the dukes of Kent and Sussex, at the Albion tavern, Aldersgate-street. July 6. Died, Granville Sharp, esq. in his 79th year, a gentleman distinguished for his philanthropy, and ardent love of liberty. July S. A fire broke out at the royal arsenal at Woolwich, which destroyed the white hemp store-house, and several thousand pounds worth of hemp and oakum; by the assistance of 1000 artillery-men, the fire was prevented from extending farther. July 13. The court of common council of the city of London, voted their thanks to the marquis of Wellington and the troops under his command, at the battle of Vittoria; and resolved, that a bust of his Lordship should be placed in the council chamber; the freedom of the city was voted to Sir R. Hill and Sir T. Graham, in gold boxes; and the freedom and an elegant sword to captain Broke of the Shannon. July 17. At Collingwood Main colliery, near North Shields, an explosion of fire damp took place, and killed eight men and wounded two others severely. July 20. A grand festival was given in Vauxhall gardens, in honour of the marquis of Wellington and his army; and in celebration of the victory at Vittoria; the duke of York acted as president, the dinner was in a range of covered buildings, with the addition of a temporary saloon; the gardens were graced with the attendance of the Royal Dukes, the foreign am VOL. II. bassadors, and several hundreds of foreigners of rank and nobility of both sexes; the illuminations and embellishments of the place were elegant and appropriate. July 22. Died, George Shaw, M.D. and F.R.S., keeper of the Natural History in the British Museum, author of "General Zoology." The prince Regent went in state to the House of Peers, and, after delivering a speech from the throne, prorogued the Parliament. July 24. A dreadful storm of thunder and lightning was experienced at Margate and its vicinity; a party, consisting of two ladies, a gentleman, and two little boys, were returning in a donkey chaise from Ramsgate, and were overtaken by the storin at Chapel-hill, they sought shelter under the porch of a house there, leaving the asses in the road; the donkey drivers fearing the animals might run away, went to see if they were safe, when a flash of lightning struck one of the boys dead and threw the other down; three of the asses were killed by the same flash; the other boy recovered, though the electric fluid made a large hole on the left arm of his jacket, and his shirt was burnt resembling tinder. July 25. The marquis of Wellington, after a series of actions with the French army, under marshal Soult, in the neighbourhood of the Pyrenees, in which the French lost 15,000 men, including 4000 prisoners, succeeded in driving the enemy beyond the Spanish frontiers; the Allied army lost upwards of 6000 men. July 27. His imperial majesty Alexander, emperor of Russia, was elected a knight of the Garter; the number being complete, a statute was passed for the express purpose of the election. July 28. The prince Regent visited the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, at their splendid edifice in Lincoln's-innfields; he was attended by Sir Everard Home, Sir William Blizard, and the governors of the college.. As Mr. Robert Nelson, brother to the secretary to the navy board, with his son, were returning from Somerset-place to his residence at Deptford, by water, the boat swamped going under London bridge, when Mr. N. his son, and a waterman were drowned. Died, the right rev. John Randolph, lord bishop of London, aged 64. July 30. The fort of Saragossa surrendered to general Mina. At the Regent's canal, near Chalk 41 |