protect it against the Americans. Gen. Jackson then issued a proclamation, saying, unless the British retired he would attack the place. When the British failed in their attack on Fort Mobile, they retired to Pensacola. Gen. Jackson followed them, having collected 3000 men for that purpose. In consequence of the approach of this force, the Seahorse frigate, with four sloops of war, left Pensacola with the British troops early in November. The ships arrived at Liverpool left Pensacola in haste with imperfect cargoes of cotton. They bring no account of any fighting, though it is probable some skirmishing took place, as the British had retired, and the loss of a few lives may have been exaggerated to 400. The Americans it is supposed will seize upon West Florida. New Orleans is said to be well fortified, and defended by 5000 Americans. The English force destined against it amounts to 10,000 men. The Halifax mails have brought us intelligence from thence to the 11th ult. from Washington to the 12th, and from Boston to the 21st Nov.; but the treaty of peace recently concluded has stripped it of its chief importance. It is already known that the Legislature of Massachusetts had called upon the New England and other States to send deputies to a meeting, to consult on the deplorable state to which they were reduced by the war-the refusal by the General Government to grant them protection and the exertions which they have made in their own defence. This call had been promptly answered, and Delegates had been actually appointed by Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire, to join the New England Convention on the 15th ult. at Hartford. The names of the Delegates from Connecticut are Goodrich, Hillhouse, Treadwell, Swift, Smith, Goddard, and Sherman. From Rhode Island, Messrs Hazard, Lyman, Marston, and Ward. The real object of the proposers of the Delegation was, it is believed, to consider on the most effectual means of separating from the Union. FRANCE. Of the public occurrences in France lately, that which appears to have excited most interest is the arrest and subsequent escape of a General Excelmans. The arrest of the General arose out of that of the English Earl of Oxford, mentioned in our last num. ber. Gen. Excelmans was Inspector-General of Cavalry, a friend of the King of Naples, to whom he had written, (erroneously, it is believed,) to say, that he had 16,000 troops at his service whenever he needed Jan. 1815. them, and which letter was found among Lord Oxford's papers. On this discovery, Dupont, the Minister at War, sent to him, to say that the King had seen the letterthat he had determined he should be tried by a Court-Martial; but in consideration of his services, he would order him to be put on half-pay, and retire to Bar-sur-Ornain.Dupont was shortly afterwards replaced as Minister at War by Marshal Soult, who reprimanded the General severely for the letter, forbade him to go to Court, and afwards putting him on half-pay, ordered him to repair to Bar-sur-Ornain, the place of his domicile. On his refusal, alledging that for twenty years he had no other residence than Paris, and that his wife was near the time of her delivery, he was put under arrest, and subjected to several restraints, preparatory to being conveyed to Soissons, and his intended trial by CourtMartial. The General having made his escape, petitioned the Chamber of Deputies, that himself, his wife, and family, might be placed under its protection. The ground of his petition was, that being on half-pay, and non-effective, he could not be considered otherwise than as a simple citizen. The Committee to whom the petition was referred, conceiving the General still amenable to military law, passed to the Order of the Day on his Petition. Mad. D'Excelman's petition, which was referred to Government, complains of a domiciliary visit, and improper conduct on the part of the gens d'armes, who made her rise in order to search the bed. Gen. Excelmans's affair has strongly engaged the feelings of the army; and has attracted the attention of thinking men, who do not approve of this revival of modified lettres de cachet. Soult has been bred in camps, where no restraint but force is known. He thinks little about civil authorities or political constitutions. His hand is described as being too strong; his touch too coarse; he squeezes and throttles the infant charter of French liberty, which requires to be embraced with the utmost gentleness, and to be directed with delicacy to its important objects. Another petition has been presented to the Chamber of Deputies, from state prisoners, confined by Bonaparte for 10, 12, and 15 years. One of the petitioners, Marshal de Camp Grissolles, after his acquittal by a special commission of being a Vendean, was first sent to the Temple, and then confined for seven years in the dungeon of Bicetre: he was treated like a furious maniac, bound hand and neck; and his cell fresh plastered, that he might, from the damp, contract discrders that should terminate his exist ence. The The Chamber of Deputies have voted a projet for the payment of the debts contracted by the King and Royal Family in foreign countries. The Duke of Tarentum has proposed a measure for indemnifying the emigrants, whose property had been sold, except the clergy; who, possessing only a life interest, the Marshal conceives stand on different grounds. The property taken from them is calculated at 300 millions of francs, the indemnity is to be 24 per cent. per annum, upon the capital confiscated; the annual interest of which will be 7,500,000 francs, about £.300,000 sterling. SPAIN. Accounts from some quarters in Spain, where the people feel themselves under no restraint in their correspondence, represent the situation of that country as most desperate, and approaching a crisis most alarming; the persecution of the disturbers of the public tranquillity, as they are called, continue with increased rigour, and it is even stated (but we trust on no good grounds) that such distinguished Spanish patriots as the Government are afraid to bring to a public trial, are disposed of privately. Three deputies of the Cortes, Antillon, Calutrava, and Canga Arguelles, are stated to have all recently died in prison by means of poison. THE CONGRESS. The latest intelligence from Vienna is to the 3d January. The accounts are as usual confused and contradictory. They in gen eral, however, agree in stating, that the fate of Saxony and Poland is decided; that the king of Prussia is to retain the former, and the Emperor of Russia the latter. One. report affirms, indeed, that these two sovereigns have declared their determination to support their respective claims by the sword if necessary; and this intention is in a great degree confirmed by the following proclamation to the Poles, issued at Warsaw by the Grand Duke Constantine, brother to the Emperor of Russia: "His Majesty the Emperor Alexander, your powerful protector, calls upon you. Assemble round your standards,―let your hands be armed for the defence of your country, for the maintenance of your political existence. While this august Monarch is occupied with the happiness which he designs for your country, shew that you are ready to support his generous endeavours with your blood. The same chiefs who for these 20 years have led you to the field of honour, will still shew you the way In Italy, it is said, that Genoa and her territories are to be definitively united to the dominions of the King of Sardinia, and that Poland is to be erected into a kingdom, under the Archduke Charles, who is to be united in marriage to the Archduchess Catharine of Russia. This latter rumour, however, is contradicted by the Grand Duke Constantine's proclamation, which announces, in plain terms, the resolution of Alexander to take possession of Poland in his own name. The two great parties in the Congress are said to be Russia and Prussia, Austria and England; and France sometimes sides with the one party and sometimes with the other. DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE. PROPERTY TAX. Meetings for the purpose of petitioning against the continuance of the Property Tax have become general throughout the United Kingdom. On the 29th December, the inhabitants of Westminster met in Palace Yard; when the High Bailiff' read the following letter from Sir Francis Burdett: "Malmsbury Manor, Dec. 28, 1814. "GENTLEMEN,-I am much disappointed at being prevented, by a heavy fall of snow, attending the Meeting of the Electors of Westminster, advertised for the 29th of December. I regret this the more, because I perceive, by the wording of the advertisement, that a large and enlightened view of the subject is intended to be taken; one worthy the city in which this meeting is to be held; not narrowed to the consideration only of an oppressive tax, but enlarged to a general view of that whole system of taxation; every stroke of which, like the cat-o'-nine-tails from the backs of our soldiers, brings blood; and which is not more galling in the mode and severity of its collection, than in its profligate, corrupt, and wasteful expenditure. In fact, the Income or Property Tax has no title to that pre-eminence in infamy it appears in public detestation to possess; nor is it a whit more arbitrary in its execution, cruel in its operation, ruinous in its consequences, or unconstitutional in its principles, than the excise, or many other summary, arbitrary, and unconstitutional jurisdictions, established by act of parliament, and rooting out the common law of the land; that law, which my Lord Coke truly says, is the best inheritance of the subject. Besides the torture of our soldiers, might add the brutal horrors of the impress, the inhospitable and tyrannical act against foreigners, with a long string of et cæteras, too numerous to insert here, and too palpable to be denied. The enlightened and patriotic electors of Westminster know full well, that these are only a few of the bitter fruits of that baneful tree, which nourisheth its roots in that hot-bed of corruption from whence it sprung, St Stephen's Chapel ; and though it has struck deep in that consecrated soil, we are instructed by the highest authority how to judge it, and by the same authority how to deal with it. That we may be able to deal with it accordingly, before the whole property of the country is absorbed by Government, before the nation is plunged into fresh wars against human liberty, and before the system of dragooning introduced during the last is irremovably established, is the fervent prayer of, Gentlemen, your ever grateful, sincere, and attached servant. "F. BURDETT." Mr Wishart, in addressing the meeting, said, that the termination of the war on the Continent had limited the duration of the Property Tax to April next. The Chancellor of the Exchequer was desirous of continuing this tax beyond the term in question; but the peace with America had removed all pretext for its continuance or renewal. He concluded with proposing a resolution to petition against the old or any new Income Tax, which was carried unanimously. Major Cartwright expatiated on the evils of imperfect Representation in Parliament, and said that Sir F. Burdett would bring forward a motion on the subject during the present Sessions. After voting thanks to Sir F. B. Mr Whitbread, and the High Bailiff, the meeting broke up. DEATH AND DISSECTION OF JOANNA We have declined noticing the many im. pious paragraphs which have appeared in the newspapers, respecting this celebrated character, till now that her scandalous imposture has been fully disclosed. The circumstances of her case are, that she blasphemously pretended to a supernatural conception, by which a second Messias was to be brought into the world, the fruit of her body. We shall not stain our columns with even a summary of the tricks practised by her. Suffice it to say, that the story she invented gained so great credit in the metropolis, and in many parts of England, that a sect under her patronage was likely to be established; and so persuaded were many of the truth of her story, that not only was she loaded with presents, but, even a cradle of the most costly materials was provided by one of her votaries, for the expected Shiloh, and a magnificent mansion for the prophetess (as she was stiled,) in order that her accouchement might even exceed the forms of royalty. Will our readers believe it! but it is a fact, that not a few of the first obstetrical practitioners in London visited and examined this woman; and while some of them insisted on the whole being a hoax, others, deemed equally skilful, did publish their belief in her pregnancy; and we believe, as the woman was upwards of sixty-five years of age, without human agency. The time however elapsed when the child should have been born, and this poor deluded or infatuated wretch, died on the 27th December. During the whole of Monday the 26th, it was evident to every person around her, that she could not exist many hours.Messrs. Wetherall, Adams, and Kent, were present when she breathed her last, as were Miss Townley, Ann Underwood the housekeeper, and Mr Smith, one of those she denominated her seven elect. The last words she was heard distinctly to utter were, "Oh England! England!" Her crazy disciples, however, asserted, that their prophetess was not dead. It seems, that, twenty years ago, she predicted that she would go into a trance, and they therefore persisted in considering her in that state, and were persuaded that the miraculous Shiloh would appear within four days. Friday following, being the fourth day from from the death of Joanna, and the day on which, according to her infatuated believers, she was to have risen again, many of her followers, in the vain hope of witnessing this miraculous event, assembled at an ear. ly hour in the house No. 38, Manchesterstreet, where she lay. Crowds of persons of all descriptions were likewise assembled in Manchester-street the whole day, while police-officers were stationed in different directions to preserve tranquillity. The hopes of her friends being at last frustrated, preparations were made to perform the operation which she had herself directed, namely, to dissect her remains. The body having been placed upon a table, Mr Reece and Mr Mant proceeded to the performance of their disgusting, but required task. The result of this examination, the minute particulars of which we are bound to suppress, were these-First, that there was no Shiloh; next, that there was no disease of the uterine organs, as imagined by Dr Sims ;thirdly, that the womb, instead of being enlarged, was remarkably small and reduced, as might be expected in an unmarried female of 65. The intestines were much distended by flatulency, and hence that protuberance, which led to the conclusion of pregnancy. The omentum (which in animals is called the caul,) was loaded with fat, and a very considerable quantity of calculi, or stones, were found in the gall bladder. Reports having been circulated as to the former pregnancy of the subject, a particular examination took place for the purpose of deciding that point, but from all that appeared there was no foundation for such an assertion. Another report existed, that her death had been occasioned by poison, and the coroner had expressed his determination to summon a jury to enquire into that fact. To prevent this unnecessary proceeding, the medical gentlemen present signed a certificate, stating, that her dissolution was produced by natural causes. IRELAND. RIOTS IN THE DUBLIN THEATRE. On the 16th Dec. a serious riot took place in Crow-street theatre, Dublin. A piece had been advertised in the bills called, "the Dog of Montargis," in which a dog is one of the most interesting performers. By reason of some difference between Mr Jones, the manager of the theatre, and a person On who was proprietor of the dog, the piece could not be acted, and another was substituted, without, as the audience conceived, a sufficient apology being made. The consequence was a dreadful uproar, in which much damage was done to the theatre. It was closed on the 17th to repair the injury sustained the preceding night. On the 18th the performances passed without much interruption, but several persons were arrested in the box lobby as principals in the former disturbance. On Monday night the 19th, the police magistrates, at the request of Jones, the patentee, ordered a company of soldiers into the house, a proceeding highly blamed by Lord Whitworth, who conceiving the civil power equal to quelling the tumult, and that lives might be lost, ordered the soldiers to be withdrawn. Tuesday night the uproar was tremendous -every chandelier supplied for the third time was broken to pieces: in all the boxes in the three tiers, the pannels were wrenched out and flung into the pit; the seats were then torn up and shared the fate of the gilded fronts. The orchestra was destroyed; as were the violins, and even the grand piano-forte was broken. During this time the Lord Mayor and the Sheriff's vainly attempted to stop the ruin which was going on. They were heard with respect, but the cry which followed was Jones! Jones! an apology from Jones! nothing but an apology from Jones!" At length the interior of the theatre having been reduced to a mass of ruins, the rioters dispersed.Next morning, Wednesday, the Lord May. or and Sheriff's waited on the Lord Lieutenant, with whom they had a long conference. On this occasion his Excellency said: "the Manager and the public are at issue. Let them settle the point between them, as quickly and satisfactorily as they can; but I will not suffer the feelings of his Majesty's subjects to be outraged, or their lives endangered, by the introduction of a military force into a public theatre." This serious mischief arose, it is said, from Mr Jones refusing to grant the proprietor of the dog a free admission to the theatre for life, which he says was all the compensation he asked for the services of his dog. Mr Jones has in consequence been forced to resign his management, and will also dispose of his share in the theatre. It was speedily repaired, and was re-opened on the 28th, when every thing went off with good order and regularity. SCOT 69 Scottish Chronicle. HIGH COURT OF JUSTICIARY. THE Court met on the 26th of Decem ber for the trial of Alexander M'Gregor, calico-printer and innkeeper in Anderston; Dugald M'Pherson, calico-printer at Parkholm; John M'Aulay, calico-printer at Anderston; and John Dichmont, calico-printer at Kincaid printfield, accused of illegal combination or conspiracy to raise their wages. The pannels had been admitted to bail, but upon the diet being called, none of them appeared, consequently sentence of outlawry was pronounced against them, and their bail-bond forfeited. It was mentioned from the Bench to the Lord Advocate, that the Court hoped every exertion would be made by his Lordship to apprehend these persons, if skulking within Scotland, in order that they might be brought to justice; that from the complexion of the indictment and declarations of the prisoners, this appeared to be one of the most atrocious cases of combination that ever came before the Court, being more a case of sedition than combination, and in fact one attempt made by the journeymen calico printers in the three kingdoms, to form a sort of parliament of their own, and by that means to dictate the price of labour. SPECULATIVE SOCIETY. On Saturday the 17th of December, there was held at Fortune's, a general meeting of the members of the Speculative Society. The object of it was, to celebrate the completion of the fiftieth year since the date of the origin of the Institution. The meeting was very numerous, consisting of nearly eighty members, some of whom had come from a distance for the purpose of being present. Among other distinguished and well known characters, there were Principal Baird (the Chairman) Dr Gregory (the Croupier) Lord Gillies, Lord Alloway, Mr Baron Adam, Sir George Clerk, Bart. M. P. Francis Horner, Esq. M. P. William Douglas, Esq. M. P. John Bruce, Esq. John Clerk, Esq. Professor Playfair, Reverend Dr William Ritchie, Dr Duncan, senior, Reverend Dr Lockhart, of Glasgow, Walter Scott, Esq. Francis Jeffrey, Esq. Professor Thomson, Professor Christison, John A. Murray, Esq. Henry Cockburn, Esq. Professor Russell, Dr Duncan, jun. James Moncreiff, Esq. H. Home Drummond, Esq. James Fergusson, Esq. James Ker, Esq. James Bonar, Esq. Gilbert Hutcheson, Esq. &c. &c. After dinner "Non Nobis Domine" was admirably sung by Messrs Lees, Swift, Gale, and Templeton; the songs, and the tunes by Mr Gow, were well selected, and sometimes humorously appropriate. We insert a few of the toasts: The King-Tune," God save the King." The Prince Regent-Tune, "Of a noble race was Shenkin." The Army and Navy-Song, "Ye Mariners of England." The Speculative Society, and the occasion of the present meeting-Tune and Song, "Auld Lang Syne." May the Talents of the Members of the Speculative Society be always found Supporting the Religion, Laws, and Liberty of their Country.-Song, "Awake, Eolian Lyre, Awake." Mr John Bruce, one of the founders of the Society, the only original member pre |