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LAW INTELLIGENCE. COURT OF KINGS BENCH, Frtruary 11. CRIMINAL INFORMATION. “Mr. Harrow said that he vas instructed to epply to the court for leave to file a criminal information for a libel. He made this mo tion on be half of Marquis W llcsiy, who lot a considerable time, having filled the dis tins,■ ii-lit;rt office of go\< rnorof India, returned to England, expecting to ivccive the unnani inous approbation of his country, lie had not however, long arrived, v lien la- found persons, whom it would be a waste, of the time ot the court to name, who made his lordship the con stant subject of libels, but which he passed bv, reiving partly upon the insignificance of their authors, and partly upon his own exalted rhar v.r ix r. Os whate m i - import the speeches de livered during the contested elections .might be. lord Wr.ilt slrv had always left them unno ticed, thinking that they were delivered in a moment of irritation, lint there was a period when forbearance ( eased to be virtue, and when the honor of an individual rendered it necessa ry that the defamations should ho put an end to. That time was now arrived, and the Mar quis WcUesly came before their lordships to intreat. their interference. The libel complain ed of was published in a newspaper, as tke re port of a speech delivered at the Middlesex club, at the Crown and Anchor tavern. It is wholly unnecessary to state, whether such an address was or was not made, since the libel, as inserted in the newspaper, was not only an insult offered to the noble marquis, but also to tin character of the speaker, as the learned council was convinced that it could not have been uttered by a man of honor or respecta bility. The moderation shewn by lord We llcs iy, had, however, been attended with some bad consequences, for it had increased the broad of libellers, with which the metropolis was already over run; and as this was not the first, neither could it be the last prosecution to bring to justice those who made it their itiler < ,t to stain the unsullied character of others.— li the, newspaper above alluded to, Mr. Pauli v.'us represented to have returned thanks to the tret holders ot .Middlesex for the honor they ji td dona him; to have adverted to the cntlea- V ’ S he had made to bring to justice that great and : lfpicnt the marquis WcUesly. He said that hi; motive in prosecuting the impcach i, .it was not from private malice, but from ideas of public justice, in dragging forward a i son who was guilty of the most lavisshed profusion of the public money, and of a most w niton and atrocious murder perpetrated upon :.,i independent prince, who was forced irorn liis throne into a dungeon. The passage from the dungeon to the grave was not long, for he ww murdered by tlie marquis, and the bloodv robes was sent to the mother of the victim as proof of the commission of the crime. The leanr l counsel thought that the court would consider that the noble applicant was fullv au thorised in appearing before tluir lordships, and would grant the object sought by the mo tion, against the printer, publisher and proprie tors of the paper in question. Rule to skew cjute granted. liniTlSl! POHTT.n. Sir Vieary Ciibbs applied for a rule to shew cause why a criminal information should not he hied against the proprietor of a daily news paper, for the publication of a libel upon all the porter brewers of the metropolis. The inten tion of the paragraph was to represent that the potter drunk in this city, was compounded * iii ‘iiy of strong narcotic poisons, exceedingly destructive of the health of the inhabitants. Although the libel was of a very general na ture, without attaching itself upon particular . ulividuuls, yet it was in such a form, that the court would not hesitate in granting the infor nwioii, when they considered that it was capa ie of overthrowing the whole trade. It was Mated in the libel, that the chief ingredients composing London porter, were Opium .Soi.t ----v; w, or night-shade ; Datura or thorn apple; Cijnoglossum, or hounci’s-tongut ; ('■idicut Indieu* , Aux Vomica, and tobacco; and the publications attributed most of the ap poplexicsin Londctfitothe use of this beverage ; further, lest the dictum of the author should n t be suffii iently satisfactory, it stated, that Mich was the opinion of the most learned phy sicians. Sir Vieary Gibbs added, that his in ructions were, received from almost all the principal porter brewers of the metropolis, who nil deposed that their beer was never brewed with any of'the ingredients chained in the li bel, but solely with mult and hops. The learn ed counsel said he had likewise to make the same motion against five other newspapers. The court desired that one of the affidavits containing the denial above stated, should be rend, and likewise directed that an affidavit should be prepared, signed by the applicants, in which it should be stated, not only that the porter was brewed without containing unv of the poisonous ingredients, but also that it was not sold when compounded with them. Until this was done, a rule nisi to shew cause was granted. Princes* cf 1 Pdes —Arrangements, it irsaid, had been made fur the publication of the mi nutes of the proceedings before the commissi oners, including copies ot several letters irom n illustrious personage ; but. contrary to the •most earnest wish and pressing entreaties ol her royal highness, it has been determined, from motive* of state pokey, not to give pyWicu uou to the report—Ac ndo't p ,/, - . LONDON, February 23.’ It V7ps rumoured yesterday, that Austria had declared war against Trance, and that official advices of this important determination had been received by government. It would af ford us the highest satisfaction to he able to confirm so pleasing an article of intelligence; but we fear the Trench army in Poland is not yet so much reduced as to encourage the court of Vienna to assume a line of conduct which must end ina war of extermination with Trance, However pacifiic the disposition of the cabinet ol Vienna may be, it is impossible that Austria can enjoy the blessings ofpeacc one year long er. II the Russians prove victorious, she must makeacommon cause with them; should they unfortunately be worsted, she will have to light lor existence. The exertions making by the emperor of Russia for the vigorous prosecution of the war are every v.ay worthy the magnanimity of that monarch, and the immense extent and physical re: ourecs of the country over which ho rules. He has issued an order for the establishment of a militia for the defence of the country, in case ot necessity, over and above the, regular army. Os the 42 governments into wihich Russia is divided, 30 of the most populous and the most exposed lac. a bean ordered to cinlxi <U this militia without delay, according to a plan submitted to them. The number of men thus to be armed and equipped, is 612,000; and the other ten governments not enumerated arc to supply provisions, anus and ammunition, according to their means. Lc Courier privateer, of Dunkirk, captain Scgur, has retaken from the Lnglisli a llatn hurghese three-masted vessel, laden with up wards of eight hundred casks of wine, one hun dred and seventy-live pipes of brandy, and a quantity of dried fruit, syrup and corks. This vessel had bee n stopped and taken possession of by L’Amiable, English frigate, lit the en trance of the Kibe, and the commander had put on hoard her an English officer and six sailors, with a written order to take her as soon as possible into an English port; it was in this situation that the Kamburghcr, after beating about ill sea for forty days, was fallen in with and taken by Le Creole, who.carried her into 1 lushing on the 1 Jili ult. Tolmiarv ’2. Not only the regular men in r.l! the navy yards aie ordered to work double tides, but hesh gangs of carpenters arc sent to all the merchants’ yards; and great exertion is mak ing throughout the kingdom to equip for sea every kind ol ves r 1 calculated to carry troops. It is expected that attempts will lie made on various and distinct quarters in Trance, while the French have so great -an army in Prussia and Poland, and so many Prussian prisoners in Trance. The Trench troops which luid pass ed the Oder on the 22d of December last, amounted to 280,000 men. It is supposed, that madarnc Bonaparte's re turn to Paris is the forerunner of Bonaparte’s return ; but we hardly think he will quit War saw or Berlin immediately. lie is at present almost as much occupied w ith negotiations as with military preparations. Every litre and inducement has been thrown out to induce the king of Prussia to make a separate peace. On a sudden his tone’, with respect to that monarch and his beautiful queen, has changed. Wc find none ol that coarse and unmanly abuse, j which he indulged in the first moments of his triumph and his victory ; and our readers did not fail to remark the compliment paid to M. de Zastrow, the new Prussian minister for fo reign affairs. The mission of baron Vincent is supposed to relate to peace ; and it is added, that he has been directed by the court ot Vi enna to assume a tone of vigour and decision to state definitively, dint the emperor Francis saw the present state ot ins Polish subjects v ith just apprehensions ; and that nothing would so ofiectually tranquilisc the reciprocal fears of his majesty and his faithful subjects, as some proof of the emperor Napoleon's mode ration in acceding to the offered negotiation of his Prussian majesty. Upon this rumor, how ever, we must observe, that his Prussian ma jesty has pledged himself not to make peace but in concert with the emperor of Russia, who does not seem disposed at present to enter into any negotiation. * We. arc very sorry to sec, by accounts from Dublin, that an intention seems to be enter tained of presringme discussion of the Catho lic question again this session. V/hen the Ca tholic question was brought forward in 1805, we deprecated the discussion of it: we equally deprecate it now : and wc shall think it our duty to support the ministers in resisting every attempt that may be made to induce them to bring forward the Catholic question at pre sent. A gentleman deceased in Scotland lately, has bequeathed 12001. to be paid to the person who shall write and lay before the judges he has appointed, a treatise which shall by them be determined to have the most merit, upon the following subjects, as expressed in his will, viz. “ The evidence that there is a bf.ins. all powerful, wise and good, by whom every thing exists, and particularly to obviate difficulties regarding the wisdom and goodness of the deity ; and this, in the first place, from consi derations independent of written revelation ; and, in the second place, from the revelation of the Lorti Jesus ; and, from the whole, to point out the inferences most necessary for, and use ful to mankind.” The ministers of the established church of Aberdeen, the principals and professors of King’s and Mureschal’s colleges of Aberdeen, and the trustees of the testator are appointed to nominate and make choice of three of the judges. MILITARY AFFAIRS IN POLAND. There appears to be a considerable differ ence of opinion concerning tire battles lately fought between the Trench and Russian armies. The Trench Bulletins speak of a complete victory, and support their claim,by the capture of eighty pieces oi cannon, six thousand pris oners anti the field of battle. The Russians merely say, that tiiey heat back and defeated to Trench army of 50,000. This victory as it is claimed and called hv the Russians, was at Pultiisk, and general Benningscn does not pre tend, that he was opposed by more than 50,000 French troops. The French accounts say, that immediately after the battle ofPultusk, the united Russian armies were defeated at Gollv min—and other English accounts admit, that each of the armies amounted to 140,000. So that the battle alluded to in that account, could not be the same, concerning which, Benning sen admits that the Trench had 50,000, and no more. Bcnningsen’s army of 30,000, of Tolstoy of 20,000, were united at PuStusk. Even iftiiev dici beat back 50,000 Trench in their first onset, it does not afford cause for a triumph—Suit when these armies were afterwards united with Buxwoden’s, the whole force was from 170 to 130,000 men—the numbers of the French armies is not known, the English say, 140,000, as it is customary in London, to pub lish erroneous statements, concerning the French armies, it will not he believed, that they exceeded that number—the tame ac counts shew, that the Russian armies were but little, if any tiling short of 180,000. These armies have fought the French, wea ried with incessant and hard sevvices ; the Rus sians fresh, and as their friends pretend, anx ious for the combat. If this explanation he correct, or substantial ly so, what-chance will the Russians have in the next campaign, when the French armies will be reiafoiced, the men in fine spirits, the cavalry in good order, and their numbers equal to their enemies. It requires no foresight to determine that they will be beaten, destroyed, captured or dispersed, as was lately the fate of the Russians. The French troops alone arc adequate to the task, without estimating the services of at least 100,000 men from Ba varia, Wertemburg and other confederate states of the Rhine, or the volunteers es Po land, who in all probability will be still more numerous. It is the best policy of every politician, let his wishes -be what they may, to understand the truth. It is for this purpose only, that this explanation has been written. AY hen it i* seen, that the French head quarters are at Warsaw, that reinforcements daily arrive, that the Poles are in commotion, that a requisition is called out from France, and that the whole Russian forces have either retired from or failed to drive back 140,000 men, fatigued with severe duty, it cannot be believed that the same Russians will successfully oppose three or four times as many. FROM THE AURORA. The Russians appear desirous of diverting Bonaparte towards Turkey—it is not very im probable that lie may take the path pointed out by Catharine 11. thro’ Cherson, where she caused to he written, “This is the road to Byzantium.” From Warsaw to Cherson is about the same distance as from Warsaw to Amsterdam ; or about the same distance as from Paris to War saw—and, moreover, there is water carriage nearly the whole route. By the canal which unites the Bug with the Priepecz, which falls j into the Dneipter, and the Okinsky canal, which unites the Mcmel river with the Prie pecz, there is commodious carriage to the ca taracts on the Dneipter, at Ekaterinosiaw ; and the portage there w ould not be of such mo ment as to retard a numerous army. The grain and the black cattle of the Ukraine, be ing at the command of revolutionized Poland, there is great probability, that Bonaparte would prefer this short rout ; and if his army were required to cover a long line in front, the course of the Bog and Dneipter which run in nearly the same direction, and fall into the Euxine, would afford accommodation down their several streams, and vender it necessary to the Russian army to fight or abandon Mol davia, and Bessarabia, and even Budsiac Tarta ry, about which the British ministry made such formidable preparations a few years ago, on the question concerning Ockzakoff. Should Bonaparte pursue this course, with the same success that has hitherto attended him, the path to India would be open and un interrupted to him. The finest forests of ship timber on earth, are on the banks and neighbourhood of the Dneipter— masts, hemp, tar, tallow, oil, corn, are in abundance in that route. The French had agents who procured timber in that coun try ten years ago. The survey of the Euxine by the engineer Beauchamp was executed at that time, and many errors in the latitude and longitude on the drafts that pre-existed in old maps, were corrected at that time. It is only five days passage from Odessa, in the Euxine, at the mouth of the Dneiper, to Constantinople. Those who w ish to possess very accurate and interesting information on this subject should read Oddy’s work, now publishing by Mr. Humphreys of Philadelphia. Indeed it is impossible that the sagacity of the French statesmen should overlook such re sources for ships, colonies an and commerce. Bonaparte may there once more realise the •classic apologue of Jason mid the golden iloseo, auti re- .ore Colchis. COLONEL BL’RfL Richmond, (Virginia) March SI. Yesterday, the examination oi colonel Burs before chief justice Marshall, commenced at the Eagle tavern. It was conducted in private ; no person being admitted but the prisoner, the officers of the federal court, the council prosecuting and defending, and the witnesses. The curiosity of the public was very* much awakened, and vast anxiety for admission to this secret was displayed bv multitudes, who were nevertheless disappointed. The reasons of this extraordinary mode of proceeding, are variously represented. Some say, that the chief justice consulted the counsel, both for and against the prisoner, as to their wishes, with regard to the place of examination ; in forming them, that it should either at the Cap itol, or the Eagle tavern, as they might choose ; and, that they preferred the latter. Others report, that tiie examination was secret, for the purpose of preventing persons, who might be on the venire on his trial, from previously making up their minds on the subject. But we humbly conceive no good reason can be given for introducing in a free country, a prac tice so similai to that of the holy inquisition in Spain. On this.day, wc are informed, that the investigation is to be publicly continued, or renewed at the capitol, and that the counsel on Ixjih sides, are to argue tlie case. Mr. Rod* nev, the Attorney-General of the U. States, and Mr. Hay, arc to conduct the prosecution, and Messrs. Randolph and Wickham are em ployed for col. Burr.— fir. Argus. COMMUNICATION. This day, between the hours of twelve and one o’clock, the examination of colonel Burr commenced at the Eagle tavern, in this city, before chief justice Marshall. A large number of citizens hud collected, in order to hear the investigation ; but to the great stir prise of many of them, colonel Burr, attend* ed by his counsel, was conducted to a private room, in a retired part of the house, and the doors immediately closed. Mono were ad mitted into the room, but the counsel fer the United States, and colonel Burr, except one witness, and two or three gentlemen, the con nexions of some of the counsel. Considerable discontent was expressed by many of the citi zens at this unusual mode of proceeding; but with that decorum which characterises thes people of Virginia, no violence of any kind was offered ; nor was any thing heard but mur murs of disapprobation. The result of this enquiry was, that colonel Burr was recognized in the sum of five thousand dollars, to appear to-morrow at the Capitol, to be further dealt with, as the law directs. He had no difficulty in procuring bail, for the sum demanded. Messrs. John Gamble and Thomas Taylor, merchants of this place, were admitted to his bail. It is expected, that an animated discussiom will take place to-morrow. Richmond , March 30, 1807. Georgetown, (S. C.) April 4. We are informed that the rumour, stated i* our last paper, of an express from colonci Burr having passed through this place, for the'pur pose of taking on certain papers supposed to be in the possession of his daughter, which would substantiate the charges made by colo nel Burr against Wilkinson, is incorrect. No express has been sent on, nor are there any papers of colonel Burr’s in the possession of Mrs. Alston. jCo the Printer of the G corgetoxvn Gnzette. Sir—Passing through this pisce, on my way to the Federal City, I happened to take up one of your newspapers, and was astonished by the absurd and notorious falsehoods which Mr- Perkins has introduced into his account, of what he terms, the arrest of colonel Burr. I travelled with the colonel from Natchez, was with him till within half an hour of his illegal seizure, and had just then separated from him with an intention of rejoining him in a few hours. lam able therefore, to contradict the above falehoocls from my own knowledge, and being able, I feel it an act of justice to do so. Colonci Burr was neither in disguise, nor vai he going to the Spaniards. His dress was as usual, except that he had on a pair of coarse overhalls, to preserve his pantaloons from be ing soiled. He rode on one of the best geld ings in the western country ; he was in the high road to Carson’s ferry, on the Tombrgby river, which is the direct and only road through Georgia, fcc. to the federal city, to which place he was proceeding, and was accompanied by- Mr. Brightweil, the she rift’ of Washington county, in the Mississippi Territory, whom lie had engaged to pilot him as far as the ferry* where he intended to wait the arrival of bis servants and baggage, who were at some dis tance behind. It was in this situation he was stopped bv Mr. Perkins and lieutenant Gains, with eight or ten men, without the colour of any civil process whatever, and forceably hur ried on a journey of more than a thousand miles ; those who had seized him carefully avoided every town and village, least their con duct might be examined into by some judicial power. When colonel Burr voluntarily surrendered himself at the mouth of the Bayou Pierre, ho entered into recognizance, himself in the sum of two thousand dollars, and two sureties in the like sum, to appear before the District Court, which was to be held shortly afterwards, to an swer to any bills that might be found against him. He did appear, ar.d the grand jury found no bills against him. The colonci then de manded a release from his recognizance, which the court refused. Knowing the refusal to bv