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LAW CASE.
From the Public Advertiser .
The trial of the schooner Derne,
Alexander Thompson master, taken
on the sth of July, 1308 by his Eri
tannic Majesty’s frigate Ethahon,
commanded by captain Fable, on her
homeward bound passage from Gua
daloupe to Baltimore, tried in Tortola,
on the 6th August, in the court of
vice-admiralty, by judge Robinson.
Capt. Thompson has politely fur
nished the editors with a copy of the
proceedings ot the court and the ar
guments, of the counsel for the captors
and claimant, but they are so volum
inous as to exclude them from publica
tion in a daily newspaper. We only
remark that the schooner appears to
have been condemned on mere suspi
cion, without the evidence of facts. —
The counsel embracing the opportu
nity of connecting the case with our
government, indulged the hatred and
•rancour against this country, far which
the advocates in the court of 1 or
tala, See. arc so celebrated, stigmatrs
ed our government in granting the late
permission to vessels m ballast; bold
ly asserting it to be a measure dictat
ed by France, in order to relieve the
distresses of her colonies —to the great
injsvy of his Britannic Majesty.
The following is the decision of
judge Robinson, after a deliberation
of days.
I havp given the case of the sch’r.
Derae, Thompson, master, the au
thorities cited, the arguments adduc
ed, and the evidence and documents
the‘best consideration in my, power.—
Three causes have been assigned on
the part of the captors, as implicating
the property in question, any one of
which being established they contend
is sufficient for the purpose of their
clients. First the vessel had been
‘dealing in navy bread and -salt provi
sions, articles contraband of war, with
The enemy at an enemy’s port ; next
that she had been employed in the
coasting trade and had been trading
from bay M ahon to Bassseterre, two
ports of the enemy in Guadaloupe,
contra; - , to.the instructions of January,
3303 ; and, lastly, that the vessel was
fried for war, had gone to the port o!
the enemy, continued there a consi
derable time in an imbiguous charac
ter, afterwards proceeded to another
port, took on board a cargo not proper
ly documented and was taken return
ing, having manifest intention of resist
ing the visitation and search of British
cruisers, when it could be done with
any probability of success, which is
a departure from neutrality and the as
sumption of a hostile character, that
will subject the whole property in
question belong to whom it may to
condemnation. With respect to the
provisions disposed of at Guadaloupe
said to be of a contraband nature, I
have already delivered my sentiments
that it can work no harm, being the
production of the country the vessel
belongs to. With regard to the coasc
i ig and trading between two ports of
tne enemy, that subject is peculiarly
circumstanced, as depending on a
seroon of indigo, of which no mention
is any where made but in a receipt
given at Bay Mahon from the former
mate and the present master, from the
tenor of which in the ordinary accep
t mee of things it is rather to be pre
sumed was on board then as has been
suggested; or, otherwise some order
for the delivery-of it which I conceive,
have accompanied the receipt and I
am inclined to think it not likely a mas
ter of a vcflel going to Guadaloupe,
would leave aseroon of indigo behind,
in a country where it would command
a price and with the proceeds of which
he might have profited by an adven
ture, * notwithstanding the embargo.
A seroon of indigo is no great bulk
and might have been secreteiy and
clandestinely introduced by the mate
without the pravity of the master in
the-first instance, and has probably by
him been since disposed of, and the
smallest trading in opposition to the
term , of the Instructions, I apprehend
would be fatal. Act if this couftie de
pended wholly on that transactions, as
tt appears to have been a business be
tween master and mate, and not with
the enemy with the privity of the mas
ter, I shall not think it such a trading
in the terms of the instruction as would
or ought to involve the present proper
ty in condemnation. The last cause
assigned however, to me is a weighty
and important one, accompanied with
the circumstances attending it. A
vessel called the Ohio, some months
past, is said to have carried a cargo
belonging to Mr. Lemuel Taylor, of
Baltimore, and a supercargo, Mr.
Holden, to Guadaloupe—have return
led in ballast as the present master
i says ; but the documents show that
| she returned with lOhhds. of sugar,
j That was not returning in ballast; cer
j tainly it was however but a line better.
| It does not appear that the present mas
! ter, Thompson, was privy to what
! she carried back ; he might and pro
j-hably was informed she had returned
jin ballast, and might so hate ex
: pressed himself. 1 cannot suppose he
j meant in that particular any imposition
on the court.
Mr. Taylor in one of the docu
ments, swears that he sent out the
j brig Eliza Ann to bring back the pro
meeds of the Ohio’s cargo, and we heat
-nothing of the Eliza Ann but what
appears in Holden’s account of a ba
lance due-him on her cargo. It is
contended that the Eliza Ann, carried
nothing back but the returns for tht
cargo she carried out. This rests
wholly on the suggestion of counsel.
Then follows the present vessel, tht
Herne, on the first Voyage, armed and
equipped for war, with -25 men, 4 :
carriage guns, pikes and small arms.
A vessel having a most formidable
appearance, and apparently a fast sail
er, originally destined for Voint Pe
tre, but who appears to have stolen
into Bay Mahon. 1 say stolen, be
cause a vessel appearing in sight, it
seems, to have thought most advisea
b!e to put in there than to proceed 0.,
her original destination. This, in m\
apprehension, implies a consciousness
of something that would not bear m
vestigation. She has no notarial dc
parting from Mr. Taylor, as the Eliza
Ann had, of going for the return of the
Ohio’s cargo. Mr. Taylor appears
to have thought something of the
kind necessary for the Eliza Ann, and
in my mind something like it would
nave been mere prudent and necessa
ry for the Derne. .On the contrary,
the only document from Mr. Taylor
is the letter of instructions to the mas
ter, which is A ery general—has no al
lusion to the Ohio or Eliza Ann, but
directs the master to obey the orders
ol Mr. Holden ; or in case he should
have returned with his (Mr. Taylor’s)
property, then to take freight. ‘ I do
not observe in Mr. Holden’s letter,
any intention of returning from Gua
daloupe. The Derne continues at
Mahon about 20 days apparently do
ing nothing; afterwards proceeds to
Basseterre and takes in the present
cargo, with some additional hands.
Ihe motive for so doing mav have
been commendable, but the detention
of such a vessel must have been ex
pensive. _ The pretext that Holden
was loading a schooner and could not
attend to the Derne until the other was
full, strikes me to have been a flimsy
pretext. Inc Derne having at length
taken in her cargo—-sails—is disco
vered and chased—uses many endea
vors to esc; pe, which in an ordinary
case I would excuse ; but is at length
captured. The pretext for arming
was that war was expected between
America, England or France. That
it was such that she might defend her
self in either event, and yet she sails
so. a French island ; had she gone to
a neutral country it might have been
permitted. I apprehend a vessel so
circumstanced ought not to go to the
country of either power she appro-.
licnds w.;;’ with ; because the other
party in sv.zh case, in my judgment,
j l.r.s gcud cause to construe such con
i tbtet hiivit rind unneutral; and a man
-1 )ti of taking (should a war
. nc active and cceided part
against him, which the laws of war do
not in my apprehension, admit-
All circumstances combined, lead ,
me to conclude that the present ves- j
sel was sent out either for sale as a
cruizer, or to cruize against England;
that the parties must have had in con- j
templation war with England not
France; for, in the latter case, it would
he leading the vessel to certain con
demnation. lam also inclined to
think the court is not in possession!
of all the facts of this case, as tp what
was actually meditated with this. The!
cargo she had on beard could have 1
been no object, the number of men, I
conceive to have been more than was j
necessary for an ordinary trading ; j
and although true it is she was on the
return voyage, when whatever might
have been originally the design, is to
be considered as abandoned, to me it
may be sc, but I am not altogether sa
tisfied that it was wholly so ; on the
contrary, the conduct of the parties
seem to me such, that had they on the
return, met a vessel of inferior foi ce,
or such a vessel as could have been re
pulsed with a prospect of success, I
am di -.posed to think resistance would
have been made, and that the original
hostile purpose was still in existence.
The proper y of the cargo I am not
satisfied with. The usual affidavit
docs not accompany it. It would not
nave been conclusive certainly if it
had been ; and why depart from pre
vailing practices which can do no
nano ? The whole of this case, in my
judgment is so unfavorable to tht
claim int.rposed, as to induce tht
court to reject it, and decree condem
nation of the property in question in
the first instance, and I feel it my du
ty to do *o. The parties concerned, j
have it in their option to clear up this
mysterious business before a higher
and more enlightened tribunal, if they
think it adviseable so to do.
Sheriff’s Sales.
CONTINUED.
On the fir si IV EH DAY in Net), next
will he Jold, at the Court-hcuSe in the
city of Savannah between the hours of
ten and three o'clock,
One Negro Woman named CELIA,
And her two children named SARY
and TOM.
Levied ©n as ihe property of Thomas
Mill., to (atisly .a execution in favor of
Maurice Lrhiff. The above property
pointed out by rite p'aiatiff.
JOHN F.PPINGER, s. c. c.
Savannah, Qcfcber 7 ,53
* — *. .p ii. w ■■■!■■ nu
Executive Department Georgia,
Mitlcdgcvillc, iqth March, *Bcf.
On reference to c.ncuiredand ap.
j proved refuiution, on the 1 .tb •! Deccm
oer lafl—
ORDERED, That theaQentitled, M ar
a£i to ituei and amend the jo?b feftmn the
3 ! article of the Cunflitution,” be pub
lilhed once ans. nth for, for fix month*,
in the several GiZ-tte* ..f this Hate,
Alter), J\s. BOZEMAN, Sec’ry.
Au ad to alter and, amend the 10 ih seELon
*f the g.l ‘arlicle tj the Constitution,
W HEREAS, the laid noth lefet ion is ir
the words following, ; “ The Ginks of
the Superior and Interior Ceuns ihall he
appointed in fucri manner as the LcgiiL
turc may by law direst ; (halt be commi*.
stoned by theGovrrnor, and shall com in.
no in office during good behavior.”—Foi
remedy whereof—
BE it enabled by tke Senate and House of
Representatives 0/ the State of Georgia, m
General Assembly met, and by the authority
of the same. That the clerk* of the Supe
rior and Inferior Courts {ball be elefted
on the fame day as pointed out by law foi
the election of other county officers.
And be it further enabled, That as soon
as this bid (hail be passed by two thirds ol
doth branches of the next legiflalure, ana l
he approved of by the Governor it (ha! 1
b-rome a pan ol the Conflitutien f the
(Lt- of Georgia.
Benj, Whitaker, Speaker
of the Houle Rrprefentativcs.
D.vyin Bates, President
of the Senate pro tern,
A(lemed to 71b Dec. 1808.
JARED IRWIN, tivsrnir.
CHARLESTON, O&ober 93. ■
The Britifn fliip Richard, captain Greerimß
39 days from Liverpool, anchored off the
yesterday. Our reporter returned from
at a late hour last night, vrith regular fil e , fl
Englilh papers to the 19th September.
The molt important articles we find in W..-B
papers, are the details of the battles fought H
tween the BritiHi and French troops, near I B
bon. No official account of the furrendcrtiß
Junot had been received in London on the ](hß
of September, although the fait was {fated ;B
private advices. ■’
Os the operations of the Spanifli and Fi r ,tH
armies, we derive but little information.
French had evacuated Burgos, but learning ff.fl
general Blake was not nearer than A I
had re-occupied the place with a corp, 0 f
. men, but there is no doubt that they will r „,B
j cuate it as soon as general Blake’s army ,-.B
: proaches. The duke de Infantado and cohndß
I Doyle are gone to Madrid, in consequence,
is stated, of the difeovery of a plot in f av or u fl
the French. . The particulars of this plot sre l
iiot mentioned, but it is laid to have been of ~8
moil diabolical defeription. ■
It is Hated in the Dutch papers, tbit Jofephß
Bonaparte has arrived at Bayonne, and that | w ß
has left Madrid in consequence of his being a f,B
fli&ed with an infamatory fever ! S
The French to the number of from 7 to 80008
men, entered Bilboa on the I,sth Auguil, -.v, B
the loss of about 2000 men, from the- refilhiictß
they met with. The people of Bilboa feeingß
themielves without fuccauf, and almoll v.-hhoutß
arms, capitulated, in consideration, that they H
{hould receive no injury, either in their perfursß
or prnperty ; but the French troops, habituated H
to ferocity and licentuousnefs, when they ci.l
teredthe town plundered and set fire to it, inf I
killed several persons. As the ebjeft of then.l
pedition was not for the purpose of retain! 7 1
poiTefiion, but for plunder, they immediately I
evacuated the city, after completing their def-gu, I
A private letter from Holland {fate*, that theß
senate at Pam have presented an address to 1 :■ I
naparte, imploring him to withdraw his armieil
from Spain and Portugal. As the people of I
those countries have not sense enough to an end I
to his imperial maiefty’s benevolent coun tli, I
and to accept with gratitude, the amiable love. I
reign whop, in his wisdom, he recommeiKs,
they request his majesty to leave these frovvard
j people to themselves.
Account* from Copenhagen state, that
2509 Spaniards in Zealand, had revolted, but
were overcome by the French and Danes, and
imprisoned, though not before they had killed
several French officers.
Bernadotte, it appears, with 10,000 French
troops,, had contrived to pass over to the ldut'l
of Langeland, but a verv few days after it had
been evacuated by the Spanish force.
Marshal E rune is dead, and by his death ha
added to the black catalogue of the murdeu
committed by Bonaparte. Some fay he died of
pcifon, others that he was {hot, in the fame
1 way as the Duke D’Eaghien, by order of Bo*
! Eaparte.
Twelvethoufand more British troops are or.
! dered to Portugal under Generals Baird, Cran
ford and Fraser.
j An attack is mentioned upon the Neapolitas
[territory by Gen. Stuarts with 8000 Biiti-h
1 troops 8900 Sicilian, together withe 4-000 pe;-
fantry.
j Private letters from Holland, contain a copy
of the Decree issued by King Lcui3 for open*
I ing the Dutch ports. The following are the
! goods permitted to be exported from Holland.
J Batter, clicefe, Geneva, earthenware, rushes,
j Bower roots, tiles and pans, hoops, dried hides,
• cerr.brics, leather, plants, paper, pipes, fach#
faturni, ground bark, bricks, starch, tobacco,
tarras, ilax, fruit*, clover, garden and flower
feeds, madders.
Os the usual export, corn, fait, fresh hides,
and Wark, are the only articles prohibited.
This important change in the conduct of the
Dutch government is said to have taken place
j in consequence of the reprefenttitives of the tner
, chants, who had a meeting at Amiierdacn, to
j consider of the Hate of the country. At this
meeting a motion was made to present a memo
rial to hio Mtjefty King Louis, reprelenting the
absolute necessity there was for a revival of
Commerce An individual merchant had the
boldness to fay that a memorial was not the on
ly measure which the meeting fiiould adopt; hut
that they (hnuld support their claim by an un
animous declaration that it was their right, and
that they would maintain it. 7’he memorial was
unanimously agreed to, and the free fpeeth of
gentlemen, who talked *f enforcing their claims,
was not noticed.
A dreadful insurrection has taken place at
Copenhagen, in which the Grind Seignior fen
r a victim to popular rage ; his head was cut on
in his own palace and his body thrown into the
streets. It is added, that several of hi* children
had also been murdered, and thrown out of t.ie
w inclows of the Seraglia. Near 40,000 men
were in arms, and the most dreadful carnage
had taken place. Os the character of this e
vent we are not accurately informed, but it 18
supposed to be unfavorable to England, it () ‘
ginated in fome dispute among the Turki-a
Miniiters, of whom fome were zealous in their
exertion to maintain the French influence.
Marshal's Sales, continued.
On the first TUESDAY in Hovtmler n< ch
Will be fold at the Court-House in 3c. an:n
• I Three NEGROES Levied on as the vf’
iperty of Lewis G. Cuthbeft, at tae fmi
1 sepli Baker,
■j Ben. Wall, m. L- 6