1606.] 



Slate of Public AJfairs in July. 



71 



or diiFcnt as to fuch enliftment in iefs 

 than twenty-four hours, and are to be 

 brou'^lit within four days. 



j\.i\A it enatts, that the aft fliall be in 

 fin-ce to the 25th of March, 180r ; and 

 in (iclaud, from 1 April, 1800, to 1 

 A)jril 1807. 



Tliis art is fubftantially, and in gene- 

 ral, an accommodation of the General 

 IMutiny Art refpe6ting land forces, to 

 niariues while on Ihore. 



The laft aft under this hea<l, 46 G. 3, 



c. 31, is 



" An Aft to continue until tlie ^oth Day of 

 March, 1807, an Aft made m tlie 44th 

 Year of his prefent Majefty*, lor einpow- 

 ering hii Majelly to accept tlie Services 

 of fucli Partsot' his Mihtia Forces in Ire- 

 land as might voluntarily offer thenifslves 

 to be employed in Great Britain."- 21 

 April, 1806. 



* C. 32. 



STATE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS, 



In Juli/y 1806. 



GREAT BRITAIN. 



A NEGOTIATION for pcftce, be- 

 tween this country and. France, has 

 been connnenced between Mr. Fox and 

 Prince Talleyrand, which has had confi- 

 derable effect on the funds both in Lon- 

 don and Paris. The people of En;;;land, 

 in general, view the negotiation with in- 

 difitrence, becaufe they do not, at the 

 prefent moment, expert concclfions from 

 the French Emperor, intoxicated as lie is 

 by his overthrow of tiie Po^vcrs on the 

 Continent ; and ooverning the ooean as 

 they do, they arc not [jrepaj'cd to make 

 concellions to him, whom tliey defpife 

 both from the manner in which lie ob- 

 tained his power, and the way in which 

 he has abufcd it. 



The liarl oi'Caledon has been appoint- 

 ed (Governor and Conmiander in Chief of 

 the Cape oi Good Hope, with its terri- 

 tories and dependencies. 



Captain Prowfe, of tlie Sinus, on the 

 17th of April defeated a Frencli convoy 

 oiT the Tiber, under eircumtlanccs which 

 add new laurels to our navy. He de- 

 fcnbes the action in the following terms : 

 " Srlui, Malta, 27 tb April. 



" Being fix or fcven league? to the Eait- 

 ward of Civita Vccchia, on the 17th inftant, 

 at two P. RI. I gair.cd intelHgence that a 

 French force was to have failed that morning 

 ■trom thence, and were ty proceed tj Naples. 

 1 crowded a prefs of fail in the fame direftion ; 

 and at a quarter paft lour they v«'ere feen from 

 the maftliead near fhore. On clofing with 

 them juft after fun-fet, I had the fatisfaflion 

 of feeing one fhip, three brigs (corvettes), 

 and five heavy gun-vefTcls, formed in compaft 

 order of battle, witiiin two leagues of the 

 mouth of the Tiber, and near a dangerous 

 fhoal, lying to, with refolution to av.ait our 

 attack. At feven, within piftol-.niut, com - 

 mrnced firing \Vith vigour ftom both fiaes, and 

 contiriu-.-d clofely engaged with the fquadrcn 

 lor two hours, when tiic Comniodore, in the 



fhip, hailed * he had furrendered.' His gd- 

 lant and determined refiftance, together with 

 the dangers of the iTiore, and crippled condi- 

 tion of his Majcfty's fhip, (the fmoothnefs of 

 the water admitting the enemy to ufe their 

 guns with the greatefl efteft) prevented me 

 from purfuing the remainder of the flotilla, 

 although feveral were much difabled, and 

 compelled, a ihort time before the fhip ftruck, 

 to ceale firing, and make off. Had it been 

 day-light, I have no doubt, from the firm 

 and gallant conduft evinced by the ofBcers 

 and iTiip's company, that we (hould have fud- 

 ceeded in capturing mere of the enemy's vef- 

 fels. I have deeply to lament the lofs of my 

 nephew, the only ofTicer, and eight feamen 

 and marines, killed in the above contelt, and 

 three officers and fevente?n feamen and marines 

 wounded, nine of whom are in a very danger- 

 ous ftate. The fhip captured is called La 

 Bergere ; mounts eighteen long twelve- 

 pounders, manned with one hundred and 

 eighty-nine men, and was commanded by Cha- 

 ney Duolvis, Captain of a frigate, and Com- 

 modore of the flotilla, and belonging to the 

 Legion of Honour. She is a remarkable fine 

 veffel, fails well, and is fit for his Majelty's 

 fervice. I beg particularly to recommend to 

 your Lord.*hip's notice Lieutenant William 

 Hepenftall, who was the fenior Lieutenant 

 in the aftions of the 'i'ld. July and iilft Octo- 

 ber, and who has been in the fhip nearly live 

 years, as an otficcr dcfcrvin^ of promotion. 

 The gallantry and good conduft of the other 

 officers and fhip's company likewife deferve 

 my warmefi: acknowledgments." 



On the 4th of May, about one A. M. 

 the boats of the Renommde and Nauti- 

 lus, under the direftion of Lieuteuaut 

 Sir William Parker, of the former Ihip, 

 gallantly boarded, carried, and brought 

 out fiora under the tire of the auns of the 

 town and Torre de V'ieja, near Cape Pa- 

 los, and alfo from under tlie lire of nijie 

 than one hundred mulkcteers, his Catho- 

 lic Majelly's fchooner Giganta, of nme 

 guns, vii. two twenty-four pouiid6rs, a:id 



three 



