Star. — London, England, 1803-04-22 00:00:00

AMERICA. Ntw Yoitz, MARCH 21.—Captain Jou wsow of i the brig Parley, from Cape Francois, informs us, that a 74 gun flip, a corvette, and four tranfports, having 2000 troops on board, arrived there on the ad, from Toulon, making the French force at the Cape 5600 effeetive men, and that a confiderable reinforcement was expeCted daily. Captain J. con firms the account in Baltimore of the attack on the Cape by the Negroes. General RocHAMBIAU ar rived at the Cape, from Port Republicain, on the ad. Intelligence was received on the 6th of March, from Aux Cayes, fkating, that the Mulattoes there in the pay of the French had revolted, and nearly exterminated the Whites. The General in Chia' immediately difpatched a body of troops to re !tore tranquillity. At Tortuda the Negroes had fucceeded in deftroying the hofpital, mairacreing the tick, and nearly the whole of the White inha bitants. A 74 gun fhip had been ordered from the Cape to reinforce the French troops already on that gland. The Parley failed in company with a Na tional brig, having on board a French Governor, or Prefeet, for New Orleans. TRANSLATION Of A LETTER 'ION TAR INARVIS DR CASA TRAPS, TO THE SECT/TART Or STAVE. " era, - - WaThington, March re, 0.03. " When you met:rented to me, towards the end of Novem ber left, that the port of New Orleans had been (hut againit the Citizens of the United States, without the alignment of any equivalent place of depofi: for their merchandise on the banks of the MOMppi, according to the ftipulation of the eed Article of the Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, between the King my matter, and the United States, I did not befttate to timbre to you, that I confidcred this failure as lowing folely from the mißaken zeal of tie Intendant of Lou inane' without the approbation, and even without the know ledge of my Court. I well knew the fincere dare of the King my matter to live in peace and good harmony with the United States, as I well knew the fctupulous good faith with which the Spanllh Government fulfils theenpgemads which it forms, particularly_ when they are founded on the folemnity of a Treaty. I have now Ike federation of informing you, that my firft opinion has been verified, and of declaring, in the molt , rather terms, that the proclamation of the Intendant is an ad! purely parotid, without the fandioa, and even without the knowledge of his Catholic Majelty. In reality, if the faid Proclamation had appeared here in an entire Rate, no doubt could have taken place u to the route of this proceeding. But the operative part thereof merely has circulated through the United States ; the preamble introducing it having been, pro. bably without defign, omitted. I have therefore the honour to communicate herewith an entire and corralt copy of the eforeraid Proclamation; and by the arrears I have underlined, it will be clearly fern that the arrangement is Wart* perfood, and has originated from the faculties which the Intendant fappored to be incident to his Radon. This alierdon is not founded merely on the obvious infe rences from there exprelSons. The Intendant himfelftechres it to me in the mon poiltive terms, In a letter of January 13, which I have juft received from him. and the Governor of the province conforms the fame thing with tike fame foimunity, in another letter of the fame dam. Neither the one nor the other difpute the right of the Citizens of the United States to a place of depofit se the Spend Denbo of the MilLffippi ; but the in tendant thinks that the term of three years, allowed fez the PorPole of NeM_Orleass, baying expired, and much prejudice to the royal interelts being experienced from its continuance in that city, it was Incumbent on him to (stipend the depoot there, without venturing to take, on hhafelf the afignment of another equivalent place. Not brcaufe he doubted the right of the In. liabitanu of the United States thereto, but becaufek appeared to him to be an aft exceeding his mithecity, and which he ought to leave to the Royal determination of our Sovereign..— The Ckmphor of Louillaaa Caw the fabled under a point of view mom marred in my judgment, and more favourable to the inhabitants of the United States. From ths7s7inore: it refdtatlirt the fufpenSon of the de polit not Wag as ail of my Coon, and no perfon ever dif• patios the tight of the Anemias Citizens in the ezfe, I mall now take upon myfelf to adopt morons which must enfure to the United States the enjoyment of all the rishu ftipulated in the tad article of the Treaty,on the arrival at New Orleans of the di/patches, which will be forwarded under this date." A private (loop is cruizing off Vera Cruz, and has taken a Spantils brig bound to Europe, having ioo,ooo dollars on board. &&&&& CT Of • LITTIR FROM WIW ORLt•111. RR- maven at PHILADII.IIIII, 1111111•11 , 15, 1803. 44 The intelligence communicated in your lan relative to New Orleans has furprifed us all, and what . has added not a little to our aftonifhment, is the manner in which Con&refs has taken up the bufinefs. Oa receiving this information, our hopes of redrefs and relief perifbed. We perceived a conduit of lamenefs and forbearance fubflituted for energy and decifion. Before any anfwer can pof fibly arrive from the Court of Spain, Louifiana will be in poffellion of the French, and we here fhall be obliged to fubmit peaceably to any halter they may impofe on our trade. If the Govern ment of the United States had authorifed a &recut on this place as a pledge for negociation, far from meeting with any refittance, I am inclined to be lieve, from prefent appearances, that they would have been joined and applauded by the principal part of the inhabitants, under the expeltation of &only avoiding a French Government, which is generally viewed with abhorrence." • &&&& CT OF • LITTIII TO • GENTLEMAN IN BALT.- MOM DATID SOUTH wasT rOlll T. 22D TM. 4 , We were informed 1411 evening, by a Gentle man of undoubted authority, that the port of New Orleans is again open to the Americans." A gentleman jug arrived at Philadelphia from Cape Francois has furniffied the following parti culars from that quarter : •• On the marring of the tBth of February, at four o'clock, A. M. the generale was beat. How ever, previous to chi>, General ROCI4AI4BEAU had inhumation of the defign of the Brigands, and had the National Guard aftembled to attack them, who had marched along the banks of the river leading from Haut de Cap to the Town, and got pailon of the Barrier de Boneid, and then made themfelves mailers uf Fort &lair. potting the few in it to death, burning part of the hofpital, and killing a few ock. At the fame time an attack was made on the mountain aback of the Cape, be tween the Toile and the Place d'Armes, within mulquer ihot of the houfes in the town. After an obßinate engagement for about an hour, they were routed from that place, and about nine were it riven ro m Fort &lair. In the two anions the Whites had about too killed and wounded. The Bri gands. who amounted to about t zoo, 101 l zoo." By the King William. arrived yeßerday, in a Omit palTage from the Bay of Honduras, we are info' Ted that the new Qwernor. Colonel Bait- Low arrived firm Englaad about a week before Ike "Wed; Caraia HOlll.llllO / the Coomeader of the brig, eontradids die Intern ation lately receiv ed from London of the Spaniards at that place hating prohibited the Englifh Font cutting maho gany, &c. in the Bay of Honduras. The Governor of Louiriana protelled againil the ad of the Spanifhlant in (hutting the port of New Orleans, and had fent off difpatches for Spain complaining of it. It was espeeed in the United States, that before an anfwer could be received from F.nrope, the difficulty would be removed, either by the refloration of the old place of depoilt, or the lubflitution of a new one. Letters from New Orleans, of the 17th Feb. (late, the arrival at that place of the baggage of the French Prefed, and of feveral of his officers. rARLIAMENTARr PROCEEDINGS. HOUSE OF LORDS, THURSDAY, APRIL at. Counfel were heard at confide able length relative to the Scotch Appeal, John Syme, as Truftec of the Creditors of John Ranaldfon, v. Mrs. Ann Ranaldfun Diction, and James Ra naldfon Diction, Fig. viz. Man. Adam and Clarke as Coon fel for the Appellant. The further hearing was adjourned till Monday neat. The various Bills before the Houk were forwarded in their refpectlve Rages. Markham's Divorce Bill was ordered to be read a fecond time on Thurfday next. The fecond reading of the Infolvent Debtor' Bill, which Rood for this day, was ordered to be poßponed till Friday fen • night. Some private bulinefs vras then ctifpo fed of; after whkit their Lordihips adjourned till to-morrow, when a CommiSon takes place for declaring the Royal Mimi to certain Bills. HOUSE OF COMMONS. Mr. S having taken the Chair at half plat three„aiter mut private and local bufinefi had been tranfaied, An EleCtion Petition was prefented from the Borough of ll chatter, which was referred for confideratlon to the fume day with the Petition already prefentcd from Paid Borough. A Meffage from the Lords intimated their Lortilltipe con currence in the amendments made by the Houk on theirLord iltips' amendments upon the Militia Officers' Bill. Sir WNI.SCOTT moved the Order of the Day for the (mond reading of the Clergy Refidenee Regulation Bill. Read ac cordingly. Mr. ALZIAND CR brought up the Report of the Bill on the kith Revenue and Expiring Laws, which was ordered to be read a third time to-morrow. - . A Mefage from the Lords informed the Honk that they had agreed to the American Commiffioners NIL The CNANCILLot of the Excit ca moved the Order of the Day, for the Houfe to refolve into Committee, in order to the confideration of that part of his dajefty's molt Gracious Speech to both Honfes, in November lalt, which relates to the accommodation of the mercantile interefts o6this realm. _ _ _ Read accordingly: and upon the qnellion that the " Speaker do now leave the Chair," General GASCOYNE role, and obferved, that after what had been lid by the Right Hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer, a few eveningsfince, that the Houfe fhould receive, in a very few days, a communication on the fubjea of the Negotiation now pending with France, and after the pledge given by an Hon. Friend of his (Mr. Patten) to bring forward a quellion upon the State of the Nation on Tuefday next, fhould no filch commu• nication be made, he did not confider it neceffary for him to oppofe the prefent motion, or to tref pafs at any length upon the attention of the Houfe with the obfervations he intended to have made on the prefent occafion, had not the promifes been made to which he alluded. Yet he did not confi. der the prefent occafion, an improper one for go ing into tome enquiry on the State of the Nation ;1 as it appeared to him, from a Paper now in his hand, and which had been pretty generally ciren. fated by the Lords of the Thafury, that the in tention of the Right Hon. Gentleman was not con fined merely to a confolidation of the duties upon the articles contained in the fchedule, but extended to a confiderable increafe upon many of thole du ties, and to the impofition of many duties entirely new. But whether the increafe of the old, or the impofition of new, it appeared clearly the inten tion of Minillers very confiderably to increafe the public revenue, with what views remained for ex planation. It was, he would admit, the unquef tionable privilege of the Crown to declare war or conclude peace ; but at was alfo the unquellionable privilege of Parliament to controul the exercife of that privilege, by withholding the Supplies; and when the Knifter of the country propofed to en. creak in any confiderable degree the public taxes, it was highly competent for the Houle to confider ' before they granted new taxes, and to enquire how the old bad been applied, and this could be heft done by going into an enquiry into the State of the Nation. He had, he laid, reafon to fuppofe that the prefent projea was to encreafe, as well as to confolidate the taxes, in a very material degree, upon lima articles ; and that the Minifter had in view an impoß of Three and a half per Cent. upon the Duties already payable, which would raife the duty on many articles to above Fifteen per Cent. He underhand 2161, that it was the intention of the Right Hon. Gentleman, to include under the prefent fchediale, the permanent continuance of ' the Tonnage Duties : but on this part of the fub- I jea, he would appeal to the candour of the Right Hon. Gentleman, whether it was decent to prefs forward on the confideration of the Houfe, in the abfence of an Honourable and Worthy Magiffrate not now in his place, (the Lord Mayor of London) a fubjea, the confideration of which that Hon. Magi it rate had frequently fignified his intention of bringing forward, and had only ponponed in de ference to the uncoiled fituation of the public of fairs ? He would alio appeal to the decorum ofthe Right Hon. Gentleman, whether it was proper or confiderate towards the mercantile interells of England, to propofe the perpetuation of the Ton nage Duties, which he himfclf profited, not long fine, to be a tax of experiment, without waiting fomewhat farther the refult of its operation, before be propofed to render it perpetual ? Another ob 'ica he underhood to be propofed by the Right Hon. Gentleman was, to raife Ways and Means for defraying the intereft of the expenses of the recent armaments. But before fuch a mestere was a adopted,it was pec c ry to give the Merchants time to confider the nature and probable operations of the Duties to be propofed, and to know whether they were in a contemplation of Peace or of War. He tlferefore thought, that intlead of urging the bawds forward now, it would have been much mere proper to have delayed it until after the communication promifed by the Right Hon. Gen tleman, which he hoped would be fatisfadory, as the Right Hon. Gentleman had, by his declara tion, given the Houfe reafon to erped. For the., prefent, however, if the Hon. Gentleman was de. termined to prefs the bufinefs forward, he fhould not oppofe the motion,having had no opportunity to ecnfult the opinion of his Conftituents upon the fubjed. The CHANCELLOR of the EICHEVRR obferved, the Honourable Member feemed prudently to have changed his intention of oppofing the prefent mo tion ; and, in fad, in the opinion he feemed to have formed of the meafure about to be propofed for the confideration of the Committee, he was completely miftaken ; for the real object was, not to increafe, but limply to confolidate the Duties now payable upon a variety of commodities to one fum upon each, and thereby to facilitate as well the bufinefs of payment to the Merchant, as of colledion to the Revenue Officer ; in the reftilt, however, fome fmall addition would be made to the Revenue under the propofed modification, which was precifely on the plan of a fimilar meafure adapted in 1787. The Hon. Gentleman had Paid, that he had given the Houfe hopes of making a fatisfadory comfnunication ; he begged to remind the Hon. Gentleman oftheexpreflions he then made ufe of. It was true, he had ( - aid, that he entertained bole: of being enabled to male fame communication on the Alyea of the peming Negotiation within a few day: ; but, at the fame time, he had diftindly raid, that he would not commit,nor pledge hirnfelf on that point, becaufe he would not endanger the public intereft by a precipitate communication. In fome places it was Paid, and he knew that endeavours had been ftudionfly made to have it believed, that he had pledged himfelf alto to afatisfadorycommunication ; but he pofitively denied having made ufe of any fuch exprellion as to the nature of the communi cation ; for he not only did not ufe the word, but he was not enabled to do it. As the Hon. Gen tleman, however, did not refift the motion, he Should referve any further oblervations be had to make on this fubjed, until the Houfe Shall be in a Committee. The Smut' having left the Chair, the Houle refolved into a Committee, and the palTage of his Majelly's Mefage having been read, The Comic/m.oa of the Exotic:wet rote, and Paid, the objea of the motion he had to fubmit to the Committee, was merely to fimplify and confo lidate a variety of Duties, impofed from time to time, into one furn on each; thereby to fimplify and facilitate the payment and the collection. He wifhed to tell the Committee, that was only one branch of a great fyßem, under which it was in tended to fimplify all the Revenue Laws, and to difembarrafs and render their operation clear and precife ; to fimplify them to all perfons interefted upon the fame principl e as the A& of the year 1787, by which all Ads of Revenue, from the reign of King William to that time, were confoli dated ; and the joint produce was called the Con- 1 folidated Fund, which was Rill applicable to the 'feveral purpofes to which all the fucceffive addi tions of Duty were appropriated, and the furplus remained to be applied to any other branch of public expenditure. This being the principle, it remained only for him to Rate, that in the Sche dule he had to propofe to the Houfe, would be found a confolidation of the Duties impofed under no lefs than :70 Aft: of Parliament. The altera tions of the Rates refpettively were in changing the frattional points to the next integral fum, either above or below the Rates as they now Rood ; and afro, in (nine inflames, where the Duty, as now col leaed, was charged rateably, it was deemed more expedient to adopt the fyllem of a charge ad valo rem; in other cafes, a change was made for the fame reafons vice verfa, and in other cafes, again, a very (mall duty was charged upon articl.Ts which were hitherto imported duty-free, merely for the purpofe of fecuring regularity in the entries. He wifhed to (pare the time of the Committee in going into a more particular Ilatement, and only meant to move, for the prefent, a tingle refolution, " that this fchedule might be received and printed." He was aware, that upon many of the items there might poffibly be a difference of opinion; and therefore he wifhed Gentlemen to be in poffefflon of the whole of the fchedule, and have time to de liberate on it, before they were puffed to come to any cicciflon. It might be necelTary to Rate, in anfwer to what had fallen from the Hon. Gentle man, refpeeting the intenion of laying new duties, l that one of the alterations intended was rather a matter of regulation than of revenue : it was to charge Sugar imp.ated from the EaR Indies with the fame Duties as that article paid from other parts of the writ Id ; (till, however, maintaining the principle of continuing the Welt Indies as a mart for fugar, but not an invidious one. Other duties were laid with a view to counteract the interell of the fmugglers, and with this view he meant to fix upon a rate of duly more than equal to the fiat of the (muggier, io order to counteract the drats of a contraband trade. The Honourable Member had Paid, that the mercantile interelt ought to have been cunfulted. So fully did he himfelf agree in this principle, that be had taken very particular pains to confult the opinions of many of the molt eminent merchants, and to the delay which this occafioned, was it owing that this fchedule had not been brought forward much fooner. The Boards of Cultoms, and of Trade, had alto been confult ed, and though there were fome differences of upi nion upon minute articles, yet, upon the whole, th 7 difference of opinion was extremely trivial ; he did not mean at this moment to trouble the Committee with a minute detail of the particular Duties, and modes of Collation, but merely to move one ge neral Refolution, " that this fchedule be adopted," which would Gee the Committee the trouble of propounding fix thnufand refolutiona upon as many different articles in the fchedule. lie could not conclude his obfervations without doing Come juf uce to the talents, affiduity, and arduous labours of a Gentleman belonging to the Board of Cuf toms (Mr. Irwin) under whore aufpices this fche dole was prepared, and vin& exertions on the prefent occafion merited peculiar commendation. The precut plan was only gm Tumor, to the Oa- Ululation of the important meafure of which he gave notice before Chriflmas, and which rota be highly advantageous both to the Commerce and Rev • iue of the Country, namely, the Bonding and Warehoufing Syflem, and which lie hoped to bring forward in the courfe of this prefent Seffions. The confideration of this fubjet mull, lie was lure, imprefs upon the Houfe, as it had done upon his mind, the utmotl degree of admiration and a Ronifh. rent at the height of the profperity to which the commerce of this country had arrived ; a profperi ty growing out of a fyflem which defied all oppo. fition, namely, an extent of capital which no other country in Europe polkaed, and a credit founded upon good faith between man and man, whi c h forme d the charaißerailic of this country, and was the great fource of its wealth and greatnefs. This commerce, fo far from being dpi effed, had thriven and extended under every degree of apparent pref. lure, of defpair, and adverllty ; fo that within the haft to years,though the Revenuehad been doubled, yet our commerce and navigation had increafed in proportion ; and this proved, that the radical re. fources of our ftrength and greatnefs, inßead of being depreffed, had increafed under the moll ar. duous trials, for the fiipport of our credit and ma. nufaAures. For the prefent, he felt it unncceffary to trefpafs farther upon the Committee, than to move " That the Schedule be received," whi c h h e meant to follow up, by moving "That the Chair. man fhould quit the Chair, and afk leave to fit again to-morrow fe'nnight." An Hon. Gen tleman opeofite to him, by his paints, teemed to think the time too fhort, and he had alfo Paid. it was unfair to bring forward the queflion of the Tonnage Duties in the abfence of an Hon. Magi (lrate, for whom he felt high perfonal refpea, and to wh^.m alto he was obliged, for the candid man ner in which he had defer red bringing forwardthat fubjeft under the fituatioa of public affairs. But he himfelf, he laid, could have no objeA in ref. ling forward the queßion, and the Hon. Gentle. man would fee that he propofed a week for the confideration of the fubjeA, in order that the Houle might be prepared for the difctiffion of that quer tion' which could not pats without a cauvals.' Hit with was, that the Bill might pals in time to bring forward the other great meafure of the bonding fyflem, fo as to be adopted before the dole of the Sefton. Mr. Boa Don, though be was-ope of thole who were averfe to the fyftem of Tonnage Duties, yet he was far from charging the Right Hon. Gentle man with any thing like a with to take the Houfe by furprife. On the contrary, he gave him frill credit for candour and fairnefs, in allowing time and opportunity for the difcuftion of the &Nett and hoped there would be ample time in the condi of the Seffion for bringing forward the great mea lure of the Bonding Syllem, fo highly intereffing to the trade of the country, and which he fincerelt hoped to fee adopted before the clofe of the SefGun. General Gascovws fumed to think that afar, titer interval of a week was neceffary, in order to give time fa the mercantile interek fully to mi nder the tonnage duties, an objet of the greateft magnitude, and which his own conftituents mutt feel in a very different point of view under the fe- . parate confederations of War or Peace. With re. fped to the comayssicatico promifed by die Hon. Gen tleman, he certainly did underhand him to promife it in the courfe of a very few days,and to (ay that it would be tnisfattory ; and he believed thetner candle world very generally underftood him in that fence. He acknowledged to have ufed the word a hope;" and furely he could not a hope" for any grounds of communication that would be unfatisfaCtory. Did the Right Hon. Gentleman mean, by Paying there would not be time to pats another meature of importance to the commerce of the country, that he intended to prorogue the Parliament the moment that the bufinefs of Go vernment could be got through The CII•NCILLOIL of the Excnatayla Paid, if the Hon. Member would fay iota fide, that be thought another week neceffary for his conftituents to confider the merits of a Schedule, which had already been about three months in circulation throughout all the commercial circles of England, (and why not amongft thole of Liverpool he could not account) the Hon. Member would not find klyym averfe r enlarge the time. With refpett to `the prorogation of Parliament, he could allure the Hon. Member there was bulinefs enough to detain it fitting trs,as late a period as the Hon. Gentle man himfelf would be difpofed to fit. Mr.Vllllll Rated, that the only difference between the prefent and the former fchedule, was an alteration in four articles ; namely, an increafe oldie duty on pimento, from 4d. to 6d. per pound, which was rated as a warehoufing y; an increafe of the duty on Eatt India fugar from sos. to 235. the cwt. ; and tome abatement of the dirties paya ble on the raw materials fur the manufaftwes of this Country. After Come further converfation it was agreed, that the Chairman 'horrid report provers, and the Committee was ordered to fit again on Monday fe'nr.ight. LUNATIC'S ISTATI The Lunatic's Eftate BilT was read ad tit:te. and on the Motion for its committal— Mr. Firsositaso (late Prime Serjcant in Ire land) tote to expects his with that the principle of this 'mature Iltould be extended farther, and that in fa& a general atGmilation of the laws refpcaing property Mould take place between all parts of the United Kingdom. At the fame time he begged it to be underltood, that this affirnilation would be not Left advantageous to rbgland than to Ireland; for there were many provifions on the fajta of property in Ireland, which were much better than thole which prevailed in this parr of the United Kingdom. With refpea to the Bill before the Houk, he had no doubt that when the neceffity of carrying provillons to Ireland thould appear. the learned framer of it would accede to the pro pofition. In England lunatics are prevented from marrying—but the Hon. Member obferved that no legal prohibition upon this point causally 'silted in Ireland. In this and other inflames of difference, be thought an affunilatinn efentially deGrable, in order to give full aid to that incyrporation of the power, taterelts, and wealth ashy two cow