The Rhode-Island American, and general advertiser — Providence [R.I.], 1810-10-26 00:00:00, page 2

•*1 constraint*, the searches, the certifi
cate*, the publick exaction* levied even
. upon merchandise not prohibited, the ex
cessive increase of the post taxes, render
painful and even prevent the continental
intercourse of one European region with
anAhcr, affect in the same way the com
munication of literary men, the correspon
dence of families and of individuals. More
over, the state of absolute inactivity to
which maritime people arereduced, and
the impossibility of their engaging ip fish
ing, unfit them for the accustomed'eleitient,
render them useless for sea service, de
prive us of the natural nurseries for sailors,
and take from us the hope of being one day
• able to rival the trading and warlike fleets
of England, the uncondoled superiority of
which finds itself thus every day more and
more assured.
He that is not convinced of the unbound
ed influence of a commerce, which gives
life to the society of man, may easily satisfy
■ - himself of it by a plain consideration of
these effects, so opposite to those of a state
of liberty, by which we see the sources of,
prosperity dried up by little and little, ex-
finally extinguished. It is not
the trader only whd'suffurs in this condition
of commerce; it is every thing that dti
pedds, and everyone that live*jby^com-4
mercy, ail that have property coppectcd
who have devoted to it their in->
dustry anti the ir labours.
Thus inVthat tenement holders, manu
facturers, brokers, commissioners, agents
of every sort, seamen, boatmen, packers of
merchandise, potters and other workmen,
(deprived of their daily bread,) who in
•very country form so numerous a body,
the people wpo live by labour which Is de
manded <d them by the rich, who make
for tbewi their garments, their shoe*, their
fuybitete, &c. all begin to perceive the
general stagnation and twfeel it* miseries.
What renders this misery general and
severe is, that the state of bereavement
*• and deprivation is extended even to hus
bandmen and vinedressers, who no loqger
meet with purchdlm offering then; jMgey
lor the pt eduction* of the sod.
Is it strange, if in such times, all spirit
should fail among men to sow and plant the
earth ? which fur want of such culture will
be injured for the years that succeed U>
wildness and inattention. Such considera
tions, which it would be easy to extend and
dilate upon, must have their effect in pro
ducing the acknowledgement that the con
tinent cannot any longer endure this,stag
nation in all the ordinary relation* and af
finities of life. .
Still further, how can the people bear
the publick charges, the Imposts, the con
tributions, seeing that the channels of pri
vate receipts are closed. Prince Eugene,
of Savoy, spoke wisely in 1717“ Nobady {
complain of a heavy tax, but very well'as
sessed and distributed which I have pro
post d for the whole monarchy, in furnish
lng the means of commerce, of which no
one seems to have entertained a thought?'*
It is then principally toJ-he interruption
of commerce that we are to attribute the
extreme misery under which Europe la
bours from one extremity to the other; a
misery which cannot be relieved by-a con
x , tinent al peace alone.
Even the countries where the frightful
yells of war are not heard, feel themselves
to be oppressed, tab* paralysed; the pre
sent, to them, is without enjoyment, the
future void of hope. Such persons a* have
the means, are looking out for the facilities
of emigration to England or America ; and
of ihise who could not quit this desolate
land, how many have already failed vic
tims to their griefs ?
There is yet another view of this subject
which cannot be taken with indifference
by governments; it i* the immorality,
the want of probity and faith, to which
wretchedness and privation* have caused
us to make rapid and alarming advances.
The people habituated until now to see in
their Governours a second Providence, who
watched over their happiness, obeyed with
out a murmur their laws, of which this
happiness was the evident object. Now a
Dew set of laws which prohibited them
from providing the means of subsistence,
strike them with stupefaction. The mass
of the people cannot convince themselves
of the absolute reality of these interdic
tions, and thus excuse the violators of them.
In this way they accustom themselvoa-so-k,
contempt of publick authority and orders.
How many guilty persons must not such a
state of society contribute to make ? How
many, impelled by necessity or by despair,
give up themselves to robbery and dishonest
practices, and seek by criminal means to
make up the deficiency of what was to be
gotten by legitimate industry ? Hence come
perjuries, the thousand temptations that
solicit wickedness and so often with suc
cesa, the evil agents of the system of inter
diction, and the general conviction, that
the little ease which it is now possible to
gain, must centre with those who are the
least pure, the corruptor* and those who
are willing to be corrupted, while the more
probuy that one has, so much the greater
weight of misfortune has he to bear.
PRINCES, FATHERS OF THE PEO
PLE, hear their complaints and
their gllW it »* yep wteea their prayers
** Sana®—
Pasties sometimes contend without
endangering the state; but that is tonly
when they are very unequal or very hon
est. The struggle in the former case will
net be so violent as to do much mischief,
and in the latter case, it will obey the dic
tates of real patriotism. I wish the parties
of the present day were of a complexion to
preclude our feags. I confess for my own
part, that I am apprehensive of bad times-
The party in power will not be put out, if
fraud or force .will keep them in; and'
they have views widely different from their
country’s good.
This appears'in various instances. Ist,
they are --devoted to a foreign despot—a
man whois the friend of no one-people upon
the face of the earth. Witness the Span
iards and the Dutch, his next neighbours
and his faithful allies—a man who prose
cute* the business of a tyrant with the har
dihood of a fiend. The murder* he has
committed, and||daily committing in this
laudable business, this magnanimous enter
prise, so charming in the eyes of democrats,
prove that he has divested himself of hu
.manlty, and his continual perfidies will
show to posterity the mwster of unqualified
wickedness. Yet this man is the idol of the
democrat*. For fear of appearing abso
lutely at war with decency and common
sense they will sometime* call him, a rascal
ora tyrant, and use a liberty which is al
ways allowed to stanch cronies, when the
state of their affairs seems to require it;
but there is no misunderstanding at bot
tom.
invoke, it is in you that their hope Idok* for
refuge, you will become intercessors; It is
you who will carry their mourning plaint*
to the foot of the imperial throne* of the
great NAPOLEON; who will muke hi*
religious virtue cheer this state of extremi
ty and suffering, of which be can never
have heard the actual condition ; it is for
hi* powerful arm, for hi* genius to save us,
to dissipate these chains in which we are
perishing, and to reconcile these uew mea
sure# with the accomplishment of his great
view*. May you enjoy the inexpressible
felicity of reigning over a people happy,
satisfied, grateful, faithful and virtuous!
This happiness, doubtless, is the greatest
that can be dispensed to you by Heaven!
3d. Notwithstanding the tyrant, like other
tyrants, oppresses all within his reach, they
are impatient to have every obstacle re
moved, and to feel something of that al
mightiness that they contemplate so fondly
at a distance. Hence their spite at the
English, and their frequent wishes that
the fleet and the island and the people
were altogether at the bottom of the sea.—
Bonaparte’s enmity at the English is pro
voked by their liberty. He knows that a*
long a* there is a nation of freemen in the
world, he, a* a tyrant, must feel their lash.
He ha* relieved himself of this inconve
nience on the continent. It only remains'to
subjugate Great-Britain, and then he and
the jacobins will have the world at their
feet. And when it is considered that our
democrats approve of all Ms villanit;*, and
admire his government, who can doubt that
they enter into the view of his policy ?
’ And yet these men have the impudence to
call themselves republicans. They have
proposed as plainly as they durst, to make
the Presidentship hereditary, and hinted in
a manner not to be misunderstood, that
Jfapoleon io our King f and yet they have
the impudence to call themselves republi
cans.
3d. They were offended beyond measure
with General Washington and Mr. Jay,
for making a treaty with the English, a
good many year* ago. They rejoiced a*
immoderately at the attack upon the Chesa
peakei In like manner they were exhili
rated by the dismission of Mr. Jackson.—
The very idea of compromise or peace
with the English disturb* them. Mr. Jef
ferson acted in the true spirit of the party,
when he contemptuously sent buclTatreaty,
that was calculated to put nn end to our
differences, upon what every body that
wished for peace, would think reasonable
terms. The fact is, they cannot bo at
peace with that nation upon any terms.—
If there is no pretence for open war, they
will treat to be sure, but'never accede to
any terms that are not ruinous to the other
pRJIy. The good of their own country ia
but a trifle in comparison with this great
object of infernal maMce. Every body,
that pay* any attention to the subject,
know* that'if they have their wish, Bona
parte will collect the duties here as he
does in Europe, and honour us with a
branch of his imperial jurisdiction.
4th. They have the address to persuade
those who are very poor and very ignorant,
that they are mightily concerned tor their
welfare. There are two ways of rising
upon the ruin* of civil liberty ; one by get
ting the command of the army, and the
other by wheedling the populace. If these
people had an army that was competent
to such a purpose, they would save them*
selves the trouble of cajoling idiots, or
slipping an election ticket, accompanied
with nine cents,'(the price of a pint of
whiskey,) into the hand of a miserable
wretch—they would have nothing to say to
such, except when they wanted recruits,
and then, instead of coaxing, they would
issue their order*, Bonaparte 'like, a* Giles
Krom the Federal Republican; ,
say*. But they have not so much In their
power as yet, and thfeforeenust wheedle.
Why not ? rfuch wa*thc beginning of Bo
naparte’s foßune—tje puissant emperour
of the Gaul* I And Io the lower class of
citizens are of use tdthem in two instances.
They first enable th<m to out-number the
real friend* of their couasry, and then to
maintain tbemselvef for military force.
Sth. In the case of other nations they
have no sympathy for the oppressed.—
Freedom in their .view has lost all it*
charm* ; and a* they said upon a late oc
casion, that reputation was a bubble,* so
national dignity* independence, except
when the Euglisb sre sussed to be the
aggressors arc not yorth having. Because
the British captured the Danish fleet that
was intended to be employed against them
by Bonaparte, there is no end of their in
dignation, but the same Bonaparte’s de
claring war against every neutral nation
in the world, gives them no offence—hi*
bathing in blood a* unoffending nation for
the worthy purpose of forcing a King upon
them, gives themfo offence—rather, they
are impatient tp tear of their subjugation,
and aid the swori of the destroyer with
their utmost effort of concurrent wishes—
they compliment bi* crimes, while they
speak of the Spanish people, struggling for
all that can tnake a nation respectable, a*
banditti and rebels.
Sib—Having communicated to the Lords
of the Admiralty Lord Hawkesbury’s let
ter* of the 23d ultimo, inclosing the copy
of a despatch which hi* Lordship had re
ceived from Mr. Thornton, hi* Majesty’s
Charge d’Affair* in America, on the sub
jrct of the blockade of the Island* of Mar-
Jnico and Guadaldupe, toge ther with the
report of the Advocate-General—
From certain paragraphs which have
recently appeared in the English prints, it
is probable that questions may hereaftei
arise, betweeq the American and. British
governments, on the subject of blockades.
On recurring to the documenta communi
cated to Congress on the 23d of December,
1808, we find the following letter from Mr.
Merry to Mr. Madison, explanatory of the
British doctrine on that topick. It cm
braced, we believe, the principle* cordially
admitted by the United States, beyond
which they have never advanced any pre
tensions, and contrary which, it is hoped,
Great-Britain will set up no new rule :
MR. MERRY TO MR. MADISON.
Washington, April 12, 1804.
Sir—Mr. Thornton not having failed to
transmit to his Majesty’s government an
account of the representation which you
were pleased toaddress to him, under date
of the 27th October, last year, respecting
the blockade of the Island* of Martinico
and Guadeloupe, it is with great satisfac
tion, Sir, that I have just received hi* Ma
jesty ’s commands signified to me by hi*
principal Secretary,of State for Foreign
Affairs, under data of tb< 6th of January
last, to communicate to you the instructions
which have, in consequence of your repre
sentation, been sent to Commodore Hood,
anti to the Judges of the yice-Admiralty
Courts in the West-Indie*.
Their disregard for the rights of their
fellow-citisen* has been sufficiently mani
fested by the embargo laws, and they at
tempt to deprive member* of Congress of
the power of debate, with, (I am sorry to
say,) many other thing* that might be men
tioned. Such being the spirit, and such the
conduct.of the party "by whom the govern
ment is administered, how is it possible to
think well of our situation, or to hope for
any good result ? I defy even a democrat,
if he has any candour left, to think that
the independence of this country would
ever have been achieved, bad the business
been left in such hands. It is no very diffi
cult tiling to augur the fate of a country,
from the tempr of the administration and
the drift of putyick measure*. I confess for
my part, I se< nothing of that honesty and
unadulterated love of country in our case,
which might justify the expectation of real
prosperity. When men either have no ta
lents, or make use of what they have disin
genuously and wickedly, it would be a con
tradiction to cetnmon experience and a de
nial of divine providence to expect any good
from them.
I have, accordingly, the honour to trans
mit to you, Sir, enclosed} the copy of a let
ter from Sir Evean Nepean, Secretary to
the Board of Admiralty, to Mr. Hammond,
his Majesty’s under Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs, specifying the nature of
the instructions whick have been given.
His Majesty’s government doubt not that
the promptitude has been manifested
in redressing the grievance complained
of by the government of the United States,
will be considered by the latter as an ad
ditional evidence of hl* Majesty’s constant
and sincere desire to remove any ground of
misunderstanding that could have a ten
dency to interrupt the harmony which so
happily subsist* between this government
and that of the United States. I have the
honourgjo be, with high respect and con
sideration, your most obedient humble ser
vant.
(Signed) ANTH. MERRY.
* In the National Intelligencer.
raoM the national intelligences.
Admiralty Office, Sth January, 1804.
Thereupon I have their Lordship’s com
mand* to.acquaint you for hi* Lordship’s
information, that they have sent orders to
Commodore Hood, not to consider any
blockade of jhose islands as existing, un
less in respect to particular ports which
may de actually invested, and then
not to capture vessels bound to such ports
unless they shall previously have been
warned not to enter them, and that they
have also sent the necessary direction* on
the subject to the Judge* of the Vice-Ad
miralty Courts in the West-Indie* and
America. I am, ficc.
TroudZes in East-Florida.
At a late hour last night we received the
subjoined extract of a letter, vis.—
•• Pinkneyville, September 25, 1819.
" We have information direct from Ba
tea Rouge, -that on Saturday night about
150 men, under the command of General
Thomas, entered the fort of Baton Rouge.
Young Grand Pre, who commanded,
lantly attempted to defend it, end received
a'severe wound in his neck, with abroad
aword. One of the guard fired on the as
sailants, and was immediately shot down
by one of Captain Johnson’s dragoon*; an
other of the Spanish gut rd wa* wounded,
no damage received by the troop* of the
convention. Having quieted every thing in
the fort, they proceeded to the house of his
Excellency, (Delassus,) dragged him out,
and carried him to the fort, with two boxes
of money found in his room, and loaded him
with irons; but not without having to
knock him down with the butt end of a
musket. The convention had about 250
men in the place when the messenger left
it, and every thing was quiet.”
Yesterday morning, about 7 o’clock, the
citiscus were again alarmed by the cry of
fire. It proceeded from the stable loft of
Colonel Sass, in Queen-Street, but was for
tunately got under before any material in
jury was sustained. There remains not the
least doubt but this last fire was the work
of some wicked incendiary, as a quantity of
live coals were discovered among the fray,
evidently placed theie by design. Several
negroes have been arrested on suspicion,
and are now undergoing examination.
CFtftms be on the alert—Five attempt*
were made on Wednesday night to set fire
to the city.
It is rumoured, on what authority we
know not, that onr Cabinet is seriously en
gaged in discussing the propriety of taking
possession of West-Florida. Uy" We know
that a long time since, military measures
were in train to. this end ; and that they
were diverted from their object by the re
cent intelligence from France. IJ Bona
parte conquers Spain he will endeavour to
regain her colonies ; and should he find
one if them in the possession of the United
States, will not hesitate to demand the re
stitution. Boston Cent.
(Signed) x EVEAN NEPEAN,
[George, Hammond, •£«?•]
We further learn, that the convention
received intelligence that they had been
betrayed, and that Governour Folch had a
galley at Galvertown, in which he meant
to embark the convention for Pensacola,
and that he himself was in the eastern
part of the province sowing dissention.—
This made the above prompt measure ne
cessary.
BALTIMORE, October 18.
Extract of a letter, dated Cadiz, August
3,1810, from a German Field Officer in
the British service, to his friend in Bal
timore.
•' Happy are you that you do not see the
wound* of your country. "Remain in Ame
rica until the sun of freedom shall enlight
en with new day thsj desolated field* of
Germany. Bonaparte is, endeavouring to
out strip time and to annihilate every thing
under the of his cru*hiftg des
potism. Wherever he strikes hi* foot there
is nothing but confusion, and wherever hi*
hands are laid there prevail* the annihila
tion of all human law*, and maa bimaelf
sinks to a slavish brute, or if he possesses
too much native energy to fail so low, he
become* a bandit and robber. Rage away,
tyrant! Though you strive to crush the
spirit of the age, it will freely pursue it*
course, and after your death, if not before,
will fire your structure with it* never-ex
tinguished torch.
'* But whilst the wretched king of Prus
sia left the brave Schill and us in the lurch,
Bonaparte in order to reward him, caused
the Marks and Silesia to be occupied, and
dethroned hi* Majesty of Prussia, who may
now, with his Majesty of Holland, pur
chase a farm for himself wherever he
please*.
“ Would to God Bonaparte had treated
the Germans as he did the Spaniards, and
tauten away all the Princes! then we should
now be Germans, and certainly more migh
ty adversaries of France than the Span
iards, whose courage and spirit have been
depressed under so many miserable gov
ernment* following one after another. It
is expected here,'that nevertheless the
GEORGETOWN, October 17.
CHARLESTON, October 12.
NATCHEZ, September 26.
25p tlje jOSaite.
Cortes will finally produce a salutary revo
lution.
“ The brave Tyrolese are again in arms,
and who knows what consequences their
great example may produce at the pre
bent period f
“ The Austrian Emperour is now entire
ly lost, as he is beset on all sides by his
brother Charles, who is one <f the princi
pal causes of the downfall of Europe, and
by Prince Lichtenstein. Would to God,
that he followed hi* own head or his broth
er John, and all would be well. But it ap
pears as if Napoleon wa* really the rod of
God’s anger against our degenerate Princes,
and I, therefore, wish be was done with
them, that he may cease to plague the peo
ple.
“In Sweden a formal breach is near
taking place between the nobility, citizen*
and farmers, an event which has long been
desireable for Sweden, as the nobility al
ways make revolutions for themselves, and
were opposed to every popular king. The
old and shameless Uncle of the unfortunate
Gustavus, sent the English Ambassadour
home again, because England naturally
espoused the cause of the people.
“ Respecting Russia lam silent. For '
what a wretched adversary m such an
Alexander! The fall of Prince Kurakin,
the Russian Minister at Parts, from the
stairs of Schwaftaenberg’s burning dancing
hallj is perhapst type and forewarning of
what is to happen. Such is Europe.”
The following extract will shew which
way the wind blows at present. Thus, ac
cording to democratick authority, the ad
ministration are guilty of cajoling the pub
lick, by artful suppressions and managed
disclosures, to suit times and exigencies.—
This is what we have frequently and ve
hementlyjirged. on many occasions. The
paragraph below goes still farther, arid
charges upon the government paper eva
sive and vague publications, in a case
where it ought to speak with frankness
and sincerity, respecting the concern* of
government which it professes to explain,
•J'Vom the Whig of yesterday.
commumicatiow.
THE DESPATCHES.
The government paper does not dealer
that the President has' received no de
spatches relating to the dthdrawal of the
French decrees. Considering, indeed, the
length of time that has intervened between
the receipt of the news, and this date ;
considering, that it ha* been the subject of
repeated essays and speculation* in the
British and American newspapers—it ia
hard to believe that General Armstrong
made no communication to Mr. Pinkney,
and that Mr. Pinkney would supples* it
altogether. A duplicate copy, under seal
of an Ambassadour, I contend, is a* good
as an original. I incline tu believe, that '
a* our government last winter published a
scrap in the Intelligencer from Mr. Pink
ney, which afterward* proved to be un
founded; and as Mr. Pinkney wa* never
recalled to answer for the gross deception
then played off on this degraded nation,
but was protected and continued in office
by Mr. Madison ; as all this ha* happened
before our eyes, we must conclude,
THAT OUR ADMINISTRATION KNOW
WHAT TO PUBLISH AND WHAT TO CON*
,CEAL.
Indeed the paragraph in the National
Intelligencer does not affirm that the ac
counts fifrm Mr. Pinkney are silent about
our relations with France. When we ob
serve, too, that General Turreau lately re
paired to Washington, it is presumeable
that our government has had some official
intimations relative to the recent corres
pondence between General Armstrong and
the French Minister of Foreign Relations.
I therefore think the paragraph in the In- -
telligencer of Monday last is very evasive
and vague.
October 19. *
SOMETHING CURIOUS.
A new street has been lately opened in
the Precincts. In compliment it has been
called after Mr. Madison. It commences
at the Poor-House, passes the Gaol, graaes
the Penitentiary, and ends at Gallow* HilL
There is no offence in this; it was the ef
fect of mere accident; but how still more
passing curious would it be, before the com
pletion of Mr. Madison’s term of office, to
see hi* effigy carted through this imperial
city and byrnt on Gallow* Hill. Such is
the “ tremendous instability of all human
grandeur.”
NEW-YORK, October 19.
SourH-Aienntcji.
In a late paper we stated it as our opin*
ion, that let the war in Europe eventuate •
a* it might, with regard to old Spain, the
Spanish colonies in America would seize
the present favourable opportunity to as
sert their rights, and vrnuld of course be in
dependent. The account* from that quar
ter, which we publish this day, serve to
confirm that opinion. It appear* from the
article copied from the National Intelligen
cer, that the Spanish Americans will have
the assistance of the English, and that in
return the grateful Spaniard* will grant ex-*
elusive commercial privilege* to the mer
chant* of Great-Britain. Should the in
habitants of the extensive regions of Span
ish America succeed in establishing a gov
ernment of their own, of which there can