The Rhode-Island American, and general advertiser — Providence [R.I.], 1810-11-27 00:00:00, page 2

r prison for four nwnths and eight days.
’ when a favourable opportunity presented
|F- for mxescbpe. They were bringing io 4
oi SjjhipnniardH, and during the confusion
of ihe Scene I passed the guards and got off
During the time of my imprisonment, we
had often written to the Consul for re
lief j we received no notice of any kind in
consequence of this. When 1 left the pri
. «>u 1 had scarcely a gag on ir.y back
worn down by disease and hunger to a
mere skeleton, qnd destitute, I wandered
about until I ftjund one of my own country
men, and went on board his vessel, where
* I experienced kind and humane treatment.
This was Captain Deshield, of the schoon
er Independence, of Baltimore, whose kind
ness 1 shall acknowledge as long as 1 live.
I came home in the ship Aon, and arrived
at New-Loudon on the 6th of September
last.
“ On my arrival at Philadelphia, I wait
ed on the owner, Mr. Daniel W. Cox, and
asked him if he intended to make me any
compensation for my sufferings—he offered
me twenty dollar• for my expenses home,
and afterwards consented to pay my wages,
rsying that I had no claims.on him fora
cent. Whether I have or not, will be de
> cided by an appeal to {fee laws of my coun
try. If I have no legal claims, I think co
the principles of justice and humanity, hav
ing suffered nearly nine months all the in
expressible horrours of a French prison,
at the haaard of my life; and having been
the means, in part, of saving to the owner
a skip and cargo worth, as calculated by
thexaptaiu, at least 8 40,000, it will be ad*
mitted that I have a right to expect some
recompense.
“At present I am destitute of the means
of prosecuting for my rights, and paying
my passage from Philadelphia to this port.
“ HENRY D. HODGKINS.
“ Portland, November 9, 1810.”
The case before us, in a simple unvar
nished narrative, is but one of thousands,
wherein our Countrymen have been igno
x miniuusly dragged to close prison, like
felons—perhaps to dungeons loaded with
irons, there, like this unfortunate young
man, to take their chance of surviving in a
pestilential and fatid atmosphere on bread
and water. Butthe present must come
more closely to our feelings, the sufferer
being a respectable young man of our own
Cwu. * In vain did he apply to our Consuls
France for relief and protection—they
would not, or dare not, affJrd their assist
ance. In vain did the mother, in the most
poignant misery and anguish, apply tu our
own government for their interference in
restoring her imprisoned son. They would
not, or dare not, exert themselves in a cause
as Just as heaven, and io a-question too
which may hereafter involve the liberties
of our whole country. The slaves and
apologists of Napoleon will not acknow
ledge this be a deed of his—but let them
be toM that a very act tinder a deapotick
B" ovemment is the act of the sovereign—
>r hit low dependents and subaltern devils
xJUre not relax or disobey ; if they do, their
must answer the forfeiture.
z wNM|thus, O Americans! thy sons are
and left to perish ?—Has thine
Bagk lost her talons! Or. does she, hav
ing sited her best plumage, truckle to the
“ Gallkk Cock t" Thy bird is crest fallen.
FROM THK FEDERAL REPUBLICAN.
REVOLUTION IN FRANCE.
’Regent advices from Europe, repre
sent a most alarming conspiracy, to have
jjeen discovered against the Emperour of
France. This plot is supposed to have
commenced under the auspices of the re
pudiated Empress, who, together with her
daughter, the late Queen of Holland, is put
in confinement under a close guard. Many
of the most conspicuous tv volution ists,
whose inLtmous crimes and cruellies fur
nished matter for “ The Bloody Buoy,” and
who raised Bonaparte to his present great
ness, are accused of being Implicated in
the conspiracy, and have been arrested.
Among them are influential relatives, ayl
devoted friends of the Beauharnots family :
Abbe Sieyes, and Rarrae, of whom the
Empress was the kept mistress, at the
time of her marriage with Bonaparte.
If a confederacy has been formed, to re
store libcrty*to France, including such men
as are said to be arrested, the Emperour
is surrounded by dangers that he has not
before encountered. But we fervently wish
him a safe deliverance for a few months,
until his violence and perfidious injustice
shall have given a new character to the ad
ministration and politicks of the American
government.
Shortly after the onion between the
Houses of Corsica and Austria, we remem
ber to have conversed with a gentlegtan,
who had lived many years in Eraace, as to
the probable influence which the new alli
ance would have upon the popularity and
fortune of the Emperour, and the senti
ments and conduct of courtiers, and the
mushroom nobility who moved in the Impe
rial circles. That gentleman, accustomed
to accurate and laborious investigation,
and to trace causes from effects, and whose
opportunities made him intimately ac
quainted with the manners, customs and
.•% dispositions of the Ftench people, wap im
<h pressed with a serious belief, that-Napo
leon had laid the foundation of hisdethrone
menl by the marriage with Maria-Leniea.
He considered it necessary to hto present
power and tempomty aggrandizement, and
as imperiously demanded by the state of
his empire; boAt would speedily work his
destruction. He contended that the power
of the Emperour was intimately connected
with the fate of Josephine, and that this
impression being entertained by Napoleon
himself, had prevented him, long ago, from
setting her aside. He insisted upon it with
the earnestness and solemnity inspira
tion, that the new alliance would produce
heart-bunitngs, jealousies and discontents,
which would occasion assassinations, and
end in civil war and revolution. The causes
more immediately leading to this catastro
phe, would be the ascendency gained over
the Emperour, by Maria-Louisa; the
swarm of Austrian courtiers and nobility
who would gain access to the palace, the
preference given to them, over the French
courtiers and nobility, and the supercilious
contempt and hauteur with which the
mushroom French noblemen would be treat
ed by their Austrian rivals ; this, aided by
the intrigues and machinations of the dis
graced Empress, her relations and parti
sans, it was thought, would prove Napo
leon’s ruin.
This was held some months
ago, and we now advert to it, since we
think it more than probable, that a very
extensive combination has been formed
against the Emperour, and that the pre
diction may be verified.
BALTIMORE, November M.
Misfortunes seem to thicken about the
Corsican tyrant. It is said that the Em
press has miscarried; Massena has been
defeated by the combined armies, and a
conspiracy has been discovered which has
occasioned the arrfot of a number of the
most conspicuous, influential and beloved
statesmen in his empire. May we not ex
pect tffkt this sad reverse of fortune, will
make a tyrant, so unused-to the strokes of
adversity, frantick, desperate ? Like the
• poisonous worm which spits ail its venom
out at once when vexed, the monster will
testify his wrath by some mighty act of
signal outrage. And who can hope that
the United S'.ates will be spared. It is
confidently stated, that the Hornet escaped
seizure by flight, and wagers hq|£ already
been laid, that the Essex witjprbe seised
upon her arrival in France: if to such an
act of violence, are superadded, more rob
beries, and the imprisonment of our citi-
zens, we may safely count on a complete
change of politicks in the United _
Should Mr. Madison once act with “ ener
gy, alacrity and vigour,” he would be sup
ported by a large majority of the mastton,
but if his devotion to France continues to
show itself, he will certainly soon find him
self in a very contemptible minority.
We extract the following singular occur
rence from the Abbe ille du Nurd, of the
17th August last.
Frankfort, (on the Oder,) July 21.
-An occurrence has happened in our
neighbourhood, which is looked upon as an
example of divine justice. A woman, be
lieving her husband killed in 1806, at the
battle of Jena, married again without scru
ple. The man had not been killed, but
only wounded: he was cured by the French,
and entered the service in one of the Prus
sian regiments, whiA France raised at
that period. After serving for more than
three years in Spain, he suddenly returned
to Prussia, and went to look for his wife.
The latter was afraid to acknowledge that
she had got another in his place, and suf
fered him to go to bed, but immediately in
duced the new husband to rid her of this
returning importunate. The unhappy man
is strangled and put into a sack,, and then
they set off to carry him away and throw
him into the Oder. But the weight of the
body bursted the sack, and one foot came
through. Tbe womah hastened to sew up
the tori) place, but did not perceive, that
at the same time, she sewed the clothes of
her accomplice. Being arrived at the bank
of the river, the latter proceeded to a piei
and endeavoured to throw over the body of
his victim. He was dragged in
and was drawstop, whilst the womatulor
getting how important it was for her to
hold her tongue, sgt up a terrible cry.
Some peasants run up-; the two criminals
were arrested; and they confessed theit
crime with all its particulars.
The severe storm of wind and rain
which commenced on Friday the 9th Inst,
and continued with but little intermission
till the following Wednesday, has caused a
fresh in the rivers, creeks and bimk# in
this vicinity beyond any thing in the recol
lection of the oldest inhabitant. The
causeways between the Passaic and Hack
ensack bridges for a considerable portion
of the time were completely inundated with
water—so that travelling was not only dan
gerous, but at times utterly impracticable.
l"he Docks In this town were overflowed,
and have received injury—especially the
extensive wharf recently built by the Com
mercial Company. Nor has the damages
beeh limited to this place. We are sorry
to hear that they extend throughout this as
sBp tije jßailM.
NEWARK, November 29.
' THE STORM.
well as Morris and Middlesex eauaitos
Mills have been injured $ Mill Dams,
bridges, &c. Bcc. are very generally swept
away by the - pressure of the torrent. In
New-Brunswick the water completely in
undated the lower part of the town, being
in some parts from 4to 5 feet deep. The
damage is stated to be immense. Patter
son has suffered extremely by the high wa
ter, (which occasioned partly as we learn
by the breaking of all the considerable
dams, Bcc. io the upper part of the county,)
rose to a height never before witnessed.—
Owing to their secure Situation, and the
unwearied exertions of our citizens—the
principal manufactories have sustained hut
very trifling injury—the Patterson bridge,
the Society’s saw-mill, a small dwelling
house belonging to Major Godwin, a
smith’s shop, and considerable other pro
perty is swept entirely away. The South-
Westerly end of Major Godwin*s two story
stone dwelling-house is entirely down and
the house otherwise materially injured—
several other stores and dwelling-houses,
together with the grist-mill are materially
injured. The falls presented a scene aw
fully sublime, and calculated to, raise the
reflecting mind from nature up to nature’s
God. J "
In New-Brunswick, the scene was aw
ful, and thl'damage sustained by many of
the inhabitants very considerable. The
freshet and the tide coming in contact, in
undated the lower part of the town. High
er up the river, they have sustained dam
ages greater than ever known ; dwelling
houses have been demoMshed.and carried
away, bridges, flocks of sheep and cattle,
and many fields of com have been swept
off—and the water at Boundbrook, is said
to have been five feet higher than ever
was known—the stacks of hay on the salt
meadow down the river, completely swept
away.
An Antigua paper of the 11th ultimo re
ceived at Norfolk, contains an account of
the discovery of a conspiracy at Guade
loupe on the part of the French, to regain,
that Island. The particulars are not
known, but it is said a number of the mer
chants were at the head of the conspiracy,
and have in consequence, been ordered to
quitfthe place. The discovery, (says the
Antigua paper,) is said to have been made
in consequence of the apprehension of a
young man In the employ of Esberts and
Crafts, of St. Barts, under circumstances
that led to a suspicion of his being engaged
in an attempt to foment disturbances, in
whose possession a number of papers con
taining plans, proclamations, 8c c. together
with a very considerable sum -of money,
.supposed httajulcd to bribe the sol
diery, werw'fouqd>e.'!ti~V*B* Manner the
insurrection wail to have been conducted
We have not learnt, but it was evidently
tne intention of those concerned to have re
stored the Colony to the dominion of Bona
parte, if it had succeeded. It is not im
probable that (he armaments which have
for some time past been preparing at Tou
lon, the Scheldt and the T-exel, have some
connection with these treasonable efforts.
The French Government, it would ap
pear, though determined not to comply
with the demands of the Americans, was
yet desirous of inducing General Armstrong
to forego his intention of leaving that coun
try, by holding out expectations of the ex
isting difference being adjusted. A private
letter from Paris of the 9th instant, states
that the following explanations on points
which had previously been under discus
sion, frere contained in a note sent.to Gen
eral Armstrong by the Doc de Cadore :
The following,from a London fiafier of the
Xhth ult. io similar to the rumours afloat
here.
1. That all American ships which should
arrive in French ports betwixt this and the
Ist November next, should be comprehend
cd- under the Berlin and Milan Decrees,
and not under any other existing decree.
2. That the Decree of the 23d of March,
1810. was revoked the moment the French
government heard of the suspension of the
<ion-intercourse act.
3. That American ships which have not
-offered their fle# be dishonoured by
submission to the British Orders in Council,
shall without difficulty, be admitted into
(he ports of France, with the liberty of
clearing out again. -
4. That the Emperour will give licenses
to the American ships, this being tbe only
foreign flag Favoured with them.
5. That American ships, loaded on
French or American account, will be ad
mitted into French ports.
It is further stated, though, from % know
ledge of the rapacity of the French Ruler,
we cannot believe the conditions would be
fulfilled, that the French Government had
intimated its intention to restore the Ame
rican property sequestered in consequence
of the decree of the 25th March, 1810, as
soon as It had been officially informed that
the vessels and other property detained in
America, had been restored to the lawful
owners. .*
Captain Minugh, of the schooner Flash,
who arrived here yesterday, in twenty one
days from L’Oricnt, informs, that on the
VERY LATE FROM FRANCK.
NEW-YORK, November 30.
November 21.
London, October 14.
29th ultimo, the day of Ws departure, a let
ter was received from St. Makes, stating,
that by a tdegraphick despatch, informa
tion had been received from Portugal, of
one of the wings of the British army har
ing been cut off on its retreat to Lisbon. It
is singular that a L’Orient paper, of the
28th of last month, contains nothing later
from Portugal than the 24ih September,
three days previous to the battle between
Lord Wellington and the French. 1
Captain Minugh has despatches for gov
ernment. It will be seen by the marine
news by this arrival, that one American
schooner has been released—the Maria-
Louisa, belonging to Messrs- Jumel 8c De
sobry, of this city.
A Paris paper of October 20, by the
above arrival, speaking of the battle of the
27th, between Lord Wellington and the
French in Portugal, says, ” the English
were attacked, turned and briskly pur
sued ; they abandoned a part of their sick
and of their magazines. The Result of the
affair of the 27th. was, 700 prisoners, of
whom 400 are English, and two pieces of
English artillery. But what was m<fre im
portant, the French had gained,' by that af
fair, the superb position of Mondego, and
the city of Coimbra, which offers great re
sources.”
jiURRICANE AT HAVANA.
The cane and plantain were prostrated,
and the coffee blown from the trees. It is
supposed that half crops will not be obtain
ed. Damage to the amount of several hun
dred thousand dollars, which cannot yet be
ascertained, was sustained by the shipping
in the harbour; and the effects still more
ruinous on shore, as it is feared the hurri
cane extended over great part of the Island
of Cuba, and probably to the neighbouring
islands. Some idea may be formed of the
terrible dashing of the sea, when it is stated
that the waves broke forty feet over the
flag-staff at the castle.
We have seen a letter from Havana, to
a gentleman of this city, stating, that the
late gale commenced on the 24th ultimo,
from the southward, and continued till the
night of the 25th, when it lolled a few
.hours; on the 26th it changed to a severe
norther, and continued 28 hours. The loss
m the harbour was estimated at 8 200,000.
The brig Eliza, Gray, of New-York, rode
out the gale with half her cargo on board.
AFFAIRS INPORTUQAL.
We have conversed with an intelligent
gentleman who arrived here last Saturday
in the Otho, from Cadiz, via Villa-Real.
He states, that at Ayamonte, where the
vessel touched, he saw a Spanish officer,
who was going to Cadiz with despatches.
The officer informed him that he left the
U«*<l-qUarter*.44'4Lard Wallington ton the
11th of October, and at that time there had
been no fighting since the 28th of Septem
ber. He said the combined forces were tn
high spirits, and that Lord Wellington was
prepared to meet the enemy.
The gentleman with whom we conversed
has been in Spain and Portugal for six or
seven yearn past, speaks the Spanish lan
guage fluently, and appears to be perfectly
acquainted with the affairs of those coun
tries. He gives it as his opinion that the
t French can never conquer the Spanish and
Portuguese, until the people are entirely
extirpated. He says there is such an en
mity against the French that they can
never be safe in the Peninsula as long as
there is a Portuguese or Spaniard in the
country. The Spanish soldiers in the pay
of France take every opportunity to assas
sinate the French. As an instance of their
deadly enmity, he states, that a French
General had left a garrison in a small town
of about 800 men, nearly half of whom
were Frenchmen, the rest Spaniards. As
soon as the main army had marched off,
tbe Spaniards rose upon the French, and
put every one of them to death. Cadiz, be
says, can never be taken, and though the
French keep up a bombardment of that
city, they can do very little damage, and
the people are under no apprehension.
The French treat the Americans with
the greatest indignity and severity possible.
At Ayamonte our informant saw the cap
tain and supercargo of the American
schooner Mary, which had been taken by
the French. The captain and crew were
marched across the country almost bare
foot to Seville, where they were imprison
ed in an ass stable, and were soon to be
marched as prisoners of war to Bourdeaux.
But by the assistance of the Spaniards the
captain and supercargo had made their es
cape, and travelled disguised as muleteers
to Ayamonte, where they were generously
supplied by the Spaniards with money and
clothes.' Our informant was at Cadiz on
the Ist of October, and saw several regi
ments embarked for Portugal to reinforce
Lord Wellington. He says, the young
English Officers were so anxious to meet
the French, that many had petitioned their
superiour officers to be sent out in those de
tachments. The reader will perceive that
the 11th of October is the latest date from
the seat of war. And as our intelligence
comes direct, it must convince every one
that the rales which have been circulated
of the defeat of Lord Wellington are
unfounded. If there has been a battle it
could not have been known io Dublin at
the date of our last accounts from thence.
There has undoubtedly, however, been an
actifih before this time which tea been dw>
chive. The next arrivals from Spain or
Portugal will probably bring us the account
of a battle more bloody than any which has
been fought in those countries daring the
present war.
FROM TBE FEbERAL BEFUSLICAN.
IMPORTANT.
An American gentleman, Just returned
from England, whose character entitieshte
to the most entire credit, has authorized
us to say, that in conversation with Lord
Wellesley, the British Secretary of State,
that nobleman expressed his surprise that
gny portion of our people should continue
to cherish an attachment to France; for,
continued he, ” there exists in my office,
proposals made to this government by that
of France, for partitioning your country I!**
We make this communication to tbe pub
lick with all the deliberation due to its ius- -
portance, and with a solemn silence of the
responsibility we owe to our fellow-citizens
for its truth. The name of our informant ••
we do not give, because, for the present, -
he has, from becoming motives, laid an in- .
'junction upon us. Our government has
been apprised ef it in an autbentick man
ner, but the only publick and visible effect >
it seems to have yet produced, to on an- «
grateful and scurrilous attempt in the min
isterial papers, the Aurora and its satelite,
the Whig, to attribute the origination of
the plot to that very government which re
, ected and exposed it.
We publish the ft owing to show the
ideas of our adtXiniitration men with re
spect to the course to be taken at the ap- *
proachiug session of Congress. Our read
ers are requested to read, examine, and
ask themselves, what are we to expect from
such measures? Experience will answer
the question.
From the Richmond Enquire*} i
NOtf-INTERCOURSE.
Some further provisions of the law will,
undoubtedly, be necessary to give efficacy
to the sections of the statute, which arg,
perhaps, to be revived against Great-Bri
tain.
In the first place, the President should
be authorized to issue a Proclamation, if .
necessary, declaring the renewal of the
Non-Intercourse. How stands the case at
present ? The President is authorised to
issue his Proclamation, whenever either
of the belligerents shall revoke his obnox
ious edicts—in tbe first instance, therefore,
he is to be the judge. But who is-the judge
in the second instance I Who is to decide
when Great-Britain shall or shall not have
ceased “to violate the neutral commerce .
of the United States P* Not the President,
because the law' is silent on that head.
The Secretary of the TlMpnry to indeed .
empowered to instruct tie Collectors off'
all points touching the collection of defies $
but if in conformity with bto letter of the
2d instant, Major Gibbon, for instance,
should refuse to receive a vessel, after the
2d of February, bound from Great-Britain,
the merchant might sommons him before
the chief justice to shew pause why a man
damus should not be.sozved upon him. The
merchant might plead that Great-Britain
had ceased to violate our neutral com
merce—he might referito the repeal of the
Orders in Council of January and Novem
ber, 1807, and of April, 1809, although
those of May, 1806,* had not been revoked,
and thus it might becomes judicial ques- -
tion. The Judge would, of course, decide
whether or not Great-Britain had ceased
to violate our neutral rights. And thus,
a law which is intended to shield our neu
tral rights from a violation, and to redeem
a solemn pledge which we have given to
France, might be laid at the matey of tbe
federal court—their fluctuating decisions,
in different districts would weaken its pros
visions, all uniformity wouldbe lost, all en
ergy would be extinguished, and rogues
would find boles enough toescape from
the penalties of the law.
It is certainly a casus omissus— but let
the omission be remedied—let Congress
either specify the which we have a right
to demand from Great-Britain—or what is
better, direct the President to be the Judge
of these points, by authorizing him to Issue
a proclamation, declaratory of the revival
of the non-intercourse law. He to already
made the judge in the Ist instance; why
not in the 2d ? By this arrangement, all
the inconveniences of the present state of
things will be removed—for the proclama- . *
tion would then become the law of the
land—mandamuses would be totally out of
the question—for the courts would have no
cognisance of the case—they would'soy,
“ The law has spoken and we must bow in
silence.**
In the next place, steps should be taken
to enforce the Non-Intercourse Law to tbe
utmost of our power—to put all our naval
force in requisition—to employ an addition
al number of Revenue Cutters, Bcc^—and;
perhaps, to lay an JSmdorgro as to Great-
Britain.
It is no difficult thing .to predict, that
these will be the only steps, as to Great-
Britain, which the eleventh Congress wilt
take. The mere circumstance, of our hav
ing allowed Great-Britain till the 2d of
February to come into our terms, will de
feat every other proposition. It will be.
* Such may be the facto.