Virginia Argus — Richmond, Va., 1810-03-23 00:00:00, page 1

V I R G.I N I p A R G US.
XVI'TH YEAR.] A FREE PRESS MAINTAINS THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE PEOPL^. ' " rA- **
— ■■■ - -- -- - ____ i IX O. 2 ;J
_ Pa^-T^CoMTuRaovrs as:, b/S IMUTSU PUS VSA.MTS, Junior, P»„m T3 TII. Cow«.v<,^K.
'* [four Dollira Ptr Annum-RtUm Advance._ F I R D A Y, MARCH 23, 1810. —— ~f7TU Cent, Sb-^\
FOREIGN,
London, Ian. 13.
The intelligence of the relaxation of
Bonaparte's Commercial decrees, is,
we understand, confirmed by the Pa
lis papers of the 3d, which arrived in
town, ur.d which coutaiu the following
decree
DECREE.
uTLe porta of France, and all those
under her coulroul, are open for all
Vessels fur..islied with proper licen
ses ; that is to say, they must be new
ones, ol a' date posterior to this de
cree :
ARTICLES OF EXPORTA
TION.
“ Vinegar, paper, pasteboard, silks,
embroidered stuffs, verdigrease, oils
< :>*.!{ sorts, honey, perfumery, corks,
cut and in piece, turpentine, Spanish
iia^orice, dry pitch, rosin, juniper
bcn\, raw worsted, lamb aod kid skioe
tanned aucl tawed, linen of Hritany,
...oths and woilen stuffs of all kinds,
Velvets and cottons,silk, worsted, aud
ccuon hoisery, cutlery, trimming, chi
na, work of leather aud skins.
1 hose ar icles cannot be entered
in an}- gteater quantity than t.-ne fourtl;
j a; c ct the cargo, The ether three
parts oi the cargo are to be composed
ot primitive articles ; those arc corn,
v.:ut, brandy and Iruit.
IMP Oil FA IT ON.
*i tj.-ii_ ..
cloth, ckal^, for var ious purposes, sul
plrur in flout, pct-ash, stave*, row for
fishing, Spanish dollars, black lead,
ptv-’icr (hharr.e) locwcod, pitch and
’ar, barrilli, sumack, arsenic, fish,-oil,
hides, anti lignumt ilac.”
'! he above decree, as our readers
\ observe, opens the ports of Holland
to all ncutri.Is—that is, opens the door
to the trade with America_It is no
doubt a relaxation of iloraparte’s
commercial edicts, inasmuch as the
French ports were shut against ncu
tiais, and exports of French pro
pi riy and imports of neutrai proper
ty were strictly forbidden. But do
not let us suppose that the above
decree has been passed with any other
view than that of conciliating Ame
rica, and of inducing her to take a
decided part against us. The articles
permitted to be imported are al
most all those which America can
furnish, ore or two excepted. There
iS no mention made ofxolouiul pro.
duce, of hardware, of any articks of
Jbe manufacture or growth either of
ji«;u Britain or of her colonies. The
7 ticks permitted tot>e exploited from
ntc are those which America
wauls, and which for the most part ive
- hi.?e been in the habit of supplying her
with. It may be said that the French
{'Orta hcir.g open to neutrals, colonial
tc British produce w ill of course find
their wav into France. It mav -he
sn’td* too, that the relgxtion, 9/ the e
dicta with respect to neutrals, may o»
p;u the door to the relaxation, it not
11) live entire repeal of the Berlin 8c Mi,
§an Decrees. And this will be clone,
jj fcc.tfr.parfe means really to fuvor the
f, m/rican trade, itpd il he-does not,
under the ptetext oHavoringh'rr trade,
meftn only to embioil her with us by
koltlicg out atlvunties to her which
he km»wa yr-d she knows too we car.
;.ot net nth her to enjoy,—While the
Jirrun and Milan Decrees exist, our j
Orders in Council must remain in
force* Cur readers will recollect, that j
hv these orders “all the ports and !
places of hr mice and her allies, or of!
any *-th< r tout.try at war wilt) his Ma
jesty, ai d all other pom and places in
y'\;rcpr, Iron which, although net at!
war wiih his Majesty, the British j
flag excluded, shall, from hence-*
forth, be subject ro the same restrict,
lions ns if the same were actually)
blockad'd in the moat strict manner})
in d it is hcieby further ordered, that
pit in articles which are of the;
produce cl the said countries, shall be !
deemed iiniuwhd i and every vessel
trading from or to the s.tid countries,
together wr.h all goods and merthan*
due? on board, am1 all articles of the
rpifx'dfo or rjisnufact'us of tl .. d
I in h or c'-ionic », 'hail oe t.i;r;jr.
captors.’* Some alterations or modi
fications were made in these orders,
but, of course, not to the extent of
permitting France and America to
trade mutually in the produce of their
respective territories to the exclusion
of ail the produce of this country and
of her colonies—If Bonaparte consent,
tho’ not formally, at least virtually, to
repeal his Berlin and Milan decrees;
if they remain a dead letter on his
statute book, and are not canied in
to execution, then, no doubt, we shall
oppose no obstacles to the trade be
tween America and France—But we
do not as yet see any reason for sup
posing this to he his intention—and we
confess that this decree has produced
a considerable change in the opinion
we entertained yesterday, after read
ing the private letter from Paris. It
was generally believed after the arri
val of the letter, that the Berlin and
Milan decrees were on the eve of dis
solution, if not actually dead. It may
be so ; but the decree respecting neu
'trals by no means justifies us ia en
tertaining am h an opinion. Bona
parte, informed of the late events that
; have occurred in America, conceived
i it to he a favorable opportunity for
conc iliating her, & therefore issued his
decree, which in its operation will he
thinks, tend to influence her against,
it not to make her go to war with us
—because it is impossible for us to
suffer her to avail herself of ihe ad
vantages which he insidiously holds
out to her.
For the present Bonapp.rre has con
tented hiimdf with seizing part of
Holland, the province of Zealand.
Accounts from Holland, of lha Kth
state, that a proclamation for incor
porating the province of Zealand with
France had been received irom Paris.
I he Chief Civil OiTicer having refu
sed to twke the oath of Allegiance
without a more explicit and lormni
: declaration of so important a change,
, was, it i» said, immediately put un
der an arrer.t by the commander o.
j the French troops and scat to Paris,
i to account for bio contumacy. The
j possession of the province of Zea
land makes Bonaparte master of the
mouths of the Scheldt and the" Maes,
and in fact of the whole trade of liol
la'ud.
The Blosscm sloop of war 13 arrived
at Yarmouth; site parted with the
Baltic convoy in a thick fr r days
ago ; they were i:i number about 400.
Upwards of 170 were prizes to the
Baltic squadron.
J\nv t *7 15.
Dutch papers have arrived to the
10th, containing extracts freu the Pa.,
ris papers of the 4th. The latter con
tain the decree respecting exports and
imports, with a short preamble or
preface, stating the motives that have
led to it. After reading thi* pream
ble, we ran be a: no loss to discover
that the wretched state of the interior
ot France has alone wrung the decree
from Bonaparte. 1 he “ auperabun_
dnnt products,” sp<.ken of are the
corn and the wmc, which the farmers
and the wine-growers cannot sell.—
*»ome districts, we were told in
hi3 Expose ** find it impossible to sell
their toru.” ihc same impossibility
was felt by the nine-growers, and hid
ministers must have ass\j£pd him, that
ii men cannot sell what they grow,
they will not grow so much in future
—that when the surplus products ot
a country cannot he exported, part of
the productive labor of the country
must cease, and the value of its annu
al produce diminish. We remarked,
when this expose was published, that
it proved the wretched state of the in
terior—-and that under this man, who
boasts of the love which the people ol
France beir him, and of tne great
blessings he has conferred upon
France, the manufactures and com
merce had been ruined, and agricul
ture had received the deepest wound.
The decree shows the justice of our
remarks, and proves that the chief
object of passing the decree (the wish
to conciliate America may certainly
have been another object) was to en
able the farmers to export their grain,
the great spirits and wine countries t<.
export their winss and spirits ; and o
thers to export their fruits. So strong
ly is this declared, that ships ir.us
tike with them d'4t!i3 of their cargo
ia tho*c great national productions o
Franee, and only l-4th in Small wares.
The object of the decree in to assist the
halt-rumed farmers, wine-growers,
and landholders of France, not to re
lax the severity of the Merlin and Mi
lan decrees. All articles of British
manufacture and colonial produce are
still prohibited from being imported
jinto France or her dependencies, and
(only raw articles of the first necessity
admitted. — - -Of course there are no
symptoms of relaxation in any ofthese
proceedings. And so far from en
couraging them or rejoicing to see
them carrying into effect, we doubt
whether it is dot the^ duty of our go
vernment to resist and frustrate them.
It was once hoped we could starve
France into submission. We have
now a better chance of forcing her in
to submission by choaking her with
her own produce. Whether any ap
prehension oi a scarcity of grain in
our own country has induced minis
ters to permit the importation of that
of France, recently so freely imported,
we know not, nor whether in reality
cargoe* of our manufactures and co
lonial produce have been admitted in
to France bv connivance in return.
But in the state of grain at home
would all allow it, we should resist trie
introduction of that of France, as a
most powerful means of distressing
the enemy; we fear it is too certainly
proved by the disappearance of specie
f. om circulation that French corn has
been paid for, not by English menu,
facturea and colonial produce, but bv
English guineas, our home circulati
on being thus distressed, and our pa
per currency endangered to benefit
r rcric.i farmers ar.u ian*-n i ters. it
is not at this surely that we ought toj
rejoice! We must uoc be blinded to
our own interests by the misrepresen
tations of trickling trafficker*.
Spanish, p-pers arrived this mot-'
uing to the COth pit. and Lisbon to
the Ah instant. They state that Jo
seph Bonaparte* with 18,0(X> men,
wua about to proceed to the North oi
Spain: for what purpose is nut men
tioned. ^
Tiie Duke del Parque^vas on the
2*i*.h ult. on his march tt^yards Es
tramauura, to join the Duke of Albu
querque.
i he British head-quarters* were,
at the date of the lust advices, at Co
imbra.
The French were retreating from
Sierra.
1 he kings anil queens whom Bo
na par? e had assembled at Paris, have
taken wing* and are on theii return to
their respective territories, leaving Ba
nnparte to make preparations lor his!
in tended bride. Jerome and his
•vile set off on the 1st. and the kings
d Wirtemburg and Naples were to
follow in a few days. The wits of
Paris say, that Jerome h is magnani
mously determined to ape his brother,
and that having no hope of issue hy
his wile, lie thinks seriously ol repu
diating her, and of taking back his
tirst wife.
Bonaparte is lavishing unon the di
vorced Josephine pensions and pula,
ccs. She hus hud a palace at Paris
fTllT'»n Kll'V 'i rwl 1 > . t
j ;— ’
besides Malmaison, Bonaparte has
»dded a million of livres from his pri
vy purse.
In consequence of the French dv
cree, a great number of vessels have,
within these three days, arrived at
different ports of this kingdom with
^rain, butter, cheese, and other arti
cles.
I here are no further accounts irom
America, and we are unable to state
whether the bin for enabling the Pre
sident to send away offending Foreign
Ministers has passed the tlouse of
Congress, or, if it has, whether it has
>een acted upon by sending away Mr.
Jarkson.
I be path we have to pursue with re
spect to America is clear and str«ait.
>he is evidently in a violent pusfton,
and like all persons who indulge such
passions, ac'.s without judgment. But
chough sne has lost her temper, it it
lot necessary that we should loose
>urs. We view her “ more in pity
•ban in anger”—Were the two coun
ries in a state of equality' with respect
o powers and resources, there, mig ”
>e a necessity for resisting the iadigni
• y offered to us—but wnere there is so
evident an inequality, where the one
bur so vast a superiority over tire othei
our forbearance cannot possibly b
imputed to fear or meanness—She ma
,send a wav Mr. Jackson, but we shaf
not declare war against her.—If sh<*
choose to have no further intercourse
>r negotiation with us, let her act ac
cordingly » she is at perfect liberty so
to do—We can make no further offers
to her ; the first steps, the first propo
sals must now co ue from her—It was
absurd in her to conceive herself un
der no obligation, upon the rejection
of what she terms “ inadmissible con
ditions” to make any in return.—
We could not suffer her to maintain
the state of a Judge, authorized to
hear and determine between parties,
and to consider herself as holding the
balance of power between the tw 1
great belligerents. She conceives her
self to have received an injury—and
we come forward and off ,-r reparation,
if the offer be not deemed adequate to
the injury sustained, it is incumbent
on her to poiut oat where it '13 deGci*
et-.t, and to declare what additional de
gre^'of concession u necessary to
make up the complement of satisfacti
on. This she see ns determined uot
to do, but declares her willingness to
hear what we iiave further to offer,
it ill reserving to herself the privilege
of rejection, uutil we have come up
10 the unknown standard which she
keeps concealed. There is no true
dignity in this rcserv and though sh
ut ay consider it a very profauna polu
cy, we are much mistaken if Mr. Al
bert Gallatin will not convince her that
it is likely to be ruinous only to her
self,
Tlt'filixr IQ
Several American cargoes in French
ports, telensed from sequestration,
were on the noinr of being disposed of
at the invoice price; when, in con
sequence of information iro n Gen.
Armstrong, the sales were suspended,
and tile loss that would otherwise ar
ise to the American owners avoided.
A few days after tins communication
iro n Mr. Armstrong, the order for
[extending the list of articles of Export
j and Import appeared.
^ Jakuart 19.
l he late ministers inform us, that
they hear of its being the intention of
government to send out a new minis
ter to the United States, and that
common scn'.e requires that we
*• should forthwith send a minister toj
“ America, since the conduct of Mr. J
[*• Jackson has been outrageoys and}
!** unpardonable.” What part of it’
they consider to be such they are not j
kind enough to inform us, nor do vne
expect they will—It is their usual i
practice to bo very liberal in hardy
assertions, and very sparing of proofs.
We have already given our reasons, tk
we challenge them to answer them,
for thinking Mr. Jackson’s conduct so
far from having been outrageous and
unpardonable, to have beeu firm and
praise-worthy—It wa3 outrageous in
him, we suppose, to shew that Mr,
Erskine did not abide by his instructi
ons—it was outrageous in him to re
pel the accusations of want of faith and
j justice on our part. It was unpardona
ble in him to prove from their own
[declarations that they had seen Mr.
| Erskine’s instructions, and that having
seen them, they knew them to becou
trary to the arrangement they had
concluded with him. We can easily
conceive that those who appointed Air.
Er&kiue arc not likely to be pleased1
with »r. Jackson ; but as we prefer a
minister who abides by his instructi
ons to one who does not—as we prefer
a minister who manfully and Krinly
asserts the honor and dignity of his
country, and who will not su.Ter A-^
mcrica to think that England comes an
an humble suitor at the Bar of Con
gress, requesting a hearing for the
proposals stie has to make, so shall we
always contend that aVlr. Jackson de
serves the thanks and the gratitude ol
his country.
That a new minister will be sent to
America we cannot believe. (Jur
minister h is been treated with such
indignity, that we do not see how we
can expose any other to n similar treat
ment. We repeat what we said a da
»r two ago—that our coarse is clew,
end strait; A merica is in a passion—
/c are no!; it she chooses to act f.tab
'y, iyj do not. She inav send awa
our mobassnd >r ; hut wo shall no.
therefore tied ire wir. Sue may brea
4 off ail intercourse. w* h us, r e fhall no
'— ... i.wy*
1 quarrel with her on that account ; bu;
vc shall at least expect that she sh It
’jc the first to make any f/es i over
tures or proposals lor accommodati
on.
The last intelligence from Spain is
•»v no means discouraging—The
Spaniards seem to feel no dou »c with
respect to the issue of the contest —
they say that this is the first time i’.u.
onanorte ever had to contend o i
their own territories with a people —
that his armies have already sdiere l
more irom the undisciplined binds of
patriots than they did from the profes.
»ed warlijc.; «,!„ of \u,tria 1 of
Prussia—lhat ihsre wiiuu the n c il ,r
armies were beaten, the pe >pl- J[a v,
cd no disposition to rise against the
invader, and that peace and sub niv
sion were the early frui * of the t< r me t
victories j but that in Spain defeat ’<*
no waere followed by despond m y
nor disaster by EubmU.ion—th it their
troops, though beaten aid dispersed
re-aa sc ruble and fight again with un„
broKen fortitude-that there is tut
the pettiest village that has yielded
tie 1’rench authority without re.
luctance, and thrown oil' the yoke th t
ruotneri. it had tin opportunity : they
know that iiuonaparte is sending rein
forcements into Spain, an J that ,,e is
coming himeeU against them, bat
tnev iecl no apprehension, and :W
hope to tire him out by a desultory
maaeoi warfm e. The armies under
th- Duke del Parque an l General A'
esaga have been increased the former
to 35,0JJ men, and the latter to 4?
000.
We have some informatinn .
2 nY 1 VC3cd "hicli lcft *hecom of
Holland on uuoduy last. Kiog L m*
H had not arrived, but the rc>
peated disappointment* of the m"
habitants of Amsterdam do not
4eem to diminish their expectations uf
his early return. On the exchange of
that ct y a report very generally °pre.
vailed, that Buonaparte had made ua
oner of marriage to the princess Fliza
beth of England, and the Dutchmen
could not persuade themselves that
auch a proposal .voulJ be r. iected hv
the House of Brunswick.
A paragraph from Bayonne of the
30.n ultimo, mentions that the rein
forcement'! to Spain are proceeding
without intermission, aud that the sub
jugation ol the country, if not already
co pleted, willbespeedily accom.diMv
cd. vVitbin a few days about 300)
men had ttken the road to the P ren
ers, and on the 3l»t December half
mat number were to proceed in th**
same direction. Quarters had been
ordered for a very numerous joey
wnicti was soon expected.
-T’L P f t Pa*-is, Dec. SO.
a he Eng. sh papers are nde 1 .v.t'i
accounts of the festival* given to the
JLersian ambassador, uS he l8 s,y)„,j
710 ‘‘°wever, .s neither more nor less
than an officer of the household of the
governour oflipthnn. Ws nAn„ tl
Hftnomud Hussein, and he i, not in
vested with any pubhek character, lie
was merely sent to England by the
governour, on account of some com
mercial relations which he entertain*
with respect to the English EastAn
dia company. Mr. Adair, ho fever,
received him in r:..r.Q.
a man of vast impottunce, and in Lm
.on he rart wita distinction for winch
ne must himself be at a loss to ar
count. *
| The day before yesterday the Le
|g slative ilody h.ld a a extraordinary
filling, when a project of a Senatui
Uonaultutn came under consideration
oy which it is intended to prolong tlia
I present aessiou totl.edist *>f Decem
ber.
Otto, French minister at thj
aourt of Davari.i, has received his a •
pmntmeut »i _ French ambassador *c
Vienna, and is already making t!>s
necessary arrange meat* for his <ici>.«■ .
ture lor the Amiri in capital.
Rotterdam Oazette, Jap. 4.
. , . Jvxumit, .
I he introduction of amm cotton, ,-.f
whatever quality orc *untrv, w;n ».r ..
libited by a French Imperial Dtc.ae
>1 toe 24 1 December.
Col. Furr, formerly Vice-Prcai.^nt
>i tne IT. Stares untve 1 a: iiauovn ou
oe ldth Dec.
A-co'ding to letters bn Pet'» .
virgli, Con it Hom inzoA, Minuter f# r
v’rai.T'* affairs, w is oa ths ev. o * h.
oat for {***i*