The enquirer (Richmond, Va.), 1804-05-16 00:00:00

THE ENQUIRER.
Richmond, (Virginia) Published by RITCHIE & WORSLEY, opposite the Post-Office....At four DOLLARS per annum, payable in advance.
NUMBER 3.]
WEDNESDAY MORNING, MAY 16, 1804.
[VOLUME 1.
TERMS OF THE ENQUIRER.
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Domestic Intelligence.
SAVANNAH, April 27, 1804.
As the occurrences which now agitate this city, are likely to excite enquiry and comment in our sister states, an account of their origin is thought necessary.
Some days previous to the opening of the superior court, Judge Bowen arrived here. As one means of exciting our admiration, he thought proper to commit an act, improper to state, at a respectable boarding house, which being justly resented by the lady who kept it, he carried the quarrel to an assault on her, and issued such threats that she feared for her future safety.
The judge delivered a charge which, for violence of language and irrelevance to legal duties is believed to be without a parallel. The sentiments are such as, at this period are improper and dangerous in the extreme. The subject was wholly political and foreign to the nature of a judicial charge. None but a man desperately depraved would delight in ravaging the creation, that some evils might be extirpated.
Conceiving the tendency of the charge to be alarmingly evil; on Wednesday last, the Grand Jury very properly and spiritedly presented the charge itself, and recommended that it should not be published.
Judge Bowen, in a rage, instantly directed the sheriff to confine them in goal. At this an involuntary and almost universal NO issued from the persons present. The Judge then broke out in the most outrageous and profane language; drew a pistol and declared he would shoot the rascal who dare say NO. The Grand Jury declared their readiness to obey the order of Court, and were suffered to be committed; the whole body of the spectators attending them.
An order was then made by the judge, that his charge should be published in the Georgia Republican, and the court was adjourned.
The gentlemen of the Bar, met and passed several resolutions on the occasion, one of which was to give a dinner to the Grand Jury, and to dine with them at the jail, which was accordingly done.
At one o'clock the citizens met at the Exchange and passed a number of resolutions suited to the emergency. The meeting exceeding four hundred.
These proceedings enraged the judge to that degree that he began to threaten the lives of the citizens, setting fire to the city and deluging it with blood. A warrant founded on these threats and the assault on Mrs. Bowen was issued for his confinement, the charge being supported by the affidavits of several respectable characters. When taken, he endeavored to escape, and slashed a pistol at the sheriff.
About 10 o'clock in the evening, he was committed to the common jail of the county, where he now remains.
On Thursday morning the Grand Jury applied to the Inferior Court for a writ of Habeas Corpus, which was granted, agreeably to the following order.
CHAMBERS, April 26th, 1804.
Present the Hon. Edward Telfair, Edward Harden, John G. Williamson, Esqrs. A communication of this day from the foreman of the Grand Jury, was received and read, setting forth that that Body had been committed to the common goal under an order of Judge Bowen, who is shown to be now confined in Goal, and praying relief in the premises, and on motion of Mr. Berrien, it is ordered that a habeas corpus be issued, and that the sheriff do without
delay bring into court the foreman and the other citizens who compose the Grand Jury.
The Sheriff attended with the foreman and citizens who composed the grand jury and thereupon the court addressed them as follows:
FELLOW CITIZENS,
It will be difficult to find a precedent to meet your case, at the same time, we feel no hesitation in declaring your commitment, now before the court, illegal.
Because, That it strikes at the root of jurisprudence, and consequently puts a period to the present term; without you, the lives and the rights of your fellow citizens are in danger—it is the Grand Jury of inquest they look up to for protection, and without your body, the laws of our country cannot be executed. The patriotism, firmness and dignity with which you have conducted yourselves, together with the patience and fortitude you have displayed, will hand your names with applause to posterity.
The arbitrary and illegal confinement under which you have laboured for twenty four hours, is hereby declared to cease, and therefore, for the laws of their country from your confinement.
They were then discharged, and were received by their fellow citizens with the highest testimonies of approbation.
We are happy to state, that inasmuch as the citizens were at the conduct of Judge Bowen, there was no disorderly conduct, and very little insult—nothing further than three cheers at his commitment.—They preferred, in the moment of resentment, a regard for the laws of their country which does them the highest honour.
Savannah, April 25th, 1804.
Judge Bowen having ordered the charge given to the Grand Jury on Monday last, to be published in the Georgia Republican, the Editor felt himself bound by his duty to refuse the publication, and returned his honor the following reasons for his refusal.
To JABEZ BOWEN, Esq. Judge of the Superior Court for the Eastern district of Georgia.
Sir, I refuse to publish your charge delivered to the Grand Jury of Chatham County on Monday last, according to your order, communicated to me this day.
Because, to excite commotion in the community, is injudicious, improper, and ought not to be promulgated.
Because, This particular charge is uncommonly fraught with evil, its language disrespectful and inflammatory, and wholly extrajudicial: an extensive range of politics being as foreign to the province of a judge as to the purpose of the pulpit.
Because, I approve of the presentment of the grand jury; and, feel in their arbitrary commitment, only a regret that I have not the honour to suffer with them.
Because, your conduct during the present visit for the session of the court, has not added respect to your important office.
Because, the outrage of presenting a pistol in open court, while sitting in a judicial capacity, is degrading to the character of a judge, and argues a degree of impropriety I want words to express.
Because, I am fortified in this resolution by the unanimous opinion of the Grand Jury, the bar and the most respected of my fellow citizens, on whom I put myself for support in its maintenance.
With respect,
Yours,
SAMUEL MORSE.
At a meeting of the Attorneys of the Bar of Savannah, held at the Court-house on Wednesday the 25th April 1804, at 11 A. M. Present General Mitchell, Charles Harris, John Y. Noel, Thomas Gibbons, Joseph Welfelcher, James E. Houghton, Richard Leake, Charles Baldwin, Morris Miller, Jeremiah Cuyler, John M. Berrien, George Allen, Alexander M. Allen, William B. Bulloch, John Lawson, Richard M. Stites, Fingal T. Fleming, Joseph Stoops, Thomas Nethercliff, James Townsend, and William Davies, Esqrs, General Mitchell in the chair.
On motion, unanimously resolved, that an entertainment be provided for the Grand Jury of this county, now confined in goal, at 4 o'clock this day, at the expence of the Bar, and that the Attorneys will dine with the Jury. That Messrs. Lawson and Cuyler hold committee to carry the foregoing resolution into effect; and that Messrs. Bulloch and Berrien be a committee to wait on the Grand Jury, with a copy of the foregoing resolutions.
On Motion, Resolved unanimously, that Messrs. Harris and Gibbons be a committee to wait on the printers, and request that the charge of Judge Bowen, delivered to the Grand Jury at the opening of the court, be not published.
On Motion, Resolved unanimously, that General Mitchell; and Messrs. Noel and Berrien, be a committee to wait on the gentlemen of the grand jury, and advise with them, on the most constitutional and legal mode of procuring their discharge from prison.
On motion, Resolved, that it is the unanimous sense of the Bar; that the charge delivered by Judge Bowen, at the com-
mencement of the present term of the superior court of this county, does contain principles, in the highest degree injurious, to the interests of the good people of this country, and tends to endanger their lives and properties, and subject them to the horrors of domestic insurrection. That the members of the Bar, do in the most ample manner, approve of the conduct of the Grand Jury, as well in this expression of their sentiments on the charge of the Judge, as in their determination to recede from further attendance of the court.—That they view with the utmost abhorrence, the prostitution of judicial dignity in Judge Bowen's drawing, and presenting a pistol against a multitude of the citizens, and using the most profane and indecent language, while on the bench, and during the sitting of the court; and thereupon unanimously resolved, that they will not take their seats at the bar, during the present term, nor answer to their names when called; nor will attend without the bar at all times, when the Grand Jury shall be brought up before the court, for the purposes of affording such counsel and advice as their circumstances may require.
D. B. MITCHELL, Chairman. Copy of the proceedings. WILLIAM DAVIES, Secretary.
At a meeting of the citizens of Savannah, publicly convened and held at the Exchange on the twenty-fifth day of April 1804.
JOSEPH CLAY, Esq. in the chair.
Resolved Unanimously, that the citizens of Savannah do highly applaud the firm, dignified and patriotic conduct of the present Grand Jury of Chatham county, for which they have been committed to goal, by Judge Bowen, the Judge of the Superior Court, and that the thanks of the citizens be presented them for their very proper demeanor on the occasion, and that a committee, consisting of John Bolton Esq. Edward Telfair Esq. and Samuel Howard Esq. be appointed for that purpose.
Resolved Unanimously, that a committee be appointed to wait upon the several printers in this city, to request in the name of the citizens, that the charge of his honor Judge Bowen, to the Grand Jury of Chatham County, be not be printed, that it is the wish of the citizens.
Resolved Unanimously, that a subscription be opened for the support and maintenance of the Grand Jury of Chatham county while in Goal, and for furnishing them with every convenience, and that a committee be appointed to receive the subscriptions and invest the money for their benefit while in Goal, and that Messrs. Richard M. Stites, Joseph Arnold, John I. Gray, Norman M'Leod, and Samuel H. Stackhouse, be that committee.
Resolved Unanimously, That the Representatives of this county to the Legislature, be requested and instructed to exert themselves to procure a Legislative enquiry into the official conduct of the Judge of the Superior Court of this circuit, in committing to goal the Grand Jury of the county of Chatham, who are constitutionally bound to preserve the right of the People, and who in a court of Judicature are their lawful Representatives, and also into the other official misconduct of the said Judge.
Resolved Unanimously, that a committee of seven be appointed for carrying into effect the foregoing resolution, that said committee be empowered to procure such testimony as may be necessary to substantiate the charges, and that General D. B. Mitchell, Charles Harris, William Davies, P. T. Fleming, John M. Berrien, Morris Miller and Thomas F. Williams, Esqrs. be that committee.
Resolved Unanimously, that a committee be appointed to confer with the committee of the bar, upon the most proper measures to be pursued for the discharge of the Grand Jury of Chatham county from their present confinement, and to use every lawful means to procure their enlargement, and that the hon. William Stephens, Joseph Clay, Matthew M'Alister, Joseph Miller and Robert Mackay, Esqrs. be that committee.
Resolved Unanimously, that the citizens of Savannah view with abhorrence the conduct of Judge Bowen this day on the bench of the Superior Court, and during the sitting of the same, in drawing and presenting a pistol, against a number of the citizens of this place, and in using the most indecent and profane language, whereby the dignity of his office and the respectability of this government are prostituted.
Resolved Unanimously, that the proceedings of this meeting be signed by the chairman and secretary, and published in the newspapers of this city, and that a copy be presented the foreman of the Grand Jury, also that extra sheets thereof, be published this evening.
[SIGNED] JOSEPH CLAY, CHAIRMAN.
By order of the Meeting, SAMUEL HOWARD, SECRETARY. A true copy of the original proceedings, SAMUEL HOWARD, SECRETARY.
SAVANNAH, April 26, 1804. To Joseph Clay, Esq. Chairman of the meeting of the Citizens of Savannah, publicly
convened at the Exchange on the 25th of April, 1804.
SIR, We the subscribers, late members of the Grand Inquest, for the body of the county of Chatham, are happy at finding that the conduct we, from duty to our country, and to ourselves, were constrained to adopt towards Jabez Bowen, junr. Esq. Judge of the Eastern District, on the 25th instant, has been so generally approved by our fellow citizens.
The attention paid, the liberal vote, and offer for maintenance while in confinement by our fellow citizens, are deeply impressed upon our feelings.
We present through you, Sir, our sincere thanks to them, for the lively interest exhibited towards us on the occasion.
William Smith, Barack Gibbons, Wm. Blogs, James MacIntosh, Richard Turner, Solomon Shad, William Lewden, James Alger, Jonathan Cline, John Gibbons, Isaac Minis, William Brown, Saul Simons, James Belcher, John Y. White, Joseph Rice, Joseph Machlin, John Pettibone, Sampson Neyle, David Gugle, T. Barnard junr.
A similar address was presented to general D. B. Mitchell, Chairman of the gentlemen of the Bar.
[Georgia Republican.]
WASHINGTON, May 9.
We this day present our readers with a Census of Inhabitants of the City, taken by the direction of the City Council. By the result of this enumeration it is demonstrated that the City has progressed very rapidly within these few years. In the year 1800, when the General Census was taken, the Inhabitants amounted to 3,210.—In the year 1803, when the Census now stated was taken, the Inhabitants amounted to 4,352.—It is to be observed that when the former Census was taken, the permanent population of the City was considerably increased by the number of workmen engaged on the Public Buildings but for a time, and who on their suspension removed. These including their families, may fairly be estimated at 400.—Deducting 400 from the number given by the first Census there remain 2812, which, taken from the present population, leaves 1,540, which is equal to an increase of about fifty-five per cent in a
 CENSUS OF 1803.    From 1 to 10 10 to 18 18 to 30 30 to 45 45 to 60 Above 60     White Males..... 546 256 453 433 170 12 1569   White Females..... 522 256 438 287 77 35 1530   Male Slaves..... 98 84 97 47 13 8 338   Female Slaves..... 102 95 95 50 28 9 379   Free Black Males..... 36 16 25 16 7 3 103   Free Black Females..... 28 24 35 21 7 5 120   Sum of each..... 1235 755 1155 854 297 68 4352  
In our next we shall exhibit a statement of the professions of the Inhabitants, taken from the Census.
The above statement marks an increase of numbers which more conclusively establishes the progressive improvement of the city than could be done in any other way. Few if any towns, in the United States, have risen with such rapidity. When too, it is considered, that this augmentation of numbers has arisen without trade, without the investment of much capital in extensive manufactures, & without the aid of a fostering local government, it will be seen that the place must possess great and peculiar advantages over other towns. If its rise, amidst circumstances so little propitious, has not been surpassed what may we not expect from the rise of commercial adventure to which natural position holds forth inducements so powerful, from numerous manufactures, which might at the present moment be advantageously conducted, and from the important powers recently given to the local government of the city?
[National Intelligencer.]
SHAKSPEARE.
Time, which is continually washing away the dissoluble fabrics of other Poets, preserves, without injury, by the adamant of Shakspeare.
DR. JOHNSON'S PREFACE.
FIRST COMPLETE EDITION IN AMERICA, FROM THE TEXT OF THE BEST EDITORS OF SHAKSPEARE.
H. MAXWELL & T. S. MANNING, Propose to publish, during the month of April, ensuing, Volume I. of
THE PLAYS OF WILLIAM SHAKSPEARE, WITH THE CORRECTIONS AND ILLUSTRATIONS OF VARIOUS COMMENTATORS.
TO WHICH ARE ADDED, NOTES,
BY SAMUEL JOHNSON & GEO. STEEVENS From the fifth and latest London edition, published in 1803....Revised and augmented....BY ISAAC REID.—With A GLOSSARIAL INDEX
Sweet Swan of Avon, What a sight it were, To see thee in our waters yet appear, With all those flights upon the banks of
[Thames, That solid take Eliza and King James! But stay....I see thee in our hemisphere Advanced, and made a constellation be, Shine forth, thou Star of Poets, & with thee, Or influence, chide or cheer the droop]
Ben Jonson.
TERMS.
This first complete edition, in America, of Shakspeare, will be contained in 16 8vo. Volumes, Crown octavo size.
It will be printed in a style, eminently beautiful, on a fine cream-colored woven paper, with a type entirely new and cast for the purpose by Messrs. Binney and Ronaldson.
The proprietors pledge themselves, that it shall surpass the London edition in neatness of mechanical execution, and rival it in fidelity and correctness.
It will be printed under the immediate direction and superintendence of an Editor, at 50 Cents per vol. in boards, to subscribers, 1 Dollar 75 Cents.
The inferior copy of the last London edition, in 21 vols. boards, sells for Five Dollars; more than double the price of the proposed edition, which the Proprietors have resolved shall, from its cheapness, as well as elegance, deserve the attention of the public.
To consult the economy or the taste of different purchasers, an edition will be printed in a compressed, cheap and portable form, without the notes, in 8 volumes 12mo. price 1 dollar per vol. in boards.
It is contemplated to print one volume every month, from the time of commencement, until the work be completed. A correct Alphabetical List of the Subscribers will be given with the last volume. The Proprietors anxiously hope that the liberality of the public will be conspicuous in the support of a work of labour magnitude, to which intense labour and great expense are necessarily incident.
Philadelphia, February 20, 1804.
** Subscriptions received at RITCHIE & WORSLEY'S Printing-Office.
NOTICE.
THOSE who have claims against the estate of WILLIAM C. BEALE late of the county of Westmoreland, are requested to exhibit them immediately to the subscriber, who is fearful there will not be sufficient assets to pay the debts due by the said William C. Beale, and is therefore anxious to apply the assets in such manner as the law directs.
John Peake, Esq. Westmoreland County, January 1, 1804.
By virtue of a Deed of Trust executed to me by Mr. John Woodson, of Hanover County, to secure the payment of a debt due from him to Charles Powell, Executor of Rev. William Douglass dec. will be exposed to SALE at Hanover Court House on the fourth Wednesday in June next, it being Hanover Court day, the
TRACT OF LAND.
WHEREON the said Woodson now resides, adjoining the lands of Nathaniel W. Dandridge and others, or so much hereof as will be sufficient to satisfy the balance of the said debt still due, and the costs attending this trust, by
DAVID BULLOCK, FRED'K. HARRIS, Trustees. May 9, 1804. ids. (1)
Printing,
IN ALL ITS VARIETY, EXECUTED AT THE OFFICE OF THE ENQUIRER, WITH NEATNESS, ELEGANCE, AND THE GREATEST DISPATCH.

Foreign intelligence. FROM THE UNITED STATES GAZETTE. PARIS, January 21. STATEMENT OF THE SITUATION OF THE REPUBLIC. 25 Nivose, year 12 of the Republic.
The Republic has been forced to change its attitude, but it has not changed its situation: it always preserves in the knowledge of its strength, the assurance of its prosperity. Every thing was calm in the interior of France, when at the beginning of last year, we still entertained the hope of its prosperity. Every thing has remained calm since that period in which a jealous power has again lighted up the torch of war, and it is since that war has broken out, that the union of interests and of sentiments has displayed itself more fully and more completely, and public spirit been developed with the utmost energy.
In the new departments which the First Consul has passed through, as well as in the old ones, he has witnessed the expression of a true French indignation; he has recognized in the hatred of their inhabitants against a government, the enemy of our prosperity, still more than in their bursts of public joy and personal affection, their devotion to his destiny.
Throughout all the departments, the ministers of public worship have profited of the influence of religion, to consecrate this spontaneous movement of men's minds. Depots of arms which fugitive rebels had made under ground, that they might have recourse to at a future moment, which guilty hopes flattered them would soon arrive, have been discovered at the first signal of danger, and delivered up to the public magistrates, in order to arm our defenders.
The British government will endeavour to cast, and has perhaps already cast on our shore, some of those monsters which it has nourished during peace to rend the soil on which they were born; but they will no longer meet on it those impious bands, the instruments of their first crimes, who have either been dissolved by terror or have fallen victims to the offended justice of their country; they will neither find that credulity which they abused, nor that hatred, the poisons of which they sharpened. Experience has enlightened all: the wisdom of the law and of the administration has reconciled every heart.
Surrounded every where by the public force, every where secured by the tribunals, these guilty wretches will no longer have it in their power to excite rebellion, nor again with impunity to act as robbers and assassins.
A miserable attempt has lately been made in La Vendee; the conscription was the pretext; but citizens, priests, soldiers, all rose up for the common defence; those who in former times were the movers of discord, came voluntarily to offer their services to support the public authority, and in their persons and families presented to many pledges of their loyalty and devotion to the state.
What in short above all characterizes the security of citizens, is the return of social affections; beneficence becomes every day more manifest; on all sides we behold voluntary contributions for the relief of misfortune, and funds set apart for useful establishments.
The war has not in the least interrupted the intentions of peace; government has constantly pursued every thing which could tend to infuse the constitution into the manners and temperament of citizens; every thing which might attach the interests and the hopes of all men to its duration.
The Senate has therefore been raised to that height which its institution demanded. An endowment such as the constitution had determined surrounds it with an awful grandeur. The Legislative Body will for the future appear only environed by the majesty claimed by its functions; it will no longer be in vain sought for out of its fittings. An annual president will form the centre of its movements, and become the organ of its thoughts and its wishes in its relations with the government. This body will in short possess that dignity, which could not possibly exist under a fickle and indeterminate form.
A single Préfecture , the Préfecture of St. Cyr, receives the children of citizens who have died for their country: already the education there breathes military enthusiasm.
At Fontainbleau, the Special Military School reckons many hundred soldiers trained to discipline, hardened to fatigue, who acquire with the habits of their profession, a knowledge of its art.
The school of Compiegne presents the aspect of an immense manufactory, where five hundred young men go from their studies to the workshops, and from the workshops to their studies. After a few months they execute both with precision and intelligence, works which could not have been obtained but after years of a vulgar apprenticeship; and commerce and industry will soon reap the benefit of their labours and of the care of government.
The engineer and artillery service have but one school and a common institution. The practice of medicine is every where submitted to the new regimen which the law has prescribed for it. In a salutary reform it has undergone, means have been found to render the expense simple and yet add to the instruction.
The exercise of pharmacy has been placed under the guard of intelligence and probity.
By a new regulation, judges have been appointed, whose office it is to determine in all differences between the master and his workmen, with that celerity, which their respective interests and wants demand, as also with that impartiality which justice dictates.
The civil code is now finishing, and in the course of the present session, the last projects of laws which complete the whole, will be submitted to the deliberations of the Legislative Body.
The judiciary Code, so universally called for, is now undergoing these discussions which will conduct it to maturity.
The criminal Code is in a state of forwardness; and of the commercial Code, those parts which circumstances appear to claim most imperiously, are in a state to receive the seal of the law in the course of next session.
New chef d'oeuvres of art are arrived to embellish our Museums; and whilst the rest of Europe look with envy on our riches, our young artists still travel into Italy, to warm their genius with the light of the great monuments in that country; and to breathe that enthusiasm which they excite.
In the department of Marangue, under the walls of that Alexandria which henceforth become one of the most powerful bulwarks of France, is formed the first camp of our veterans: they will there preserve the recollection of their exploits and the pride of their victories; they will inspire into their new fellow-citizens, love & respect for that country, the limits of which they have extended and which has recomposed them; they will leave in their children, inheritors of their courage, and new defenders of that country, the benefits of which they will reap.
In the ancient territory of the Republic, in Belgium, old fortifications, which were only useful as monuments of the misfortunes of our forefathers, or of the progressive augmentation of France, are demolished. The ground which was sacrificed to their defence will be restored to culture and to commerce; and with the funds arising from these demolitions and grounds, new fortresses will be erected on our frontiers.
Under a better system of judgment, the turnpike tax has considerably augmented: contractors who held for one year only, possessed no emulation; and contractors who had very small portions of road had no fortune and could give no security.
Triennial adjudgments of many turnpikes at a time, have induced more numerous competitions, richer and bolder bidders.
The Turnpike duties have produced, during the 11th year, fifteen millions; ten millions have been set apart in the same year to the reparation and improvement of the roads.
The ancient roads have been repaired; roads have been connected with other roads by new constructions. From this year, carriages pass over the Simplon and Mount Cenis.
Three arches of the bridge of Tours, which had fallen in, are now rebuilding. New bridges are building at Corbeil, at Roanne, at Nemours, upon the Here, the Roubion, the Durance, and the Rhine.
A direct communication will be opened between Avignon and Villeneuve, by means of a bridge undertaken by a private association.
Three bridges had been begun, at Paris, with a capital furnished by some citizens: two have been partly finished by the public money; and the toll received upon them affures, in a fixed number of years, the interest and reimbursement of the capital advanced.
A third, the most interesting of all, (that of the Garden of plants) is building, and will soon be finished. It will free the interior of Paris from an embarrassing circulation, will be joined to a magnificent square, long since decreed, which will be embellished by plantations, and the waters of the river Oureq, and at which the Rue Saint Louis , and that of its suburb will terminate in a direct line.
This bridge alone will form the object of an expense which will soon be made good by the tolls that will be received upon it. The square and all its appurtenances will cost the state only the ground and the ruins upon which it is to be raised.
The works of the canal of Saint Quentin are carrying on upon four points at once. Already a subterraneous gallery is pierced in an extent of a thousand metres; two sluices are completed, eight others are advancing, others are raised above the foundation; and this vast enterprise will in some years afford a complete navigation.
The canals of Arles, of Aigues-Mortes, of the Saone and of the Yonne, that which will unite the Rhone to the Rhine; that which, by the Blavet is to carry navigation to the centre of ancient Brittany, are all begun, and all will be finished in a time proportionate to the works they require.
The canal which is to join the Scheldt, the Meuse and the Rhine, is no longer only in the imagination of government; the ground has been reconnoitred; the money is already provided for an enterprise which will open Germany to us, and will restore to our commerce and industry, parts of our own territory, which by their situation were abandoned to the industry and the commerce of foreigners.
The junction of the Rance to the Vilaine will unite the channel to the Atlantic, will carry prosperity and civilization into countries where agriculture and the arts languish, where agrestick manners are still strangers to our morals. From this year considerable sums have been appropriated to this operation.
The draining of the marshes of Rochefort, often attempted and often abandoned, is carrying on with constancy. A million will this year be destined to carry labour to that port, which devoured our seamen & its inhabitants. Cultivation and men will extend themselves over lands since long devoted to diseases and depopulation.
In the heart of Cotentin, a no less important draining, the plan of which is laid, and the expense of which, calculated at the utmost, will necessarily be reimbursed by the result of the operation, will transform into rich pastures, marshes of a vast extent, which at this time are but the habitation of never-ending contagions.
The fund necessary to this enterprise is comprised in the budget of the 12th year. At the same time a bridge upon the Vire will join the department of la Manche to the department of Calvados , will suppress a passage always dangerous and often fatal, and will abridge by some myriametres the road leading from Paris to Cherbourg.
Upon another point of the department of la Manche , a canal is projected, which will carry the sands of the sea and fruitfulness to a barren country, and will give to houses and to the navy, timber which perishes without employment at a few myriametres , from the shore.
Upon all the coasts, upon all the coasts of Belgium, the dikes undermined by the hand of time, attacked by the sea, are repairing, extending, and fortifying.
The Lock and the Basin of Ostend are secured against the progress of ruin, a bridge will open an important communication to the town, and agriculture will be enriched by a precious piece of ground, recovered from the inroads of the sea.
Antwerp has all on a sudden been decreed a military port, an arsenal, and ships of war upon the stocks. Two millions assigned upon the sale of national domains, situated in the department of l'Escaut and of les Deux-Nethes , are put aside for the reparation and enlargements of its ancient port. Upon the faith of this pledge, commerce advances money, the works are begun, and next year they will be led to their perfection.
At Boulogne, at Havre, upon all that coast which our enemies have now begun to call an iron coast , great works are executing or completing.
The Dike of Cherbourg long abandoned, long the object of incertitude and doubt, emerges at length from the bosom of the waters; and it is already a rock for our enemies, and a protection for our navigators. Under the shelter of this dike, at the end of an immense road, a port is digging, where in some years, the republic will have arsenals and fleets.
At La Rochelle, at Cetté, at Marseilles, at Nice, they are repairing with secured funds, the ravages of heedlessness and of time. It is more especially in our maritime towns, where the flagration of commerce has multiplied misfortunes & wants, that the foresight of the government has attached itself to creating resources in useful or necessary works.
Inland navigation was perishing through forgetfulness of principles and of rules; it is henceforth submitted to a tutelar and conservative regulation. A toll is established for its maintenance, for the works it requires, for the improvements which the public interest calls for: placed under the inspection of the prefects, it farther enjoys in the board of commerce, useful guardians, witnesses and comptrollers of the funds it produces; in fine, enlightened men who discuss the projects formed to preserve or extend it.
The right of fishing in navigable rivers, is again become, what it should always have been, a public property. They are committed to the care of the administration of the forest; and triennial adjudgments give to them, in farmers, prefevers still more active, as being more interested.
Last year was a prosperous year for our finances; the management of them has happily deceived the calculation which had at first determined their produce. The direct contributions have been collected with more facility. The operations which are to establish the balance of the landed contributions between the departments advance with rapidity. Their affeusement will become invariable; we shall no more behold that strife of different interests which corrupted public justice, and that jealous rivalry which menaced the industry and prosperity of all the departments.
Some prefects and some general councils had demanded that the same operation should be extended to all the communes of their department, to determine among them the basis of a proportional assessment. A decree of the government has authorized this general operation, become the more simple, and the more economical by the success of the partial operation. Thus, in a few years, all the communes of the republic will have each, in a particular map, the plan of its territory, the divisions, the connection of the properties which compose it, and the general councils, and the councils of arrondissemens , will find, in the union of all the plans, the elements of an assessment just in its basis and perpetual in its propositions.
The chest of the sinking fund fulfils, with constancy and fidelity, its destination. Already the proprietor of a part of the public debt, every day it augments a treasure which guarantees to the state a quick delivrance; a severe exactness in accounting, and an inviolable fidelity, have merited to the administration the confidence of the government, and secures to them the interest of the citizens.
The calling in of the money is executing without commotion, and without a shock: it was a scourge when the principles of justice were swerved from; it is become the most simple operation, since the publick faith and the rules of good sense have fixed its conditions.
At the treasury; the publick credit has maintained itself in the midst of the shocks of the war and interested rumours.
The public treasury contributed towards the expenses of the colonies, either by direct remittances, or by operations on the continent of America. The administrators were empowered, if the sums proved insufficient, to procure more by means of drafts upon the publick treasury; but with prescribed forms and in a determined measure.
All on a sudden a mass of drafts (to the amount of forty two millions) was created at St. Domingo, without any proportion to future wants.
Men without character hawked them about the Havanna, Jamaica, and the U. States: they were every where there exposed in the publick market to shameful falls, given up to men who had, funded neither money nor merchandise, or who were only to furnish the value of them when they should be paid at the publick treasury. Thence ensued a scandalous debasement in America and a more scandalous stock Jobbing in Europe.
It was rigorously incumbent on the government to stop the course of this imprudent measure; to save to the nation the losses with which it was threatened, to redeem above all its credit by a just severity.
An agent of the publick treasury was sent to St. Domingo, charged to verify the journals and the chest of the paymaster-general; to ascertain how many drafts had been created, by what authority and under what form; how many had been negotiated, and upon what conditions; if for money really funded, if without effective value, received, if to acquit a legitimate debt, or if for pretended purchases.
Drafts, to the amount of eleven millions which were not yet in circulation, were annulled. Information was obtained about the others.
The drafts, the entire value of which has been received, have been acquitted with the interest from the day of their becoming due to the day of their payment: those which were delivered without effective value, bear evident signs of their forgeries, since the sums of money for which they were drawn, though nothing was funded; and they will be submitted to a severe examination. Thus, the Government will satisfy the justice it owes to lawful creditors, and that which it owes to the nation whose rights it is charged to defend.
Peace formed the wishes as well as the interest of the Government. It had desired it in the midst of the still uncertain changes of war; it desired it in the midst of victories. It was to the prosperity of the Republic that it had always attached its glory. In the interior it had awakened industry, given encouragement to arts, undertaken useful labours and monuments of national grandeur. Our vessels were dispersed on every sea, tranquil on the faith of treaties.
They were employed only in restoring our colonies to France and to happiness; there was no armament in our ports, nothing menacing on our frontiers.
This was the moment the British Government fixed on to alarm their nation, to cover the channel with vessels, to infult our commerce by injurious visits; both our coasts and ports as well as the coasts and ports of our allies by the presence of threatening forces.
If on the 7th Ventose, year 11, there existed any important armament in the ports of France and Holland, if a single movement on which the greatest mistrust could put a finisher interpretation, was executed, we are the aggressors, the message of the King of England and his noble attitude were commanded by a legitimate foresight, and the people of England had reason to believe we threatened their independence, religion and constitution.
But if the assertions in that message were false, if they were believed by the conscience of Europe, as well as by the conscience of the British Government itself, this Government has deceived the nation, and by so doing plunged it without deliberation into a war the terrible effects of which begin to be felt in England and the result of which may be so decisive of the future destiny of the English people.
The aggressors shall always be accountable for the calamities which weigh on humanity. Malta, the motive of the present war, was in the power of the English; it was for France to arm in order to insure its independence, yet it is France who waits in silence for the justice of England. It is England which began the war and which began without declaring it.
Judging only from dispersion of our vessels and from the security of our commerce, our losses would have been immense. We had foreseen them & we would have supported them without discouragement and without weakness; fortunately they have been below our expectation. Our men of war have entered into the ports of Europe; one only which long since had
been condemned to serve merely as a transport vessel, has fallen into the power of the enemy.
Out of three hundred millions which the English cruisers might have ravished from commerce, more than two hundred have been saved; our privateers have avenged our losses by important captures, and will still avenge them by more important ones.
Tobago, and St. Lucia were without defence and could not do otherwise than surrender to the first army that attacked them; but our great colonies remain firm; and in the attacks which the enemy have hazarded against them, they have been vanquished.
Hanover is still in our power. Twenty five thousand of the best troops of the enemy, laid down their arms, and remained prisoners of war. Our cavalry is mounted at the expense of that of the enemy, & a possession dear to the King of England, becomes in our hands, the pledge of that justice which he will be forced to grant us.
Every day British despotism adds to its usurpation on the sea. During the last war it alarmed neutrals in arrogating to itself by an iniquitous and revolting pretension the right of declaring whole coasts in a state of blockade . In the course of the present war it has augmented its monstrous code, by a pretended right to blockade rivers .
If the King of England has sworn to continue the war until he has reduced France to those dishonourable treaties to which misfortune & weakness formerly subscribed, the war will be long. France consented at Amiens to moderate conditions, she will never admit others less favourable; above all, she will never acknowledge in the British Government, the right of only fulfilling those engagements which do not interfere with the progressive calculations of its ambition, the right of exacting other guarantees after the guarantee of a pledged faith.
If the treaty of Amiens be not executed, where in a new treaty are we to look for a more holy faith or more sacred oath? Louisiana is henceforth associated to the independence of the United States of America. We here preserve friends, whom the recollection of a common origin will always attach to our interests and whom favourable relations of commerce will for a long time attach to our prosperity.
The United States are indebted for their independence to France; they will henceforth be indebted to us for more strength and more grandeur.
Spain remains neutral. Helvetia is firmly seated on its foundation, its constitution has only undergone those changes which time and opinion necessitated. The withdrawing of our troops attest its interior security and the end of all its divisions. The ancient capitulations have been renewed, and France has again met with its first and most faithful allies.
Tranquillity pervades Italy; a division of the army of the Italian Republic is now crossing France for the purpose of encamping with our own troops upon the south of the Ocean.
The Ottoman empire, agitated by hidden intrigues, will in the interest of France, have that support which ancient connections, a recent treaty and its geographical position, give it a right to.
The tranquillity restored to the Continent by the treaty of Lunéville, is secured by the recent acts of the diet of Ratisbon. The enlightened interest of the great powers, the fidelity of the government in cultivating the relations of good will and friendship with them, the justice, the energy of the nation, and the forces of the Republic, all answer for it.
The first Consul, (Signed) BONAPARTE. By the First Consul, The Secretary of State, (Signed) H. B. Maret.
FROM FRANCE. Captain Caverly who arrived at Boston on Thursday last, in 40 days from Bayonne, brings verbal accounts somewhat later than we have received. When capt. C. arrived at Bayonne, there were stationed there about 35,000 troops, which were afterwards ordered to different parts. There were likewise about 200 gun boats in readiness, and the whole topic of conversation was the invasion. Capt. C. understood however, that news of peace would be very acceptable. It was rumoured that Moreau was executed.
FROM ENGLAND. IMPORTANT.—Capt. Miller, arrived at New-York, from Halifax, informs, that the day he failed, dispatches of a very important nature was received by one of the King's cutters in 19 days from Guernsey. The printer at Halifax was preparing an extra sheet, but it was not out when the Margaret failed, Capt. M. however understood from Mr. Gay, the printer, that Bonaparte's reign had ceased, and that Louis the 18th had returned to France.
N. Y. Gaz. From the Daily Advertiser. A friend has lately handed us a file of Nova Scotia papers to the 26th ult. inclusive, received by the brig Margaret, from Halifax. A passenger on board the Margaret informs, that the evening before the failed an express had been received at that place, by a government sch'r from Cape-Breton, stating, that by a speedy arrival from Britain, intelligence was received that Louis the eighteenth was on the throne of France. We do not attach any credit to the report. The report of his Majesty's death is unfounded.
From the Mercantile Advertiser. Capt. Miller, of the brig Margaret, from Halifax, informs, that just before his departure a British government sch'r had arrived at Sidney in 19 days from Guernsey, with the important intelligence that and

ther revolution in France had restored Louis XVIII to the throne of his ancestors! By what singular means Bonaparte was succeeded, we have not been able to learn. Capt. M. says, the Printer at Helix (Mr. Gay) was preparing an extra-sheet, containing the particulars of the event, for publication; and that he could have obtained a copy by waiting about an hour longer, which the tide would not permit him to do.
The King of England was living, and in a state of convalescence.
Domestic Intelligence.
NEWYORK, May 7. The Gehr. Citizen, arrived yesterday, from Gibraltar, brings intelligence, that Lord Nelson had cautioned British vessels against proceeding up the Mediterranean, as he was about to bombard Algiers. Mr. Pinckney, American Ambassador at Madrid, had given official information that the term of quarantine at Cadiz was reduced to fifteen days. Captain Bainbridge and Officers were liberated through the interference of Mr. Gavino, United States Consul. A report was in circulation that the French had imposed an embargo at Leghorn, in February.
[N. Y. Herald.]
FIRE. Last night the city was alarmed by fire which proved to be in the State Prison. The inhabitants were with much difficulty roused from sleep, for it was nearly an hour after the bursting out of the flames from the roof before much assistance arrived from town. It was not got under until the north west wing had been burnt down to the lower story: damages estimated at 25,000 dollars.
The Prison was set on fire by design; some of the leading particulars appear in the following examination of one of the prisoners concerned:
The voluntary examination of a prisoner in the State Prison, taken on the 8th day of May 1804, says, That on Sunday last he, Edward Barnes, James Stamford, William Griffield, Joseph Ambler and John Rolencrantz, combined together to set fire to the said Prison—that about 8 o'clock last evening Barnes, Stamford and Griffield began to break the prison; about 11 o'clock they got into the hall and made the keepers prisoners, and confined them—they then broke No. 11 and let out the examining and Ambler, and after confining the keepers in No. 110, they went to ball No. 7, and broke the chimney and got into the garret, and then went into the women's yard. That Barnes, Ambler, Stamford and Griffield got into the garret before him, and when he got there he found fire in the west corner of the north wing. The examining then told Barnes he had done wrong. Barnes swore he would perish in the flames or get his liberty. Examining then refused going any further and returned and liberated the keepers lest they should perish in the fire all.
Extracts of a letter from an officer of the U. States frigate Philadelphia, dated in prison, Tripoli, 6th Dec. 1803.
"I wrote you on the 28th ult. since which most of us have received a supply of clothing from the officers of the U. S. Schooner Vixen cruising in the Mediterranean, which came apropos , as we were obliged to remain a day or two without covering until the only shirts we were in possession of were washed and dried. I have reason to be extremely grateful for the politeness of Mr. John Lyon, of the Vixen, who has been so kind as to forward me some linen and a blanket from Malta, which have enabled me to feel more comfortable than before. At a time when every thing I had in the world was so foul as to be loathsome, and without any change of raiment, how great was my surprise and pleasure to receive his packet; I shall never forget his kindness. In Mr. Nelson, the Danish Consul, we have a kind friend and supporter; since the commencement of our imprisonment he has left no means untried to alleviate our situation. He has been of all others the most zealous in our behalf, and has not only supplied us with blankets to shelter us from the cold, which at this season is very sharp and uncomfortable but with books to pass away our time more agreeably. His disinterested kindness and politeness ought never to be forgotten by Americans."
"Last week we were unexpectedly visited by one of the ballast's officers who in broken English delivered the following laconic message—"To night nothing—to-morrow to the castle—good night," which was construed thus—that we should remain undisturbed for that night but that in the morning we should be conducted to the castle. No sooner had the sun gilded our prison windows, than springing from our flinty couches, we packed up our wardrobe, which required but little time to do, as the clothes we wear constituted the greater part of it, and anxiously expected our guard—our prison door soon unfolded, and we were conducted amidst clouds of gaping people whom curiosity or the hope of plunder had collected, to the most dreary place imaginable—it was a large and gloomy apartment—the walls were entirely black and dripping with unwholesome damps, and the vaulted ceiling hung with cobwebs—the ground broken and uneven afforded shelter to the innumerable vermin that infested this place—the prospect black and dreary, Stygian darkness reigned around, and the only light was admitted, was from a small grated window in the roof—which feebly glimmering served to make the darkness visible. As my eye glanced over the apartment it reminded me of such as I have read of in old romances. This place more fit to be the abode of demons, than of mortals, was the habi-
tation of our brave crew, This likewise was to be our prison.
"We remained here until dusk in a most comfortless condition when by the ballast's orders we were reconduded to our ancient prison, a palace compared to that in which we had passed the day, I never felt so much pleasure in my life at reaching an old home. We are yet quartered here."
The National Intelligencer contains a circular Letter of Governor Claiborne, dated New Orleans, March 28th, addressed to the several Commandants in Louisiana. This letter lays before them their official duties, and particularly requires them: 1st to enroll and discipline the Militia . 2d. To prevent Slaves from wandering about without passes or trading without permission from their owners. 3d. To superintend the repair of roads, bridges and the levee of New Orleans . 4th. To prevent tavern-keepers from selling Wines or spirituous liquors without a license from themselves.
Besides this statement of their official duties, the letter requests them to furnish Mr. Claiborne with information; 1st. On the extent of their separate districts, with the quality and productions of their soil. 2d. On the number of sugar plantations, and the amount of their annual produce. 3d. On the number and classes of the different inhabitants. 4th. On the actual and practicable establishment of English and French Schools . 5th. On the quantity of vacant land . 6th. On the value of the public buildings . 7th. On the Bayous or Forks of the river , which will admit of being cleared out. 8th. On the number and condition of Churches and Clergymen . And 9th. On the situation and state of the prisons .
The following extract of a letter, accompanied by the proclamation of the Lieut. Gov. of Upper Louisiana, were received by the last mail from a gentleman at St. Louis. Yesterday Capt. Stoddard arrived escorted from the Ferry below, by about 20 of the respectable citizens of this place; after a salute of three cannon, the Lieut. Gov. informed him, that he was ready to enter into a negotiation to deliver into his hands the province of Upper Louisiana, &c. which will take place as soon as the American troops arrive, which will be in about four days."
Don Charles Debrat Delassus, colonel of his Catholic Majesty's armies, Lieut. Gov. of Upper Louisiana, and its dependencies, &c. And commissioned for the delivery of said province.
By proclamation, dated 19th February 1804, informs the inhabitants of having received orders for the delivery of the province to Capt. Amos Stoddard, who is empowered to receive and keep possession for the United States.
Nat. Intel.
The Enquirer.
RICHMOND.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 1804.
ON THE PRESS.
NO. 1.
LIKE the air which we breathe, or the light which extends the range of sensation, many of the improvements of men have lost all their allure and respect, because we have become too familiar with their benefits. We have ceased to admire all the advantages of an agricultural life, because the age of hunters and shepherds has long since expired. The substitution of insinuate and active powers, such as the force of water, air or steam, in place of the labour of man; the ingenious improvement of tools in producing these innumerable articles, which supply us with conveniences, lodging, sumptuous clothing and luxurious accommodations; have escaped even our conscious observation, because that labour is no longer necessary, this ingenuity has been long since exerted. The sailor who traverses the wide ocean without a single beacon to direct, yet without a fear of mistaking his path, feels no secret gratitude for the man, who discovered his magnet, because he has forgotten that state of "dastardly sailing" to which the earliest mariners were necessarily doomed. Even the mysterious art of writing, which embodies as it were our very thought, and represents by form and colour the invisible operations of mind, has ceased to excite emotions of surprise in any but the untutored savage. Among those innumerable arts; those moral forces which have given a new turn to the destiny of society; whose benefits though too extensive to calculate, are apt to escape our recollection, let us not forget the PRESS.
In the earliest ages, no man could extend his knowledge beyond his own observations, or the verbal communications of others. Did any foreign country contain any thing curious or useful? Travelling himself or listening to the accounts of other travellers could have been the only means of his information. Did his curiosity extend to any subject, which might happen to lie beyond the reach of his own observation, such as the diversified events of past ages? He must have depended upon the accuracy and fidelity of some traditional historian for the only account which he could obtain. In this age no improvements could come from a civilized into a savage country, which was not conveyed by some accidental traveller, or by some active man-
whom the hopes of gaining honour upon his return to his native country had carried to an improved society, or whom the same spirit had drawn from a state of civilization to a savage country. It was in such an age as this and before the benefits of writing had spread from one distant place to another, that the philosophers of Greece formerly studied in the schools of Egypt and the East, those doctrines which were unknown to their own countrymen.
The art of writing at last arose. Commerce introduced the people of one country to those of another. A new method was now given to one man and to one society of laying before other men and other countries the means of improvement: A durable record was kept of the transactions of past ages; and man seemed to have been suddenly induced with a new power of extending his knowledge to characters and to events, which had disappeared so long. New difficulties, however, exposed the imperfection of this art.
The copying of a lengthy manuscript was found to occupy much time, and tedious labour. Like all other commodities, a valuable manuscript began to bear a mercantile price proportioned to this time and trouble, augmented too by the curious ingenuity of the production. Hence no man could obtain a copy of any celebrated composition, which he did not copy with his own hand, or employ some other person to transcribe, or which he did not purchase at an immense price. Rich men found an interest in keeping slaves for the mere purpose of copying these works, which they either preserved (as many of our very rich men do) from the gratification of a frivolous vanity, or sold to more inquisitive men at a price, which, in the present day, would appear most exorbitant.
Mr. Watson, in his History of Printing, has mentioned an Epistle of one Antonius Bononia to Alphonso King of Naples and Sicily (see Luckombe's History and Art of Printing) in which he promises to give the King 120 crowns of gold for each volume of Livy. Antiquarians have assured us, that a deed of conveyance was formerly made by a Notary for a manuscript, as we convey lands.
Between 1440 and 1450, a discovery beyond all others the most simple in its nature and the most extensive in its effects, appeared to assist the progress of Science, Literature and social happiness. It was the Press. With almost the same ease with which one manuscript copy can be completed, it has taught man to create a thousand impressions in nearly the same time. So long as civilized nations shall withstand the wide-wasting ravages of a savage horde; so long as the institutions of the State shall allow it to be without threat, the Press may act; the progress of science seems to be no longer uncertain. The advantages which it holds out to it may admit a simple enumeration.
1st. It disseminates all the truths which are actually discovered on every subject, whether it relates to the science of calculation, to the Philosophy of the external universe, or the knowledge of Man. Doubtless it diffuses errors in the same proportion. But experience has never failed to present us with "monuments of the safety with which errors may be tolerated, where reason is free to combat it."
2d. It increases the number of truths, by disseminating the spirit of enquiry. Every theory, hint or individual fact, is submitted to the investigation of several minds, whose curiosity is awakened to the ardour of discovery.
3d. It not only extends these truths to many minds, but it presents them to the same mind in much greater perfection and certainty. The methods of information, are few in number, but very different in the degrees of certainty which they give to any opinion, which is not demonstrative. We cannot be more certain of any thing than when we perceive it by our own senses. The verbal communications of others, on what they themselves have perceived, fill up the next degree of certainty. When we have been informed of any thing not by the man who perceived it himself, but by others who heard it from him, the confidence which we repose in the opinion, is greater or less in proportion to the source thro' which it comes. It is always much greater when we acquire any information thro' writing or printing. It is then registered in black and white. The letters cannot change their arrangement so as to produce a different statement. But when we trust the oral information of others, we have not only to encounter all the mistakes of the original report, but those numberless variations which the unconscious imagination, the involuntary misconception, or the wilful misrepresentation of the relater, may successively impart to it. I have therefore some right to conclude, that the Press communicates to an opinion a degree of certainty and perfection, to which no other medium except writing, can venture to aspire.
Whether I consider then the many minds to which the Press communicates the truths already discovered, and the spirit of enquiry which may multiply their number; or whe-
ther I consider the certainty which it gives to each particular mind on each of those truths, I am ready to exclaim—"The Press, and for ever."
COMMUNICATION.
LAW CASE.
On Thursday and Friday last a legal question of great curiosity, novelty, and importance, was argued in the Court of Appeals. The name of the case was Stone against Keeling, and the circumstances are as follows:
One Keeling, some thirty or forty years ago, married a woman by whom he had a son. His wife then died, and after the lapse of a few years he married a lady who was known by the name of Mrs. Arbuckle. This lady at the time of her intermarriage with Mr. Keeling had another husband who is still living. Mr. Arbuckle and herself, not enjoying domestic happiness, separated, he continuing in the county of Accomack, on the Eastern shore of Virginia, she removing to the county of Princess Anne, where she married Mr. Keeling. Previous to this marriage Arbuckle had frequently been absent from the state, although his absence had never been so long as to justify the presumption of his death. Two daughters were the fruit of this marriage, and Keeling and his second wife lived happily together until the day of their death. About two years ago Keeling died, leaving a large estate. His son by the first wife is dead, leaving two children, and his daughters by the second wife are married.
Shortly after the death of Keeling, the husbands of his daughters (the Appellants in this suit) applied to the county court of Princess Anne for Letters of Administration on his estate, as being the next of kin to the deceased. This was opposed by the mother and guardian of the children left by Keeling's son, on the ground that the daughters were illegitimate; they being the issue of an illegal and void marriage, and consequently not entitled to any portion of the estate. The county court sustaining the objection, and appointed the guardian of the grandchildren the Administrator. On an appeal to the District Court of Suffolk, that court affirmed the judgment of the county court, from which judgment the husbands of the daughters appealed to the Court of Appeals.
The case chiefly depended on the exposition of a clause in the law of Descents, passed in the year 1785, which took effect on the 1st of January 1787; the clause declares that "the issue of marriages deemed null in law, shall nevertheless be legitimate." By the common law the children of all illegal marriages, were illegitimate. The question was, whether the common law on that subject was totally or partially altered.
It was contended for the Appellants that the legislature intended to change the law entirely, and that the innocent offspring of all illegal marriages were legitimated.
For the Appellee it was contended that the legislature only meant to legitimate the issue of such illegal marriages as required an annulling act to make them void, and not such as were absolutely void from the beginning: that a marriage with a person already married, was void from the very moment of its being contracted, and that consequently the issue of such illegal marriages were still illegitimate as at common law. It was also urged that the law of 1785 did not apply to this case, as the daughters were born previous to the 1st of January 1787. The reply made to this argument by the Appellants counsel was, that the law operated from the date of the death of the father, and not from the time of the children's birth.
The court on Saturday last unanimously decided that the common law on this subject was totally changed, that the issue of all illegal marriages were legitimate under the act of 1785; they reveried the judgment of the District Court, and directed the administration of the estate to be conferred on the Appellants.
Yesterday's Mail.
A letter from Alicante to a merchant in Cadiz, dated Feb. 23, says "By the American Gehr. —, Burger, who arrived here yesterday in a few days from Leghorn, I am informed the French have embargoed all the vessels then in that port, and have fixed a great many seamen both there and at Genoa. They have also ordered 200,000 rations to be provided for an expedition which is to take place immediately, supposed against Sicily or Sardinia; but which of the two, or whether either of them, is not known with certainty."
[From London papers, by the Jupiter, at New-York—one day later.]
LONDON, March 15. The Moniteur contains infinite numbers of addresses from the army, navy, from all public bodies and establishments. The address from Strasburg, where Moreau was as much loved as he was honoured and admired, it being in the neighbourhood of his most brilliant exploits, is remarkable.
"General Moreau!! at that name the Strasburgers thudered with amazement! "Moreau, whom they have seen brave and victorious; and whom they would have thought it impossible to a safe, if the government had not denounced him in the face of Europe!"
This, as well as every other address, burns, with indignation against the English government. It seems as if a new zeal and energy had been inspired into the legions by this affair. But surely Moreau must be innocent of this conspiracy. It is impossible that he could be concieved in any pro-
ject of which Mr. Addington and his colleagues were the movers. He may have seen his old commander, and this is his whole offence.
March 17.
A letter has been received from Lisbon, of a late date, which contains the following intelligence of importance.
LISBON.
The French Envoy has announced officially to his countrymen merchants here, that they need be under no apprehension of a rupture between this country and France; as he has finally concluded, on the 19th December, a separate treaty of neutrality. The price of it is understood to be 16 millions of Francs; the Portuguese merchants having been called on by government for their advice how that sum may be most easily raised. I have good reason to suppose that a year is allowed to pay the money, by monthly instalments: which induces me to think Bonaparte does not intend to drive the country to extremities. Since the arrival of the last packets, a report is current here, that Great Britain agrees to the terms of neutrality with Spain and Portugal; but that, feeling they have been obliged to purchase them, requires some guarantee against further exactions and concessions. Possession of Madeira and Goa is demanded of Portugal. I have not heard what is asked of Spain. At all events, Mr. Addington appears to be under no apprehension of our being in any immediate danger here, as he positively altered the destination of transports which had been ordered to take British subjects and their property from hence."
A very heavy firing was heard yesterday evening at Dover. No intelligence had arrived during the course of yesterday from Boulogne; but the firing last night is supposed, by our Dover Correspondent, to proceed from the enemy's batteries throwing shells at our ships becalmed near the shore. We rather think it proceeds from our vessels, which may be carrying into execution the plan we mentioned a few days ago relative to the scaling up the harbour of Boulogne.
BULLETIN.
Queen's House, March 17.
"His Majesty is considerably recovered."—Signed as usual.
The following is a letter from Capt. Preble, to the American Consul at Cadiz:
Malta, Jan. 20.
"On the 23d ult. I captured off Tripoli some of the Ballast's principal officers, a number of his soldiers, thirty young women, and twelve blackmen."
EDWARD PREBLE."
TO CORRESPONDENTS.
COLUMBUS is requested to employ his pen on some subject of more immediate importance to his country.
ALCIBIADES is received, and shall be published at a time more favorable to the investigation of the subject, which he seems so well to understand. He is requested to finish the discussion which he has commenced.
TO BE DISPOSED OF BY PUBLIC SALE,
At Mrs. Buckner's Tavern, in the town of Manchester, on Wednesday the 30th day of this present month, at the hour of Four o'Clock precisely:
ONE Hundred and Seventy-Eight 33-160 acres
Well Timbered LAND,
adjoining the lands of Mr. David Ross, called and known by the name of the Falls Plantation—To house-builders and others using pine and oak timbers, this land must certainly be an object. The terms will be made suitable to intending purchasers, and deeded at the time of sale. For further particulars, application may be made to Mr. Benjamin Hatcher, Manchester, or to Mr. Thomas Wilson, Richmond.
JAMES STRANGE.
Petersburg, 15th May, 1804. [2]
Taken up by the subscriber, living in Louisa county, a BLACK HORSE about four feet ten inches high; he has a star in his forehead, a strip on his nose, and a small white spot near the middle of his back, with a hanging mane and bushy tail; he appears to have the marks of gear on his side, and is supposed to be about six years old.—Appraised to sixty dollars.
JOHN BIBB.
Louisa, 7th February, 1804.
Spring Goods.
WILLIAM TEMPLE
HAS just received by the ship Rebecca, from London, and Yorkshire from Liverpool,
AN ASSORTMENT OF
GOODS,
Suitable to the season, which he will dispose of on the usual terms.
Richmond, May 9th. (1.)
THE NEW-YORK WEEKLY MAGAZINE;
Handsomely bound—Containing a great variety of Valuable Selections in Prose & Verse, adapted to the moral improvement and rational amusement of a domestic life.—ALSO,
The Vision of Columbus:
A POEM—in NINE BOOKS.
BY JOEL BARLOW.
Elegantly printed, bound, and lettered.
For Sale at this Office.

COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES WITH FOREIGN PARTS IN SEA-SALT.
The following article is extracted from "The Medical Repository and Review of American publications on Medicine, Surgery, and the auxiliary branches of Science; for May, June and July 1803," published at New-York. It was commenced in 1797; and is "published in Numbers—one number in every three months;" under the direction of Doctors Mitchell and Miller. As Dr. Mitchell has been the Professor of Chemistry in New-York, and is now a member of Congress, it is reasonable to suppose, that the whole statement (given in this article) of the quantities of salt imported into the United States, is officially true, and that the quantity which is attributed to the Liverpool salt has by several observations and some experiments, been found to exist. The article itself is incomplete. It gives no satisfactory information:
1st. On the quantity of salt exported from the United States. The last official statement of exports from October 1st 1802 to September 30, 1803, estimates it at 25,543 bushels.
2d. On the quantity annually collected in the United States, particularly from the salt springs in the Western part of Virginia, in Kentucky, and Ohio, and in the Indiana Territory. This subject might also have comprehended an account of its peculiar qualities and relative prices.
3d. On the various kinds of imported salt and their peculiar qualities. The chemical knowledge of the Editors might have enabled them to exhibit the component parts of all the kinds of native salt, of bay salt, and of white or boiled salt, which are imported into this country, with their several uses.
This article, although it has not taken in these different enquiries, will present the curious reader with some useful knowledge on the importation into this country of one of the greatest necessities of life, and one of the principal sources of our revenue.
A few notes are added, which may supply some little information to the reader.]
The salt-trade of the United States is very important. The greater proportion of this necessary article is imported from foreign parts. Though the salt springs in New-York, in Ohio, in Indiana, in Kentucky, Tennessee, and in other places, furnish the interior country with large quantities of muriate of soda, (1) still it is a fact, that by far the greater proportion of the salt consumed in the United States, is brought from abroad. The amount of salt imported from the 1st October, 1800, to the 30th September, 1801, was as follows:
Table with 2 columns: Item, Quantity. Rows: In vessels of the U. States (48,582,815 lbs), In foreign vessels (15,245,070), Grand total in pounds (63,827,883), In vessels of the U. States (1,607,805 bus.), In foreign vessels (534,475), Grand total in bushels (2,142,280).
The reason why part of the salt is reckoned in pounds and the remainder in bushels is this: all imported salt being subject to duty, the revenue law declares, that whenever a bushel of salt weighs more than half a hundred weight, or 56 lbs. the import shall be calculated and collected on each parcel or quantity of 56 lbs. and when the bushel weighs just 56 lbs. or less, the import shall be levied on the bushel. (2) Hence, if the number of pounds be divided by 56, (3) the quotient will be the number of bushels: Thus 56)63,827,883—(1,139,783.
Then bushels 1,139,783, added to 2,142,280, make 3,282,063, as the aggregate amount of salt imported from foreign parts, and landed in the United States, during the above-mentioned twelve-month. Of this salt, 16,612,938 pounds, and 972,739 bushels, are brought from England. The pounds, reduced to bushels as before, give 296,659, which, added to 972,739, make 1,269,398, as the sum total of the salt imported from that part of Great-Britain called England; none having been brought from Scotland, & only a very few bushels (76) from Ireland. Whence it appears, by absolute calculation, that one-third of the salt imported into the United States, and 175,377 bushels in addition to that third, is exported to our country from England. This is chiefly, if not wholly, of English manufacture.
The British salt imported into the United States comes chiefly from Cheshire, from the mines which contain it. It is found there near Northwich. The first was discovered by accident, in boring for coal in 1670, by one John Jackson. The Bishop of Llandaff went to the bottom of them, and thought his labour well rewarded. The Northwich rock-salt mines are superior to those of Cracow, (4) with respect to the quantity of salt annually raised. For a single pit at Northwich yielded at a medium 4000 tons a year, which amounts itself to two-thirds of the annual quantity raised in the Polish mines. A great quantity of the Northwich salt is sent coastwise to Liverpool and other places, particularly to Holland and Ireland. Rock-salt, and the white salt which is made from it, are exported from duty; and the quantity exported from Northwich is so great that if it was charged with the salt duty it
would produce to the government a revenue of about four hundred thousand pounds per annum. Northwich rock salt is never used in its crude state at table; and the employment of it for pickling or curing flesh or fish, or preserving any provisions, without being previously dissolved in water and boiled down into white salt, is prohibited under a penalty of forty shillings for every pound of rock-salt so applied. They use this rock-salt for strengthening brine-springs, or sea-water preparatory to boiling down. By this operation the people on the Mersey, instead of one ton of salt from forty-eight tons of sea-water, can obtain, by saturating ocean-water, four tons of salt from the same quantity of brine so made. The white fine salt is prepared by a boiling heat. Sea-water, brine-springs, and rock-salt, generally abound with various other earthy and saline ingredients, such as lime, magnesia, Epso-salt, gypsum, Glauber's salt, &c. all of which injure the quality of the salt, and disqualify it for preserving animal flesh every where, but especially in hot countries and seasons. Therefore this British salt, which chiefly comes to us from Liverpool and the Mersey, is a most pernicious article of import. It is both weak and impure. And, deceived by its fair and tempting appearance, the Americans have used it for curing their fish, beef, pork and butter. In such cases these kinds of provisions have generally spoiled and become putrid. The septic gases (5) exhaling therefrom, poison the atmosphere of our cities and ships, and infect the people with pestilential diseases: the way to avoid which, is to avoid Liverpool salt.
There are other sources whence the American States derive their sea-salt besides England; to wit:
From the Swedish West-Indies 528,624 pounds, and 2819 bushels. From the Danish West-Indies 711,509 pounds, and 6350 bushels. From the Dutch West-Indies 587,160 pounds, and 12,458 bushels; from the Dutch East-Indies 229,405 pounds, and 10488 bushels. From the British West-Indies 17,165,708 pounds, and 149,768 bushels. From the British American Colonies 40,648 pounds, and 11,246 bushels. From the French West-Indies 694,331 pounds, and 5702 bushels. From Spain 196,855 pounds, & 16,474 bushels. From Teneriffe and the other Canaries 1416 bushels. From the Spanish West-Indies, 1811 bushels. From Florida and Louisiana, 116,011 pounds, and 4421 bushels. From other Spanish American Colonies 6888 pounds. From Portugal 5,772,124 pounds, and 207,972 bushels. From Madeira 19,654 bushels. From Cape de Verd Islands 5,149,299 pounds, and 177,391 bushels. From Italy 61,272 pounds. And from Europe generally, and uncertain ports, 650 bushels. (Mr. Nourie's Treasury Statements, &c. 7th Feb. 1803.)
These kinds of salt, any, indeed, that we import besides that from Liverpool, may be employed with safety in preserving animal flesh for food. But that British salt which they make to sell abroad, and not to consume at home, ought to be shunned as a most pernicious thing in trade, and the cause of incalculable sickness, death, and loss of property among the American consumers.
As soon as the use of British salt is discontinued, there will be less corruption of the provisions which form so great a part of our West-India exports; there will be less septic and venemous air engendered in the vessels which convey and contain them; there will be proportionally less sickness and mortality from their mischievous agency; and, of course, there will be less and less noise about importing yellow fevers, &c. from the tropical latitudes. Thus, by degrees, we shall learn not to blame the West-Indies for our own misdoings. The evil chiefly lies at home, and in our own vessels, and this is one of the modes of correction and prevention.
(1) SALT. This is one of the technical words, which was introduced by the French chemists who formed the new nomenclature in 1787. Like most of the other terms in that nomenclature, it is made up of those simple words, which express the simpler materials, that enter into the formation of this compound substance. Thus muriate of soda expresses, that our common salt is composed of the muriatic acid which is sometimes known in the Apothecaries' shops under the name of spirit of sea-salt; and of soda a whitish salt, sharp to the taste, that is procured from a strong ley, made of the ashes of burnt plants, but only from those which grow upon the sea-side, and especially from the herb Kali, which grows on the shores of the Mediterranean sea.
(2) The duty on salt weighing more than 56 lbs. per bushel, is 20 cents for every 56 lbs. If weighing 56 lbs. per bushel or less, the duty on it is 20 cents per bushel. The revenue on this single commodity is thus equal to 615,653 dollars 69 cents. This sum is predicted on the quantity which is stated by this article to be imported, and including also the one-tenth additional duty, which is paid on goods imported in foreign bottoms. The drawback however, is not included. Among the benefits which the French have derived from their revolution, their exemption from the heavy duty on salt, is not the least. The Gabelle (as this duty was called) was computed to be no less than one-fourth part of the whole revenue of the kingdom; and was besides, one of those taxes which was put under the severe exaction of the farmers of the revenue. Postlethwaite's Dic. Article Gabelle.
(3) This method may be accurate for the calculation of the revenue: but it is obvious, that as some of the salt weighs more than 56 lbs. per bushel, (for it would not otherwise have been expressed in lbs. instead of bushels) the number of bushels contained in 3,282,063 lbs. must be less than the quotient of that number divided by 56.
(4) A city, formerly the Capital of Poland, in the river Vistula. The salt-mines are at Wieliczka within eight miles of Cracow. Of the extent of these mines many fabulous
accounts have been published; such as their containing several villages inhabited by colonies of miners, who never see the light. Its known breadth however, is about 1115 feet; its length 6691 feet, and depth 743. See Coxe's Travels, vol. 1. ch. 7. made in 1778. (5) Gas is a word lately introduced into common use by the French Chemists, instead of air. Septic expresses the quality of any Gas, which is pernicious to the animal economy.
BY AUTHORITY.
[LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES.]
AN ACT. Making appropriations for the support of the Navy of the United States, during the year one thousand eight hundred and four.
BE it enacted, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That for the defraying the expenses of the navy of the United States, during the year one thousand eight hundred and four, the following sums be, and the same hereby are respectively appropriated, that is to say:
For the pay and subsistence of the officers, and the pay of the seamen, two hundred and thirty-four thousand three hundred and twenty eight dollars:
For provisions one hundred and twenty-five thousand five hundred and eighteen dollars, and seventy two cents:
For medicines, instruments, hospital stores and all expenses on account of the sick, four thousand eight hundred and seventy five dollars:
For repairs of vessels, store rent, and other contingent expenses, one hundred & forty four thousand dollars:
For the purchase of ordnance, and other military stores, five thousand dollars:
For the expense of navy yards, docks, and other improvements, the pay of superintendents, store keepers, clerks and laborers, fifty two thousand dollars:
For the pay and subsistence of the marine corps, including provisions for those on shore, and forage for the staff, fifty-seven thousand five hundred and forty one dollars, and eighty cents:
For clothing for the same, twelve thousand eight hundred and fifty two dollars, & seventy six cents:
For military stores for the same, four hundred and fifty-two dollars:
For medicine, medical services, hospital stores, and all expenses on account of the sick belonging to the marine corps, one thousand dollars:
For quarter masters and barrack masters stores, officers travelling expenses, armourers and carpenters bills, fuel, and other contingent expenses, eight thousand eight hundred and forty seven dollars:
For completing the marine barracks at the City of Washington, three thousand five hundred and eighty four dollars, and seventy two cents:
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the several sums herein specifically appropriated shall be paid, first, out of any balance remaining unexpended of former appropriations for the support of the navy, and secondly out of any monies in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.
NATHL. MACON, Speaker of the House of Representatives. JOHN BROWN, President of the Senate pro tempore. January 13, 1804. APPROVED, TH: JEFFERSON.
AN ACT To incorporate the Directors of the Columbian Library Company.
BE it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That Stephen B. Balch, Joseph Nourie, Charles D. Green, John Craven, Francis Lowndes, junior, and George French, and their successors only elected or appointed in manner hereinafter directed, be, and they are hereby made, declared and constituted a corporation and body politic, in law and in fact, to have continuance forever, by the name, style and title of "The directors of the Columbian Library Company in George-Town."
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That all and singular, the goods and chattles heretofore given, granted or devised, to the said Library Company, or to any person or persons, for the use thereof or that may have been purchased for, or on account of the same be, and the said goods and chattles are hereby vested in, and confirmed to the said corporation: And further, That the said corporation may take, and receive any sum, or sums of money, or any goods or chattles, or other effects of what kind or nature soever, which shall, or may hereafter, be given, granted, or bequeathed unto them, by any person or persons, bodies politic or corporate, capable of making such gift or bequest, such money, goods, chattles or other effects to be laid out and disposed of, in the purchase of books, maps, charts, drawings, specimens of minerals, fossils, and other natural and artificial productions, calculated to furnish a library & museum, for the use and benefit of the said company, agreeable to the intention of the donors.
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the said corporation, by the name, style, and title aforesaid, be, and shall be hereafter forever, and are hereby declared, able, and capable in law, to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, answer and be answered unto, defend and be defended, in any court or courts, or other places, and before any judge or judges, justice or justices, or other persons whatsoever within the district of Columbia or elsewhere, in all, & all manner of suits, actions, complaints, pleas, causes, matters and demands, of whatsoever kind or nature they may be, in as full and effectual a manner, as any
other person or persons, bodies politic or corporate, may or can do.
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the said corporation shall have full power and authority, to make, to have and use, a common seal, with such device and inscription as they shall think proper, and the same to break, alter and renew at their pleasure; to appoint a treasurer, secretary and librarian, to assign them their duties, fix their compensation, and remove him or them from office and appoint another or others in their place, as often as they shall think fit: to make, ordain, establish, and execute such bye-laws and ordinances as may be deemed useful to the institution, & the same to alter, amend, or abrogate at pleasure; to fix the price of new shares & annual contributions on each share; to direct how transfers may be made and certified, and judge of the persons proper to be admitted members; to procure by purchase, rent, or otherwise, a suitable place for keeping the library and museum; to appoint the times for keeping the library open, and for taking out and returning books; to fill up vacancies that may happen in their number between two annual meetings; to levy and collect fines and forfeitures, and to determine upon, do, and transact all business and matters appertaining to the said corporation and library company, agreeable to the rules, ordinances, and bye-laws hereof during their continuance in office: Provided, That not less than three of the said directors form a quorum to do business; that no bye-law, rule or ordinance shall be made repugnant to the laws of this district; and that no contribution be laid on any share, in any one year, greater than one-fifth of the value of a share, without the consent of a majority of the members.
Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That there shall be an annual meeting of the members of the said library company at the library, or such suitable place as the directors may from time to time appoint, of which the directors shall cause public notice to be given in one or more of the newspapers that circulate in the vicinity; at which time and place the members, or such of them as may be present, either personally or by proxy, and shall not be in arrears for any annual contribution, fines or forfeitures shall elect and choose by ballot, six directors, out of their own number, to serve for the year ensuing their election, and until others shall be elected and consent to serve in their place.
Sec. 6. And be it further enacted, That the directors shall cause the treasurer, secretary and librarian to keep in suitable books for that purpose, just, and proper entries of all the proceedings and accounts of the company and corporation and have them laid before the company at every annual meeting, previous to taking the votes for directors; and shall always deliver the said books, together with all the property of the company, in good order to their successors in office whenever required.
NATHL. MACON, Speaker of the House of Representatives. JOHN BROWN, President of the Senate pro tempore. January 31, 1804. APPROVED, TH: JEFFERSON.
AN ACT Making appropriations for the support of the military establishment of the United States, in the year one thousand eight hundred and four.
BE it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That for defraying the expense of the military establishment of the United States, for the year one thousand eight hundred and four, for the Indian department, and for the expense of fortifications, arsenals, magazines and armories, the following sums be, and the same hereby, are respectively appropriated, that is to say:
For the pay of the army of the United States, three hundred and one thousand four hundred and seventy six dollars:
For forage four thousand and fifty six dollars:
For the subsistence of the officers of the army and corps of engineers twenty eight thousand and eighty two dollars and eighty three cents and one half of a cent:
For the subsistence of non-commissioned officers, musicians and privates one hundred and sixty three thousand eight hundred and thirty nine dollars and thirty seven cents and one half of a cent:
For clothing, eighty thousand dollars:
For bounties and premiums, fourteen thousand dollars:
For the medical and hospital department, ten thousand dollars:
For camp equipage, fuel, tools, expense of transportation and other contingent expenses of the war department, seventy one thousand dollars:
For fortifications, arsenals, magazines, and armories, one hundred and nine thousand eight hundred and ninety six dollars and eighty eight cents:
For purchasing maps, plans, books, and instruments for the war department and military academy, one thousand dollars:
For the Indian department, seventy five thousand five hundred dollars:
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the several appropriations, herein before made, shall be paid and discharged first out of any balance remaining unexpended of former appropriations for the support of the military establishment, and secondly out of any monies in the treasury, not otherwise appropriated.
NATHL. MACON, Speaker of the House of Representatives. JOHN BROWN, President of the Senate pro tempore. February 10, 1804. APPROVED, TH: JEFFERSON.
AN ACT, Supplementary to an act entitled "An act to incorporate the inhabitants of the City of Washington, in the District of Columbia."
BE it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the act entitled, "An act to incorporate the inhabitants of the city of Washington, in the District of Columbia, except so much of the same as is inconsistent with the provisions of this act, be and the same is hereby continued in force for and during the term of fifteen years from the end of the next session of congress.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That the council of the city of Washington, from and after the period for which the members of the present council have been elected, shall consist of twelve members, each of which shall be composed of nine members, to be chosen by distinct ballots, according to the directions of the act to which this is a supplement; a majority of each chamber shall constitute a quorum to do business: in case vacancies shall occur in the council, the chamber in which the same may happen, shall supply the same by an election by ballot from the three persons next highest on the list, to those elected at the preceding election; and a majority of the whole number of the chamber in which such vacancy may happen, shall be necessary to make an election.
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That the council shall have power to establish and regulate the inspection of flour, tobacco and salted provisions, the gauging of casks and liquors, the forage of gun-powder, and all naval and military stores, not the property of the United States, to regulate the weight and quality of bread; to tax and licence hawkers or pedlars, to restrain or prohibit tippling houses, lotteries and all kinds of gaming; to superintend the health of the city, to preserve the navigation of the Potomac and Anacosta rivers adjoining the city; to erect, repair and repelate public wharves, and to deepen docks and basins; to provide for the establishment and superintendence of public schools; to licence and regulate, exclusively, hackney coaches, ordinary keepers, retailers and ferrys; to provide for the appointment of inspectors, constables and such other officers as may be necessary to execute the laws of the corporation; and to give such compensation to the mayor of the city as they may deem fit.
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the levy court of the county of Washington, shall not hereafter possess the power of imposing any tax on the inhabitants of the city of Washington.
NATHL. MACON, Speaker of the House of Representatives. JOHN BROWN, President of the Senate pro tempore. February 24th, 1804. APPROVED, TH: JEFFERSON.
AN ACT, For the relief of the captors of the Mesraba a French ship seized at Mirbaha.
BE it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the sum of eight thousand five hundred and ninety-four dollars and fifty cents, being one moiety of the value of the armed ship Mesraba, captured by the Frigate John Adams, commanded by captain John Rodgers, and restored to the Emperor of Morocco, be, and the same is hereby appropriated for defraying the expense of prize-money due to the captors; and that the further sum of seven hundred and thirty-eight dollars, and twenty-five cents, be, and the same hereby is appropriated for defraying the expenses incurred for the said ship, whilst in possession of the captors.
NATHL. MACON, Speaker of the House of Representatives. JOHN BROWN, President of the Senate pro tempore. February 24, 1804. APPROVED, TH: JEFFERSON.
Richmond County, June 1803. John Campbell, comp't. AGAINST William Morgan and Peter Northern defts.
THE defendant Morgan not having entered his appearance and given security according to the act of Assembly, and the rules of this court, and it appearing to the satisfaction of the court that he is not an inhabitant of this state; on motion of the complainant, by his counsel, it is ordered that the said defendant do appear here on the first day of the next term, and answer the bills of the complainant, and that a copy of this order be published in some newspaper printed in the city of Richmond, for two months successively, and a copy also posted at the front door of the courthouse; and it is further ordered that the defendant Northern, do not pay, convey away or secrete, the debts and effects in his hands, due and belonging to the said Morgan, until the further order of the court, in the premises.
A copy Teste. D. MCCARTY c. c.
To facilitate to claimants under the 7th article of the treaty with Great Britain the receipt of their monies in instances in which they have not constituted the public agent in London, their special attorney, it has been thought proper to draw to the United States all such monies of the above description as may not be drawn from him by the individuals themselves prior to the 1st of Sept. next. The Agent is accordingly instructed to cease paying them after that date, but after the 1st of November next, they will be again payable at the City of Washington, to those who have right, or to their attorneys duly authorized. Department of State, April 28th, 1804.