The enquirer (Richmond, Va.), 1805-01-29 00:00:00

THE ENQUIRER.
RICHMOND, (Virginia) PUBLISHED BY RITCHIE & WORSLEY, OPPOSITE THE POST OFFICE... AT FIVE DOLLARS PER ANNUM... payable in advance.
NUMBER 81.]
TUESDAY MORNING, JANUARY 29, 1805.
[VOLUME I.]
CONDITIONS.
I. The ENQUIRER will appear twice a week... II. Terms of payment FIVE DOLLARS per annum... III. ADVERTISEMENTS... IV. SUBSCRIBERS
Sales at Auction.
By Virtue of a Deed of Trust... WILL BE SOLD, to raise the aforesaid sum and interest...
WILL BE SOLD, to raise the aforesaid sum and interest, together with the expenses attending the execution of said trust...
PROSSER & MONCURE, Trustees & V.M.'s. December 25.
Auction Sales.
THOMAS TAYLOR & Co. WILL in future sell at the store occupied by M. W. Hancock...
TO BE SOLD, On Wednesday, the 30th inst. before the door of Messrs. W. Hancock & Co.:
A NEGRO WOMAN, belonging to the estate of Mrs. Jane Jones, dec'd. She has been brought up to the house business.
The ADMINISTRATOR. Jan. 22. —ep2.
CASH
WILL be given for 12 or 15 BOYS, from 7 to 15 years old. Enquire of the Printers. Dec. 15.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN TO THE DEBTORS OF ROSS & FORD,
THAT in compliance with my duty as assignee, I shall commence suits indiscriminately against all those who do not come forward and give assurances when payment may be expected.
NEIL MCCOULL. December 22. (H)
NOTICE.
ALL persons indebted to the late firm of BUCHANAN, DUNLOP & Co. of Petersburg, ROBERT POLLOK & Co. of Richmond, and DUNLOP, POLLOK & Co. of Manchester, are hereby notified...
JOHN DUNLOP, Attorney for JAMES DUNLOP. Petersburg, Nov. 15, 1804. epf
J. TOMPKINS
RESPECTFULLY informs those concerned, that he has removed the books and papers of the late concern of Robert Pollok & Co. and Dunlop, Pollok & Co. to a new Brick House...
December 11.
NOTICE.
WE the undersigned, partners in the late concerns of BUCHANAN, DUNLOP & Co. at Petersburg, of ROBERT POLLOK & Co. at Richmond, and of DUNLOP, POLLOK & Co. at Manchester, have sold to Mr. James Dunlop, our late partner in said concerns...
DAVID BUCHANAN. By ROBERT POLLOK, his Attorney. ROBERT POLLOK. Virginia, Petersburg, Dec. 6, 1804. (ep3m)
TWENTY DOLLARS REWARD.
JACK, or JACK ASH, a gardner by profession, formerly the property of Lewis Burwell, dec'd. was sold by the Exor. of said Burwell, about this time last year...
His age is something above fifty, rather under the middle size. 'Tis believed that he secretes himself in Chesterfield, probably Manchester, where his wife's friends live.
Jan. 8, 1805.
1200 BUSHELS BARLEY.
Will positively be sold, by Praeger & Manure, at the Lumber House of the late George Nicholson, at Rocketts, on Monday the 4th of February, at 12 o'clock:
TWELVE hundred bushels of good clean BARLEY, for the benefit of Wm. Forester & Co. of the city of Richmond, they having refused to receive the said Barley when tendered to them at Rocketts, agreeable to contract.
January 25. JOHN ELLIS.
Agreeable to a Decree of the County Court of King and Queen, WILL BE SOLD, at the Court-House, on Monday the 11th February next, it being Court day:
SEVEN LIKELY NEGROES, belonging to the estate of Thomas G. Rowe, dec'd. Twelve months credit will be allowed to the purchasers for the said Negroes, on giving bond with approved security, to the COMMISSIONERS.
January 25. 3w
VALUABLE LAND—FOR SALE.
BY virtue of a deed of trust from William Maffie dec'd. in order to secure a debt the following debts, viz. the sum of £ 590: 3s: 6d: in specie assigned by Nathaniel Maffie to Arch'd. Bryce, Jr. for the purposes mentioned in the said assignment, and the sum of £ 133: 7s: 10d: due to Arch'd. Bryce with interest thereon from the 15th day of December 1802, at 6 per cent per annum till paid.
Will be sold, at the late residence of William Maffie, on Friday the 1st day of March next, for ready money.
All that TRACT OF LAND, in Goochland county, (whereon Mrs. Francis Maffie now lives) containing by a late survey 264 3/4 acres, lying and being on the waters of the Little Byrd Creek, and bounded by the lands of Capt. Nathaniel Maffie, dec'd., Mr. David Ross, Mr. John Matthews and others.
January 25. JOHN FORBES, trustee.
FOR SALE.
A NEGRO MAN. He is an excellent gardner and haynes-man, and would be a valuable servant at a distance from the town. ALSO FOR HIRE, a GIRL, about 14 years of age, accustomed to the nursery and other domestic business; and a WOMAN, who is a good Cook. Apply at the office of the Enquirer. January 25. ep3.
BROKER'S OFFICE.
THE Subscriber has opened a Broker's Office, opposite the Union Tavern, and over the Counting-house of Thomas and Annes Ladd. All business confided to him, will be transacted with strict fidelity. THOMAS NORVELL. October 3. ep
NOTICE.
THE surveyors of the different counties in Virginia, who by law are to account with the President and Directors of William and Mary College, for a proportion of their fees, and who have not so done, are requested to render their accounts to July last, and pay the respective balances due to the college. WILLIAM COLEMAN, Burfar.
Williamsburg, January 6, 1805. During the present session of assembly, James Semple, Esq. member for the city of Williamsburg, will receive and grant a discharge for any money which shall be paid to him. January 15. —(2w.)
FOR SALE.
At Louisa Court-House, on the 12th day of February next: THIRTY-SEVEN VALUABLE SLAVES, belonging to the estate of Christopher Smith, dec'd. consisting of Men, Women and Children. It is believed they are as likely a parcel of slaves as was ever offered for sale in the state. Bonds with approved security, bearing interest from the date, payable the 10th of February next, will be expected from the purchasers: the interest will be remitted if the principal is punctually paid. CHARLES SMITH, Adm'g Exor of CHRISTOPHER SMITH, dec'd. Louisa, 19th Jan. 1805. 10F
RICHMOND ACADEMY LOTTERY.
NOTICE is hereby given, that the drawing of the said lottery will commence on this day, and be continued on Tuesdays and Saturdays, by drawing from fifty to five hundred numbers, until the whole is completed.
All tickets not sold and delivered before this day, will be considered as held on account of the Trustees of the academy; and the agents for selling them are earnestly requested to remit either the money or the tickets committed to their disposal to the commissioners from whom they were received.
If the days of drawing, and the number to be drawn, shall be increased, public notice will be given of the same.
The prizes to be paid in sixty days after the drawing is completed. It is hoped that the tickets remaining in the hands of the commissioners, will be readily bought by those who are well wishers to the proposed academy, or who wish to see in the neighbourhood of this city, the beginning of a great National University.
On behalf of the trustees, Robert Mitchell, Robert Pollard, Alex. Stuart, Wm. Price, G. Tucker. Richmond, January 3, 1805.
FOR SALE.
Will be exposed to Public Sale on the 30th of January next, or the next fair day, at my plantation in Richmond county: ALL the STOCK, Plantation utensils, Household and Kitchen Furniture—Also, several INKLY NEGROES. Terms of sale will be made known on the day of sale.
At the same time will be offered for sale, 800 acres of VALUABLE LAND, situate on the Rappahannock, & abounding in fine Fish, Oysters, &c. This land is of equal quality with lands in the neighbourhood. WILLIAM T. COLSTON. January 18. —(td.)
DEBATE, IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES.
MONDAY, JANUARY 7, 1805.
Debate on receiving the District of Columbia. (Mr. Smith in continuation.)
He would, however, agree that gentlemen had thrown some obstructions in the way, which though it did not touch the right of Congress to act, yet rendered the action a point of extreme delicacy. We are told we have no right to transfer a people satisfied with their situation, to another government, without their consent.
This argument, if such it may be called, goes too far; it would apply to all other governments, because it can be demonstrated that the best interest of all governments is to promote the best interests of their subjects.
He denied the security which the people of this district had for their natural rights. Political rights they had none, and they depended upon Congress from time to time for the civil rights which indulgence might afford them.
On the point of expense he would add one idea, he deemed it enormous—Congress spent near half their time in legislating for ten miles square at the rate of 1400 dollars per day—that ratio what would be the expense of legislating for the extensive territory of the United States, or even what would be a proportionate expense of legislating for a small state.
Let gentlemen stop for a moment and contemplate the subject in this point of view, and ask themselves individually would their own state agree to such an enormous expenditure under any circumstances than that of absolute and uncontrollable necessity.
Why then retain this exclusive jurisdiction. We do not know their situation, we are strangers or sojourners here, we have not therefore their feelings. But before them to the parent states, and they will be admitted to the full participation and enjoyment of every principle which elevates the prosperity and happiness of America over every other nation on earth.
He expected that gentlemen opposed to reception would view that superior advantages were likely to accrue from retaining the jurisdiction, or that on conviction they would join with him, and agree to adopt the measure of a total reception, which for himself he was in favor of doing.
Mr. Early—Mr. Chairman, the resolutions which we are now called upon to decide, possess a high degree of importance, not only from their object, and the consequences likely to result, but also from certain principles which have been contended for, as applying themselves to the subject.
It is certainly desirable a solution from all questions of this nature should receive a solution from the principles and practice of our own governments, without having resort to foreign sources. But much I fear that the condition of the district of Columbia is one of a nature peculiar to itself, that no such solution can be found.
The proposition that the consent of the people of this district is necessary to give validity to an act of Congress having for its object a reception of the territory, carries with it the refutation of itself. It proves too much. The same reason by which they maintain this position, would go to prove that their consent was necessary to give validity to any act of legislation over them.
I know, Sir, that a distinction has been made between the right of legislation, and the power of transferring that right to others. And whilst it is admitted that the Congress of the United States possesses an exclusive right of legislation over the district of Columbia, it is denied that this right can be transferred to the states of Maryland and Virginia, without the consent of the people who are to be affected by the transfer.
the people to be affected, were component parts of counties in the two states, and as such had a representation in the legislatures of those states, through which their consent was given. I ask where is the proof that their consent to the cession was given?
The position of the gentleman from Maryland (Mr. Dennis) and his reasoning to support it have not had weight on my mind. I cannot conceive how the people of the United States are parties to the compact, so as to make any consent on their part necessary.
If precedents were necessary, they could easily be adduced. The gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Stanford) has already cited several; some before, some since the adoption of the federal constitution.
Of a certain part of the people of this territory who have expressed to us their enmity to the resolutions, it may with propriety be asked why they are desirous of continuing to live under the exclusive government of the United States? Why should they with to continue subject to a government whose laws they endeavor to obstruct?
There is another point of view in which this subject deserves to be considered. It is in its relation to the executive officer of the general government. Mr. Chairman, I am not by nature jealous. I believe I am not enough so. When I have counted more years and have seen more of human nature it is not impossible I may be more disposed to suspect the correctness of human motives than I do at present.
The military of this district are subject to the orders of your President. Sir, you may not always have a President whose principles will be a safeguard for the correctness of his action. He is to judge of the occasions proper for calling the military of the district into the field, and the plausible pretext of preserving order, or guarding the government from insult or injury, may array a military force around the walls.
Upon the subject of the city, I wish, to be distinctly understood. There is no gentleman in this House who wishes more for its prosperity than myself. None who would more resist any attempt to anticipate any of the existing establishments within it.
tion within it, and give the inhabitants the right of governing themselves. But I believe for myself, that we shall witness no prosperity or lasting confidence here until we strip ourselves of the district.
Mr. Epps.—With the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Smith) considered the question of receiving the territory of Columbia as entirely separate and distinct from a question to remove the seat of government.
But the reasoning of the gentleman from Maryland ever to correct and well founded in the abstract, I still have a conclusive answer, that it cannot apply to the case. No reasoning drawn from the principles of free governments can apply to a case, where the people are disenchanted of all rights.
If precedents were necessary, they could easily be adduced. The gentleman from North Carolina (Mr. Stanford) has already cited several; some before, some since the adoption of the federal constitution.
In order to decide this question, it will be necessary to ascertain, what is the power conferred on Congress over this district, by the terms of the constitution, in all cases whatsoever.
right to dictate the rule of action in all cases subject to no control is certainly a complete sovereignty. In this country, in the individual states, the sovereignty resides in the people, and the legislative power extends only to certain specified objects, fixed by their constitutions.

power? Is there any but the moral rectitude of Congress? Have the people of this territory any charter of rights? If they have, where is it to be found? Can they claim the constitution of the United States as their charter of rights? They are not parties to that compact. If they are at all parties to that compact, it must be, as citizens of Maryland and Virginia. Whatever rights, as a portion of the states of Maryland and Virginia, they might have acquired, by being citizens of those states, at the time the constitution of the United States was adopted, were certainly lost by the acts of cession of Maryland and Virginia. By that transfer they lost their chartered rights under the state constitutions of Maryland and Virginia, and also the rights they had acquired under the constitution of the United States as portions of the states of Maryland and Virginia at the time of its adoption. By the acts of cession their right of property only, is secured; their political rights vested in Congress. And the people of this territory, have as good a right to claim as their charter, the state constitutions of Maryland and Virginia, as they would have to claim the constitution of the United States. Their rights under the constitution of the United States were acquired as citizens of Maryland and Virginia, and their rights as citizens of those states are lost. It is not therefore in the constitution of the United States we are to look for the limitation of the power of Congress as it respects this district. Is it in the people of the district we are to look for this limitation? Have they any share in our election? Are we in any shape responsible to them? Are they represented on this floor? Do they pretend to claim or exercise any political rights? If then an absolute power to legislate without control, is an absolute sovereignty, and there is no control, either by charter or in the people of this territory over the power of Congress, as it respects this district, it follows irresistibly, however galling it may be to the people of the district, that as complete sovereignty over them as human language can give, is vested in Congress. That her will is the law of the district of Columbia, and that the political privileges of these people depend solely on the moral rectitude of the National Legislature. This doctrine is strengthened by the opinion which has always been entertained, that the framers of the constitution intended to vest Congress with absolute power within this district. And indeed he had often heard that one of the most conspicuous friends to this monster in the constitution, declared, that liberty ought not to exist within the ten miles square, that one great officer, and one great prison, was the only government which ought to be established within this devoted territory. If, as he had attempted to show, an absolute sovereignty over the territory was vested in Congress, it followed as a necessary consequence that it might be transferred. The United States had sanctioned the principle of transfer where the sovereignty was complete, because they had acquired a valuable territory under such a transfer.
But there was another point of view in which this question might be placed. It was generally admitted that under the terms "exclusive legislation," Congress had power to exercise, or provide for the exercise, of legislative, executive and judicial powers, within this district. Some of her powers she must necessarily delegate because she cannot herself exercise them. If she can transfer a portion of her sovereignty, she might, be presumed, establish a government for the territory, and vest in it legislative, executive, and judicial powers. If Congress has a right to establish a government for the territory, in whom does the constitution require her to vest her powers. She may vest them in one or more persons, or in one or more corporations. There is no limitation on the exercise of this right if Congress possesses it at all. If she can transfer her powers over this territory to a government within the ten miles square, what prevents her transferring these powers to a government without the ten miles square. Has not Congress the same right to transfer her sovereignty over the part of the territory bordering on Maryland to that state, and her sovereignty over the part of the territory bordering on Virginia to that state, that she would have to transfer the same powers to a government within the district. The same clause which gives her exclusive legislation is the only limitation on her power. By establishing a government for the district, Congress would be divested of her exclusive legislation. By a transfer to Maryland and Virginia Congress would be divested of her exclusive jurisdiction also. The extent of the power exercised in the two cases is substantially the same.
There was another point of view in which this question might be placed. This ten miles square is a portion of territory within the United States. It is admitted that the people of this territory possess no portion of the sovereign power. The sovereign power over this district then is either absolutely in Congress or Congress possesses a portion of the sovereignty, and the residue is in the people of the individual states or in the states. If Congress possessed the entire sovereignty she might transfer as she had shown. If Congress possessed only a limited sovereignty within this district, it must be derived from the 3d. clause of the 1st. section of the 4th. article of the constitution which declares "that Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations respecting the territory and other property belonging to the United States." Or in other words Congress possesses the same power over this territory which she has over other portions of territory which possess population without being states. In the exercise of her ordinary territorial power, Congress during the last session, attached the territory of Upper Louisiana to Indiana. If Congress had a right to attach that territory to Indiana, why may she not transfer this territory, divide it as she did the territory of Louisiana and attach a part to Maryland and a part to Virginia, with the consent of these states.
If the view he had taken of the powers of Congress over this district was a correct one it would not be necessary to say much on the expediency of a measure interesting to the people of the district, to the people of the United States, and to the national legislature. The people of the district in returning to the bosom of the respective sovereignties from which they have been torn, will be again restored to the rights of freemen. Instead of a miserable dependance on the will of Congress, their rights will stand on the firm basis of a written charter. Their industry be placed under the fostering care of men elected annually by themselves possessing their feelings and interests. They will quickly experience, the difference between that legislation, which flows from a cold sense of duty, without responsibility, and the active and zealous exertion excited by a common interest and kept up by proper responsibility. To doubt the beneficial effects of such a change to the people of this territory, would be to call in question the great principles of representative government. It is true that a gentleman from Maryland, has told us, that the rights of a people are sufficiently secure, if those who govern them have no interest in injuring them. And that the advantage of a legislative body of their
own, might be questioned because too much legislation was worse than none. The people of America have ever deemed the right of electing those who govern them essential to freedom. The time he hoped, would never arrive in this country, when this important privilege shall cease to be valued. He should not attempt to demonstrate a first principle. If the gentleman from Maryland had any doubts as to the blessing of self-government to a people, he would recommend to him a perusal of the history of American Independence, in which he will find the patriot who made her invoked, devoting the best period of his life to toil and danger for the establishment of that principle. But we are told that the people of this district deprecate a change, and prefer political slavery, to a full participation of American rights. Do we believe this to be a fact? If it was a fact it was to his mind a conclusive one in favour of receding the territory. If this people have already so far degenerated as to attach no value to the blessings of self-government, and prefer living destitute of political rights, they are already fit instruments for tyrants. It is time for them to take a new lesson in the rights of man. Let us restore them to a situation in which if they cannot acquire the feelings of American citizens, their testable principles may not injure the great mass of the community. He did not however believe that this was the sentiment of a majority of the people of this district. He did not believe it was the fair sentiment of any portion of people in any part of the United States. He had no doubt if the question was fairly put to the great mass of any community had you rather have your persons, your property, and rights, protected by men elected by yourselves, or live dependent on men in whose election you have no voice, over whose power you have no control; that the answer would in every instance be in favour of possessing these important privileges; what had been viewed as the sentiment of the district, he considered only, as the opinion of a few land lords, who having embraced the erroneous idea, that receding this territory, would effect the value of their property, had misled and enlisted on their side the people, against their substantial interests. By what process of reasoning this people had been induced to believe that enlarging their political rights would lessen the value of their property, he did not know. It was a species of logic he wished not to understand—as one of the representatives of the United States he should consider himself bound to extend to these people the privileges which every American ought to possess. He had always been taught to believe that the privileges attached to property constituted an important part of its value. That in enlarging human right in a district of country, you enlarge also the means of happiness and give additional value to the property of the citizen.
The people of the United States will be freed from the expense of legislating for this district. The time destined for national purposes will be employed for the good of the nation, and not in local legislation for a territory, whose internal regulations, must in time require more laws, than all the general interests of the union. They will restore to the rank of American citizens a portion of people doomed under momentary error to political degradation. Their system of protection and rights will become uniform throughout the United States, and our people be relieved from an example odious to freemen, and dangerous to liberty, of a political society existing in our country, destitute of political rights. As it respects the National Legislature he had always thought this exclusive jurisdiction while it devolved on them great additional labour, was not calculated to afford them any additional security or freedom in their deliberations. The legislative body of a free country must stand on the broad basis of public opinion. In the faithful discharge of their duties: they require not the hand of power to protect their deliberations.—An honest and enlightened legislature pursuing faithfully the public interest, will find in the attachment of a grateful people, that safety which would be in vain sought, in powers derived from parchment. Deferring the confidence, and possessing the support of the nation, the national legislature can command respect in any situation. Let them forfeit that confidence, and if their jurisdiction absolute, and uncontested, embraced the whole continent instead of this ten miles square, the frowns of an indignant people would reach them. It is not by surrounding your capital with men destitute of political rights that you can exclude the voice of freemen. The facility of parchment power used as an engine of oppression is not known in this country. The virtue of the legislature is its only shield. It is that alone which insures the support of the nation. With the confidence of the nation we possess its sword and its purse, and can command the respect due to the representatives of a free people. Under whatever aspect he viewed the question, whether as it respects the people of the district, the nation or national legislature he had no doubt as to the expediency of receding the territory. (To be continued.)
Register, OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES.
FRIDAY, January 18. Mr. Richards, from the committee of enrollment, reported that they had laid the bill authorizing the corporation of George Town, to erect a dam or causeway from Mason's Island to the west bank of the Potomac, before the President of the United States. Mr. J. Randolph reported from the committee of ways and means, on the bill from the Senate, to amend an act entitled "An act imposing more specific duties on certain articles, and also for laying and collecting light money on foreign vessels." The bill and report were ordered to be referred to a committee of the whole on this day.
Mr. J. Randolph, from the committee of ways and means, asked leave to report a bill making an appropriation for the support of the military establishment for the year 1805, and leave being granted, he reported a bill accordingly, which was read twice, and referred to a committee of the whole for Monday next. The chairman of the committee of revival and unexpired business made a further report, that the law regulating the manner of taking evidence in cases of contested elections had expired, and ought to be revived; also The law for incorporating the inhabitants of the city of Washington, would expire with the end of the present session, and that it ought to be renewed. The report was referred to a committee of the whole for Monday. Mr. J. Randolph presented the petition of Henry and William Stewart, of Germantown, in the county of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, calico printers and dyers, praying to be allowed a drawback on India goods printed by them, equal to the drawback on foreign printed articles. Referred to the committee of commerce and manufactures.
Mr. Crowninshield reported a bill from the committee of commerce and manufactures, for the establishment of new collection districts and ports of entry, on the western waters, viz. at Genesee, Buffalo Creek, and Miami, and to alter the port of entry of the district of Erie. The bill, after being twice read, was referred to the committee of the whole for Monday next. A message was received from the Senate by Mr. Otis, their Secretary, informing that the Senate had agreed to the bill sent from the House for the relief of Charlotte Hazen, relief of the late brigadier general Moses Hazen, with an amendment, and then he withdrew. The Senate's amendment was taken up and considered. It went to allow her a pension for life, from the first day of January, 1805, of 200 dollars per annum. Mr. Van Cortlandt moved to amend the amendment by striking out the first of January, 1805, and inserting in its stead the fourth of February, 1805, being the day of her husband's decease. This motion being carried in the affirmative, the bill was returned to the Senate. Shortly after which, Mr. Otis delivered another message from that body, expressing their agreement to the amendment proposed by the House. Mr. Crowninshield reported a bill for the relief of the sufferers by fire in the city of New-York, in the state of New-York, it was twice read, and referred to the committee of the whole for Monday next. Mr. Root presented a petition from John York, an insolvent collector, of the direct tax of the 3d collection district, in New-York, praying to be released from the payment of the same, as he and his security were insolvent—Referred to a select committee of three. On motion of Mr. Dana, the committee of claims was discharged from the further consideration of the several petitions of disabled and wounded soldiers, and the petitions were thereupon referred to the committee of the whole, to whom was referred the bill in addition to the act making further provision for those who had been disabled by known wounds, received in the service during our revolutionary war with Great Britain. Mr. J. Clay presented a petition from the sugar refiners of Philadelphia, praying an allowance of drawback upon sugars exported from the United States—Referred to the committee already appointed on that subject. Mr. J. Clay presented a letter from Matthew Carey, offering to supply an additional number of the copies of the laws of the United States, at 7 dollars and 86 cents per set of 6 vols. usually sold for 12 dollars. Referred to a select committee of three. Mr. Sloan laid upon the table the following motion, which was seconded by Mr. Anderson:
"Resolved, That from and after the fourth day of July, 1805, all Blacks and people of colour, that shall be born within the district of Columbia, or Columbia, or whose mother shall be the property of any person residing within the said district, shall be free; the males at the age of 21 and the females at the age of 18." Mr. Stanfield moved to consider the motion at this time. The House decided on the question, and there were 57 for the immediate consideration, and only 30 against it; whereupon the same was taken into consideration. It was then moved to refer the motion to a committee of the whole. The Yeas and Nays were called upon the question of reference, and were: Yeas 47, Nays 65, of course the reference was not carried. The question was then taken without debate, on the original resolution,—Ayes 34, Noes 78, So the resolution was negatived. Mr. Fowler presented the petition of Richard Taylor, who had been desperately wounded in the late Indian war, praying an additional allowance for his support. Referred to the committee of the whole, which has a similar subject under consideration. The bill making appropriation for the support of the government of the United States during the year 1805, was read a third time, & passed. As was also: The bill to amend the charter of Georgetown. The third reading of the bill making further provision for the extinguishment of debts due by the United States, was, on motion of Mr. Alston postponed till Monday next. Mr. Dana, from the committee of claims, made a report upon the application and representation of sundry citizens of Massachusetts, purchasers under the Georgia company; of the agents of persons composing the New-England land company, purchasers under the Georgia and Mississippi companies, and the agent for sundry citizens of South Carolina, purchasers under the Upper Mississippi company. Which was referred to a committee of the whole, and ordered to be printed with the accompanying documents. The Speaker made the usual enquiry, "for what day shall it be made the order." Mr. Dana moved Monday, observing that he had no idea of the report being printed by that time, or even if it were, he should not call it up, his intention being merely to have it on the minutes as a notice to the parties interested. Mr. Leib moved its being made the order of the day for the third of March next. The third of March being the most distant day, was first put, and a division of the House was called upon the question. There appeared 50 members in the affirmative; of course it was not carried. Monday next was then agreed to without a division. Mr. Dawson, from the committee appointed on the petition of Marcella Stanton, and others, reported a bill, entitled an act to authorise the court of the district of Columbia to decree divorces in certain cases, which was read twice and referred to a committee of the whole, on Tuesday next. Mr. Dawson prefaced his motion on this subject when he introduced it in the manner following:
He observed that after the decision which had been taken a few days ago, he had resolved not to concern any further with the affairs of the district of Columbia, but to leave the inhabitants in the enjoyment of the blessings of that government, which they seem to have chosen, and the principles of which were sanctioned by this House. There was however one class of persons who claimed, in all situations, our particular attention—who had not made a surrender of their political rights—and if they had been defrauded out of their partial ones were anxious to regain them. It would be remembered, that at the last session a gentleman from Maryland, who had been absent for some time, and who rejoiced now to see in his place, (Mr. Nicholson) presented a petition from a person in this district, praying for a divorce, and he two others for the same relief—these were referred to a select committee, and a bill reported, which remained among the unfinished business—as he learnt that the situations and wishes of these unfortunate
persons were still the same, he thought the subject ought again to be renewed. Mr. Nicholson moved the order of the day on the report of the committee of claims, on the petition of Alexander Murray, praying to be reimbursed the value, damage and costs of a certain vessel captured by him, and which had been decided against him by the supreme court of the United States, which being agreed to, Mr. Tenney was called to the chair. The committee, after some time spent in considering the report of the committee of claims, adopted the resolution thereof that the prayer of the petitioner was just, and ought to be granted, 66 members voting in favour of the resolution. The house having concurred in the report of the committee of the whole; it was referred to the committee of claims to bring in a bill conformably to the said resolution. Adjourned.
MONDAY, January 21. Mr. Olin presented the petition of Abigail Bruff, widow of col. Bruff, deceased, praying to be released from the demand of 4000 dollars, which the United States had against the estate, in his quality of collector of the land tax—Referred to the committee of claims. A message was received from the President of the United States, informing that he had approved and signed the act authorizing the erection of a dam or causeway from Mason's Island to the western shore of the river Potomac. Mr. Dana, from the committee of claims reported a bill for the relief of capt. Alexander Murray, which was read twice, and referred to a committee for tomorrow. Mr. Findley presented a memorial on behalf of the people called Quakers, requesting Congress to pass a law relative to the importation of Blacks into the United States. Referred to the committee appointed on that part of the President's message relating to the amelioration of the government of the inhabitants of Louisiana. Mr. Cutler presented the petition of Edward Tappan and others, of Newburyport, Massachusetts, praying to be allowed a drawback on certain goods shipped to New Orleans. Referred to the committee of commerce and manufactures. Mr. Conrad presented a petition from a number of inhabitants in Montgomery and Lancaster counties (Pennsylvania) praying the establishment of a new post road between Norristown and Lancaster. Referred to the committee on post offices and post roads. The bill for extinguishing certain debts due by the United States, being on its third reading, was, on motion of Mr. Eppes, recommitted to a committee of the whole. The House divided on the motion—50 in the affirmative, and 34 in the negative. So it was carried. Mr. Nicholson moved to make it the order of the day for the fourth of March next. The House divided—39 for it, and 46 against it. It was then made the order of the day for tomorrow. The House resolved itself into a committee of the whole agreeably to the order of the day, on the bill authorizing the post master general to allow an additional sum of 4300 dollars for carrying the mail from Fayetteville to Charleston, South Carolina. Mr. Gregg in the chair. The committee, after some time spent in considering the same, rose and reported the bill, with an amendment, which was adopted by the House, and the bill ordered to be engrossed for a third reading tomorrow. Mr. Crowninshield reported from the committee of commerce and manufactures against the petition of the sugar refiners, for an allowance of drawback upon exportation equal to the duties collected on raw sugars. Mr. J. Randolph called for the order of the day on the bill making an appropriation for the military establishment of the United States. General Varnum in the chair. After some time spent in filling the blanks, the committee rose and reported the bill, with amendments, which being adopted by the House, the bill was ordered to be engrossed for a third reading tomorrow. Adjourned.
TUESDAY, January 22. Mr. Richards reported from the committee of enrollment, that he had presented to the President the bill which originated in this House, for the relief of Charlotte Hazen. The petition of Alexander Simonton, praying relief in consideration of wounds, &c. received during our revolutionary war: And another from John Caffre, to the like effect were read, and both referred to the committee of claims. The bill for the support of the military establishment for 1805, was read a third time and passed. The bill authorizing the post master general to make a further allowance for carrying the mail from Fayetteville to Charleston, was read a third time and passed. Mr. Nicholson reported from the committee appointed for the purpose, a bill fixing the value of rations allowed to the officers in the army of the United States. It was read twice, and referred to a committee of the whole for tomorrow. Mr. Rhea (of Tennessee) motion, relative to the number of troops and officers and their destination, was called up and agreed to. Mr. Dana, from the committee of claims, reported against the prayer of the petition of Rinaldo Johnson, and another report in favour of the petition of Alexander Scott; Also, on the petition of Hannah Habby, that she have leave to withdraw her petition. Mr. Crowninshield, from the committee of commerce and manufactures, reported on the petition of Oliver Evans, of Philadelphia, millwright. Mr. Crowninshield presented from the committee of commerce and manufactures, a bill for altering the act for the promotion of useful arts. It was read twice, and referred to the committee of the whole on the report in the case of Oliver Evans. Mr. Crowninshield reported on the petition of the Typographical Society of Philadelphia—Resolved, That they have leave to withdraw their petition—Agreed. A memorial was presented to the House, from the Delegates appointed by various sections of the district of Columbia—Referred to Messrs Nicholson, Thompson, Pieter, Lewis and Lucas—and the memorial and accompanying documents ordered to be printed. The report of the committee on Doctor Leib's motion for making an allowance to finish the south side of the arsenal, at Philadelphia, was referred to the committee of the whole. Mr. Gregg in the chair. After some time spent in considering the same, the committee rose and reported their agreement which being concurred in by the House, it was ordered that the committee bring in a bill conformably thereto.
TO RENT, AND POSSESSION GIVEN IMMEDIATELY, A TENEMENT on Shockoe Hill, adjoining the house now occupied by Mr. John M'Credie, lately possessed by the Subscriber. There is on it a convenient Wooden House with two rooms, a closet and a passage, on the first floor. Two rooms and a closet above, a kitchen and three cellars below with a Smoke House and Garden. Also a Wooden House with two rooms, fire place, kitchen and cellar, on the Tenement whereon I now live, lately occupied by Mr. Samuel Greenhow, on the lot formerly belonging to Mr. Benjamin Maltby. January, 17th 1805. Wm. LONG. epy.
WANTED, A MAN without a family, well qualified to teach correctly the English and Latin languages. Such an one who will come well recommended, will meet with liberal encouragement, in a private family. Enquire of the editor of the Enquirer. January 18.—(law 3w.)
Foreign Miscellany.
ENGLAND AND SPAIN.
The last accounts from Spain (to November 17, 1804) are of a pacific aspect; and those from England are not hostile. At the last date from Cadiz, no preparations for war with Great Britain were making; nor any talk of expected war; notwithstanding the capture of the treasure frigates had been fully confirmed. On recurring to the information given by Lord Harrowby, to the London merchants, in September last, it will be found, that the unusual armaments making in Spain, had caused the English ministry to demand satisfactory explanations of their destination; which Spain had neglected or refused to make. About the same time, the Spanish ambassador, in London, was informed, that until a satisfactory explanation had taken place, no ships of war, and particularly those supposed to be freighted with treasure, would be permitted to enter the ports of Spain. It has since been asserted in the American papers, that an armament, destined for the Floridas, to support the Spanish authority therein, had been made; but had since been dismantled. If this was the armament complained of; if it be discontinued; and the Spanish government has thus represented it to the court of London, and promised to observe an honest neutrality; in our opinion, the ostensible cause of the dispute has ceased to exist; and unless some latent cause of hostility remains, a war between the two nations will not now take place. Whether the vessels and property captured, will be restored, is a question we cannot solve. Our opinion is, that they will not be, during the present war. In one of the last English papers, it is mentioned, that the money would be retained in England pending another negotiation to be opened on the old subject of the "Manila ransom." It may be recollected, that in 1762, a detachment of troops, from Madras, composed of soldiers, Sepoys, cañons, lancers, topazes, and French and German deserters, and commanded by general (Sir William) Draper, in an expedition against the Spanish Philippine Isles, took the town of Manila by storm; and the officers found it extremely difficult to prevent the motley troops from making the city feel all the rapaciousness to which a city taken by storm is subjected from the common men. Promises of remuneration for their bravery and sufferings were made this collection; and a capitulation was entered into between the British and Spanish officers for such compensation as might satisfy them, and exempt the town from pillage. By one of the articles, four millions of dollars were to be paid by Spain as a ransom for the city of Manila, and the effects of the inhabitants; who, in consequence, were protected in their religion, liberties and property. Peace succeeding soon after, the Spanish government refused to ratify the capitulation; and the payment of the ransom has been evaded to this day. It would be in the style of Mr. Pitt's "gestion of affairs," were the money to be detained as a guarantee of the fulfilment of the capitulation on the part of Spain.
The Duke of Enghein.—The following is a Translation of a Latin Epitaph, on this lamented Prince, which is in circulation on the Continent:
D. O. M. To God, most good, most high. Traveler! rest awhile. HERE LIES LOUIS ANTHONY OF BOURBON, Of the Royal Blood of FRANCE, Of the family of CONDE; The heir and rival Of the Virtues of his Ancestors, Horribly massacred, by the Corsican Monster. He fell, March 21, 1804, In the 32nd year of his age. Torn by the fame fangs, And in the same grave, Will soon lie ALL THE KINGS AND PRINCES OF EUROPE, Unless BY FIRE AND SWORD, With united, prompt, and potent hands, They attack, invade and destroy, The Corsican Tiger, Mocking and subverting The laws of Heaven and of Nations: Drunk with the Blood Of EUROPE, AFRICA and ASIA, But not yet satisfied. Do you weep, Traveller? TO ARMS! TEARS are useless here. [London paper.]
David, the Painter.—As the famous French painter, David, is charged to assist General Caulincourt, and the persons under his command, in the great preparations and numerous arrangements for the coronation of Napoleon the First, as Emperor of the French, he has already delineated the outlines of the picture which he is charged to execute, representing the ascension to sovereignty of a fourth dynasty in France. This favor has procured him much abuse from disappointed inferior rivals or enemies, who have published several libels against him; one of which he is particularly reproached with having formerly painted the execution of Louis XVI; the apotheosis of Marat; the fete of the Goddess of Reason; and the Almighty under the figure of Robespierre, &c. The printer of this libel is arrested and in the temple, and the police is in search of the author, said to be a female, wife or mistress of a fanatic royalist, now in England, and who, being implicated in the conspiracy of Georges and Pichegru, passed last spring several months in the temple. The printer does not know her under any other name but that of Charlotte Corday; but, by the description he has given of her person, and from some lines of her hand writing, the prefect of the police is convinced, that her or her husband's family name is St. Luce, under which names he was imprisoned, and obtained her release last spring.— Courrier des Spectacles.
ALMANACKS.
Upwards of 150 almanacks for the year XIII have been already published under different appellations, as the Imperial Almanack , the Emperor's Almanack , the Empress's Almanack , Prince Joseph's Almanack , Prince Louis's Almanack , &c. &c. all with pretended appropriate dedications, containing the most dull and ridiculous verses, epigrams, calembours, jeux d'esprit, enigmas, &c. that ever foiled paper. The witticisms are as proud of these chef d'œuvres , as if they were the Rouffeaux or Voltaires of the day. But the most curious of all is the Catholic Almanack , dedicated to his Holiness Pius VII, where, by the side of legends of Saints, and tales of miracles, are placed love letters to a mistress, and calembours against religion. We have been told that the author had the folly or impudence to present this almanack to his Eminence Cardinal Caprara, who, judging from the title, gave him in return twenty louis, but, after reading it offered him fifty more to suppress it, as a scandal, which would be very displeasing to the Pope upon his arrival in France. The author had the audacity to pocket the money, but, instead of suppressing the almanack, published the anecdote, which made this stupid production pass through four editions in three weeks, by which he gained 150 louis more. The Correctional Police, as well as the Committee for the Protection of the Liberty of the Press, have taken cognizance of this literary swindling, and the author is now in the Prison of the Temple. The day after his arrest, he agreed with a printer for the fifth edition, but it was entirely seized by the Police, who

are now anxious to buy up the former ones, which consequently fell at a premium. Cardinal Caprara has had the magnanimity to demand the release of the author; to which the Minister of the Police, Senator Fouché, has not consented, upon any other terms, than that he should be transported to the colonies for life; and he has probably before now reached Rochefort, the place of his embarkation.
From a Life London Paper . The following is a Translation of the Circular Letter which has been addressed by the Senator Fouché, Chief of the Police, to the Bishops of the Empire;
"There is more connexion, Sir, between my office and yours than is generally imagined. It is my duty to prevent crimes, to avoid the necessity of punishing them. It is your's to live in the hearts of men all criminal projects, and even the very idea of crime. Our common object is to establish the security of the Empire upon virtue and good order. With the views and moral benevolent intentions which you possess, the spiritual authority with which you are invested, would only be productive of very limited and uncertain advantages, if it did not find in the co-operation of my office the means of chasising all opposition to it.
"A prince of the Church! This title will be disputed with you for some time to come, and by an inconsiderable number of Bishops of the old Establishment, who have abandoned the union of the Church, and by some Priests whose positions have been increased, but whose understandings have not been enlarged by the Revolution. The first would arrogate to themselves a frier adherence to the faith of your fathers than you are supposed to profess; the second assert, that they are more true to the Revolution and its principles. You are placed between those extremes, and your place is that of wisdom and of truth. You are attacked on one side by the errors of barbarous and ignorant ages, and on the other you are assailed by those excesses that are inseparable from a period of Revolution.
"What pretexts, however, can those Bishops have, who have abandoned the union of the Church? Where can they seek for it, or hope to find it? Do they imagine that the true worship is not restored in our Temples, because the Bourbons have not been restored to the Throne? But what other Throne than that of the Sovereign Pontiff has ever appeared to have a necessary connexion with the Catholic Religion? In what symbol of faith, or in what venerated tradition can the smallest connexion between the Dynasty of the Bourbons and the pure and spotless existence of the Gallican Church be pointed out? The union of our Church with all other Catholic Churches, and with the Pope, was not broken by the transfer of the Roman Empire to the Merovingian Dynasty, from that to Charlemagne, or from that to the race of Capet; nor was it broken by the change from the Dynasty of the Bourbons to that of the Bonapartes. Political questions appertain to Nations, and not to Religion; and France has always decided them according to her inclinations, or the lessons of experience.
"You are too well informed, Sir, to render it incumbent on me to suggest to you the great necessity of attending to the rigorous execution of those Laws which have for their object the security and the regulation of Public Worship. If you allow those Priests who are subject to your authority, either to modify or infringe them, there will be no longer any bounds to arbitrary encroachments. The passions invariably extend beyond all bounds, those indulgences which they have extorted from weakness.
"Freedom of Religion is a law of the Empire, and one of the rights of man, and is at present established in every enlightened state. You are no longer at liberty to extend the conquests of Religion, of which you are the Chief Ministers, than by your talents and your Evangelical virtues. In the age in which we live, that may be denominated the best Religion which most forcibly inculcates the principles of Morality, and obedience to the laws. The divine precepts of a Religion is to be as beneficial as the Almighty himself."
"His Majesty the Emperor will acknowledge that you have justified the confidence he has placed in you, when, under the influence of your doctrine, he shall perceive that all hatred and dissension have disappeared; that the love of every thing that can tend to the advantage of your Country, has been nourished in the places of worship in the presence of the images of the Divinity, and the prosperity of the Empire become to all those whose consciences you direct, the most certain pledge that they have merited those rewards which Religion holds out to them."
(Signed) "FOUCHÉ."
FROM LA DECADE PHILOSOPHIQUE.
LIBERTY OF THE PRESS.
The great utility of the Senatorial Committee, which inspects that part of our happy constitution guaranteeing the liberty of the press, is evident from its numerous labours, from its assiduity to revise, and from its liberality to guide authors, who really are men of talents and genius. Not only the corrections of the enlightened members of the committee have improved their publications, but they have rewarded their industry, abilities, and patriotism, by recommending them to honorable and profitable places under government; and genius and labor, will not, in future in France, starve in obscurity, in garrets, or die from want in the streets, or from misery in the hospitals. They may aspire to the best places in the state, while the dull, indolent, or stupid rich may pride himself upon his alliance, but has no hope to usurp rank, or purchase distinctions, and the man whom he but lately regarded with contempt on account of his poverty, he will be forced to respect on account of his elevation, obtained by merit. This liberality, or rather justice, is reciprocally advantageous to government and to men of letters; because, in return for his protection, the former is always certain of the support of the latter.
We have heard that, within these last three months, upon the recommendation of the Senatorial Committee, sixteen authors have been rewarded with employments by the Emperor, and are now comfortably settled. Of works presented to its approbation or revision, twenty-five, which treat on politics, have been approved, and thirty-five rejected as dangerous or absurd. Five theatrical publications have been approved, three are under consideration, and nine have been rejected. Of poems, comedies, tragedies, dramas, &c. nineteen have been permitted to be printed, fifteen are under consideration, and fifty-five have been rejected. On philosophy, twelve productions have been presented, of which eight have been approved, and four are under revision. On natural history, on botany, anatomy, and other sciences, ten have been presented and approved. On religious subjects, no less than thirty works have been presented, of which only six have been approved, the others continue still under scrutiny. In a time of schism, the child of revolutionary atheism or infidelity, government thinks it cannot be too strict in admitting to the knowledge of the faithful, and to the meditation of all sects, opinions, or thoughts either fanatical or exaggerated, either sophistical or problematical, which encourage indifference, or preach intolerance.
Let all authors, who write on religious subjects, remember, that the Catholic religion is the religion of the State; and that its august chief, its visible head upon earth, the Sovereign Pontiff, will soon arrive in France, not only to perform the most religious of ceremonies, but to quiet consciences, by dispersing that schism, which deprives so many of their hope and tranquillity of a peace upon earth, and an Heaven hereafter. What would his Holiness think, were he, at his arrival, to find France inundated with books and pamphlets, throwing out doubts on, or insulting, every thing which is sacred; which has constituted the happiness of former generations, in the belief of which our ancestors lived and died, and for which they fought in the field, and bled upon the scaffold? Government, with its usual generosity, tolerates all religions and all sects; lets Jews pray in their synagogues; the Methodists prostrate themselves in their mosques; the Protestants sing in their temples; but not attempt to ridicule each other, or unite together to ridicule the true followers of the Roman Catholic; such acts, notwithstanding its moderation, Government will be obliged
severely to punish, as intended to cause hatred and disturbances.
The Committee of Liberty of the Press, to which authors may send their productions, continues always to sit in the Police Office, under the Presidency of the Minister of the General Police, Senator Fouché, and Messrs. Lemontey, La Cretelle, the younger, and Desfauchelet; three men of letters are still attached to it.
Domestic Intelligence.
NEW-YORK, January 19.
The brig Cato , Updegraff , from Jamaica for New-York, got ashore on Wednesday on Rockaway Beach, Long-Island. The captain and mate are the only persons who survived the inclemency of the season; the remainder were frozen to death. The cargo, it is probable, will be preserved. — Mer. Adv.
A letter, received in Boston from Mr. Gavino the American Consul, and dated at Gibraltar on the 8th Nov. last, states, that the disease, which had existed in an alarming degree at that place was greatly abated, and the inhabitants who had fled, were about returning; Mr. Gavino further adds, that he had been severely attacked with the fever, together with his whole family; and that he had to lament the loss of a brother and sister who fell early victims to its ravages, though removed to his cottage at Europa; that he had also lost a faithful servant and the person entrusted with the care of his business. On the subject of business, Mr. Gavino remarks, that it is to be expected trade will shortly revive, when the article of Rice would be worth 7 dls. per Eng. cwt. and Flour 11 dls. per bbl. — B.
Extract of a letter from Cadiz to a gentleman in Boston, dated Nov. 14, 1804.
"The scarcity of Grain continues, and it will probably maintain nearly the present prices, through the winter. The following statement will convey an idea of the comparative diminution of the crops in this vicinity."
"The Bishop of Seville collected his tithes in the year 1802, on 326,000 fanegas of wheat, which was not more than sufficient for consumption.
"1803, on 181,000—great scarcity.
"1804, on 56,700—famine.
"The people in some parts of the interior are in a state of starvation. At one village they have hung their corridor, having been three days without bread.
"The sickles are nearly at an end in Malaga and Gibraltar, and has decreased here, the deaths are now from 16 to 24, daily, of all diseases, including those who die in Hospitals." B.
January 21.
On Wednesday came on in the court of oyer and terminer, then sitting in this city, the long depending cause between the People of the State of New-York and Dr. Angelis, for a libel against one William L. Simers, by representing him as an ignorant quack, and as being guilty of fraudulently selling a spurious composition as and for the Four Herb Pills of the defendant, thereby injuring the good name, fame, and reputation of the said Wm. L. Simers. The court allowed the truth to be given in evidence; and upon the testimony of three of the most respectable physicians in New-York, the first part of the charge was satisfactorily proved. The charge of fraud not being so clearly made out, the jury returned a verdict against the defendant, and fined him five dollars. The examination of witnesses in this cause, and the pleaantry of the counsel on both sides, kept the court in such convulsions of laughter as were not restrained without difficulty. Even the gravity of the bench could not always be preserved.
Mr. Martin S. Wilkinson assisted the public prosecutor; and Mr. William L. Morton, Mr. Robert Bogardus, and Mr. Silvanus Miller, were of counsel for the defendant: but nothing like argument was urged by any of them, the matter in discussion being of too contemptible a nature to be treated seriously. The counsel, therefore, exercised their talent at biting farcasm and bitter irony against quack-doctors, quack-medicines, pills, powders, and Reformatory Balsams. — B.
ENQUIRER.
RICHMOND, JANUARY 23, 1805.
BILL TO PREVENT THE CIRCULATION OF PRIVATE BANK NOTES.
Mr. Tyler moved to postpone the consideration of the bill, until a discussion had taken place on the establishing of a Branch of the Virginia Bank at West End. He was authorised to make certain proposals to the House, which might be worthy of their attention. He was authorised by the Stockholders of the Bank of Potomac to purchase a Charter for a new Bank, or to give the state as great an interest in it as it already had in the Virginia Bank. He observed, that the interest of that part of Virginia, which lies on the Potomac, required the extension of its banking capital. Alexandria, the great place of deposit and trade, could easily employ more money, than it already possessed. There were not less than 250,000 barrels of flour annually exported from Alexandria; and on each barrel the farmer lost at least one dollar. At Baltimore, the price of the flour was at least one dollar more than it was in Alexandria; and from what causes? From the superior extent of banking capital; from the greater facility with which discounts may be made, and money obtained in the one place than in the other. The mere chants of Alexandria, labouring under this disadvantage, had formed themselves into a private association, because the fostering hand of government had been withdrawn from them. Alexandria was within the District of Columbia, and consequently beyond the protection of any of the states; and the government of the United States, to whom alone it could look up for favour, was already pledged to the bank of the United States, to incorporate no new company, until its own charter had expired. — The objection which some gentlemen might probably make to this company, was certainly unfounded. It could not injure the interests of the Virginia bank. There was too great a distance between them, for one to be the rival of the other.
Mr. Henning hoped that the bill would neither be postponed until they had decided upon the measure of establishing a Branch Bank near Alexandria, nor that it would be postponed for a single moment, longer than was necessary to carry it thro' the parliamentary forms, and enact it into a law. The moment he saw the design of the Bank of Potomac, he was convinced that it contemplated a fraud upon the existing law. It is true, they have not issued their notes payable to bearer, which was forbidden by the law of 1785; but still they have made their notes payable to their own Cashier, by whom they are endorsed, and thrown into circulation, has not this system the very same effect, as the circulation of private bank notes? For what is the object of the present law? It is to prevent the circulation of notes from private persons or
from unchartered banks: and is not this the very system, which the Bank of Potomac have adopted? Mr. Henning wished to know, where was the limitation to these proceedings, if such conduct was passed over with impunity. Before the meeting of the next legislature, instead of a capital of half a million, three millions at least might be vested in the private banking associations. To what purpose then had the legislature referred to itself the power of incorporation, if it was not to limit banking capital and the circulation of paper money? The gentleman left up observed, that the interests of the merchants and farmers demanded the extension of banking capital. But, there was already a petition presented to this house by several counties on the Potomac, to extend a branch of the Virginia Bank to the neighbourhood of Alexandria. If then the house was willing to encourage such institutions, it might easily gratify its inclination, by assenting to this petition, and establishing among them a branch of the Virginia Bank.
Mr. Tyler hoped that the ideas of the gentleman would be verified. The Stockholders of the Potomac Bank would be contented, if the legislature would extend the capital of the Virginia Bank, in order to establish a new branch among them. For in that case, the Stockholders of the Potomac Bank would vest their capital in it. But he was afraid, the legislature would not adopt this measure. He thought they had too much confused their regards to the James river; that they had lost sight of Alexandria; that they did not impartially legislate for the whole state. Extend the capital of the Bank of Virginia, said Mr. T. and we shall be satisfied. But I am afraid we shall obtain neither. It was very good policy in our opponents to have the discussion of this bill brought on first. If this bill were decided against us, they very well knew how the other would go. They knew very well that if the other bill were passed, we had some chance of succeeding in this. The gentleman attributes unfounded designs to the Bank of Potomac. He is opposed to the circulation of private notes; and so are we. All that we desire, is the fostering hand of government. We hope that the imaginary interests of the state in the Virginia Bank will not prevent the house from giving us that aid. Mr. Tyler observed, he wished no more at present than the postponement of this business, until the other bill had been discussed. If on that occasion the propositions which he had mentioned were not offered, he was willing that every possible measure might be taken against the Potomac Bank; and if they succeeded in this point, he was authorised to state that they would vest their capital in a Branch Bank of Virginia, if that Branch should be granted to them.
Mr. Singleton confessed he was opposed to the principles of the Banking system. But he was still more opposed to any monopoly in such institutions. But when he read the provisions of the present bill, he was perfectly convinced, that such a monopoly was really meditated. — The district of Columbia, Mr. S. observed, was as independent of Virginia, as any state in the Union, and was equally entitled to privileges and immunities; but as yet the legislature had made no regulations like the present, although such private banking associations had existed in the other states. He asked whether a stricter policy was necessary here, than in G. Britain. In that kingdom, banking companies were not fettered by monopoly; even the bank of England itself has no exclusive privileges, except the one, that no other banking association could have more than six directors. In Edinburgh there were two joint stock companies, which had no privileges. — What would an enlightened foreigner acquainted with the policy of Europe, think, if he were present at our deliberations on this day? He must think it almost every other volition would, that the present measure is dictated by hostility; by a monopoly-hoping hostility: it is because gentlemen in other parts of Virginia think, that if this paper circulates among them, it will lessen the profits of their trade, and the value of their banking stock, that they advocate the present bill.
Mr. S. observed, that he would not let any bank enjoy an exclusive right to the banking business. Farmers might be told, that it would be an injury to have two Blacksmiths' shops, instead of one established in their neighbourhood. But would they believe it? They might see indeed that it would be an injury to the Blacksmiths themselves; but it would surely require some ingenuity to prove that it would be an injury to them. It is so with banks. Their object is to increase the circulating medium. Suppose in any society that there are ten millions of dollars to carry on the wheel of circulation: let an additional sum in paper be issued. Then, as the circulating medium is doubled in its amount, the nominal value of commodities must increase in the same proportion. Perhaps a part of this money might overflow into other countries. A part of it at least would remain, and the farmers who have generally more to sell than they have to buy would receive a greater price for their commodities. It was their interest then, that no unnecessary restraint should be thrown upon the multiplication of Banks. If it be any advantage to them to have a greater quantity of money thrown into one channel, it certainly is as great an advantage to have it thrown into another channel. If any advantage is to be obtained by it here, an equal advantage must result from it there.
Some gentlemen may contend, that the Bank of Potomac will injure the Bank of Virginia. But it is probable that this will be the consequence of its operations? Is it probable that any money from that bank will reach this market? It is not. Alexandria has scarcely more commercial intercourse with Richmond, than it has with China. A bale of goods might as soon be got from London as from Richmond. More vessels in fact arrived at Alexandria from the first port than from the last. For these reasons he hoped the legislature would reject the present bill.
Mr. Harrison was in hopes that instead of such side-wind arguments as gentlemen had employed, they would have approached this subject in a more direct and intelligible manner. They had intimated, that the principal support which this measure had received, was given to it by the Stockholders of the Richmond Bank. For his own part, Mr. H. declared, he had no personal interest at all in it; and he was no further interested in it, than as he regarded the interests of the state, which owned the one fifth of its stock. He indeed felt himself concerned in this discussion, by the station which he occupied as a member of the legislature. It was the duty of that body to take care, that no more paper money should be thrown into circulation, than what could be exchanged for Gold & Silver, when carried into the bank. The Bank of Virginia can issue no more than three times the amount of its capital. But what assurance could the legislature have that the Bank of Potomac would not issue 20 or 30 times the amount of its capital? But this bill is not confined to the Potomac Bank. There is no particular mention made of it. May not similar associations be formed in Richmond, Norfolk and other towns? Was it not even laid last year, that some such scheme was on foot at Rich-
mond? May not this bill then equally apply to them?
But it is said that 14 counties; that is about 1-6 of the state, have presented a petition to this purpose. But have they not already had their share of legislative patronage? Was not the Bank of Alexandria long since established by a vote of this house? Why then charge this house with partiality? They have access too to the Bank of Columbia. 'Tis true, they have a river to cross. But credit is not arrested by rivers, and not even by the Atlantic ocean. Money may be obtained from London itself.
Mr. Singleton was diffident of any opinion on a subject so abstruse and abstracted; and to that cause, the House would be generous enough to attribute any errors, into which he might fall. He would ask gentlemen, what had been the practices of European countries. The bank of Amsterdam had existed 200 years; but had no particular privileges. The Bank of England had been established more than 100 years; it year 1696, this bank had been in operation; yet without possessing any exclusive privileges, except the one, which he had already mentioned. In England and in Scotland there were numerous banks. There were two in Edinburgh, and yet they had no particular privileges. — During this time, therefore, the people of G. Britain had thought it improper to take any one bank under their patronage, and to promote its interests, by limiting the operations of every other. They had left them to themselves; because they believed that their own interests and the exertions of their rivals, would constitute a sufficient control and safeguard. Why then should we adopt a different policy? Sir, said Mr. S. it is a monstrous union, which we have here established between the bank and the state. The time will not be far distant, when this House shall be told, it must do so and so, because it will injure the interests of its bank; and that this bank will not extend to us any of its benefits, unless we should agree to come into its favourite views. It is customary for us to ridicule and execute the abominable union which subsists in some countries between the church & the state; but this union between the bank and the state, was equally monstrous. It was one of those great difficulties which other governments had left to our own ingenuity to accomplish.
The Speaker here called Mr. S. to order. He observed, that any remarks upon the conduct of preceding legislatures were indecorous and improper, unless they were made for the purpose of conveying some existing regulation. As this did not appear to be the case on the present occasion, he hoped the gentleman would proceed no further with his criticisms.
Mr. Powell produced a statement certified by the cashier and two citizens, of the amount of cash in the Bank of Potomac, of the amount of its notes in circulation, & of the amount of the deposits which had been made. From this statement, he asked whether the house would not at once admit the flourishing state of the institution. Could they doubt the credit and responsibility of a bank which had already been trusted with deposits to the amount of $287,000 dollars? He might appeal to the history of a similar institution in Philadelphia (the Bank of Pennsylvania,) which had long issued its notes, without the privileges of a charter, but which had supported its credit with the greatest success.
Mr. T. observed, that he felt it incumbent upon him to offer a few remarks on the subject before the house. However before he entered upon the merits of the question itself, he would take the liberty of answering the observations of the gentleman from Prince William, on the propositions which he had submitted to the house. A proposition Mr. T. said, had been submitted to the Board of Stockholders of the V. Bank by the members from Fairfax; it provided a law was passed for extending the capital of the Bank of Potomac, the stockholders would be ready to subscribe for by the people of Alexandria. At that time the city was against the Bank of Potomac; and it was raised principally by gentlemen from that part of the country. The stockholders of the Virginia Bank were at that time invited to join them in their efforts to put down this private association. The request of these gentlemen to extend the capital of the Virginia Bank and establish a new branch at West End was refused; and for reasons which he thought conclusive.
1. When they considered the exports from Alexandria, they were found to amount in one year to about 1,054,000 dollars. The banking capital, which was to carry on this trade, consisted of 500,000 dollars of the bank of Alexandria; 2nd. of nearly the same sum, belonging to the bank of Potomac; & 3dly. of nearly 1,500,000 dollars more, belonging to the banks of Washington and Columbia. Hence it follows, that to carry on an export trade of more than 1,054,000 dollars, a banking capital nearly equal to 2,500,000 dollars is annually employed; and hence it follows that an accommodation to a much greater amount than their export trade, can be annually obtained.
But how is this accommodation obtained? At this time the trade of Alexandria is carried on, not upon a specie, but a fictitious capital. Will then the legislature of Virginia manifestly against its own interests, and even the interests of that particular part of the country, increase this fictitious capital? For what is the result of trading upon fictitious capital, to individuals and to the company? Necessary checks to discount must sometimes be employed; and then the operations of the bank itself are retarded. The individuals themselves would be injured, and to avoid a bankruptcy, as soon as accommodations are refused to them by one bank, they would apply to other banks. The Branch Bank of Virginia, which would be established in the neighbourhood of Alexandria, would thus be gradually led to institute accounts with men of doubtful credit or bankrupt fortune. And when their payments should be slow, the Bank of Virginia would become the loser. This was one reason, why the Stockholders of the Bank of Virginia had refused to establish a new branch in the neighbourhood of Alexandria.
2. There was another reason. If a Branch Bank was established there, it would be a few furlongs only from the district of Columbia. The vault might be in Virginia, but the transactions might be in Alexandria. And it is well known to every one, that the D. of Columbia is without the jurisdiction of Virginia. What then would be the consequence? The house would be establishing a bank, in fact beyond their control; & if the district of Columbia were to form the design of establishing a competition with this state, with its bank, the necessary expedients would thus be placed within its power. It is odd, Mr. T. said, that the opponents of this bill declare that it is supported from a spirit of monopoly; that the people on the James river are afraid, lest the Bank of Potomac should injure the Virginia Bank, and yet they say, it is impossible for the Banks of Alexandria and Richmond to have any action or reaction upon each other.
Mr. T. observed that he should now return from this digression, & examine the merits of the bill itself. Why was it introduced? Let us attend to its history and provisions. So early as 1785, a law was passed, copied verbatim from a British statute made 3 centuries ago, to prevent the circulation of notes payable to bearer. This law had been adopted for the useful purposes; and the immunity of man had not dared to violate it. Its words were so clear and strong, that no one had dared to brave its penalty. It belonged to the Bank of Potomac to make this experiment. They caught at the word "Bearer"; and they made their notes payable to their cashiers; and by him the notes were endorsed, and thus circulated among A. B. C. &c. Will the legislature of Virg. deem it possible under this violation of the law? It must have understood cogent reasons at first, for enacting this law; and do they not still operate?
These reasons have been partly mentioned by the gentleman from Amelia. He stated that without this law you would have no control over the operations of these banks; you would not circumscribe their circulation by their capital; you could not even limit the extent of their capital. To show the advantages of private banks, it has been said, that Policy will be benefited by their competition; and that 500 banks were 500 times better than one. This was an erroneous position. Money was to beget what blood is to the human system. A certain proportion of it creates us to perform our functions properly, healthily and agreeably. A single drop, more or less, has a tendency to disturb its action. If you throw in too much, you bring on plethoras. Subtract from the natural quantity; and you occasion consumption and dropsies. So it is with money in the commercial system. To show the effects of an excessive circulation, let us illustrate it by a particular case. Suppose the produce of Virginia was 1 hogshead of tobacco; & that there were only £. 10 in specie in the whole state. Then the whole product of Virginia would be worth £. 10. Suppose then that in this state, containing one hogshead of tobacco and £. 10, you throw 10,000 dollars into circulation; then one of two effects would arise which would either of them be productive of injury: Either 9,990 dls. of this money would remain idle & unemployed; or the price of the tobacco would be raised to that sum. If the price of the article rises, you generate speculation; you set artificial men to work, who are acquainted with the use of money, with the state of the market, and with the probable rise in the price of commodities, and thus the ignorant man will become a victim to his intrigues. This was precisely the case with the American soldiers and the speculators, before the introduction of our fiscal system. This too is a state of society eminently injurious to its commerce with other nations. When the nominal price of commodities is so high, what profit could the merchant make by transporting them to other Countries. These were the consequences of an excessive circulation of paper money, which it was the part of a wise legislature to prevent. In Great Britain, a great commercial nation, even three centuries ago, they saw the necessity of doing what they have done; to prevent the circulation of private bank notes, they declared that no private bank should issue notes unless it consisted of 6 members, who should go before a magistrate and certify how much capital they had.
Mr. T. observed that one more remark to make. If this bill is put off till the 1st of March, it will be saying that the Potomac Bank is to remain one year longer. At the end of that period, the legislature will not dare to touch them. For if they have the least prudence in the world, they will emit so much of their money, that there will be no man, who has not one of their notes in his pocket. These people will then come upon the bank, the bank will be broke; and the people of Alexandria will then be much more injured than they would be now. If the legislature once declare by their silence that a private association may issue its notes in that way, the result would be, that in every town, and principal village, thousands and tens of thousands of these notes would be issued. In the borough of Norfolk, he knew there would be two or three. Even before this ingenious device of whipping round the law was meditated, there was a rumour last year that a private association was to be established in Richmond. Let this bill be suspended for one year; and the legislature dare not pass it. Almost every man in the state would be ruined; for almost every man would have some of these private notes.
Mr. Singleton and Mr. Powell replied; they were followed by Mr. Blake, who brought forward resolutions embracing the propositions, which Mr. Tyler had suggested. These were rejected. The motion for postponing the bill was also lost; when the bill was past, and ordered to be engrossed and read a third time.
The attention of the Editor during the two last months, has been principally devoted to the Debates and Proceedings of the Virginia Legislature. Very few indeed have been the occasions, when he has wandered from these subjects to interesting to the state itself, and ascended to the investigation of more general concerns. The adjournment of the Legislature will relieve him from the trouble of attending to their proceedings; and he is once more to enjoy the gratification of pursuing more general, and important researches.
The next paper will conclude every communication which he has to make on the proceedings of the present Legislature. The reader will find in that paper, a catalogue of the principal laws which they have passed; an explanation of every act, of great public importance; and a view of our finances for the present year. He will also be presented with a Gallery of Portraits, drawn by an unknown hand in the hall of the Legislature, and interspersed with sketches of the principal traits which ought to compose, and the principal defects which may fatally characterise an enlightened legislator. He will also have an opportunity of examining an ingenious scheme for the establishment of an university, which was presented to a committee of the present legislature, but which did not receive a complete investigation, from the mistaken notion, that the resources of the government, were not sufficient to reduce it into practice.
The Editor has received two original translations, of the Swiss air "Ranz des Vaches;" one of which has much poetic merit. It shall certainly appear in the next paper.
Mrs. GREEN'S BENEFIT.
This Evening will be presented, a celebrated Tragedy, called VENICE PRESERVED, or A Plot Discovered. End of the Play, a HORNPIPE, by Miss Green. To which will be added, the Comic Opera of the AGREEABLE SURPRIZE. January 29.
PUBLIC NOTICE IS GIVEN,
THAT the President and Common Council of the City of Richmond, will, at their next Monthly Meeting, to be held at the Court-house on the 3d Monday in February next, proceed to recommend to the Court of Hullings of said city, one fit and proper person to be appointed a CONSTABLE, within the same, in the room of Jos. Childress, resigned. AND: STEVENSON, C. C. C. Jan. 29. dets.
NEIL MCCOULL has received his FALL SET. PLY OF DRY GOODS. Nov. 14.—Sept 1st.

THE MISSOURI.
The following interesting account of the Missouri, translated from the French is drawn up by a gentleman in the Western Country, on whose intelligence and accuracy great reliance may be placed. The larger part of the fact is derived from actual observation. The view, which they present of the products on that stream, will be gratifying to all our readers, and peculiarly interesting to the mercantile part of the community, by opening to them a new source of trade, that promises amply to reward their enterprise.
The Missouri, with whose sources we are still unacquainted, is not withstanding already ranked among the largest rivers. It is an object of astonishment to the whole world. The uninformed man admires its rapidity, its length, the salubrity of its waters, and is astonished at its colour: while the reflecting mind admires the innumerable riches scattered on its banks, and foreseeing the future, beholds already this rival of the Nile flowing through countries as fertile, as populous, and as extensive as those of Egypt.
A traveller, however intelligent he may be, can give but a faint idea of the innumerable riches accumulated on its banks. This sketch will bearly point out the most important; happily for our age, some intelligent travellers are engaged, under the auspices of an enlightened government, in tracing this river even to its sources. What gratitude will not the whole world owe to those men, who exposing themselves to the greatest fatigues, and even to the greatest dangers, to enlarge the circle of human knowledge, will (if we may be allowed the expression) give to the world a new country.
The Missouri joins the Mississippi 5 leagues above the town of St. Louis, about the 40th deg. of north lat. It is necessary to observe that after uniting with the Mississippi, it flows through a space of 1200 miles, before it empties itself into the Gulf of Mexico. As this part of its course is well known, I shall speak of the Missouri only. I ascended about 600 leagues without perceiving a diminution either in its width or rapidity. The principal rivers which empty into the Missouri are, as you ascend the Gasconade, the river of the Osages, the two Coaratonas, the Great river, the river Ces Camps, Nichiman, Batoney, the Great and Little Nimaha, the river Plate, the river de Sioux, the L'Eau Qui court, &c. &c.
As far as 25 leagues above its junction with the Mississippi are to be found different settlements of American families, viz. at Bonhomme and Rene Osage, &c. beyond this, its banks are inhabited only by savage nations—the great and little Osages settled 120 leagues on the river of that name, the Gapias, the Ottos, the Pania, the Loups, or Pania Mahas, the Mahas, the Poukas, the Ricaras, the Mandanes, the Sioux; this last nation is not fixed on the banks of the Missouri but habitually come there to hunt.
The banks of the Missouri are alternately woods and prairies; it is remarked that the higher you ascend this river, the more common are these prairies, and they seem to increase every year by the fires which are kindled every autumn by the savages or white hunters, either by chance or with the design of facilitating their hunting. The waters of the Missouri are muddy, and contain throughout its course a sediment of very fine sand which soon precipitates; but this circumstance, which renders it disagreeable to the sight, takes nothing from its salubrity.
Experience has proved that the waters of the Missouri are more wholesome than those of the Ohio, and the upper Mississippi. The rivers and streams, which empty into the Missouri, below the river Plate, are clear and limpid, but above this river, they are as muddy as those of the Missouri itself. This is occasioned by beds of sand or hills of a very fine white earth from whence they take their rise. The bed of the best of the Missouri is obstructed with banks sometimes of sand and sometimes of gravel, which frequently change their place, and consequently render the navigation always uncertain. Its course is generally West by North West.
To give a precise idea of the innumerable riches scattered on the banks of the Missouri would require unbounded knowledge.
The furs are covered with huge trees, the Liard or Poplar. The Sycamore out of one piece of which are made Canoes, which carry almost 18,000 wt. The maple which affords the inhabitants an agreeable and wholesome sugar.
The wild cherry tree, and the red and black walnut, so useful in joiners work.
The red and white elm so necessary to Cartwrights.
The triacanthos, which, when well trimmed, forms impenetrable hedges.
The water willow, the white and red mulberry tree.
The linden tree, the horse chestnut of India, so much prized in the European gardens, &c.
On the shores are found in abundance, the white and black oak, proper for every kind of shipwright, and carpenters work.
The pine, so easily worked, and on the stony mountains, the durable cedar.
It would be impossible to detail all the species of trees, even those unknown in other countries, and of the use that can be made of which we are still ignorant.
The plants are still more numerous; I will pass lightly over this article, for the want of a sufficient botanical knowledge. The Indians are well acquainted with the virtues of many of them, they make use of them to heal their wounds to poison their arrows, they also make use of different kinds of savannas, to dye different colors; they have one which is a certain and prompt cure for the venereal disease, in short they carefully conceal from us a plant, which renders them for a few moments insensible to the heat of the most ardent fire. I have seen them seize a red hot iron or a burning coal without suffering.
The lands on the borders of the Missouri are excellent, and when cultivated are capable of yielding abundantly, all the productions of the temperate and even some of the warm climates; Wheat, Maize, and every species of grain, Irish potatoes and excellent sweet potatoes; Hemp seems here to be an indigenous plant; even cotton succeeds, though not as well as in more Southerly countries; its culture however, yields a real advantage to the inhabitants settled on the banks of the Missouri, who find in the crop of the field of about two acres sufficient for the wants of their families.
The natural prairies are a great resource, being of themselves excellent pasturages, and facilitating the labours of the man who is just settled and who can thus enjoy, with little labour, from the first year a considerable crop. Clay for making bricks is very common: there is also found Poyance clay and even a species of clay which in the opinion of intelligent persons is the real kaolin to which the porcelain of China owes the whole of its reputation.
There are found on the borders of the Missouri, many springs of salt water of every kind, which will be more than sufficient for the consumption of the country, when it shall become inhabited.
Salt petre is found in great abundance in numberless caves, which are met with along the banks of the river.
The bones are generally calcareous and gateous. There is found also one which I believe peculiar to the banks of the Missouri. It is of a blood red colour, compact, soft under the chisel, and hardens in the air, and is susceptible of a most beautiful polish. The Indians make use of it for their calumets; but from the extent of its layers it might be easily employed in more important works. They have also quarries of marble, of which we only know the colour; they are streaked with red. One quarry is well known, and easily worked, viz. a species of plaster, which we are assured is of the same nature as that of Paris, and of which the United States make a great use.
They also find volcanic stones, which demonstrate the ancient or present existence of unknown volcanoes.
The short stay we have generally made among the savage nations has prevented us from making those researches, which would have supplied us with a more extensive information respecting the various mines found on the borders of the Missouri; we know with certainty only of those of iron, lead and coal; there is however no doubt but that there are some of tin, of copper, or silver, and even of gold, according to the account of the Indians, who have found some particles, or dust of these metals either on the surface of the earth or on the banks of small torrents.
The products which are drawn from the Missouri are obtained from the Indians and hunters, in exchange for merchandise. They may be classed according to the subjoined table.
   Dolls. Cts.     Castor, 12,281 lbs. at 1 20 14,737 23   Otters, 1,267 skins 4 5,663   Foxes,   Ponha foxes 802 skins 50 401   Tyger cats   Racoons, 4,248 skins 25 1062   Bears, black,   grey, yellow, 2,541 skins 2 5,082   Pace,   Buffaloes, 1,714 skins 3 5,142   Dressed cow 189 skins 1 50 285 50   hides,   Shorn deer- 96,926 lbs. 40 33,772 40   kins,   Deer skins 6,381 skins 50 3,190 50   Tallow & fat, 8,318 lbs. 20 1,662 60   Bears oil, 2,310 galls. 1 20 2,572   Muskrats,   Martens,   Dollars 77,971 20  
The calculations in this table, drawn from the most correct accounts of the products of the Missouri during fifteen years, make the average of a common year 77,971 dollars.
On calculating, in the same proportion, the amount of merchandise entering the Missouri and giving in exchange for peltries, it is found that it amounts to 61,250 dollars, including expenses, equal to one fourth of the value of the merchandise.
The result is that this commerce gives annually a profit of 16,721 dollars, or about 27 per cent.
If the commerce of the Missouri, without encouragement, and badly regulated, gives annually so great a profit, may we not rest assured that it will be greatly augmented, should government direct its attention to it. It is also necessary to observe that the price of peltries fixed by this table is the current price in the Illinois; if it were regulated by the prices of London, deducting the expenses of transportation, the profit according to our calculation, would be much more considerable.
If the Missouri, abandoned to savages, and presenting but one branch of commerce, yields such great advantages, in proportion to the capital employed in it, what might we not hope, if some merchants or companies with large capitals, and aided by a population extended along the borders of the river, should turn their attention to other branches of trade, which they might undertake (I dare say) with a certainty of success, when we consider the riches buried in its banks, and of which I have endeavoured in these notes to give an idea.
Although my intention has been only to speak of the Missouri, I consider it a duty at the same time to give an idea of the salt mines and the salines, which are found in the same latitude, on the branches of the river Arkansas. At about 300 miles from the village of the great Osages, in a westerly direction, after having passed several branches of the river Arkansas, we find a flat, surrounded by hills of an immense extent, and about 15 leagues in diameter, the soil is a black sand, very fine, and so hard that the horses hardly leave a trace. During a warm and dry season, there exhalates from this flat, vapors which, after being condensed, fall on this black sand, and cover it with an incrustation of salt very white and fine, and about half an inch thick; the rains destroy this phenomenon.
At about 18 miles from this flat, there are found mines of genuine salt, near the surface of the earth; the Indians, who are well acquainted with them, are obliged to use levers to break & raise it.
At a distance of about 15 leagues from the flat, of which we have just spoken and in a southerly direction, there is a second mine of genuine salt of the same nature as the other. These two mines differ only in colour: the first borders on a blue, the second approaches a red. In short, much further south, and still on the branches of the Arkansas, is a saline, which may be considered as one of the most interesting phenomena in nature.
On the delivery of a small hill, there are five holes, about a foot and a half in diameter, and two in depth always full of salt water, without ever overflowing. If a person were to draw any of this salt water, the hole would immediately fill itself; and about 10 feet lower there then flows from this same hill a large stream of pure and sweet water.
If this country were peopled, the working of these genuine salt mines would be very easy, by means of the river Arkansas. This species of salt is found by experience to be far preferable to any other for salting provisions.
Should these notes, imperfect and without order, but in every respect founded on truth & observations made by myself, excite the curiosity of men of intelligence, capable of investigating the objects, which they have barely suggested, I do not doubt but that innumerable advantages would result to the United States, and especially to the district of Louisiana.
It is impossible to give an exact account of the peltries, which are brought down the Mississippi, as they are all immediately transported to Canada, without passing by any post of this district. We can obtain a true statement only from the settlements on the lakes. But from the best information, we may be assured, they are given as exactly as possible in the subjoined table, and that the exportations to Canada are increased every year. It is but a short time since the red river has been explored has been explored, and it is yet but imperfectly known; however this year
some great expeditions have been made, which according to appearance, will raise the products to an immense sum.
After leaving the river de Moens the fur trade from the upper Missouri is carried on entirely by English houses, and almost the whole of the fur, which is obtained from other Indian traders, are also sent to Canada, where they command much higher price than at New Orleans; where, in fact, there is no demand for them. It is also necessary to observe that the farther north we go, the greater the value of the peltries. The prices fixed in the subjoined table are those of the Illinois; had the London prices been given, we should be astonished at the immense sums which the Mississippi yields to the English nation. It is but a few years since peltries have been exported from America by way of the Ohio; it is to be desired that the eastern part of America should encourage this exportation, by raising the prices of peltries nearly to those of Canada.
The table of the peltries from the Missouri is exact, having been taken from notes made during fifteen successive years, of all the peltries exported from this river.
LEXINGTON LOTTERY.
By Authority of the Legislature of Virginia for raising 25,000 Dollars.
SCHEME OF THE FIRST CLASS.
The drawing positively to commence on the 12th of February next.
The managers are now making up the numbers and prizes for the purpose.
   1 Prize of 4000 dolls. is dolls. 4,000   1 do. 2000 2,000   1 do. 1000 1,000   4 do. 500 are 2,000   10 do. 200 2,000   20 do. 100 2,000   25 do. 50 1,250   100 do. 20 2,000   4327 do. 6 25,962   The first drawn number on the first day, 500   First do. 7th day, 100   First do. 8th day, 150   First do. 9th day, 200   First do. 10th day, 250   First do. 11th day, 300   First do. 12th day, 350   First do. 13th day, 400   First do. 14th day, 500   First do. 15th day, being the 600   last day of drawing, 458   Last number drawn, 50,000  
Five thousand Tickets, at 10 dollars each, is 50,000. There are to be no blanks in this Lottery, and the prizes will be subject to no more than 15 per cent discount.
Tickets will be sold at 10 dollars each, five of which are to be paid in hand, and the remaining five when the prize money is applied for.
The law authorizing this Lottery, was passed in the year 1796, for the relief of the sufferers by fire in Lexington, all of whom except Orphans have assigned and transferred their interest and claim to the managers thereof, to be by them applied to opening a good Carriage road over the North and South Mountains, and across the Valley through Lexington.
This road will be in a direct line with the New State Road to the Western waters, and so far a continuation thereof toward Richmond, which will shorten and greatly improve the passage from every part of James River between the Blue Ridge and Richmond to the Sweet and other mineral Springs and from thence towards Greenbrier, Kenhawa, &c.
The managers flatter themselves that the object of this Lottery being so laudable, in which a great part of the State is interested, and from the sales that have been already made of Tickets, that upon the day above mentioned a sufficient number of Tickets, if not all will be sold to warrant the drawing, and that no further postponement will take place.
When the drawing is finished a list of the fortunate numbers will be published.—All prize money, not applied for within one year after the drawing will be presumed to have been relinquished for the Benefit of the Lottery.
WILLIAM H. CABELL, DAVID S. GARLAND, JOHN COATER, ANDREW MOORE, JAMES M. DOWELL, JAMES CARUTHERS, PHILIP GRIMES, JOHN LEYBURN, THOS. S. MCLELAND, ANDREW ALEXANDER, WILLIAM WILSON. John Caruthers, Treasurer. Wm. Caruthers, Secretary. Tickets are to be had of the Managers and of Eli and Allan, Robert Gamble, jun. and Wm. M'Kenzie. Jan. 15th 1805.—Wilf.
HUGH J. CRAWFORD,
HAS Just Received, per the ship Alexander, from London: A general Assortment of Genuine DRUGS & MEDICINES, which he will dispense on moderate terms. Richmond, Dec. 25. (law2m.)
READY MONEY
AND A GENEROUS PRICE WILL be given for a likely NEGRO WOMAN of good character, not exceeding twenty-five years of age, brought up in a gentle family as a seamstress, capable of making up the best linen, and used to wash and iron in the best manner. Those who have one for sale of this description, will please lodge information at the Office of the Enquirer, or direct a letter to A. B. forwarded to the Post-Office at Richmond Court-house. January 15.—(ct 3m.)
THE following HOGSHEAD of TOBACCO remaining in Dwyer's Warehouse unclaimed, will be sold according to law. James Hammond, mark I. H. No. 14.—1431 Gross, 100 Tare, 1331 Net. THOMAS HURST, WILLIAM MEREDITH. January 15, 1805.—(ct 3m.)
DOCTOR WILSON received yesterday a supply of Peruvian Bark, Castor Oil and Jalap, all of the best quality. He also has Calomel, Rheubarb, Senna, Manna, Rochelle and Glauber Salts, Tartar Emetic, Ipecacuanha, Opium, Elastic and Silver Cathartics, Elastic and common Bougies, &c. &c. He designs to keep a supply of the best Medicines that can be procured, and flatters himself that his acquaintance with Medicine, will entitle him to a share of public patronage. Persons of needy circumstances by paying the retail prices of his Medicines, will be preferred for gratis. October 31. ew15f
LOW FOR CASH, OR ON SHORT CREDIT, Direct from Penington's Manufactory, Philadelphia: LOAF SUGAR, OF an excellent quality, either by the hoghead, barrel, or single loaf. The supply will be regular and large. ALSO—BAR IRON, by the ton or single bar: IRON CASTINGS of various kinds, by the ton or single piece, among which are a few tons of 50 and 60 lbs. weights. MICAJAH DAVIS. 4th of 7th mo. 1804. [eWom]
BILLS ON NEW-YORK,
At Ten to Sixty Days Sight—FOR SALE BY M. W. HANCOCK & CO. Dec. 22. tf
BURR MILL STONES, of all sizes; and PLAISTER OF PARIS, of an excellent quality, FOR SALE, AS USUAL, BY WILLIAM DAVIDSON, near the Market. Dec. 4. [epf.]
FOR RENT: THE Large White House at Rocketts formerly occupied by Mr. William Renwick, and afterwards by Mr. Braxton Craddock. For terms, apply to GALLEGO, RICHARD & CO. January 11. (tf)
FOR SALE, FIVE Hhds. and 10 qr. casks of LONDON PARTICULAR TENERIFFE WINE of a superior quality, on a credit of 120 days—Negotiable notes. Enquire of THOMAS NORVELL. December 29. (tf)
JOHN SPINDLER, RESPECTFULLY informs the Ladies and Gentlemen of Richmond, that he intends to teach DRAWING, PAINTING in Oil Colours and Crayons, and would instruct 6 or 8 pupils in those branches, either by waiting on them, or at his house, opposite Thomas Wilson's Esq. back street. N.B. Sign, House, and Military Colours painted by Y. S. Orders from the country punctually attended to. [et 2m.]
FOUR DOLLARS REWARD. STRAYED from the stable of the subscriber on the 14th instant, a dark bay HORSE, about 14 hands high, a long main and twitch tail, any other marks he may have are not at present recollected.—Whoever will deliver him to me shall receive the above reward. ISAAC DELYON. January 22. 3t
NOTICE. THOSE indebted to the late firm of Shanks & McRae, either by Bond or open account, are desired to make payment before 1st of March. All failing to comply, will find their accounts in the hands of an attorney. COLIN MACRAE. Manchester, January 15.—(Saco.)
A GREAT BARGAIN
TO BE SOLD IN A TRACT OF LAND, LYING in the lower end of Louisa county, on the Main-Road leading from Louisa Court-house to Richmond; containing by a late survey, 383 acres. The land lies well, and is not inferior to any in the neighbourhood for the production of Corn, Wheat, Rye, or Tobacco, and is a fine healthy situation, it has a tolerable comfortable dwelling-house, a large barn, and a small orchard of apple and peach trees on it, which has never been known to fail bearing fruit, in no year since the trees have been large enough to bear: it is a good stand for a public house or store. I am willing to take negroes in payment, and if myself and the purchaser cannot agree in the price of the property, I am willing to refer it to disinterested men, &c. will abide by their judgement. An undisputed title and possession will be immediately given by the subscriber, who resides at James Burnley's sen't. at this time. JOHN BURNLEY. January 18.
I intend to sell publicly at Hanover Court-House, on Wednesday the 27th of February next, on 12 months credit, of the estate of Paul Thilman dec'd.
SIX NEGROES, to wit, one Man, 4 Women, one small Boy and a Child, in order to discharge the balance of a debt due to Anthony Walke's, ex'ors. Six per centum interest from the day of sale, and security will be required. BENJAMIN POLLARD, Trustee of PAUL THILMAN, dec'd. January 22.—4t.
IRISH Linens and Sheetings; Superfine Cloths and Cashmere: India, Italian and French Silks; Do Moll Moll Muslins; Do do. do. Hdkfs. Fancy Muslin, Veils and Shawls; Colorado Muslins; Cambric Dimities & Calicoes; Laced Caps and Veils; Do. Hdkfs and Shawls; Do. Gloves and Mitts; Wash Leather and Kid Gloves. For Sale by BARTLETT STILL. January 13. tf
NOTICE.
ALL persons indebted to the estate of the late Mr. JOHN LESTER deceased, are requested to make payment to Mr. Sylvester Hevey, who is authorized to receive the same; and all those who have any demands against the said estate are desired to call on him for payment. SARAH LESTER, Executrix. JOHN FOSTER, Executor. Richmond, 22d January, 1805.
THE public are respectfully informed, that the business of the Wharves, lumber, &c. will be carried on as usual, by their ob't. servant, SARAH LESTER.
WHO HAS ON HAND FOR SALE,
New-England Boards, 1 inch, 1 1/4 and 1 1/2 inch Pitch Pine Boards & Scantling, Cypress Shingles, Cedar posts, Providence Lime unslacked, Double Geared Baltimore Wheat Fans, Wire Sifters for Meal, Oats, Wheat and Flaxseed, Rowling Screen Wire, Screen Wire for Fans, Shakes for Meal, Bright and Black Varnish, &c. &c. January 22d.—(cp 3w.)
TO PRINTERS.
HENRY OURAM—PRESS-MAKER, South-east corner of Prune and Sixth-streets: RESPECTFULLY informs the trade, that he undertakes to supply Printing-Offices with every thing in his line, having a complete Printer's Toner, constantly employed in making the wood part of Presses, Furniture, Rules, &c. &c. Copies of all sizes, Composing Sticks, Brays & Wood Galleys, &c. &c. constantly on hand, or made to order with dispatch and neatness. Orders from any part of the Continent attended to. Philad. Jan. 5. ep3m.
WASHINGTON TAVERN.
THE subscriber has taken a lease of this tennement for a number of years, and has put it in a state of repair which renders it not inferior to any in this City. Besides the Tavern he has detached buildings, well calculated to accommodate those who are anxious of greater privacy than a tavern usually affords. These tenements adjoin the public square, and are within two hundred yards of the Capitol. They have decided advantages over any other houses in this City, with respect to pure air and excellent water. He has good stables and a constant supply of the best forage. He tenders his services to his friends and the public, and assures them, that no unlawful gaming, nor any other practice which might, in any degree, have a tendency to disturb the peace of his house, will ever be permitted. EDWARD HALLAM. Richmond, September 26.
FOR SALE,
By WILLIAM ROSS, AT THE EAGLE TAVERN: LIGHTY-four yards Fancy, Tailonet, Cashmere and Swansdown Weltsong. 2 cases Britannias, 1 bale Tictenburghs, 8 cases and trunks Chintzes and Calicoes, 1 case Cotton Shawls and Pocket Hdkfs, 1 do. India Satins, assorted colours, 1 bale Currah Muslins, 2 do. Bafia do. 3 do. Coffa do. 1 do. Jaunah Mamoody do. 1 do. do. Samah do. 60 boxes Spanish Segars, 20 do. containing sets of Tea China, 61 pieces each, 2 pieces each, 20 do. assorted ditto. 80 reams Medium Vellum Printing Paper, 60 do. Foolscap Writing ditto. N. B. Crop Tobacco, Flour, or Flax-Sed, will be taken in payment as cash. January 11. (2awtf)
ENOCH SULLIVAN, JEWELLER & HAIR-WORKER, (First door below the Eagle Tavern)
BEGS leave to inform the public that he has for Sale, A FASHIONABLE ASSORTMENT OF JEWELRY & SILVER WARE; Also, A HANDSOME SUPPLY OF LADIES ELEGANT COMBS, POCKET BOOKS, &c. Dec. 8. ep tf.
TO BE SOLD,
For ready money, pursuant to a decree of the Federal Circuit Court, for the district of Virginia in a suit between Phineas Boud, Attorney for the creditors of Ezekiel Edwards Plaintiff, and David Rols and others defendants—
TWO undivided parts, out of three, of forty-two acres of LAND, in the county of Henrico, upon Four-Mile Creek, with the Mills and Houses thereon, known by the name of the Norwich Mills. ALSO—a Tract or Parcel of LAND, situate in the county of Henrico, about seven miles below the City of Richmond, commonly called and known by the name of the Seven Pines, thought to contain one thousand acres, but Mr. Rols undertakes, that an accurate survey and plot shall be produced on the day of sale.
The Sale will positively take place at the Eagle Tavern in the City of Richmond on Thursday the 31st day of February next.
BEN. MOSBY, D. M. for JOSEPH SCOTT, M. V. D. Jan. 8. (tda)
At the same time and place, I will dispose of the other undivided third part of the said Norwich Mills and will also dispose of a valuable tract of LAND adjoining thereto, which contains about five hundred acres, with various improvements.—The whole is a valuable estate.—Mr. Hooten will show the Mills and the land. The terms of payment for the said land and the other third part of the Mills will be half ready money, and twelve months credit for the other half. DAVID ROSS.