Virginia Argus (Richmond, Va.), 1806-05-23 00:00:00

VIRGINIA ARGUS.
[XIVth YEAR.]
A FREE PRESS MAINTAINS THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE PEOPLE
[No. 1262.]
RICHMOND:—PRINTED (ON TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS) BY SAMUEL PLEASANTS, JUNIOR, PRINTER TO THE COMMONWEALTH.
[Four Dollars Per Annum....paid in advance.]
FRIDAY, MAY 23, 1806.
[12 1-2 Cent Single.]
PARIS, March 6.
SITTING OF THE LEGISLATIVE BODY. March 3.
M. Champagny made the following speech:
"Gentlemen, deputies of the department to the legislative body—I am commissioned by his majesty the emperor to give you an account of the situation of the empire during the year that has just been completed."
"Its destinies have been fixed upon an immovable basis: a ceremony, the recollection of which will make an epoch in the annals of our history, has raised the chief of the state, and his august family, to that dignity which was called for both by the wishes and the interests of France. Last year, you assembled in this place, which was consecrated by his presence. It was in the midst of you, that the first rays were seen, of that immortal lustre, with which the wishes of the people and the blessing of Heaven have surrounded him, a happy presage for you in the commencement of your labors, and your labors have answered his expectation, for they have been useful to the country. The love of the public good, and the inspiration of genius have guided all your steps; and the unity which is established in the empire, and has been so solemnly proclaimed, has increased the harmony which prevailed both in your sentiments and deliberations."
"The emperor on his side, told you, that in his new honors he perceived a heavy debt which was thrown upon him. Every moment of his time has been consecrated to the discharge of this debt. You know whether he has fulfilled his promises, and how far he has surpassed your expectations. You know with what events, or rather with what prodigies, the year which has hardly been completed, has been filled. I shall recall them to your recollection, without pretending to detail them, or describe the immense importance of their results. Europe, still motionless with astonishment and fear, France transported with admiration and love, dispense me from the necessity of speaking what I should vainly endeavor to express."
"Scarcely were your labors ended, when the emperor undertook to visit a part of France. If he has been every where saluted by the most lively and unanimous expressions of public affection; if the inhabitants of the towns and of the country have flocked to meet him, and present him with the homage of their gratitude and love, he has experienced a pleasure no less dear to his heart, in seeing with his own eyes the happy result of an administration, constantly animated for the last six years by the most generous solicitude for the good of the people, and the restoration of public order. He has seen the traces of our misfortunes effaced, and the very recollection of them almost extinguished, the laws respected, the magistrates devoting themselves to their duties, the morals of the people grown more pure, religious sentiments in high esteem, and the urbanity of manners restored to its former delicacy. If there remained some improvements to be made, it was not from those acts which usually follow great misfortunes, but from those advances to perfection, which belong to a time of calm and prosperity. The emperor, however, wished to know them, and to accomplish whatever still remained to be done. He has called upon all who, by their situation or their talents, could second his views; he has admitted all those who had favors to solicit; he has heard them favorably; he has listened to all their observations; rewarded services, examined the most minute details, and every where he has left, in measures of the greatest wisdom, lasting monuments of his journey through his states."
"Troyes was the first town which he visited, and obtained the first benefits from his attention. Those benefits promise its prosperity worthy its ancient celebrity. The project of making the Seine completely navigable from Paris to Châtillon (which is near the source of it) is already conceived; the details of the execution are resolved on, and decreed. The improvement of the navigation of the Saone is projected—the towns that it washes are now receiving improvements. The quays of Chalons, Tournes, and Mâcon are to be repaired and enlarged. Mâcon will see within its walls a new cathedral, which will be grander than that whose destruction it regrets. The emperor contributes to this edifice a considerable sum, taken from his private revenue. The making the river Saone navigable will be a new benefit to the department of Saone and Loire. The department of l'Ain revives at the sight of its sovereign, who gives to every thing new life, and who anxiously employs himself in increasing its industry, and rendering more salubrious a part of its territory."
"Lyons, which has already received so many benefits from him who rebuilt its edifices, and repeopled its manufactories, has no farther any wishes to form for itself, and experiences no other feelings, but the desire of greeting, with the transports of gratitude, that deliverer whom it so much esteems."
"But the solicitude of the emperor for this capital of French industry is not exhausted; and while it entertains no other sentiment but gratitude, his penetrating glance discovers the means of accelerating the progress of a prosperity which has been increasing during the whole course of his reign. The southern parts of that city will be rendered more salubrious: the Rhone will be confined within its banks, and brought near the city, from which it appears now to retreat; wise regulations now assure fidelity at the manufactories, & give confidence to the foreign consumer without restraining the freedom of the industrious. Rewards decreed by the emperor himself, redouble the emulation of the workmen; a school of drawing will secure the perfection of the art. Lyons, communicating at the sound with the sea, and soon with the Rhine by the Canal Napoléon; with the ocean and the channel by the Saone, the Loire, and the Seine; the market for Switzerland and Piedmont will become such a mart, that, with the advantage of its happy situation, will make it the centre of a vast commerce."
"Savoy, so long oppressed by the policy of its sovereigns, happy in being united by its laws to a country with which it was always connected by its manners, offers to the emperor hearts that are faithful, and which have already been tried. Every thing is busy in those valleys, which were formerly almost inaccessible, but which will soon be open to those communications which will be of the greatest importance. The great operations, however, of which it is the centre, do not occasion its minutest interests to be neglected. The castle of Chambery is rising again from its ashes: those edifices which were abandoned, have been restored to the public advantage: asylums are opened to poverty: places of repose are prepared for travellers: the germ of industry has been sown on a soil to which it appeared a stranger."
"The emperor forms a passage over the Alps by that road which his genius first conceived, and which his power is now carrying into execution. Here a new scene presents itself to his views; Piedmont still preserves some vestiges of a revolution, less terrible, but more recent than ours. It appears not altogether French, either in sentiment, or in the advantage it enjoys. The emperor, who had appeared twice before the walls of Turin at the head of a victorious army, and who from respect to weakness and misfortune, did not then enter it, now enters for the first time: he shows himself there as the father of his new family, without soldiers, and without guards, accompanied only by the benefit which he brings with him, still greater and more powerful from this noble security. Those affections in which he confided were every where warmly expressed. The Piedmontese people has shown itself worthy of the confidence with which he honored them. The homage of the public bodies surrounded him as an escort; the great proprietors pressed round his person; the administration, doubtful about their measures, were enlightened by his genius and became more firm and regular in their course. Abuses are now reformed; commerce, which was languishing, takes again a new life, new channels are now promised to it; doubts have been removed, and opinions reconciled. Those who in difficult times devoted themselves to the interests of France, are assured that France, always faithful, will not forget their services. Those who, attached by the kindness of their former masters, have thought that misfortunes only increased the duties of gratitude, learn that their new sovereign is too generous to preserve any other remembrance except that of the zeal of which they have shown themselves capable. Services are still rewarded (whatever may have been the date of them) and the new country discharges the debts which the old one owed. The principal families admitted round the imperial throne, spread around them the lustre of those honors which they have received. The great proprietors, without hoping the return of any privileges, have no longer to fear exclusion. Every thing resumes the place which wisdom and justice had marked out. Piedmont, which was formerly conquered by the force of arms, is now naturalised by kindness and benefits."
"All the different districts of Piedmont will date, from this epoch, institutions of the utmost importance. Three cities have, however, fixed, in a peculiar degree, the attention of the emperor: Turin, Casal, and Alexandria—Turin, which was formerly the residence of a court; Casal, the ancient capital of Montserrat, which has
been long connected with France by the recollection of events which have past, by affection and by manners; Alexandria, upon which, as on a pivot, all the great military operations have turned, in all the wars of which this country has been the seat."
"Turin, a widow, after the loss of its kings, is comforted by a splendid promise. A brother of the emperor will govern this fine country, and his known character is a guarantee of the happiness which he will confer upon it. He will reside at Turin. An amiable and brilliant court will amply indemnify that city for what it has lost. Its magnificent palace will become the residence of goodness and the graces. Formerly a melancholy fortress, surrounded with enemies; now it is open to France and Italy, of which intercourse it appears to be the central point; it will in future be surrounded only by friendly nations and commerce, and the arts will speedily settle there, and diffuse their benefits."
"Casal, forgotten until this day, but entirely devoted to the chief of the empire, has only been heard by acclamations, and has not offered a single complaint. The emperor has anticipated all its wishes. A lyceum, the residence of a bishop, and the establishment of tribunals, give life to this handsome city, which has been enriched by grants. These benefits will rapidly develop the advantages that it derives from its happy situation, from a favorable climate, and from all the gifts of nature."
"Alexandria, proud of receiving in its walls the same heroes whose victories it witnessed, and by whom it was conquered, celebrate their arrival as a triumphal feast. They are assembled within its walls! The conqueror of Marengo is surrounded with the companions of his glory, in that plain which was the illustrious theatre of it. The rewards of valor are distributed by the same hands that directed its achievements. A monument is consecrated to the manes of those who sacrificed their lives for their country. The people of Italy, hastening to this spectacle, celebrate with the French soldiers the anniversary of the day which fixed their destinies, in securing those of France. In those places Frenchmen are sure to conquer: there the bulwark of the empire will be raised, and the strongest fortifications in Europe will be erected. The rivers are altering their course, to protect the approaches of it: the most profound combinations of art are directing those immense works, on which more than twelve millions of livres have been already expended. The emperor has drawn the plan, and followed all the details. He makes Alexandria the seat of all the grand military establishments—but in giving it so great an importance in war, he wishes it to enjoy every advantage of peace. He has established its internal administration, and created for it that sort of commerce which the rivers that wash it and the sources of which it is the centre, had originally designed for it. Its plains heretofore devastated by brigands, are delivered from the scourge which had desolated them for several centuries."
"The blessings which attended the emperor have been re-echoed throughout the Appenine mountains. Genoa has heard them, and has hastened to present to the emperor its homage and its wishes: its wishes are to become French, which she in a great measure is by her affections and her habits: while due attention to her own essence urges her to be so altogether. Confined between the sea which formerly maintained her, and of which our enemies, which are equally hers, have closed up the passage, and these mountains, which out laws have wisely determined to be a barrier for her, Genoa, wanting every thing, without strength, without laws, and almost without government, solicits the honor of an adoption, which may re-unite them to a great people, and let them enter into a share of its advantages, and which is the chief of them, its government. This wish has been accomplished: it proceeded from every class of citizens, and this re-union has been a blessing to them all. The emperor has consecrated it by his presence. He has been received by the transports which are awakened by the appearance of a deliverer. French Genoa receives the taxes of Piedmont, furnishes to France the produce of its industry, by which she is maintained and enriched, and promises in return, an increase of maritime power and commercial wealth. Several of its citizens, already known to the emperor, received from him the most flattering distinctions. The French laws have been introduced there without counteracting any of those interests which caused its former prosperity. Its finances are improved—the debt of the republic is consolidated, its territory is enlarged; it is divided into departments; & that which is nearest France, receives a name, which recalls one of the first successes of the hero of France—one of the first crowns with which victory has adorned that brow, which has been since so deeply shaded
with laurels. The spot, where this first laurel was gathered, well deserved to be a part of France. The advantages of this organization is confirmed to Genoa, by the choice of a great dignitary named to establish it."
"Parme and Placentia, long in a state of doubt as to their destinies, and subject to Gothic institutions, have also been visited by the chief of the empire; and, from that moment date a code of laws, and a system of administration, conformable to the improvements of the present age."
If false alarms have troubled for a moment certain valleys of these states, measures, full of promptitude, but without violence, have soon restored order among these misled people, who were themselves incapable of assigning the motive of an almost childish agitation, and which has ceased from the moment that any pains were taken to suppress it."
"Italy has, notwithstanding, changed its face, and the ancient kingdom of the Lombards is restored at the voice of Napoleon. Italy, reposing under the shade of the monarchy from its long convulsions, has no longer any cause to envy France. The same breath animates it; the same power protects it; the same spirit formed its new institutions accommodating them to its situation and its manners. Milan has saluted, in the name of its king, him whom it had called its deliverer. Mantua received with transport him who was, under its walls, the vanquisher of five armies, sent to defend it. Assembled at Castiglione, the French soldiers recall to their memories the successes of the army of Italy. Into whatever part of Europe they shall be conducted by the genius who has so often led them to victory, they flatter themselves with still greater successes."
"Italy is proud of receiving laws from a new Charlemagne, and fancies that she sees springing up with her ancient glory, all the prosperity which her climate and her soil entitle her to. Displaying a new character, she hopes to prove that her long weakness was the voice of her institutions, and not the fault of her inhabitants."
"A prince, instructed by his lessons, previously adopted by his affections, as he was subsequently by his decrees, continues his labors in copying his example. Italy enthusiastically pursues his steps. Manifesting a new character, she hopes to evince that her long continued weakness has proceeded rather from the defects of her government, than the fault of her population."
"France, which with avidity received the details of these grand operations, supposed that the emperor was still occupied in accomplishing them, when he was already at the gates of the capital, and occupied in taking an account of the internal situation of the empire. A few days after, astonished England heard the cost of Boulogne resound with the cannon which announced his presence. It was there, amidst the flower of his army, and the last cares of these grand preparations, that he began to enjoy repose. His multiplied combinations were brought to a point; the army, full of impatience, conceived the moment had arrived which was to compensate their lengthened toils; but England, trembling, not for her glory or her commerce, but for her actual existence, prepared a powerful diversion on the continent. She gave a shriek of terror; the continent put itself in motion in consequence of her shrieks; its warriors took up arms—from all quarters they advanced against France; and already they menaced her frontier. Upon this unexpected aggression, the emperor changed his plans. England triumphed, in having poured forth upon the continent all the calamities which she herself dreaded. Vain triumph! She speedily learnt that she had only precipitated the ruin of those whom she looked upon as her supporters, and dug an abyss which must completely engulf her."
"In a few days the emperor had transported his army from the borders of the channel to the Rhine; he had taken leave of the senate and the nation; he had passed the Rhine; at the same moment he was at Ulm, at Vienna, at Austerlitz."
"I shall not attempt to inform you of actions truly admirable, which cannot be worthily related but by him who achieved them—these things that we all know, that we shall teach our children from the moment they begin to understand us; which our descendants shall speak of with pride, and which shall lay the eternal foundation of the nation, almost as great as that of its incomparable chief. Minister of the emperor, I abuse his intention in using this language, but I am a Frenchman; happy so to be, I cannot speak coolly of him, who has fixed the glory and prosperity of my country."
"I had commenced the summary of so many events from the epoch of the coronation; you know how glorious the termination of one year of this remarkable epoch has been; how his crown, gi-
ven by a great people, has been confirmed by God, and by victory upon a head so worthy to bear it."
"That which you are the least informed of, it is now most incumbent on me to tell you."
"It was in the midst of these immense and painful labors, when the emperor, given up to the chances and combinations of war; experiencing all the fatigues of a private soldier; exposed to all the intemperance of a rigorous season, and often having no bed but a truss of straw, no covering but the heavens—from whence all the fire of his genius seemed to emanate; even then, at the distance of three hundred leagues, he held the reins of the administration of France, carefully inspecting the smallest details; occupied equally with the good of his people, as with that of his soldiers; seeing all, knowing all, resembling that invisible spirit that governs the world, and who is only seen in his power and benevolence. You have, as proofs of these assertions, the numerous decrees dated from Ulm, Munich, Vienna, and Austerlitz."
"The interior was stripped of troops—Paris did not contain a soldier, and yet never was public order more strictly maintained—never were the laws better executed. France obeyed the name of its sovereign or rather the sentiment of love and admiration which she felt. It was this sentiment which hastened the progress of the conscription, and made it produce three fold before the time when the contingent was expected to be raised. By it is formed the long rampart of volunteer soldiers which line our frontiers from the channel to the Alps; a new army, almost spontaneously formed, and which announces to Europe, that, at the voice of its chief, all France can become a great army. It is this sentiment of devotion and military ardour, which animates those young men, who press to enrol themselves in the emperor's guard of honor, and who alone, in all France, may regret the rapidity of those exploits in which they had no part."
"Peace was concluded before, in many parts of France, it was scarcely known that the war was begun; a war not so long as your annual session, and the consequence, of which must embrace future ages, Europe, and the other parts of the world."
"If the war has been conducted with courage and genius, the terms of peace have been dictated by generosity & moderation. A sovereign, unfortunate in war, has recovered by peace a great part of his states. His losses vanish into nothing, when compared to the dangers to which the monarchy of which he is the head was exposed. Princes in alliance with us have seen their power increased, and their titles exalted. The beneficence of the emperor has surrounded France with nations friendly to its government. Italy, that noble daughter of France, and which promises to be worthy of her, has reaped the benefits of the war. But her strength is ours; her wealth adds to our prosperity; our enemies are repulsed from her shores; they can no longer have any commercial connexions with her. This rich quarry is snatched from their rapacity. Italy is a conquest made from England. She is united to Germany by the double tie of vicinity and friendship, and by that alliance which her prince has just contracted with the daughter of one of the most powerful sovereigns of the Germanic empire. Now it is, indeed, that peace is secured to the peaceable inhabitants of the mountains of the Tyrolese. Commerce will soon enrich her deserted valleys; and thus her conquest will prove to her a blessing."
"The emperor, liberal towards his enemies and generous to his allies, has not been less liberal and generous to his people and his army. Never has there been a finer harvest of trophies offered to the view of men; never has a nation received a more magnificent present. The circle which contains the senate of the empire, the cathedral of this city, and the hotel de Ville, are filled and decorated with the ensigns taken from the enemy, offered by the noble and delicate liberality of the conqueror; a recompence equally honorable for the companions of his victory, and his people, who had followed him with their prayers, and had prepared themselves to second all his efforts."
"The army has made several campaigns in three months. France reckons these campaigns by their successes, the emperor calculates them for the recompences which he bestows; the heroes who return with him, return with new honors; those who have devoted themselves to their country, have left to him the interests of their families, and the care of their memory; he has been satisfied; but the most worthy recompence of the French soldier, is the regard of his emperor; it is the glory of the empire enhanced by his courage; these form the transports of the whole of the French people, with which they will receive the glo-

upon is return. The emperor desires they may come and enjoy them under his own inspection; and that a triumphal scene may be given by the capital to the army—a spectacle worthy of the great events which will then be celebrated; where all the éclat of the arts, all the pomp of ceremony, all the characters of glory, and all the accents of public joy, shall encircle the grand army, reunited under its worthy chief, and then shall form a brilliant retinue to these phalanges of heroes.
“Such are the principal events of the preceding year, which I have but barely mentioned.
[The exposé next proceeds to describe the various improvements in the interior administration, and the immense national works which are in contemplation.]
“But here, and it is necessary to declare it boldly to the nation, that its safety requires that a numerous army should be kept on foot; that fleets should be constructed, and seamen raised to protect our commerce, our colonies, and our rights. These circumstances require productive finances. The emperor thinks eight hundred millions will be necessary in time of war, upwards of six hundred during peace; as the fate of a country should never be left to the mercy of an obscure plot, nor any intrigue of a cabinet; but in all cases, it should be ready to make head against any storm, and silence the jealous clamours of its enemies.
“It is the will of the emperor, as well as the desire of the whole nation, to augment our navy; and, as we lost some ships in the late engagement, it is a new motive for redoubling our ardour. A great number of our cruizers are scouring the sea, and have attacked the commerce of our enemies in the remotest regions. Our whole flotilla shall shortly revive by the return to its banks of the conquerors of Ulm and Austerlitz. But all those warlike measures shall be nothing more than measures to peace, and even of a moderate peace, in which we shall secure the pledge of not being surprised and seized upon under the most vain and perfidious pretences; it were otherwise better to endure still the miseries of war, rather than make a peace which would expose us to new losses, and afford fresh aliment to the bad faith and avarice of our enemies.
“The union of Piedmont with France, two years ago, rendered necessary the union of Genoa, which is a part of it. That of the city of Genoa, for a long time occupied by the French, and defended by them during the second coalition, is a consequence of the will and independence of the republic. This union does not increase our strength on the continent; England alone had the right to complain of it; nor was it the cause of the war just terminated. The union took place in June, and in the month of April the cabinet of Petersburg had been seduced by the intrigues of England. The abasement of France, the dispossessing her of her provinces, was decreed. It was not only the kingdom of Italy, of which they would deprive us; Piedmont, Savoy, the Duchy of Nice, even Lyons, and the United departments, Holland, Belgium, the fortresses on the Meuse, these were the conquests prescribed to the confederates by England; and to this they certainly would not have confined themselves, if they had triumphed over the perseverance of the French people.
“England attaches no great interest to Italy. Belgium is the true ground of the hatred which she bears to us.
“But Holland, the hundred and ten departments of France, the kingdom of Italy, Venice, Dalmatia, Istria, and Naples, are now under the protection of the imperial eagle; and the union of those states only affords us the means of being formidable on our frontiers and coasts.
“Bavaria, Wurtemberg, Baden, and several of the principal powers of Germany, are our allies.
“Spain, firm to its purposes, has manifested a laudable diligence, valour, and fidelity.
“In former wars, England & Russia had promised the emperor of Austria an augmentation in Italy, to draw him into war; but that monarch, better informed of the state of things, has acknowledged the danger of being in alliance with England, and leaves all the affairs of Italy to France—having merely gained re-possession of his states through the moderation and magnanimity of the emperor, he knows that he can only find in the friendship of France, the repose and happiness which his subjects want more than any other nation of Europe.
The emperor of Russia unable to do us harm, will feel that the true policy of his country is concentrated in the friendship of France; every thing, as well as his genuine glory, is concentrated in the liberation of the sea, and in the refusal to recognize principles which are detrimental even to the smallest states, and which has led them to entrap bombardments and blockades, rather than submit to acknowledge those principles.
The emperor, after this victory, offered peace to Austria. He also offered it to Naples before the war even commenced as soon as sworn, and which has produced the downfall of that house. He also offered it to England. He does not mean to force that power to recede from the prodigious changes made in India, as little as Austria and Russia from the partition of Poland; but he has a right to refuse to recede from the alliances and unions which form the new federative systems of the French empire.
“Turkey has continued under the yoke of Russia; and it was the emperor's chief aim, by getting Dalmatia into his hands, to be ready to protect the most ancient of our allies, and to enable him to maintain his independence, which is of more importance to France than to any other power.
“The first coalition terminated by the treaty of Campo Formio had the favorable issue for France of the acquisition of Belgium, the frontier separation of the Rhine, the bringing of Holland under the federative influence of France, and the conquest of the states now forming the kingdom of Italy. The second coalition gave it Piedmont; and the third brings Venice and Naples under the federative system.
“Let England be finally convinced by her imbecility: let her not try to operate a fourth coalition, if it were, in the nature of things, possible to renew it.
“Such have been the exertions of government for the glory and prosperity of France; the emperor looks only to what remains to be done, which he considers as superior to what he has already performed; but it is not to conquer that he proceeds. He has exhausted military glory. He wants none of those bloody laurels, which he has been compelled to gather. To perfect the public administration; to make it a source of lasting happiness for his people, as well as of an increasing prosperity; to render his acts the lesson and the example of a pure and elevated morality; to merit the blessings not only of the present, but future generations, whose interests ever occupy his mind: such is the glory which he aims to possess; such is the recompense which he promises himself, for a life devoted to the most noble, but at the same time, the most painful duties.”
“After the reading of the exposé , other communications took place between the government and the senate concerning the adoption by the emperor of the daughter of the senator Beauharnais, ambassador at the court of Florence, and her marriage with the hereditary prince of Baden. That prince arrived on the 2d inst at Paris, at the palace of the Tuileries, in consequence of the project for the alliance of the two families, two days afterwards the senate received on this subject the following imperial message:—
“SENATORS—Wishing to give a proof of the affection which we bear to the princess Stephanie, niece of our dearly beloved spouse, we have affianced her with prince Charles, hereditary prince of Baden, and have judged it expedient, under these circumstances, to adopt the said princess Stephanie Napoleon as our daughter. This union, resulting from the friendship which has for several years connected us with the elector of Baden, appears to us to be likewise conformable to our policy, and the welfare of our people. Our departments of the Rhine will contemplate with pleasure an alliance which will be to them a new motive for cultivating relations of commerce and good neighborhood with the subjects of the elector. The distinguished qualities of prince Charles of Baden, and the particular affection which he has shown to us upon every occasion, are to us a sure guarantee for the happiness of our daughter—Accustomed to see you partake in every thing that interests us, we thought we ought not to delay informing you of an alliance which is to us very agreeable.—Given at our palace of the Tuileries, the 4th of March 1806.
(Signed) “NAPOLEON.”
March 9. Prince Joseph, brother to the emperor, and commander in chief of the army in Naples, took possession of the kingdom of Naples in the name of his majesty, and issued a proclamation to that effect on the 21st of February. This proclamation announced the irrevocable exclusion of the dynasty of Naples, from the government of that state. It invites the people to concur in the measures which will be taken to improve their finances, to diminish their wants, and to obtain for them justice and peace. Their magistrates are retained in their offices, and those who have abandoned their posts will be retained by others.—Prince Joseph has provisionally confided the functions of the secretary of state, who was absent, to certain directors.
LONDON, March 10. The Monitor of the 9th, is filled with the correspondence and treaties laid some time ago before parliament. That of the 10th contains the addresses of the legislative body and the tribunate to Bonaparte, and his answers. The answers are merely common expressions of acknowledgment, the following, taken from the address of the tribunate, is the only passage worth insertion in either of these acts of national homage.
“Your majesty has expressed your desire of peace with England, taking for its foundation the stipulations of the treaty of Amiens—Sire, if the British government, placed under new circumstances, shall adopt nothing but the real interest of Great Britain for the rule of its conduct, your majesty's wish shall soon be understood and received with sentiments worthy of it. Europe shall owe to you the return of peace useful to the world; and if your hopes should still be deceived, their acknowledgements shall still be due to the efforts you have made to put a period to the calamities of war; Europe shall not forget that in the midst of your splendid triumphs, peace was always your wish; and that, as you observed upon a memorable occasion, peace is the first object of necessity, and the last of glory.”
A private letter from Hamburg, dated March 14th, says:
“On the 11th inst a courier arrived at the Prussian ministers in this city, whose dispatches state, that general count Kalkreuth is about to quit Paderborn, in consequence of certain circumstances which have arisen between the Prussian and French cabinets.—Notwithstanding the convention between Prussia and France, the armies of both these powers remain on the war establishment. A Russian courier arrived at Berlin on the 8th inst, with dispatches of such great political importance that from every quarter of the Prussian dominions advice has been received, that war between France & Prussia is inevitable.
“The last letters from Westphalia mention, however, that the city of Wesel and its environs will be ceded by Prussia to the Batavian republic, so that the river Lippe will form the frontier between the two countries. Cleves, Embden, and all the Prussian part of Friesland, is included in this cession. The provinces thus ceded are to be governed by prince Napoleon Louis, who is to receive the title of king of Holland or Batavia. The French also intend speedily to occupy all the German provinces between the Rhine, the Lippe, and the Weser, as they call it, “provisionally.”
MADRID, Feb. 18. Our court has been for some time engaged with some weighty negotiations with England. Not a week passes without the despatching of a courier to Paris, or the arrival of one from thence. A wide field is open to conjecture. Some will support the assertion, that a hopeless attack is to be renewed upon Gibraltar; others assert and perhaps with as little foundation, that measures are concealing with respect to Portugal. Those, however, who are in the secret, say nothing.
COPENHAGEN, March 1. A misunderstanding has occurred between our court and that of Stockholm, which, however, we trust, will not be of any serious consequence. The latter court has very unexpectedly made the demand, that ours shall give up the Swedish des-
serters, who have come over in great numbers out of Lauenburg into Holstein, where they have been well received. This demand has been expressly refused on the part of Denmark, upon the ground that no cartel exists between the two nations.
LATE AND IMPORTANT FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.
Received at the office of the Norfolk Public Ledger , by the ship Merchant , Captain Johnston , in 37 days from Liverpool .
LONDON, April 7.
A flag of truce arrived off the harbor of Dover this morning at five o'clock, with dispatches from Bologne, a man of war brig heaving in sight, one of our boats took out the dispatches and the French officer, and is now carrying them on board of her, which will in all probability, convey them to the Downs as before.
Yesterday eight vessels arrived in the river from Hamburg. They form a part of a fleet of 24 sail of British vessels which were lying at Hamburg. The greater part of which have since arrived, according to our letters of this day.
On Sunday the 30th ult. about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, a sudden and peremptory order was communicated from the British vice-consul, desiring them to quit that place in 12 hours, and the Elbe without delay. This intimation was given in consequence of an official notice by the Prussian consul, declaring that all the ports in the North of Europe, where his Prussian majesty possesses any control, were to be shut against British vessels and British manufactures.
Great apprehensions were entertained at Hamburg that all British property would be confiscated. It is stated that the quantity of British property now there is not so considerable as it was lately. The British subjects are apprehensive for their personal safety.
We have received letters from Gibraltar of the 1st ult. which state, that on the preceding day the Flying Fish schooner, had arrived there from off Carthagena, with intelligence that the Spanish fleet, consisting of eight sail of the line, had quitted that port and put to sea. Their destination is not known. Lord Collingwood would probably have traced them before this time.
On Saturday a report was prevalent in the city, that accounts have been received by government from Bengal, dated early in December, which state, Scindia had rejected the proposals made to him by Sir George Barlow, and was preparing for war, and that the government paper was at six per cent. discount.
By a letter from Kinsale, it appears, that admiral Linoin in the Marengo man of war and a frigate was seen on the 7th ult. and kept in sight of till the 11th; there is no doubt that he will be fallen in with, as a man of war and a frigate are cruising for him.
Current Prices of Grain. CORN EXCHANGE, April 7. Wheat, 47s. 6d. a 71 0d. Fine do. 72s. 6d. a 76s. 0d. Superfine do. a 78 0d. Fine Flour, 60s. a 65s. Seconds, 55s. a 60s.
HOUSE OF LORDS.
Lord Auckland presented on Monday (April 5,) his proposed bill of indemnity to all such persons as had advised and carried into execution proclamations for suspending the laws which regulated the intercourse between the West-India colonies and the United States of America. He stated with great perspicuity the nature of that trade from the year 1783 to the present period, and the necessity which produced the occasional relaxations of the navigation laws as applicable to the intercourse between America and the West Indies. His lordship next explained the nature of the commercial relations between this country and America, and expressed his satisfaction in the growing prosperity of America, which he looked upon as the best security for the continuance of that peace and friendship which he hoped would ever subsist between her and Great Britain.
Lord Holland declared himself strongly in favor of a liberal intercourse between the West India Islands and America, and declared his intention of proposing a prospective clause to be introduced into the bill, the tenor of which should be to enable the governors to open the ports to American vessels by proclamation.
Lord Grenville professed himself in favor of the principle of occasional relaxation from the strictness of the navigation act, and he hoped the noble lord would bring in a clause to the effect he proposed.—The bill was read a first time and ordered to be printed.
LIVERPOOL, April 9, 1806. POLITICAL RETROSPECT.
RUPTURE WITH PRUSSIA.
The terror of the French arms, which is now omnipotent in the north of Germany, has at length torn asunder the few faint points of connexion which remained between this country and Prussia; the latter, sunk into the abject and wretched instrument of Bonaparte's desperate views against our commerce, may be considered in an actual state of hostility to our interest and our prosperity. This intelligence was brought by Mr. Jackson, who arrived on Thursday morning at the Foreign Office, from Berlin. It was soon after the subject of long and serious consideration at a full meeting of the cabinet ministers; and dispatches were sent off, in the course of a few hours, to all the out-
ports, for laying an embargo, not only on all Prussian vessels, but on those bound to Prussian ports, and belonging to the cities and towns of Germany contiguous to the dominions of his Prussian majesty, & within the grasp of his power. Hamburg is at this moment occupied by Prussian troops; and Cuxhaven is not only in their possession, but preparations are making to fortify it, and exclude all access to our trade. Whether the king of Prussia, terrified lest he should no longer exist as an independent power, has absolutely formed a coalition with France to seize upon Swedish Pomerania, and to deprive Denmark of Holstein, should she refuse to shut up the Sound against us we cannot undertake to state, but that all intercourse has been cut off with the Elbe, &c. we do not entertain a doubt. The communications brought by Mr. Jackson would, we understand, justify much stronger measures than those adopted by his majesty's government. A complete stoppage to the Prussian shipping, to the shipping of all the free towns of Germany, and to all vessels bound to those ports, has by this time taken place in every one of the ports of England, and will be carried into effect in every one of the ports of Scotland and Ireland before the end of the week. The Baltic and Tonningen convoys have of course been prevented from sailing.
The dispatches, ordering the detention of all Prussian vessels of every description in Dover, Ramsgate, the Downs, and in every other port down the coast, reached Dover on Friday afternoon, and were instantly forwarded to Vice-Admiral Holloway, commanding in the Downs, and to Vice-Admiral Lord Keith, at Ramsgate. Similar dispatches were received the same day by the Port Admiral at Sheerness, who instantly countermanded the sailing of the Northern Convoys, and embargoed all vessels bearing the Prussian flag.
The effect of this intelligence upon the commercial world was felt in almost every branch of the trading and monied interest. The most serious apprehensions are justly entertained for the safety of great quantities of valuable merchandise at Hamburg and other ports, while colonial produce, brought up here to a considerable amount, will, it is feared remain upon the hands of our merchants. Omnium, from the opening of the market, experienced a gradual depression; and, after a small fluctuation in its favor, finally sunk two per cent. in value. Consols fell one per cent.
A Council was on Saturday held at the Queen's House, which his majesty went purposely to town to attend. The whole of the Cabinet Ministers were present, except Earl Spencer, who is confined by the gout, when his majesty signed an order for laying an embargo on all Prussian vessels in the different ports of the kingdom. Orders were in consequence forwarded from the admiralty to the several Admirals at the ports. The orders previously dispatched to the same effect, as we have already stated, were adopted and sent off by the discretionary power entrusted to Ministers, and his majesty's signature was necessary to confer on the measure all formality of State proceeding. The following is the order which appeared in Saturday night's Gazette on this important subject:
At the Court at the Queen's Palace, the 5th of April, 1806, present, the King's Most Excellent Majesty in Council: Whereas his majesty has received advice that his majesty the King of Prussia has taken possession of various parts of the Electorate of Hanover, and other dominions belonging to his majesty, in a forcible and hostile manner; and has also notified that all British ships shall be excluded from the ports of the Prussian Dominions, and from certain other ports in the North of Europe, and not suffered to enter or trade therewith, in violation of the just rights and interests of his majesty and his dominions, and contrary to the established law and practice of nations in amity with each other; his majesty with the advice of his Privy Council, is thereupon pleased to order, and it is hereby ordered, that no ships or vessels belonging to any of his majesty's subjects be permitted to enter and clear out for any of the ports of Prussia until further orders. And his majesty is further pleased to order, that a general embargo or stop be made of all the Prussian ships or vessels whatsoever, now within, or which hereafter shall come into any of the ports, harbors, or roads within the United Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, together with all persons and effects on board the said ships and vessels; but that the utmost care be taken for the preservation of all and every part of the cargoes on board the said ships and vessels, so that no damage or embezzlement whatever be sustained: And the right honorable the Lords Commissioners of his majesty's Treasury, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, and the Lord Warden of Cinque Ports, are to give the necessary directions herein, as to them may respectively appertain.
STEPH. COTTRELL.
In consequence of the dispute with Prussia, an embargo was on Sunday laid upon all the vessels belonging to that power at present in this port.
TAKEN up by the Subscriber, living in Charlotte county, on Cub creek, a small Sorrel MARE, about four years old, four feet 6 or 7 inches high, a small star in her forehead, no brand perceivable, paces and gallops, but not well, hanging mane and switch tail, appraised to sixty dollars. WILLIAM PRICE.
NEW-YORK, May 12.
Since our last, London papers to the 26th of March, inclusive, have been received at this office, one of which (the Sun, of the 25th) states, that lord Holland was about to depart for Berlin on a mission of great importance, and that an order had been given for a frigate to be in readiness to convey his lordship to Cuxhaven.
Some of the ships in the bay, which were not out of the reach of the batteries when the French entered Naples, were forced to strike their flags and return into port. It is added, that almost the whole convoy, on board of which was embarked the royal property, has been forced back to Naples by a gale of wind.
Murat is to be made a prince of the German empire, and perhaps an elector; prince Louis Bonaparte is mentioned as the future sovereign of Holland. Some letters are said to have been received from the Hague, stating, that he was expected there shortly—that Schimmelpennick was to be immediately dispossessed of the office of Grand Pensionary, and that the new form of Government, which had been arranged for some time, will be declared without delay. These intended changes have, it is added, produced universal consternation and dissatisfaction throughout Holland. The funds have fallen from 10 to 12 per cent.
Bonaparte, though he is evacuating Germany, is pouring his troops into Italy; they are to be concentrated in and near Venice. From the Halcyon's Nest , as it has been called, both on the waves of the Adriatic, and rocked into deeper and securer repose by the tempests which for more than twelve centuries devastated Europe, but wrecked at last in the storm of the French revolution, from that little spot, the asylum of freedom, when she fled from the destroying Attila, Bonaparte meditates what in France will be called the deliverance of Greece, and in England the subjugation of Turkey.
May 13.
Extract of a letter from the supercargo of the brig Gayosa , of this port, dated New-Orleans, April 11th.
“We were prevented from performing our intended voyage by the Spanish government, who peremptorily refused our passage up the Mississippi river. We were ordered off after we had sent two petitions to the governor and intendant of both the Floridas.”
(The Gayosa was bound from New-Orleans to Fort Stoddart for the express purpose of getting a cargo of cotton for New-Orleans.)
NORFOLK, May 17.
Moss, who made the affidavit concerning the impressment of men out of the ship Eliza , says that she sailed from Londonderry on the 13th March, and not on the 13th April as published; and that their names are
CHARLESTON, May 12.
General Miranda.—Capt. Griffiths, arrived on Saturday from Rio Pongo, touched at St. Bartholomews, from whence he sailed 14 days since. The morning previous to his departure, accounts were received, via St. Kitts, that General Miranda had landed his forces at Margareta, whence he had crossed over to Cumana & which place immediately surrendered to his arms. It was further stated that wherever he erected his standard, the inhabitants and natives, flocked to join him; that his flag was flying on every fort from Cumana to La Guaira, and that he had obtained complete possession of the provinces of Cumana and Caracas, with little or no opposition. The whole of this fine country may now be considered as lost to Spain.— Times .
“Margareta or Santa Margareta de las Carias, an island of Terra Firma, in South America, from which it is parted by a strait 24 miles wide; 68 miles W. of Paria, or New Andalusia. Columbus discovered it in his third voyage anno 1498. It is 40 miles in length, and 24 in breadth; and being always verdant, affords a most agreeable prospect. It abounds in pasture, maize & fruits; but there is a scarcity of wood and water.—There was once a pearl fishery on its coast, which produced one pearl, the finest ever seen, valued at £25,000 sterling, bought by the king of Spain. The inhabitants are a mixture of Indians and Spaniards, who are lazy and superstitious. Here are several sorts of animals particularly wild hogs, with fish and fowl. N. lat. 11. 46. W. long. 64 12.
“Cumana, or Contena, the capital of New Andalusia, a province of Terra Firma, South America. It sometimes gives its name to the province. The Spaniards built this city in 1530, and it is defended by a strong castle. This town, (says Dampier) stands near the mouth of a great lake, or branch of the sea, called Laguna de Caricao, about which are several rich towns; but its mouth is so shallow, that no ships of burden can enter it. It is situated 3 leagues S. of the North Sea, and in the S. W. of Margarita in about 10 20. N. lat. and in 64 20 W. long.— Morse .
WANTED.
An active industrious WOMAN, of good character, accustomed to house work and to nurse young children. Such a one will either be hired for the present year or purchased at a liberal price. Apply to the printer hereof. May 20, 1806. (1)
Charlotte County.
TAKEN up by Samuel Moore, the 2d of December, 1805, a Black STEER, with a white face, a crop and hole in the right ear and under-keel in the same, and swallow fork and under-keel in the left, about five years old, appraised at twelve dollars. A Copy—Teste, THOMAS READ, CL.

VIRGINIA ARGUS
RICHMOND
FRIDAY, MAY 23, 1806.
BOSTON, May 10.—The papers by the New Galen are not later than before received. Among the passengers is Rear Admiral Sir Isaac Coffin, Bart. who is appointed to succeed the late Sir Andrew Mitchell, as commander in chief of the British naval forces on the Halifax station. The admiral is a native of this town which he left long before the revolution; and commenced his service in the navy. Notwithstanding the late unwarrantable conduct of the captain of the Leander, off New-York, we are informed the British government are very favorably disposed towards the United States, and have no doubt of its having represented to the Lords of the British Admiralty that the appointment of an American to the chief command on the British American station would have a tendency to correct any disagreeable proceeding, and prove highly acceptable to the U. States.
In consequence of an express sent to the president on Friday last; to Monicello, Mr. Coles, his secretary, returned to the City of Washington this day, and we learn the president will follow in the course of next week—Alex. D. Ado.
Capt. Howland, of the ship Pennsylvania, from Amsterdam, arrived at N. York, was brought to and boarded on Monday last at the back of Long Island, by his Britannic Majesty's brig Hornet, capt. Kerby, and had a French boy pressed, an apprentice to capt. Steel of this city. The boy was afterwards persuaded to enter into the service. After a detention of four hours, and a strict examination of the ship's papers, she was permitted to proceed. The Hornet is from Bermuda, on a cruise.—Th. Gaz.
Lieut. James T. LEONARD is appointed to the command of the United States Bomb vessel Vesuvius, fitting at Newbury port, and intended for foreign service.
The following article, from a late London print, indicates the origin of the Miranda expedition.
"Insurance has been effected at Lloyd's on the baggage of an American officer of rank, employed on an expedition fitting out at New York. The insurance was for the sea risk between New York and the coast of Caracas, in South America, and leave was given to touch at St. Domingo. It is said the expedition consists of 7000 men. This curious circumstance explains many of the rumours about the declaration of war against Spain."
It is a thing extremely desirable, that when a question is broached, the true grounds upon which it rests should be properly understood. The killing of Pierce has been termed murder—and murder it certainly is—but not murder with malice aforethought against him; but murder by construction of law. This distinction ought to be understood, lest those persons who are disposed to justify the conduct of the British on this occasion as on others, may too successfully argue that it was an accidental killing and therefore no crime. It is a principle of law, that the killing of a man where the killer was in the prosecution of an unlawful act, is murder, and the plea of accident is no excuse. Now it is universally allowed that the least jurisdiction ever claimed by a neutral power over the waters of its coasts, is to the extent of "one sea league or three geographical miles from the sea shore." By the deposition of Jesse Pierce, it appears that the sloop Richard, on board of which John Pierce was killed, was only "a quarter of a mile from the beach, and two miles from the light house;" of course, within the jurisdiction of the U. S. Being, therefore, within the jurisdiction of the U. S. a neutral country, the right of search did not extend to the sloop Richard; consequently, the firing at her to bring her to, was an unlawful act, which constitutes the killing of Pierce murder. So much we have deemed it proper to say in explanation, in order that our readers, generally, may know more particularly the grounds of his case.—Advocate.
* Jefferson's Letter to Genet, 1793.
VERY IMPORTANT—IF TRUE. We give the following as a report, without meaning to authenticate it.—Indeed we know not how it originated, but it is said that as the United States frigate Essex was returning home she met an English sloop of war, and after making a variety of signals, none of which were answered, the Briton suddenly fired a broadside into her, which being returned by the American, the other went instantly to the bottom. It is supposed the sloop mistook the frigate for an Indian, and by this manoeuvre expected to capture her.—Alex. Exp. Editor.
Extract of a letter to Com. Rodgers, dated Algiers, Dec. 10th, 1805.
The American brig Friendship, James Clemens, master, of Boston, was sent in here, on the 7th inst. by an Algerine frigate, which met her off Ivice, bound from London to Leghorn with a cargo of fish; the cause of detaining and sending in said brig, was her want of the new Mediterranean passport, with which every American vessel should have been supplied on or before the month of July last, according to the Convention made with these Regencies, and the due notification given by the Secretary of State of the United States.
The reason which captain Clemens gives for not having the passport, is, that his vessel has not been in the United States for three years past, and that [Mr. I. S.] imprudently thought the cruiser would receive that as a sufficient excuse, for his not being furnished with the new passport; but he has found himself grossly mistaken, and (who he acknowledges that he has seen the notification of the Secretary of State) he has resigned the property committed to his charge, and in some measure, endangered the peace of his Country with this regency, for if they should have adhered tenaciously to their usage, she would have been considered a good prize, the passports being the essential paper of the vessel. But the high ground on which we now stand here prevented the idea of detaining the vessel, altho' the cruiser was perfectly justifiable in sending her in, as they know vessels only by their passports. On her arrival I left the business entirely to the Government [knowing the grounds on which the United States stood,] who without hesitation, gave up the vessel and cargo, and the Dey gave a passport to protect her against further detention by his cruisers from thence to Leghorn, and from thence to the United States; but for no other voyage in this sea, as the Mediterranean passport is indispensable. I can venture to say that no other na-
tion would have got a vessel off, under the same circumstances for less than half the value of vessel and cargo, and we ought not to rely upon a repetition of like favors.
Captain Wills, who arrived here yesterday in the ship Shepherdess, from London, (via Cape de Verds) left London on the 6th of April, he left all his papers but one at the Cape de Verds, which he has favored us with. Captain W. informs us, that at the time of the embargo on Prussian vessels, it was supposed there were three hundred sail of that nation in the river Thames.—Norfolk Ledger, May 20.
The French Admiral Linois taken. Saturday arrived in Hampton Roads, his Britannic majesty's frigate Tartar, Capt. Hawker, from Bermuda. Three days since boarded the American ship Hunter from Lisbon bound to Alexandria. On the 16th of April in lat. 25, long. 33, the Hunter was boarded by H. M. brig Raven, from the squadron, under the command of Sir John Borlase Warren, then in sight, with the French ship Marengo, Admiral Linois, of 84 guns, and the frigate Belle Poule of 40 guns, captured by Sir John, on their passage from India to France, about the middle of March. The squadron consisted of 13 sail, including the two captured ships. Linois was returning, laden with the spoils of a three years successful cruise. The Hunter went up the bay yesterday.
The DUKE OF BEDFORD, the new viceroy, arrived in Dublin, the 29th of March, where he was received with great demonstrations of respect.
Progress of Republicanism. In all the towns that have been heard from, where the choice of Representatives has been made, we find there are 85 Republicans to 54 Federalists! The Republicans, after deducting their loss from their gain, have made a clear acquisition of 25 since last year; the Federalists have also made a net gain of 5—clear difference in favor of Republicanism—THIRTY!—Boston Chronicle.
Extract of a letter from London, dated March 8, 1806.
"The communications in our own newspapers and in your last letter, enable me to form a pretty good conception of the proceedings on your side of the water, and though I admit most unqualifiedly, that the provocations offered to your commerce by our government have been almost beyond human sufferance, yet, I cannot help thinking, that there is a little too much of intemperance in some of your measures, particularly in your seamen's protection and indemnity bill." The law of retaliation can seldom be resorted to without violating those fundamental principles which every government should, and every good government will, always hold sacred. National retaliation, most necessarily compromise much individual injustice. The very violent pamphlet which has given so much offence with you, was always considered by the thinking part of the community here, to be of so inflammatory a nature as to merit being burnt by the common hangman. Very soon after its publication I happened to be a witness to a conversation between a private person and a member of parliament, one of the most violent of the violent, a very draw cansir, ready to carry fire and sword to the extremities of the earth, rather than suffer the transportation of enemies property in neutral bottoms. The private person urged the right of neutrals to advantage themselves by the carrying trade which the casual hostility of other powers threw in their way, provided they infringed not the received law of nations and asked—'How he would prevent them?' To which he replied—'by capturing every neutral ship laden with the produce of any other country than that to which she belongs, which we have the power to do while we rule the seas!' 'Yes,' said the other person, 'and by a desperate remedy, add to the acrimony of the disease which is preying upon the vitals of the nation, and which your sovereignty of the seas has already helped to inflame to a frightful height, and to accelerate your own dissolution—and placed you in a state of war with all the world; America already irritated, wants only such a measure to be confirmed in hostility towards you.'
'America!—What can America do?' 'Refuse to receive your manufactures—leave your colonial produce on your hands—deprive you of your colonial possessions—then what will avail your boasted sovereignty of the seas?—How will you pay those who must maintain that sovereignty?' 'Nonsense!—America dares not adopt such measures!' 'America is wise, and has shewn a very laudable degree of moderation hitherto; but there is a point at which human nature must cease to bear; and she has formerly given you strong and lamentable proofs, that when roused, she dared to act with an energy and perseverance that shook the British throne—provoke her not again to trial.' 'Such are the sentiments of a private and of a public man; there are thousands in Britain, who like the latter short sighted politician, cannot or will not distinguish between power and right, and who trust—' The London writer appears to consider Mr. Wright's bill not as a mere proposition, which had not been yet adopted; but as a law passed; it is evident, however, that Mr. Wright's proposition was not without its effect.
ing in the superiority of our marine, as a certain means of engrossing the commerce of the world, would wage eternal war to accomplish their purpose. The death of our too celebrated minister has however materially altered the state of affairs; if their sentiments are not changed, their influence is annihilated; they have no longer the power to embroil the world for the furtherance of their own speculations and peculations.
"The new ministers, more moderate and more enlightened, will I think pursue a different course of policy; the door of investigation will at least be open and the American minister will not again complain of injuries without being attended to. Pitt's satellites deprived of all their lustre by the extinction of the meteor whose inflamed rays they only reflected, are sunk into complete obscurity and insignificance. There is a great deal of talent, I hope of integrity too in the new administration. Their plans are not yet developed, but it is understood they mean to govern by acquiring the confidence, not exciting the alarms of the people; they mean fairly to disclose to them all the dangers of the situation in which the folly and rascality of the late ministers had exposed them, and call upon them to exert their energies to extricate themselves; the system of alarm is to cease; the suspension of the Habeas Corpus act is to die a natural death, as it has already done in Ireland."
"It is rumored that the king who is growing the old man very fast, means ere long to retire from public business; the prince will of course be appointed regent; such a measure will create a new era in British politics; the demon of secret influence which has during the whole of the present reign so closely beset the throne, and the baneful effects of which, have been so widely and unfortunately felt, is already nearly broken; and a regency must complete the work; then ministers will go to their work unfettered. You know I am not sanguine in my expectations of much public benefit from the services of any set of men. Power I know to be a dangerous thing, even in the hands of the most virtuous, in so much as it is of all things the most likely to tempt them to swerve from virtue. A reform of system therefore is the only radical cure for our ills. There is, however, one circumstance in favor of the people, with the present ministry; they have characters to lose, and some of them high ones. Mr. Fox I think cannot and will not, at this time of life, pursue measures that will hazard his well earned fame; he must act upon those principles which he has for so many years been looked up to as the great champion of; he and his colleagues have a most arduous task before them, to retrieve the country from the disastrous situation which the errors of the last forty years have plunged it into, is an Herculean task; time only can show how they will perform it."
"Pitt died most opportunely for his own feelings; he could not possibly have stood the present session of parliament; he knew it, and died broken hearted. The total miscarriage of all his schemes and the impenetrable gloom that hung over the affairs of the continent preyed upon his haughty spirit and completely broke it. The world must judge of his talents better than friends or enemies, there can be no mistake in saying that he shone more in speculation than in practice, and that although his eloquence gave currency to theories that were plausible, their reduction to practice dissolved the charm and the deception stood exposed to view in features of horrid deformity. He has been held to be a great financier, and it must be allowed he possessed great skill in the arts of the financier, for he has raised the national debt to an amount which has surpassed all anticipation and which must excite astonishment to contemplate it; he once you remember too boasted of his love of liberty, he found the press free, and the constitution unimpaired; he has left the one in fetters the other in jeopardy; it must be allowed in one word that his talents were only practical in evil and speculative in good."
"The committee of the commons is proceeding with the impeachment of Melville (late Dundas) they have clearly traced the 10,000 pounds, which he refused to account for, and have grounded another article of impeachment on it. Trotter persisting in his refusal to answer questions, they last week committed him to the custody of the serjeant at arms; this brought him to his recollection, and he has made a full disclosure, and having humbled himself before the house they discharged him—they will yet I trust squeeze the sponge pretty dry."—Aurora.
The following anecdote is related in a pamphlet containing the discoveries of captains Lewis, Clark, &c. and lately communicated to congress by message from the president.
About 20 years ago, a party of these Indians (Hietans) passed over the river Grand to Che-wa-wa, the residence of the governor general of what is called the internal provinces; lay in ambush for an opportunity, and made prisoner the governor's daughter, a young lady going in her coach to mass, and brought her off. The governor sent a message to him (my informant) with a thousand dollars, for the purpose of recovering his daughter; he immediately dispatched a confidential trader, then in his employ, with the amount of 1000 dollars in merchandise, who repaired to the nation, found her, and purchased her ransom; but to his great surprise, she refused to return with him to her father, and sent by him the following message; that the Indians had disgraced her face by tattooing it according to their fancy and ideas of beauty, and a young man of them had taken her for a wife, by whom she believed herself pregnant; that she had become reconciled to their mode of life; that she was well
treated by her husband;—that she should be more unhappy by returning to her father, under these circumstances, than by remaining where she was. Which message was conveyed to her father, who rewarded the trader by a present of 300 dollars more for his trouble and fidelity; and his daughter is now living with her husband in the nation, by whom she has 3 children.
RICHMOND ACADEMY LOTTERY.
Table with 4 columns: Prize Amount, Number of Prizes, Prize Numbers. Includes prizes of 500, 100, 50, 25, and 10 dollars.
POSTSCRIPT.
NEW YORK, May 16. By the arrival, yesterday, of the ship Robert Burns, capt. Waite, in 36 days from Liverpool, London papers to the 6th, and Liverpool papers to the 8th of April, have been received.
These papers confirm the news we stated yesterday, of war between Great Britain & Prussia. On the 5th of April an embargo was laid upon all vessels in the English channel, bound to the Elbe, or any of the ports in the north of Europe; and on the 6th an embargo on Prussian vessels was laid at Liverpool.
The budget was brought forward in the commons the 28th of March, by the new chancellor of the exchequer. The amount of the ways and means, and supply, or receipt and expenditure, is nearly the same as it was the last year. The new taxes are stated to amount to between 7 and 8 millions.
At an Illumination in Dublin, on account of the victory of sir J. Duckworth, a most disgraceful scene of riot and confusion took place, in which it was found necessary, for the due preservation of the civil authority, to fire upon the populace with ball, when order was finally restored.
Bonaparte perseveres in his system of levying contributions on Germany, and Hamburg has been required to furnish a loan of six millions of livres, with a promise of protection in case of compliance. The demand has been refused, and one of the senators is gone to Paris to make representations, which will be about as successful as those made by Frankfort.
Gen. RAPP, who came from Paris to Hameln with orders for the evacuation of that town and fort St. George, and its surrender to the Russians, left this city on his return to Paris, on the 26th inst. His visit here has not been a very agreeable one. He demanded a loan of six millions of livres, promising at the same time that France would take care to protect the batteries of Hamburg, and defend them and her citizens from any foreign aggression. This new exaction has met with a refusal on the part of the senate, and one of its members, senator Schulte, is ordered immediately to set out for Paris to make the necessary representations.
It is not only on the Polish frontier that Russia is assembling a formidable army; she is also making preparations in Moldavia and Wallachia to resist the storm with which the Turkish provinces are menaced. The king of Bavaria has been obliged to send troops to the Tyrol, to prevent an insurrection; and at Trieste the inhabitants have ventured to come to blows with the French garrison.
On the 23d, in the afternoon, three large Prussian ships from Magdeburg, with a number of troops on board, and heavy artillery, alleged they were bound for Stadt in Hanover, appeared before the principal canal of this city, with a view of passing through it; which was, however, refused by the magistrates. The senate was assembled, and yesterday evening eighty of the men, with one officer, obtained permission to come on shore, and will be quartered in the environs until the 28th inst. when their artillery will be put on board other vessels to be conveyed. This occurrence has caused a great sensation here; the 30 men who came on shore had their knapsacks and wore side arms.
It is reported that count Haugwitz, by order of the king, his master, has used the most earnest entreaties with Napoleon, to obtain his leave to occupy the three imperial cities, Hamburg, Bremen, and Lubeck, but as yet has received no decisive answer.
The West India fleet which sailed from Portsmouth on the 28th of January, passed Madeira on the 23d of February, sir R. Strachan's squadron, consisting of 7 sail of the line and two frigates, arrived off Madeira on the 10th of March, having seen the above fleet to the southward, and remained off that island to the 14th; the day before 20 sail of vessels were seen from the east end; particulars unknown.
Intelligence of the change in the former constitution of the Dutch government was hourly expected at the date of our last advices on the 1st ult. At the extraordinary sitting in the states general, it was, we understand, to be announced that the united provinces were to pass from the republican to the regal form, and that Louis Bonaparte is to be the new sovereign of Holland, under the style and title of king of Bavaria. Louis was expected to arrive at the Hague on the 2d.
LIST
Of new kings and princes created, or to be created, by Bonaparte: Himself—emperor of France and king of Italy. Elector of Bavaria—king of Bavaria. Elector of Wirttemberg—king of Wirttemberg. Elector of Hesse—king of the Cats. Elector of Baden—king of Baden. Joseph Bonaparte—king of Naples. Louis Bonaparte—king of Batavia. Lucien Bonaparte (upon renunciation and submission)—king of Switzerland. Eugene Beauharnais—king of Italy. Murat—duke of Cleves and Berg. Jerome Bonaparte—prince of Piedmont. Madame Le Clerc (now princess Borgese)—princess of Piombino. All the other Beauharnais to be provided with principalities and dukedoms—the females to be matched with German princes, and to receive portions of the German empire as dowries. The king of Naples is said to have commanded the Calabrians to lay down their arms—and at the same time issued orders for the evacuation of that province. The whole Neapolitan army is to assemble in Sicily. The mid Massena is to be the governor of Calabria. The French army, it is said is to be reduced to the peace establishment by the 1st of April. The corps of reserve and national guards may be disbanded; but we shall be much deceived if Bonaparte disbands one battalion or regiment of the line—nor does this intelligence of the reduction of the French army accord at all with the accounts of the French army in Italy, and of permission having been demanded for an army to march through Bohemia, for the purpose, as it is supposed, of an attack upon the Russians in Poland. When her that permission has or has not been granted, we are unable to state; it certainly cannot be granted consistent with any principle of good faith. Under the Vienna head of March 19, it is said that a negotiation is on foot, between our court and France, in favor of the king of Naples, and that the French charge d'affaires, Dudon, after a conference with the minister count Stadion, sent off a courier with dispatches relative to the subject to Paris. In the course of the last week, the court of France made two demands of the house of Austria: the first, its pure and simple adhesion to the new treaty of partition between France and Prussia; the second, a permanent and perpetual passage for the French troops through the Austrian territory into Venetian Istria and Dalmatia. There is in upper Carinthia a frontier town named Ponteba, divided into two unequal parts by the river Tella, the smaller part of this town is Austrian, and the other Venetian; a bridge separates the two territories, and it is said that the French demand a passage in order to gain the great road which leads from it into Italy. Exactions are continually making to repair the enormous deficit of arms and ammunition of every kind, which the war has occasioned in the hereditary states. We are assured that preparations are making at Venice for the reception of the pope. Parliamentary—Mr. Windham on the 31 of April, brought forward his new military plan. The gallery was crowded at an early hour. The Levy en Masse is to form one of the principal features of the plan; and it is reported that such only of the volunteer corps as have been returned effective, will be retained. It is expected that the bank of England will resume at no distant day the payment of its notes in specie.
JUST RECEIVED
And for Sale by the Subscriber, an extensive assortment of
GROCERIES, Among which are the following Articles: Muscovado Sugar, as sorted; W. India Coffee; Antigua and Jamaica Rum; Country do. Cogniac & Peach Brandy; Holland Gin; W. India and Sugar House Molasses; P. Madeira Wine; Port, Sherry and Malaga do. Hebbert's Brown Stout; Martinique and Bordeaux Cordials; Basket Salt; Do in Sacks & Loose; Bullock's Cheese; Caldwell, Frasure & Coes Sup Chocolate; Rice; Nutmegs, Pepper, Gin and Pimento; Mace and Cloves; Oil, Olives and Capers; Gun Powder, Young Hyson & Souchong Tea; Canister Containing 1 1/2 and 3 lbs. Gun Powder Tea; Pickled Salmon; Cus Herring and Shad; Patent Shot, assorted; FF and F Gun Powder; Thomas Leiper's Snuff; MacCoubra do. Havana S. gars; Salt petre; Brimstone, Madder & ground Ginger in small kegs; Log Wood; Turkey Cotton; New York Candles & Soap; Spermaceti Candles; Oil; Patent Lamps; Dutch Cates with plain and gilt bottles; Castings, assorted; Earthen and Stone Ware; Writing & Wrapping Paper; Henry VIII & Mary Andrew Cakes; China Plates; Do. Bowles, different sizes; Do Tea & Coffee Cups and Saucers; Plain and Cut quart, pint & half pint Decanters; Pint, half pint and gill Tumblers. A regular supply of LOAF SUGAR by the hogshead and barrel at the Phial-SPR price. Fisher & Lesueur. (U)
May 20, 1806.
Sales at Auction.
ON Saturday the 31st instant, will be Sold, at the house of Didier Colin, deceased, all his Household Furniture,
Consisting of Beds, Bedsteads, Tables, Chairs, &c. and a number of Articles, useful and necessary in the Barber's profession. Upon all sums above 10 dollars, 90 days will be allowed; the purchasers giving notes with approved endorsers.
Catharine Colin, Administratrix. May 20th, 1806.
A GREAT QUANTITY of
ROSE; a liberal price will be given—apply to Alexander Plankville, Main street Richmond. May 6.
SALES AT AUCTION.
ON Wednesday the 28th inst. at the store of Mr. Henry McClatchy, will be sold by Auction all his STOCK IN TRADE, consisting of a complete assortment of Dry Goods, together with his Household Furniture—Terms of sale for all sums not exceeding 20 dollars, cash; above 20 and not exceeding 100, ninety days, and above 100, six and nine months credit—Notes with approved endorser, negotiable in the Bank of Virginia, will be required. TAYLOR & BROWN, Auctioneers. May 13, 1806.