The enquirer (Richmond, Va.), 1804-06-06 00:00:00

THE ENQUIRER.
RICHMOND, (Virginia) PUBLISHED BY RITCHIE & WORSLEY, OPPOSITE THE POST-OFFICE...AT FOUR DOLLARS PER ANNUM...payable in advance.
NUMBER 9.]
WEDNESDAY MORNING, JUNE 6, 1804.
[VOLUME I.]
CONDITIONS.
 I. THE ENQUIRER will appear twice a week...During the session of Congress and the Virginia Legislature, either a third paper or a supplementary half-sheet, during the week.  II. Terms of payment will be four DOLLARS per annum: the whole to be paid at the time of subscribing.  III. ADVERTISEMENTS, from those who do not subscribe to the paper, should not exceed a square in length, shall be inserted for seventy-five cents the first time, fifty cents for each time during three weeks, and for every additional insertion thirty-three cents; long ones in the same proportion.  IV. SUBSCRIBERS shall have their advertisements inserted for fifty cents the first time, and thirty-three cents for every additional insertion. 
For the information of the Freeholders of the State,
THE following correct list of the persons who compose the Republican Ticket of Electors of President and Vice President of the United States, is published. The election for the choice of Electors will be held in each county and corporation on the first Monday in November next.
PHILIP N. NICHOLAS, Chairman. JOHN H. FOUNDRY, Sec'y. Richmond, May 25, 1804.
REPUBLICAN TICKET.
 Richard E. Lee, of Norfolk Borough.  John Goodrich, of Isle of Wight.  Edward Pegram, of Dinwiddie.  Dr. Richard Field, of Brunswick.  Thomas Read, of Charlotte.  Creed Taylor, of Cumberland.  William H. Cabell, of Amherst.  George Penn, of Patrick.  George Wythe, of City of Richmond.  John Taylor, of Caroline.  Larkin Smith, of King & Queen.  John Minor, of Spotsylvania.  William Elzey, of Loudoun.  William Dudley, of Warwick.  Mann Page, of Gloucester.  John Taliaferro, jr. of Prince George.  Richard Brent, of Prince William.  Hugh Holmes, of Frederick.  James Dailey, of Hampshire.  James Allen, of Shenandoah.  Archibald Stuart, of Augusta.  James McFarlane, of Russell.  Gen. John Preston, of Montgomery.  William McKinley, of Ohio. 
** The Republican Printers throughout the state, are requested to insert the above one month.
PROPOSALS
By JOHN L. COOK & SEATON GRANTLAND, FOR PUBLISHING in the City of Richmond, A Literary & Miscellaneous Paper, TO BE ENTITLED The LADY'S MUSEUM, AND WEEKLY MAGAZINE.
THIS PAPER, as the title shows, will be chiefly devoted to the amusement of the LADIES; and on their patronage must the success of our undertaking principally depend. Although we shall use our endeavours to adapt the MUSEUM to the taste of the Fair Sex, we nevertheless presume that the admirers of polite Literature among the MEN will not find it unworthy of perusal; upon such, therefore, we rely for a portion of patronage, assured that they will not be backward in promoting with a liberal hand, the circulation of a paper, which has for its object the improvement and gratification of those who contribute so materially to our happiness, and to the refinement of our manners.
From this paper, party politics and personal altercation will be entirely excluded. In place of matter of this sort, with which periodical papers too generally abound, and which is only calculated to disgust and irritate readers of taste and judgment, we shall substitute Essays Moral and Sentimental; interesting Biographical Sketches; with occasional selections from the most celebrated Poets; and such Original Essays, both in prose and verse, as may, from time to time, be furnished by our Patrons. A correct summary of interesting Foreign and Domestic Intelligence shall also be regularly published.
CONDITIONS.
 1st. The Museum will be neatly printed, weekly, on a half-sheet of Super-Royal paper.  2d. The terms will be Two Dollars per annum; one dollar to be paid at the reception of the first number, and the other at the expiration of six months.  3d. As it is supposed that subscribers will prefer their papers for the purpose of binding, a handsome Title-page and Table of Contents will be furnished (gratis) at the completion of each volume.  4th. The publication of the MUSEUM will commence about the first of September, should a sufficient number of subscribers be obtained by that time. 
May 30. Subscriptions will be received at the Office of the ENQUIRER. The printers of Newspapers in this state will oblige us by publishing our Proposals.
FOR SALE.
A tract of Land,
IN Powhatan county, on Appomattox River, where it is navigable, known by the name of St. Paul's Quarter, containing 420 acres: this land lies about four miles from the Court House, and is well adapted to the culture of Tobacco, small grain and corn. Maj. John Archer, who lives near the land, will show it to any person who wishes to purchase.
If it is not sold before the 1st of September next, it shall be sold at that day to the highest bidders, at Woodson's Tavern, near the premises.
John E. Archer. Richmond, May 20, 1804. [Lazear-Ewing.]
CASH WANTED.
FOR about six tons of BAR IRON. The price will be made an inducement to purchase. And IRON CASTINGS of various kinds, for sale on the usual terms by the ton or single piece, among which are a few tons of 50 and 60 lbs. weights. Also, T AR by the quantity or single barrel below the common price. And also best fine and six-perfine FLOUR.
Richmond, 22d of } 5th Mo. 1804. } MICAJAH DAVIS.
Virginia.
At a Superior Court of Chancery held at the Capitol in the city of Richmond, 14th of September, 1803—
Between Mary Ruffin, executrix, and Herbert Claiborne, James Ruffin and William Ruffin, executors of Robert Ruffin deceased, and the said James Ruffin, Robert Ruffin and Sterling Ruffin, protesting in their own rights.....Plaintiffs.
And William Claiborne, and James Cargill Jones, and Richard Jones, infants by Charles Binns Jones, their guardian.....Defendants.
In this cause, abated as to the plaintiffs Mary Ruffin and James Ruffin, by their deaths, and heard on the bills, answers, exhibits, and examinations of witnesses, and argued by counsel, the fourteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and three, the court directs one of the commissioners to state and report the credits, to which the defendants are, if so any they be, intitled, exclusive of the paper money tendered, and justly rejected in November, of the year one thousand seven hundred eighty one, towards discharging the debt, for securing payment of which, the mortgage proposed to be foreclosed, was granted.
A Copy—Teste, P. TINSLEY. May 25th, 1804. (w2m) (7)
On the motion of the plaintiffs, by their counsel, John Jones is assigned guardian to the infant defendants, to defend them in this suit, in place of Charles Binns Jones, who is dead.
A Copy. P. TINSLEY.
COMMISSIONER'S OFFICE,
Richmond, May 26th, 1804. THE parties concerned are desired to take Notice, That I have appointed Wednesday the twenty-fifth day of July next, for carrying into effect the within decree; upon which day their attendance is required at my office, with their papers and accounts, ready for examination. WM. HAY, M. C.
The following valuable Reports have lately appeared in the National Intelligencer.
REPORT Presented on the 26th of January to the House of Representatives.
The committee to whom was referred on the 26th of January, the petition of William Dunbar, of the Mississippi territory of the United States;—and to whom was re-committed, on the third of February last, the petition of the Mayor, Aldermen and assistants of the City of Natchez, in the said Mississippi territory, together with the report of a select committee thereon.
REPORT— That it appears there are in the City of Natchez, two lots with a building which is used at present for public purposes; and there is adjacent to the city, within the prescribed limits of it, on the side next the river, a piece of land of about twenty-three acres, which lots and land are at present out of regular possession by any one, & form the object of these petitions. The city claims both the land and the lots, without exhibiting any regular evidence of title to either: while William Dunbar, claims the former upon a Spanish grant. These contending claims do not in the opinion of the committee, come regularly under the cognizance of the board of commissioners established by an act of Congress for settling certain enumerated descriptions of land-claims in the Mississippi territory of the United States. The lots and land in question appear to be the same which, being deemed unappropriated and considered as having passed, or been restored to the United States by the treaty of friendship, &c. with Spain, in pursuance of which the place was relinquished to them, were by the 12th section of an act passed at the last session of Congress, entitled "An act regulating the grants of land, and providing for the disposal of the lands of the United States south of the state of Tennessee" directed if truly the property of the United States, to be located for the use of Jefferson College. These small pieces of land constitute a part of a large tract which had been granted many years before the treaty, to an individual, by patent from the Spanish government, of which tract, after it had been improved, and had passed through the hands of several different proprietors, a considerable portion was repurchased by the government of the district, for the purpose of erecting public buildings, and of establishing the town of Natchez; which was accordingly laid off thereon. The whole of this land is now in the possession of individuals, either as town lots or out lots, except the two town lots now in question, with three others of inconsiderable value, according to the petition of the city; of course not fit for such a purpose as the erection of public buildings, and perhaps a fraction of a fourth also unfit, and the out piece of land claimed by William Dunbar. His claim rests upon a grant of governor Gayoso, dated the 19th of April 1797. The application upon which the grant was made, treats the land in question as the private property of the king of Spain, and denies it to be part of the public domain, while the grant itself, although it does not abandon this latter view, strives, as does also an explanatory communication from the claimant to the former committee, to blend therewith some private right in the governor himself, which creates much confusion in the view of the foundation of the claim. But this last ground not being supported by any mention of a title on the part of the governor, in his private capacity, and being absolutely incompatible with the others, the committee have no hesitation in passing it over. With respect to the other ground of claim that this piece of land was the private property of the
king of Spain, and was granted as such by the governor, the committee could not fail to observe at once that this is absolutely incompatible to its view, with the acknowledgement that the whole land was purchased bona fide with the public money and appropriated for public buildings and a town; that is with the funds of the district, for a use arising out of the district itself, and that this part of it was granted to William Dunbar, as compensation for public services rendered to the district. The committee cannot see how this land purchased for the purpose mentioned, should afterwards, the necessity for its application to that purpose still existing, become the private property of the royal family of Spain, or how the governor could make a grant of such private property, as compensation for public services, without special permission, which from the dates of the application and grant, could not have been obtained. The land, therefore, must be considered as reannexed to the public domain, after the purchase by the government; and accordingly, it appears, that a very great part of it has been re-granted to individuals, as such, before the treaty. The ungranted part must certainly have passed to the United States by the treaty, & could not be legitimately granted after the date of it by a Spanish governor. Nor can it be admitted, even if the term "withdraw settlements" used in the treaty was intended to signify the right of disposing of all improved lands for the benefit of the private holders, that under it lands still held by the government could be so disposed of; such being always deemed the property of the acquiring nation. The committee therefore regretting the loss of compensation for important services which a meritorious subject is likely to undergo, and hoping the generosity of the Spanish government will not suffer such services to go in this way unrewarded, pronounces that the claim of William Dunbar cannot, in their opinion, upon any of the grounds advanced, be sustained. Upon the propriety of adopting a liberal policy on this occasion, and making that compensation from other lands of the United States, through respect for the king of Spain, and in consideration that those services were rendered to the district of Natchez, in a great measure, not very long before the relinquishment, by a person at present a citizen of the United States reflecting honor on his adopted country by his profound science and great public worth, and that the United States reaped the benefit of that part of them, it is not within the province allotted this committee to give an opinion. The object of the petition of the corporation of Natchez, is to procure a grant from the United States of the lots and the piece of land in question, for the use and accommodation of the city. No legal title, on the part of the city, is pretended. It appears, however, with respect to the piece of land, that it has all along been considered as defined for the common ground of the city; and that this consideration had its influence in enhancing the price of the city lots to many of their present holders. The two lots in question seem indispensable to the city being the only fit situations for the erection of public buildings, which are not in possession of private persons, and being actually the most fit of all within it for that purpose. Their peculiar fitness and the reservation of them after the alienation of all the others (with the exception of three indifferent ones and the fraction of a fourth before mentioned) give strong ground to believe that they were really defined for this use by the Spanish government. They were formerly relinquished by it to the United States. The citizens of Natchez have always had reason to believe that they were permanently allotted for some public use to their city, either civil or religious, by the Spanish government. The committee reflecting on the peculiar local situation of this infant city, cannot avoid considering its prosperity as a matter of some national importance. The Mississippi must soon become the greatest highway on the earth. Its long arms extended in every direction throughout the greatest and most valuable portions of the globe, which are united by any natural cause, all, with a single exception, concentrate above this place. The diffusion of American principles and American arts through all the wide space it embraces; the occupancy of this whole fertile surface by American citizens, is now insured beyond all risk. The immense wealth which will be produced by the industry and ingenuity of those citizens, with the aid of soils superior to all, and climates inferior to none on the earth, must, with the exception mentioned, be carried for the purpose of exchange along this highway. The city of Natchez is an Inn established upon it in a chosen spot. There the thousands of American citizens engaged in the transportation and the superintendence of the transportation of that wealth, with great numbers of the owners of that wealth, will stop for refreshment and for rest. Before many years the margin of the river at this place will perhaps be constantly fringed with boats and its banks be covered with American citizens, the navigators of them. There is a narrow strip of land, at present the property of the United States, which extends along very nearly the whole front of the city upon the river, and separates the buildings of it by a convenient distance from the water. This city asks as a boon from the government, that it may preserve it as an open space next the water for the joint accommodation of the citizens, and those strangers when they land. If they are denied this boon, the buildings will quickly extend to the water edge, where otherwise only a few scattered store-houses for the temporary shelter of passing wealth would be admitted. Of this, dreadful infallibility must be the certain consequence. Scientific observation and melancholy experience in the great maritime cities of the United States have demonstrated that the germ of pestilence, if not always engendered, at least always develops first in the dense and stagnant air of those streets and buildings which lie nearest the water. Thence, if favoured by the seasons, it quickly spreads through the whole peculiar factitious atmosphere of the city. It may reasonably be expected that if only a single row of unconnected buildings next the water were suffered and a due interval of free and unconfined air tentatively maintained between that row and the main body of the city, this tremendous agent of human misery might be stifled in its birth, its advances stopped, and its progress completely prevented. An occasion offers itself to the government of the United States to make this important experiment in the city of Natchez at this time. Nor ought the extreme distance of the result to produce an indifference towards the experiment, since it embraces such a serious national object as the probable prevention, in one chance at least, for the
greatest physical ill which can possibly befall the nation, pestilential contagion. The day cannot be very distant on which, if pestilence arises in Natchez, it may ramify itself with the wide spread arms of the Mississippi through the vitals of the union. To provide for this experiment nothing is requisite but to grant this strip of land to the city of Natchez on condition that it shall be preserved for ever as a public ground for the health, comfort and enjoyment of all citizens and strangers, indiscriminately; and shall never be built on or cultivated, but on the contrary shall be disposed into public walks and lawns, and planted with trees at the expense of the corporation, and so maintained by it as long as it exists. The only obstacle to this donation is, in the opinion of the committee, very easily removable without injustice to any party. The interest of Jefferson college cannot be injured by the revocation of the grant to it of these city lots and small pieces of land, if a full equivalent in other valuable lands within the Mississippi territory be assigned it in lieu thereof. Such, the United States possesses there, in a quantity which cannot all be disposed of to purchasers in a great length of time; certainly not before the population of the territory has become so considerable as to make public instruction within it an object of high national importance. A fund of this kind, too, if wisely managed, by judicious grants of long leases to men unable to purchase, who may be found in great numbers in all the states willing to move thither on such terms, will not only give some certain annual revenue to the college very soon, but will increase with the growth of the institution, and keep pace in productive-ness with its wants.
The committee having thus endeavoured to estimate all the different claims, and having weighed all considerations; moreover, having just learned that no patents have yet issued to Jefferson college for the lots and land in question, but that means are using by the trustees of that institution to obtain them with all speed, that a disposition may be made of the property immediately, which will entirely defeat the statutory views with regard to the city it entertains, begs leave to recommend the following resolution:—
Resolved, That the execution of so much of the twelfth section of the act passed the third of March, 1803, intituled "An act regulating the grants of land, and providing for the disposal of the lands of the United States south of the state of Tennessee," as directs the governor of the Mississippi territory to locate lots in the city of Natchez, and a piece of land adjoining thereto, (if the property of the United States) for the use of Jefferson college, be suspended until further order be taken thereon by Congress.
REPORT,
Presented on the 5th of March to the House of Representatives.
The Committee of Commerce and Manufactures submit their Report on the Memorial of the Citizens and Mariners of Baltimore on the sufferings of American Sailors at home, referred on the 22d instant.
The memorialists state as a grievance requiring a remedy, that seamen of the United States taken sick or becoming disabled after their arrival in port and before shipment upon another voyage are refused admittance into the infirmary and denied the benefit of the mariner's fund, although such applicants may have heretofore paid hospital money conformably to law. The distress experienced by many seamen by this construction and execution of the law, is loudly complained of; and the interposition of Congress is solicited to save the wretched from their present distress, and to avert similar calamities for the future.
The seriousness of this complaint proceeding from the suffering seamen of our country, has been contemplated with anxiety and concern by the committee. Their helpless and unfriended situation has been beheld not only with pity, but with an active benevolence, which at the instant it finds that succour is necessary, exerts itself promptly and without hesitation to afford it. The spectacle of these useful citizens, who navigate the ships of our country on all their voyages in which national glory and national wealth, are concerned, turned out of doors, because they are sick and indigent, is too painful to be beheld without emotion.
The cause of these exhibitions of woe, so unpleasant to the feelings of individuals, and so calculated to affect the public sensibility, is worthy of being investigated. And the committee believe that much of the evil complained of will be found to proceed from the generalization of the seamen's fund, by the act of May 2d, 1802.
A reference to the different statutes passed on this subject will satisfy the enquirer that this is the case. By the prudent and salutary provision of an act passed July 16th, 1798, it is made the duty of the master or owner of every ship or vessel of the United States arriving from a foreign port, and before she shall be admitted to entry, to render to the collector a true account of the number of seamen employed on board the vessel since her last entry in any port of the United States, and to pay to the said collector at the rate of twenty cents a month for every seaman so employed. The captain is authorized to deduct this out of the sailor's wages. The like regulation was extended to the crews of vessels enrolled or licensed for the coasting trade.
The money thus paid by the seamen was directed to be accounted for to the secretary of the treasury. And the President of the United States was authorized to provide for the temporary relief of sick and disabled seamen. It was an express condition of this capital, that it should be expended only in the district in which it was collected. And as it was judged that in some districts a surplus would remain over and above the needful expenditure, it was directed that such surplus should be vested in the national flock, for the purpose of accumulation and of being enlarged by charitable donations until proper marine hospitals could be procured for the permanent accommodation of sick and disabled seamen, or what was better, until pensions could be assigned them.
To these excellent regulations another important one was added by the statute of March 2d, 1799. By one of the sections of this, the secretary of the navy was directed to retain in his hands twenty cents a month from the wages of officers, seamen, and marines in the navy, to be paid into the treasury and expended for the same purposes as the money paid by seamen in the merchant's service, whether on foreign voyages or in the coasting trade. But in that very statute an unhappy diversion was made of these funds from their original destination. In some
of the districts it happened that more money was expended than the sum collected within the same amounted to. This became in those places a matter of complaint;—to remedy it a great inroad was made. The expenditure which had heretofore been limited to the collection district, was rendered lawful in any part of the state in which such district was situated, and within any other state next adjoining. There was an exception, however, as to the four New-England States. Thus was the surplusage in any one district in a great degree prevented, and the project of accumulating money enough for laying and well endowed hospitals or pensions, by which the sick, wounded, disabled, or veteran seamen might have been provided for and enabled to enjoy repose, almost altogether frustrated.
But even this encroachment upon the primitive design did not give entire satisfaction. Complaints were still made in a few places that the supplies of money were inadequate to the wants of the sick and infirm seamen. And they were so loud and reiterated that on the 2d of May, 1802, Congress listened to them, and declared by a law, the passing of which is ever to be regretted, the monies heretofore collected, (that is ever since 1798) and unexpended, and all monies thereafter to be collected under authority of the beforementioned acts, should constitute one General Fund, to be employed as circumstances should require, in every seaport in the nation. In consequence of this generalizing scheme the pleasing surplusage that was accumulating in the ports of New-York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Boston, was broken down and drawn away, except a reservation of 15,000 dollars for building an hospital in Massachusetts.
By this stroke all the hopes of permanent provision for sailors with impaired limbs and exhausted constitutions were blasted at once. No prospect remained but that of a temporary supply, furnished monthly, or from hand to mouth, as the tax was paid into the treasury. The sums saved by the good management and rigid economy of the managers of them in some places, were not now, as before, treasured up for future benefit there, but serving merely as objects to tempt the cupidity of persons in other and distant places, they were melted down and absorbed in the general mass. The diminution of the funds, in certain ports where it used to be most abundant, has led to a more strict scrutiny than has been usually practiced heretofore, as to the admission of sailors to the benefits of hospitals. In some places doubts have been entertained whether unemployed seamen ought to be allowed a participation of those advantages. In others, or one other, they have been refused unless the tickets or disability shall have accrued while they are in actual service. In consequence of this manner of construing and executing the law, uneasiness is manifesting itself in several of our most frequented and opulent seaports. Before the generalizing law, these expressions of dissatisfaction were few and local; since that event, they are growing more numerous and even universal.
For an able and perspicuous view of the sums collected for the relief of seamen, and the places at which they have been collected and expended, with a variety of other interesting and instructive particulars, the committee beg leave to refer to a report of the secretary of the treasury, made in obedience to a resolve of this House, on the 21st day of January, and now lying on the table. By this it appears that in some places where money is collected none is expended.
It is plain to the committee that the seamen of their country ought to be distinguished when in distress, from common paupers. It was the intention of the government to consider them so. They therefore, while they are in health and employment, pay something towards their own support when they shall be sick and unable to perform service. The sums collected do not seem sufficient, or why should these unfortunate men be rejected as the memorial states? The committee while it forbears to make any remarks on the sum of 33,401 dols. expended at Norfolk, and 26,901 dols. at Charleston (S. C.) requests that gentlemen will take the trouble to examine these swelling items of the account, while they note only 7,530 dollars are collected at the former of these places, and 15,835 dollars at the latter.
In order however to enlarge the means of relief as to temporary purposes, the following proposition is submitted, to wit:
That an additional sum of five cents per month be paid for hospital money, by the seamen and others in the foreign, coasting and naval service, intended by the act of July 16th, 1798, and the act of March 2d, 1799.
And with the desire to provide some fund for the permanent relief of decrepid or superannuated seamen, exhausted in service, though not proper objects of a sick infirmary; it is recommended
That the first section of the act of May 2d, 1802, so far as the same respects the generalization of the seamen's fund, be repealed.
CAROLINE SPRINGS.
THE subscriber intends to open a TAVERN at the Caroline Springs, on the first day of June next; and hopes, from the pleasant and healthy situation, exclusive of the medicinal qualities of the waters, that it will be a place of general resort.
The Springs are situated about 55 miles from Richmond, 18 from Port-Royal, 12 from the Bowling-Green, and 14 from Fredericksburg. The roads leading to them are remarkably good... they are surrounded by an agreeable and respectable neighbourhood.—There are out-houses for the accommodation of those who wish to live separate from the Tavern.
The subscriber flatters herself, that those inducements will not only operate on invalids, who, in the sickly season, attend the Springs for the sake of having their health restored, but will also be felt by those whose only object is the enjoyment of company, as it may be safely said the facility will be equal to any in the country.
No exertion will be wanting to make every thing perfectly agreeable.
ANN GATEWOOD.
Fredericksburg, May 15. G.B. 3y.
PRINTER.
IN ALL ITS VARIETY, EXECUTED AT THE OFFICE OF THE ENQUIRER, WITH NEATNESS, ELEGANCE AND THE GREATEST DISPATCH.

French accounts to the 13th April, received at the office of the Morning Chronicle, by the Young Edward, from Bordeaux.
Of France, we do not find any thing of particular interest. Moreau had not been tried, nor had any thing particular taken place relative to his fate.
The Paris papers mention the arrest of two more conspirators, named Couchery & Charles d'Hozier, in the following terms:
"Citizen Paques, Inspector General of the Militia of the Grand Judge, accompanied by citizen C. Minguez, Commissary of Police, and some chosen gens-d'armes have arrested Charles d'Hozier, one of the principal brigands;
A number of persons had been taken up by the police and sentenced to punishment for keeping the doors of their habitations open at improper hours, in violation of the law of the 22d July.
At Toulouse, citizen Paris, commissary of war, and citizen Paule Vaisse, had been arrested, and their papers put under seal.
At Lyons, citizen Bureau-Puffey had arrived from Paris, and had taken the reins of government. FROM STRASBURGH mention is made of the further arrest of several emigrants on the borders of the Rhine, who had come from the interior of France, and were on the wing for Germany.
FROM CONSTANTINOPLE, accounts of the 29th February, state:
"There has been for some time a great activity in our arsenals. General Brune, ambassador from France, has had for some days frequent conferences with the reis effendi, minister of foreign affairs.
"It appears that these overtures of the French ambassador have taken place since the receipt of a note from the English minister to the Ottoman minister, in which he demands, "that the Porte shall receive in Egypt a certain number of English troops, to guard and defend that important possession of the Grand Signior."
We have received intelligence, that a Russian frigate with several transports have arrived in one of the ports of the Black Sea. The frigate, and the troops on board, are destined for Corfu.
Information is received, via Smyrna, that Ali Pacha, governor of Alexandria, has become reconciled with the foreign consuls.
The ambassador from Russia has declared by a circular letter to all the foreign ministers, that according to a decision of his court, the harbor of Sebastopol will be appropriated exclusively to receive the Russian vessels of war, and that no others will be admitted.
The Grand Signior is about to marry the daughter of his predecessor Abdul-Hamedan, to the Pacha of Erzerum.
FROM RUSSIA.—Accounts to the 10th March from St. Petersburg mention that the frequency of couriers, both Russian and foreign, who arrive and depart, induces the belief that some important negotiations are pending, but the whole is conducted with the utmost mystery.
An ukase had been recently published, which is considered as highly honorable to the emperor Alexander. Under the reign of Catherine, the inhabitants of Tambov complained heavily against the officers who administered their government.
The emperor Alexander is not yet 27 years of age, (he was born in 1777,) it is mentioned to his honor, that in the short space of six months, he has produced a reform in the colleges of medicine, and the departments of finance;
He has rewarded with magnificence the princes, senators and counsellors, who by their zeal, their talents and their integrity, had merited his confidence.
THE TURKISH FRONTIERS.—Under date of Semlin, March 6, it is stated that the troubles in Servia are daily becoming more serious.
The animosity of the Servians to the deys has reached its height. The deys continue to pursue the persecuting system they have adopted.
A letter from Gottemburgh dated April 7th, says, "The daring steps the French have taken in arresting emigrants in Germany have caused some sensation in this country, and the execution of the Duke d'Enghien has excited equal surprise and indignation.
The answer of the Ministers of the different powers at Paris to the address of Talleyrand must excite a peculiar interest in this country, which is vilified and calumniated in a manner most undeserved and unexampled.
Victor Couchery, the confident and accomplice of Pichegru, who is advertised in the official list, was apprehended on the 29th ult. by Citizen Paques, at his place of confinement in Babylon street.
To Talleyrand's Circular Letter addressed to all the members of the Diplomatic Body, which Mr. Livingston answered, the Moniteur contains answers from Count Cobentzel, the Imperial minister; Cardinal Capara, the Pope's Legate;
Office of the Police.—Paris, March 25. The Counsellor of State, presiding over the police, is informed, that many inhabitants of Paris are in the habit of letting furnished apartments to strangers, without making the usual declaration to the commissary of the police in their respective divisions.
The French Government is exerting every art to make the people of France believe that England was the sole author of the plot; and in a recent report to the First Consul, Letherier, considered as one of the accomplices of Georges, has made a confession, admitting he was employed by our government to assassinate Bonaparte.
LONDON, April 14. We last night received Moniteurs of the 14th and 15th instant. The police continues to exercise the greatest vigilance and activity in arresting all persons suspected of being concerned in the late conspiracy.
The French Government is exerting every art to make the people of France believe that England was the sole author of the plot; and in a recent report to the First Consul, Letherier, considered as one of the accomplices of Georges, has made a confession, admitting he was employed by our government to assassinate Bonaparte.
Switzerland appears to be in a state of considerable agitation. Some commotions have broken out in the Canton of Zurich, where the people refused to take the usual oaths; and accounts from Basle mention, that half the inhabitants of that canton are in a state of revolt.
The vessel stated in the Moniteur of the 2d inst. to have been captured by Admiral Linois's squadron, appears to have been the Countess of Southerland, an East-India Company ship.
We learn that the French have demanded possession of 60 or 70 houses at Utrecht, which was done in a summary way, by sending a note to every occupier, signifying they must quit possession immediately, leaving the furniture on the premises, of which they might have taken an inventory.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer gave notice that he would bring forward the Budget on Wednesday se'nnight.
Our port letters this morning bring no further accounts of the vessels that sailed upon the stone expedition on Thursday.
Copy of a Letter from Rear-Admiral Thornborough, to William Marsden, Esq. dated on board his Majesty's ship Defence, off the Texel the 7th inst.
SIR.—You will be pleased to acquaint their Lordships that I detained and have since liberated, the purser, pilot, and the Captain's servant, of the Dutch National brig Atalante, captured by the Scorpion and Beaver sloops;
(Signed) Edward Thornborough. His Majesty's ship Defence, off the Texel, April 4.
SIR.—The chance of war having put into our possession the Atalante, Dutch National brig, and being desirous of paying every attention to the memory of Captain Carp, her Commander, who gallantly fell at his post, in the defence of the ship entrusted to his care, I have sent his servant to you with his effects.
(Signed) Edw. Thornborough, Rear-Admiral of the Blue, and commander of his Britannic Majesty's cruiser's off the Texel.
Rear-Admiral Kilvert, Commander of the Batavian ships in the Texel.
PHILADELPHIA, May 20.
A gentleman, passenger in the Diana, arrived this morning, informs, that it was reported at Antwerp, that Gen. Pichegru had been guillotined.
The general impression there was, that Pichegru and Georges had been decoyed to Paris by agents of the consular government, and that they were entirely innocent of the designs for which they were doomed to suffer.
In the new project for a Penal and Criminal Code, about to be discussed by the tribunals of the French Republic, great changes are proposed.
According to this project, Pretors are to succeed the Presidents. The jurisdiction of each Pretor will contain several departments...
Crimes are to be punished with a more rigorous pain than death. The cessation of life is to be preceded by torments which augment the horror certain destruction inspires.
example, the particide will have his right hand cut off before he loses his life, his corpse is to be buried on the spot where he committed the crime, and over his grave is to be fixed a gibbet, with his name and the nature of his guilt.
The London Star of the 11th of April, says, The murder of the Duke d'Enghien by the French tyrant must excite the general indignation of Europe.
Another letter, received by a Commercial house in the city, desires them not to ship some coffee that had been ordered for a Danish port, as it was very generally believed, that in a few days a French force would occupy Tonningen, and all the other Danish ports in that neighbourhood!
A London paper remarks, that the French papers are filled with addresses from all quarters, from even the Clergy, on the escape of the First Consul.
Of the Duke D'Enghien....The following interesting account of the execution of this unfortunate Prince, we extract from a London paper entitled The Globe.
The execution of the Duke of ENGHIEU was as private, and as studiously concealed, as his condemnation was published with eclat.
was proposed by Lanjumeau to advise the First Consul to pardon the Duke. It is said at Paris, that this senator pointed out in a strong language the danger of accustoming Bonaparte to blood in civil causes:
"Bonaparte desired general Mortier to be President of the Military commission which condemned the Duke, but he declined it.
"From the time of the Duke's arrest, he had never once been permitted to lay on a bed, to undress, to shave, or to change his linen;
"In the morning, before day-light on the 22d, General Murat arrived at Vincennes, escorted by fifty Mamelukes, and accompanied with four aid-de-camps, and Generals Mortier, Hulin, and Louis Bonaparte, who had come on purpose from the coast.
"Such was the end of the Duke of ENGHIEU, butchered in the 32d year of his age, by the barbarous foreign usurper of the throne of his family....He possessed the sincere affection, not only of his royal relatives, but of every Frenchman, who had served under him, and of every person who knew him.
"Even in the Senate, on the 22d, it was proposed by Lanjumeau to advise the First Consul to pardon the Duke.

of the Archduke Charles: who during several campaigns, had been assisted by his talents, and witnessed his courage. He was as generous as brave; and in the age of pleasure, deprived himself of all enjoyments to assist his numerous distressed countrymen.
NEW-YORK, May 30.
By the British Packet Liverpool , London and Halifax papers are received at the office of the MORNING CHRONICLE . The London dates are not so late as those already received. The only additional article of interest, which on a hasty perusal they appear to contain, is the following letter from Paris, which was written the day after the Duke of Enghien's execution, tho' previous to that event being generally known. It is stated to be from a diplomatic agent in Paris, to his friend in England.
N. Y. Morn. Cron.
"Yesterday the Minister of the Elector of Baden received a courier from his sovereign. He immediately went to Talleyrand's Hotel, requesting an audience, and protested in the name of the Elector, against the violation of his territory. He demanded that the French government should disavow the conduct of General Caulincourt, and send back the prisoners whom he had made on the other side of the Rhine. Talleyrand answered, that by the treaty of Luneville, the States of Germany are bound to give up all persons conspiring or plotting against France; and that by the law of nations every state has a right to enforce such stipulations, where the contracting party is not strong enough to cause them to be observed, or its fidelity is suspected; that Caulincourt had only obeyed the orders of the First Consul; that all the prisoners were to be tried immediately, and that the principal of them was at that moment before the tribunal. The minister of Baden, in the evening, sent back a courier with this answer. The diplomatic corps, and all the people of Paris, except those immediately connected with Government, were ignorant of the arrest of the Duke d'Enghien, until a late hour last night, when his sentence was posted up in the Palais Royal, and on the corners of the streets. The patrols, which were doubled, and the numerous Police spies prevented the surprise and indignation of the people from showing themselves in any act of violence; but the imprudent declarations of a few added new victims to those who already crowd our prisons. The minister of Baden, this morning went to Count Cobentzel, the Imperial Ambassador, and communicated to him the particulars of Talleyrand's answer. The latter had not until then heard of this affair, at least such was his declaration. The Imperial Ambassador did not hesitate to wait upon Talleyrand, and requested that the execution of the sentence might be deferred until he had informed his Sovereign of the affair. He requested this delay "more as a personal favour, the Emperor being related to the Duke of Enghien, than in the name of the Empire, the neutrality of which had been violated." The example of the Imperial Ambassador was followed by the Ambassadors of Spain, Naples, and Etruria, whose sovereigns, all Bourbons, are more nearly related to the Emperor to the Duke of Enghien. They all received the same answer from Talleyrand, viz. that he "would report their request to the First Consul." In the mean time, these ambassadors dispatched couriers to their respective courts, and many persons think that Bonaparte's pride will be satisfied, by pardoning a Bourbon, and publishing to the world as an act of generosity, a deed commanded by policy, justice and humanity."
In East Prussia (in the circle of Litten) about 15 miles from the Baltic, a place of Amber was lately found. Its greatest length 18 inches and 1-4th its greatest breadth 8-1-2. It contains 318 Rhineland cubic inches, and weighs 15 pounds 15 ounces and 3-4ths. The largest piece previously known either found on the sea-shore, or dug out of the ground, weighs 8 pounds, and is in the King of Spain's cabinet of Natural History at Madrid. A dealer offered 3000 dollars for this piece. But all the amber found in Prussia being the property of the sovereign, the king ordered it to be deposited in the cabinet of minerals at Berlin, allowing however, 1000 dollars to the proprietor of the estate where it was found.
EAST-INDIES.]
London, April 12.
The great Mogul, mentioned in the late India despatches, is the sovereign prince, who two or three years since was surprised, and made captive by the Mahrattas, who instantly put out both his eyes! In this deplorable state of total blindness he has been received under British protection.
Delhi, the present scene of our most northern victories in India, was never before subjugated by an European. Alexander, the first known invader of India from Europe, did not penetrate quite so far; and after the age immediately succeeding, we know little of that part of India; but we know no European Conqueror carried his arms so much to the east. The Hindoos between the Indus and Ganges enjoyed their mild and tranquilizing institutions for many centuries, without subjection, until Mahometan ambition disturbed the peaceful Hindoos. Several Saracen adventurers attacked the north-west of India, and established an empire around Delhi, but they fell under an adventurer of their own persuasion, Zingis Khan; and his expeditions to India being defunctive inroads, without permanent conquest, the completion of the reduction of Hindostan was reserved for Tamerlane, a chieftain of the Mogul Tartars, who established himself and his potent sovereigns of India, under the title of Ay Mogul. This imperial dynasty lasted many centuries and contained princes of very distinguished talents and virtue. amongst these was Aurengzebe, celebrated in history, and the dramatic poetry of England. The invasion of Hindostan by Kouli Khan, a Persian adventurer, sixty years ago, crushed the empire of these Moguls. From that time the nabobs or governors, or the subahs or viceroys, of different parts of the Mogul empire, have asserted their independence, and the Grand Mogul is little more than an empty title.
Nevertheless the Mahomedans in all whose conquests there was mixed a religious veneration for some chief, the supposed representative of their prophet, still retain an awe and affection for the name of the Mogul, and would very readily join in supporting him, if they conceived any likelihood of success. Even weak in actual force, as he is, the Mogul may become an important accession to the English, through the influence and authority of his name, and may prove a rallying point to the Mahomedans, especially against the Mahrattas, who, as the strictest of Hindoos, are notorious to the followers of the prophet of Mecca. Besides, the Mogul, though reduced, still possesses certain demesnes in one of the most fertile parts of India, between the Ganges and the Indus, and was allowed to amass immense treasure. If we persevere in suc-
cess, we shall, either by conquest or alliance, have the same command of all north-western India, that we have now of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa:—and, on that supposition immense sources of mines, riches, and revenue are opening to Britain. Should we continue in our course, there is a moral probability that we shall be as well acquainted, in a short time, with the banks of the Indus for many hundred miles, as we are now with the banks of the Ganges.
Domestic Intelligence.
LOUISVILLE, May 16.
On Monday last, the legislature met at this place, agreeably to his excellency the governor's proclamation of the 4th ult.
His Excellency Gov. MILLEDGE's communication, to both branches of the legislature.
Gentlemen of the Senate, and
Of the House of Representatives.
You will find in the packet herewith transmitted, a copy of a letter from the President of the United States, and of an article of amendment, proposed by congress, to be added to the federal constitution, in regard to the mode of electing the President and Vice-President.
The ratification of the legislature, of three fourths of the several states, being required to make this amendment a part of the constitution, and the time pointed out by law for the annual meeting of the general assembly of this state, being at so distant a day, that the decision of our legislature, could not be had sufficiently soon to meet the ensuing election, for president and vice-president, I was induced to convene you for the purpose of presenting it for your consideration.
Independent of the weight naturally attached to an amendment adopted by two thirds of the national representation, you receive this with an additional circumstance highly favorable to its merits—the decided sanction of a majority of the several state legislatures in the union.
On this subject the public mind having been long since amply informed, it is unnecessary for me to enter into an enlarged view, either as to its eligibility, tendency or effect. I shall therefore, without further remarks, leave this important question to your determination, not doubting but that it will be such as will promote the happiness of our common country.
JOHN MILLEDGE.
State-House, Louisville, May 14th, 1804.
The Georgia Republican of the 29th May says "The legislature of this state adjourned on Saturday last. They have unanimously addressed the governor for the removal of Judge Bowen. "They have unanimously passed a law for the ratification of the amendment to the constitution of the United States."
"They have passed a law for the punishment of attempts to excite insurrections."
"They have confirmed the appointment of Benjamin Skrine, esq. as judge of the middle district."
"The appointment of a judge for this district is left in the discretion of the governor. We have good authority for believing, however, that the private recommendations of the senators and representatives of this district have been given."
PHILADELPHIA, May 30.
Arrived this morning, the ship Ananawon, Capt. Briggs, from Oporto. Capt. B. informs, that on the 2d April the British frigate Apollo, having under convoy the Cork fleet, destined for the West-Indies, amounting to seventy sail, encountered a severe gale off the coast of Portugal, in which the frigate and thirty nine sail were lost on Cape Mundago;—the crew of the frigate, about 300 in number were entirely lost, besides 100 belonging to the other wrecks.—The capt. of the frigate & the lieut. perished in attempting to make the shore on the jib-boom. There was another frigate in company which rode out the gale. On Thursday last, in lat. 37, long. 69, Capt. Briggs, picked up the capt and crew of the ship Clairmont, Wilmington, (N. C.) bound to Norfolk, out 37 days from London. The Clairmont left Gravesend the 17th of April, and the hands had been almost constantly at the pumps.
Miscellaneous.
ROYAL PRESENTS.—The presents which the Emperor ALEXANDER made the late CAPT. PACHA, in return for ten Arabian horses he had accepted from him, were magnificent, and the admiration of the beau monde at Constantinople for weeks. They consisted of three bacons and ewers of the most beautiful rock chrysal, four silver chandeliers of eight branches each, highly finished: an elegant fable skin cloak, which though large, weighed no more than 20 ounces, and is regarded a unique; four looking Glasses of a dimension never before seen in the Turkish capital, and with splendid frames corresponding with the value of the glasses: a representation in rock chrysal of a mosque, of which each piece was numbered in a manner that the whole might be taken asunder or put together again at pleasure in ten minutes, though of the height that a person might enter with ease; and finally a dozen of amber pipes set with diamonds, half a dozen gold pendulums, and a dozen of gold snuff-boxes, richly encircled with diamonds. A Russian frigate carried those presents to Constantinople. The Capt. Pacha gave 200 purses to the captain, and several other considerable donations were distributed among the officers and crew.
The Imperial Gift the Capt. Pacha received only some few days before his death, but judging it worthy of a Sovereign, he demanded the favor of the GRAND SEIGNIOR to accept it. (London Paper.)
FROM A PARIS PAPER. "The chief of Battalion, Tauverny, arrived lately from St. Domingo, at Paris. He had been absent for fifteen months, and was, before his departure, betrothed to a Mademoiselle De Vernois. At his return, he hastened to see his mistress, and pressed her to fix the day of their marriage. The Sunday following was agreed on; and his sister was informed of the day that should make him happy. In one of those unguarded moments when the most prudent may err, Miss Tauverny determined to try her brother's love, by giving him reason to be jealous of his mistress. She told him, that, as an affectionate sister, she was sorry to see him so much attached to a lady, who did not return his love; and to convince him, she asked him the next day to be in the Bois de Boulogne, not far from La Bagatelle, and, at five o'clock in the afternoon, he would undoubtedly find Mademoiselle de Vernois in her usual evening's walk, accompanied with her usual evening's companion. With an anxiety of mind easily to be imagined, he arrived at the fatal spot, where he had not been long before he saw his mistress not only arm and arm with a genteel young man, but caressing him in a manner that would have bewildered an imagination less heated than his own. No sooner had his mistress and her companion passed his place of concealment, than he rushed forward, and shot them both through the head. But what was his surprise, after this desperate act, to find the supposed youth whom he had murdered as a rival, was his own sister. He drew his sword and stabbed himself to the heart as a punishment for his jealousy and his crime. In his pocket was found a letter addressed to his sister, thanking her for her information, and bequeathing her all his property. Tauverny was 27 years of age, Miss Tauverny 21, and Mademoiselle de Vernois 19."
to be jealous of his mistress. She told him, that, as an affectionate sister, she was sorry to see him so much attached to a lady, who did not return his love; and to convince him, she asked him the next day to be in the Bois de Boulogne, not far from La Bagatelle, and, at five o'clock in the afternoon, he would undoubtedly find Mademoiselle de Vernois in her usual evening's walk, accompanied with her usual evening's companion. With an anxiety of mind easily to be imagined, he arrived at the fatal spot, where he had not been long before he saw his mistress not only arm and arm with a genteel young man, but caressing him in a manner that would have bewildered an imagination less heated than his own. No sooner had his mistress and her companion passed his place of concealment, than he rushed forward, and shot them both through the head. But what was his surprise, after this desperate act, to find the supposed youth whom he had murdered as a rival, was his own sister. He drew his sword and stabbed himself to the heart as a punishment for his jealousy and his crime. In his pocket was found a letter addressed to his sister, thanking her for her information, and bequeathing her all his property. Tauverny was 27 years of age, Miss Tauverny 21, and Mademoiselle de Vernois 19."
Patent Hemp and Flax Break.
Mr. Owen Roberts, of this city, has obtained a patent for the invention of a "HEMP AND FLAX BREAK," which promises to be of as great utility to the United States, as any machine hitherto invented, on a model so simple. It may be erected at a comparatively trifling expense, and when in complete operation, will clear six or eight thousand weight of Hemp daily, with the assistance of only six hands. No manual labor is necessary, except turning and shifting the Hemp; the rollers and break being wrought by a horse, or water, and so contrived, as to work any number, by throwing them out of gear, as occasion may require.
It is hoped that a conviction of the utility of this invention will ensure it the patronage of every friend to the infant arts and Manufactures of his country. Balt. Pap.
Methods of trying the goodness of Timber for ship building, used in the Arsenal at Venice.
One person applies his ear to the centre of one end of the trunk, while another with a key hits the other with a gentle stroke. If the tree be sound and good, the sound will be distinctly heard at the other end, though the tree should be 100 feet or more in length. [Balt. American.]
A new comet has been discovered by Jean Louis Pons, at the Observatory at Marseilles. It is visible to the naked eye.
ENQUIRER.
RICHMOND:
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6, 1804.
It has been found necessary to divide the examination of Judge Tucker's system of a religious establishment, into two numbers. The first number appears on the last page of this day's paper.
The last number of the Enquirer mentioned that Thomas Logwood had been sentenced on the first, third and fifth indictments, to ten years imprisonment, and to a fine of Five Hundred dollars. The Court having understood that the Executive Council had given their consent to his remaining in the State-Penitentiary, have thought proper to remit his fine, and exchange it for hard labour. The 4th indictment has been dismissed.
Thomas Logwood is the first criminal who has suffered in Virginia, for an attempt to counterfeit Bank Notes. He has been the first criminal, but it is not probable that he will be the last. No doubt these victims will multiply in number, as our country advances in population and wealth. Every European nation, who has permitted the establishment of Banks, has seen each succeeding year increasing the number of these victims: and it is probable that there is any thing in the peculiar situation of our country, or in our political institutions, which can make us a splendid exception to the general rule? Would it not be proper to adopt at once those violent expedients, which pull: interest has introduced into other countries? Would it not be more politic to doom each convicted counterfeiter to a capital punishment, than to an imprisonment of even ten years, and a fine or hard labour.
The guilt of such men certainly appears inferior to that of many other criminals: because the mischiefs which they perpetrate is not that of bold and horrible kind, that wounds the feelings of humanity. The hand of a Counterfeiter has not been stained with the blood of assassination. He is not accused of employing force, to rob the defenceless passenger. No unfortunate woman can complain that he has robbed her of her invaluable fame, and clouded the sunshine of her future days. The feelings which this man is apt to excite, is marked with contempt rather than horror. We despise the man whose actions will not bear the inspection of others. Our imagination draws before us, a human being stealing into some secret recess; fearful that each sound, which disturbs his privacy, is announcing the approach of a companion. We pursue him into the world, and see him completing the object of all his solitary labours, by the most disgraceful imposture. We see him appropriating the fruit of this imposture, not to some useful purpose whose consequences may atone for the profligacy of the means used for its attainment, but dissipating it in thoughtless amusement, or still more profligate vices. It is not from the feelings however which this man's personal conduct produces, that we are to justify his condemnation. We must take a longer view of the consequences of his conduct. We must consider that the wealth of every country arises from its labour; that the labourer will not exert his industry without the prospect of present or future remuneration; and hence capital and credit are the two great pillars of national wealth: we must consider that the credit of Banks is a grand substitute for the credit of individuals; and that hence the Counterfeiter who weakens the confidence reposed in a Bank must be regarded not so much as a Robber, who appropriates to himself the wealth already accumulated; but as a man, who arrests one
of the great wheels of national industry & wealth. What punishment does such a man as this deserve?
[No later articles since the Brothers at New-York, (London dates to April 14, and Liverpool to April 16.)]
We understand (says the Aurora) that Mr. Monroe was to set out for Madrid when the last advices left London; to prosecute the negotiation long pending with Spain, and to settle the limits of Louisiana definitively, in a manner satisfactory to both nations.
On Monday 16th inst. (says the True American) the Foundation Stone of the Bridge about to be erected over the river Delaware, was laid by General Beatty, President of the Company.
Verbal accounts from Amsterdam to the 14th April, received at Philadelphia, state that the British keep up a strict blockade off the Texel, but treat neutrals with civility; and that a Corvette brig of 14 guns was cut out of the Vlie on the evening of the 4th April, by some boats from the English fleet, and the Dutch captain killed whilst defending his vessel. [More. Adv.]
The English have replaced the Buoys on the Coast of Holland, that they may cruise there the more securely. [Ib.]
By Yesterday's Mail,
NEW-YORK, May 31.
The ship Jenny, capt. Ward, arrived last night in 43 days from Bordeaux. By her we have received Paris papers to the 5th of April, but at too late an hour to make extracts. The Argus of the 4th April, contains a letter from Gen. Sault, (given out in general orders) to the commander in chief at Bruges, announcing, that "the English had at length begun to execute their internal project of casting upon their coast bales of cotton infected with the plague, which they had sent for from the Levant...and that five of these bales had been thrown into the Bay of Estaples by English embarkations, under the protection of a frigate and two corvettes." This, we have no hesitation in saying, will prove a vile calumny.
Capt. Ward informs, that another embargo was expected shortly to take place at Bordeaux.
We are informed by a gentleman who left Port-au-Prince on the 18th ult. that a few days before he sailed, there was a general massacre of the French white inhabitants of that place. Out of five hundred and sixty-two persons only two were spared! We are happy to learn, that the Brigands respected the persons & property of the Americans who happened to be there. (Phil. Gaz.)
"We this morning received a letter from Oporto, April 12, of which the following is an extract:—
"I am sorry to inform you of the loss of 40 sail of the West-India fleet. They sailed from Cork on the 24th of March, for the West-Indies, consisting of 71 sail, under convoy of the Appollo, and Carysfort frigates. The Appollo, being ahead of the fleet on the 2d inst. at 4 o'clock in the morning, struck on a sand bank, about a mile from the shore, 15 leagues south of this port, and 39 sail of the merchantmen also went ashore. About 400 dead bodies was found on the beach. The Appollo had on board 237 men, only 123 of whom were saved. Capt. Dixon, her commander drowned himself. I have on board my ship a seaman who belonged to the Peggy of Glasgow, who joined the fleet at Cork—he says 14 Glasgow ships joined the fleet, and that 12 of them were lost.
"Yesterday we had advices from Vigo. The Spanish government has positively prohibited the French from carrying in prizes, selling or condemning them in Spanish ports. And that the French have demanded a large sum from the Spanish government, which they have refused to give."
RICHMOND PRICE CURRENT.
 Tobacco 84s. 6d. to 98s.  Wheat 6s. 10 to 6s. 6d.  Flour, Fine, 50s. to 53s.  Superfine, 53s. to 56s.  Corn 27s. to 28s.  Hemp, clean, £. 45 to 50.  Iron £. 33.  Bacon 7d. to 8d.  Whiskey 3s. 9d. 
Spring Goods.
WILLIAM TEMPLE HAS just received, by the ship Rebecca from London and Yorkshire from Liverpool, AN ASSORTMENT OF GOOD S. Suitable to the season, which he will dispose of on the usual terms. Richmond, May 9th. (1)
An Apprentice to the Printing Business wanted at this Office.
of the great wheels of national industry & wealth. What punishment does such a man as this deserve?
[No later articles since the Brothers at New-York, (London dates to April 14, and Liverpool to April 16.)]
We understand (says the Aurora) that Mr. Monroe was to set out for Madrid when the last advices left London; to prosecute the negotiation long pending with Spain, and to settle the limits of Louisiana definitively, in a manner satisfactory to both nations.
On Monday 16th inst. (says the True American) the Foundation Stone of the Bridge about to be erected over the river Delaware, was laid by General Beatty, President of the Company.
Verbal accounts from Amsterdam to the 14th April, received at Philadelphia, state that the British keep up a strict blockade off the Texel, but treat neutrals with civility; and that a Corvette brig of 14 guns was cut out of the Vlie on the evening of the 4th April, by some boats from the English fleet, and the Dutch captain killed whilst defending his vessel. [More. Adv.]
The English have replaced the Buoys on the Coast of Holland, that they may cruise there the more securely. [Ib.]
NOTICE.
AT a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Mutual Assurance Society, held at the General Office on the 15th of May, 1804.
WHEREAS the power of varying and altering the rates of the Premiums on Insurances made by this Society, is vested in the General Meeting only of the Members thereof, and not in the Board of Directors, and it being the opinion of this board that experience has evinced that the risk on insuring wooden buildings in towns and in the country compared with the present relative rates of the premiums on such insurances is unequal, Therefore,
Resolved, That Declarations (not yet approved of or hereafter offered) for Insurance of wooden buildings, situated in towns established by law, shall be suspended until the day next after the adjournment of the next General Meeting of the members of the said society, or until further order of this board.
Resolved, That the foregoing Resolution be published twice in each paper printed in this State.
A true copy from the Records.
W. F. AST.
No 2.—Adopted 8th May 1804.
Messrs. Edmond Randolph and John Wickham have been consulted by the President of this Board in pursuance of their resolution adopted at their last meeting, and having expressed their opinions, which have been read and considered by this Board:
Resolved, as the opinion of this Board, that where any building or buildings has or have been declared for insurance prior to the 6th of January, 1800, by a person having no greater interest or estate, therein than as tenant for life or for years, and in such declaration such particular interest or estate has not been specified before the issuing of a policy on such declaration, and notwithstanding the premium or premiums, and quotas may have been paid, such building or buildings ought not to be considered as insured, nor ought the society to be liable for any loss thereon by fire. But such premiums and quotas with interest thereon from the time of payment, shall on application be returned to the person or persons so improperly declaring for insurance as aforesaid.
2dly. That when any building or buildings has or have been declared for prior to the 6th day of January 1800, by a person having no greater interest or estate therein than as tenant for life or for years, and in such declaration such particular interest or estate has been specified, before the issuing of a policy on such declaration, and notwithstanding the premium or premiums and quotas may have been paid, unless the remaindermen or reversioner in such interest or estate, shall also have joined with such tenant for life or for years in such declaration, or in some declaration supplementary thereto, agreeably to the rules and regulations of the said society, the society ought not to be liable for any loss thereon by fire, except to the tenant for life or for years, so declaring the true nature of his interest or estate as aforesaid, nor to any greater extent than may be justly proportionate to the value of the particular interest or estate of such tenant compared with the value of the estate in fee simple.
(Signed) WILLIAM FOUSHEE, president. (A Copy.)
No 3.—Adopted on the 25th May, 1804, p. m.
Resolved, that all those who have claimed or may claim compensation for losses sustained by fire shall produce or cause to be produced their original title, papers or authenticated copies thereof, proving the right to the lands and houses destroyed before payment shall be made for the same.
Resolved, that the Board of Directors will not respect, admit, or receive as genuine any letter or instrument in writing, or deed whereby any person or persons shall be constituted attorney or attorneys for any other person or persons to receive any money belonging to this society, whether the same shall be claimed for a loss on buildings by fire, or on any other account whatever, unless such letter or instrument in writing or deed, shall have been acknowledged by the person or persons making the same, or proved by a witness before some justice of the peace or the Mayor of a city or corporation, or some notary public, and duly authenticated by such justice, mayor, or notary public, with the seal of his county or city, or office, affixed in due form. (Signed) WILLIAM FOUSHEE, president. (A Copy.)
Passed the 31st of May, 1804.
Resolved, that the Cashier General is hereby authorised to allow a discount at the rate of a per cent. per annum, on all quotas due on the first day of August next, which may be paid him before that period.
W. F. AST, Principal Agent, M. A. S.
The above are true extracts from the records of the said Society.
W. F. AST, Principal Agent.
The printers in this state, are requested to insert the above resolutions twice in their respective papers—Those whom the foregoing resolution may concern, are requested to make their case known to the office as soon as possible, post paid.
W. F. AST, Principal Agent.
Richmond, May 22, 1804

He cannot, consistently with his own feelings and impressions, refrain from addressing some few hints to those who may be called upon to discharge the important duty of legislators, upon the subject of a general provision to be made by law for the support of those who may be willing to undertake the office of instructors in morality and religion, without regard to sects, or denominations, and without preference to any.
It is not probable, that those who have devoted their lives to the study of the divine nature, and of the nature of moral obligation and social duty; and who feel an unfeigned conviction of their truth and importance, will be more capable of enforcing a sincere conviction and belief of them in others, than those who have not received the benefits of education, or, who are compelled by imperious necessity, to devote the greater part of their time to other avocations and pursuits?
It is not our culture of morals, and of social duty, an object worthy of the attention of every wise legislature?
Doth any clause or article of the bill of rights or constitution of the commonwealth inhibit the legislature from imposing a reasonable tax for those purposes?
If those purposes can be most effectually promoted by the employment of men of learning and ability, and of exemplary lives and conversation as teachers of the duties enjoined by religion and morality, will not a wise legislature have recourse to such means for the culture of morals and of social duty?
If the last question be answered in the affirmative, it may not be deemed improper to suggest the following skeleton of a plan for that purpose.
Let the courts of the several counties within the commonwealth impose a yearly tax within their respective counties, in proportion to the taxes payable to the commonwealth for the same year, and not exceeding one tenth, nor less than one twentieth part of the tax, which each person pays to the commonwealth, to be set a part and unalienably appropriated to the support of teachers of religion and morality, & for the erection and keeping in repair places of worship, and public schools.
Let the tax be collected by the sheriff at the same time that the taxes to the state are collected; and let them be allowed the same commissions thereon, and be subject to the same penalties in case of default; and let them pay the same to the clerk of the county, within two days of the time that the public taxes are payable into the treasury.
Let the clerk of the county be allowed a moderate commission on the sums which he may receive and pay. Let him enter gratis, the names of all persons paying any tax for the support of the teachers of religion and morality, together with the name or names of the person to whom the payer shall direct the same to be paid, and the amount of each person's tax, in a book to be kept for that purpose;
Let any person be at liberty, at any time, to withdraw the payment of his tax from the person to whom he may formerly have directed the same to be paid, and to authorise the payment thereof to another, provided the same be done before the tax shall come into the hands of the clerk.
Let every teacher of religion, claiming any benefit under these regulations, be required and compelled to reside in the county from which the tax is collected; and to keep a public school therein, for the teaching of reading, writing and arithmetic; and to instruct the children of all persons who do not pay a tax of two dollars to the state, for three years, gratis; and all other children within the county, on moderate terms.
If there be any thing in this imperfect sketch incompatible with the most perfect liberty of conscience in matters of religion, the writer has not made the discovery; and making it, would be among the first to disapprove of it.
NO. I. Perhaps there can scarcely be conceived a scheme of religious morality more mild and conciliatory in its tendency, than the one which is here "respectfully submitted to the candid opinion of his enlightened countrymen."
nalties of the law, is not the only privilege which every individual, whatever may be his religious creed, is permitted to enjoy. He is left free to assist in the fullest administration of the government.
The author has moreover attempted to add new attractions to his system by associating with it other objects so exquisitely dear to the heart of man. He has attempted to congregate his plan to the service of God.
Had some high minded inhabitant of Italy, Spain, or even England, been called upon to examine such a system of religious morality as this is, so conciliatory in its temper, and so apparently useful in its tendency; one which promises to add so much to the piety and knowledge of the people, without strengthening the arm of government, or creating a privileged body of clergy;
I shall begin by remarking, that this system proposes the attainment of two very distinct objects; the instruction of the young and of the old. It proposes to lay an assessment which shall provide public schools and teachers for the first; and places of worship, and ministers for the last.
1. No legislative act can be proper, which is not both authorised by the constitution, and recommended by general expediency. We cannot then decide whether any legislative act would be proper on the subject of religion, until we had examined whether the legislature had a constitutional right to pass this law?
Blackstone. "Liberty of conscience in matters of religion consists in the absolute and unreserved exercise of our religious opinions and duties, in the manner which our reason and conviction dictate, without the control or intervention of any human power or authority subject to the law."
If no law can be enacted for the support of religion, which is not contrary to the constitution, it may seem unnecessary to examine into the expediency of the present scheme.
The system which is here recommended to our consideration, is not adapted to the future, but to the present world. The Christian is not expected to be initiated into those mysterious rites which may qualify him for the reception of the joys of heaven.
When I admit that these religious doctrines are to be inculcated, I do not wish to comprehend those mysterious opinions, which almost every sect has investigated and introduced into their formulary of faith.
Examine the history of the church from its earliest epoch. You behold a solitary being possessed of extraordinary endowments, and tracing his descent even up to heaven, founding a new religion.
The whole history of the Church then, justifies the conclusion, that the propagation of any religious doctrine, and the influence of any religious minister must principally arise from an ardent attachment to the cause itself.
He addresses a congregation too, who is generally disposed to receive with reverence, the effusions of his soul.
Whatever system therefore is calculated to awaken this genuine spirit of religion in the minister, and to infuse into their congregations a suspicion of this religious ardour, is so far prejudicial to the moral influence of religion.
BY AUTHORITY. [LAWS OF THE UNITED STATES.]
AN ACT Making provision for the disposal of the public lands in the Indiana Territory and for other purposes.
BE it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the powers vested by law in the surveyor general, shall extend over all the public lands of the United States to which the Indian title has been or shall hereafter be extinguished, north of the river Ohio, and east of the river Mississippi—and it shall be the duty of the said surveyor general, to cause the said lands to be surveyed into townships six miles square, and divided in the same manner, and under the same regulations, and to do and perform all such other acts in relation to the said lands, as is provided by law in relation to the lands, of the United States, situate north west of the river Ohio and above the mouth of Kentucky river: Provided, That the whole expense of surveying and making the lines shall not exceed three dollars for every mile that shall be actually run, surveyed and marked: And provided also, That such tracts of land as are lawfully claimed by individuals within the said boundaries, and the title where to has been or shall be recognized by the United States, shall be laid out and surveyed at the expense of the parties respectively, in conformity with the same boundaries of such tracts.
Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That for the disposal of the lands of the United States north of the river Ohio, and east of the river Mississippi, in the Indiana territory, three land offices shall be established in the same, one at Detroit for the lands lying north of the state of Ohio, to which the Indian title has been extinguished; one at Vincennes for the lands to which the Indian title has been extinguished; and which are included within the boundaries fixed by the treaty lately held with the Indian tribes of the Wabash; and one at Kaskaskia, for so much of the lands included, within the boundaries fixed by the treaty of the thirtieth of August, one thousand eight hundred and three, with the Kaskaskia tribe of Indians, as is not claimed by any other Indian tribe; and for each of the said offices a register and a receiver of public monies shall be appointed, who shall give security in the same manner, in the same sums, and whole compensation, emoluments, and duties, and authority, shall, in every respect, be the same in relation to the lands which may be disposed of at their offices, as are or may be by law provided, in relation to the registers and the receivers of public monies in the several offices established for the disposal of the lands of the United States north of the river Ohio, and above the mouth of Kentucky river.
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That every person claiming lands within any of the three tracts of lands described in the preceding section, by virtue of any legal grant made by the French government, prior to the treaty of Paris, of the tenth of February, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-three, or of any legal grant made by the British government, subsequent to the said treaty, and prior to the treaty of peace between the United States and Great Britain, of the third of September, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, or of any resolution, or act of Congress, subsequent to the said treaty of peace, shall, on or before the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and five, deliver to the register of the land office, within whose district the land may lie, a notice in writing, stating the nature and extent of his claims, together with a plot of the tract or tracts claimed, and may also, on or before that day, deliver to the said register, for the purpose of being recorded, every grant, order of survey, deed, conveyance, or other written evidence of his claim; and the same shall be recorded by the said register, in books to be kept for that purpose, on receiving from the parties at the rate of twelve and a half cents, for every hundred words contained in such written evidence of their claim; and if such person shall neglect to deliver such notice, in writing, of his claim, or to cause to be recorded such written evidence of the same, all his right, so far as the same is derived from any resolution or act of Congress, shall become void, and forever be barred.
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the register, and receiver of public monies, of the three above mentioned land offices, shall, for the lands respectively lying within their districts, be commissioners for the purpose of examining the claims of persons claiming lands by virtue of the preceding sections. Each of the said commissioners shall, previous to entering on the duties of his appointment, respectively, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation, before some person qualified to administer the same: "I do solemnly swear, (or affirm) that I will impartially exercise and discharge the duties imposed upon me, as commissioner for examining the claims to land, by an act of Congress, entitled, "An act making provision for the disposal of the public lands in the Indiana territory, and for other purposes."
for so much of the lands included, within the boundaries fixed by the treaty of the thirtieth of August, one thousand eight hundred and three, with the Kaskaskia tribe of Indians, as is not claimed by any other Indian tribe; and for each of the said offices a register and a receiver of public monies shall be appointed, who shall give security in the same manner, in the same sums, and whole compensation, emoluments, and duties, and authority, shall, in every respect, be the same in relation to the lands which may be disposed of at their offices, as are or may be by law provided, in relation to the registers and the receivers of public monies in the several offices established for the disposal of the lands of the United States north of the river Ohio, and above the mouth of Kentucky river.
Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, That every person claiming lands within any of the three tracts of lands described in the preceding section, by virtue of any legal grant made by the French government, prior to the treaty of Paris, of the tenth of February, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-three, or of any legal grant made by the British government, subsequent to the said treaty, and prior to the treaty of peace between the United States and Great Britain, of the third of September, one thousand seven hundred and eighty-three, or of any resolution, or act of Congress, subsequent to the said treaty of peace, shall, on or before the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and five, deliver to the register of the land office, within whose district the land may lie, a notice in writing, stating the nature and extent of his claims, together with a plot of the tract or tracts claimed, and may also, on or before that day, deliver to the said register, for the purpose of being recorded, every grant, order of survey, deed, conveyance, or other written evidence of his claim; and the same shall be recorded by the said register, in books to be kept for that purpose, on receiving from the parties at the rate of twelve and a half cents, for every hundred words contained in such written evidence of their claim; and if such person shall neglect to deliver such notice, in writing, of his claim, or to cause to be recorded such written evidence of the same, all his right, so far as the same is derived from any resolution or act of Congress, shall become void, and forever be barred.
Sec. 4. And be it further enacted, That the register, and receiver of public monies, of the three above mentioned land offices, shall, for the lands respectively lying within their districts, be commissioners for the purpose of examining the claims of persons claiming lands by virtue of the preceding sections. Each of the said commissioners shall, previous to entering on the duties of his appointment, respectively, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation, before some person qualified to administer the same: "I do solemnly swear, (or affirm) that I will impartially exercise and discharge the duties imposed upon me, as commissioner for examining the claims to land, by an act of Congress, entitled, "An act making provision for the disposal of the public lands in the Indiana territory, and for other purposes."
It shall be the duty of the said commissioners to meet at the places where the said land offices are by this act established, respectively, on or before the first day of January one thousand eight hundred and five; and each board shall, in their respective districts, have power to hear in a summary manner all matters respecting such claims; also to compel the attendance of witnesses, to administer oaths, and examine witnesses, and such other testimony as may be adduced, and to decide thereon according to justice and equity, which decision shall be laid before Congress in the manner herein after directed and to be subject to their decision. The said boards, respectively, shall have power to appoint a clerk, whose duty it shall be to enter in a book to be kept for that purpose, full and correct minutes of their proceedings and decisions, together with the evidence on which such decisions are made; which books and papers, on the dissolution of the boards, shall be deposited in the respective offices of the registers of the land offices; and the said clerk shall prepare two transcripts of all the decisions made by the said commissioners in favor of the claimants to land, both of which shall be signed by the said commissioners, and one of which shall be transmitted to the surveyor general, and the other to the secretary of the treasury; and the lands, the claims to which shall have been thus affirmed by the commissioners, shall not be otherwise disposed of until the decision of congress thereupon shall have been made. It shall likewise be the duty of the said commissioners to make to the secretary of the treasury a full report of all the claims filed with the register of the proper land office, as above directed, which they may have rejected, together with the substance of the evidence adduced in support thereof, and such remarks thereon as they may think proper. Which reports, together with the transcripts of the decisions of the commissioners in favour of claimants, shall be laid by the secretary of the treasury before Congress at their next ensuing session. Each of the commissioners and clerks aforesaid, shall be allowed a compensation of five hundred dollars in full for his services as such; and each of the said clerks shall, previous to his entering on the duties of his office, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation to wit: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will truly and faithfully discharge the duties of a clerk to the board of commissioners for examining the claims to land, as enjoined by an act of Congress, entitled "An act making provision for the disposal of the public lands in the Indiana territory, and for other purposes."
(To be concluded in our next.)
THE SUBSCRIBERS.
(Living on Shockey-Hill, near Mr. Daniel L. Hylton and Mr. Benj. Mobsey) RESPECTFULLY inform the citizens of Richmond and its vicinity, that they have lately commenced the CARPENTER & JOINER'S BUSINESS; and are now ready to undertake any business in their line. They trust, from their particular attention, and faithful performance of every thing they undertake, to merit public patronage. WILLIAM R. LEE, JOHN S. LEE.
May 23, '04. (5)
The following Six Hogsheads of TOBACCO,
now lying in Dymers Ware House, will be sold according to Law: 1809, January 10th—Judith Kelly, marked I. K. No. 5, Gross 1111, Tare 114, Nett 997. 1807, January 9th, do. do. No. 10, Gross 1190, Tare 118, Nett 1077—January 28, William Diggs, marked W. D. No. 17, Gross 1165, Tare 120, Nett 1045—Do. John Brent, marked J. B. No. 21, Gross 1023, Tare 197, Nett 826—January 30, George Brent, marked G. B. No. 25, Gross 1179, Tare 146, Nett 1033. March 13, Spencer George, marked S. G. No. 43, Gross 1052, Tare 106, Nett 946. THOMAS HURST, WM. MEREDITH, Inspectors. May 19.—law3m