The enquirer (Richmond, Va.), 1808-03-18 00:00:00

The Enquirer.
VOL. 4.]
RICHMOND, FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 1808.
[No. 95]
PUBLISHED BY THOMAS RITCHIE, OPPOSITE THE POST-OFFICE, AT FIVE DOLLARS PER ANNUM, PAYABLE IN ADVANCE.
PENITENTIARY STORE. —The subscriber, Agent for the Penitentiary, offers for sale the following articles, the manufacture of that institution, at very low prices for each only at retail; and at 90 days credit at wholesale, for approved endorsed negotiable notes.
   CUT NAILS. Wholesale prices. Retail prices.     3d. 13 cents 14 cents per lb.   4 12 1/2 13 1/2   6 11 1/2 12 1/2   8 10 1/2 11 1/2   10 10 11   12 10 11   20 10 11   Slating nails 11 1/2 12 1/2  
   CUT BRADS. Wholesale prices. Retail prices.     8d. 10 11   10 9 1/2 10 1/2   12 9 1/2 10 1/2   20 9 1/2 10 1/2  
SPRIGS. 3d. 39 cts per lb. 50 per M. 4 22 1/2 67 6 17 84
   WROUGHT NAILS & BRADS. Wholesale prices. Retail prices.     3d. 13 14 per lb.   4 12 1/2 13 1/2   6 11 1/2 12 1/2   8 11 12   10 11 12   12 11 12   20 11 12  
Spikes of all sizes same price as 3d. Nails. Broad & narrow Axes, Hatchets, Hoes, Plough Shares and Coulters, Hinges, Wedges, Hammers, Fenders, Traces and Stretchers, Tin Ware, &c. &c.
   BOOTS & SHOES. Wholesale prices. Retail prices.     Fair tops—back straps $ 8   Ditto 7   Suawarrows 7   Half Boots 5   Plantation and light fine Shoes 1 1/2 a 1 3/4   Do. 2d and 3d qualities 7/8 a 1 1/8   Negro Shoes (strong) 7/8 a 1   Womens leather shoes 6/4 a 8/4   Girls do. 4/4 a 6/4   Boys do. 4/4 a 6/4   Childrens shoe-trees 3/4 a 4/4   Fire Buckets $ 4 1/2 a $ 5 per pair.   Briddles, Surcingles, Back-bands, Whiphongs, Spur-leathers, Hamstrings, &c.  
Any of the above articles made to orders left at Penitentiary Store, second door above the Eagle Tavern. D. J. BURR. Richmond, March 11. [Hf]
EDUCATION. —ANTHONY FELZER respectfully informs his friends and the public in general, that he will remove his day and night School on the first of April to a large and commodious apartment in the lower part of the house occupied by Mr. John P. Shields in the vicinity of the Capitol. 11. therefore, can invite more pupils of both sexes, to share his instruction, which he will teach the French and Italian Languages, English Grammar, Reading & Writing, together with Arithmetic, Geography and the minor Latin Classics. His object is to be useful and his success in teaching French has been proved by experience; for he does not merely impress on the minds of his pupils the verbal science of Grammar, but renders the language familiar to their ears, their tongue and their pen. Terms—Eight dollars per quarter, payable half in advance. Pupils from the country may obtain board at very moderate terms of Mrs. Shields, who offers likewise the use of her Piano-forte to those who would wish to receive instruction on that instrument. March 15. [eptf]
NOTICE. —The subscriber having been appointed Master Commissioner for the Chancery court of Henrico, informs those who may have cases referred to him by order of the court, that he is now ready to act on them. His office is kept at his residence, nearly opposite the Swan Tavern. JAMES H. GORDON. Richmond, March 15. [law3w]
ADVERTISEMENT. —I forewarn all persons whatever from trading or taking an assignment for a bond now in the hands of Mr. George Williamson of Powhatan, Exor. of Jacob Williamson, dec'd. The bond was given by Mrs. Hannah Williamson to William T. Walker of Prince Edward, for the amount of 30 pounds, and the bond dated the third day of January, 1808. GEORGE EGGLESTON, Executor of Hannah Williamson. March 15. [law6w]
FOUND. —a small Silver Spoon, (apparently a desert spoon) marked with the initials T. A. C. and made by E. S.—The owner may have the same, on application at this office, after paying the expenses of this Advertisement. March 15. [3t]
LAND FOR SALE. —About 200 acres on the Stage road about 3 miles from Richmond, joining the Lands of Mr. Isham Gordon, Mr. Wm. Stet and others, about 70 acres cleared and well inclosed in order to make a Crop this present year: the improvements are sufficient to accommodate a tolerable large family by a small expense of repairs; the situation is well known to be healthy, the terms of sale, one third cash, the balance in two annual payments. If not disposed of before the 24th of this month, it will be set up to the highest bidder on the premises on that day by ROBT. WHITE. Meadowbridge, March 15. [ids]
NOTICE. —By virtue of a deed of trust, bearing date the 15th September, 1807, to me executed, by John Sabb, to secure the payment of a sum of money as therein mentioned, I shall proceed to sell for cash, to the highest bidder, on the 14th day of April next, the two Lots or Groups in this city, whereon said Sabb resides, known by the Nos. 107 and 108, in Duvall's addition, together with all appurtenances.—The sale to take place at 2 o'clock on the premises. JOHN SATCHELL. March 15. [ept14thA.]
WILLIAM TEMPLE. has received by the ship Herculand from Liverpool, and Calpe from London, an extensive supply of MERCHANDIZE, suitable to the present and approaching season, which he will sell low. Oct. 10. [f4]
TO RENT. —Four Commodious TENEMENTS, near the Armory.—FOR HIRE. Two Sawyers. E. J. HARVEY. Jan. 2. [eptf]
EUROPE.
Translated from Paris papers to the 4th January.
CONSTITUTION OF THE KINGDOM OF WESTPHALIA.
Napoleon, by the grace of God and the constitutions, emperor of the French, king of Italy, protector of the confederation of the Rhine, willing to give a prompt execution to the 19th article of the treaty of peace of Tilsit, and establish for the kingdom of Westphalia, fundamental constitutions, whereby the happiness of the people who compose it may be guaranteed, and which may at the same time insure to the sovereign the means of contributing as a member of the Rhenish confederation, to the common safety and prosperity; we have ordained and do ordain as follows:
 1. The kingdom of Westphalia is to comprehend the following states, viz.—The states of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel; that part of Aitmark, situate on the left bank of the Elbe; that part of the country of Magdeburg, situate on the left bank of the Elbe; the territory of Halle; the country of Hildesheim and the town of Goslar; the country of Hohenstein; the territory of Quedlingburg; the country of Mansfeld; Erfsfeld with Trefurth, Mullhausen, and Nordhausen; the country of Stobberg-Weinmegerode; the states of Hesse-Cassel with Rinteln and Schaumburg, not including the territory of Hanau and Catzenelnbogen on the Rhine; the territory of Correy, Göttingen & Grubenhagen; the bishoprick of Osnabruck; the bishoprick of Paderborn, Minden, and Ravensberg; and the county of Reithenberg-Kaunitz.  2. We reserve to ourselves the half of the allodial domains of the princes, to be appropriated to the rewards which we have promised to the officers of our armies who have rendered us the most service during the present war. The taking possession of which domains shall take place, without delay, by our intendants, and the process verbal drawn up, conjointly with the authorities of the country, before the 1st day of December.  3. The ordinary war contributions which have been laid on the said countries, shall be paid, or sureties given for the payment, before the 1st day of December.  4. On the 1st day of December, the king of Westphalia shall be put in possession by the commissioners whom we shall appoint, for that purpose, of the full enjoyment and sovereignty of his territory.  5. The kingdom of Westphalia makes a part of the confederation of the Rhine, its contingent shall be 35,000 men in actual service, viz. 20,000 infantry, 13,500 cavalry, & 1,500 artillerymen. During the first years there shall only be in pay 10,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry, and 500 artillerymen; the other 12,500 men shall be furnished by France and garrisoned at Magdeburg. These 12,500 shall be paid, fed and clothed by the king of Westphalia.  6. The kingdom of Westphalia shall be hereditary in the direct descent, natural and legitimate, of prince Jerome Napoleon, from male to male, by order of primogeniture, & to the perpetual exclusion of females and their descendants. In default of natural and legitimate descendants of prince Jerome Napoleon, the throne of Westphalia shall devolve to us and to our heirs and our natural legitimate or adopted descendants. In default of these to the natural and legitimate descendants of prince Joseph Napoleon, king of Naples and Sicily. In default of the latter, to the natural and legitimate descendants of prince Louis Napoleon, king of Holland.—And in default of the latter, to the natural & legitimate descendants of prince Joachim, grand duke of Berg and Cleves.  7. The king of Westphalia and his family are subject, as far as concerns themselves, to the dispositions of the imperial family compact.  8. In case of minority, the regent of the kingdom shall be appointed by us, or our successors, as chief of the imperial family. He shall be chosen among the princes of the royal family. The minority of the king ends at the age of 18.  9. The king and the royal family have for their maintenance a separate treasury, under the title of treasury of the crown, of five millions of francs yearly income. The revenue of the royal forests and part of the domains are appropriated to the purpose. In case the revenues of the domains should prove insufficient, the surplus shall be paid in twelve equal parts at the end of each month, out of the public treasury.  10. The kingdom of Westphalia shall be governed according to the constitutions which consecrate equality in law to all the subjects thereof, and the free exercise of worship.  11. The states, either general or provincial, of the countries of which the kingdom is composed, all political corporations of that kind, and all privileges of said corporations, cities and provinces, are suppressed.  12. All individual privileges are likewise suppressed, in as much as they are incompatible with the dispositions of the preceding article.  13. All feudal servitude, of what nature soever, and of whatever denomination it may be, is suppressed, every inhabitant of the kingdom of Westphalia being to enjoy an equality of rights.  14. The nobility shall continue to exist in its various degrees and with its diverse qualifications, but without giving an exclusive right to any office, function or dignity; or exemption from any public duty.  15. The statutes of the abbeys, priories and noble chapters, are so modified, that every subject of the kingdom may be admitted therein.  16. The system of imposts shall be the same throughout the kingdom. The taxes on landed property shall not exceed one-fifth of its income.  17. The system of the mint, and that of weights and measures, now adopted in France, shall be established throughout the kingdom.  18. The coin shall bear the arms of Westphalia, and the effigy of the king.  19. The number of ministers shall be four, viz. One for justice and the interior, one for 
war, one for finances, commerce and treasury; and there shall be a minister secretary of state.
20. The ministers shall be responsible, each in their own department, for the execution of the laws, and the mandates of the king.
21. The council of state shall be composed of at least 16 members and of 25 at most, appointed by the king, and removable at pleasure. It shall be divided into three sections, viz. section of justice and the interior, section of war, section of commerce and finance.
22. The states of the kingdom shall be composed of one hundred members, appointed by the colleges of departments, viz. seventy members chosen among freeholders, fifteen among merchants and manufacturers, and fifteen among the learned and other citizens, who shall have deserved well of the state.—The members of the state shall receive no salary.
23. They shall be renewed by one-third, every three years. The members whose term has expired, may be re-elected again immediately.
24. The president of state is appointed by the king.
25. The states shall meet upon the convocation ordered by the king. They cannot be convened, prorogued, adjourned or dissolved but by the king.
26. The territory shall be divided into departments, the departments into districts, & the districts into cantons, &c.
27. The departments shall be administered by a prefect.
28. The code of Napoleon shall form the civil law of the kingdom of Westphalia, commencing the 1st January, 1808.
29. The conscription shall be a fundamental law of the kingdom of Westphalia.—The enlisting for money on no account can take place.
30. The foregoing constitution shall be completed by the regulations of the king discussed in his state council.
31. The laws and regulations of public administration shall be published in the bulletin of the laws, and no other form of publication shall be wanted to render them obligatory.
GIVEN in our palace of Fontainebleau, the 15th day of the month of November in the year 1807.
(Signed) NAPOLEON. The Minister Secretary of State. (Signed) HUGUES B. MARET. [In our translation of the above constitution we have omitted to notice such parts of it as relate merely to local regulations, uninteresting in the detail—such as the attributes of the state council, the interior organization of the courts of justice, the administration of the departments, &c.]
Further Foreign Intelligence, via Philadelphia.
LONDON, Jan. 11. Gen. Savary has taken the House of Mr. Irtel, the Master of Police, at Petersburg, for four years, for which he has paid down 100,000 rubles, more than ten thousand pounds, though Mr. Irtel is to continue to live in it himself. As it is known that Gen. Savary is about to return to Paris, and has no occasion whatever for a house at St. Petersburg, this transaction is generally considered in that capital as a largess, and when it is recollected that this largess is given by the head of Bonaparte's exterior Police to the Chief of the Police in the capital of the Russian Empire, it cannot be viewed as an insignificant occurrence. It has been remarked, also, that Gen. Savary, when he appeared in public, was unusually liberal in distributing money among the people.
A report has of late been afloat in military circles, that a very large expedition will ere long be fitted out, the destination South America, to be commanded by Sir John Moore, with some of our ablest Generals—that Government has determined that the stain on the British arms shall be wiped off in that quarter. It is thought that now the conquest of Spanish America will be both an easy and more valuable acquisition, from its neighborhood to the Brazils.
By the Dublin papers received this morning, we learn, that a numerous meeting of Roman Catholics took place in that City, on Tuesday last, the Earl of Fingal in the chair; when it appeared to be the unanimous sense, that it would be advisable to have a petition presented in the ensuing session of the Imperial Parliament, praying for the repeal of the remaining penal laws; and it was agreed that a further meeting should take place on the 19th inst. for the purpose of drawing up the Petition and settling the mode of its presentation.
It is, we think, very probable that circumstances occurred during Bonaparte's absence to render his immediate return to Paris necessary. The unexpected determination of the Prince Regent; the fear of seeing the Brazils thrown entirely into our hands; the danger arising from thence to the Spanish settlements in South America; and the consistency and activity which the intercourse between our government and the Austrian Minister at Paris seems to have contributed to induce him to suspend the important objects for which he repaired to the shores of the Adriatic.
The official paper contains some sharp observations on the different articles of intelligence in the English journals. The spirit of these is anything but pacific. The existence of any negotiation with our government is positively contradicted. In this, perhaps, the Monitor spoke truth. We do not suppose that any direct communication has yet taken place with the French minister for foreign affairs; but, from many reasons, we are led to believe that the intercourse between count Metternich and prince Stralenberg, and the frequent conferences of the latter with our government, relate to the approximation of France and this country.—There are no subjects of difference between us and Austria, that we have heard of, which require such diplomatic activity. The observations in the Monitor we therefore do not consider as decisive against the probability of a negotiation. Pending the negotiation of the preliminary treaty in 1801, as
well as previous to the late negotiation, the official paper furnished frequent instances of similar spleen and violence.
Five Gottenburgh Mails arrived this morning. We have extracted from the Swedish papers such articles of intelligence as had not been anticipated by arrivals from other parts of the continent. It is mentioned in one of these, that the Conscription for the ensuing year is to be called out in France.—The vast extent of French conquests, it is said, render it necessary. Are we to infer from this that Bonaparte intends to retain all he has conquered, and that the Treaty of Tilsit was but a mere mockery? So it would seem, indeed; for his armies, at this very moment, occupy nearly the same positions they did when that monument of the fear & folly of the Emperor Alexander was erected.
GOTTENBURGH, Dec. 14. A grand ball was given last night in honor of their majesties, at which almost all the distinguished travellers here were present. It was observed that the king directed his conversation particularly to Lord L. Gower, asking his Lordship many questions.
Dec. 15, 8 A. M.—The King and Queen have just set off for Stockholm, the guns are now firing.
The following is the Proclamation of the French general Junot, on entering the city of Lisbon:
"The governor of Paris, first aid-de-camp to his Majesty the Emperor and King, General in Chief, Knight of the Great Cross of the order of Portugal."
"Inhabitants of Lisbon,"
"My army is about to enter your walls—We have come to save your harbor and your Prince from the influence of England."
"This Prince, so respectable for his virtues, has allowed himself to be biased by the advice of evil men that encompass him, and has gone to throw himself into the arms of his enemies."
"They have made him fear for his personal safety, to his subjects he has paid no regard, and your interests have been sacrificed to the cowardice of a few courtiers."
"Men of Lisbon, be at rest in your houses, stand in no fear either of my army or of me, we are terrible only to our enemies and the enemies of virtue."
"The Great Napoleon, my master, sends me to protect you: I will protect you."
"JUNOT."
CONGRESS.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
MONDAY, March 7.
A message in writing was received from the President of the U. States, inclosing documents and plans respecting the batteries and public buildings at New-Orleans.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the U. S.
In the city of New-Orleans, and adjacent to it, are sundry parcels of ground, some of them with buildings and other improvements on them, which it is my duty to present to the attention of the legislature. The title to these grounds appears to have been retained in the former sovereigns of the province of Louisiana, as public fiduciaries, and for the purposes of the province. Some of them were used for the residence of the governor, for public offices, hospitals, barracks, magazines, fortifications, levees, &c. others for the town house, schools, markets, landings, and other purposes of the city of New-Orleans: some were held by religious corporations, or persons; others seem to have been reserved for future disposition. To these must be added a parcel called the Bature, which requires more particular description. It is understood to have been a shoal or elevation of the bottom of the river, adjacent to the bank of the suburbs of St. Mary, produced by the successive deposits of mud, during the annual inundations of the river, and covered with water only during those inundations. At all other seasons, it has been used by the city, immemorally to furnish earth for raising their streets and court yards, for mortar and other necessary purposes, and as a landing or quay for unloading fire-wood, lumber and other articles brought by water. This having been lately claimed by a private individual, the city opposed the claim on a supposed legal title in itself: but it has been adjudged that the legal title was not in the city. It is, however, alleged that that title, originally in the former sovereigns, was never parted with by them, but was retained in them for the uses of the city and provinces, and consequently has now passed over to the United States.—Until this question can be decided under legislative authority, measures have been taken according to law, to prevent any change in the state of things, to keep the grounds clear of intruders. The settlement of this title, the appropriation of the grounds and improvements formerly occupied for provincial purposes to the same or to such other objects as may be better suited to present circumstances; the confirmation of the uses in private, as may of right, or on other reasonable considerations, expect them, are matters now submitted to the determinations of the legislature.
The papers and plans now transmitted, will give them such information on the subject as I possess, and, being mostly originals, I must request that they may be communicated from one to the other house, to answer the purposes of both.
TH: JEFFERSON, March 7, 1808.
The Message and Documents being read, were referred to the committee on public lands.
On motion of Mr. Clifton,
Resolved, That a committee be appointed to enquire into the expediency of continuing in force for a longer time, an act, for the more effectual preservation of peace, in the ports and harbors of the U. States, and the waters under their jurisdiction, and that they have leave to report by bill or otherwise.
On motion of Mr. Montgomery the House resolved itself into a committee of the whole, on the bill concerning courts martial & courts of enquiry.
Mr. J. Clay's motion for striking out the first section being yet under consideration.
Mr. Findley said, he did not know that argument was necessary to subvert the objections which had been made to the bill. The gentleman from Kentucky, (Mr. Rowan) had given the best reason in the world for his objections, that he knew nothing about the subject; every one hearing his arguments, would have discovered that, without his telling them. Those officers who compose court martial, said Mr. F. are selected from their country, for their integrity and honor, and are responsible for their conduct. I wish the gentleman from Kentucky and all who do not know it, to understand that court martial are always held as publicly as civil courts, but deliberate and make up their opinions in private. Mr. F. then made some observations in favor of the principle of the bill; he thought the measure which it embraced was necessary for the justification of character and to prevent slander. He said he had been in court martial; and whenever the judge advocate had summoned citizens, they had attended without compulsion. If persons who were summoned, were inclined to do justice, they would still do so; but as a case of refusal had occurred, it was requisite to provide that they should not have it in their power to refuse.
The question on striking out the first section was then taken and the motion negatived, 52 to 36.
Mr. Taylor observed, that he had been struck with the force of the observations of the gentleman from Maryland a few days ago, on that part of the law, which requires, upon a certain cause shown, the production of every paper, document, &c. The judicial courts did not possess the power of wresting from an individual, private papers. The general term of the laws which authorized, the sending for persons, papers and records, in certain cases were construed to include merely public papers. He wished to leave these courts precisely in the same situation as courts of law, and therefore moved to insert in the first section the word "public" before the words "paper, document, &c." Agreed.
Several amendments having been made not affecting the principle of the bill, The committee rose, and reported the bill.
The amendments having been agreed to, & the question having been put, that the bill be engrossed for a third reading.
Mr. D. R. Williams moved to strike out all the 1st section, except the amendment which had been made.
The Speaker decided that the motion was not in order.
The question on the bill's passing to a third reading, was then taken by yeas & nays on motion of Mr. Stanford, as follows:
YEAS—Messrs. W. Alston, Bacon, Bard, Blake, Boyle, Brown, Burwell, Butler, Calhoun, G. W. Campbell, M. Clay, Cook, Cutts, Dawson, Deane, Desha, Eppes, Findley, Fisk, Green, Heister, Helms, Holland, Holmes, Howard, Isley, Jackson, Johnson, Jones, Kirkpatrick, Knight, Lambert, McCreery, J. Montgomery, N. R. Moore, Jer. Morrow, Jno. Morrow, Nelson, Newbold, Newton, Nichols, Porter, Pugh, Rea (Penn) Rhea (Tenn) J. Richards, M. Richards, Sawyer, Seaver, Smelt, Smilie, J. K. Smith, Southard, Storer, Swart, Taylor, Thompson, Troup, Verplanck, Wharton, Whitehill, Wilbour, Wilson, Winn, Withersall—65.
NAYS—Messrs. L. J. Alston, Basset, Bibb, Champion, Chittenden, J. Clay, Cobb, Culpepper, Dana, Davenport, Durell, Elliot, Ely, Gardner, Gray, Harris, Hoge, Jenkins, Kelly, Lewis, Livermore, Lloyd, Macon, Marion, Masters, D. Montgomery, Moseley, Pitkin, Quincy, Randolph, Riker, Rowan, Russell, S. Smith, Stanford, Sturges, Tallmadge, Trigg, Upham, Van Allen, Van Horn, D. R. Williams, M. Williams—43.
TUESDAY, March 9.
Mr. Claiborne, a member from the state of Virginia, appeared and took his seat.
The Speaker having commenced reading the engrossed bill concerning courts martial and courts of enquiry.
Mr. Basset said, he could not sit still while the bill was reading, without mentioning a proposition which he wished to make, in relation to it. He believed there was no position more sound than that, wherever a tribunal was instituted, it should be made as perfect as possible; to effect this, it was necessary that it should be induced with the most extensive power to collect facts. He was therefore clearly of opinion, that the power of military courts to

risk of life, limb or reputation before a court, and not have the benefit of that testimony which would prove his innocence. There was no civil criminal jurisdiction throughout the United States, the constitution having forbade it, in which the person accused was not confronted with his witnesses; depositions were not allowed to be produced as evidence in such cases. This bill provides, said he, that in cases going to life and infamous punishment, oral testimony shall be had; in other cases, depositions may be taken upon application to a judge of the United States by the judge advocate or party accused. My own opinion on this subject is, that in no case whatever, ought a sentence affecting life to be adjudged unless the party be confronted with his witnesses; this too, is the practice in our civil courts under the constitution. The principle contained in the bill does not vary from the practice of the courts of the United States, or of the several states. Inasmuch as but in few cases, can it be necessary to summon witnesses from remote parts of the Union, and as in those cases they ought to attend, I wish the bill not to be recommitted.
Mr. M. Williams wished the bill to be recommitted and stated his reasons for so doing. Among others, that parole evidence taken before a court of enquiry when collected, could not be received by a court martial in cases affecting life or limb. When gentlemen come to examine the principles of the bill, said he, they will be found erroneous. I am certainly of opinion, that there ought to be provision by law to give a person accused of a crime a fair opportunity to meet all charges against him; but I cannot see any good grounds why a citizen should be dragged before a court martial, or compelled to come forward when their testimony could not be received. Whenever an officer in the army is charged with a crime against military law, he is tried by a military court; but whenever he commits an offence of a civil nature, it is tried by a civil court. It is well known, that the case which has formed the ground of this bill, is triable by a civil court—and, suppose a charge against an officer for murder, for bribery or corruption, is it proper that these being civil offences should be tried by a military court? I think the bill very exceptionable; I wish every person accused to have a fair trial, but I would never give power to a military court to drag our citizens from every part of the union. Another section gives power to compel the production of all public papers. Would you compel a clerk of a court to bring forth all his records? Is there in the United States any court which has that power? In some cases, copies of particular records are permitted to be taken—but this bill not only requires the records, but all in the possession of any officer, upon the summons of a military court. Another part says, the witness shall be tried for non-attendance by the military court, and fined by a civil court. The second section says, the witness shall not be discharged until he has gone through an examination, and the court think proper to discharge him. Gentlemen have told us, that a military court will not pretend to abuse their authority: I would not give an authority to them which they possibly could abuse. A witness might be led to give testimony to convict himself by a court composed of military men, who, though actuated by good motives, may not be acquainted with the correct rules of procedure. In such cases, I can never consent to vote for this bill; if it be recommitted and such a bill reported as might be formed, I might vote for it, as I am willing to make some provision in the case. Such a bill as this, taking power from the civil and vesting it with the military authority, never ought to be adopted in our government. We should be careful not to legislate for the particular case, but consider the general effects of the bill.
After some further debate the House adjourned.
WEDNESDAY, March 9. The House went into a committee of the whole, 55 to 35, Mr. STORER in the chair, on the bill concerning Courts Martial and Courts of Enquiry.
Mr. J. Montgomery said, that to meet the objections offered by gentlemen to the bill on yesterday he had prepared amendments which he hoped would remove every objection. He then proposed an amendment respecting the power of a military court to call witnesses to the distance of 100 miles from the place where it shall be held, thus engrafting on these courts the principle of civil courts of the U.S.—Agreed to without a division.
Mr. Livermore had no objection to give military courts the power to compel testimony if it were so secured as not to be injurious to the citizen. He thought it should never be done but for a specified crime coming within the articles of war. Why compel a citizen 100 miles from his home if no end was to be answered by it? These charges should be supported by affidavit as cases submitted to a grand jury; when that was the case, witnesses might attend. To meet his own idea on this subject he moved the following provision.
Provided always, That no summons shall issue unless some specific charge shall be made in writing supported by affidavit, of an offence, of which if the person accused should be afterwards convicted on trial before a court martial, such person would be liable to punishment, pain or penalty by virtue of the act entitled "an act for establishing rules and articles for the government of the armies of the U.S." made and passed the 10th day of April, 1806, and of which the trial and punishment is not barred by the 8th article of said act, or of any offence committed in the navy of the U.S. cognizable by a court martial."
Mr. Bacon objected to this amendment, as going totally to exclude courts of enquiry from the operation of the bill. If they were considered as any thing, he could not see, why they should not have the same power to issue compulsory process as courts martial. This amendment was drafted in such a manner as completely and exactly to exclude the court of enquiry, now pending from exercising the general power delegated by the bill—whether this was the gentleman's intention, or not, he could not pretend to say.
(To be continued.)
DOMESTIC.
Extract of a letter from Judge Russell, dated Mount Holly, March 1, to Aaron Kitchell, Esq. at Washington.
I enclose you one of the enclosed resolutions, with a memorandum forward the proceedings of a republican meeting, convened at this place, and composed of the greater part of the members of our city court, as well as of a
number of other very respectable gentlemen of this county. I beg leave at the same time to express my individual approbation of the meeting at Washington, and of the gentlemen recommended as President and Vice-President of the United States."
At a meeting of republican citizens of the county of Burlington, in the state of New Jersey, held at the House of Joseph, Harkinson, Innkeeper, in Mount Holly, on Wednesday, the 10th of February, A. D. 1808 DAVID WRIGHT, Esq. was appointed Chairman, and ABRAHAM BROWN, Secretary.
When the proceedings of a meeting of the Republican representatives of each House of Congress, held at the City of Washington, on the 23rd ultimo, for the purpose of recommending persons to the citizens of the United States to fill the offices of President and Vice-President of the United States being read, it was unanimously Resolved, As the opinion of this meeting that, at this momentous crisis of our national existence, when foreign enmity joined with internal conspiracy, threatens to destroy our liberties, more than ordinary vigilance is necessary to preserve us from the machinations of our enemies—and that, no means more sure to prevent the success of those machinations can be pursued, than to place the government of the country in the hands of men, whose talents fit them for the arduous trust, and whose integrity and attachment to our republican institutions are a security against their improperly using the power delegated to them.
Resolved, As the opinion of this meeting, that the persons recommended to the citizens of the United States by the said meeting, to fill the offices of President and Vice-President, are from their talents, integrity and attachment to the principles of our government, worthy of the trust, and that this meeting highly approves as well the manner in which this recommendation is made, as the persons recommended, and will use all proper means to secure their election.
Resolved, That the honorable Judge Rossell be requested to communicate to the members in Congress from the state of New Jersey, a copy of these resolutions, signed by the Chairman and attested by the Secretary.
DAVID WRIGHT, Chairman. ABM. BROWN, Secretary.
To the Editors of the American Citizen.
The following letter, received by mail, has been communicated to several of the friends of Governor Clinton, but finding the opinion it was intended to refute, more extensive than at first imagined; the gentleman to whom it was addressed, conceives he will be justified in giving it publicity through the medium of the press.
Washington March 5, 1808.
"DEAR SIR, Yesterday I had the honor to receive your letter of the 1st. inst. and am not surprised to learn that some of my friends in your city are induced to infer from my silence on the subject of the nomination of candidates for the offices of President and Vice-President, that some time ago at this place, and since published in the newspapers, that my name was mentioned for the latter, with my knowledge and approbation. The inference is a natural one, although in the present instance incorrect."
"Viewing with great anxiety the critical and arduous situation of our national affairs, and deeply impressed with a belief that it would require the united wisdom and patriotism of the different branches of the government, to avert the dangers which threaten our country, I formed a resolution at the commencement of this important session, not to participate in any conversation touching the ensuing Presidential election, or to express any sentiment or determination respecting it, that might have a tendency to disturb, or any baleful effect on our public deliberations. This resolution I have hitherto scrupulously observed, and now regret the necessity I feel myself under, of a partial departure from it, in order to remove the false impressions which it seems my silence has occasioned, by assuring my friends, through you, that I never have been directly or indirectly consulted on the subject, either before or since that nomination was made; nor was I even apprised of the meeting held for the purpose; otherwise, than by having accidentally seen a notice or summons to one of the members to attend, from S. R. Bradley Esq."
"However correct and forcible the objections you have stated against this procedure may be, as it is a business in which I have had no agency or participation, and over which I can have no control; it might be considered improper in me, situated as I am, to make any comments on it."
"I am, with great respect and esteem; Your most obedient servant, "GEORGE CLINTON."
NORFOLK, March 14
On Saturday evening a British fleet of 5 sail of the line and a frigate, anchored off our Capes, consisting of the Royal George of 100 guns; Neptune 98; Temeraire 98; Dragon 80; Tonnant 80; Eurydice 32—under the command of Sir John Thomas Duckworth.—This fleet sailed from England on the 17th of January. His Britannic Majesty's Consul communicated to the Editor of this paper the following circumstances: That this fleet sailed in pursuit of the Rochefort squadron, which had escaped from that port, composed of the following ships:—Majestic 100 guns; Lys 74; Ajax 80; Suffren 74; Magellan 74; Janapette 74; Flora 74; Servillante brig.
Admiral Duckworth steered first for Madeira, near which island he spoke the British frigate Comus, capt. Piercy, who informed him that he had been chased a few days before by a French line of battle ship and frigate, and had nearly been captured. Admiral D. then proceeded to the West-Indies, from whence he came to our Capes. The Consul further informed us that Sir John Duckworth has forwarded to him a dispatch from Mr. Rose, at Washington, in which he states (we understand from the consul) that the appearance of this fleet so unexpectedly at this juncture, may excite some sensation in the American government, and requests that Mr. Rose would immediately communicate to our government the cause of his coming upon this coast.
These are all the particulars which we are informed of from an authentic source. Report says, and as proceeding from a British officer, that there are 300 troops on board this fleet. Col. Hamilton was asked if there were any troops on board, he replied not to his knowledge. The number however far exceeds what could be carried in that number of ships.
The unexpected appearance of this fleet, must prove to every person the facility with which we can be assailed by an European power, who has the command of the seas; with such a power we have had reason to expect a war for nearly nine months, and yet the country is in no better state of defence than it was nine months ago.
The British ships were yesterday anchored to the Southward of the capes.
The Rochefort fleet may probably pay a visit to the Brazils, where they might have effected something, if the British Admiral had not sent four sail of the line with the Portuguese fleet. Ledger.
Captain Stemering, of the sloop Rover, in three days from New-York, passed the Capes at sun-set last evening, saw none of the British fleet except one, which had been close in, but tacked and stood out to sea. 18.
Just as our paper was ready for press, Captain Strong from Charleston, favoured us with a paper of Wednesday last, from which we have extracted London news to the 16th of January.—Capt. Strong passed Cape Henry this morning at ten o'clock, at which time, and during his passage, he saw no ship of war.
We understand that admiral Duckworth stated in a letter to Colonel Hamilton, that he should not remain more than forty-eight hours off our Capes. Ibid.
CHARLESTON, March 9.
The letter bag of the ship Adeline, capt. Trott, 31 days from London, was brought up last evening, by one of the pilot-boats. Our regular files by this arrival, are only to the 7th of January, on which day the ship left London. Capt. Trott, however, sent up a single paper of the 16th of January, (which he probably obtained in the Downs) with which we have been favoured. We regret that we have not been able to procure the intermediate dates, as this paper throws but little light on the situation of European affairs—we have extracted the most interesting part of its contents:
LONDON, January 16.
Mr. Sanson the chairman of the committee of American merchants, yesterday waited upon the chancellor of the exchequer, to know whether licenses would be granted for the protection of cargoes destined for America. The chancellor of the exchequer said, he saw no occasion for such licenses, as we were not at war with America; but he did not think there could be any objection to grant them, to satisfy those who might think it necessary to apply for them.
The situation of America with respect to France does not seem less precarious than with respect to England. The French privateers, in conformity to the late decree, capture every American they meet, bound to England. The ship Live Oak, an American ship from Virginia to London, has been taken, retaken, and brought into the Downs. The Hyades, an American ship, from Charleston and Cowes to London, was taken on the 31st ultimo by a French privateer and carried into Calais—the captain and crew taken out of the ship and put under guard. The Joseph and Edward, from Guernsey to Dover, was taken on the 5th inst. and carried into Calais. Several other vessels have lately been carried into Calais; among them were three American vessels, exclusive of the Hyades.
The transport board continues to engage large coppered ships, for long voyages. Many of these vessels are to proceed to India, for the purpose of bringing home hemp—the directors of the East-India company having engaged to furnish government with twenty thousand tons of hemp annually, for the next three years, the whole of which is to be brought home in ships especially fitted and prepared for the purpose, so as to prevent the article from imbibing an improper heat on its voyage to England.
It was yesterday reported, that the bank of England had offered to lend government ten millions for one year, without interest; and that government had declined the offer, as not being adequate to their expectations.
The public will not be a little surprised, to hear that General M'Leod is now in London, and has frequent conferences with Lord Castlereagh and the Duke of York! We can assure our readers, however, from unquestionable authority, that he has been in town for the last ten days.
Many persons seem inclined to build sanguine hopes of peace, on the concluding part of the Moniteur's comments on his majesty's Declaration. The permitting our maritime code to remain at present undiscovered, and to be over regulated according to the respective strength and policy of future belligerents, is certainly a difficulty mastered, and being a concession which the former language of Bonaparte gave us no reason to expect, at first sight, appears to intimate, that dispositions are gradually becoming more pacific.
We are, however, very far from thinking, that the official paper (for such we may consider it in the Moniteur) warrants a favorable anticipation of the result of those communications, which are now going on between the governments. It certainly proves the truth of our original statement, that communications bearing towards peace, have taken place. The new light in which the independence of the seas is affected to be considered, shews that Bonaparte wishes to agitate the subject of Negotiation. Nay, we do not doubt that his desire for peace may be sincere; at least, it would be strange if it is not, for certainly the relative situations of the two countries do not intimate that France has most reason to dread a period of rest, which shall afford an opportunity of prosecuting the advantages gained in war to the purposes of internal prosperity.
SPARTA, (Geo) February 26.
Hancock Superior Court, Feb. term, 1808.
Present, his Honor JUDGE TAIT. On the first of the present term, immediately after the court was organized, the Foreman of the grand jury presented the following petition, to wit:
Feb. the 15th, 1808. To the Hon. Charles Tait, Judge of the Superior Court, now sitting for the county of Hancock.
The grand jury for the county aforesaid, taking into view the embarrassing situation of our country, from the effect which the embargo laid by the general Government, has on Commerce, and the incalculable injury which will thereby inevitably result to the good citizens of this state and country, if courts of justice continue open, unanimously recommended that the court proceedings at the present term be suspended until Legislative interference can be obtained.
CHARLES ABERCROMBIE, Foreman.
The court took time to consider the request of the Grand Jury and finally came to the conclusion, that as much distress would ensue, if judgment were now rendered, on account of the Embargo imposed by the general Government, and the consequent fall of the price of the productions of the country. But being conscious, that it is not competent for the court to render all the relief necessary—this being in the power of the legislature alone, and the other court being desirous to meet the wishes of the Grand Jury, as far as in the regular exercise of its judicial functions it can do—thinks proper to adjourn over all further proceedings until the third Monday in May next.
The Court took up the proceedings of the Grand Jury—and thereupon Ordered, That a certified copy thereof be transmitted to the Executive of this state, and that the whole be published in the Farmer's Gazette.
The court then adjourned until the third Monday in May next.
A. MARTIN, Clerk.
From Lisbon.—We learn by the brig Hope that arrived at N. York, that 20,000 French and Spanish troops, were quartered in Lisbon; and that another French army of 10,000 men had entered Portugal. It is further stated, that there is no cordiality be-
between the Portuguese and French; that when the French flag was hoisted, the inhabitants revolted, and would have succeeded if they had had a brave commander. They were got under by superior force.
It is further added (and it came from one of the French officers) that during the march of the French army into Portugal, about 2000 of them died of starvation and fatigue, and that they subsisted two days upon acorns. New-York Paper.
Captain Avery from Martinique informs, that the French frigates which arrived at Fort Royal, brought out orders to capture all neutral vessels bound to or from English ports, or having been boarded by British cruisers.
A French squadron has arrived at Basse-terre, Guad. with 4000 troops, which were disembarked.
THE ENQUIRER.
RICHMOND, MARCH 18, 1808.
FOR THE ENQUIRER.
To Messrs. Joseph Clay, Abraham Trigg, John Russell, Josiah Masters, Geo. Clinton, jr., Gurdon S. Mumford, John Thompson, Peter Swart, Edwin Gray, W. Hoge, Samuel Smith, Daniel Montgomery, John Harris, Samuel Maclay, David R. Williams, James M. Garnett and John Randolph, members of Congress.
GENTLEMEN,
One of the people of the United States, to whom you have lately addressed yourselves through the medium of the press, returns you his acknowledgment through the same channel, and as one of your constituents he expects to be heard by you in his turn. An appeal to the nation by their representatives in Congress, and that under so solemn a form as a protest, strikes the attention and commands respect. The parliamentary protest in England, has generally been the act of a patriotic minority, resisting in behalf of the people, the corrupt policy and bold encroachments of the minister. We have been accustomed to see and to feel in those protests the genuine flame of the patriot, the unity and simplicity of truth, the energy of argument, crowned with the light, the order and dignity of eloquence. From a natural association of ideas, on which you, no doubt, calculated, we received your protest with similar feelings. It is true, indeed, that in this country we have perceived nothing either of ministerial oppression or corruption, during the course of our present administration. The country has appeared to us to flourish in halcyon peace. Instead of oppression, we have felt our burdens lightened; instead of corruption, we have seen only that political purity and chastity which become a republic. But in spite of seeing and feeling, when we find a congressional protest published to the world and supported by dissentients so respectable, in number, we, at first, apprehend that our senses have been deceived; that unknown to us there has been oppression or corruption, or both, which this band of honest and independent patriots is now about to expose and proclaim to the nation. We take up your protest with hearts beating full of expectation and anticipated gratitude. But what is our disappointment, what our regret, what our disgust, when instead of a protest breathing the elevated spirit of conscious truth and virtue, telling us of wrongs which we have suffered and proving them too, we find ourselves insulted by an electioneering squib—weak and inconsistent in its charges—shuffling and prevaricating in its argument—poor, entangled and crippled in its composition. Is it by these means that you seek to recommend yourselves to our respect? Is it thus that you respect the understanding and integrity of your countrymen?
The jealous resentment of a republic, is the sacred guardian of her honor and safety. The wise and the virtuous approach, and excite it with caution; for they know that it is a dangerous passion, and they would confine it to its appropriate function, the punishment of guilt, and the preservation of the republic. It is only the weak and the wicked, who seek to rouse this lion passion on every occasion; the weak, because they know not what they do; and the wicked, because they know it too well: because they are, perhaps, in a situation which anarchy cannot make worse, and may make better; or because there is some man of pre-eminent merit who stands in the way of their designs, and who is too firmly fixed to be removed by any other means than a popular storm; or because they feel themselves so perfectly eclipsed in the plain road of virtuous and honest policy, that they find it necessary to fly off into an eccentric track, in order to catch the public eye; and because they had rather be regarded as baleful meteors, shaking pestilence and plague upon the earth, than as salutary planets of inferior magnitude and splendor, dispensing light and maintaining the harmony of the system; or because they have been balked in the obtention of some favorite appointment, and writhing under the united pangs of disappointed ambition and rancorous revenge, or panting for the guilty glory of heading a bold and turbulent faction, they would involve a republic in confusion and ruin, rather than not to be gratified and distinguished. These are truths which the people of the United States understand; and understanding which, they will scan with a critical and suspicious eye, every attempt which is made to inflame the national resentment. Before they suffer themselves to be inflamed, they will examine well the causes which are assigned for it. Before they suffer their confidence to be withdrawn from a tried, a faithful and a favorite servant, they will analyze with calmness and patience the charges which are made against him. They will do more: they will look with an eye of jealous scrutiny, into the characters and motives of his accusers. They will see whether there be no one among them to whom the removal of that favorite would be personally convenient or grateful; no one, whose resentment or whose envy it would soothe; no clan of subaltern characters, to whose private and personal attachment to a restless and ambitious chieftain, it would administer delight. They will trace the denunciation to its source; and see whether it be fair and candid, with a sincere and single eye to the public good; or whether it be the intrigue of a cabal, or put out of the way, a man, who is too honest and virtuous for their purposes. As to you, gentlemen, it is to be presumed, that you can defy this scrutiny. Occupying the station which you do, it would be horrible to think otherwise of you. To turn against you the "vantage ground" which we have given you, to use it for the purpose of embroiling us with one another, of ruining our peace, and
overwhelming the republic with civil discord, in order that you might rise, like the spirits of the storm, to the sovereign direction, would be an abuse of confidence, a pitch of ingratitude and perfidy, of which we trust that our infant republic has, as yet, no examples.
But, acquitting you of this monstrous guilt, how are we to overlook the indiscretion, the folly, the petulance, the inconsistency of your conduct? As one of the people, I take leave to ask you why you have thought it necessary thus to sound the tocsin of alarm in our ears? Is it that there has been some great and flagitious crime committed? some act "in direct hostility to the principles of the constitution;" some "gross assumption of power not delegated by the people;" some "attempt to produce an undue bias in the ensuing election of President and Vice-President?" Is it that fired with virtuous indignation at this conduct, you deem it your duty to denounce it at our tribunal? Thus you believe it, when we know that you yourselves have done and are now doing the very things which you denounce? You arraign the late caucus at Washington: but have not you yourselves, or at least the most distinguished among you, been members of caucuses on the very same occasion? Were you not members of a caucus for this very purpose in the presidential election of 1800? You cannot deny it; you dare not deny it. When it was found that there was an equal division in the electoral votes between Mr. Jefferson and A. Burr, were you not frequently, nay almost perpetually in caucus for the purpose of devising means to ensure the ultimate election of him whom you believed the choice of the people? Were you not, again, in caucus for the presidential election which took place in the year 1803? These are facts of public notoriety. You do not deny them. Nay, you admit that caucuses "have heretofore been customary." Your consciences admonished you of the inconsistencies into which you were plunging, & attempts to excuse yourselves. "These meetings," you say "if not justified, were palliated by the necessity of the union." No shuffling in the ranks, gentlemen. A caucus is right or wrong in principle; if wrong, nothing can make it right. If the caucus of 1800 was "in direct hostility with the principles of the constitution;" if it was "a gross assumption of power not delegated by the people;" the caucuses of which you were members, were equally "in direct hostility with the constitution;" were equally "gross assumptions of power not delegated by the people;" for the constitution has undergone no change in this respect. It gave no more caucusing power in 1800-4, than it gives in 1808. Out of your own mouths, then, you are condemned: "wherein ye judge others, ye condemn yourselves; for ye that judge, do the same things."
But this is not all.—You declare with the solemnity of a protest, which you make in your official and sworn characters as members of Congress, that, in your opinion a caucus is "in direct hostility with the constitution." Yet, you yourselves have been guilty of this hostility. Are you aware, gentlemen, of the abyss into which you have thrown yourselves? Were you not in 1800-4 bound by your official oaths to support the constitution; and have you not deliberately and repeatedly done an act, which, in your judgment, violates that constitution? Whether a caucus, in reality, violates the constitution or not, is in this part of the enquiry, immaterial; you believe that it does so; you have nevertheless done the deed; so at the bar of conscience, therefore, you are equally as guilty of a breach of your oath, as if your opinion were correct: For "to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean." With what face then dare you come to our bar to arraign others? It is the honorable office of states evidence, of informers, that you court. With what face dare you, who are demonstrably and confessedly guilty, to arraign others who are innocent, at least, in intention, for aught that appears to the contrary? For it does not appear that they deem a caucus a breach of the constitution: the liberal and fair conclusion from the fact of their having been in caucus, is, that they deem it correct. We had drawn the same conclusion in your favour; but you have taken the aims to disclaim that conclusion, by declaring that you knew you were infringing the constitution, and deliberately sinning against the light of knowledge. Do you suppose the people of the U. States so blind that these palpable and damning facts will escape their observation? You seem to suppose it; but you shall find yourselves mistaken.—Away, then, with your shuffling palliations; in the opinion of a plain and honest people, there is not upon earth a circumstance which can palliate a voluntary, a conscious, an acknowledged breach of an oath.
But most unfortunately for you, the palliating circumstances on which you rely, to screen yourselves, are incorrect in point of fact. In the election of 1803, the federalists did not "present a formidable phalanx;" for the election of 1801 had proved, if not their annihilation, at least, their total impotence. In the election of 1805, then, there was no conflict between federal and republican influence. (1) Nor at that election was it necessary to hold a caucus "to prevent their placing, by intrigue, a federal vice-president in the presidential chair;" because the amendment of the constitution which guards against that danger had then taken place. These are your palliating circumstances; circumstances, which are not true in point of fact; and which, if they were true, would form no palliations of your offence. Such are the grounds on which you choose to place yourselves before us. Such the pretexts under which you poorly attempt to shelter yourselves from our resentment, while you strive to direct the storm against the innocent.
Again: You accuse the members of Congress who formed the late caucus at Washington of attempting to produce "an undue bias on the presidential election—by the sanction of congressional names." Now, pray, what was the object of your protest—of your indecent and unfounded invective against Mr. Madison? Was that intended to produce no "bias on the presidential election," and to produce it too, "by the sanction of congressional names?" Blush at the inconsistencies in which you have involved yourselves—inconsistencies, which prove the pure and noble policy by which you are actuated, and which, rely upon it, will not be shortly forgotten by your country.
But what is all this clamor and uproar about caucuses, and which, all at once, have become so fraught with danger to the country? The people of the United States see nothing in a caucus, but a conference among the members of Congress to ascertain the favorite of a majority of the people. The presidential election is a prevailing topic of con-

versation in every quarter of the union, for a considerable time before it takes place. The pretensions of the several candidates are every where publicly and freely discussed. The members of Congress, then, will have learnt the sentiments of their respective constituents, before they leave home. The object of a caucus, is understood to be nothing more nor less, than to bring those sentiments together and by comparing them to ascertain who has the preponderance of popular favor. What odds does it make how this conference is called; whether by an anonymous card, or one signed with the name of Mr. Bradley. (2) The essential object is the conference; and so that one be fairly obtained, the people care very little about the forms and ceremonies which led to it. As to the assertion that the notice was private, we require evidence. We have seen a very different statement of this fact—a card published in the name of Mr. Bradley; and a counter-card in the name of Mr. Some-body else. And as to you, gentlemen, we presume that it would have made very little difference whether the notice was public or private; since your new-born religion on this subject, you would have been too scrupulous or too stately to have attended, although the notice had come to you in the form of a subpoena ad testificandum, and that, on the solemn call of your country.
As little weight is there in the objection, that one of the gentlemen who attended the caucus was a delegate from one of the territories: "a man who in elections has no suffrage and in legislation no vote." For the business of the conference was neither to elect a president nor to make a law. It was simply to collate and compare the sentiments of the people in the different parts of the union, as to the person who should be the next president; and we presume that the delegate from the territory was as capable of reporting the sentiments of his constituents upon this subject, as if he had had a "suffrage in elections" or a vote in legislation. Where, then, are all those terrors which are supposed to exist in caucuses? According to our apprehension of them, their conclusions will flow from the people; will be the mere echo of the people's voice. But should it be otherwise; should they misrepresent the opinion of the people, they have spoken as a caucus, not as congress; their conclusions have no obligation, no coercion in them; they are not laws which the people are bound to obey: on the contrary, against the conclusions of a corrupt caucus which should misrepresent their opinion, the people would not fail to vindicate their rights. You seem to think that a congressional caucus has the power of forcing on the people whomsoever they please as president—that by bribes in one shape and another, a caucus composed of members of congress might be induced to place any candidate in nomination; and that such nomination would bind the people like a magic spell; that from it they would have no possibility of appeal or escape. Do you really believe all this, gentlemen? If you do, we are sorry for you. You have lived to very little purpose and know but little of the independence of the American character. Waving, at present, your remark on the corruptibility of congress, and of which it is hoped you do not speak experimentally—let me ask you this question: do you suppose that, if one of you (and let it be the most prominent character among you) could have prevailed on the last caucus to put him in nomination, the people would have had no choice but to have made him a president? It is impossible to read the question, without smiling at the supposition of an answer in the affirmative. The nomination would have been laughed to scorn. And why would it? Because there are men of another stamp who are willing to serve us: men, whom we have tried for upwards of thirty years; men, who sat at the helm through the storms of our revolutionary war; men, whom we have ever found faithful and vigilant; men, as profound in policy as they are upright in their views; men, who have never had an object but their country's good; men, compared to whom you are but as boys of yesterday. These are the men whom our fathers have gone down to their graves, blessing; and whom we certainly shall not desert; because of your petulance and importunity.
You will hear from me again: for the present, I take my leave. Learn to think a little more respectfully of the people of the U. States. Believe it; they are not to be so easily duped, as you imagine. They know that spleen and ill-nature are not patriotism; nor hot-headed intemperance, political firmness.
ONE OF THE PEOPLE.
(1) In the caucus of 1805, the contest related, as those protestants say, to the Vice-President; but it was not a contest between Federalists and Republicans—but such a one as the present is: between two Republicans—Mr. Clinton of New York and Mr. Breckinridge of Kentucky. On that occasion, it is believed that a distinguished member of this protestant association took an active part in opposition to Mr. B.
(2) The circumstance would never have excited so much feeling and criticism, if the hummocky character of Mr. Bradley had been well understood. This is so strongly marked that a writer in the Enquirer of Jan. 20th, says, "that if he was gasping on the bed of death, he would not miss an opportunity of gratifying his propensity to fame." These protesting gentlemen ought to have known this trait.
It is impossible to publish the two following letters, without expressing the utter indignation and disgust which they are calculated to inspire—such essays, however, are not without their use. They will show in what way and by what kind of men the most pertinacious opposition is made to the election of Mr. Madison. They will show how completely every principle of truth, liberality and justice is trampled under foot, when such men are determined to press the pretensions of a rival candidate, at any hazard. Woe be to the cause that is cursed by such supporters! In reading these essays—this fur noble fratrum —it is impossible not to remark the similarity which marks the two, in the articles, in the manner and the illiberality of the accusations. It would really seem as if some master spirit had guided both; as if a kind of political liturgy had been laid down to be studied and delivered to the people. In one respect, indeed, Common has outstripped the labors of Falkland. He has ventured to touch the transactions of the Louisiana purchase. Be it so. If hereafter, some person should demand, who it was that provoked this discussion, let it not be forgotten that it was not the friend of Mr. Madison.
To JAMES MADISON, Esq. SIR, SECRETARY OF STATE. If in the freedom of the following address, your delicacy shall find cause of of-
fence, your candour will, at the same time, exonerate the author from any imputation of a wanton attack upon your character, or feelings. A sense of justice will compel you to ascribe this notice, on my part, to the partiality of your friends, or your own aspiring ambition. In yourself, there is nothing which could for a moment, detain my attention. As a private individual, you are to me, a subject of unqualified indifference. It is in your public capacity, and more especially when you advance pretensions to the first office in the union, or in the world, that you become to me an object of interest, and that I feel myself entitled to examine those pretensions. This is one, and not the least valuable, of those privileges, which the sedition law aimed to extirpate. 'Tis the birth-right of the American citizen, inalienably secured to him, by the constitution. It was gloriously asserted by the republicans at a former day; and however unfashionable the doctrine may have, subsequently, become amongst placemen, commissaries, contractors, and the "gaping expectants of office," be assured, Sir, it will ever be maintained by the American people.
The present administration came into power with every possible advantage. They profited not more from their own well-earned popularity, than from the detestation, which the incapacity & treachery of their predecessors had, deservedly, inspired. The united impulse of these sentiments overcame every obstacle to their course. The repeal of some obnoxious laws & the enacting of some salutary ones gave a new & irresistible impetus to the machine of state, & for the first time, perhaps, since its institution, the wheels of government turned with rapidity, unsoiled by corruption. "New Brooms sweep clean," saith the proverb. In a little while symptoms of dissatisfaction to the cause of reform were unequivocally displayed by yourself. Your marked attention to the leading Federalists, the caresses with which they were received under your roof, and the more than indifference manifested towards the Republicans, could not escape the remark of the most casual observer. Many, the most influential and consistent of the old republicans, by whose spirited exertions you and your colleagues were brought into power, saw with immeasurable disgust the principles for which they had contended [as they thought established] neutralized at the touch of a cold and insidious moderation.
I speak not of place-hunters, of men who sought a change in the administration solely for the advancement of themselves and their connections, but of those noble and disinterested spirits, who served from attachment to the cause alone, and who neither expected nor desired preferment. It is not a singular belief amongst these persons, that to your great and acknowledged influence we are indebted for that strange amalgamation of principles and of men which has distinguished some late acts of the administration; that we have been gradually relaxing from our old principles and relapsing into those of our predecessors; that at this moment (1) a republican minister at London is yoked with a colleague, whom former administrations deemed a fit instrument to execute the memorable treaty negotiated by Mr. Jay. (Whether this last measure proceeded from a latent wish on your part to detract from the merit of a man, in whom you dreaded a future rival, you only can ascertain. Most certain it is that but a very short time before the nomination of Mr. Pinkney, the President expressed his determination not to send any additional envoy to Europe.) (2) A Federalist is soon after dispatched to share the harvest sown by a toil-worn veteran of the republican cause, and obscure his reputation.
The times call aloud for union amongst the friends of free government. It is only by concert and activity on their part, that past errors can be retrieved, and the dangers which now threaten us averted. If my objections to your political character were merely negative, I could be content to wave them. They should sleep never to wake more. I would cheerfully sacrifice my private predilections, and enter upon the task, however disheartening, of supporting the administration of a man whom I did not exclusively prefer. But I will never consent to live under a YAZOO-PRESIDENT, if I can avoid it by fair and honorable means. To a nice observer, it is matter of astonishment—if, indeed, those versed in the affairs of this world can wonder at any thing—that you should have ever attained your present elevation. The associate of Hamilton and Jay in 1788, you bore a principal part in that celebrated performance "The Federalist," under the signature of Publius , on the constitution of the United States, and the numbers which are acknowledged for yours, are those which contain the most objectionable expositions of that instrument. In 1795, an opposer of Jay's treaty, in the House of Representatives, the appropriation for carrying that treaty into effect prevailed against you, the avowed and undisputed leader of a commanding majority. Whether this be a proof of incapacity, or treachery, on your part, I shall not pretend to decide. In 1798 you shrunk from the storm, leaving to John Taylor, in the Virginia Assembly, and to Gallatin, Nicholas and Livingston, in Congress, the danger and toil of stemming the tide of Executive power—Yes, to that Col. Taylor, the ipse agmen of the Virginia Legislature, in those disastrous times, the man whom you have not hesitated to stigmatizeated to stigmatize as a visionary theorist in politics, when you had risen into power and consequence from his labors, (3) and the aid of whose pen has been but yesterday, couched in support of your claims to the presidency. It is not forgotten by those who served with you in the House of Delegates of this state, when (the political hemisphere having brightened a little,) you crept from your hiding place—how triumphantly alive you were to the boldness of the truths contained in your celebrated and able "Report;" and what difficulty they found in prevailing upon your fears to avow in the face of day, the principles which had emanated from your pen in the closet.
The decisive measure of a general electoral ticket adopted during that memorable session, turned the scale of conflicting party—and yet this bill (to which, if elected, you will owe your elevation to the presidency) had nearly been defeated by your characteristic timidity and irresolution. If I am not grossly misinformed, you lent no aid in drafting it—threw every discouragement in its way, in private, which a mind, fertile in objections and scruples could suggest and at length was reluctantly prevailed upon to afford it, in public, a feeble and equivocal support. It passed in a house decidedly republican, by a scanty and dubious majority. (4) The death of Patrick Henry alone prevented the rejection of the bill, and the consequent re-election of Mr. Adams. The daring impetuosity of his matchless elo-
quence against your timid, doubling, creeping policy, would indeed have been "fearful odds." We need no ghost to tell us what must have been the issue of such a conflict. But however backward in fighting the battle, you were not among the last to reap the fruits of the victory. Become secretary of state, the commiss (5) of Pickering is chosen for your confidential agent. The duties of under-secretary of that department are devolved upon a known libeller of the president. Dispatches are made up and opened by him, and that all may be of a piece, the next person in authority under him, (6) is a pupil of the late General Hamilton; one who has been brought up at the feet of Gamaliel and imbibed his principles at least, however impenetrable to a sense of his abilities. But why this detail, when I may defy the warmest of your adherents to point to a single act of your official life during the last seven years by which you have been distinguished to your advantage. The Yazoo report has, indeed, rendered you conspicuous, and given a celebrity to your name which no doubt you would willingly forego. When robbery has been committed, murder is too apt to suggest itself as an expedient for concealment and impunity; and in the spirit of a hardened offender, you and your accomplices have aimed to assassinate the character of those by whose intrepidity your attempts upon the public property were exposed, and defeated.
FALKLAND.
NOTES.
(1) The reader will perceive that this letter was written some time ago—about 18 months.
(2) This declaration was made to a member of congress from Maryland, and it would seem, to others also. See a late publication in the "Enquirer" under the signature of Hampden.
(3) The reader is requested to look back upon past occurrences, and ask himself, "what must have been the fate of the political struggle, if the gentleman in question, like some other great men, had sunk into retirement & yielded the field to Mr. Adams and his party, during the first two years of his administration?" Mr. Madison's report was but a justification of the course pursued by the Virginia Assembly during the two preceding sessions, in which Col. Taylor so ably asserted the constitution and the rights of the states against their daring invaders. Justice must not conceal that he was aided by the intrepid exertions of many young politicians who have since been distinguished in our state councils; Creed Taylor, Wm. Daniel, John Mercer, cum multis aliis.
(4) If the writer's recollection does not deceive him—several.
(5) Jacob Wagner, late chief clerk of that department.
(6) Mr. Brent, another federalist—private secretary to General Hamilton.
FOR THE ENQUIRER.
TO JAMES MADISON.
You will not be surprised when you see your name at the head of a letter. The situation in which you have placed yourself as the expectant of executive honors, renders your character, a proper subject of scrutiny, and you must have calculated, on receiving applause or condemnation, according to the light in which your conduct was viewed. The former has been lavishly bestowed; the latter, I feel most unwilling to express. But, Sir, I am one of the millions interested in your prospects, and I have doubts respecting you, which may my pleasure in contemplating you as the future chief of our nation. I will not apply to either Marcus or Tullius—their laboured sophistry and verbose zeal are likely calculated to satisfy my anxiety. Do not think however, that I have any peculiar interests or selfish views before me. I am not loaded with present honors—a greedy expectant of patronage nor a laborer for literary fame. My age and my situation, alike unfit me for either.
A President of the United States should be a person of eminent talents, of great political sagacity. He should be capable, not only of theoretical but of practical excellence in the science of politics—capable of developing the effects of principles, adapting them to the state of society, pursuing and supporting them with the perseverance of integrity and conviction. I do not believe you such a man. The history of your life, does not justify the belief. That you possess much virtue, must be evident—but perhaps we may discover that it is of that unsusppecting, pliant kind, which is better fitted for the farm and the fire side than for the scenes of public life.
You have made frequent displays of genius and proved yourself to be capable of supporting an opinion, with energy and elegance. After discovering the truth, or being directed to it by experience, you are one of its ablest defenders. But unfortunately you have too often discovered it, when for ought you could do, it was far too late. Do you suppose the principles you advocated at the formation of the constitution of the United States calculated at this moment to secure the confidence of the people? Were you then the adherent of principles you now profess? The memories of the people are not treacherous, nor their confidence in political conversions, hasty or unlimited. Your efforts on that occasion were great, but were they great in support of those sentiments which republicans love? You shone with considerable brilliancy in the Virginia convention—you perhaps merit much of the applause arising from the formation of many parts of the constitution, but were they its republican features for which you stood sponsor? One would imagine not, from your public speeches and your essays in the Federalist. With all the alterations and amendments to which that instrument has been subjected and which you opposed, we have seen, that in too many instances it may be readably converted in practice, to something widely different from a republican constitution. Should you not, if your discernment be not too highly applauded, have foreseen these effects, & instead of opposing, have exerted your self to add new guards against abuse? Or does your merit lie, in forming theoretic beauties and practical incongruities? Are you certain that as President you will not find cases where something more than theory will be required? You will not shelter yourself behind the excuse, which Marcus has erected to save you. You will not tell me that we have only seen what may be made of the constitution in the hands of a skilful artist. For your discernment, and skill in political science, have been praised. Besides, you were told with the energy of inspiration; what a "skilful artist" might do with it. The ease, with which it might be perverted, gained Hamilton's support and was one of the strongest objections to its ratification. Yet you braved the danger, you thought it perfect without amendments. And I am at a loss to discover how he can be proved to be the very best person to manage it, who saw no necessity for many of its parts. The mariner who heedlessly or ignorantly runs into danger will scarcely be trusted, when a more provident pilot can be procured. Ask your memory if your opponent be not such an one.
This is not the first time that you have had the honor of a contest with James Monroe. Your popularity and talents have before been tried against him—and you may possibly see the very same result. Does the recollection of the principles on which you contended, afford any gratification to your republican feelings? Do you feel the glow of conscious satisfaction, at the superiority or accuracy of your judgment? At the time to which I refer, you had no longer the plea of disunion as the consequence of the measure, your opponent advocated. The horrors of anarchy no
longer haunted your imagination—your talents had fair scope for operation. And whose principles have since been declared to be correct? The decision of the nation has been audibly pronounced. Why then do you claim a superiority of talents? It is not for the sake of contrast alone, that I remind you of these times and these matters. They prove, either that your penetration does not merit the eulogies it receives, or that you were not at all times such a republican as you merit trust. You have, 'tis said, the honor of speedily changing your course. Desertion of error is ever meritorious. But why did you change? Did you see the correctness of your former opponents? Did you begin to discover the true objects of your fellow laborers, Hamilton & Co. Or did you see no prospect of climbing that ladder to whose top you are now so hastily mounting? We would be apt to conclude that it was the latter, since those mens' principles had been well known, from the time that Hamilton offered his monarchical project in the convention. And yet you condescended to become the political associate, the fraternal partner of those men in the propagation of a creed! Your services in Congress were commendable—but why did you retire in despair? You certainly saw some danger in the course then pursued, or you would not have opposed it. Your character forbids us to harbor the idea that you would not swim with the tide, as long as your conscience would permit you. Was it becoming in you to shrink from the danger which you perceived before you? Is it the part of the patriot to see his country laboring and to cease to afford aid while a glimmering of hope remains? Or will you rely on Marcus to make your excuse? Marcus is singularly unfortunate. He would put such reliance on the progress of opinion, as to render useless any acclerating efforts. His plea accuses the laborers in the republican cause with a stupid and unnecessary perseverance. Their work would have been performed by the "progress of opinion" without their aid. What short-sighted men they must be, not to have discovered this truth and to have spared themselves the labors they underwent. Does your champion rely on your own example, to prove that a change of principle must inevitably follow from the state of the nation at that time? Did the conviction, that your exertions were not needed, arise from this example and experience? The calculation terminated well, but does little credit either to your wisdom, your patriotism, or your perseverance. It is better fitted to form a cover to disgust, irresolution and despair. Or do you prefer the other excuse of private and professional interests? Are they to be preferred to the public good? If so, why then do we so soon see you at the Federal City? Was your professional character so soon established, your fortune so soon mended? You have a competitor whose professional reputation has been neglected, whose fortune has been destroyed, sacrificed in the public service. Why is the Secretaryship so long borne, when the responsibility of a representative was a little time ago, too heavy a burden? Marcus should not have forgotten, that the Presidency was in view.
There is another part of your conduct that I cannot recollect with any considerable degree of satisfaction. Why is your house the peculiar and favored resort of federal worthies, and your office filled with federal men? Does it arise from partiality to them? From a disposition which can readily associate with the most obnoxious materials, party can afford. From a culpable irresolution which fears the performance of an invidious duty—a distinction between parties—a preference of the friends of the administration? I can conceive no other motive. I leave you to your choice. Either of them should be equally injurious to your pretensions. Mr. Brent will excuse me for naming him. It cannot be from disrespect to him as a man. His fame except as a federalist has not been loud enough to reach me. Why was he selected as the object of patronage? Were his talents so admirable? Was there none of your own party, in whom you could confide? Or are there, less manifest, but more secret reasons behind the curtain? Did you seek the popularity of his country, his friends and his party? Or was it because he was the distinguished pupil of Alexander Hamilton? Had I remembered that you were that gentleman's associate in the labors of the Federalist, I might have spared you these questions.
You have often been charged with partiality to Yazooism. Your report certainly looks something like it. But I believe you too honest, far too honest, to be interested in that hideous speculation. Your advice on the subject I take to be the dictates of your judgment—but it evidently is a judgment warped by feeling, fearful of dangers, and timidly shrinking from might lest it should encounter difficulties. You see corruption stalking before you—you detest the object, but you would by its peace rather than oppose & subdue it. You would give a premium to infamy, to ensure present quiet, rather than affix the proper mark upon it, lest it murmur. The motives of your conduct cannot meet my approbation—yet, are they motives and feelings which seem to have operated through your whole life. And do you believe that a temporising policy is the best policy? Do you esteem it correct, to pardon and conciliate corruption when it is noisy? I shudder at the prospect of an executive, constituted as ours is, who professes such a belief. Republican principle, and the good of our country know not how to temporize. They know no affinity to corruption. They cannot exist one moment in the air which it pollutes.
It is painful, but it is necessary to remind you of a fact which does little credit to your heart or your understanding. It was not very long since that ws had an ambassador in Europe who was odiously criminal. This ambassador had something to do in the purchase of Louisiana, that is, he received the credit of assisting in the negotiation, because he had not ability to frustrate it. When his associate, one of the first ornaments of our country communicated to you at considerable length, the multifirm criminality of this man, you replied to this effect—"Your communications have been received—you may rest satisfied that you will receive your full share of credit for the Louisiana purchase." Does such a reply need a single comment? If you are not far more depraved than I suspect you to be, at least a momentary blush will color your cheeks when you think your fellow-citizens are reading this answer to a lengthy, disinterested, an important communication. Was it envy, was it malice, that dictated these words? Was it such a communication as the interests of your country demanded? Was it paying to the man, to whom it was addressed, the respect due to the station which he held? In what feature of his life did you see a foundation for so daring an insinuation as your note conveys? Or did you see in him the future rival, the dangerous competitor for future honors? Are we to read in it the movements of your mind? Can it be the expression of your feelings? Short as it is, your friends may read in it a volume of testimony. I look with anxiety to the time when the writer of such a note is to guide the destinies of my country.
When sometime after this event, a gentleman offered to substantiate this minister's laziness, you replied as if ex officio , that the executive would have nothing to do with the matter. Why was this? I am perplexed and confounded in the attempt to trace this reply also to its cause. Was the matter of so little consequence to the government, the honor, and interests of the country? Are we to trace this again to your want of decision and courage? Or is corruption so dangerous to you that you fear to have it started? Pardon the question. Your conduct is so inexplicable, that it is not surprising the idea should be suggested. But we will repress it. Your motives were probably less opposed to an honest, more consistent to an ambitious mind, looking forward to a Presidential election.
Will you also explain, why our commissioners
under the Louisiana Convention, were embarrassed for support? I should be fearful to trust the memory which could, for such a length of time, leave such characters destitute of the favor voted by their country and drawn from its treasury. Are you not suspicious that your country will attach something more than forgetfulness to this circumstance, until it is explained?
The administration to which you belong has met with some opponents, where, perhaps, they were least to be expected. It is true, they have received the disapprobation of a majority of the republicans. I do not rank in the list of their warmest friends. And yet perhaps they have better causes of dissatisfaction than their country is aware of. If I do not err in my calculation, James Madison has been in no small degree influential in converting his own enemies into opponents to the administration. As I have objected the occasional agitations which have been felt in public matters, the cloud has seemed to rise from you and to burst about you. At some other time the reason may be probed. Marcus indeed tells us, that you never made an enemy—that only those of the administration have been marshalled against you as one of its members. But Marcus is to be excused; he feels a sympathy for you. The force of this feeling is great in the human breast; and there is too striking a similarity in the conduct, character and habits of yourself and Marcus, for him not to experience towards you the most powerful emotions. Memory seems to add peculiar energy to his zeal. His portrait often obliges the enquiry whether J. Madison was the only object before him at all times; not because he has portrayed himself, but because he has so labored to conceal certain facts and certain traits of character.
My letter is finished. I do not promise myself much success from my attempt—My abilities do not warrant the expectation. But I love republicanism too well not to speak, when I believe, that if you are elected, your administration will be a paltry blow to it. You will not charge me, as your friends have before charged your opponents, with unfairness, and an attempt spargere voces in vulgum ambiguas . The doubts expressed are by no means equivocal. If they can be removed, I shall rejoice. If not, I like others, will prepare myself for that contest of opinion which must result from your election.
CONON.
We are authorised to state, that Maj. Edward Moseley of Powhatan county, declines serving on the MONROE Ticket.
The bill concerning courts martial and courts of enquiry has passed the House of Representatives, yeas 61, nays 52.
ERRATUM —In the letter signed by Mr. Duane in our last: In the part beginning "I am under &c" insert "not" between "was" and "anticipated" so as to read "I owe Mr. Monroe an acknowledgment, for a personal favor at a period when the Presidential question was not anticipated, &c."
A manufacturery is in operation in Waterbury (Con.) which turns out Gilt Buttons, equal in elegance and durability, to those imported. The proprietors, Abel Porter and Co. have employed a gilder from London, and advertised for patronage to this branch of American manufactures.
NOTICE —A Circular will be addressed by the Monroe Permanent Committee, to the County Committees, and to the Electors, in the next Tuesday's Paper.
SALES AT AUCTION.
By M. M. MYERS. THIS Day at 12 o'clock, at his Auction Store, without reserve, 600 wt. prime green COFFEE in tiers, barrels and bags.
Terms—60 days for approved endorsed notes, negotiable at the Bank of Virginia. March 18. (1t)
SALES AT AUCTION.
ON Saturday next, the 19th inst. at 12 o'clock, WILL BE SOLD, the Schooner ARGONAUT, nearly new, with all her rigging, tackle and apparel, lying at Pickett, Pollard & Johnston's wharf, burthen 800 barrels.
TERMS OF SALE—One third 3 months, one third 6 months, and one third 9 months, for approved endorsed negotiable notes at the Bank of Virginia. PROSSER & MONCURE, Auctrs. March 18. (1t)
A YOUNG MAN, who is single, that understands the management of Negroes, and can read and write, with a very little knowledge of figures, if well recommended for honesty, industry and sobriety, may hear of employment by application to the Editor of this Paper. March 18. (f)
THE MILLING BUSINESS which has heretofore been carried on under the firm of LADDS & WEBSTER, was dissolved on the first instant. THOMAS & AMOS LADD, ISAAC WEBSTER. March 18. (ff)
REMOVAL—GEORGE WATT has removed to the main-street, next door above the Bell-Tavern, where he offers for sale the following ARTICLES:
20 hds. Brown Sugar, 30 hds. Molasses, 8 tiers and 8 barrels best green Coffee, 20 hds. Antigua Rum, 5 pipes Holland Gin, 4 pipes Cogna Brandy, 2 hds. and 20 bbls. Northern Whiskey, 15 qt. casks old Sillery Wine, 3 chests Y. H. Tea, 6 chests Hyson Skin do. 5 chests Souchong do. and 70 sacks Liverpool ground Salt. Richmond, March 18. [lawgw]
THE MILLING BUSINESS which has heretofore been carried on under the firm of LADDS & WEBSTER, was dissolved on the first instant. THOMAS & AMOS LADD, ISAAC WEBSTER. March 18. (ff)
MYNE LANDS FOR SALE —The subscriber will sell a TRACT OF LAND containing 2791 acres, lying in Hampshire county, within 20 miles of Winchester; on Cacapon, a branch of Potomac. This Land contains a large body of iron ore of an excellent quality, which has been worked on a small scale, but discontinued for want of funds; and would be to any person able to carry it on, a very valuable acquisition.
Also—A tract of said county on the waters of Mill Creek under the South Branch Mountain, containing 255 acres—197 acres on Mill Creek, within 12 miles of Romney—400 acres on the waters of Cacapon—1000 acres on the falls of Green River in the state of Kentucky, and 1000 acres on the waters of Ohio in Kentucky.
Undisputed titles will be given; and terms made known by applying to Mr. Harry Heth at the Coal Pitts or the subscriber at Curles, on James River, 15 miles below Richmond. WILL. M. HETH. [ep134]
VIRGINIA —At a superior court of Chancery, held at the Capitol in the City of Richmond, the 1st day of February, 1808.
Edwin Harvie, Plaintiff—Against John Hopkins, Henry Lee, Cobbin Griffin, Samuel G. Adams and John Banks, surviving partners of the Virginia Company, and Thomas Rutherford, Defendants.
The defendant John Hopkins, not having entered his appearance and given security according to the act of Assembly, and the rules of this court, and it appearing to the satisfaction of the court, that he is not an inhabitant of this country, or motion of the plaintiff by counsel, it is ordered, that the said defendant do appear here on the first day of the next term and answer the bill of the plaintiff, and that a copy of this order be forthwith inserted in some newspaper published in the city of Richmond, for two months successively, and posted at the front door of the Capitol in the said City.
A Copy, Teste, PETER TINSLEY, c.c. March 15. (law8w)

To the Editor of the Morning Chronicle.
SIR, I yesterday solicited your attention to a succinct view of the assurances given by France to the United States, relative to the operation of the decree of Nov. 1806, and since, to-day, to inform you of the result of the conversation on the subject.
As long as the convention of 1806, and the interpretation of the minister of marine subsisted in their full force, the decree was a dead letter with regard to the American commerce, except in that article which excludes from French ports all vessels having previously touched in England.
While the rights and interests of America were thus solemnly guaranteed by official assurances, and a correspondent practice, Great-Britain could not, with reason, complain of her inactivity.
An opinion appears to be generally prevalent in this country, that America has almost contracted a habit of submission to insults and injuries from France, and has therefore no right to struggle when we choose to follow the supposed example of our neighbor, and hold the cup of humiliation to her lips.
If, then, the rights and interests of America have not been invaded, in any one instance, that could have been known to Mr. Jefferson at the time of writing his message, and I challenge our politicians to point out any public outrage, will it be contended, that it was incumbent on him to say more in relation to France than he has done?
character of an American President, to suppose, that he could, under such circumstances, revive this topic, and remand Congress as our bench does a jury, for a re-consideration of their verdict.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE ENQUIRER. (VIRGINIA.)
James Cheetham of New-York, in his paper called the "Republican Watch-Tower," dated the 25th day of December last, published a false, malicious, and unprovoked libel against the reports of the trials of Col. Aaron Burr, which I am now preparing for the press, denouncing it as "under the immediate auspices of Burr and Martin" as "paid for by them" and "intended to suit their palates."
Mr. DAVID ROBERTSON of Petersburg, has this day put into our hands a Gazette printed by James Cheetham of New-York, and dated December 25th, 1807.
them extremely incorrect, I have never perused it further. JOHN WICKHAM.
It is with much pleasure that I unite with the gentlemen, whose names are subscribed to the foregoing certificates, in the opinions they have expressed concerning Mr. Robertson himself, and the fidelity and ability with which he will execute the work which he is now preparing for the press.
CASH PRIZES table with 10 columns: Prize number, Amount, Number of Prizes. Includes prizes of 10,000, 5,000, 1,000, 500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10 dollars.
Subject to a deduction of fifteen per cent. The most valuable Cash Prizes from 200 dollars and upwards, to be determined as follows:
VIRGINIA TO WIT--At a Chancery District court held in the city of Williamsburg the 2d day of November, 1807. William Moss and Thomas Moss infants by Sarah Moss their next friend, Plaintiffs--Against William Moss administrator of Benjamin Moss, deceased, and John, Benjamin and Mary Moss, Defendants.
FOR SALE--THE LINE OF STAGES from Richmond to Charlottesville, now in good order. A great bargain may be had by the purchaser, if application is made to the subscriber on or before the first day of April ensuing.
TO RENT (FOR TWO YEARS)--That Valuable TAN-YARD of the late Mr. Jacob Bockus and now occupied by the subscriber; situated on the main-street of this city between the Capitol and the Basin of the canal.
FOR SALE. 121,000 acres of LAND in Kentucky, in the forks of Great Sandy river. 24,000 do. in Tazewell county, on the water of Clinch river.
BROKERAGE AND COMMISSION BUSINESS--The subscriber respectfully offers his services to his friends and the public, in the above line of business and solicits their patronage.
LANDS FOR SALE--The subscriber offers for sale, the following Tracts of LAND, in which, to persons making early application, he will give great bargains: One tract of 1300 acres lying in Buckingham, which is advantageously situated for trade, being two or three miles from Scott's Manufacturing Mill, and five from New-Canton.
TO THE FREEHOLDERS AND HOUSE-KEEPERS of the CITY OF RICHMOND authorised to vote for common councilmen, take notice that the election will take place on Wednesday the first day of April next.
FOR SALE--The TENEMENT now occupied by Abraham B. Venable, Esq. pleasantly situated on Shockoe Hill, and contiguous to the Capitol Square.
RICHMOND TURNPIKE COMPANY--At a meeting of the directors of the said company on Tuesday the 16th February, 1808. Resolved, That a call of five dollars on each share be made on the Stock holders in the said company.
ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS REWARD--Runaway about the 1st instant from the service of Mr. William Rawleigh (to whom he was hired) a black man named JACKSON, a house carpenter by profession, of thin consumptive appearance, about forty years of age, five feet eight or nine inches high.
THE COMMISSIONERS appointed under the act of the Congress of the United States, "Authorising the Erection of a BRIDGE over the River Potomac, within the District of Columbia," to receive subscriptions for erecting the same.
WHEREAS I the subscriber in the life time of Carr Chapman, deceased, to wit: In the month of January, eighteen hundred and five, did execute to him a bond for four hundred and fifty dollars, a promissory note for fifty dollars and another for a hogshead of Antigua Rum.
THE subscriber intends to practice law in the Counties of Pittsylvania, Henry and Rockingham in North-Carolina--Letters addressed to him should be directed to Danville. GEORGE TUCKER.
HALLERIAN ACADEMY--G. L. HALLER is induced on account of his extensive business, but more particularly on account of his impaired health, to retire from his present sedentary employment, in consequence of which circumstance, he has given up to Mr. L. H. Girardin all the school-rooms of this institution.
THE subscriber has accommodations for six or eight boarders by the year, on moderate terms. ALEX. QUARLER.
NOTICE--SIMPSON MORRIS, operator the Eagle Tavern, respectfully informs the public, that he is selling off the following GOODS to quit the above business on or before April next.
NOTICE, to the creditors of James and Alexander Dunlop--That on Saturday the 30th day of April next, at 9 o'clock A. M. the subscribers will proceed at the Compting Room of Henry Hovey, in this city, to make a dividend of the funds in their hands, arising from a deed of trust executed to them by Alexander Dunlop, the surviving partner, and duly recorded in the General Court.
REMOVAL--We have removed our Counting House to the House immediately below and contiguous to the one we have hitherto occupied, where we have for sale, Mucavado Sugar by the hhd. or bbl. Sherry Wine in quarter casks, and a few cases old Claret, of superior quality.
HALLERIAN ACADEMY--D. G. L. HALLER, for reasons stated in his last advertisement, has ceded to me the above Seminary, formed by his highly meritorious exertions.
The branches already announced continue to be taught. Mr. Doyle devotes his attention to the English, Latin and Greek classics, and to other valuable branches.
The young Ladies shall be taught in distinct apartments by Mr. Doyle and myself alternately. Their instruction shall always be considered as the most sacred part of a sacred trust.
FOR SALE OR HIRE, a likely NEGRO WOMAN, who is an excellent Cook--Enquire of PROSSER & MONCURE.