Norfolk gazette and publick ledger (Norfolk [Va.]), 1805-04-03 00:00:00

THE PUBLICK LEDGER.
TO SHEW THE VERY AGE AND BODY OF THE TIME, HIS FORM AND PRESSURE.
WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL 3, 1805.
ELECTION.—We understand that at the close of the Poll for Princess-Anne County, on Monday Evening last, the votes stood.
Table with 2 columns: Name, Votes. Rows include CONGRESS (Thomas Newton, Jun. 197), STATE SENATE (Thomas Shepherd 94, Richard E. Lee 73, William Elligood 25), HOUSE OF DELEGATES (Edward H. Mosely, Jun. 196, Lemuel Cornick 165, George Vashon 7, John Lovett, Jun. 5).
By the arrival of Ferguson's Packet from Baltimore, we have received papers from which we extract the latest foreign dates, which we have yet seen—They convey no important information. The intelligence via Charleston confirming that received by New-York, (see our last) gives us reason to conclude that the French did not, as at first reported, succeed in their attempt upon Dominica.
By Captain Drysdale, from Porto Rico, we learn that a few days before he sailed, a Swedish vessel from Saint Croix, brought intelligence that the French had succeeded in their attack upon St. Kitts; and had laid the town under contribution. This information had also been confirmed by the arrival of a French privateer. It was supposed that their next object would be Tortola; and it was even said that, on being joined by the Toulon and Brest squadrons, it is their intention to carry their arms against the Island of Jamaica.
FOR THE PUBLICK LEDGER.
THE LAY-CURATE.
DISCOURSE VIII.
"HE SAID UNTO SARAH, HIS WIFE,—BEHOLD NOW I KNOW THAT THOU ART A FAIR WOMAN TO LOOK UPON."
"He was a superannuated, uxorious fool—caught in the toils of a floating love—deceived by the blandishments of a wanton beauty—a willing subject to the caprices of an artful female, who exacted this gross flattery as the price of domestick quiet.—She was a true woman, and he knew not how to manage her. He knew not that by this sacrifice to her vanity, he only added another link to the chain by which he was already enslaved—another thong to the scourge with which she chastised him into subjection.—Such compliment might do well enough before marriage; but had he not been a—"
Softly, my good friend, softly: your notions might apply very well to a modern husband, but you seem to be altogether ignorant of the character of the worthy ABRAM! He was not superannuated, nor was he uxorious, nor was he floating. He had but just entered upon his sixteenth lustre; and he lived to number one hundred and three score and fifteen revolutions of the seasons. Nor was his wife a vain woman, who decked herself in meretricious ornaments to enflame the imagination of the lascivious! she was in all things in voluntary obedience to the will of her lord; even in matters which would have severely tested the complaisance of the most dutiful and best bred wife of the present age.
He was, indeed, a very different man from the husband of our time. He knew how to treat with a just degree of respect, the tender and faithful partner of his bosom, who, without a sigh or a murmur, accompanied his wandering footsteps, in defiance of all the toils, perils, and difficulties which he must have encountered, in his erratich search after that resting place, and that happiness, promised by him who never deceives. He delighted in giving pleasure to her who was the source of so many joys to him. He loved to cheer, by those delicate attentions which are never bestowed in vain, the spirits of her who was the support of his own fortitude. He knew the advantage of preserving the harmony of that mind, whose serenity could never be disturbed without imparting its troubles to his own breast. He knew that it was his duty to love and cherish her as his wife, but he wished also to convince her that his taste could still do justice to her attractions as a woman.
Benevolent, prudent, and happy man! methinks thou art at this moment before mine eyes!—who can behold thy situation with indifference!
Reader, conceive that thou now seest the little family of the patriarch.—He had led them over a vast territory, from his native Haran, through Canaan, even to the distant borders of Egypt: yet were not their peregrinations at an end.—Suppose them to be assembled round a frugal meal, such as travellers are often obliged to be contented with, recounting the hardships they had past, and conjuring the pleasures that were to come.—As the faithful memory of ABRAM recalled in success every instance in which the resolution of his heart's companion had even excelled a masculine exertion, every instance in which the constancy of her mind had been proved by the vicissitudes of their condition, could he be otherwise than fond and grateful!—While with such feelings, and with the eyes of an ardent lover, he contemplated the full bloom of that beauty whose early buds had captivated his affections, was it not natural for him to think that their effect upon others, in the luxurious nation into which she was about to enter, would be the same as upon himself!
Reader, if thy breast has ever felt the delicious throbbings of a chaste and delicate passion, thy own experience will tell thee what were at that
moment his sensations: but if thou art yet a stranger to the thrilling anxieties of love, it would be in vain that I essayed to make thee enter into the sentiments of ABRAM.—Perhaps at that moment his fancy beheld her torn from him and polluted by the brutal force of a plebeian!—perhaps commanded to receive the embraces of some lordly villain!—The picture spreads itself before him: the tear of sensibility suffuses and adds a brilliancy to his eye: he presses with his own the hand of his lovely friend: and, while he gazes on her charms with a trembling admiration, he expresses all that passes in his soul by one simple, natural, and delicate compliment—"behold, now I know thou art a fair woman to look upon".
From those we respect, esteem, or love, the slightest word of approbation, praise or flattery, imparts an universal thrill of pleasure to the nerves, and sinks with a deep impression on the heart. This pleasure will always be in proportion to the necessity we are under of obtaining or preserving the good opinion of those from whom it proceeds. Such is the situation of every woman, who, from motives of affection, has been prevailed upon to encounter the imminent hazard of bestowing upon man the inestimable privilege of making her happy or miserable. To receive from him who is the depositary of her joys, those soft attentions which bespeak the lover as well as the friend and husband, is certainly to her the most supreme of earthly felicitous. What man possessed of sympathy, would not feel himself transported beyond vulgar thoughts, when he sees the eyes of a wife sparkle with that intelligence which must have beamed from the soul of SARAH, when the tongue of him she most revered pronounced that praise so grateful to a female—"behold, now I know that thou art a fair woman"!
Take the general character of females, freed from particular exceptions, it is open, candid, generous, charitable, susceptible, and just. Domestic habits preserve them from a participation in the chicane, suspicion, deception, dissipation, and hard-heartedness, which man acquires by his free intercourse with man. The want of what is called knowledge of the world, preserves them from many of its vices; and is at the same time a strong palliative of a weakness which they frequently exhibit, that of fretting at trifling occurrences; a weakness which the prudent man attributes to its proper cause, and passes over with a compassionate unobtrusiveness.
It is consistent with the designs of unerring wisdom, that with the excellencies of the best constitution, should be connected some of the blemishes of humanity. He that looks for pure perfection in her whom he has chosen as a companion for life, must find himself deceived, but should recollect that he is his own deceiver. If the intimacy which ensues their union, should gradually develop those unfavourable traits which the more distant and cautious respect of courtship had concealed, he ought to reflect that perhaps the failings of his own temper and disposition are, in a great degree, the means of calling them from their lurking place into action. His first duty, therefore, is to subject himself to severe scrutiny; and resolutely to apply a corrective to the cause, before he attempts to overcome the effect.
In most instances the character of a wife is whatever the plastic care of a husband shall chuse to make it. If he is prudent, sensible, and discerning, he will endeavour by gentle applications, to correct any original distemper which may injure the design he has in view; when that is done it is easy to give to the disposition the proper and desirable bias. This is only to be effected by tenderness and example. If he loves, he cannot be harsh; if his admonitions are accompanied by the demonstrations of true affection, they never can be disregarded. Above all there should be no reserve: between equals, whose interests are so closely interwoven, there should be no mystery: from a wife there should be no concealments. Every thing that betrays a want of confidence, conveys to the mind of her who has a right to demand it, the sad idea that she is deemed unworthy. Beware of that—there is no affection so strong as to brook any thing in the most distant degree approaching to contempt. Deny not, therefore, ye who wish to be happy, deny not to your wives a full participation in your every pleasure, nor even refuse to partake with them your cares. We love those most who deem us worthy to share their sorrows; omit nothing, then, that can convince her that she is, indeed, the partner of your breast.
Already has this interesting topic drawn me beyond the limits prescribed to each of my discourses. I hope I may be pardoned. I shall not now detain the indulgent reader, by enumerating the various methods chosen by the husbands we hourly converse with, to prove themselves very different men from the wise and affectionate ABRAM. Hereafter I may perhaps offer some examples, where an early regard to the lesson taught by the patriarch, might have averted the misery of many years. At present I shall only offer a few reflections, which may not be novel, but they are true, and derived from experience.
Not life itself hangs by a more fragile thread than do the domestick felicitous. Their connexion is often broken, and their existence destroyed, by a word or a look. As we watch the approach and ravages of the diseases which impair the corporeal strength, and exhaust its vital energies; so ought we to be on our guard against the approach of those passions which interrupt the harmony of social intercourse, and cast a gloom over that scene which should forever smile beneath the vernal sun of hal-lowed friendship and tender affection. Most of all should this watchfulness correct the temper of those who are bound to bear a mutual interest in all the ills and all the comforts which, intrinsically or incidentally, proceed from, or accompany, the connubial state. He who, for the gratification of a weak de-
sire of shewing a superiority, which not nature so much as the partiality of civil institutions has created, will omit no occasion of proving that he has the power to make those miserable who depend upon him for happiness; who, rather than not disturb the ease and tranquillity of others, will make a voluntary surrender of his own; who will reject, with intemperate brutality, the endearing solicitude of a kind and virtuous female, who has no wish more sincere than that of blessing his domestick hours; who can by a peevish contumely, return her tender attentions, and call them impertinent and obtrusive; should be considered as an unhumanized monster, and be driven, with ignominy, from the society of man, to dwell with those whose natures more resemble his own. Pity it is that for him there is no human tribunal: but still there is an audit which he must abide. He will there be shown, in blazing characters, the nuptial vow which he has violated, the laws of manhood which he has contemned, the laws of sentiment which he has outraged; and will receive, from an impartial judge, the sentence which he has laboured to deserve.
O thou! to whom my heart has pronounced its indissoluble vow! to whose soul mine feels itself united by the strongest ties of sympathy! whose happiness is the first object of my wishes!—never mayest thou have to charge me with the offence, most unpardonable and most ungenerous, of returning a cold look, a harsh expression, or a chastising frown, for that blessing which was conferred on me, when, in the warmth of youth, thou gavest thy heart, thy hopes, and thy comforts of life, into my keeping! Should we together arrive at that meridian of a patriarchal life, shouldst thou, like SARAH, preserve that happy cheerfulness which now blessest those who love to be within its influence, to thy sixtieth and sixtieth year, while on my head as on that of ABRAM, a sixteenth lustre begins to shed its venerable honours; still may I, while clasping thee to my bosom with all the ardour of youthful affection improved by a long experience of thy riper virtues, be enabled, in the language of holy sincerity, to exult and say—"behold, now I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon"!
A LAY-CURATE.
DOMINICA NOT TAKEN.
Charleston, March 22, 1805.
Captain Bailey, who arrived yesterday in the schooner Adventure, from Martinique, in 21 days, brings a confirmation of the account from St. Thomas's, of the arrival of a French squadron in the West-Indies, from Rochefort.
The squadron consists of La Majestueuse of 120 guns, La Magnanime 64, L'Orient, 84, Le Jemmappe 74, Le Siffrein 74, L'Indefatigable 54, La Gloire 44, Le Heureux 44, two corvettes and a schooner, commanded by admiral Mississ, having on board 4,500 troops, under the command of general Nougier.—It arrived at Fort Royal, Martinique, on the 19th of February, when an embargo was immediately laid and continued for ten days. Admiral Mississ took pilots and sailed on the 29th, with his squadron.
On the 28th February, a Swedish vessel arrived at Martinique from Dominica, the captain of which informed, that the French squadron had effected a landing at 11 o'clock at night, took possession of the town of Roseau and plundered it. The governor of Dominica, with the British troops, betook themselves to Prince Rupert's fort, which was attacked in the morning by the French, who were repulsed with considerable loss—reembarking their force, they bombarded the town for two days, and it was entirely burnt, having been deserted. The French fleet then left Dominica, carrying with them 14 valuable merchanchantmen, it was believed for Guadeloupe.
Latest Foreign Intelligence.
NEW-YORK, March 28.
London and Liverpool papers and Lloyds Lists, each to the 8th of February, inclusive, are received at the office of the Mercantile Advertiser, for which we are indebted to the politeness of Captain Waite, of the Liverpool packet. They are ten days later than any heretofore received, and we believe, are the latest on the continent. They are, however, uncommonly barren of political intelligence, as the subsequent extracts (which comprize every article worth extracting) will show.
The news of the Rochefort fleet having eluded the vigilance of the British, and got out of port, was well known in England early in February, and its destination was the subject of much speculation. It was supposed to have a visit to Portugal for its object; by others an attack on Ireland. The latter opinion was current for some time and was founded on the circumstance of five large ships having been seen off the Cove of Cork on the 31st of January, which it was afterwards discovered were Indianmen from St. Helena. It does not appear, by the London papers, that the remotest idea was entertained of the fleet's having sailed for the West Indies.
We have in the paper of the 8th Feb. a very distressing account of the loss of the Earl of Aberdeen-vanny, East Indianman, which left Portsmouth for Bombay and China on the 21st of January, with four hundred persons on board, three hundred of whom perished with the vessel. In the most interesting part of the narrative the paper has been so torn by accident by one of the passengers of the Packet that we are unable to give (as we otherwise would have done) a connected and circumstantial account of this unfortunate disaster.
LONDON, Feb. 1.
A gentleman just arrived from Rotterdam states, that new measures of severity are exercised against the English in Holland. Several British subjects are detained by force, and every kind of British merchandise is confiscated.
February 2.
A Rotterdam paper of the 29th ult. was received in town yesterday, containing the important intelligence, that on the day preceding, the assembly of the state had passed the decree, that the Dutch government was reduced to the necessity of stopping payment of the publick annuities. The decree states, as the cause of their bankruptcy, that they have been unhappily, through their connexion with France, involved in the present war with Great Britain, and that they must have either called on the publick for a contribution of at least one per cent per month, or of suspending their payments. They preferred the latter, as the least of two evils, and accordingly all payments of the publick dividends are stopped. This will be a dreadful calamity to all the widows, orphans and others, whose whole property has been lodged in the publick funds of Holland. It will have very little if any effect in England.
The French had put up to publick sale a great quantity of coffee, confiscated under the pretence of its being British property, but not a single bid was made for it.
Two Hamburg mails, which became due, arrived
yesterday. An article from Madrid states, "that on the day on which the declaration of war appeared here, a treaty of alliance was signed with Portugal, by which the court of Lisbon declares itself an ally of Spain, and the enemy of England."
Letters from Genoa, dated January 2, state, that on the 28th of December, the French fleet lay still at anchor at Toulon: the report that it had put to sea was premature. On the 21st of Dec. admiral Nelson, with 18 ships of war, sailed from Cagliari, in Sardinia, where he had taken in water and provisions, while admiral Bickerton, with the squadron, was cruising off Minorca.
The French squadron at Rochefort, consisting of six sail of the line and two frigates, effected their escape from that port on the 11th ult. There is no doubt that some of our fleets will be able very soon to give a good account of them.
We are concerned to state the loss of his majesty's ship Doris, of 36 guns, capt. Campbell, which struck on a rock on the coast of Spain, while in chase of one of the enemy's brigs. The officers and all the crew were saved.
The Felix schooner arrived at Plymouth, on Thursday, having on board part of the crew of the Doris. The same vessel also brings the melancholy intelligence of the death of Capt. W. H. Jervis, of the Tonnant of 80 guns, who was upset in his barge in going from that ship to the admiral—one man perished with him—Captain Jervis was nephew and heir to the titles and estate of Earl St. Vincent.
Government have just issued instructions to our naval commanders, not to molest any neutral vessel going with supplies of grain to Spain, during the present distress of that unfortunate country, even though the grain should belong to our enemy.
Orders have been sent to the transport board, that all the private property belonging to the officers and men of the captured Spanish frigates, whether in money or goods, should be forthwith restored to the owners.
The monthly report of the ships in commission in the British navy, states them to be 697, of which number 105 are of the line; 24 of 50 guns; 157 frigates, and 421 sloops of war; besides these, there are a great number building and repairing, receiving ships, smaller vessels, &c. making in the whole a grand total of 963 sail.
February 8.
Through the channel which some weeks since enabled us to be the first to announce the discussions which had risen between France and Austria respecting the cordon formed on the Italian frontiers, we now learn that neither these discussions, nor the most angry remonstrances of the French cabinet, for a moment suspended the execution of that measure. On the 19th December the line comprised 42,000 men; other troops were on their route for the same neighbourhood; and we can further assure our readers that the Austrian corps forming in Hungary Transylvania, the Banat, Slavonia, and Croatia, amounted at the date of the last accounts, to nearly one hundred thousand men, assembled under pretence that the troubles in Belgrade and Servia rendered a cordon on that frontier necessary, to the prevention of aggression of the insurgents. This had been made the occasion of fresh remonstrances from Paris, on the ground that the Imperial cabinet had not deemed such precautions necessary during those periods of insurrection in which the tranquillity of the Austrian provinces was more exposed than at present; that therefore the assemblment of the troops in question justified suspicion, and the more so, as their number greatly exceeded the alleged occasions.
We have strong reason to believe the recent march of French troops into Italy, and the orders which we understand to have been issued for the formation of an extensive French camp in Alsace early in the ensuing spring, to be immediately connected with the above movement of the Austrian troops.
We have seen a private letter from Vienna of the 16th ult. which states that some days before, two couriers arrived within the space of a few hours with despatches from count Cobentzel at Paris; these despatches are represented as being of the greatest political importance, that three extraordinary conferences of state ensued, and that orders were immediately after given for reinforcing the Austrian troops in Italy.
Private letters from Madrid of the 11th ult. mention the receipt of very unpleasant accounts from Mexico. Some serious troubles had broken out there, and the inhabitants generally are represented as being extremely dissatisfied at the conduct of the present Viceroy. Since the cession of Louisiana to America, the people of Mexico have evinced a strong disposition to a like union with the United States, and the American government is accused of having sent emissaries to foment their existing discontent.
The negotiation in which Prussia has embarked, with a view of settling the differences between Russia and France, are said to have already made considerable progress. It is certain that the cabinet of Berlin has made strong remonstrances to Russia against the North of Germany being made the theatre of war; and we are informed that each party gave way to a great degree of warmth in the discussion of some points connected with this question; and that, after a conference of this nature, the Russian Ambassador, at Berlin, immediately sent off his secretary of legation, Baron Lowenstein, with despatches to St. Petersburg.
Many of the officers in the grand secret expedition, have left town for Portsmouth and Southampton, in consequence of positive orders, and the effort is considered as the most important ever made in this country.
February 5.
Mr. Pitt gave notice yesterday, of his intention to bring forward the budget next Monday week. The bringing forward the budget earlier than was expected, and the idea of its being the intention of the chancellor of the exchequer to raise a sum sufficient to pay off the loyalty loan, in addition to the loan for the service of the year, occasioned a depression of funds yesterday, of nearly one per cent. It is supposed that the loyalty loan holders will be paid off by an issue of exchequer bills.
The army estimates were moved yesterday. By these it appears that we have an army of regulars, militia and fencibles, of upwards of 300,000 men, and a volunteer army to an equal amount. If, to these be added, our naval force, it will be found that we have a greater number of men in arms than any country in Europe, not excepting France herself; we had almost said than any two countries.
February 8.
Price of STOCKS this day at 12 o'clock.
Table with 2 columns: Stock Type, Price. Rows include Consols (58 1-2 to 59), Price of FLOUR (Fine 88s. a 92s. 0d., Seconds 82s. a 88s. 0d.).
We are still unable to communicate any information to our readers respecting the Rochefort squadron. Despatches have been received from Lord Nelson and Sir John Orde; but we understand they do not contain any thing of importance. Sir Thomas Trigge has arrived from Gibraltar in the Tribune frigate. He sailed on the 27th December. We are happy to state that all remains of sickness in the Garrison have disappeared. Only three persons died in the garrison the week before the Tribune sailed, and none of them of the fever.
We have the strongest reason to believe that there is no foundation for the report of the capture of the Prince of Wales Island.
We have forbore for some days, to notice the

illy stories in the leading opposition paper, of letters having been sent by Mr. Pitt to a Great Personage—of his determination to resign, &c. &c. &c. because we really consider them as too contemptible to require animadversion. With respect to the statement in another paper which pretends to support administration, of the intended resignation of Lord Melville, we can only say, that it is just as destitute of truth as the former.
OFFICIAL PAPERS
Laid before the British Parliament relative to the rupture with Spain.
(Continued.)
No. V.
Extract of a despatch from Lord Hawkesbury, to J. H. Frere, Esq. dated
Downing-Street, November 24, 1803.
Your despatches to No. XL. inclusive, have been received, and laid before the king. I have great satisfaction in communicating to you his majesty's entire approbation of the line of conduct which you have adopted, and the language which you have held in your different conversations with the Spanish ministers. In the uncertainty which appears yet to prevail, whether any treaty or convention has actually been concluded between France and Spain, and what are the precise conditions of such treaty or convention, it is extremely difficult for me to give you any instructions which must not be dependent upon circumstances, of the particulars of which his majesty is not yet correctly informed. The preservation of peace with Spain has, from the period of the commencement of the present war, been the constant object of his majesty's policy; but the Spanish government must themselves feel, that this object can only be attained by their earnest endeavours to do every thing which depends upon them for the maintenance of a fair system of neutrality, and by their causing that neutrality to be respected by the other belligerent powers. When the question, therefore, occurs, how far his majesty would consent that the Spanish government should purchase their neutrality by an advance of pecuniary succours to the French government, and would still regard them in the character of neutrals? this must be considered as, in some degree, depending on the amount of succours so to be advanced, and likewise, on the determination of the Spanish government to insure their neutrality in all other respects; for, at the time when his majesty might be disposed to disregard any small or temporary advance of money, if essential for the attainment of such an object, it would be impossible for him to consider a permanent advance, to the extent of that stated by you, in any other light than as a subsidy to the French government, and as possibly the most effectual assistance with the Spanish government could afford them for the prosecution of the war. In the event of your being convinced that any arrangement of the nature alluded to by you has been concluded between the Spanish and French governments, or if not absolutely concluded, is likely to take place, you will conform yourself to the following instructions: First, You will protest against the measure as a breach of neutrality on the part of Spain, and as consequently a justifiable cause for war on the part of his majesty. Secondly, you will explain distinctly that his majesty can only be induced to abstain from immediate hostilities, in consequence of such a measure, upon the consideration, that it is a temporary expedient, from which the Spanish government are determined to extricate themselves as soon as a perseverance in the system of furnishing pecuniary succours to France, as, at any future period, when circumstances may render it necessary, a just cause of war. Thirdly, his majesty expects that the Spanish government will persevere in their intention of refusing the admission of any French troops into the Spanish territories. Fourthly, any measures taken by the Spanish government, towards naval preparation must be considered, under the present circumstances, as objects of the greatest jealousy, and any attempts to furnish naval succours to France, as an immediate cause of war. Fifthly, his majesty has a right to expect, not only that the ports of Spain should not only be open to his subjects, shall receive the same treatment as those of his enemies. These are the instructions which you will adopt for the regulation of your conduct. In the event of a French army entering the Spanish territories, or of authentic information being received of naval succours being in preparation, for the purpose of affording assistance to his majesty's enemies, you will consider your mission as at an end; and after the proper official communications, you will leave Madrid. In the event of your being under the necessity of leaving Madrid, you will give previous notice to the commanders of his majesty's forces in the Mediterranean, at Gibraltar, and at Lisbon, and off Ferrol, that they may proceed without delay to measures of hostility.
No. VI.
Extract of a Despatch from J. H. Frere, Esq. to Lord Hawkesbury, dated Madrid, 27th December, 1803.
The instructions which I had the honour of receiving from your lordship, by the messenger Basset, were received by me with the greatest gratitude for the gracious expressions of his majesty's approbation of my conduct; and with no less satisfaction on account of the precise and detailed rules laid down for my guidance, and their fortunate adaptation to the state of things in this country at the present juncture.
Mr. Cevallos had for some time answered all my representations with an air of so much satisfaction and superior information, that I was almost fearful that, in the warmth with which I had urged the several topics, which are pointed out in your lordship's despatch, I might have gone beyond the feelings of his majesty's government.
When I received your lordship's despatch, I made it the subject of a note to Mr. Cevallos as plain and short as the subject would admit, and almost entirely copied from your lordship's instructions.
On the following day, I called upon Mr. Cevallos, and, in speaking on the subject of the Note, observed to him, that I trusted he would now do justice to the intentions which had dictated the language I had formerly held to him, when he saw its precise conformity with the instruction which I had received from my court. Mr. Cevallos went into a long dissertation upon neutrality, and a recapitulation of the sacrifices, as he called them, which the King of Spain had made to preserve a neutrality. I answered with the obvious arguments which I do not now repeat, as they are nearly the same as these contained in a Note which I have since delivered, and which your lordship will find enclosed. Mr. Cevallos answered, that his Catholic majesty had done every thing in his power to preserve a neutrality, and that if his endeavours failed, it would not be his fault, but that of his majesty's government, who would be responsible in the eyes of Europe. To this I replied, that Europe would certainly judge which of the two governments was in the right, and that I conceived that Great-Britain had little to apprehend from such a judgment; that what he called neutrality was in fact a subsidy, which the French would, whenever they pleased, convert into active co-operation, by making a passage through this country to Portugal; an event which the late convention did not provide against, and which they knew, and had been repeatedly warned, that England would consider as a breach of neutrality on the part of Spain.
After closing this part of the subject, Mr. Cevallos questioned me in return, and desired me to tell him positively, whether the affording the pecuniary succours to France would be considered as a ground of
war, and whether I was authorised to declare it? to this I answered distinctly that I was; and that a war would be the infallible consequence. In that case, said he, his majesty is bound by solemn treaties, which he cannot depart from; but if the pecuniary succours are themselves thought a motive for war by Great-Britain, the ground of our engagement is altered. I answered, that it was not the wish of England to crush Spain, and still less to crush her in favour of France; that it would answer no purpose that Spain should exhaust herself by furnishing a subsidy and afterwards a contingent; and that if he wished therefore to have a clearer and more distinct declaration than that contained in my note of the day before, I would give it him. He said, he thought that was unnecessary, that the note was strong enough.
[Translation of First Enclosure in No. 6.]
Escurial, 15th December, 1803.
SIR,
I obey the orders which I have just received from my court, by transmitting to your Excellency, in an authentic shape, the declaration which I have frequently had the honour of making verbally, and in a manner less positive and precise.
Since the commencement of hostilities, his majesty has never ceased to consider the preservation of good understanding with the court of Spain as a principal object of his political views. This court, indeed, has never refused to acknowledge the justice of his majesty's intentions and good will towards it. But it is equally manifest, and the court of Spain itself cannot but admit it, that the effect of this good will, and of these intentions, must depend upon that of the efforts which Spain is bound to make on her side; in the first place, to maintain a system of absolute neutrality, and, secondly, to cause it to be respected by the other belligerent powers.
With regard to the former, his majesty is perfectly sensible of the difficulties of the situation in which Spain is placed, as well by reason of her ancient ties with France, as on account of the character and habitual conduct of that power and her chief. This consideration would induce him to act with forbearance to a certain degree, and particularly to overlook such pecuniary sacrifices as should not be of sufficient magnitude to force attention on account of their political effects. But it is expressly enjoined me to declare to your Excellency, that pecuniary advances, such as are stipulated in the convention recently concluded with France, cannot be considered by the British government but as a war subsidy; a succour the most efficacious, the best adapted to the wants and to the situation of the enemy, the most prejudicial to the interests of his Britannick majesty's subjects, and the most dangerous for his dominions; in fine, more than an equivalent to every other species of aggression.
Notwithstanding his personal sentiments, imperative necessity, and that first duty which compels a Prince to consider above and before all things, the nation whose interests are committed to his care, have prescribed to his majesty that conduct from which he cannot depart.
With regard to the second article, that of causing this neutrality to be respected by the other belligerent powers, it appears superfluous to repeat to your excellency the declarations which I have already made on the subject of Portugal; nevertheless, since this object is again pointed out in my last instructions, I cannot refrain from repeating to your excellency the declaration, that the passage of French troops through the territories of Spain would be considered as a violation of her neutrality, and that his majesty would find himself compelled to have recourse to the most decisive measures, in consequence of such an event. Such, Sir, is an abridgement of the instructions which I have just received from my court, and which I communicate nearly in the same terms.—There are others, of interior importance, upon which I shall have the honour to converse with you in the conference of tomorrow.
Whilst I attach the utmost importance to these interesting subjects, it affords me much satisfaction to think that your excellency will at length be persuaded that I have been far from exceeding the views and sentiments of my government in the declarations which I have formerly made, and that the advice which I have thought it right, in consequence, to suggest, has been founded upon ideas sufficiently correct, and inspired by the sincerest desire of perpetuating the continuance of harmony and good understanding between the two countries.
(Signed) J. H. FRERE. His excellency Don Pedro Cevallos, &c. &c.
[Second Enclosure in No. 6.]
Translation of a note from Don Pedro Cevallos, to J. H. Frere, Esq. dated Escurial, 16th December, 1803.
SIR,
As soon as the war began between France and England, Spain was required by the former power to furnish the defensive powers stipulated by the treaty of 1796, the execution of which, inasmuch as it is a consequence of engagements previously contracted by Spain and a fresh proof of the king's good faith, presents in no degree an obstacle to the continuance of friendship and good understanding with Great-Britain, with whom his majesty has endeavoured to maintain them by every means of conciliation. Great-Britain corresponding to the same object, by punishing the privateers who transgress the law of neutrality, according to repeated official accounts, and chiefly those of the 29th November, a later date than the expedition of the courier who has given rise to the note which you just sent me.
Although the Spanish cabinet is penetrated with the maxim, that the idea of aiding France is compatible with that of neutrality towards England, his majesty has thought that he could better maintain these two objects by a method, which, without being disagreeable to France, strips her neutrality to Great-Britain of that hostile exterior, which military succours necessarily present, which sometimes, in spite of friendly protestations, leads the minds of neutral sovereigns to mistrust, to the hazard of the wished-for peace.
Such have been the king's political views in agreeing to a treaty of subsidy to France, equivalent to the military succour.
Neither before nor since this treaty has the Spanish government omitted any of those means which lead to the preservation of good understanding with Great-Britain, and it proved this to you by the imprisonment inflicted upon the Spaniard who had dared to insult the British flag.
The British cabinet in its conference with the Spanish minister, has not considered that Spain violated her neutrality by the act of assisting France with the military succour stipulated for her defence.
The pecuniary aid substituted in its place, besides that it carries no hostile appearance, neither compromises the good understanding of those who are neuter, nor gives to France such ready and expeditions means of hostility against Great-Britain.
The king has employed his good offices with the French government to avoid the entry of her troops into Spain, and to claim the apprehensions of the court of Portugal, obtaining from the First Consul that this point should become an object of negotiation between the two governments, and his majesty offering to co-operate with his good offices for the conclusion of a treaty which is to shelter the kingdom of Portugal from any attack; the favourable effects of which that monarchy has already begun to feel, and it is in her power to derive from it all the advantage which she desires.
In this situation of things I receive your note,
which represents that Spain, in having substituted pecuniary supplies for her defensive engagements, has displeased the English cabinet in a degree the most unexpected, under pretext that they exceed her engagements; whereas to represent them under this point of view, it would be necessary to know their amount, which is not known; or knowing it, to compare it with the expense of furnishing the defensive succours due to France.
This comparative statement of what has been hitherto executed by Spain, and the contents of your note, and what is more, the contradiction which there is between the equitable and conciliatory conduct of Great-Britain in sentencing to punishment the privateers, who have violated the Spanish flag, according to the accounts of the 29th November, and the alarming expression in which your note of the 13th instant is conceived, obliges the Spanish cabinet to require of you more clear and decisive explanations of the ideas of your cabinet, which I hope you will be pleased to communicate to me with the despatch which their importance demands.
(Signed) PEDRO CEVALLOS. J. H. Frere, &c. &c.
(Translation of 3d inclosure in No. 6.)
Madrid, Dec. 26, 1804.
SIR,
I comply with your Excellency's request, in communicating to you the explicit and decisive explanation of the ideas of my Cabinet, mentioned in my note of the 13th inst. They are nearly the same with those which I had the honour verbally to address to you in our conference on the subject. Your excellency then remarked, and the observation again occurs in your note of the 16th inst. that the furnishing the succours stipulated by the treaty of 1796, being but a consequence of engagements previously contracted, is in fact only a fresh proof of the good faith of his Catholic Majesty, and can in no wise be prejudicial to the continuance of good harmony with his Britannick Majesty. I confess to your Excellency, that without having too favourable an opinion of my own abilities, I could not nevertheless help feeling a degree of humiliation, on seeing that a person whose judgment I infinitely respected, set so little value on mine; and that he thought he might hazard with me a sophism, from which, if the gravity of the subject could allow of it, it would not be difficult to draw the most absurd consequences. In fact, it remains to be known, whether a power can acquire the right of attacking another, and at the same time impose on her the obligation to abstain from every species of reprisal.—It cannot surely be necessary seriously to discuss a similar question.—It suffices simply to say, that such a right cannot exist; that nature and common sense reject it; that all political combinations are inadequate to bestow it; and that most certainly no nation can acquire it by an act of its own judgment, such as the signature of a treaty concluded voluntarily, and without necessity. But it may be asked, should not the stipulations of a treaty be complied with? I do not examine, if in the present case the stipulations of the treaty, which binds Spain to France, have not been annulled by reiterated acts of this very power. It may be granted that this treaty is of the utmost validity: it may even be admitted that it is most strictly obligatory; and that the Spanish government is bound to execute most scrupulously all its articles; but after all these concessions, it remains for me, on the other hand, to remark, that this obligation is absolutely foreign to Great-Britain, and that its government is not bound to respect the execution of a treaty, to which it has been far from contributing, which has been made without its knowledge, against its consent, and even in opposition to its power. An individual who yesterday was free, enters to-day a volunteer, tomorrow he receives orders to march to the attack of a place: his honour and his engagement oblige him to fulfil his duty; but he would be in the wrong to suppose that this obligation ought to be respected by the besieged, or that it will protect him against the natural consequences of a vigorous resistance. If, in fact, any misfortune should befall him, he ought to consider it solely as the consequence of the engagement he had entered into. The same reasoning applies to the substitution of pecuniary subsidies, and still more strongly, if these subsidies, by their amount, or by the effect of other circumstances, become more than an equivalent for the stipulated contingent; but in the present case, France has shewn a marked eagerness to obtain this substitution; the court of England has lately declared, in a formal manner, that it considers such a substitution as more prejudicial than would be the supplying the contingent itself. These two governments are assuredly, the best and only judges of what is conducive to their respective interests; and their opinions, so unequivocally declared, render it unnecessary for me to reply to your excellency's arguments. There still remains one remark more to be made on the subject; and your excellency will the more readily pardon me, as it may in some degree be considered as necessary to my personal justification. When your excellency expressed to me the surprise which the declaration of the 15th of this month had caused, you will allow me to recall to your recollection, that this declaration merely contained the formal expression of the same ideas, and of the same language, which I had held on every occasion when I had the honour of speaking to you on the subject of the enormous subsidies lately demanded by France. It was perhaps natural, that your excellency should at this time have referred to other information, rather than to verbal assurances on my part. I certainly regret it, but neither my government nor myself can be responsible for it.—With respect to that part of your excellency's note, which says, that the British Cabinet, in its conferences with the Spanish minister, was not of opinion that Spain infringed its neutrality by affording the stipulated succours, it appears to me no easy task to understand clearly the precise force of the expression made use of by your excellency in the original; but if I am to understand it, as alluding to any declaration whatever on this subject, on the part of his majesty's ministers, I will venture to take upon myself, under the most formal responsibility, to deny the existence of such a declaration. Not to omit any thing on several points contained in your excellency's note, it will be necessary to say a word on the subject of Portugal. At the very commencement of hostility, I obeyed the orders of my Court, by declaring, both to your excellency and to monseigneur the Prince of Peace, that his majesty in persuasion of his alliance with the Court of Portugal found himself obliged to consider the non-passage of the French troops through the Spanish territories as indispensable to the maintenance of the neutrality of that court. It appears then, that in a convention, the ostensible and acknowledged design of which were to secure the tranquillity of Spain, it would have been natural to introduce an article that might secure her against a similar infraction of her neutrality; it being manifest, that such an infraction would determine the British government no longer to consider Spain as a neutral power. On the contrary, it appears that the treaty contains only one article, by which Spain engages herself to interpose her good offices with Portugal, in order to prevail upon her also to furnish France with a subsidy against her own ally. I have just stated to your excellency, the sentiments of my court on the granting of these subsidies by Spain, in reply to your excellency's arguments, which dwelt solely upon the existence of prior treaties. It may therefore be permitted me to remind your excellency, that Portugal is bound by prior treaties to furnish succours to England. That Portugal has no neutrality to purchase; that if Portu-
gal is to conform to the system adopted by Spain, that is to say, the substitution of pecuniary succours for a contingent, these succours are due to England. If, on the contrary, her neutrality is to be purchased by furnishing succours to the enemy of her ally, as is now proposed to do, it would thence result that Spain should likewise furnish succours to England, and not to France; if Spain should reject such a demand as an insult, she ought not to endeavour to induce Portugal to submit to it. The opposite principles can never be admitted in two cases precisely similar. Let not insinuations, founded on a pretended disparity between the forces of the two belligerent powers be put in opposition to this just and natural consequence. Such considerations have not been admitted by England. She has by a solemn defiance, proved the falsehood of the vain and groundless assertion that England was unable to cope single-handed with France. She has given this defiance: She will maintain it, or she will fall gloriously. Never will she admit of an humiliating inferiority, either as the basis of her own conduct, or of her relations with foreign powers.
Too well I know the respect which is due to a great and powerful monarchy, to dwell upon injudicious comparisons, especially in an official and permanent form; but your excellency will doubtless recollect the observations which I have verbally made to you respecting the relative situations of Portugal and Spain, with regard to France and England, I do not think it proper to repeat them on this occasion I can assure your excellency, that I am far from concealing them, or from apprehending that they can be disavowed by my government. It appears to me that the above statement will answer your excellency's ideas; but I cannot close it without affording myself the satisfaction of rendering justice to the upright and friendly intentions of his Catholic majesty, manifested on several occasions, and almost uniformly in your excellency's language and conduct. Your excellency has likewise afforded the same testimony in favour of the principles of his Britannick majesty's government. Such is, unfortunately, the temper of mankind, that rivalry and hatred, are not the sole motives which give rise to hostilities. Doubtless, had a national hatred, or an opposition of interests, been necessary, one might have expected an uninterrupted continuance of that harmony which is so perfectly suitable to the habits and interests of the two nations. In all cases, and under all circumstances, his majesty will be very far from laying any thing to the charge of his Catholic majesty's wishes, or of the intentions of his government. He will attribute it to a fatal combination of circumstances, and to the consequences of the unfortunate engagements which have reunited a friendly power to his natural enemy.
(Signed) J. H. FRERE. His Excellency Don Pedro Cevallos, &c. (To be continued.)
Gazette Marine Memoranda.
ARRIVED.
Schooner Mars, Drysdale, 15 days from Porto Rico, Coffee, Sugar, Hides, & Logwood, Donaldson, Thornburn & Co. Left there the 18th March, sch'r Iris, Pearson, of Fredericksburg, to sail for this port in 8 or 10 days; brig Ann, Shoemaker, of New-York, discharging—The ship Old Tom, Waughop, was at the west end of the island taking in a cargo for this port.—50th ult. in lat. 33, lon. 73, spoke the ship Minerva, Jones, of Newburyport, from the coast of Peru, bound to New-York.
Brig Economy, Smith, 6 days from Charleston, Rice, Molasses, & Hides, Edward Johnson & Master. Sch'r Weymouth, W. W. Weymouth, 4 days from New-York.
The ship Roba & Betsey, Richardson, from Cadiz, took a pilot on board, on Monday.
GOULD'S Packet will sail for Baltimore TOMORROW. April 3.
FERGUSON'S Packet will sail for Baltimore on SATURDAY. April 3.
NORFOLK THEATRE.
TOMORROW EVENING, April 4, 1805. Will be presented, (For the first time here) a celebrated Comedy, performed upwards of fifty nights in London, and with equal success in Philadelphia, New-York, Boston, Richmond, and Petersburg, cal'd,
THE SOLDIER'S DAUGHTER.
To which will be added, the MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT of NO SONG NO SUPPER, OR, THE LAWYER IN THE SACK.
The Doors to be opened at half past 5, and the performance to commence at half past 6 precisely. ADMITTANCE ONE DOLLAR.
3 Persons of Colour will find Seats within the U for Boxes. The Publick are respectfully informed, that the New Comedies of the "Soldier's Daughter," "Guilty or Not Guilty," with the Farces of the "Wandering Jew," and "Love Laughs at Locksmiths," are in preparation.—553
MARTIN FISK, HAS JUST RECEIVED, FOR SALE, 50 Barrels APPLES, in prime order. 50 Kegs Choice BUTTER, for Family use. ALSO—ON CONSIGNMENT, 3 Trunks UMBRELLAS. Which will be sold low.
April 3. tf 554
REMOVAL.
THE SUBSCRIBERS Have removed from MAIN-STREET, to the NEW FIRE-PROOF WAREHOUSE, in MARKET-SQUARE. Gilliat & Mackinder.
April 3. tf 555
LACED CAMBRICKS.
PHILIP HENOP,
NOW OFFERS FOR SALE, A COMPLETE ASSORTMENT OF LACED Cambric Muslin—Diagonal and Spotted Spider-laced ditto—Bedford and Satin Tambour laced ditto—Plain, Spotted, Sprigged, and Tamboured Leno Gauze—Elegant 6-4 Tamboured and Spotted Leno Shawls—Super-Super ditto—Laced and Diagonal ditto—Just received, via New-York, and of the very newest and most fashionable patterns.
April 3. tf 556
FOR CHARTER,
THE SHIP YORKSHIRE, William Lee, Master.—Momentarily expected from Jamaica. She is a fine ship nearly new, and burthen about 400 hogheads.—A preference would be given to a freight for Liverpool. Warren Ashley.
April 3. tf 451
THE FAST SAILING BRIG
HIRAM,
Thomas Harding, Master.—Will sail on Friday next for Charleston.—For passage only, having elegant accommodations, apply on board, at Gibson's wharf, or to
Martin Fisk.
April 3. tf 552

PROPOSALS
For Printing by Subscription,
THE ASSEMBLY'S MISSIONARY MAGAZINE;
OR AN EVANGELICAL INTELLIGENCER, Published under the patronage of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. BY WILLIAM P. FARRAND, Appointed Editor of the Work.
CONDITIONS.
The numbers of the Evangelical Intelligencer , shall be published monthly; on the first of each month, for the month preceding.
Each number shall contain about 50 8vo. pages; and each twelve succeeding numbers shall contain not less than 600 pages.
The printing shall be handsomely executed on a fine paper, and the execution and paper shall be such as to make neat uniform volumes.
The price to subscribers will be 25 cents per number. The first number to be paid for at the time of subscribing, and the succeeding ones for as delivered.
Every subscriber shall be at liberty to send his numbers to the Editor, to be half bound, or bound in any manner he chooses, and be charged after the rate of binding by the hundred.
N. B. This work is established, as above noticed, under the patronage of The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America : the numbers are published on the first of each month for the month preceding: the first number, now ready for delivery at Philadelphia, is ornamented with an engraved portrait of the Reverend Doctor J. W. RUTHERFORD; the second will be embellished with that of the Reverend Doctor S. FINLEY.
Communications and Subscriptions thankfully received by the Editor, No. 185, Market Street, Philadelphia; or for his use, by Gen. L. Gray, at the Office of the Public Ledger, Norfolk.
PROSPECTUS.
The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, at their sessions in May, A. D. 1804, resolved— "That it be recommended to the standing committee of missions to publish a Periodical Magazine, in order to communicate to the people, such religious information as may be interesting and useful; to take early measures for obtaining subscriptions for said Magazine; and pay the profits into the hands of the Assembly."
The standing committee of missions, who now address the public, gave an early and serious attention to the subject of the above recited recommendation. Numerous obstacles, however, not here to be specified, withstood their wishes, and prevented, till lately, the execution of the work with which they had been charged. At length these obstacles have happily been surmounted, and the committee are now to call the attention of the religious public to
THE ASSEMBLY'S MISSIONARY MAGAZINE; OR AN EVANGELICAL INTELLIGENCER, Published under the patronage of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, in the United States of America.
It is incumbent on the committee, to state the design and nature of the intended publication, and to solicit, in its behalf, that assistance and encouragement which are essential to its usefulness and permanent establishment.
The design of the work is, in the first place, to promote the religious edification of the readers; and in the second, to increase the funds of the assembly, destined to the support of missionaries and the purchase of books of piety, for gratuitous distribution among the poor; to which funds, after defraying the expense of the publication, the whole pecuniary income from the Magazine will be constantly added. In both these ways it is hoped and believed that the interests of vital Godliness may, in the end, be materially advanced. If the personal religion of the readers of the Magazine shall be promoted and animated, not only will piety be augmented by this effect produced on their own minds, but also by the effect which will result from the ardent desire they will feel, and the strenuous exertions they will make, to extend and propagate evangelical truth among those who have never as yet felt its influence: and if the success of the undertaking shall equal that which works of a similar kind have elsewhere obtained, the Assembly will shortly be enabled to employ double the means which they now possess, for sending the gospel to those to whom at present it has little or no access; to the Indian of the wilderness, to the depressed African, to the remote settler on the frontier of our country, and to the poor in many other parts of their extensive bounds. These surely are considerations of the most interesting kind; considerations which powerfully address themselves to the conscience and the heart of every individual who loves his Saviour, or who knows the worth of an immortal soul.
That the important objects in view may be obtained, the committee are deeply sensible that all the spirit and the force which they can excite and enlist, and all the prudence and vigilance which they can exercise and employ, will be indispensable, in the enterprise before them. They are resolved, however, not to seek popularity by any questionable means; persuaded that it is only the truth of God that he will be likely to bless, or that the friends of genuine piety (to whom under God they principally look for patronage) will countenance and approve. It is, therefore, unalterably determined that the Magazine shall realize in its characters the import of its title; that it shall be truly evangelical ; a repository for the distinguishing truths of the gospel, a record of their effects, and an instrument for their extension.
At the times of the glorious reformation, the great principles of the gospel were, by the reformers themselves, reduced to system; in all the leading parts of which they were remarkably agreed. These principles, from the time and circumstances in which they were connectedly set forth, and generally embraced by the protestant world, have received a descriptive appellation. They have been called the doctrines of the reformation . The doctrines which have not only been owned of God for the consolation and progressive holiness of those who have cordially embraced them, but in their being remarkably, and almost exclusively blessed, for the conversion of the ungodly, wherever they have been faithfully preached or otherwise judiciously explained and inculcated.—Of these doctrines there may be, and there have been, some modifications and retrenchments, without destroying or excluding their essence. But the more purely and fully they are taught, the greater, commonly, is their salutary operation. They compose the creed of that church of which the General Assembly is the supreme judicatory, and every thing manifestly inconsistent with them must be precluded from the Magazine. It will, notwithstanding, be fully understood, that a ready admission will be given to all discussions which will bear the test that has now been specified, from whatever church, or sect, or denomination of christians, they may come; and without regard to any peculiar terms, or phrases, or expressions, which are the mere symbols or watch words of a party.
The right of correcting the pieces which are sent for publication, is one which the committee will feel that they possess and will be bound to exercise. Yet they will, of choice, use it as little and as seldom as may be necessary: and when it shall be stated by any writer that what he sends must either be admitted without correction, or else wholly refused, the injunction shall always be strictly regarded, and, when requested and practicable, the article shall be returned.
It is not easy to give a full and correct description of all the kinds of matter that may properly and profitably be admitted into such a miscellany as that which is contemplated. Every thing that shall appear calculated to promote the great ends of the work, under whatever denomination of composition it may be classed, will be carefully sought for, thankfully received, and readily inserted. Variety, however, must, as far as possible, be always consulted. Not that each number of the Magazine can at all times comprehend the same number of subjects; for now one article, and then another, must necessarily be so extended as to forbid such an arrangement: but care will be taken to give each subject its due measure of room and attention on the whole, so that sameness may not cloy the reader, nor persons of different taste have reason to complain that they are not gratified. The articles which are expected most frequently and generally to appear, are the following:—
1. Discussions of a religious and moral nature , calculated to elucidate or enforce some useful or important point, and in most instances of an obvious practical tendency. Such discussions must usually be short, but in certain cases where length is necessary, they may be divided into parts and extended through several successive numbers.
2. Short expositions, improvements, or applications, of passages or portions of holy writ . These are often highly useful: and the committee trust that among their correspondents they will number some biblical critics, some "mighty in the scriptures," and many who are able to give striking and attractive illustrations of certain parts of the sacred volume; and that such persons will often gladly embrace the opportunity to enlighten the minds and warm the hearts of their fellow christians, by the communication of knowledge and sentiment, in this department of the Magazine.
3. Selections from other miscellaneous and books of piety . It is hoped, indeed, that a large proportion of each number of the intended work, will be made up of original composition. But were it practicable, it would certainly not be expedient, to exclude every thing that has before been in print. Many periodical works, of a nature resembling that proposed, are constantly issuing from the press, both in England and the United States. These have deservedly attracted much attention. But they have become so numerous that there are many individuals who can neither afford to purchase nor find time to read.—The best pieces will be carefully selected from these journals, whether printed at home or abroad, so that the readers of the Assembly's Magazine may, without looking beyond it, be sure to have the marrow of all similar publications. It is especially intended to endeavour to embody and condense all the missionary intelligence contained in other productions, so as to present a correct general view of the state of missions in every part of the world. This it is known will be extremely grateful to many pious christians, who, as they are certainly praying for the prosperity of Zion, cannot but be anxious to know what are her prospects, and into what new regions her boundaries are extending.—Short extracts, also, from other publications than Magazines, and perhaps the whole of some brief tracts of distinguished excellence, especially if they be of recent date, may occasionally appear. It is fully realized that the execution of what is proposed under this particular will require much labour; but the committee have been so fortunate as to engage an editor, whose talents and diligence, with such assistance as they may be able to afford, will, they think, insure a satisfactory management of this arduous part of their work.
4. A particular account will be given of the missions which are conducted by the Assembly . The importance of this item, in connexion with some considerations already stated, determined the committee to adopt the title under which their publication is to go forth to the world. Narratives of all the missions appointed by the General Assembly and executed under their order, are drawn up, annually, by the missionaries themselves. They are often very interesting and instructive, but are commonly of such length that they cannot be printed with the yearly extracts, nor be even read to the Assembly. Hitherto they have served little other purpose than to edify the members of the committee, and enable them to ascertain the prudence, zeal, fidelity, and success, of those whom they have employed. But as they ought to be made publick, were there no other ends in view than to direct and encourage the efforts of future missionaries by the example of those now in the field of labour, and to gratify those benevolent individuals who have liberally contributed to support them in their work, so there is this additional inducement, that these accounts will probably have a direct and powerful influence on many readers, in cherishing and strengthening some of the most important principles and dispositions which the gospel teaches and enjoins. A very considerable fund of original materials here offers itself to the committee, to which none but themselves can have access.
5. The Evangelical Intelligencer , will, in part, make good its claim to this appellation, by giving as much information as possible relative to all appearances which indicate the progress of vital piety, or what, in this country, have usually been denominated revivals of religion . Such information, always commands the most earnest attention, and gladdens the hearts of those who know that true religion consists, not merely in excellent forms, an orthodox creed, and a reputable deportment, but demands, as indispensable, the transformation of the heart—a personal cordial acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ as freely offered in the gospel, and as the whole foundation of the sinner's hope. To obtain the intelligence here referred to, an extensive correspondence will be necessary, and a careful attention to casual information. But the committee contemplate with pleasure one advantage that will be peculiar. For several years past the General Assembly have required annually, from every member composing that body, a distinct account of the state of religion, within the circle of his personal observation. By taking accurate minutes of these narratives, it will be easy to present a pretty just view of the state of religion from Canada to Georgia.
6. Biographical sketches of eminent christians will frequently be exhibited. These are well calculated both to entertain and edify the practical believer, who, in pursuing his christian course, is sometimes better directed and more encouraged by a single example taken from real life, than by many abstract and general instructions. An Obituary will also find a place, in which the instructive circumstances, attending the deaths of those who have departed in the faith, will be duly noticed.
7. Anecdotes of a moral and religious kind will occasionally be given. They often strike with force, and remain on the mind; and sometimes they produce the most lasting and beneficial impressions and effects.
8. Poetry is an article seldom omitted in any miscellany. Sacred song constitutes the oldest and the sublimest poetry with which the world is acquainted. It is still the delight of every devotional mind. It is hoped that the pious readers of the intended Magazine will sometimes be favoured with original verse, which shall breathe the sentiments of their souls, and in which their praises may ascend and mingle with angelic strains.—Selections from the most approved and recent writers, must supply the deficiency of original poetry.
9. The ordination and installation of ministers, and the formation of new congregations , will be noticed. Such notice will not only be gratifying to the parties,
immediately interested, but useful to all who desire to know the state and progress of christian establishments.
10. A list of religious publications will frequently be inserted in the magazine. This must be particularly useful to those whose situation does not easily permit them to know what books of merit are, from time to time, claiming the attention of the publick. For want of this, a most valuable work may never be possessed or heard of by some who, had seasonable information been given of its character, would have gladly purchased and profitably perused it. When any new book or pamphlet is confessedly and eminently meritorious, its character will be announced. Farther than this the committee dare not pledge themselves at present. They have it under consideration, indeed, to give a general review of religious publications in this country. But a decision on this point will depend on circumstances yet to be ascertained.
11. A small portion of the magazine will be set apart for the insertion of questions relative to passages of scripture and important points in morals and religion . There are many who can, and some who wish to ask questions which they cannot themselves answer.—By doing it they may invite disquisitions useful to themselves and others. Men are sometimes induced to write on a question, on which they are conscious of a ripeness and readiness of thought, when they would have remained wholly silent if the question had not been proposed.
A statement is now before the reader of the design and nature of the Assembly's Magazine, and of the subjects of which it will be a repository, or on which it will contain discussions or give information. On a review of the whole, the committee are ready to ask, what friend of evangelical piety there is, to whom this prospectus shall come, who will not invite their support; either by furnishing materials for the work, or by the purchase and patronage of it! To the promotion of a cause, dearer to every real christian than all earthly considerations, the publication is entirely consecrated. From such as are already engaged to afford their whole stock of aid, both intellectual and pecuniary, to works of a similar kind, it would not, indeed, be right to expect any thing beyond the expression of their favourable opinion and their friendly recommendation. But from all who are not excused by this consideration, and who fall within the designation given, it would seem to be reasonable that the committee should look for direct and effective support.
A constant accumulation of suitable materials for the Magazine will be the great desideratum, on which its very existence will depend. A monthly publication of fifty pages is a mouth that consumes much good. Large and renewed supplies are necessary to satisfy its reiterated demands: and if the supplies be not rich and various, as well as large, leanness or distortion will soon be complained of, and death will speedily follow. To drop the figure, no miscellany destitute of inherent excellence, however laudable its design, will long be endured. It must deserve the encouragement which it can rationally hope to receive. To give the Assembly's Magazine a well founded claim to the publick regard the committee have considerably resolved that no efforts of theirs shall be spared: and for their assistance, they here bespeak and intreat the contributions of all who can throw in any thing, however small, to keep up the fund on which their draughts must be made. To this, the possession of much literature will not, in all cases, be necessary. By looking over the articles enumerated, it will appear that any man of plain sense and a little education, will often have it in his power to furnish matter that will be extremely useful, particularly in regard to facts of which he may possess a personal knowledge.
But to those who possess both piety and learning, and especially to the ministers of the gospel, the work must be principally indebted. Such persons it is known, can easily support it if they will; and the presumption seems to be strong that they will cannot be wanting. Manuscripts already exist in their possession, from which, if the best and most suitable parts were extracted, a very extensive collection of materials, would immediately be formed. And, without violating christian charity, who can suppose, that men who have consecrated their all to the Saviour, will refuse, in his service, the transcription of a few paragraphs, or the time and exertion occasionally necessary to compose a few new ones?
In obtaining subscriptions to the Magazine, receiving the numbers for subscribers, and assisting in the collection and transmission of the monies that shall become due, it is surely not too much to count on the active co-operation of all the ministers, and many of the members, of the Presbyterian Church. They are, in fact, equally concerned with the committee in the success of this work; and it is not to be supposed that many of them will withhold from it a service comparatively so small.
The Editor and Publisher is MR. WILLIAM P. FARRAND, No. 185, Market-street, Philadelphia, to whom all communications must be made, and whose intimations in all matters relative to the Magazine must be considered as authorized and decisive.
Now to the TRI-UNE GOD, on whose blessing every human undertaking ultimately depends for success, the committee humbly and fervently commend this, in which, with views to the promotion of his glory, they trust they have engaged.
Samuel Blair, } Standing Committee Ashbel Green, } of Missions under Philip Milledoler, } the General Assembly Jacob J. Janeway, } of the Presbyterian Elias Boudinot, } Church in the Ebenezer Hazard, } United States of Robert Smith, } America. Philadelphia, February 26. 479
8 Barrels Pilot, } 56 do. Navy, } BREAD. 125 do. Ship, } 60 do. Superfine, } 40 do. Fine, } FLOUR. 40 do. X Middlings, } 100 do. CORN MEAL—For family use.
10 Hogsheads, } 7 Barrels, } SUGAR. For sale by JAMES MAURICE & CO. March 13. tf 487
LANDING ON GIBSON'S WHARF, The Cargo of the Brig BETSEY, Captain OLDEN, from Havana, consisting of 193 Hogsheads MOLASSES. 70 Tons Campeachy LOGWOOD. 22 Logs MAHOGANY. For Sale, apply to EDWARD ROBERTS.
ALSO FOR SALE, 800 Spanish HIDES, in good order. 35 Pipes Teneriffe WINE. 10 Hogsheads Penington's LOAF SUGAR. 24 Bales COTTON. March 22. 3w 521
WE HAVE FOR SALE, 650 Barrels Fine, } 350 do. Superfine, } FLOUR—Hazall's Brand. ALSO, 100 Barrels SHIP STUFF, and a quantity FRESH MEAL, in Bags and Barrels. J. & W. SOUTHGATE. February 11. tf 402
LIVERPOOL SALT. QUEEN'S WARE, in Crates well afforded. DUFFIL BLANKETS, in small Bales. 10 and 200. Flat Pointed NAILS, in Casks—and LIVERPOOL COAL. If taken from along side the ship Jane, Capt. Colley, will be sold low. Apply to William Pennock.
WHO OFFERS FOR SALE, 114 Punchcons Jamaica RUM. Imported in the Sarah, Capt. Herbert. October 23. tf 187
NOTICE.
THE CO-PARTNERSHIP OF FISK & STEARNS, Ceases this day, in consequence of the death of Mr. STEARNS. All those that have claims against the said firm, are requested to present them to the subscriber, the surviving partner, and receive their money. And all those indebted to the said company are requested to come forward for the immediate adjustment of the same, as no indulgence can be given. MARTIN FISK. Who informs his friends and customers, that he has returned to his former stand, where he offers
FOR SALE,
50 Barrels new Beef, Boston Inspection. 20 Hogsheads First Quality Sugar. 20 do. Second do. do. Loaf Sugar, in hds. and bbls. 12 Pipes Bourdeaux Brandy. Madeira, Port, and Malaga, Wines, in pipe and quarter casks. 20 Cases London Porter, 6 doz. each. 20 Chests Hyson, Young-Hyson, and Hyson-Skin Teas—Fresh. 60 Boxes Fresh Chocolate, No. 1 and 2. 50 do. Mould Candles. 50 do. Dipt do. 20 do. Spermaceti do. 150 do. Brown Soap. 50 do. Cheese, first quality, for family use. 50 Casks do. in good shipping order. 50 Boxes Dixon's best Mustard, 3 dozen each. 6 do. Glass Tumblers. 50 Kegs Butter, for family use. 200 Reams Wrapping Paper. 100 do. Writing do. 150 do. Printing do. 150 Casks Wrought Nails, 4d. 6d. 8d. 10d. 12d. 20d. and 24d. 50 do. Cut do. 4d. 6d. 8d. 10d. and 20d. 6 do. Flooring Brads. Tacks of different sizes. 50 Bags of Pimento. 15 do. White Ginger in the Root. 50 lbs. Nutmegs. 10 do. Mace. 40 do. Cinnamon. 30 do. Cloves. 100 do. Spanish Float-Indigo. 10 Casks Refined Salt-Petre. Cotton & Wool Cards in Boxes. 3000 lbs. Copperas. 1000 do. Alum. 500 Bags Patent Shot. 50 Kegs F & FF London Glazed Powder. 15 M. Gun Flints. 100 Boxes 8 & 10 London Crown Glass, 50 feet each. 50 Bolts Oznaburgs. Seine Twine. 50 Kegs London White Lead, ground in Oil. 30 Boxes Tobacco Pipes. Paint and Sweeping Brushes, of all kinds. 100 Sides Seal Leather. 20 dozen Calf Skins, Grain and Waxed. 10 do. Boot Legs, of the best quality. Morocco Skins of all kinds. 1 Trunk of Gentlemen's London made Boots. 1 do. do. do. Shoes. 2 do. Ladies Fancy and White Kid Slips. 20 do. Mens and Womens Leather and Morocco Shoes. 150 Italian Straw Carpets. 100 Small Nova-Scotia Grindstones.
ALSO,
A few gross Hot Pressed Playing Cards, of a superior quality. Nov. 12. tf 230
The Subscribers have for Sale
100 Hogsheads Old TOBACCO. 106 Punchcons high proof Jamaica RUM. 30 Hogsheads CLARET. 200 Barrels Superfine FLOUR. 300 do. Prime PORK.
C. & F. WHITTLE. February 6. tf 597
FOR SALE,
BY WILLIAM B. LAMB, 30 Punchcons St. Vincents RUM. 13 Hogsheads and 28 Tierces SUGAR. 10 Pipes French BRANDY. 5 do. GIN. 13 do. Madeira WINE. 10 Quarter Casks SHERRY. 10 Cases CLARET. 10 Hogsheads do. 12 Bags GINGER. 1 Case Black SATINS. 3 do. Irish LINEN. 7 Bales India COTTONS. 3 Trunks CALLICOES, &c.
February 13. tf 415
THE SUBSCRIBER,
HAS FOR SALE, AT HIS BAKE-HOUSE, No. 1, Commerce-Street. 400 Barrels Navy, } 200 do. Ship, } BREAD. 200 do. Pilot, } CRACKERS,
Of the first quality, in Barrels, Half Barrels, Quarter Barrels, and Kegs. STEPHEN HARRIS: February 1. tf 382
200 Hogsheads Petersburg, } Tobacco. 56 do. Richmond, } For sale by JOHN MACKENZIE & CO. Warren's Wharf. March 6. 1m 476
A CHOICE PARCEL OF FINE IRISH LINEN, Imported from Dublin, per ship Medford. For sale by MOSES MYERS. February 15. tf 422
TO RENT,
(And possession given in April or May next.) The House at present occupied by the Subscriber in Catharine-Street. JOHN DAVIDSON. March 4. tf 466
NORFOLK:
PUBLISHED THREE TIMES A-WEEK, BY J. COWPER AND G. L. GRAT. OPPOSITE THE EXCHANGE COFFEE HOUSE. Price Five Dollars and Fifty Cents yearly, in advance.