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AMERICA.

WE have in the New York papers an account of the proceedings in Congress down to the 15th Feb.-The Se. nate had come to a resolution to substi tute non-intercourse for embargo. The resolution was carried by a majority of 23 to 9. In the House of Representatives, the non-intercourse bill had been brought in, read a first and second time, and referred to a Committee. Our readers are apprised, this bill enacts, "That if either Great Britain or France shall revoke such of her decrees, laws, or e. dicts, as violate the lawful commerce and neutral rights of the United States, as generally acknowledged by the laws of nations, the operation of this act, and also of the act laying an embargo on all ships and vessels in the ports and har. bours of the United States, and the several acts supplementary thereto, shall, so far as relates to the nation making such revocation, forthwith cease and determine." The bill further enacts, in sect. 12th," That so much of the act, laying an embargo on all ships, &c. and of the several acts supplementary thereto, as forbids the departure of vessels owned by citizens of the United States, and the exportation of domestic and foreign merchandise, to any foreign port or place, other than Great Britain or France, or their colonies and dependen cies, be, and the same is hereby repealed, after the 4th of March."-The bill further enacts, "That the interdict is to commence against all public ships of France or England, from the date of the passing of the act, excepting vessels only which may be forced in by distress, or by being pursued by an ene. my, or which are charged with dispatches or business from the Government to which they belong, and also packets, having no cargo nor merchandise on board-against all private ships of the same, from a day to be fixed in the Committee; and against the importation of all goods, wares, and merchandise of the same, from the zoth May. In case of public vessels violating the law,

the President is authorised to use force to compel their departure; and citizens of the United States, having intercourse with them, are to be punished with fine and imprisonment; the fine not to exceed 10,000 dollars, nor be less than 100. In the case of private vessels offending against this law, the ship and cargo are to be forfeited. Vessels sailing after the removal of the embargo are to give bonds in double the amount of the ship and cargo, not to violate the provisions of the non-intercourse act. Should the non-intercourse bill pass with these clauses, the embargo being taken off with regard to all other countries, except Great Britain and France, and their de. pendencies, the commerce of America will be renewed as to such countries. In that event she will begin to export to Sweden, to Spain and Portugal, to the free ports, and the Spanish colonies; and although the direct intercourse between England and America is cut off, the productions of both countries may find a sale and exchange through these circuitous channels.

On the 4th of March the new President, Mr Maddison, was installed in his office, when he delivered the following Address to the House of Representatives. It requires no comment to shew that the spirit which animated Mr Jefferson, actuates his successor in of fice.

THE PRESIDENT'S SPEECH. "Unwilling to depart from examples of the most revered authority, I avail myself of the occasion now presented, to express the profound impression made on me by the call of my country to the station, to the duties of which I am about to pledge myself by the most solemn of sanctions. So distinguished a mark of confidence, proceeding from the deliberate and tranquil suffrage of a free and virtuous nation, would, under any circumstances, have commanded my gratitude and devotion, as well as filled me with an awful sense of the trust to be assumed. Under the various circumstances which give peculiar so

lem

to promote, by authorised means, improvements friendly to agriculture, to manufactures, and to external as well as internal commerce; to favour, în like manner, the advancement of science and the diffusion of information, as the best aliment of true liberty; to carry on the benevolent plans which have been so meritoriously applied to the conserva tion of our aboriginal neighbours from the degradation and wretchedness of a savage life, to a participation of the improvements of which the human mind and manners are susceptible in a civi lised state. As far as sentiments and intentions such as these can aid the ful fillment of my duty, they will be a resource which cannot fail me.

"It is my good fortune, moreover, to have the path in which I am to tread lighted by examples of illustrious ser vices, successively rendered in the most trying difficulties, by those who have marched before me. Of those of my immediate predecessor it might least become me here to speak.-I may how ever be pardoned for not suppressing the sympathy, with which my heart is full, in the rich reward he enjoys in the benedictions of a beloved country, grate fully bestowed for exalted talents, zealously devoted, through a long career, to the advancement of its highest inte rests and happiness. But the source to which I look for the aid which alone can supply my deficiencies, is in the well-tried intelligence and virtue of my fellow-citizens, and to the counsels of those representing them in the other departments associated in the care of the national interest. In these my confidence will, under every difficulty, be best placed, next to that which we have all been encouraged to feel, in the guardianship and guidance of that Almighty Being, whose power regulates the des tiny of nations, whose blessings have been so conspicuously dispensed to this rising republic, and to whom we are bound to address our devout gratitude for the past, as well as our fervent supplications and best hopes for the future." WASHINGTON, March 4th.

Letters from the Spanish South American settlements of Vera Cruz, say, that a formal complaint has been preferred by the merchants of that colony to their Government, against the clandestine

commerce for some time carried on with the island of Jamaica; and that the people were so much displeased on this point, that, in terms of high indignation, they charged the chiefs of the administration with countenancing the traffic. The commandant of the marine had his house set on fire, and was compelled to consult his safety by flight to New Orleans; and almost the whole of the merchants, known or suspected to have any concern in illicit trade, sustained outrage or insult from the popu lace. The multitude next proceeded to place their inflammatory placards in different streets, demanding the head of the Viceroy, and vowing vengeance against his adherents.

It seemed, however, the unanimous determination of the people and their new Government in Mexico to maintain and encourage the regular commerce with their mother country, to annihilate all contraband trade, and to give their determined support to the claims of Ferdinand VII. Immediately after the arrest of the Viceroy, was issued the following proclamation:

"Inhabitants of Mexico, of all classes and conditions, our present necessities cannot be subjected to common laws. The people have deposed his Excellency the Viceroy, and have imperiously demanded his separation, for reasons of general utility and convenience; in consequence of which, there was formed last night a Junta, composed of his Excellency the Archbishop of this capital, and other high characters. They have named Don Joseph of Garybay, Marishal de Campo, to succeed the Viceroy, according to the royal order of the 30th October 1800. Inhabitants of this king. dom of Mexico, repose in the bosom of your country! We have nothing to fear. We are now governed by a chief known for his probity and prudence. Do not divide yourselves into parties, which would answer no other purpose but to involve us in misfortune.

"The President of the Junta, his Ex cellency the Archbishop, and other authorities, have the faculties for their ti tles, writers, and dispatches, which circumstances require. By order of the Junta, I am to circulate this proclamation. From the royal palace of the ci ty of Mexico, 16th September 1808.

FRANCISCO XIMENES, Sec."

SPAIN AND PORtugal.

OFFICIAL LETTERS.

A set of Papers, relative to the late expeditions to Spain and Portugal, have been laid before the House of Commons, consisting principally of letters from Lord Castlereagh to the Commanders in Spain and Portugal, and to Officers sent into those countries to procure intelligence, preparatory to the sending of a British force to their assistance. It appears, from these papers, that it was upon the information so collected, together with the assistance of the Marquis De La Romana, that Lord Castlereagh prepared in England the plan of the war that has been since adopted, and ended so unfortunately. A second set of papers, on the same subject, has been since printed; but, like the former, are too voluminous for detail in a periodical paper. They consist of three letters from General Sir Hew Dalrymple to Lord Castlereagh; six from Lord William Bentinck, all dated Madrid; thirteen from Major Gen. Broderick; twenty-one from Capt. Kennedy, dated successively from Corunna, Lugo, Astorga, and Villafranca; and thirteen from Lieut. Gen. Sir John Moore. Of these last, as being the most interesting and important, we shall endeavour to give a sketch.

Letter 1st is dated Lisbon, 9th October 1808, acknowledging to Lord Castlereagh, to whom they are all addressed, the receipt of his appointment to the command of an army of 30,000 infantry and 5000 cavalry, to be employed in the north of Spain, and stating his determination to proceed by land, in conformity with the advice of the Spanish Generals.

Letter 2d is dated Lisbon, October 18. In it he says" It is impossible to be more anxious than I am to get forward; but it is needless to take forward troops without the means to enable them to act; and, how. ever light the equipment I have fixed, yet the difficulty of procuring it is very consi. derable. Add to this, a Commissariat, extremely zealous, but quite new and inexperienced in the important duties which it now falls to their lot to execute."

Letter 3d is dated Lisbon, 27th October. It states, that he has sent General Hope, with the artillery, cavalry, and a corps of infantry, total 6000, by the great road leading from Badajoz to Madrid; that he has written to General Baird to march from Corunna, to Astorga, proposing him self to march to Salamanca. He adds, "Colonel Lopez, the officer sent to me from Madrid, was with me two days.

He

is very confident that we shall not want supplies; and it is upon this general assurance of the Spanish Government, that I am leading the army into Spain, without April 1809.

any established magazines. In this situation, nothing is more essentially requisite than money, and unfortunately we have been able to procure here very little. Sir David Baird has come without any, and his troops paid only to the 24th September, and from this we could only send him 80001.

Letter 4th is dated Salamanca, November 24. It states the arrival of the troops there in good order. It concludes thus:

"The information, which your Lordship must already be in possession of, renders it perhaps less necessary for me to / dwell upon the state of affairs in Spain, so different from that which was to be expected. Had the real strength and composi tion of the Spanish armies been known, and the defenceless state of the country, I conceive that Cadiz, and not Corunna, would have been chosen for the disembarkation of the troops from England; and Se ville or Cordova, not Salamanca, would have been selected as the proper place for the assembling of this army.

"The Spanish Government do not seem ever to have contemplated the possibility of a second attack, and are certainly quite unprepared to meet that which is now made upon them; their armies, all inferior, even in number, to the French; that whic Blake commanded, including Romana's corps, did not exceed 37,000 men, a great proportion of them mere peasantry. The armies of Castanos and Palafox united do not now exceed 40,000 men, and are not, I suspect, of a better description, and until lately they were much weaker. In the provinces no armed force whatever exists, either for immediate protection, or to reinforce the armies. The French cavalry from Burgos, in small detachments, are over-running the province of Leon, raising contributions, to which the inhabitants submit without the least resistance. The enthusiasm, of which we have heard so much, no where appears; whatever good will there is (and I believe amongst the lower orders there is a great deal) is taken no advantage of

"I am at this moment in no communication with any of the Generals commanding the Spanish armies. I am ignorant of their plans, or of those of their Governi ment. General Castanos, with whom, after repeated application, I was desired to communicate, for the purpose of combining the operations of the British army, was deprived of his command at the moment I had begun my correspondence with him. The Marquis of Romana, who is appointed his successor, is still at St Ander. It is difficult for me to form any plan for myself beyond the assembly of the army,

I

shall

shall then be in a state to undertake something; and if the Spaniards, roused by their misfortunes, assemble round us, and become once more enthusiastic and determined, there may still be hopes of expelling the French. It is my wish to lay before your Lordship, for the information of Government, things exactly as they are. It answers no good purpose to represent them otherwise, for it is thus that we must meet them.

"I feel no despondency myself, nor do I wish to excite any in others; but our situation is likely soon to become an arduous one. Reverses must be expected; and though I am confident this army will always do its duty, yet ultimate success will depend more upon the Spaniards themselves, and their enthusiastic devotion to their cause, than on the efforts of the British, who, without such aid, are not suffciently numerous to resist the armies which will be immediately opposed to them."

Letter 5th is dated Salamanca, 29th November. It announces the total defeat of the army of Castanos and Palafox. He conceives that, by this event, his junction with General Baird is become quite impracticable; and that, even although united, after the specimens of the little resistance made by the Spaniards, the British army alone could have no chance of resisting the formidable numbers that will be immediately brought against it. "By persevering longer," says he, "I shall certainly sacrifice the army, without benefiting Spain. I have therefore determined to retire." He concludes with saying, "If landed at Cadiz, we may still be useful."

Letter 6th is dated Salamanca, December 5th. In this letter, after announcing the success of the French at Somosierra, he says

"Your Lordship may believe that it was not without much reflection and extreme reluctance that I determined to withdraw the army from Spain, and to abandon a cause, for the success of which the Government are so much interested, and the pub lic mind so highly exalted.

"As long as there remained an army, and any hope of resistance on the part of the Spaniards, I was determined to persevere, at all risks, in the junction of the army, and then, if General Castanos had received a check, or been forced to retreat, it was my intention, if nothing better offered, to march upon Madrid, from whence, getting behind the Tagus, we should have given the Spaniards an opportunity of ralTying around us, and have shared their fortunes. This intention I mentioned to your Lordship in my letter of the 24th, and imparted it as a question to Mr Frere for

his opinion; but the sudden defeat of General Castanos's army left nothing either to aid me, or to prevent the further progress of the army.

"The British army was at that moment on its march to collect at this place and Astorga. General Hope, with the head of his division, was at Villa Castrin, and from the collected manner in which it was necessary for him to march, he could not have joined me sooner than he has done. Sir David Baird's corps could not be collected at Astorga before the 4th of this month; it was thus impossible for this army to have been united before the 13th or 14th, and still later before it could be ready to undertake an offensive movement. This time was more than sufficient to enable the enemy to finish the destruction of what little Spanish force remained, and to turn the greatest part of his army against the British, which, when united, does not exceed 26,000 men, but which probably he would be able to attack whilst detached and separated. I consider the British army as standing a lone; that its union could not be attempted without great hazard; or, if effected, that it could not withstand the great force that would be brought against it. It was vain, I thought, to expect, that, under such circumstances, it could retrieve the Spanish cause; and, though I knew the army would cheerfully attempt whatever I ordered, I thought my duty called upon me not to expose it to a contest in which its best efforts could not promise to be successful. It may fairly be said, that the British army never reached Spain; it cannot, in the true sense, be called an army, until it is united and prepared to act; the Spanish forces were defeated, and their cause lost, before the British, so constituted, could come to their assistance.

"I feel the weight of the responsibility which has fallen to me. I had nothing but difficulties to chuse; whether I have chosen the least, and that which will be the least disapproved by his Majesty and my country, I cannot determine; my wish has been to decide right. I reflected well upon the different duties I had to discharge; and if I have decided wrong, it can only be because I am not gifted with that judgment which was imputed to me when I was intrusted with this important command."

Letter 7th is dated Salamanca, December 5. It states, that, in consequence of the general opinion entertained from the resistance of Madrid, which is also Mr Frere's, he ordered Sir David. Baird to suspend his march.

Letter 8th, dated Salamanca, the 8th December, states, that in consequence of the resistance of Madrid, and the hope expres

sed