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some degree, the contraband and illicit trade of the Americans, waxes louder and louder; and every plan which violence and intemperance can suggest, is employed to goad the Congress to actual reprisals against Great Britain. Some strong resolutions were proposed by Mr Randolph, against Great Britain, but are said to have been rejected in a Committee. However, the militia are to be called out: a proposal has been made, and referred to a Committee of Congress, to prohibit the importation of all English produce and merchandise, until the grievances complained of are redressed; and a bill of a most extraordinary nature has been introduced for the protection and indemnification of American seamen from the impress of British ships of war. The following are its principal provisions :--

"The first clause of the bill enacts, that every person or persons, who shall impress ANY seaman, on board any vessel bearing the flag of the United States, upon the high seas, or in any river, haven, bason, or bay, under the pretext or colour of a commission from any foreign power, shall for every such offence be adjudged a pirate, and, on conviction, shall suffer death. The second clause not only authorises persons attempted to be impressed to repel force by force, by killing those attempt ing to impress them, but encourages them to resist by a bounty of 200 dollars. The third clause authorises the President of the United States to retaliate upon any subject of any foreign power, in case any impressed American citizen shall suffer death, or any o ther corporal punishment, by the authority of such power. By the fourth and last clause, every impressed American seaman is to be entitled to receive, for the time he is compelled to serve on board any ship, the sum of 60 dollars a month, to be recovered in the district court of the State in which the port lies from which the vessel cleared for the voyage in which he was taken, by attachment of any private debt due from any citizen of the United States to any subject of that Government by whose subjects he had been impressed; and any sums of money, so attached out of the hands of any debtor, shall be a payment of so much of the said debt, and may be pleaded in payment, or dis

count, to the amount of the said sum so attached, and the costs of said attachment, which shall be allowed as a payment to that amount, in any suit for said debt. And so much of the treaty of London, of 19th November 18c4, as secures the inviolability of such debts, as will be infringed by the attachments or recoveries hereby authorised, shall not (so long as is necessary in the execution of this act only) be regarded as legally obligatory on the Government or citizens of the United States."

It will scarcely be believed, that a Bill so disgraceful t the Legislature of any country calling itself civilized, has passed to a second reading! We think better of the Americans, than to suppose that it can eventually pass. Such new ideas in legislation can receive no countenance from those who know the real state of the question. If some individuals, who were born in America, have been impressed into our service, where does the blame lie?-Is there a single American who does not know that every artifice is employed to naturalize, as they call it, all the British seamen whom they can persuade to disgrace themselves, as if an American certificate could convert a born Briton into any thing else than a Briton. If there be any real cause of complaint, it is on our side. Let America abandon the nefarious system which has led to the impressing of seamen from American bottoms. At least ninety-nine out of an hundred seamen so impressed have been British born seamen, and it would be easy to prove that a much greater number has been dishonourably screened and protected by false and forged certificates of American citizenship. The American Government is well acquainted with these facts, and we cannot believe that it will encourage violent and hasty proceedings. The whole of this important question, however, will probably soon come into discussion officially between the two countries.

A Bill for abolishing the Slave Trade, throughout the United States, was passed in the House of Representatives, and twice read in the Senate; but on the third reading, the Members for and against it were equal; the Vice-President gave his casting vote against it, and it was of course rejected.

WEST

WEST INDIES.

We are happy to mention the discovery and prevention of a formidable conspiracy of the Negroes in the Island of Trinidad. The object of the Negroes (of whom, however, it appears, but a small proportion were engaged in it) was to renew the scenes of St Domingo, to burn the towns and plantations, and effect a general massacre of the whites, without distinction of age or sex. Christmas eve was fixed for the execution of the plan. To the coolness, promptitude, and vigour of General Histop, we are, under Providence, indebted for the timely suppression of a conspiracy, which, had it but partially taken effect, might have eventually in volved the most dreadful consequences to all the Windward Islands. He had early intimation of it; martial law was proclaimed, all the leading conspirators were seized, all their plans were discovered; several of them had been tried and executed at the date of the last advices, and others were under trial. We are happy to add, for the satisfaction of those who have relatives in the Island, that the danger was regarded as entirely

over.

The Philadelphia Gazette contains an extract from the Gazette of Hayti, in which it is made to appear, that the Government of the sable Chief of St Domingo is as well founded, and as likely to continue, as that of his brother Napoleon. The island is represented as in a state of confirmed and growing prosperity.

GERMANY.

On the 27th of December, the EmpeFor Napoleon issued from his residence in the palace of Schoenbrun, two proclamations; one to his army, announeing the signing of peace, and another to the people of Vienna, expressing his satisfaction at their conduct, imputing the war to the Austrian Minister devoted to England, and making them a present of the arsenal, which by right of conquest he said belonged to him.

The same day at noon, he set out with his staff, on his return to France, and arrived at Munich on the 31st. He was here met by the Empress, the new Kings of Bavaria and Wirtemberg, the Elector of Baden, with all their fami

lies, and a great assemblage of all ranks, who came to congratulate Napoleon on his victories. He here wrote a letter to the President of the French Conservative Senate, in which he states, that his desire to give every proof of his particular esteem for the royal house and nation of Bavaria, who had rendered him so many services, and his wish to be present at the celebration of the marriage of his son Eugene with the Princess Augusta of Bavaria, had induced him to protract his stay for some days at Munich. This marriage took place on the 15th Jan. The marriage contract was signed by the Emperor and Empress of France, and the King and Queen of Bavaria. The ceremony was performed by the Arch-Chancellor of the empire.

The Electoral Prince of Baden, who was compelled to relinquish the hand of the daughter of the King of Bavaria, in favour of Eugene Beauharnois, is to be indemnified with one of the nieces of the Empress Josephine!

The title assumed by the Elector of Bavaria is King of Bavaria; that of the Elector of Wirtemberg, King of Wirtemberg. These monarchs are to be crowned at Paris. Their Majesties, it appears, have already quarrelled, and several squabbles have taken place about demarcations, in which the troops of his Majesty of Wirtemberg were obliged to give way. The Bavarian army was to be increased to eighty thousand men; a force, if properly disciplined, sufficient to prove a most effectual barrier to any sudden movement hereafter on the part of Austria.

We have seen that the Electors of Bavaria and Wirtemberg have had the title of King conferred on them by Bonaparte, with a very considerable aecession of territory. To the former it is the reward of most unkingly treacheryto the latter it is much otherwise. It appears, from an address which he delivered to the Deputies of his States in Oct. last, that his situation was truly pitiable. He was beset on all sides by Austria and France; his appeals to Piussia were disregarded; he requested of Bonaparte that he might be allowed to maintain an armed or a simple neutrality;-"No," returned the Tyrant," he that is not with me is against me; you must furnish me with 10,000 men, and

hals

half a million in specie:"" I cannot maintain such a number of men," said the Elector;-" Your country can," returned Napoleon. My States will not consent," replied the Elector;

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Against them," rejoined Napoleon, "I will support you."-" I had no choice left," adds the Elector, "I subscribed." As matters have turned out, his Highness has pitched on his legs, in falling on the strongest side. Had he refused to subscribe to the French treaty, and sided with Austria, equally urgent for his assistance, he would, ere this, have been annihilated as a Prince of the Empire, and his country most likely annexed to Baden or Bavaria. The transaction, however, affords a curious specimen of Corsican policy. Two years have scarcely elapsed since the States of Wirtemberg applied to Bonaparte for support against their legitimate Chief, and found favour in his sight. Now, the Prince against whom they appeared has the same arm lifted up in his favour.

The Elector of Saxony has had the sense to refuse the title of King, which was pressed upon him by Bonaparte.If this Maker of Sovereigns proceeds as he has begun, in a few years the Royal dignity will scarcely be so respectable as a German Principality..

The French troops have evacuated the Austrian States. The last column left Vienna on the 12th Jan. but they are not returning to France. A large army is still to remain on the right bank of the Rhine, with a view of controuling Prussia, should she evince any disposition hostile to certain arrangements which Bonaparte has in contemplation.

The Emperor of Austria returned to his capital on the 16th of Jan. The Archduke Charles also entered Vienna on the 18th, at the head of 25,000 men, who are to compose the future garrison of that city. The Imperial Chancery likewise returned, together with all the foreign Ministers, except the Russian Minister.

The Emperor's return was preceded by a Proclamation to the inhabitants, inculcating the necessity of resignation. The Archduke Charles has also addressed a Proclamation to the army upon its going into peace quarters. He endeaYours to reconcile the troops to the hu.

miliation which the Austrian arms have experienced.

The Court of Vienna has felt it necessary to summon once more to its Coun ciis the wisdom and experience of its former Minister, Baron Thugut.

The Austrian corps, under the Archduke Ferdinand, is stated to have marched towards the Turkish frontiers, and the French division under Marmont to Venetian Dalmatia; and the probability is that we shall soon see the Austrians and French co-operating a gainst Turkey.

The confused state of Bosnia and Servia seems highly favourable to the execution of the plans of annexation to the House of Austria, which are generally understood to have been agreed to by Bonaparte. Letters from Semlin, dated Jan. 2. say that a large corps of Turkish troops having made an incursion into Servia from Bosnia, were met, attacked and defeated by the Servians, with the loss of 3000 men. Another corps of Turks, consisting of 700 men, had, however, penetrated to Schabatz, of which they had made themselves masters, and massacred great numbers of the inhabitants.

The free city of Frankfort has been occupied by French troops: nor have they been idle. Angereau sent a letter to the Senate, intimating, that it was the pleasure of his Master that the inhabitants should pay him a contribution of four millions of livres! No pretext for this act of extortion is advancedno pretence is assigned. The Marshal, in the name of his Master, prefers the demand in the most courteous manner, without troubling himself to fabricate an excuse for the robbery. The Senate have had recourse to a forced loan, to raise half the imposition, which they have paid, and to avoid the pestilence with which they were menaced, the introduction of a fresh garrison of ten thousand men, and its unavoidable consequence-military execution.

Nor has French rapacity been limited to Frankfort. The county of Rodelsheim, adjacent to that city, is also to pay a contribution amounting to 100,000 rix-dollars. The Elector of Hesse will, it is said, be required to furnish a contribution of eight millions of livres. Saxony will be taxed as high. The Prince of Salm is to pay a million, and

the

the Arch-Chancellor of the Empire one million also, for which Frankfort, after being drained, will be made over to him. Nor is this all. Germany is not only to furnish France with money, but with men, and several of the German Princes are to raise regiments for the French service!

The King of Sweden has published a Declaration to the Diet, in which, after rebuking the Members of the empire for having acted contrary to the principles of honour, virtue, and the German constitution, he declares, that he shall consider it beneath his dignity to take any part in the deliberations of the Diet, so long as its decisions shall be under the influence of selfishness and usurpation.

Bonaparte, it appears, persists in his endeavours to induce the King of Prussia to shut his ports against the commerce of England. His Majesty, we trust, knows his own interest better. Were it otherwise, appearances do not at present seem to be favourable to Napoleon's views. In the mean time, ac'cording to letters from Dusseldorff, it seems to be his determination to seize British manufactures throughout every part of Bavaria. A French Customhouse Officer arrived at Dusseldorff on the 5th Feb. insisted upon taking away books and letters belonging to the merchants, and wished to seize British goods, although they had never been prohibited in that country. The Governor firmly resisted the outrage, and the robbers desisted, but it was feared that violence would ultimately prevail.

PRUSSIA HANOVER.

In a

to be defrayed by the Electorate. The troops took possession on the 5th Feb. and immediately after the Russians were to evacuate the electorate, and return to their own country by Prussian Pomerania. The Swedish troops have withdrawn to the right bank of the Elbe; but the Swedish General has published a proclamation, in which, after stating it to be his Sovereign's pleasure to remove the greatest part of his troops further into the Mecklenburgh territory, and adding, that the chief command of the Swedes, posted on the right side of the Elbe, has been confided to him; he declares, “in pursuance of his Majesty's command, that the said countries still continue under the protection of Sweden, till, in this respect, a Convention between his Majesty and his High Ally the King of Great Britain shall be concluded."

The affairs of the Continent seem to be still in a very unsettled state. proclamation issued by his Prussian Majesty upon occupying Hanover, it is asserted that this occupation is merely provisional. His Majesty states, that a Convention has been entered into between him and the French Emperor, in pursuance of which, the States of his Britannic Majesty in Germany will not again be occupied by French or other troops combined with them; and, till the conclusion of a general peace, will be wholly occupied and governed by Prussia. The extraordinary expences attending the occupation of the Electorate by the Prussian troops are

At present, therefore, it would appear that the occupation of Hanover is merely provisional; but strong doubts are entertained, whether that which has only a provisional appearance now will not soon assume a very different attitude and aspect. A proclamation was issued by Count Munster, upon quitting the Electorate, which shows that his Britannic Majesty wholly disapproves of the measure adopted by Prussia. That Court had proposed conditions by which Hanover was to be secured from attack. Those conditions were strictly fulfilled on our part; but in the mean while, Prussia was negociating a treaty with France, by which she was to be put in posession of the Electorate.His Britannic Majesty has in consequence protested, through his Minister, against this violation of his territories.

This unexpected accession of territory and influence to the Court of Berlin, has produced great jealousy in the Aus trian Government, in as much as the latter has lost in the same measure that the former has been aggrandized. There is, however, a general persuasion, that the secret articles of the treaty of Presburgh promise to Austria a compensation for the enormous sacrifices to which she has been forced to submit. These articles relate to the annexation of the Turkish provinces on the Austrian frontiers to the dominions of the Emperor Francis; a measure which has aroused the jealousy of Russia and Prussia,

and

1

ad will, it is believed, be resisted by

both.

This is the object of France in ob. taining possession of Venetian Dalmatia. It is vowedly to overawe the Turkish Empire, and to counteract the views of Russia. It is expressly declared, either that the French armies are to support and improve the Turkish troops, and prop their declining empire, or that the latter should be overthrown.

FRANCE.

Bonaparte, with his Empress, returned to Paris on the 26th Jan. His arri. val had been preceded by a letter to the Senate, announcing his adoption of Eugene Beauharnois as his son, and his intention to call him to the throne of Italy the crown of Italy after the present possessor, to be for ever separa ted from the crown of France, to which Eugene and his descendants are to wave all claim and pretension. But the most important part of this communication to the Senate is that in which Bonaparte hints at the ulterior dispositions which he intends, and speaks of the federative states of the French Empire. "The different parts, though independent of each other, have a common tie."What can this mean, but that Bonaparte intends to break and divide Germany into federative states, which, created by France, shall depend upon France, and shall look to her as their common parent and protector. The Senate caught the meaning of the expressions to which we have alluded, in a moment. The President Neufchateau in his speech upon the Imperial letter uses these words-"The order of succession to the crown of Italy is fixed. The Iron Crown will never be united to the Imperial Diadem; but by the same provident wisdom that keeps them separate, are woven before-hand, the federative knots of which the French Empire will be the tie and centre." Thus, the Crown of Italy, though separated from France, will not be a bit the less subservient to her will, and will still, as before, be connected with her fate and fortunes; whilst Germany, recast and recreated, and divided into comparatively small monarchies or republics, will depend upon the power of France for protection and support.

Bonaparte's Senate and Tribunate are

vying with each other in decreeing him honours. A column is to be erected, bearing on the top of it a statue of the Emperor the inscription is to be "Napoleon the Great, from his grateful country." Medals are to be struck, and a national fete is to be celebrated yearly on the anniversary of the Emperor's birth.

The honours of a public entry into Paris, decreed to Bonaparte by his fawning Senates, and Legislative Bodies, and Constituted Authorities, were declined by him, because he returned victorious. He gave them to understand, that he would have made a public and solemn entry, had he come back discomfited and degraded, "that the acclamations of the people might shew how he was beloved!" He, however, received the full measure of their adulation, at an audience which he deigned to grant them after his return. The addresses presented to him on this occasion are such a combination of servility, impiety, and meanness, that they even compelled the personage to whom they were addressed to put on the semblance of modesty.

Bonaparte's first Levee, after his return to Paris, was indeed a solemn one. The Prefect of the Police sent a billet to those who were to attend, intimating that they would be permitted to testify their veneration to their Imperial and Royal Majesties, seated on their thrones. The persons summoned, accordingly, at the appointed hour, passed by the thrones one after another. The etiquette was to make three obeisancesthe first standing opposite the throne ; the second on approaching near to it; and the third after retiring a few paces from it.-Not a word was spoken!

In Paris, on the 5th Feb. a rigorous ordinance, concerning dangerous offensive weapons, carried in secret, was published by the Prefect of Police. It prohibits armourers, cutlers, merchants and others, to manufacture, expose to sale or issue, and the public to carry, weapons prohibited by the laws, such as air-guns and pistols, poignards, daggers, sword-sticks, or canes, &c. under severe penalties. All persons, not military, wishing to carry pocket or common pistols for self-defence, must have a licence for so doing. All persons of the above description shall be subject to vi

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