UNITED STATES, SALEM, Feb. i From the Wejl Indi: We hare rery diljgreeable accounts.— Capt- Thos. Wtbb, arrived here last week from St. Eullatia, brings intelligence,that the British have adopted a policy towards the neutral powers, which affe&s the A merican commerce in a very ferions man ner ; that in pursuance of a proclamat ion and mflros6tions;of the British couit,bear- ing date the * 6th of November, which Capt. Webbfaw and read, the armed vef £ei* of that nation take all neutrals trad ing to or from the French islands, and feiud them into port for adjudication.— Many ve'Tek have been sent into the En gEih ports in consequence of this order, and numbers ltave been condemned at Montferr-t; among which is the brig Two Brothers, Endicot, of this port, and fcFiooner Pe:icock, Blaney, of Marble head. The brig Hind, Putnam, of this part, and the fthoorier Rachel, I,ec, of Cape-Ann, were there, among others, waitiug a trial. IV Swedes and Danes fliare the fame fate with the Americans. We are informed that the British admit the Americans freely into those French ports, which they have taken poffefiion of in Hifpaniola, upon the fame footing on which the British themselves trade there. Their obje& i& to reduce all the French ifiands this winter; and the preventing their receiving supplies from neutrals,they consider as one principal mean of efFe&- irig it. Hence proceed the orders for their depredations on neutral commccce. *We da not wtlll to doubt the veraci ty of Capt. W. but we (halt not neglect to inform the public, that no such procla mation as he fays he has seen, has ever been publilied in the London Gazette, from the lit of Nov. to the 7th Dec. & that all the proclamations of the British court are invariably published in thet Ga zette. We cannot at the fame time for bear mentioning, that many merchants in Salem give no credit whatever to theintel ligence ; but on the contrary, inform that letters were received by Capt. W. con taining intelligence of a direst contrary nature. BOSTON, Feb. 26. IMPORTANT MEETING! The public have already been inform ed of the meeting of the inhabitants of this town, to take into consideration the embarralTments under which ourcommerce labours ; and of the appointment of a com mittee of thirteen to report thereon. On Monday last, at lp o'clock, that committee made their report, in which they dated a number of embarraflments under which our commerce generally, and carrying trade in particular, now labours, and others which may be expe&ed to a rise upon the arrival of peace. Toeffeft a removal of those exifljng, and to guard those whicli may be appre hended in the event of peace among the European nations, the committee fubjoin cd sundry resolutions for the town to a dqpt ; the molt of which were only de claratory of certain principles and opini ons, upon which to bottom one, recom mending a discrimination against Britain and Spain, by imposing new duties on their veflcls and goods. After the report was read, the debates were opened thereon, by Mr. RufTell, Mr. Jones, Mr. Euftis, and Mr. Codman who were in the minority of the report ing committee; and who now opposed the report. On the other fide it was sup ported by Dr. Jarvis, Mr. Morton, and Mr. Austin, who were in the majority of the fame-committee. This debate, in which, beside -the above gentlemen, great numbers took a part, was continued un (3 near 2 o'clockP. M. when the town ad journed to meet at the Old-South Meet ing House, at 3 o'clock, (the inhabitants who attended being too numerous for Fa neuil-Hall) When the debate was resum ed. and continued nntil dark : the town then adjourned to ten o'clock, yesterday morning, when the debate was again re sumed, and kept up with much fpirit,un til near one. The queftidn was then taken upon this motion : " That the further confidfration of the Report be inferred without day" And upon a division of the houfe,there Sheared a very large majority in favour of Uijf i cference. The meeting was then di.Tol.cd, Never did we fee a fuller meeting : and never were debates more fairly con qnfted. We cannot omit mentioning in a particular manner, Mr. Otis, who took a confpieuous part in the course of the debate, in opposition to the report ; his fellow-eitizens did jullicc to his abilities, and eloquence. The arguments used by the gentlemen in oppofitton to the Report, displayed an extensive knowledge of our commerce,its natural and permanent advantages, as well as its present embarrafiments ; and they were so convincing, as to fatisfv a large majority, that it was inexpedient for the town to declare any opinion as to the measures proper to remove these embarraf ments; but rather to leave the whole buii nefs with Congress, where it ought con stitutionally to reside. " The People" of the United States, in the Constitution which they have a dopted, have declared, that " Gongrefs shall have the exclusive power of regulat ing Commerce with foreign nations"— and " the People" are detei mined to sup port the Constitution ! The late Meeting has done, and will do much good—lt will strengthen the o pinions of our Delegates in Congrcfs,and convince them, that as long as they are just and patriotic, their constituents will support them. It also fliews, that when the mercantile and mechanic profeflions have time to delibeiate, they fee their best interefls, and pursue them. NEW-YORK, March 5. New-Tort Chamber of Commerce, March 4. 1794. T H E Committee appointed by this Chamber, to receive complaints of ' 1111- juftifiable vexation and spoliation commit ted on our merchant ve/Tels by the powers at war,' beg leave to report that they have repeatedly met for the purpose of their appointment, and no " evidence of spoliation" hath yet appeared to warrant an application to the government, and but one instance of " vexation" in the cafe of Capt. Harvey, which hath been transmit ted to the Executive Department of the United States. W. NEILSON, Chairman. A true extract from the minutes, W. LAIGHT, Sec'ry. For the Gazette of the United States. REFORM IN PENAL LAWS, jExtraS from a Return made by the Grand Jury to the Court of General Quarter Sejfions, held in March 1794, in and for the County of Philadelphia. " Among the various duties which the Grand Jury have found it incumbent on them to discharge, tlie visiting of the prisons forms a very important one. The polity of our prisons for offenders, and our penal laws being new, and essentially different from those of other places, we have been the mere a: icntivc to their effeCts ; and it affords us much fatis fa<£tionin being able to fay, that we have found order, decency, economy, and induftiy, pre vailing throughout the hovfe —P.rii> attention to the moral conduct of the prisoners, and di vine worship frequently performed. The number of prisoners has greatly decreased— there are few or none of them who are not en gaged in some ufeful and productive employ ment, which not only begets habits of industry and order in the house, but qualifies them for ufefulnefs when returned to focicty—at which time the balance procured by their labour is delivered to them, either in cloathing or mo ney, at the discretion of the infpeClors of the prison. While we contemplate this agreea ble change, it is with no less pleasure we find the benefits to fooiety, many and important. The attention of the infpe&or? who have the direction of the prison, merits our approba tion. The exertions of Captain Weed, the late keeper (who fell a victim to his benevolent exertion* as a father and a friend during the late affixing calamity) in promoting the or der and security of this place, also demands our grateful acknowledgments : And whjlft we mention his services, we feel it a duty to notice the good order and management which is still preserved under the fuperintend?we of his Widow, who from theuectafeof herhuf band until the present time,has had the charge of this place—and we cannot bu J recommend her as a person well qualified under the present order of that place, to perform the duties annexed to it. Signed on behalf of the Grand Jury, DANIEL THOMAS, Fcre'iran; A correspondent talc s the liberty of ob serving, that from the above ilatement may hien the hp; py - rider "of the pen.. 1 : >de nt>w adopt ?d sinl carrieu i.ito o 4 .ration in Pen il'vi .ania. 15v ju.tHatements of ♦> » riora! oblijratirna and duues of man, good print.pkjs a.c im prefled on the minds of those unfortunate perlons who for their offences again ft the laws oi their country are fcntcoccd tu confinement at hard labor in the priloirat Philadelphia.— By a rigid exclusion of spirituous liquors, in toxication is there prevented —by a total fe paraiion of the sexes, corruption of manners is avoided —by the provision of proper mate rials, and a flri£i attention to the manufacture of them, habits of industry are induced ; and by the surplus proceeds of the cortvkSls labor befog carried to tiieir credit, and delivered to rheir at their difmiflion from the prison, ei vher in clothes or mqney (deducing only the moderate charges that accrue from their lafe keeping, and the cofls of their profcgution) ti.*y are not turned pennylefs and fans culottes on society, and compelled to refumc their fe lonious practices in order to avoid flarvation. The foregoing flajterneii't further evinces the e fe with which, con vi ft* are kept in confine ment under a mild fyftcnr of punishment, when a woman is equal to the place of keeper of a gaol, in which are grouped the n?oll.cor rupt and hardened offenders of the whole ft ate of Pennsylvania. How much does this fail unsettle the ppi nion so long and so generally entertained, that no one was prop, rly qualified for the office of Gaol-keeper, but a Man of desperate courage and a callous heart. PHILADELPHIA, MARCH 8. A letter from Uoilon dated February -)> fays, That fit the late Town meeting there, it was judged there were iSoopcr fons present—That on the question for referring ■without day, the consideration of the business before them, the numbers in the affirmative, were estimated at twelve hundred-—these in the negative at lis hun dred. Yc fie relay afternoon arrived in town, from the army of the United States, Capt. Eaton, with difpatchesfrom Major-Oener al Wayne, to the Secretary of War. Capt. Eaton left Head-Quarter* the 22d of Ja nuary. Ejitraft of a letter from an officer in the army, to his friend in this city GmnilU, Jan. 2 1, 1794. " Teace, which has been the great wish of the Union, and which we have solicited so often witnout success, and been reject ed by the belligerent tribes of Savages in the moll contemptuous manner, is now offered to us, by one of those tribes, a'nd will, I have 110 doubt, be joined by aIL ,f A few days since, a white man, and an Indian, appeared in the vicinity of this cantonment, bearing a white flag. They were received, by order of the Command er in Chief, and conduced to his quarters ; where they opened their bufmefs, and in formed that they came from the Delaware nation, with proposals of peace—that they were fan&ioned by the Shswanefe and o ther holtile tribes, in their proportions, and wished to be informed if the General would meet them upon those terms, and (hut the bloody path. An answer was de ferred till the next day ; and in the mean time, a gentleman was sent with the Indi an for two others, who had continued in the woods about two miles from this place, and returned with them in the e- vening. " A Council was held the next day, and after the Indians had laid bt-fore the Commander in Chief the purport of their visit, and had declared it to bt the finccre with of their brethren, to live in friendfhip with their white brothers, and to close the road to the further effufion of blood ; the council ended with an answer from his Excellency, purporting that it was his wilh to enter upon a treaty of peace—That the Indians had so often deceived lis, it was inpoflible to believe they were now sincere—that if they were so, th< ;■ would have no obje&ion to his proceeding, and cllablifhing forts upon the banks of the Lakes, for their ferurity and his own, where, wliilft drinking the waters, he would be better enabled to meet them in council, and conclude the good work— and farther to tißify the sincerity of their wilhes, he infilled that the white prifon crs now in their nations fliould be brought, accompanied bv the head chiefs, to this cantonment, in one month from the time of the departure of ihe laid Indians, to which they conceded." From a Corrcjpondeut What is the cause of the fall df Stocks? enquires a coWefpondent—fiircly not a diminution in the quantity >f specie, for it may f.fely be aflerted, that there never so j icat a qu::nrity in the country be fore, as at the pr. sent time—not to the encixafiiig quantity of paper for fak—for if may fairly be prcfumed, that the public fecui ities are constantly receding from the maii.et, by neing mole and mi.re concen, tered in the hands of those who prefef a fteadv income to the uncertainties and fluctuations of commercial or other fjr,ecu- Lit ions—not to the diminution of the pub lic revenue, and a leflening of the means to support the public credit—for the re venue enareafes annually—and notwith standing all the vexations and fpoliatiou» of our commerce, it is probably at this moment progrefGug-The variations, there. £>re in the prices of flocks are founded (111 no better bnlis than the breath of rumor but baseless as it is—the Lulls am! lean have no other data for their caLtila tions —Sutvcrbum fapientt. From a l.orntun Paper. French Regulation rcj'pctling llu- RIALS In the name of the French nation. " THE Representatives of the People with tlie Departments of the Centre ai d the Weft, confidei ing that the French can acknowledge.no other privileged signs ex cept the Law, Justice, and Liberty ; no other Worlhip except that of Universal Morality; no other Doctrine except that of National Sovereignty and Omnipg tence ; considering that, if at the mo ment when the Republic folcmnly declares that (he allows an equal protection to the exercise of the worships of every religion, it was lawful for every feftary to eftahlifh on the public fcjuares, on the roads, in the streets, the tokens of their refpeftive feds, to celebrate there then* religious ce - remonies, confufion and dtforders would ensue. therefrom in society, refobe as fol lows : 1. All the worftn'ps of the different religions cannot be excrcifed but in their refpedive temples. 2. Ihe Republic not acknowledging any general or privileged worship, all the religious tokens upon the roads, squares, and all public places in general, shall be destroyed. 3. It ia forbidden, under pain of im piifcVnneht, to all Ministers and Priests, to appear clad any where elfc but in their temples, 4- I" every Municipality, all the de cealej citizens, of what fe& soever, shall be can fed, twenty-four hours after their decease, or forty-eight hours in cafe of sudden death, to the place of coipmon burial, covered with a pall, on which shall be dcpitfted Sleep ; accompanied by a putw lie officer, surrounded by their friends clad in mourning, and by a detachment of their brothers 111 arflis. 5. The common place where the a(hes Oiall repose, fl)".ill be remote frjm every dwelling, planted with trees ; under the (hade of which, a statue (hall be raised, representing Sleep. All other signs or to kens (hall be destroyed. 6. On the gate of this field, confecratcd by a religious refpeft to the manes of the dead, (hall be read this inscription—'Death is an everlasting (jeep.' 7. All thoie who, af'er their death, (liall be judged by the Citizens of thHr Commonalties to have well iiierited of their country, (hall have on their tomb a (lone, with garlands of oak. 8. The present refolutibn (hall be print ed, and (tuck up in all the extent of the Department, addressed to ail the diftrifls,' which (hall transmit it to all the Council- General of the Commons, and to the Rec tors, who (hall be rcfponlible in cafc of non-execution. (Signed) Nevers, Oilobcr ' The above refutation needs no observa tions. It is n death blow aimed by rep tiles at revealed religion, and as such its Consequences can be hurtful only to them (elves. " FOUCHE." Cjf The Editor h-.reof acknowledges with grateful sensations, the favnrs of his advcrtifm* friends. Six hundred of the Gazette are now Jtrui t ojj daily. 77 ir exlcrifive, and di/i.int, as