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 <tvcll as local cir
culation, in addition to the encreajing num
ber, embolden the Editor to solicit a conti
nuation of advertifmg patronage.
The Eaftcm mail due rrfterday, and
the Southern and Eailcrn nrails due this
day, are not airived.
" Examiner" ii neceflarily postponed
tiU Monday.