American vefTels hid been declared exempt from ti
that part of the deciee of the 9th May, which au- n
tliorifed the seizing of vefTels going to an enemy's I
port with provisions, by the decree of the National R
Convention of the 28th July 1793. t
On the appearance of the decree of the 9th of a:
May, the American minister at Paris remonftratcd d
against it, as a violation of the treaty of commerce tl
between France and the United States. In con- w
fequencc thereof, the convention, by a decree of
the 13d of the fame month, declare, «« that the I
yeflels of the United Slates are not comprehended
jn the regulation of the sth of May." M. Le
Brun, the minister for foreign affairs, on the 26th
®f May, communicated this second decree to our £
minister, accompanying it with these Words, " You
will there find anew confirmation of the principles [
from which the French people will never depart,
with regard to their gaod friends and allies the [
people of the United States of America. Yet
two days only had elapsed, before those principles [
■were departed from ; on the 28th of May, the
convention repealed their decree of the 23d. The
owners of a French privateer that had captured a [
very rich American (hip, the Laurens, found means
to effed the repeal, to enable them to keep hold
of their prize. They had even the apparent har
dintfs to fay before hand that the decree of the 23d
tvould be repealed.
The American minister again complained. Sol
on tke ift of July, the convention pafled a fourth [
deciee, again declaring, " That the vefTels of the
United Statesjare not comprised in the regulations [
of the decree of the ninth of May ; conformably to
the sixteenth [it should be called the twenty-third] ,
article of the ti easy concluded the 6th of February,
1778." The new minister for foreign affairs, M. {
_Desforgues, accompanies this new decree of July
1 ft, with the following exprefiion : " I am very
happy in being able to give you this new proof of
the fraternal sentiments of the Ftench people for
their allies, and of their determination to maintain
to the utmost $f their power the treaties subsisting
between the two Republics j" yet this decree pio
red as unliable as the former : on the 17th of July e
it was repealed.
The next decree on this fubjeft was that of the
joint committee of the 15th of November, 1794. F
already mentioned. Then followed the decree of 0
the committee of public fafety of the 4th of Janu- t:
ary, 1795 ('4 Nirsft, 3d year) repealing the sth 1
article in the decree of the 15th November prece
ding, and in effeft the articlts in the original de
cree of the 9th of May, 1793, by which the treaty
with the United States had been infringed. It is
not neceffrry for the Secretary to add, that the
decree of the 4th January, 1795, has been repeal,
pd by the decree of the Executive Diretftory of the
2d ot July, 1796, under colour of which are com
mitted the (hocking depredations on the commerce
of the United States which are daily exhibited in
the aewfpapers. The agents of the Executive Di
rectory to the le? ward islands (Leblanc, Sontho
nax, and the 17th of Noyembfr pas*
fed a decree, marked C, C.) for capturing all A
mcrican vessels bcund to or from British ports. The
fe«retary presumes this i 6 not an arbitrary, unautho- j
jrized aft of their own, but that it is conformable f
to the intentions of the executive dieftory; the 1
privateers of the French republic in Europe, hay
ing captured fom<? American vtffcls on the fame j
pretence ; and the consul of the republic at Cadiz
bavin; explicitly avowed his determination to con
rdemn American vefTels on that ground, pleidjng 1
the decree of the Direftory for his authority. '
The fecretaty has already intimated that the der J
cree of the 15th November 1794, was not follow
ed by the extensively good effedis expeAed from ]
it. By a communication from Mr, Skipwith, of 1
the loth of lad September (the latest conrimunica 1
tion from him, in answer to the secretary's tequeft 1
for information) it appears that the claims for de
tention of 103 American vefTels by the embargo at ,
Bourdeaux remained undetermined : fro funds hav
ing been appropriated for the payment of them ; |
and. tnat none of the hills dtawn by the colonial ad
ministration in the Weft l»dies bad been paid to .
him ; the tre a fury having tendered payment in as
fignats at their nominal value, and afterwards in a- !
nether species of paper, called mandats, which had
fnffered a great depreciation even before they were
put into circulation j both of wlii»h m / Jesof pay
ment were refufed to be accepted. The progress
made by Mr. Skipwith in the adjuftineft of other
claims, so far as known to the fectetary, will up.
peai in the annexed Jatement [D.J copies of which
were tranfmi'ted ten months ago to the officers of
the principal collectors of the customs, from the
department of state, for the information of our
mercantile citizens.
That nothing might be lefj undone which could
be accomplished by the executive, the attention of
Pinckney, the present miniller of the United 1
JStates to France, was particularly directed to the
fubjedt of these claims ; but the interval which has
elapsed since his departure, hss liot admitted of any
in'ereftipg communication from him on this bufi
,nefs.
In connexion with other fp illations by French
atmcd vefTels, the secretary intended to mention
those cwrotnitted under a decree, dated the flrft of
Auguff 17.96, ifToed by Vidor Hugues and Le
bas, the special agents of the executive dire&ory to
the windward iflrnds, declaring all veffcls loa-'ed
with coutraband sirticles of any kind, liable to fei
*ure and confiscation with their entire cargoes ;
without making any discrimination fn favour of
those which might be bound to neutral, or even to
French ports. This decree has been enforced a
jraiaft the American trade without any regard to
the eftabliftied farms of legal proceedings, as will
appear from the annexed deposition [Ej of Jofiah
Hcmpftead, matter of the brigantine Patty ef Wea
thersiield, a copy of the decree marked [F] is also
annexed.
The fcctetary has received a printed copy of a
nother decree of the fame fpeaial agents to the
windward islands, dated the 13th Pluvsife, sth
year, answering to February ift, 1797, authoring
the capture of all neutral vefTels destined to any or j
the windward or leeward Islands, in America,
which have been deliwred up te the Esglifh, and
occupied or defended by emigrants, ramlng Marrii y
niqae, St. Lucie, Tobag<> Dematara, Berbice, and d
Efequibo ; and to leeward, Port-aJ-Prince, St. t
Marc, L'Archaye, and Jeremie ; declaringvfuch t
vefTels and their cargoes to be good prize, as well
as all vefTels cleared out vaguely for the Well In- f
dies, a copy of this last decree, will be added to t
this Teport as soon aj it shall be translated. All h
which is refpeftfully Jubmitted. \
TIMOTHY PICKERINQ. p
Department of State,! t
Feb. 27, 1797. f J
d
THE APPENDIX. e
[A] Copy of a decree of the National Conven
tion 9th May 1793. r
[BJ A letter and report of Mr. Skipwith, Ame- g
rican Consul, on vefTels captured.
[C] Extradt from French deprees of 15th /Nov, f
1794.
[_CCJ Extrail from the resolves of the French
Commiflion at the Leeward Islands of 27th
Nov.
[D] A lift of 170 claims, 4® of which were fet
tled with the French Republic and the re
mainder pending. i
A second lift of claims o« 103 vefTels, £
detained by embargo at Bourdeaux ; these
Skipwith. I
[EJ An affidavit of the commander of the brig- 2
antine Patty. a
[FJ A Placard of Vi&or Hugues, ordering the t
capture of horse; contraband. i
cawwiwimi— HI I' j*' ■•^mxrußsuammmmmmuimKW
i
AND '
Philadelphia Dally Advertlfer. ,
PHILADELPHIA, March j.
A meeting of the Philofnphieal Society will be held thx 5
evening, at their Hall, in Fifth-ftreet.
With this day, the illuflrious Walhington closes his
Political Career* Every Friend to his country will,
on the occasion, ad«pt the energetic language of inspira
tion, an 4 fay,
K WELL DONE, THOU GC OD #ND FAITH- -<
FOI. SERVANT."
At lip the Hill of Life, Time led him on,
Fdmc blew her Trump, and Hope illum'd the day :
Pram the bright Summit, half the Viit'ry won,
A Splendid Course of Glary flop'd th« Way.
New, all Si» labors paflr—th« reward,
A Country fav'd, united (bout his praise j
Jn Vernon's Groves the blsft Retreat's preptr'd.
Where Confcions Life's setting Rays. I
FROM EAST-JWJ3U PAPERS. \
MADRAS, Ang. ,
Arrived, his majesty'« ship rhe Carysfort, hon. captain
Murray, from theSoutbward, with the French National '
feheoner, Le Lefure, of 20 guns, 9 and 6 plunders, and 1
100 men. 1
The Carysfort fell in with Le I.efure off t
on the 19th infant, and captu* 1 li«r after a chafe of near- .
ly three h pr», during which thefchooner threw all her
carriage-guns overboard, twe excepted.
The Ltfure fsiled from the isle of France on the ijd I
ultimo, in company with fix frigates, mounting from 40 t
to jo guns each, and two corvettes. Four'of the frigate« I
v.-ere a part of the squadron which lately failed from |
Frame; and whi<x whiifl: stationed off the Cape, had
captured the Menror, and a whaler front England. The 1
L :fure parted from the French squadron between Dander i
Head and the Eaffea: her objeil was evidently to •btain 1
Int elligencc, and which might have been produ Aive of the 1
mod fatal consequences to the British commerce, had not i
captain Murray defeated the indention of the enemy.
I'he Lelure is a very beautifiil vessel, —American buJl,t,
and has on board flores and provifionß for fix months.
The Caryifort, after having broaght her prize into the 1
roads, immediately failed in quell of the the Indismen 1
lately dispatched from this place, which Ihe was fortunate |
enough to find, and advise of the approach of the enemy's
frigates : the Indiamen instantly put about, but being un
able to regain the roads, after an ineffeitual attempt they
bore away before the wind for Bengal. ]
From th: Calcutta Monthly 'Journal. <
CALCUTTA, Septembet 14.
The American ship Eflex arrived in the river from the
coast, the 9th inft. She left Madras roads the 17th lilt.
When the Eflex failed from Madras, the enemy's fllips
w»re hourly expetSed to make their appearance ; nnd the
(hipping in the roads had hauled in shore, te have the prp-
of the gu n s of the Fort.
Arrivsd, American ship Neptune, from Madras.
Several American veflets have arrived here from difter
| ent poi», in the tonrfe of this month, but none of them
have any particular intelligence, except one from
the Fran e, which brings accounts of the French
frigate La Preneufe, having returned to the island from a
cruize in the Straits ©f Sunda, with a very valuable pnne,
a Portuguese fliip, which flie had captured in rliofe ftraitl.
1 She i« called the St. fofeph de IJelafaire, failed from Lif-
I bon the a&th of March, bound to China, and had on
board 215,000 dollars in specie, besides a valuable carg*.
The Krench squadron, daring the paflage from Europe
to the Mauritius, captured the Montrofe, rice-ship, the
Arabia, laden with bales,.for Lisbon, a South Whaler,
and the filiza, an Anieriean vessel, freighted with Dutch
property, off the Cape.
The onee celebrated £ark SNDEA VOUfi, in which
Captain COOK performed his Fiift Voyage round the
World, near thirty years apo, now lies te be broken up
in Ml • firignion's Dock, near Chandpayl Ghaut.
September
LIST OF THE FRENCH SQUADRON
Which engaged hismajefty's ship ViAorious, of 74 guns,
on the Coromanael coalt, the 9th of September.
La Forte, 54 guns
LaJCybele, 44
Le V ictar,
La Seine, 44
Ls Prudente, ' , 40
La Regenei ce, 40
La I.cfurt, a corvette of 10 guns, captured by hisma
jefty's ship Carysfort, of a 8 guns, belonged also to this
fquiflrpa.
Oftober 7.
Last week, the (hip Marquis Cornwall!*, Cap
tain Hogan, arrived in the river, from New South
• Wales:—fnefailed from Port Jackson on the 16th
1 May.
; The Cornwallit brings very pleasing accounts
t from the CoiA.ny at Port Jackson. —Pioyifions ol
, all forts were in abundance—The agricultural ex
-3 cnioQi of tbe iettiers bad been fucc«f«ful» even be
yond tfi? fsTiguine expeflati'ons that had been !n- t
dulged. And such »as the pivgrcffion of indul I
try in this line, riiat the neeeffiy of further impor v
tatipnsof grain was entirely fuperfpHed. e
Mr, Muir, one of the four S-ottifh exiles whose. t
fate was so much a fuhjedt of cgnverfttieri about t
two years ago, had left New South Wales. He v
had taken his paffagc in a vefll-1 bound to the North t
Weft Coast of America, from whence it was sup li
posed he intended to pafa over to the territory of t
the United Slates. It is not undetftood that Mr.
M-iir had claudeftinely left the colony. His con- i
dust while there was fqch as tp conciliate universal f
esteem. c
Mr. Margarot and Mr. Skirving, both died at 1
New South Wales. They also bad been diftin- I
guifhed for a very examplary behaviou>. c
Mr. Palmer alone, of the Scotch Judgments, t
survived at the Colony of Rose Hill. I
■« BBUMKBIBIIIiW i ■■• ■ ■ C
By this" day's Mails. )
NEW YORK, March ?. i
The death of Governor Campbell, of Bermuda, t
ii cpninwed ; and so i 9 that efthe Emprcfs of Ruf- i
lia.
The prifopers confined in the jail of this city re- c
ttjrn their grateful thanks to Mr. De la Croix, for) i
his generous donation of a paltry dinner, on the [
26th os-last month, which enabled near ope hundred t
and eighty persons to celebrate, with decent feftivi- t
t'y, the auspicious birth day of the illpftrious Wash- 1
ington.
New York, March 2. 1
ARRIVED. Days. .
Brig Jamej, Watson, * St Thomas, 19 1
Sloop Romeo, Baker, Charleftofi, 7
The Ruby, from London to Charlelton was tak- I
en by a French privateer, in lat. 23, and erdered I
for St. Doming® ; but Capt. Smith and his crew ;
rose on the prize mailer, and brought the yefTcl iptp
Charleston. 1
ANTIGUA, fan. 24.
On Thursday morning the 13th Nov. the Port- 1
land Packet failed from Dominica, for Antigua, ia 1
corrpany with the Neptune brijj, and Atalants '
fchopner. Ort Friday the 14th, frll in. with and | 1
fpofce hismajefty's ship Eap«'i»g, company wi:h 1
the Mermaid and Laurel frigates ; as it was quite 1
-calm, and but little appearance of a breexe, captain
Taylor went op board the J .zpwing ta request she
would convoy us clear of Guadeloupe, being then 1
within fix leagues of BafTcterre, and having much
reason to apprehend that some of the French priva
teers might come out, and availing themselves of the 1
falsi, attack the packet:—the captain of the Lap. i
wing told him, he could not confidently with his
etders, convoy or grant us either of the other sri- 1
gates for that pwrpefe, but that he would |ieep be
tween us and the land, by way of pro-e&ian, at the
fame timr he juforraed us, that there were then in
Basseterre, three large frigates, two corvettes, a
brig, cuttpr, and feycral privatfcn—the next day
we found oyifclves within about four leagues of .
BafTcterre, and not one of the frigates or any other
eiuifer in fight.—The enemy did not, however, to
our furptife, fend out any tlijng agjinft us. On 1
Sunday the 16th mft.faw a 1 ifrge (hip close in with
the ha.il, under which we were (jlill becalmed, and <
at the fame tim* saw a ft range fail bearing down on
the Atalanta (chooner, wiikh proved so be a French
privaieer, full bf men, and yvould certainly have
taken the schooner, had not the large ship under the
land hove in fijht, upon which vy® immediately
bore away—a light breeze lpringing up, the (hip
which we then perceived was evidently a ship of war
gave ms chafe, (hewed no colours, and about 8
o'clock at night caice up wi'h, and fired a (hot at
us, upon which w« dire&ly hove too and hoisted
our slag—she then yawed up clufe on our bow, and
fired feveralfhot at us, through our rigging and our
fore-topfuil, upon which we instantly hauled down
our colours, and she sent her boat on board, when
to our great aftoniihment we found it was his Majes
ty's ship Thunderer, instead of an enemy, as we had
evety reafi'it) to suppose. '
Upon his demanding why we did not hoist the
packet signal, Capt. Taylor informed him that the
captain of the Lapwing had particulatly cautioned
him against doing so under the land, as the signals
were well known to the French on shore, besides
that h' - had supposed from hi# coming out so close
from under the land, and (hewing no colours, that he
was one of the French (hips of war. The next day
about three o'clock in the afternoon, being then
becalmed about three leagues off the north end of
Guadaloupe, and 110 Eiiglifh cruiser whatever in
fight,'we descried a schooner coming out from
the land, and bearing down faft upon us, —by 6
o'clock ftie had neared us so much, at to eDable us
to discover that th.e was full of men, and had about
30 sweeps out—a light breeze fpringtng up, we
tacked and bore away towards Montferrat, to get
rid of the shore, and she still followed, every now
and then edging down towards u$ to reconnoitre,
and so on duting the whole night.
On Tijefday morning the 18th, at day ligiit, be
ing then about 6 leagues from Montferrat, the
schooner that had been watching us all night, edged
down gradually upon us, and captain Taylor then
evidently perceived tli»t (he was a large French pri
vateer, got ?ll ready for aAion, requeflin-g the geh
tlemen passengers on board, who a<Sea| as marines
on the quarter deck, and the men to conceal them
selves, ib order that /he might not observe our force
until she came along pde—about 7 o'clock, she be
ing then within a mulket (hot upon our (larboard
quarter, we hoisted our colours and gave her a gun,
upon which she hoisted the national and the bloody
flags on her maiiij and gave us a broadside ; after
exehanging a few more (hot from the great guns,
he refoiutely bore down, and hauling up close under!
our Hern, laid herfelf on our larboard quarter, and
made a most desperate attempt to board t weinftant
• ly lashed her bowsprit to oar main (hrouds, and fe
• cured her fore rigging to our mizeu, and a steady
1 and well directed fire of mufquetry was opened up
on them, while they were attempting to force them
» selves into the quarter gallery and cabin windows,
f and up the netting. In this situation, locked to
- gether for about 50 minutes, every effort was made
c with the utmost determination 00 both fides, they
even throw'ng their j. f/lols, after firing them, at guf
lieadi, and polling us with round liiot. Fortunately
we being covered by qur quarters, and they beinjr
entirely expof<*d, gave us the moll decifivc advan
tage, insomuch that her deck was ftrew'cJ frqm jletn
to stern with the bodigj of tbeii killed and
when they llruck their colours, whi< h was done at
the inftqnt yye were flipping doiyn the fidcato board
her. Upon taking poffeflion of her, (hy proved t« b$
the Tcmeraire, of Guadaloupc, a fine Virginia bailt
yeflT'l, mounting fix carnage guns, quite new, ana
in all refpefts completely provided ahd cquipped-r
---fhe was commanded by one Piere Toulon, and had
on board 68 fighting men, out qf which i I were
killed, and 29 wounded, the greater part mortally ;
she was reckoned by far the faflelt failef from Gua
daloupe, and would certainly have got away wit'll
the greatest ease, had not the precaution, at firll ta
ken, of fecaring her, prevented her so doing—on
our part it is with the mod poignant grief, we have
to relate the deaths of Capt. Taylor, and Mr. Sa
muel Cunningham of St. Vincent's, who were the
only two killed in the adlion—the captain received,
ii( the very foment of vidory, a muflcet ballthro'ii
the heart while exhorting to conquest, and exhibit
ing htrnfelf the foremofl and most heroic example
—strange likewise to tell, we have but two' wound
ed, one of whom was capt. Maxwell of the 93d
regiment, (lightly on the knee. We have carried
her jntp Montferrat, where it is needles* to add,
that the utmeft attention and Iwminity were (hewn
to the wounded, and the bodies of our dead inter
red with hoaourj.
The gentlemen, passengers on board, were cap
tains Jolmfon, of the 3d Buffs, Rainey, of the
46th, Touin, of the 48th, and Maxwell of th«
93 d regiments Mr. Ingram, of Maitinique, nuefTrs,
Keane, Jackson and Cunningham, of St. Vincent,
baund to England. MefTrs. Ofburn, Furnace and
Silk of Antigua. Doftors Gieen and Ludlow,
i and Mr. Boyd, of Martinique, island paffengert.
I It certainly was a lucky circumllanee fotjhe pack
| et, that they were so numerous, as the brunt of the
| action chiefly f«ll upon them, from their station on
| the quarter deck ; the seamen at their quarters, be
i ing unable to use their great guns, and but few of
them having ftnal! arms ; they however on this, as
they have ever on all other similar occalions had
j their (hare of merit, making use of the only arms
they had, their boarding pikes where they could
reach, and with the true potnifti spirit, pelting the
ammunition which they Could not fire, at ttye heads
of thtir antagonilts.
| By 'he m3il buat Fanny Barton, capt. Tapper^
! arrived o» Saturday Jafl, we learn that the Carib|
of St. Vincents, have all funendered to the num
ber of about 3500 of all descriptions, but that thejr '
1 were dying of a raging diflentery, 30 or 4c of <9
day,
CHARLESTON, February tB.
A number of loaded Ihips, dcflined for foreign
ports, have been detailed here a long time, and are
ilill detained for the want of sea letters. A mer
cantile cprrefpondjnt, who feels himfelf materially
intereftefl, is fomeft'hat aSonilhcd at the calmneli
with which the worthy and very attentive federaf
officers of this port fuffer the odium of this
to reft upon themselves. It cannot certainly be
owing to a want of vigilencp and forefight in'thele
ffic.rs ; but the blsme will undoubtedly continue
to fall upou them, until they do themselves the jus
tice to poiut oi)t th« department from whose njjgleft
the grievance arises. One would suppose hat the
merchant? of the United States were fufficiently
embarrassed by the meaftires of foreign' govern*
mente, without being fotced to submit ta an evil of
such magnitude thr^ ? the negleftf <?f she officers of
their own.
Philadelphia, March 3.
By a document, laid before Coijgrefs yesterday,
it appears that rettirns from the Officers required by
law to (late the number of seamen regifttred, and
imprefTed by the belligerent powers, have been com*
paiitively few, and imperfeft ; the following is ao
abftrsft of the numbers imprefTed so far as yet
known officially.
j 6 who ?re called citizens of the Uniteji
States.
g citizens of MafTacbufetts.
6 ditto - Rhode-Island.
2 ditto • New-York.
4 ditto - Pennsylvania.
2 ditts - Delaware. 1
-» 3 ditto - Maryland.
1 ditto - Virginia.
Citizens 42
12 Britifti fubjeSs.
36 Foreigners, of other countries than
Great Britain.
27 whose country is unknown.
In all 107 exclusive of 34 Irish passengers.
ARRIVED.
Schr. Telegraph Venneman Curracea. 21 days.
Capt. Vcnnerr.an of the Schooner "Telegraph, failed
from Curracoa Feb. 6th. and left there the following
vejfels.
Ship Mary of New Tojl, arrived Feb.
Brig Mary Ditto Ditto 2nd.
Schr. Crafus 40<impbtll Ditto ready for Sea.
Louifa Tucker Ditto.
Name unknown Ditto-
Brig Betsy of Charleflon to failfor the Havannah.
—Feb. 12th Spofe the Brig two Jiflers Watts, from
New York ta Jamaica ; the Capuand Crew of the
■ fioop Hope, belonging to Philadelphia were ou board
| the Brig—Which was cajl away three days before on
. Henega, the wind blew very frefh, which prevented
Copt. Vennemanfrom learning the particulars.—Tht
r Telegraph was brought to in Crooked ljland Paffagt
by a French privateer, who after examining her pa
. pers, dfmijftd her.
' A Woman Cook, -*
WHO can be well recommended, may hear of a goo#
c place by cut(uiiin( of the Priater,
f February 17. JJhSgw,