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empted from seizure; and all vessels are to
be prevented from leaving the Weser.-I
am finally ordered to take the most efficacious
measures that the intentions of his Majesty
be strictly and immediately fulfilled. I
hasten to warn you thereof, that you may
immediately inform the merchants of this
city, in order that they may avoid the in-
evitable loss to which they will be exposed,
if they attempt to render ineffected the mea-
sures taken for the rigid and prompt execu-
tion of the orders of my sovereign.
I am, &c. LAGAU,

before were absolutely dependant, found the
means of employing themselves to advan
tage; they manufactured, not for their own
countrymen-they were already supplied-
but for those foreigners, who in exchange
gave them the fopperies of nature and of
art; and with these they supplied the liege
lord with an equivalent for that food, which
before they supplicated from his bounty.
But here an important æra burst from the
gloom of slavery, and with a talismanic
power, dissolved the enchantment of depen-
dance, and raised to human admiration and
astonishment the bright CHARM of CIVIL LI-
BERTY. My question is, Mr. Cobbett,
"do we not, by annihilating commerce, re-
"trace the steps which brought us from feo-
"dal tyranny ?" I shall be happy, Mr.
Cobbett, to see a convincing negative given
to my question. Commerce, and myself are
by no means cordial friends. Commercial
corporations have been always regarded by
me with a cautious jealousy: the sanguinary
effects of one, at least, is not to be oblitera-
ted from my mind, or from the mind of any
man that is tinctured with the faintest co-
louring of humanity. I am not of an age,
Sir, to have heard the speeches of Mr.
Burke on Indian delinquency, but I have
read them; and when I did read them, it
appeared as if an angel of light were open-
ing the ponderous gates of the damned, to
exhibit to my view all the exquisitely de
praved torments of the arch fiend, with the
miserable wrecks of victims on whom they
had been exercised. I am, indeed, no ad-
vocate for Indian domination; but I should
be happy to have my mind set at rest on the
question of foreign commerce. I am, &c.
—W. F. S.—Lincoln's Inn, Nov. 23, 1807.

FOREIGN OFFICIAL PAPERS. BRITISH COMMERCE -Official Letter from the French Consul at Bremen, to his Excellency the Burgomaster, President of the Senate of that City.-Dated Bremen, October 26, 1807.

Sir, I hasten to inform you, that it is the intention of his Majesty the Emperor and King, that all navigation on the Weser be prohibited; it is his Majesty's desire that all vessels, even French, entering the Weser, be stopped, provided they are wholly or partly laden with colonial produce, or any other goods of whatever kind, that England can furnish. The goods are to be put under sequestration, and taken in charge until farther orders.-Vessels loaded solely with merchandize, which it is possible England cannot furnish, such as pitch, tar, iron, copper, and. French wines, are to be ex

SPAIN. Decree issued by the King of Spain from the Palace of San Lorenzo, and addressed to the Governor of the Council ad interim. Oct. 30th 1807.

C. R.-God, who watches over his crea. tures, does not permit the consummation of atrocious deeds, when the intended victims are innocent. Thus his omnipotence has. saved me from the most unheard of catastrophe. My people, my subjects, all know my Christianity and settled habits. They all love me, and I receive from all of them proofs of their veneration-such as the conduct of a parent calls for from his children.-I lived persuaded of this felicity, and devoted to the repose of my family, when an unknown band discovered the most atrocious and unheard of conspiracy, which was carried on in my own Palace, against my person. My life, which has so often been in danger, was too long, in the eyes of my successor, who, infatuated by prejudice, and alienated from every principle of christianity that my paternal care and love had taught him, had entered into a project to dethrone me. Informed of this, I thought proper to inquire personally into the truth of the fact, and surprising him in my room, I found in his possession the cypher of his correspondence, and of the instructions be had received from the vile conspirators.-In consequence of this discovery, I immediately convoked the Governor and Council, in order that they might make the necessary inquiries; and the result has been the detection of several malefactors, whose imprisonment I have ordered; as also the arrest of my son at his residence. This is an additional aggravation of the affliction I labour under; but however painful to my feelings, it must be submitted to, as it is of the utmost importance to the suppression of such a conspiracy. At the same time that I direct the publication of this affair to my subjects, I cannot avoid expressing to them the regret by which I am agitated; but that regret will be alleviated by the demonstrations of their

loyalty. You will take the proper measures to be this Decree circulated in due form. ---CHARLES R-By command of His transmit this Decree to your I scelench, in order that it may be duly profanigoted. Smed by the Ministers, and addies-ed.to all Viceroys, &c. &c,

AMERICAN COMMERCE.-Copy of the Circular Letter addressed by the Consul of the United States, at Hamburgh, to the Masters of American Ships, bound to that Port dated Hamburgh, Nov. 4, 1807. At the request of the merchants here, dealing with the United States, I have issued the annexed Circular Instructions to the masters of such of our ships as may be bound to this city, and have also sent over to Heligoland an agent, who will remain their for some months, in order to communicate such further information as I find it expedient to convey to our countrymen passing that island. You, Sir, will make such use of these circumstances as the interest of our commerce may point out to your known zeal and discretion.-I am, J. M. Forbes. W. Lyman, Esq. consul of the United States of America, &c. London.

To Masters of American Ships bound to Hamburgh.

In the present unprecedented crisis, such great and almost daily changes take place, and the measures of the belligerents, affecting commerce, are put into such immediate operation, that it is impossible for the most prudent, with the best intentions, to avoid the injuries which, on every side, lay in wait for fair neutral trade. It is, therefore, by no means my intention to assume any controul in the destination of your ships, but merely to state such facts as it is important you should know. In this measure my own opinion has been fortified by those of the most respectable merchants here in connection with my country, expressed to me in their written request.-The French Customhouse Officers, or Douaniers, without any official intimation to the Foreign Agents here, have, some time since, in virtue of an Imperial Decree, applied the commercial regulations and laws of France to the trade of this city, and without any exceptions, require certificates of origin, signed by the French Consul at the place of shipment, for all articles attempted to be introduced here. In addition to the inconveniences which the prompt and unexpected execution of this measure presented, within a few days, a new order of the French Emperor has inter dicted, in the most rigid manner, the navigation of the Elbe and Weser, to all ships,

whether going or coming; and in conse quence of it the American ship Julius Henry, coming from Baltimore, has been seized, the cargo has been sequestered, the ship has been liberated, but without any freight, and must remain under an embargo, of which the term cannot be foreseen. Under this state of things, it must occur to every one, that it cannot promote the interests confided to you, to enter either of these rivers. Haying stated thus much, I can only leave you to follow the dictates of your own prudence, assuring you, that I shall endeavour to send you new advices by the first of December, or sooner, if any favourable change takes place.-J. M. FORBES, Consul of the United States of America.

List of Articles permitted to be imported into Hamburgh, with Certificate of Origin, signed by the French Consul, at the place of Shipment:

Timber, masts, iron, copper, hemp, sail cloth, or ravens-duck, flax, cordage, pitch, tar, wheat, rye, barley,' oats, oatmeal, pease, beans, rice, flower, cheese, butter, wine, brandy, tallow, candles, salt, pot ash, flax-seed, madder, turnip-seed, linseed oil, hemp-oil, whale and other fish oils, fish-glue, mats, horse-hair, hogs'-bristles saltpetre, yellow-wax, bed feathers, caviar, and honey. All other articles are, for the present, totally prohibited.

DOMESTIC OFFICIAL PAPERS. BLOCKADE.Order of Council. From the Supplement to the London Gazette; dated Monday, November 16, 1807.At the Court at the Queen's Palace, the 11th of November, 1807; Present, the King's Most Excellent Majesty in Council. Concluded from p. 832.

And whereas countries, not engaged in the war, have acquiesced in these orders of France, prohibiting all trade in any articles the produce or manufacture of His Majesty's dominions; and the merchants of those countries have given countenance and effect to those prohibitions, by accepting from per sons styling themselves commercial agents of the enemy, resident at neutral ports, certain documents, termed "certificates of origin," being certificates obtained at the ports of shipment, declaring that the articles of the cargoe are not of the produce or manufacture of His Majesty's dominions, or to that effect :-And whereas this expedient has been directed by France, and submitted to by such merchants, as part of the new system of warfare directed against the trade of this kingdom, and as the most effectual instrument of accomplishing the same, and

and with respect to such of the said goods, wares, or merchandize, as are authorised to be warehoused under the provisions of an act, passed in the 43d year of his present Majesty's reign, intituled, "An Act for permitting certain goods imported into Great Britain, to be secured in warehouses, without payment of duty," subject to all the re

it is therefore essentially necessary to resist it: His Majesty is therefore pleased, by and with the advice of his privy council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, that if any vessel, after reasonable time shall have been afforded for receiving notice of this His Majesty's order at the port or place from which such vessel shall have cleared out, shall be found carrying any such certificate or docu-gulations of the said last-mentioned act`; ment as aforesaid, or any document referring to, or authenticating the same, such vessel shall be adjudged lawful prize to the captor, together with the goods laden therein, belonging to the person or persons by whom, or on whose behalf, any such document was put on board. And the right hon. the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, His Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, and the Judges of the High Court of Admiralty and Courts of Vice-Admiralty, are to take the necessary measures herein, as to them shall respectively appertain.-W. FAWKENER.

At the Court at the Queen's Palace, the 11th of November, 1807, present, the King's Most Excellent Majesty in Council. Whereas articles of the growth and manufacture of foreign countries cannot by law be imported into this country, except in British ships, or in ships belonging to the countries of which such articles are the growth and manufacture, without an order in council, specially authorising the same: -His Majesty, taking into consideration the order of this day's date, respecting the trade to be carried on to and from the ports of the enemy, and deeming it expedient that any vessel belonging to any country in alliance, or at amity with His Majesty, may be permitted to import into this country articles of the produce or manufacture of countries at war with His Majesty: His Majesty, by and with the advice of his privy-council, is therefore pleased to order, and it is hereby ordered, that all goods, wares, or merchandizes, specified and included in the schedule of an act, passed in the 43 year of His present Majesty's reign, intituled, An Act to repeal the Duties of Cus toms payable in Great Britain, and to grant other duties in lieu thereof," may be imported from any port or place belonging to any state not at amity with His Majesty, in ships belonging to any state at amity with His Majesty, subject to the payment of such duties, and Jiable to such drawbacks, as are now established by law upon the importation of the said goods, wares, or merchandize, in ships navigated according to law;

and with respect to all articles which are
prohibited by law from being imported into
this country, it is ordered, that the same
shall be reported for exportation to any
country in amity or alliance with His Ma-
jesty.And His Majesty is further pleased,
by and with the advice of his privy-council,
to order, and it is hereby ordered, that all
vessels which shall arrive at any port of the
United Kingdom, or at the port of Gibraltar
or Malta, in consequence of having been
warned pursuant to the aforesaid order, or
in consequence of receiving information, in
any other manner, of the said order, sub-
sequent to their having taken on board any
part of their cargoes, whether previous or
subsequent to their sailing, shall be permit-
ted to report their cargoes for exportation,
and shall be allowed to proceed upon their
voyages to their original ports of destination,"
(if not unlawful before the issuing of the
said order), or to any port at amity with
His Majesty, upon receiving a certificate
from the collector or comptroller of the
customs at the port at which they shall so
enter, (which certificate the said collectors
and comptrollers of the customs are hereby
authorised and required to give,) setting
forth that such vessels came into such port
in consequence of being so warned, or of
receiving such information as aforesaid; and
that they were permitted to sail from such
port under the regulations which His Majes- .
ty has been pleased to establish in respect to
such vessels. But in case any vessel so ar--
riving shall prefer to import her cargo, then
such vessel shall be allowed to enter and im-
port the same, upon such terms and condi- !
tions as the said cargo might have been im-
ported upon, according to law, in case the
said vessel had sailed after having received
notice of the said order, and in conformity
thereto.-And it is further ordered, that all
vessels which shall arrive at any port of the
United Kingdom, or at Gibraltar or Malta.
in conformity and obedience to the said
der, shall be allowed, in respect to all a-
ticles which may be on board the same, ex-
cept sugar, coffee, wine, brandy, snuff,
and tobacco, to clear out to any port what-
ever, to be specified in such clearance; and,
with respect to the last-mentioned articles,

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to export the same to such ports, and under such conditions and regulations only, as His Majesty, by any license to be granted for that purpose, may direct.-And the right hon. the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, His Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, and the Judges of the High Court of Admiralty and Courts of Vice Admiralty, are to take the necessary measures herein as to them shall respectively appertain.-W. FAWKENER.

At the Court at the Queen's Palace, the 11th of November, 1807, present, the King's Most Excellent Majesty in Council.

ports of

American vessels cannot sail in any instance direct from the ports of the United States to any port of the Enemy, in Europe.-2. American vessels may proceed from the the United States to the ports of the Colonies belonging to the Enemy, and direct back to the ports of the United States.-3. the Order does not probibit them from going direct from the ports of his Kingdom to the colonial ports in die West-India Islands belonging to the Enemy; and it is not intended to prevent them froin procecuing from this Kingdom with colonial produce to the Enemy's ports, whenever Parliament shall have decided on the duties to be imposed on such Exportation.-4. American vessels may contnue to trade from the ports of this Kingdom to the ports of the Enemy, and from the ports of the Enemy to this Kingdom, and from the ports of his Majesty's Allies to the Enemy's ports, but not from the Enemy's ports to the ports of his Majesty's Allies direct, nor from America to the ports of bis Majesty's Allies, with colonial produce.-5. There is reason to believe that an Order in Council will issue, regulating the periods at which notice shall be considered to have been received of the Orders in council, of the 11th instant, in the United States of America: by which regulation, vessels that shall have cleared, or shall clear out from any port in America, before the 20th of January next, shall be considered to have cleared out before notice of the Order; and vessels, which shall clear out between the 20th of January and the 10th of February, will be liable to be

Whereas the sale of ships by a belligerent to a neutral is considered by France to be illegal-And whercas, a great part of the shipping of France and her allies has. been protected from capture, during the present hostilities, by tran-fers, or pretend ed transfers, to neutrals-And whereas, it is fully justifiable to adopt the same rule, in this respect, towards the enemy, which is applied by the enemy to this countryHis Majesty is pleased, by and with the advice of his privy-council, to order, and it is hereby ordered, that in future the sale to a neutral of any vessel belonging to His Majesty's enemies, shall not be deemed to be legal, nor in any manner to transfer the property, nor to alter the character of such vessel and all vessels now belonging, or which shall hereafter belong, to any enemy of His Majesty, notwithstanding any sale, or pretended sale, to a neutral, after a rea-detained, subject to the Question, whether sonable time shall have elapsed for receiving information of this His Majesty's order at the place where such sale, or pretended sale, was effected, shall be captured and brought in, and shall be adjudged as lawful prize to the captors.-And the right hon. the Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury, His Majesty's Principal Secretaries of State, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, and the Judges of the High Court of Admiralty and Courts of ViceAdmiralty, are to take the necessary measures herein as to them shall respectively appertain.-W. FAWKENER.

:

Explanation of the above Order in Council.dated City of London Tavern, Saturday, "Nov. 21, 1807.

A Special Meeting of the Committee of American Merchants, was held here this day, PHILIP SANSON, Esq. in the Chair, when the Chairman made the following Report from the Sub-Committee appointed to attend the Board of Trade on the Subject of the recent Orders in Council. 1. That

they had begun to be laden before notice had arrived at the port from whence they sailed. From the 10th of February, all Americn vessels will be considered as having begun to lade after notice, and will thereby be subject to provisions of the aforesaid Or der.-6. Certificates of Origin which may be on board vessels which shall have sailed previous to the notice of this Order at the port from whence they sailed, will not be required to be delivered up.-7. There is also reason to believe that no Duty is inten ded to be laid on the re-exportation of any articles which are the produce of the Soil of Neutral Nations, with the exception of Cotton; and that the trade between this Country and the ports of the Enemy's colonies by Neutrals, will be regulated by li cence, and confined to the export of British manufactures, until the meeting of Parlia ment and that the trade between this Country by Neutrals, with the colonies of the Enemy in the West Indies and South America, will be placed on the same footing. JOHN GRAY, Secretary.

Printed by Cox and Baylis, No. 75, Great Queen Street, and published by R. Bagshaw, Brydes Street, Event Garden, where former Numbers may be had; sold also by J. Budd, Crown and Mine, Tall-Mell.

VOL. XII. No. 23.] LONDON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1807.

[PRICE JOD.

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SUMMARY OF POLITICS. "PERISH COMMERCE" (continned from p. 851.)Upon this subject several letters have been addressed to me, as will have been perceived by those who have read the four last numbers of the Register, the present included. Of these letters, 'one, signed WROC, will be found at page 700; another, signed W. F. S. at page 853; and three in the present sheet, under the different signatures of A. B. and C. To answer the arguments and objections of several writers at the same time, some of them naturally using, in different words, the same arguments, must, as the reader will perceive, be, upon almost any subject, a work of no little difficulty, especially when it is considered, that, in their arrangement, scarcely any two will be found to have chosen the same order. Nevertheless, such is my opinion of the importance of the subject, which I have assisted in bringing before the public, that I think it a duty which I owe to my readers, to endeavour to remove all the objections, which these several writers have urged, and all the doubts which they have started, against what has been written by Mr. Spence and myself relating to the commerce of England, that is to say, its trading,connections and intercourse with foreign nations.-These objections appear to me to be all included under the following heads: that is to say, I. respecting the time, at which we have chosen to promulgate our opinions; II. respecting the invidious distinctions said to have been made by us between persons employed in agriculture and persons employed in manufactures and commerce; III. respecting the relative importance, or value, of agriculture and manufactures; IV. respecting the basis of Mr. Spence's doctrine, to wit, that agriculture is the real and only source of all national wealth; V. respecting the wealth which the nation derives frour commerce; VI. respecting the injury which world arise to the nation from a cessation of its com merce, especially as a numerous class of persons, who are engaged in manufacturing for exportation, would, by such cessation), be thrown out of employment; VII. re

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specting the effects upon the navy; VIII. repecting the necessity of luxury; IX. respecting the effects of commerce upon the civil and political liberties of England. "Here," the reader will say, "is a table "of contents to a folio volume;" and, were I, indeed, gifted with the amplifying powers of Pitt or lord Wellesley, I should not despair of spinning ten folio volumes out of such materials, the only difficulty to be apprehended, in such case, being, where to look for readers of sufficient means to purchase my work (not having, like them, a king's printer to resort to), and of sufficient leisure and patience to sift the two grains of wheat from the bushel of chaff.

He.

-The Ist objection, that is to say, respeeting the time, at which we have chosen to promulgate these opinions relative to commerce, is one which I should not have expected to hear from any body; yet, B, in the first paragraph of his letter, says, that "to promulgate that Britain is indepen"dent of commerce, at this time, when "our commerce is attacked by Buonaparté, "must be of a pernicious tendency." has not, indeed, made even an attempt to prove this by any sort of argument; and he has totally overlooked, it seems, that Mr Spence had given at large his reasons, why such a promulgation must be greatly advantageous instead of pernicious. I had added other reasons to those of Mr. Spence; and, therefore, I was not a little surprized to see a writer of some talent enter upon the dispute with a bare assertion opposed to conclusions founded upon argument, without even deigning to notice the argument. As to the point itself, it must, I think, be pretty evident to every man, that it can do no harm to promulgate opinions, tending to convince the enemy, if they have any effect at all, that what he is doing with an intention of doing us injury, will not injure us; that, if he were to succeed in annihilating cur commerce, he would not have made one inch of progress in the way of subjugating our country. Suppose him to find. by ex perience, that he is in a fair way of accomplishing his object of destroying our commerce, and suppose him to know that we

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