precautiom taken to prevent a recurrence of the disorder. A fresh crew was procured, and Mr. Welch has safely arrived with her in the river. In the night of the 10th and 11th of February, when his grace the Duke of Wellington was returning to his hotel in Paris in his carriage, a pistol-shot was fired, which neither touched him nor the carriage. Search was in vain made for the ball; it could not be found. It is said, that the assassin came from behind the sentry-box to the left, and the sentinels who were under the outer gate immediately ran in pursuit of him. The darkness prevented them from apprehending him. According to information obtained by the police, it is believed that the author of this frightful act will be discovered.-Moniteur. OFFICIAL BULLETINS OF GENERAL BOLIVAR'S LATE VICTORIES OVER THE SPANIARDS. 12. Bulletin of the Liberating Army of Venezuela.-The army of Guayana, commanded by the Supreme Chief, commenced its march from the city of Angustura, towards the Lower Apure, on the 31st December, part being embarked in our small squadron, and part following the left bank of the Oronoko, as far as the mouths of the Pao, where they were joined by General Monagas's division. They then passed over to the right bank of the same river, and on the 17th of January, in Caycara, were joined by the cavalry division of General Cedeno, and again crossing back to the left bank, above the mouths of the Apure, formed a junction with Gen. Paez's division, on the 31st, at San Juan de Payara, where his troops were in quarters. The army, on the 6th February, crossed the Apure in front of the fortress of San Fernando, and this day (12th), at seven in the morning, the town and forts of Calabozo were invested, where the enemy's head quarters were established, under the immediate orders of General Morillo. The regiment of hussars of Ferdinand VII, of La Union and Navarre, being placed on our left, and that of Castile on our right, the enemy's cavalry forthwith attempted to flank our left; but, by a rapid and simultaneous movement of our cavalry, the whole of his right was enveloped, at the moment that the infantry battalion of Barcelona was endea vouring to call away their atten tion, and attempting to cut them off. Not a single man of more than 2,000, of which number the three Spanish regiments consisted, would have been fortunate enough to escape, if, quicker than the advance of our horse, they had not fled into the town. Nevertheless, scarcely 80 of the hussars, and of the infantry no more than half the fusiliers, made their escape; all the grenadiers and chasseurs were left on the field. The regiment of Castile, which, as was already said, composed the enemy's left, seeing the right so completely routed, was scarcely able to execute any other movement than that of a shameful flight, without even firing a shot; nor would they have been able to escape, if, owing to the vicinity of the town, they had not been protected protected by its fortifications, which for many days will not be able to resist the vigorous siege which we immediately established. General Morillo, surprised in the midst of immense plains by an army that had just come off a march of 300 leagues; General Morillo, routed for the first time that in America he has drawn his sword, without at least bringing on a general action, but now not even waiting for the fire of our fusiliers; this same general Morillo now saw himself compelled to fly, almost alone, from the field of battle, having escaped from two of our lancers, only through the interposition of two of his hussars, who fell by his side; that General Morillo, in short, who has so long outraged humanity by styling himself the Pacificator of South America, was, as it were in a moment, shut up in the centre of the Venezuelan plains, owing to his own want of skill, and the extraordinary celerity of our movements. Such is the interesting spectacle the action at Calabozo offers to the military world. The remainder of the enemy's forces are already cut off from the town, and ours have marched on to meet them in every direction. Thus has the fate of our republic been decided, without having run the danger of a single battle. 17. Bulletin of the Liberating Army-General Morillo being shut up in the town of Calabozo, after the complete rout he experienced on the 12th, the Liberating Army took up the most advantageous positions round, in order to blockade the enemy, and cut off his supplies. Our headquarters were established in the town of Rastro. The enemy, on the 14th, was compelled to abandon Calabozo, and this he did at 12 in the night, with such precipitation, that he left in our power the whole of his artillery, a large quantity of muskets and ammunition, his hospitals, stores, &c. He moved towards the town of Sombrero by the most mountainous road; but his movement having been observed before morning by our advanced posts, the army was ordered to march on in pursuit of him. On the 15th, at 4 in the afternoon, a squadron of cavalry belonging to the vanguard came up with the Spanish column in the plain of Auriosa, broke through the small body of cavalry with which the enemy covered his rear, and obliged him to halt, continuing to call his attention so as to give time for the army to come up; but night came before a single division of infantry arrived, and the enemy, under coyer of it and the surrounding thickets, was enabled to resume his march. Many dead and wounded, besides more than 200 prisoners of the various Spanish regiments, were the result of the rencontre of our van with the whole of the Spanish column on this afternoon. The pursuit was continued during the whole of the evening, and in the following morning of the 16th we again came up with the enemy at the ford of the river Guarico, near the town of Sombrero, where the hussars of our vanguard, who ever since the break of day had been pressing on his rear, obliged him to stop. The enemy's posi C 2 tion tion at that moment was naturally formidable. Posted in ambush on the right and left of a narrow road, and with the river and almost an inaccessible bank in his front, no place was left by which we could make an attack; but our infantry, burning for action, boldly pushed on, notwithstanding the disadvantage of the ground. The Guards of Honour to the Supreme Chief were the first who entered into action, with singular dexterity and intrepidity, and they were followed by the battalions of Apure and Barlovento, causing great havoc to the enemy. The pass would have been forced without the aid of the other battalions which remained in reserve, if a movement on the rear of the enemy had not been attempted by our cavalry, whose co-operation the infantry were ordered to await. In this interval the enemy abandoned his positions, leaving in our possession 150 prisoners, and the ground covered with killed and wounded. He continued his retreat by the road of Barbacoa, where he arrived the same night; and this day he has proceeded on towards Camatugua. Such is the terror with which he is possessed, that he is afraid to take rest, notwithstanding the fatigues of the Spa niards is so great and insupportable that they deliver themselves up as prisoners without resist ance. The loss of the enemy, from the time he commenced his retreat from Calabozo up to this day, exceeds 800 Spaniards in killed, wounded, and prisoners. The King's army has disappeared, and the remnants that have escaped from the combat will soon perish from hunger and weariness. Soon shall the flag of liberty wave over the wreck of our tyrants in the whole of Venezuela. Our total loss on this brilliant pursuit is only 80 killed and wounded. The whole of the plains are free, and the enemy, without troops, cattle, cavalry, or credit, cannot defend the capital, to which place the Liberating Army is advancing. Head-quarters, Sombrero, &c. CHS. SOUBLET, Chief of 10. President's House. The following Message was received from the President of the United States by Mr. J. J. Monroe :- To the Senate and House of As the house appropriated for the President of the United States will be finished this year, it is thought to merit the attention of Congress in what manner it should be furnished, and what measures ought to be adopted for the safe keeping of the furniture in future. All the public furniture provided before 1814 having been destroyed with the public building in that year, and little afterwards procured, owing to the inadequacy of the appropriation, it has become necessary to provide almost every article requisite for such an establishment; whence, the sum to be expended will be much greater than at any former period. The furniture, in its kind and extent, is thought to be an object not less deserving attention than the building for which it is intended. Both being national objects, each seems to have an an equal claim to legislative sanction. The disbursement of the public money, too, ought, it is presumed, to be in like manner provided for by law. The person who may happen to be placed, by the suffrage of his fellow-citizens, in his high trust, having no personal interest in these concerns, should be exempted from undue responsibility respecting them. For a building so extensive, intended for a purpose exclusively national, in which, in the furniture provided for it, a mingled regard is due to the simplicity and purity of our institutions, and to the character of the peo ple who are represented in it, the sum already appropriated has altogether proved inadequate. The present is, therefore, a proper time for Congress to take the subject into consideration, with a view to all the objects claiming attention, and to regulate it by law. On a knowledge of the furniture procured, and the sum expended for it, a just estimate may be formed, regarding the extent of the building, of what will still be wanting to furnish the house. Many of the articles being of a durable nature may be handed down through a long series of service; and being of great value, such as plate, ought not to be left altogether, and at all times, to the care of servants alone. It seems to be advisable that a public agent should be charged with it during the occasional absences of the President, and have authority to transfer it from one President to another, and likewise to make reports of occasional deficiences, as the basis on which farther provision should be made. It may also merit consideration, whether it may not be proper to commit the care of the public buildings, particularly the President's house and the capitol, with the grounds belonging to them, including likewise the furniture of the latter, in a more especial manner to a public agent. Hitherto the charge of this valuable property seems to have been connected with the structure of the buildings, and committed to those employed in it. This guard will necessarily cease when the buildings are finished, at which time the interest in them will be proportionably augmented. It is presumed that this trust is, in a certain degree at least, incidental to the other duties of the superintendant of the public buildings; but it may merit consideration whether it will not be proper to charge him with it more explicitly, and to give him authority to employ one or more persons under him, for these purposes. JAMES MONroe. Washington, Feb. 10, 1818. The Message was read and referred to the committee of the whole, to whom is referred the bill to provide for erecting additional buildings for the accommodation of the several executive departments. To the Senate and House of 12. Washington.-I lay before Congress copies of two communications received at the Department of State from the Minister of Great Britain, and submit to their consideration the propriety of making such legislative provisions as may be necessary for a compliance with the representations contained in them. By the express terms of that compact, it was, when ratified by the two Governments, to be in force for the term of four years from the day of its signature. The revocation of all the discriminating duties became therefore the obligation of both the Governments from that day, and it is conceived that every individual who has been required to pay, and has paid, any of the extra duties revoked by the Convention, has a just and lawful claim upon the respective Governments for its return. From various accidents, it has happened that, both here and in Great Britain, the cessation of the extra duties has been fixed to commence at different times, It is desirable that Congress should pass an act providing for the return of all the extra duties in compatible with the terms of the convention which have been levied upon British vessels or merchandise, after the 3rd day of July, 1815. The British Parliament have already set the example of fixing that day for the cessation of the extra duties of export by their act of 30th of June last; and the Minister of the United States in London is instructed to require the extension of the same principle to all the extra duties levied on vessels and merchandise of the United States, in the ports of Great Britain, since that day. It is not doubted that the British Government will comply with this requi sition, and that the act suggested may be passed by Congress, with full confidence that the reciprocal measure will receive the sanction of the British Parliament. JAMES MONROE. Inquest on Sir Richard Croft. On Friday night, the 13th at 8 o'clock, an inquest was held in an apartment at the house of Miss Cotton, No. 86, Wimpole street, Cavendish-square, before Thomas Stirling, esq. Coroner for Middlesex, on the body of Sir Richard Croft, M. D. aged 57. The Rev. Dr. Thackeray, of Windsor, sworn: said, that he is husband to Mrs. Thackeray, and was on a visit to his sister-in-law's (Miss Cotton's) house since Sunday last. In consequence of his lady being taken ill, Sir R. Croft's attendance was found necessary, and he attended her that night till about 11 o'clock, and conceiving that he was much fatigued, they prevailed on him to retire to rest, which he did, after many entreaties, at about twenty minutes after 11 o'clock on Thursday night. Witness retired to bed about the same hour, and Sir Richard appeared anxious to get up any time they might call him to attend on Mrs. Thackeray; she having exhibited symptoms of an approaching delivery. About two o'clock in the morning, witness heard a noise, which he thought was like the falling of a chair, but took no further notice. The noise awoke witness, but he went to sleep again; and in about an hour afterwards, he was awoke by the servant maid, who knocked at the door, and told him that his wife was in labour. He went down |