days declare tithes to be so; we ought to know that there are bones in the beef; and every purchaser of an estate does know that the estate is subject to tithes, if he has not paid an equivalent for its being tithe free. I shall leave it to those who have leisure and inclination to settle whether tithes are due" jure divino" or "jure humano," or whether it was a pope or a king who was the first author of appropriations; it is enough for me to have proved their antiquity to be as great or greater than any other tenure; as in so doing, I humbly presume that my argument in defence of them is unanswerable. I am not so blind and prejudiced as not to discover some hardships in the strict gathering of tithes ; but every succedaneum which I have seen proposed, has been inefficient and inadequate; and I am constrained to express my fears that no plan can be adopted, which will be better for the community, and at the same time secure the independence of the clergy, than the old fashioned one, which system-mongers are anxious to annihilate.-I am, &c. &c. -D. X.

OFFICIAL PAPERS. BRAZIL TRADE.-Circular Letter from the Portuguese Ambassador to the Governor of the Island of St. Catherine, and Conditions of exporting goods to St. Catherine, until the pleasure of the Prince Regent be known. London, bearing date the 6th of January, 1808.

(Concluded from p. 224.)

3dly. Besides, every master and shipper will bind themselves to pay at the custom house of the said port, the same duties that were paid in Portugal upon every such article, or in lieu thereof, such as may have been already established by his Royal High. ness the Prince Regent.-4thly. According to your offer, and to ascertain that no contraband goods are exported thither, the manifest of the said cargo sworn, and authenticated as usual at this custom house, will be signed by the agent and consul general, Mr. John Charles Lucena, and by me.-5thly. On these conditions, which contain all that fair trade can wish for at present, I will most willingly provide every captain with a letter of mine to the governor of said port, informing him of what I have done, and requesting him earnestly to require immediate instructions from the Rio de Janeiro, in case his Royal Highness is already arrived; and should his Royal Highness be not yet arrived, requesting him besides not to enforce the existing laws, but to suspend them until he receives the in

structions required, which cannot be long in coming, and in the mean while not to molest, but permit the said ships to wait peaceably for the new orders; unless he should be authorised by his former instructions to admit the entry of such goods, on paying the same duties as in Portugal, and to allow the captains to invest their proceeds in the produce of the country, in which case I will ardently request the Governor to facilitate this trade.--P. S. I need not say, that upon your application with the licence of the privy council, &c. &c. &c. the manifest will be signed by me, and my letter to the governor will be delivered immediately, without the least expence to any of the concerned.N. B. I request their excellencies the viceroy and governor of the different ports of Brazil, which this ship may enter in distress, that they will cause it to be accompanied by a guarda costa to the port of the island of St. Catherine, in order to avoid any unjust suspicion against the captain, of illicit com

merce.

ENGLAND.-Blockade of certain ports in

Spain, notified to the American Minister, in London, by Mr. Canning, 8th Jan.,

1808.

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The undersigned, his majesty's principal secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, has received his majesty's commands to acquaint Mr. Pinkney, that his majesty has judged it expedient to establish the most rigorous blockade at the entrance of the ports of Carthagena, Cadiz and St. Lucar; and of all the intermediate ports, situated and lying between the said ports of Carthagena and St. Lucar; Mr. Pinkney is therefore requested to apprize the American Consuls and merchants, residing in England, that the entrance of all the ports abovementioned are, and must be considered as being in a state of blockade; and that, from this time, all the measures authorized by the law of nations, and the respective treaties between his majesty and the different neutral powers, will be adopted and executed, with respect to the vessels attempting to violate the said blockade, after this notice. The undersigned requests Mr. Pinkney to accept the assurances of his high consideration.

AMERICAN STATES.Mr. Jefferson's Letter to the Assembly of Pennsylvania, declining the offer of serving again, as President. Dated, Dec. 10, 1807.

GENTLEMEN, -I received in due season, the Address of the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, under cover from the

Speaker of the two Houses, in which, with

their approbation of the general course of my administration, they were so good as to express their desire that I should consent to be proposed again to the public voice, on the expiration of my present term of office. Entertaining, as I do, for the General Assembly of Pennsylvania, those sentiments of high respect which would have prompted an immediate answer; I was certain, neverthe less, they would approve a delay which had for its object to avoid a premature agitation of the public mind, on a subject so interesting as the election of the chief magistrate.That I should lay down my charge, at a proper period, is as much a duty as to have borne it faithfully. If some termination to the service of the chief magistrate be not affixed by the constitution, or supplied by practice, his office, nominally for years, will, in fact, become for life, and history shews how easily that degenerates into an inheriance-Believing that a representative go vernment, responsible at short periods of elections, is that which produces the greatest sum of happiness to mankind, I feel it a duty to do no act which shall essentially impair that principle; and I should unwilling. ly be the person, who, disregarding the sound precedent set by an illustrious predecessor, should furnish the first example of prolonging beyond the second term of office. -Truth also requires me to add, that I am sensible of that decline which declining years bring on-and feeling their physical, I ought not to doubt their mental effect; happy, if I am the first to perceive and to obey this admonition of human nature, and to solicit a retreat from cares too great for the wearied faculties of age.-For the approbation which the General Assembly of Pennsylvania has been pleased to express of the principles and measures pursued in the ma nagement of their affairs, I am sincerely thankful; and should I be so fortunate as to carry into retirement the equal approbation and good will of my fellow-citizens generally, it will be the comfort of my future days, and will close a service of forty years, with the only reward it ever wished.

ETRURIA.Proclamation of the Queen Louis Maria, upon dissolving the Government.-Dated at Florence, Dec. 10, 1807. In pursuance of a convention between their Majesties the Emperor of the French and King of Italy, and the King of Spain, Tuscany has been ceded to his Imperial Majesty; and yesterday evening the Queen (to whom other states are to be assigned) departed hence with a train of between forty

and fifty carriages, containing baggage and private property; after which the Etrurians were discharged from their oath of allegiance, and the government declared to be dissolved by the following proclamation :Charles Louis, Infant of Spain, King of Etruria, &c. and on the part of his Majesty, her Majesty Maria Louisa, Infanta of Spain, Queen Regent of Etruria. Whereas his Majesty the Emperor of the French and King of Italy has informed us, that, by virtue of a treaty concluded with his Catholic Majesty, other states are appointed for us in exchange for the kingdom of Etruria, ceded to the most illustrious Emperor by the aforesaid treaty; we consider our reign in Etruria as dissolved from this day, and hence discharge the Etrurian nation from every oath of allegiance towards our Royal Person,-Yet we cannot separate from subjects so dearly be loved, without publicly assuring them of our entire gratitude, and of the memory which we shall at all times retain of the faithful attachment which they have displayed during the time of our government.-Yet if there is a thought which can diminish our affliction at such a separation, it is this, that the kingdom of Etruria-that so obedient a nation becomes subject to the happy government of a monarch who is adorned with the most heroic virtues, among which the constant care is pre eminent with which he labours to assure the prosperity of the people under his authority.

AMERICAN STATES.

-Message of the President to the Congress, relating to an Embargo, Dated, Dec. 18, 1807. Also the Act of Congress laying the Embargo, passed Dec. 22, 1807.

MESSAGE. The communications now made, shewing the great and increasing dangers with which our vessels, our seamen, and merchandize are threatened, on the high seas and elsewhere, from the belligerent powers of Europe, and it being of the greatest importance to keep in safety their essential resources, I deem it my duty to recom. mend the subject to the consideration of Congress, who will doubtless perceive all the advantage that may be expected from an inhibition of the departure of our vessels from the ports of the United States. Their wisdom will also see the necessity of making every preparation for whatever event may grow out of the present crisis.

ACT-Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, that an embargo be and hereby is laid on all ships and vessels in the ports and places with

should have done in a like case, and should never have thought of availing myself of such an opportunity to give a mark of my "attachment" to Mr. Talleyrand. I see much of a want of presence of mind; much of weakness, in this proceeding, on the part of Mr. Fox; but, it will, I believe, require a pair of those party spectacles, that you seem to have on your nose, to see any thing of "noble-mindedness" in it. Mr. Fox, disguise the fact how you will, must have seen through the trick that was attempted to be played him; or, at any rate, the best that can be said of him, in this case is, that he was the dupe of Mr. Talleyrand. And, Sir, you gravely retail to us the recognition, on the part of Talleyrand, of "those principles "of honour and virtue, by which Mr. Fox "had always been actuated, and which," as Talleyrand said, "had already given a new "character to the war," thereby intimating, that theretofore, our government had carried on the war like assassins, though it should have been remembered by Mr. Fox (if forgotten by Mr. Talleyrand), that the war had theretofore been carried on by persons, then composing two-thirds of the cabinet, of which Mr. Fox was a member. But, at the - close of this your eulogium on Mr. Fox, you have a most unworthy insinuation. You say: "Even the political opponents of Mr.

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Fox ought to have felt rightly upon such a subject. They ought to have known, that it was no effort to his great and generous mind to reject the proposals of an "avowed assassin." And, how do you know, Sir, that they did not feel rightly upon this subject? What warrants you in supposing, that they would have employed the assassin? And, if this be not what you mean to insinuate, to what rational purpose does your observation, with respect to them, tend? For my part, when I came to sce the papers (Parl. Debates, Vol. VIII. p. 91, and the following pages) I thought the conduct of the then opposition remarkable for forbearance; and, if Mr. Fox had been alive at the time when the discussion upon those papers took place, I am inclined to think, that the assassination plot at Passy, which certainly equals the "Meal-Tub Plot," or any of the other plots of the reign of Charles II. would have been made to afford, at St. Stephen's, where you then were, a good deal of merriment; especially if you had taken it into your head to describe the conduct of Mr. Fox, upon that occasion, as, " exemplifying, in the most striking manner, oue of the most important maxims of morality, and exhibiting to the world a noble proof, that, amidst the rage of national and in

"dividual animosity, the eternal laws of "justice and of virtue were neither over"thrown nor shaken." The horse laugh, which would have drowned your voice long before you had arrived at this period, would have convinced you, that if you chose to be the dupe of the Bishop of Autun, there were not many others disposed to follow your example.

Mr. Talleyrand, as if he had been a little ashamed of the miserable trick he had resorted to, got rid of the subject in great haste, and proceeded to that of peace. The negociation was opened, and that, too, at the very place which the French must have wished. In speaking of this negociation, you appear to be sadly divided between your anxiety to vindicate the conduct and the motives of France and your fear of throwing blame upon your own party; but, after long apparent struggles in your bosom, the former gains the preponderance, and you make a very decent sacrifice of your friends upon the altar of your country's enemy. You tell us, that, in the first place, England insisted, that Russia should, as an ally of hers, be a party to the treaty; that, while a debate was going on about this, Russia, though in spite of our remonstrances, entered upon a separate negociation; that, being now at liberty to treat for ourselves, a dispute arose about the basis of the treaty, and that, "unfortunately," we insisted upon the state of actual possession, as a basis, though neither the language of Mr. Talleyrand nor the circumstances of the case could warrant us in so doing; that, while this dispute was going on, the treaty between Russia and France arrived at St. Petersburgh, where it was refused to be ratified, which induced us to return to our first resolution of not negociatinbut in conjunction with Russia, though “the

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terms were such as might have satisfied "both the honour of the sovereign, and the "expectations of the British ministers; "that, "unhappily" the negociation was "thus broken off, and the contest continued "for interests not our own." We will speak of these" satisfactory terms" by-andby; but, here we must stop to ask you, who it was that conducted this negociation on the part of England Why, those very men, whose departure from office you have, in another place, told us, deprived the nation of all hopes of peace. But, there is a question, in which you, Sir, are more nearly concerned. There were, in parliament, two discussions, relative to the negociation of 1800, the principal one on the 5th of January 1807 (See Parl. Deb. Vol. VIII. p. 505), when Mr. Whitbread moved an amendment to the