a gross price of 80s. affording 30s duty and ex hostile to which prohibited any trade from being car ried on with the enemy's colonies by neutrals during war, which the enemy himself did not permit to those neutrals during peace,' may be in part estimated by reference to a statement of the imports into Amsterdam alone, from the United States of America, in the year 1.05, amounting to 34,085 hhds. of coffee, and 45,097 lhds. of sugar, conveyed in 211 vessels, hereunto annexed; and to a statement also annexed, of the amount of West-India produce, exported from the United States of America, between the 1st. October, 1905, and 30th September, 1800. In point of comparative pense, the advantages of the colonies will be further illustrated by the evidence of Mr. Marryat, supported by satisfactory documents, which show the charges of freight and insurance on sugar from the hostile colonies, through the United States of America, to the ports of Holland and Flanders, and to those of the Mediterranean, to be less by 8s. 11d. to the former, and by 12s. 6d. to the latter, than those charges on British sugars to the same ports. Your committee cannot omit to state also another important advantage enjoyed by the French colonies, from the sale of nearly the whole French mercantile marine neutrals, under the stipulation of each vessel being returned into French ports, in order to be navigated as French ships, within twelve months after peace, and with the enjoyment, during war, of the same privileges in the ports of France, as if they were actually French, for instance, to import sugar at a duty of 4s. per cwt. less than the duty imposed on sugar imported in neutral vessels. In order to counterbalance, in some degree, the advantages thus enjoyed by the hostile colonies, to the detriment of the British planter, it has been recoinmended, that a blockade of the ports of the enemy's settlements should be resorted to; such a measure, if it could be strictly enforced, would undoubtedly afford relief to our export trade.--But a measure of more permanent and certain advantage would be the enforcement of those restrictions on the trade between neutrals and the enemy's colonies, which were formerly maintained by Great Britain, and from the relaxation of which the enemy's colonies obtain indirectly, during war, all the advantages of peace; while our own colonies, in the intercourse with whom that system of monopoly which has been held essential to the commercial and military navy of this country, is rigorously enforced, are deprived of the advantages under which in former wars they carried their produce to the foreign markets, and which in the present war, by means of our decided naval superiority, would have amounted to the exclusive supply of the whole of Europe; and when those extraordinary measures are taken into consideration which have been adopted to exclude the British colonial produce from the European market, it appears to your committee to be a matter of evident and imperious necessity, to resort to such a system, as by impeding and restricting, and, as far as possible, preventing the export of the produce of the enemy's colonies from the places of its growth, shall compel the continent to have recourse to the only source of supply which, in that eyent, would be open to it. As it may be apprehended that from the adoption of such measures, difficulties might arise in that intercourse, from which the West-Indies at present derive a considerable proportion of some of their supplies, your committee have thought it their duty to make inquiry into the resources in that respect to which recourse might be had in such an event. During the only period which affords an example of the suspension of that intercourse, the evidence concurs as to the fact of a supply having been obtained (though not without temporary and occasional inconveniences) from a variety of sources which may reasonably be relied upon, in case of such necessity, at the present moment, to a greater amount than at the former period. From the examination of persons who, in consequence of their residence in the British North American settlements, or extensive commercial connections with them, possess the best information as to their present and future resources, there is ground to believe that some supply of the principal articles of lumber might be obtained from thence immediately, and to expect that, with due encouragement, the quantity of that supply might be increased to any extent.--The supply of flour which they could at present afford to the West India market would be small, and of inferior quality. They appear to be capable of affording a large supply of fish, and what deficiency might exist in other articles of salt provisions, might be made up by supplies from Europe. Upon the whole, the impression which your committee have received, is, that the trade now carried on between the British West-Indies and the United States of America, is very convenient and advantageous to the inhabitants of our colonies, and one which they could not relinquish without essential detriment, unless it were compensated by other advantages; but that it is not essential to their existence, or equivalent to the disadvantages of their situation, in those respects which your committee have already gone through in the present statement.-Your committce having briefly stated the distressed situation of the West-India Planter -the causes which have gradually produced his distress, which are beyond his reach to remedy, and which must continue to operate with increased effect-and having stated such measures of relief as have been suggested to them, and such as, from the best sources of information, appear most adequate to the end in view, have only to add, that if those remedies are liable to objections and difficulties, there is on the other hand the strongest concurrent testimony and proof, that unless some speedy and efficient measures of relief are adopted, the ruin of a great number of the planters, and of persons in this country, holding annuities, and otherwise dependent upon those properties for their income, must inevitably very soon take place, which must be followed by the loss of a vast capital, advanced on securities in those countries, and by the most fatal injury to the commercial, maritime, and financial interests of Great Britain. PUBLIC PAPERS.. AUSTRIA. Note of Mr. Canning, English Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, to Prince Stahremberg, the Austrian Ambassador at London, dated London, April 25, 1507. The undersigned, his Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, has . laid before the King the Note delivered to him by Prince Stabremberg, Ambassador Extraordinary, and Minister Plenipotentiary of his Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia, in which his Imperial Majesty offers himself as the Mediator of a General Peace. The undersigned has received it in command from the King his Sovereign, to communicate to Prince Stahremberg the inclosed official answer to the Note of his Imperial Majesty. The king does complete justice to the motives that have induced his Imperial Majesty to propose a mode of negociation which, by embracing the interests of all parties, can: alone lead to the restoration of a lasting peace, and the permanent tranquillity of Europe; and his Majesty, therefore, accepts the offer of his Imperial Majesty's mediation, so far as he is concerned; but with this provision that it shall also be accepted by all the other powers involved in the present war. NOTE. His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, has received with due regard the communication of his Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia, and also justly appreciates the motives which have, upon this occasion, determined his Majesty to become the Mediator of a General Peace. -The King, who has never ceased to look to a secure and lasting peace as the only object of the war in which he is engaged, and who has never refused to listen to any proposat which offered the least probability of attaining his proposed object, cannot, for a moment, hesitate to give his full assent to the declared opinion of his Majesty the Emperor and King, and that such a peace is only to be obtained by a general negociation on the part of all the Powers engaged in the present war.-The King will have no difficulty in entering upon such a negociation, as soon as the consent of the other Powers interested therein shall have been received. His Majesty will, without delay, make the necessary communications in this respect to those Powers with which he is more especially united by the ties of friendship and confidence, in order to ascertain their views, and in the event of their being favourable to the proposition of his Imperial Majesty, to consult with them as to the mode in which the negociations shall commence, and, agreeably to his Imperial Majesty's proposition, to come to an understanding as to the principles which should equally form the ground and basis of discussion and of a general arrangement.-As to what concerns the choice of a place to become the seat of negociation, any place will be equally acceptable to his majesty, provided (exclusive of the indispensible condition which is also expressed in the Note of his Imperial Majesty, that it shall be free from all immediate influence of the events of the war) that it affords to his Britannic Majesty, in the same degree as to the other Powers, the means of a speedy and uninterrupted tommunication with the Plenipotentiaries whom his Majesty should send to this Congress. FOREIGN OFFICIAL PAPERS. RUSSIA. Note from his Imperial Majesty to the general of Infantry, Minister of the Land Forces, Chief Commandant at St Petersburgh, and Knight-Sergei Kosmiich Wastmitinow.-Tauroggin, June 28, 1807. Sergei Kosmitsch, the obstinate and sanguinary war between Russia and France, every step and every enterprize whereof, has been marked with unshaken fortitude and bravery of the Russian troops, has been term nated, thank God, by a peace which was ratified on the 27th of this month a beneficial tranquillity has been restored; the integrity and security of the Russian frontiers are secured by an increase of territory, and Russia is indebted for this solely to the heroic exploits, and to the unremitting exertions and zeal with which her valiant sons have undauntedly stepped forward and braved every danger even to death itself.-I hasten to inform you of this happy event, in order that general publicity may be given to it.-ALEXANDER. PRUSSIA-Proclamation addressed by the King of Prussia to the Subjects of the ceded provinces. Dated Memel, July 24, 1807. You are acquainted, beloved inhabitants of faithful provinces, territories, and towns, with my sentiments, and with the events of last year. My arms succumbed under the pressure of misfortunes; the exertions of the last remains of my army proved fruitless; forced back to the outermost borders of the Empire, and even my powerful Ally having judged it necessary to conclude an armistice and peace, nothing remained with me but the wish to restore tranquillity to my country; after the calamites of war, peace was concluded, as circumstances dictated; the most painful sacrifices were required of myself and my House; what ages and worthy ancestors, conventions, love, and confidence, had united, was to be severed; my efforts, the exertions of all who belonged to me, were used in vain. Fate ordains a Father to part with his children; I release you from all your allegiance to my person and to my House. My most ardent wishes for your prosperity attend you to your new Sovereign; be to him what you were to me; no fate, no power, can efface from my boson and from the mind of my family, the remembrance of you.-FREDERICK WILLIAM. COMMERCE WITH RUSSIA-Ukase, issued by Order of the Emperor of Russia: dated. July, 1807. The senate having taken into consideration the representation cf Count Romantzoff, in which he sets forth, "that the Col. lege of Commerce has demanded of him, from what date are English merchants, trading here, to reckon the term of six months allowed to itinerant merchants-whether from the date of the Imperial Manifesto, that is, from the 1st of January of this yearor from the date on which the English Treaty of Commerce expired?" He, the Ministe, of Commerce, following the exact interprer tation of the appeilation of itinerant merchant, in the Imperial Manifesto, does not see any sufficient reason for the College of Commerce having put this question; but, combining the circumstances of the times, and judging by that security which the foreign merchants ou their own account have hitherto enjoyed, concludes that they, being perhaps in hopes of some change of the Manifesto in their favour, and not having yet obtained their wish, defer fulfilling the ob ject of the measures which have been adopted by the Manifesto, and endeavour to lay hold of the appellation of itinerant merchants, for the purpose of remaining six months longer in an undeterminate state. The term of time for foreign merchants is very clearly set down in the Manifesto, and the English treaty of commerce can have no place there, which expired on the 25th of March, N. S. With respect to foreigners inscribing themselves as itinerant merchants, the 10th article of the Manifesto again clearly orders that the term granted to the itinerant merchants is to be reckoned from the day of the arrival of the foreign trader in Russia, consequently foreigners inscribed into Guilds who have paid their yearly tax for this year, or such as have houses (which is not allowed to the class of itinerant merchants); or such as have lived a long while in Russia, for purposes of trade, cannot become itinerant merchants, but must enter direct either into the state of subject, or into the class of foreign guests. For these reasons, the Minister of Commerce, on representing this subject to the senate, has applied for an Ukase, in confirmation of the same, as well for foreign merchants resident in Russia, as for those who may hereafter come into this empire; and in order not to impede commercial transactions by too sudden an alteration in the situation of the merchants, by which they would be obliged either to enter into new employments, or entirely to put a stop to them, "would not the senate think proper to allow the following arrangement to be made?" viz. That as soon as any petition is given in for admitting a foreigner as a guest, the Duma, or City Council, should give the petitioner a certificate, empowering him to carry on business in conformity with his future intended calling, and after that the Duma might collect from them the information necessary for their introduction into the rights and obligations attached to guests, as ordered by articles 5 and 12 of the Manitesto. It is therefore ordered, that it be made known to the Minister of Commerce, that the senate, finding the representation which he has made in consequence of the question of the College of Commerce, relative to the term allowed by the Manifesto of the 1st of January of this year, to foreign itinerant merchants, and relative to those foreigners who are inscribed in Guilds, and have paid the yearly tax, or have houses, or have lived some time in the Russian empire for the purposes of trade, that they cannot become itinerant merchants, but must become subjects, or foreign guests; and finding that represen tation just, and conformable to the meaning and intent of the Imperial Manifesto, leaves it to the Minister of Commerce to ratify and make known the same to those who already reside in Russia, as well as to those who may come hereafter, by publications in the Gazettes of Moscow and Petersburgh. And that this Ordinance should also be putin due execution, on the part of the administration of provinces, proper instructions are to be made out to them, that they, in conformity with the representation of the Minister of Commerce, and to avoid impeding the course of commercial affairs, by allowing too short a period, should instruct the city councils to procced in the following manner, viz. As soon as any petitions for inscription, as fo reign guests, are presented by foreigners, the city council receiving from them the necessary documents, as stipulated by articles 5 and 12 of the Manifesto, by which they can be introduced into the rights and obligations attached to guests, are at the same time to give the petitioners certificates, purporting that they are at liberty to prosecute their business as foreign guests, even before all the formalities necessary for their complete inscription are gone through. Whereof proper notice is to be given to all provincial courts and governors in Petersburgh and Moscow, to the Minister of the Interior, and to the Colleges of Commerce and Foreign Affairs.---July, 1807,-1st Depart ment. Ordonnance of the Bishop of the Diocese of Quimper, on the subject of the Conscrip tion of 1808, and ordering the Priests to beg of God to put a stop to the Persecu tions which the Catholic Church suffers in Ireland. From the Moniteur, dated July 13, 1807. Pierre Vincent Dombidau de Croseillhes, by the Grace of God, and authority of the Holy See, Bishop of Quimper, member of the Legion of Honour, to the clergy and faithful of his diocese; bealth and benediction: My dear brethren,-A new conscription imposes upon you the sacred obligation of rallying under the standard of the hero who governs. We shall recal to you those principles which we have heretofore enforced under similar circumstances. We haye seen, with the most lively consolation, sovereign of their states, he could have imposed upon them burthensome conditions, he always proposes to them honourable terms. Alas, it is because he feels the value of his subjects' blood, and has exhausted the honours which common conquerors obtain! His genius points out to him a glory more mild, more dear to his heart, the glory of ameliorating every thing, of improving every thing in his vast empire, and of causing to spring out of this fertile earth, new sources of prosperity and of honour. When one sees him, my beloved brethren, divide all the fatigues and all the dangers of war-trace with the same hand, and under his tent, the plans of a campaign-prepare for new victories, and employ himself with solicitude in every thing which can contribute to the happiness of his subjects (3)—re-establish those sacred institutions, which ensure support and consolation to infirmity and misfortunesassign to the poor such instruction as is necessary to their welfare-appropriate distinc tions and recompence to the talents, the zeal, and the virtues of those venerable pastors (4), who think that they are unknown, save to God alone-honour with the most affecting sensibility, the memory of a bishop (5), who had become a kind of visible providence of that diocese, which was indebted to him for peace, and all the other blessings of which real charity and religion are the source, soften the regret of the whole Gallican church, and the profound grief of his own particular church; what Frenchman's heart is there, which does not bless with transport the Divine Providence, for having given him, as Emperor and King, to that splendid magnificent empire, which was almost buried under its own bloody ruins, the only man who could repair its sufferings, and cover, with the veil of his own glory, those periods which had dishonoured it.—With what lively sentiments of love and gratitude will you learn, my beloved brethren, that far as he is separated from you, and in spite of the great events which he prepares, and which occupy his thoughts, you are always present to his that those who were at one time deaf to the voice of religion, and of their country, have hastened to make reparation for that moment of folly, by obeying their holy authority. Yes, my dear brethren, the divine religion which you profess imposes upon you the sacred duty of fighting for your country; your spiritual pastors call you to this without ceasing; they refuse to grant you absolution, to admit you to the Lord's table, so long as you persist in a resolution, as contrary to religion and justice, as to those sentiments of honour and bravery, which always distinguish the intrepid and religious inhabitants of these countries. Without doubt we pity your sacrifices, for no people of this vast empire are more attached to their paternal hearths; your manners, your language, render you almost strangers to all other countries. But if you leave your dearest friends, you will find, in your angust Emperor, the most tender father. With what active solicitude does he watch so often the fatigues of his brave soldiers! And when the infirmities, to which they are all too often subject, or honourable wounds confine them in hospitals, what cares, what abundant and generous succours, does he not bestow upon them! He has been seen, my beloved brethren, to honour their attachment and bravery, by dressing, with his own royal hands, those heroic and affecting victims of war. Can your sacrifices have a more sacred object? The end you have in view, is to free your country from the domineering ambition of that government (1), which places its only glory and happiness in the calamities of other nations. For many years, people the most interested to live in peace with France have been shedding their blood in unjust wars, conjured up by intrigue and corruption. But He who reigns on high in the Heavens, and who judges nations and kings, hath sufficiently proved to the astonished world, that he dissipates when he pleases, the most formidable leagues, and that it is by Him that kings reign."——It is He, my beloved brethren, who inspires our august Emperor with that spirit of moderation, and of wis-heart. He regrets his not having yet been dom, which the most just resentments, and the nost splendid trophies of victory, cannot alter. Of that intoxication of glory, from which the noblest ininds have had the greatest difficulty to preserve themselves, his soul, more lofty still, has no knowledge. He calls to kings, tottering on their thrones, from whence he is well assured he can precipitate them, if he does but give the signal for combat: " Why destroy your subjects? I put no value on a victory which must be purchased by the lives of many of my children (2). And when, ་་ able to visit these countries:- We regret not having yet visited them; but one of the first journies which we shall make, after our return to our own states, shall be to see with our own eyes so interesting a part of our own people (6).'Yes, you shall see, my beloved brethren, that immortal deliverer, who has freed you from the horrors of anarchy, and of civil discord-that instrument of Providence who has re-opened our temples, and restored our altars. He shall hear the acclamatious of your gratitude and of your |