he need be afraid of seeing it adopted in Portugal? Does he find it deficient in any of those powers which "a sound policy," as he calls it, demands? Why, then, should he object to have its BEAUTIES exhibited, and made "as notorious as the Sun at noon day?" If, indeed, the picture was not a fair one; if it was a sham; if it was intended to cheat the people of Portugal; if its object was to delude the people of Portugal into a belief, that the English Constitution was what it really is not; then, indeed, there was a solid objection to it; but, if the picture was a true one of the English Constitution, as now practised, I really can see no harm that a display of the whole of its BEAUTIES, a statement of the whole of its EFFECTS upon the people; I can see no harm, that these could have done to the interests of the Prince Regent of Portugal.But, there is one fact, connected with this subject, well calculated to make the reader laugh. It is this: that the presses, the very presses, I mean the types and the presses, whence these BEAUTIES have issued at Lisbon, were a present from our king to the Regency in Portugal! Aye, and have been PAID FOR OUT OF THE TAXES RAISED UPON THE PEOPLE OF ENGLAND! The reader will hardly believe this; but, it is, nevertheless, strictly true; and the item stands, in the government accounts for the year 1810, thus:

"To Messrs. Robert Wal- £. s. "ker and Company, for the Expence of two printing

"presses, sent as a present "to the Regency of Portu"gal...........

d.

706 17 2

What do you think of that, reader? Do you not think it a little hard, that the Prince Regent should object to the printing of a few of the BEAUTIES of our Constitution at these presses, which the government has made us pay for? Surely these presses might have been suffered to sound forth the praises of our happy constitution! To discussions about the proceedings in the Cortes of Spain; to observations on the character and conduct of the Queen of Spain; to any remarks, or ny hints, touching Crowned-heads, or toyal families; to all these there might yave been some ground to object; but it is very hard, that our "happy constitution" should not be permitted to be praised, extolled, chaunted in hymns, and deified, from the presses which we ourselves have

sent out and paid for. This is very hard indeed. We send out a part of our FREE PRESS, and then, behold, it is not to have the LIBERTY to exhibit the beauties of our own happy constitution! It is not to be allowed to hold forth to the rest of the world those lovely lineaments the sight of which we daily have at home! The Prince Regent does, however, permit these presses to be used in the printing of works on the Arts and Sciences. This is a great deal, to be sure! Men may say what they please about the manner of preserving gooseberries and of gauging beer. There is full LIBERTY of the press, as far as relates to these matters, in Portugal, .............. and so there is in England!

I wished to offer some observations upon the debate in the Common Council, on the motion for a grant of money to the National Education Society; but must postpone them till my next. The debate which took place last night (Thursday) on the subject of the Dispute with America, I shall not fail to remark on in my next.The die appears to be cast; for, if our Ministers expect the Americans to give way; if they put the question of peace or war upon that footing, there will assuredly be war. The Americans will laugh when they read, that our statesmen do not wish to destroy them; and that they with sorrow foresee the ruin that will fall upon America.

-They will hardly believe their eyes. If such expressions have any effect upon their conduct it will be to add to their haste to show us how much they despise such threats. One thing, however, will give them some satisfaction. They will see, that they are, at last, become worthy of notice in England. Hitherto, they have never been thought any more of than was thought of Cape Breton or New-Brunswick. They have been a sort of bye-word. Nothing, in point of importance, compared with the ruler of the Brazils or the King of Sardinia. I always said, that the day would come, when they would force themselves upon our attention; and that day is already arrived. It is not three months since the prostituted news-papers declared, that it was a matter of perfect indifference to us whether America chose war or peace; but, now, they announce "important intel

ligence from America." They will find it to be every day of more and more importance. -Foreseeing, as I do, great calamities from this war, I cannot but feel some satisfaction at having been the first to endeavour to prevent it by pointing out its

of retracting pari passu that course of unjustifiable attack on neutral rights, in which she professed to be only the reluctant follower of France, has advanced with bolder and continually increasing strides. To the categorical demands lately made by our Government for the repeal of her Orders in Council, she has affected to deny the practical extinction of the French Decrees; and she has, moreover, advanced a new and unexpected demand, increasing in hostility the Orders themselves. She has insisted, through her accredited Minister at this place, that the repeal of the Orders in Council must be preceded, not only by the practical abandonment of the Decrees of Berlin and Milan, so far as they infringe the neutral rights of the United States; but, by the renunciation on the part of France of the whole of her system of commercial warfare against Great Britain, of which those Decrees originally formed a part. This system is understood to consist in a course of measures adopted by France and the other powers on the Continent, subject to, or in alliance with her, calculated to prevent the introduction into their territories of the products and manufactures of Great Britain and her Colonies, and to annihilate her trade with them. However hostile these regulations may be, on the part of France towards Great Britain, or however sensibly the latter may feel their effects, they are, nevertheless, to be regarded only as the expedients of one enemy against another, for which the United States, as a neutral power, can in no respect be responsible: they are, too, in exact conformity with those which Great Britain has herself adopted and acted upon in time of peace as well as war. And it is not to be presumed that France would yield to the unauthorised demand of America, what she seems to have considered as one of the most powerful engines of the present war.Such are the pretensions upon which Great Britain founds the violation of the maritime rights of the United States; pretensions not theoretical merely, but followed up by a desolating war upon our unprotected commerce. The ships of the United States, laden with the products of our own soil and labour, navigated by our own citizens, and peaceably pursuing a Jawful trade, are seized on our own coasts, the the very mouths of our barbours, conII. ned and confiscated.-Your Commitnet reve not, however, of that sect whose chandizéis at the shrine of a calculating during the

avarice. And while we are laying before you the just complaints of our merchants against the plunder of their ships and cargoes, we cannot refrain from presenting to the justice and humanity of our country the unhappy case of our impressed seamen. Although the groans of these victims of barbarity for the loss of (what should be dearer to the Americans than life) their liberty; although the cries of their wives and children in the privation of protectors and parents, have, of late, been drowned in the louder clamours at the loss of property: yet is the practice of forcing our mariners into the British navy, in violation of the rights of our flag, carried on with unabated rigor and severity. If it be our duty to encourage the fair and legitimate commerce of this country by protecting the property of the merchant, then indeed, by as much as life and liberty are more estimable than ships and goods, so much more impressive is the duty to shield the persons of our seamen, whose hard and honest services are employed, equally with those of the merchants, in advancing, under the mantle of its laws, the interests of their country.-To sum up, in a word, the great causes of complaint against Great Britain, your Committee need only say, That the United States, as a sovereign and independent power, claim the right to use the ocean, which is the common and acknowledged highway of nations, for the purposes of transporting, in their own vessels, the products of their own soil, and the acquisitions of their industry, to a market in the ports of friendly nations, and to bring home, in return, such articles as their necessities or convenience may require; always regarding the rights of belligerents, as defined by the established laws of nations. Great Britain, in defiance of this incontestible right, captures every American vessel bound to, or returning from, a port where her commerce is not favoured; enslaves our seamen, and, in spite of our remonstrances, perseveres in these aggressions.To wrongs so daring in character, and so disgraceful in their execution, it is impossible that the people of the United States should remain indifferent. We must now tamely and quietly submit, or we must resist by those means which God has placed within our reach.-Your Committee would not cast a shade over the American name, by the expression of a doubt which branch of this alternative will be embraced. The occasion is now presented when the na

tional character, misunderstood and traduced for a time by foreign and domestic enemies, should be vindicated. If we have not rushed to the field of battle like the nations who are led by the mad ambition of a single Chief, or the avarice of a corrupted Cour, it has not proceeded from a fear of war, but from our love of justice and humanity. That proud spirit of liberty and independence, which sustained our fathers in the successful assertion of their rights against foreign aggression, is not yet sunk. The patriotic fire of the revolution still burns in the American breast with a holy and unextinguishable flame, and will conduct this nation to those high destinies, which are not less the reward of dignified moderation, than of exalted valour.-But we have borne with injury until forbearance has ceased to be a virtue. The sovereignty and independence of these states, purchased and sanctified by the blood of our fathers, from whom we received them, not for ourselves only, but as the inheritance of our posterity, are deliberately and systematically violated. And the period has arrived, when, in the opinion of your Committee, it is the sacred duty of Congress to call forth the patriotism and resources of the country. By the aid of these, and with the blessing of God, we confidently trust we shall be enabled to procure that redress, which has been sought for by justice, by remonstrance and forbearance in vain. Your Committee, reserving for a future report those ulterior measures, which, in their opinion, ought to be pursued, would, at this time, earnestly recommend, in the words of the President, "That the United States be immediately put into an armour and attitude demanded by the crisis, and corresponding with the national spirit and expectations." And, to this end, they beg leave to submit, for the adoption of the House, the following Resolutions :— I. Resolved, That the Military Establishment, as authorised by the existing laws, ought to be immediately completed by filling up the ranks and prolonging the enlistment of the troops; and that, to encourage enlistments, a bounty in lands ought to be given in addition to the pay and bounty now allowed by law.-II. That an additional force of ten thousand regular troops ought to be immediately raised to serve for three years; and that a bounty in lands ought to be given to encourage enlistment.-III. That it is expedient to

authorise the President, under proper regulations, to accept the service of any number of volunteers, not exceeding fifty thousand, to be organised, trained, and held in readiness to act on such service as the exigencies of the Government may require.-IV. That the President be authorised to order out, from time to time, such detachments of the militia, as in his opinion the public service may require. V. That all the vessels not now in service belonging to the navy and worthy of repair, be immediately fitted up and put in commission.-VI. That it is expedient to permit our merchant vessels, owned exclusively by resident citizens, and commanded and navigated solely by citizens, to arm, under proper regulations to be prescribed by law, in self-defence, against all unlawful proceedings towards them on the high seas.

Report of Mr. A. GALLATIN, Secretary of the Treasury, laid before the Congress, 22d Nov. 1811.