Essequebo and Demerary Royal Gazette 1812 March 21

SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 1812.

By His Excellency Henry William Bentinck, Esquire, Governor and Commander in Chief in and over the Colonies of Demerary and Essequebo, and their Dependent Districts, Vice-Admiral, President in all Courts and Colleges, &c. - and the Honourable the COURT of POLICY of the Colonies aforesaid.
Unto all whom these Presents shall or may concern, Greeting, be it known:
WHEREAS it has been found expedient to alter and amend the Ordinance enacted by the aforesaid Court, on the 31st of January, 1797, which restricted Hucksters from selling dry-goods in any other place in the town of Stabroek, and its precincts, than the public market: We have thought fit, for that purpose, to enact, and it is hereby enacted, that from the day of the date of this publication, it shall be lawful for all Hucksters to carry their articles, whether of dry-goods or provisions, about for sale in the town of Stabroek, and adjoining townships, but that they shall not be allowed to sit on the public roads or bridges to expose such articles for sale, on pain, if so doing, of incurring the penalties provided by the abovementioned Ordinance; provided, nevertheless, that the foregoing alteration is not to be extended to the allowing Hucksters, selling dry-goods, to carry the same about for sale through the town and its precincts on Sunday; it being hereby ordered, that, on that day they shall confine themselves to the public market-place in the town of Stabroek. And it is hereby further enacted, that all Licenses granted for selling dry-goods, shall, on the renewal thereof be subject each time to an additional Tax of three Guilders, towards the support of the market; which additional sum is to be paid at the Colonial Receiver's Office. And whereas it has been discovered, that many persons taking out such License for Hucksters from the Governor's Secretary's Office, do not, as ordered, take the same to the Colonial Receiver for his signature, by which the Colonial Revenue is injured. Such persons are hereby warned, that, on such Licenses without the Colonial-Receiver's signature being discovered, the Hucksters carrying the same, together with their goods, will be sent to the Colony Jail, and the goods confiscated.
An [sic] that no ignorance may be pretended of this our Ordinance, the same shall be printed and published for general information.
Thus resolved in the Ordinary Session of the Hon. Court of Policy aforesaid, held at the Court-House in the Town of Stabroek, Demerary, on the 30th January, 1812, and published the 20th March ensuing.
H. W. Bentinck.
By Command,
P. F. Tinne, Dep. Sec.

FISCAL'S OFFICE. [heading]
NOTICE is hereby given, that this Office will be kept at the House of the Drossart, Mr. Martens, until further notice; and that the Fiscal ad interim will attend there every day, from Ten till Two O'Clock - Sundays and Holydays excepted. Demerary, March 21.

THE undersigned, being about leaving town for the country, requests all those who are as yet indebted either to his late Firm of J. Pantliz & Co. or to himself individually, to make speedy payment to Mr. M. A. Fogelmark [sic], in Werk en Rust, who, by these presents, is duly authorised to the receipt and acquital on the same; as, in non-compliance whereof, he (however reluctantly) will be necessitated to prosecute by law all his debtors, without regard to persons. Likewise are all those who have not yet rendered their last year's accounts, with such as still have claims against the dissolved Firm of J. Pantliz & Co. most friendly requested to render them also to Mr. Fogelmark, in order the same, after examination, and having been found correct, be settled as soon as possible.
The Domicilium Citandi et Executandi of the undersigned is at the house of Mr. A. M. Fogelmark, Werk en Rust.
March 21. Jacob Pantliz.

FOR SALE, [heading]
Superior Cogniac Brandy [heading]
at f 18 per Gallon - for Cash only. [heading]
March 18. Robert Marshall.

Subscription Balls, [heading]
THE Subscription not having yet amounted to the sum necessary to arrange the Meetings - the Balls must be deferred till further notice.
By Order,
March 21. James Robertson.

FOR SALE, [heading]
The Plantation CORNELIA-AND-MINE; consisting of 240 acres, more or less; with 110 acres in canes, abundance of plantains, and a complete set of works, dwelling-houses, &c. With or without one half of the complement of slaves, consisting of 114 choice people. The terms of payment will be made very easy to an approved purchaser, and immediate possession given. The buildings are all in complete repair, having received no injury whatever from the late high tides. For further particulars enquire of the Manager, on the estate, or Thomas Frankland, Esquire.
Leguan, March 19.

TO THE PUBLIC. [heading]
M. THOMPSON, with the wish and assistance of his numerous friends, has taken that large and commodious House near Robb's Stelling, well known by the name of the Demerary Tavern, and which he means to re-open as The Ship Tavern, on Saturday next; when he hopes, from his unremitting exertions, to merit the patronage and support of the public. - And from the long experience which he has had in the Victualling Department, he trust he will give general satisfaction to those who will honour him with their favours. March 18.

BY appointment of His Excellency the Governor, Mr. John Ryan having taken over from the Subscribers the administration of the Firm of C. & J. Ryan, this is to certify the same to all who may be concerned.
J. R. Kenny.
March 21. F. A. Vernede.

NOTICE is hereby given, that Messrs. J. R. Kenny and F. A. Vernede having given over to the undersigned the administration of the late Firm of C. & J. Ryan, he requests all colonial creditors to render in their accounts on or before the 6th of April next, as no claims can be admitted after that period; and all those indebted to the said Firm are requested to come forward with immediate payment, otherwise such measures must absolutely be taken as may be very disagreebale, in order to close the concern with as little delay as possible.
American-Stelling, March 21. J. Ryan.

NOTICE is hereby given, that the Domicilium Citandi et Executandi of the Subscriber is at the house of Mr. John A. Thomas, North-Dam, Stabroek.
March 21. Henry Hunt.

FOR SALE, [heading]
A YOUNG Mulatto Woman, who is a complete Housekeeper and Seamstress. For particulars apply at the Printing Office. - March 21.

ON Thursday next, the 26th March, 1812, will be publicly sold, to the highest bidders, for immediate payment in cash, at the Custom-House, the following Goods and Ships, seized by Lieut. Guise, Commanding His Majesty's Brig of War Liberty, and legally condemned in the Vice-Admiralty Court of Demerary:
13 barrels of Tobacco, 15 jugs of Paint-Oil, 1 box of Shoes, 2 barrels and 1 keg of Black-Pepper, 8 kegs of Gin, 2 barrels of Nankeens, 1 box of Writing Paper, and 1 box of Axes.
The American Barque Jane, her tackle, apparel, and furniture, &c. as she now lays - should the offer made be approved of; if not, she will be broken up and sold in lots, on the Monday following. And
The American Brig Park, (should that vessel not previously be given up to the appellants at the appraised value), with her tackle, apparel, and furniture, &c. as she now lays, if the offer be satisfactory - otherwise she will be broken up and sold in lots, on the Monday following.
John Forbes, Collector.
John Ashley, Actg. Comptr.
Custom-House, Demerary,
March 20, 1812.

FOR SALE by N. WINANDY & Co. at their Stores, in America-Street, opposite P. Verbeke's, Esq.
Mess beef and pork, butter, herrings, stock-fish, hams, pearl-barley, split-peas, loaf-sugar, tea, assorted Martinique liquors, brandy, gin, old rum, porter, beer, olives, capers, lavender-water, milk of roses, essence of peppermint, bitters, glass and earthen ware, elegant table-services, liquor and vinegar stands, a set of desert-dishes, butter-coolers, salt-sellers and decanters cut and figured, nails, door-locks, padlocks, umbrellas and parasols, neatsfoot and paint oils, Japan ink, shoe-blacking, English play-cards, spelling-books, writing-desks, fowling-pieces, shot and gunpowder, Dutch starch, blue, sodirons, white and blue India salempores, chintz, printed cambrics, check, thread and tapes, spices assorted, black-pepper, neat shaving-trunks, fryingpans, mouse and rat traps, candlesticks, gold breast pins, &c. fresh garden-seeds, boat-chains, cloth, shoe, and tooth brushes, fishing and log lines, ditto hooks, &c. hobby-horses, and lanterns.
March 21.

HUGH MACKENZIE & Co. [heading]
HAVE ON SALE at their Store, in Robb's Town, the following articles, on reasonable terms:
[first column]
Negro-jackets, lined and unlined; ditto blankets
Women's wrappers
Strelitz, flaxen and tow Oznaburgs
Negro hats
Tradesmen's ditto
Salempores
Hoes, cutlasses, and shovels
Pruning-knives
Sets of grating-bars
Mill-wedges
Copper skimmers and ladles
Boiling-house lamps
Brass cocks for butts, vats, and pipes
Lamp-oil, in jars and barrels
Tar, in barrels
Beef and pork, in ditto
Butter, in whole & 1/2 firkins
Strong-ale, in barrels
Bottled beer and porter, in puncheons
Port wine
Cordage assorted, from 9-thread to 6 & 7 inch cable
Anchors and grapnels
Cambooses for colony-schooners
Small boats for ditto
Suits of colours for ditto
Pumps for ditto
Fowling-pieces, Buck guns
Holster pistols
Gunpowder and patent shot
Mahogany dining-tables, with D ends
Pembroke tables
Chairs and bedsteads
Mahogany bason-stands
Ditto waiters, assorted
Square, oval, and standing dressing-cases
Stationery
Saddlery
[second column]
Queen's ware
Window-glass, 8 by 12, 10 by 14, 11 by 14, 12 by 16, and 12 by 18
Paints and oil
Cotton hammocks
Mattrasses, with bolsters and pillows
Swing cots
Musquito netting & curtains
Irish linen and sheeting
Cotton and linen check
Cotton shirting and cambric
Long-lawn
India jean, Princes' cord and dimity
Dowlas
Superfine blue, black, and mixed, broad cloths
Black and drab Kerseymeres
Welch flannel
Cotton stockings and ancle-socks
Lamb-wool stockings
Ladies' & gentlemen's gloves
Gentlemen's ready-made clothes, consisting of coats, coatees, and pantaloons
Black silk quilting vests
Silk hats, white and black broad-brimmed ditto
Servants's [sic] glazed ditto
Gentlemen's dress and walking shoes
Planters' strong ditto
Hessian and top boots
Nails, 4d. to 30d.
Coopers' tools
Carpenters' tools
Sheet-lead, grindstones
Flat bar-iron
Square ditto
Bolt ditto
Madeira wine in pipes, hogsheads, quarter-casks, and per dozen
[end columns]
March 21.

THE Subscriber is wishful to contract with any respectable person, who can give security for the due performance of his agreement, for carrying to Town, from Capooy-Creek, all the Produce of Plantation Union. Regular payment every six months may be depended upon. He offers for sale his Schooner, 38 feet keel by 15 1/2 beam, with new sails, anchors, cables, &c. just out of the carpenter's hands, complete - price, five thousand guilders, payable in six months; forty head of Sheep, at f 22; Cows and Calves, at f 300; and several articles of Household-Furniture, very reasonable. Particulars may be known on Plantation Union, Essequebo.
March 21. R. Patterson.

SECRETARY's OFFICE, [heading]
DEMERARY. [heading]
 

A. Fullerton, in 14 days or 6 weeks from March 4.
J. S. Johnson, in do. or do. . . . 6.
L. Barnes, in 14 days . . . 7.
The black Man William Baa, in do. . . . 7.
H. P. Fleischman, in do. . . . 9.
C. J. O'Hara, in do. . . . 12.
S. Todd, in do. . . . 16.
S. Dealey, in do. . . . 17.
Mrs. Van den Paadevoort, in ditto, . . . 17.
The Hon. Ms. Tinne, in ditto, . . . 17.
Mrs. J. A. Bate, in do. or 5 weeks, . . . 20.
Robert Phipps,
Sworn Clerk.

PUBLIC VENDUES [heading]
IN DEMERARY. [heading]

On Monday next the 23d instant, will be sold at the stores of Messrs. Fullerton, Oliverson and Co. - Forty casks of Newfoundland fish; part of it is a little damaged by the late high springs - imported in the Brig Favorite.
March 21. Robert Kingston.

On Thursday, the 26th instant, at the Stores of Messrs. Simpson, Rose, Croal, & Co. - a large quantity of earthen-ware assorted, and a few hogsheads of tobacco.
March 21. Robert Kingston.

On Friday, the 3d April, by Order of R. Noonan, Esq. at his store in American-Street, the entire stock on hand, of the late firm of Messrs. Bryant & Noonan, - consisting of pigs cheeks in barrels, Yorkshire hams, ox tongues in kegs, herrings in do. tripe in jars, bloom raisons [sic], black pepper, currants in jars, spices assorted, sauces assorted, claret and port wine, setts of dish covers crimson colour, coffee biggins, tea pots and kettles, sauce pans, tin measures, rum pumps, chamber and plated candlesticks, waiters and bread baskets, frying pans and sod irons, hoes and shovels, scissors and chains, thread cases, pins, needles, thread shirt buttons, cloth brushes, shoe ditto, printe, spotted and twilled muslin, childrens hats, ladies' patent shoes, boys' do. flannel quiltings, table knives and forks, pen knives, combs, spare heads and reins, martingales, neck straps, web and round head halters, leather portmanteaus 16 to 27 inches, an assortment of glass ware, old rum, noyau, spermaceti oil, snuff, temper lime, and stationary.
March 21. Robert Kingston.

On Tuesday, the 7th of April, by Order of Messrs. Douglas, Reid, and Co. at their stores, - an assortment of furniture, consisting of patent mahogany dining tables, elegant side-boards, portable writing desks, tea caddies, ladies' work-baskets, back gammon boards, shaving glasses, card boxes, night chairs, bidets, mattresses, bolsters and pillows, butlers' glass and knife trays, &c. &c. - A neat assortment of plain and cut flint glass ware, negro cloathing, hats, blankets, hoes, shovels, cutlasses, nails, red Bandanna handkerchiefs, blue cloth, and bed ticking, tin ware, telescopes, real Holland's gin in bottles, and what further may appear on the day of sale.
March 21. Robert Kingston.

On Wednesday, the 8th of April, by Order of Messrs Douglas, Reid, and Co. at their stores, - from 50 to 60 field negroes, among whom are some fine families, and one or two carpenters and boatmen.
March 21. Robert Kingston.

PUBLIC VENDUE [heading]
IN BERBICE. [heading]

By virtue of an appointment, on a petition of William Threlfall to His Excellency Robert Gordon, Esquire, Governor-General in and over the Colony of Berbice, and its Dependencies, President in all Courts and Colleges within the same, Vice-Admiral thereof, &c. &c. &c. will be sold to the highest bidders on Thursday, the 1st of October, 1812:- The Cotton Plantation known as Nos. 40 and 41, situated on the West Sea Coast of this Colony, together with the buildings, stock, and about two hundred and ten prime negroes, boat, and every thing thereunto belonging.
Terms of Sale,- The land and buildings, payable in 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 years, and the negroes in 6, 9 and 12 months, the whole in Cash, or approved Bills of Exchange.
For further particulars enquire at the Vendue Office Berbice, where an Inventory and Appraisement can be seen.
March 21. WILLIAM THRELFALL,
Deputy Vendue-Master.

The Packet will sail on Monday next. - We shall present our readers with the Sentence on the American Barque Jane, lately condemned in the Vice-Admiralty Court of this Colony, in our next Gazette: - but we understand, that Mr. Dyett, on the part of the Claimants, has entered an appeal against that pronounced on the Brig Park.

Died, on Wednesday last, at her house in Kingston, and much regretted by her friends and relatives - Mrs. Ann Taylor, aged 49.

We have had no arrival of consequence since our last, except the Brig of War Liberty, Lieut. Guise, from Barbados - by which conveyance London Papers have been recived [sic] by a Gentlemen of this Colony, to the 29th of January inclusive, and by whom we were favoured with the use of them - although, from the length of the sentence of the American Brig Park, which will be found in our subsequent columns, we have not, this day, been able to make those extracts from their contents, we could have wished.

A Barbados Paper of the 10th instant, was kindly handed to us this morning, by a Gentleman we are under considerable obligations to for his attention to us in that way, and from which paper we extracted as follows:
"It is now learnt that the French frigates, Ariadne, Arachne, and Mameluke sloop, which were lately seen between the Lats. 30 and 40, have changed their cruising station. Accounts of their being in Lat. 22. Long. 61, were first received at St. Thomas, by a vessel which had fortunately escaped them in the night; and on Thursday last, the statement was strengthened by the arrival of an American schooner at Antigua, which had been boarded by them. - A brig of war was immediately dispatched to Sir Francis Laforey, then at Guadeloupe; and he proceeded in the Dragon, 74, with the Orpheus frigate, in quest of them: but we regret that he has not been successful in his pursuit, the Dragon having anchored this morning in Carlisle Bay. - The enemy expected to be joined in the latitude they were cruising in by another sloop of war, for the purpose of assisting in some important object they had in view.
"Besides these, another French frigate, L'Orient, of 40 guns, is at sea, and had plundered two or three American vessels early in February last, in lat. 40. The above frigates are supposed to be about 600 miles to windward of Antigua; and, as the Tribune frigate is cruising in the latitude of that island, and the Statira, with the Peruvian and other men of war, will sail to-night, it is to be hoped we shall hear of their arrival in a British port."

SENTENCE [heading]
ON THE [heading]
American Brig Park. [heading]
Promised in our last. [heading]

"The case of the Brig Park, and her cargo involves such very serious considerations, as far as respects the American trade of these Colonies, that I approach its investigation with no small degree of diffidence, lest, on the one hand, I should form a decision in contradiction to the true interest of the commerce and navigation of Great Britain, which it is my peculiar duty here to protect; or, on the other, by promulgating a doctrine till now, I believe, new among us, I take away the indulgence which the American trade has, to this time, been accustomed to receive, and thereby inflict an injury on my fellow-colonists, at a time that the crippled trade and limited intercourse of Great Britain with the nations consuming our produce in Europe, requires every aid and every opening that can be made of it.
"In another place, I have been as loud and decided an advocate for the encouragement of the introduction of our produce into and through America, as my feeble voice would admit.
"Here, I can only interpret the laws, as far as my humble ability extends, in such sense as they appear to me to be framed. I am not called on to give any opinion upon their propriety: and, whatever consequences such doctrine may produce, I as an individual, shall neither be one of the last or the least to suffer from them.
"But I am not allowed such considerations as these while in this Chair. Circumstances of conveniency or of interest are by no means to be the guides of my conduct; and I must approach the decision I am called upon to pronounce, without allowing them any weight in this place.
"The situation of the American trade with Great Britain, after the peace of Paris and the recognition of her independence, called forth the abilities of our greatest statesmen. One of the most enlightened of them had prepared a Bill to form a permanent intercourse; which was but too successfully opposed by another, and a feeble measure, which gave to His Majesty in Council a power to regulate that commerce, from time to time, was adopted, instead of a permanent legislative provision upon the subject. The intercourse with these States was, by the 28 Geo. III. confined to British vessels, navigated by British seamen, and laden with British property only; nor did France, previous to the troubles that preceded her Revolution, allow them more than a very limited intercourse with her colonies. The temporary distress that the germ of that disastrous event produced, occasioned the Governor of her colonies to increase and extend their commerce with America; and as the mania of the Revolution augmented, and all the folly of the " [upside down quote here] perish commerce, but let the constitution live," inflated the wickedness, and increased the fatuity, of that wretched and deluded nation, America possessed herself gradually of almost all their remaining colonial commerce.
"After the war of 1793, the vessels owned in the British Islands, which were accustomed to carry on the trade to America and Newfoundland, becoming for want of sufficient convoys, frequently a prey to French privateers; the inhabitants began to feel the pressure of some privation of articles of necessity, such as fish and lumber; and the planters in various islands petitioned the Governors to admit into their ports the American flag. The Governors, by the advice of their Council, acquiesced: and this was the first great breach in the wall of brass with which the Navigation Act had surrounded the British colonies, and by which their trade was preserved to the mother-country. At that period, however, no one dreamt of their being allowed to bring in any other articles than such as were admitted from America in British vessels previous thereto; and the various acts of indemnity that passed annually to the Governors for their breach of the law by such admission, were, in truth, nothing more than an indemnity for having sanctioned, by proclamation, another flag than the British, which, by the Navigation-Act, could alone fly in the harbours of the British colonies, the free ports excepted; where Americans were, however, equally excluded, and it could only be met there by the flags of foreign European sovereigns or states.
"Here we trace the germ of that great abuse, which has since expanded so widely and become so difficult to eradicate. – Then American vessels did not confine themselves to trade to the British Colonies in such articles only as were before brought from America in British vessels, with the addition of fish – every one brought his proportion of contraband articles, which, if he could sell, it was well, if detection was likely to ensue, they were cloaked under a destination for French or other foreign Colonies.
"The frenzy of the French Revolutionists having trampled down the trade of their fine Colonies, degraded and despised them, the Americans availed themselves of their folly to carry it on for them. To aid their system, they neither cleared out for a French or an English port, but generally for the West-Indies, and when met by our cruizers, even during the strictest embargo, such was the vicinity of our Islands, that unless they were absolutely entering the ports, it was difficult to ascertain whether they were bound to St. Vincent or St. Lucia, to Dominica or Martinique, to Antigua or Guadeloupe, to St. Kitt's or St. Eustatius.
"At length the major part of the Islands fell into our power; the supplies they required were great; the Americans were allowed to participate largely in their commerce; and, need I to say, abused their permission. They were, at that period, permitted to carry away almost all sorts of produce, and they brought in not only all sorts of supplies, but made themselves carriers to the Colonies in our possession, not only of various sorts of their East-India goods, but of such European manufactures as they received in trade from foreign nations.
"At this period much of this trade was carried on here, though Governor Beaujon honestly did his utmost to check it, and very frequently inveighed against the dispensing power, then too often assumed by the Custom-House.
"Peace succeeded. To other colonies it brought with it plenty – here, scarcity. The new Batavian Republic at home, jealous of her scarcely elder sister in America, confined the exports of these colonies, in American bottoms, to rum and molasses only; and from thence the hint was probably since taken by Great Britain. Their trade here was meant to be a job, and confined to a few favoured houses only, and as our then mother-country had no Newfoundland or American fishery she was unable to supply us from Europe, and the price of the year of peace exceeded, I believe, on the average, that of any year of war, before or since. From this situation we were relieved by a new war, and by a recapture. The state of privation in which the colony was found, impressed itself on the mind of the new Governor, Colonel Nicholson; and, as he was no jurist, he yielded to his feelings, and to the importunities of others, and sought to remedy it by every indulgence, however inconsistent with law. A great and powerful additional reason occurred to justify this conduct, one that supercedes all law: - a dearth, approaching to a famine, was occasioned by a drought heretofore unknown in the colony, and our poor negroes were in danger of falling victims to it. This was no time to weigh nicely forensic questions – if the American had but flour or meal, it sanctified the rest of his cargo, be it what it might. – All that was petitioned for was introduced, almost indiscriminately – half a dozen signatures to a petition for the introduction of wine, of tea, of nankeen, or German linen, of India chintz, or of any article, however violently hostile to the English manufacturer or to the English navigator, were sufficient for its sanction. The abuse reached its acmŽ, and the present Collector, whose unwearied diligence and indefatigable attention to his duty are above any eulogium of mine, found it but a little descending from its zenith. – Deep-rooted abuses, that have gradually gained strength, are with difficulty removed, and he was unaided by a recourse to any Court in case of seizure. The Governors naturally retained the dispensing power they had acquired, though, after the famine ceased, it was more discreetly and less frequently exercised than before. Government at home saw, however, the abuse that had grown out of the annual indemnities, and they enacted the 46th Geo. III. c. 111, which is dated the 21st of July, 1806 – in order, in the words of the preamble, "That provision should
"be made for the meeting such emergencies in future,
"without the necessity of frequent violations of the
"law, by His Majesty's Officers," (Governors)
"appointed and sworn to administer the same."
"I have given this very rapid and imperfect (though perhaps tedious) sketch of the state of the American trade, as perhaps necessary to the elucidation of the principles on which I mean to proceed in this Sentence; and I come now to a new era, in which this fluctuating and vacillating trade, governed till now by partial circumstances, is taken out of the hands of the Governors of the colonies, and is directed, not by their proclamation, but by that of the Sovereign; had the treaty of amity and commerce with America, been ratified some years since by that country, no doubt a permanent legislative provision would have followed it. We must now go by the law of the 46 Geo. III. and by the proclamation of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent of September 6, 1811, consequent thereon; but, before I proceed to pronounce Sentence, I will only remark, that the situation of the trade of the Americans to this colony, and the complaints of the Merchants in London, had excited so much attention, that the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty addressed a letter on the 16th of January, 1807, to the Right Honourable Sir W. Scott, Judge of that High Court, on the subject of the necessity of instituting such a court as this in which I have the honour to preside, here, and to which, feeble as may be my abilities, the care of the British Navigation, and of the commerce of my country in this colony, is, in no inconsiderable degree, confided. I have been led farther than I intended in this discussion - let us now proceed to the Cause.
"Lieutenant Guise, who has been here very active, went, it appears, on board the Park, soon after she anchored in the river, and demanding her papers, found several bills of lading for contraband articles of many descriptions – such as beef, pork, butter, soap, tobacco, axes, paper, nankeens, pepper, candles, shoes, and other articles – and on the very strong and reasonable presumption, that as they were absolutely consigned here, they must be intended to be smuggled, he seized her. Mr. McGouty, a passenger or supercargo on board, to whom many of the articles were consigned, told him that he knew the law as well as he did; that he would land his goods here, and if he was refused permission, as they were perishable, he would make somebody pay for them. This, I consider as something more than an idle threat; something more than the absurd language of an intemperate man. For my own part, I fully believe this assertion of his intention, even if the bills of lading threw no light on the subject; and I have no doubt he would have kept his word, as far as landing the goods went, had he not been prevented. With respect to the deposition of Fitch, respecting the box, it appears to me to arise from a mistake in the mark. I shall therefore dismiss it with little notice, as I do not mean to insist on the breaking bulk; though I cannot believe him when he says he did not know Bingley's hand-writing to the order.
"The affidavits of Captains Gray and Williams and Mr. James, confirm my conviction that the vessel was bound here direct, and not to Cayenne; nor is it at all shaken by the plainly subsequent insertion of the words, "or a market," is Elisha Abbe's bill of lading.
"With respect to the depositions in the defence, I will first dispatch those that relate to the conduct of the Collector. – That gentleman has, by law, the custody of all vessels seized, either by officers of navy or by officers of the customs; he acts ministerially, and must take care of the vessel and its cargo till adjudication, and afterwards restore or sell, and distribute the proceeds as that adjudication may direct. The despositions, therefore, that go to impute blame to him for not granting what was contrary to the duty of his office, what the parties could surely never expect, and what it was equally absurd and idle to demand, may be dismissed without farther notice. – The desposition of John M'Gouty is also but little pertinent to the cause. Amidst the fluctuations I have described, all that he says, and much more, might have happened in his former voyages to this colony. Local circumstances might have induced General Hislop (whom I am proud to call my friend) to issue a proclamation contrary to ours, nay, perhaps even contrary to law; but what was done at that time, either here or at Trinidad, can never apply to this cause. What would such application say: - Why, that the very abuses that have called for the act of 46 Geo. III. to remedy, may be quoted as precedents in the face of that act; that the practical evils that it is intended to remedy must be continued, in spite of that law, if it can but be proved that they have been committed at various times, either before or since the law destined to prevent them. Such arguments are entitled to very little consideration. – The affidavit of Park Benjamin, and the conduct of Moses Benjamin, as sworn to in the evidence, are very justly entitled to more regard; but, when sifted, amount to very little more than this: "I am willing to
"venture a cargo of contraband (or, if you will, pro-
"hibited) goods in my vessel to Demerary: if you can
"avail yourself of any indulgence of the [illegible], of
"the absence of His Majesty's ships, or of the inatten-
"tion or other occupation of the officers of the customs,
"do so; but, if you find them too much on the alert,
"don't risk my vessel - make use of the common screnet [sic]
"enter them outwards for St. Bartholomew's, or any
"other foreign port."
"this is my interpretation; but can it, or ought it, to be supposed, that the revenue-laws, strict and guarded as they are with respect to our own commerce, should lay themselves so open to any neutral as to allow them to place themselves, on such a pretence, in a situation where the hundred eyes of Argus might be employed in vain in the prevention of landing their cargo? - Clear them for St. Bartholomew's! But what is St. Bartholomew's now? - The St. Eustatius of the times gone by; the mere stepping-stone, where the contraband goods may rest till they can conveniently stride over the brook into one of our islands; the mere smuggler's dep™t! What is its own consumption? How small a quantity of the nankeens pretended to be destined there would be consumed, if you dressed every inhabitant and every negro on the island in them from head to foot!
The introduction of East India goods into any colony has been, by 7 Geo. I. c. 21, and many other acts, most strictly prohibited, unless laden in Great Britain - nay, so jealous has the British legislature been of interfering with the chartered commerce of the East India Company, that they have not even allowed prizes of war, to which our laws are peculiarly indulgent, to be sold in the West Indies, if laden with East India goods, but compelled to be sent to particular ports in Great Britain. Can it be supposed, therefore, that they would sor [sic] far relax with respect to Americans, as to allow them to bring those articles into their colonies, under any pretence, by virtue of a proclamation that sanctions the entry of articles of the growth and production of America only, and, under the pretence of re-exportation, to fill our stores with East India goods of American importation, to the great detriment of our own East India Company, of the British commerce, and of the British navigation. Yet that this is the fact, to use the language of the Admiralty, is "true, public and notorious." To the very strong and luminous reasoning of the learned Advocate for the Crown I most heartily subscribe, and most pointedly do I coincide with him in opinion, that nothing should be allowed to enter this port, under the Prince Regent's proclamation, that is not of the growth and produce of America. The contrary practice has prevailed; but it is high time that this be clearly understood. The evil has been great, and the commerce of our country calls aloud for a remedy.
"The use that may be made of the Hovering-Act, as suggested by the learned advocate, will, no doubt, be properly considered by the gentlemen of the customs. Either by that, or by whatever means may occur to them, it is essential that this smuggling of East-India goods from America be put a stop to. – It may be objected, that this new doctrine, after vessels with such goods have been so long admitted to enter for re-exportation into this port, may not merely occasion the refunding of the ill-gotten gains of those who have been long in the habit of inflicting severe wounds on the British commerce, but may involve the property of innocent persons, who never meant (even though opportunity had invited them) to violate the law. – It should be, therefore, a matter of publicity, that the practice of entering goods, not the growth and produce of America, in American vessels, for re-exportation, is discontinued; and, in the mean time, I must call on the moderation, propriety, and vigilance, of the Officers of His Majesty's Customs, to prevent any ill consequence of such alteration; and, I trust, I shall not call in vain. That we have been wrong, ought not to be an excuse for our continuing in detected and admitted error. Through the whole of this cause I have looked at intention. By overt acts can it alone be proved it is the highest power alone to whom it is given to see the heart of man: but it appears to me, that there is avowed intention on the part of Mr. M'Gouty, and implied intention on that of the other shippers. If I am rightly informed, and I believe I have it from pretty good authority, a vessel, called the Vixen, was condemned at Barbados, in 1807, simply for bringing East-India goods into Carlisle-Bay, though she came absolutely for the purpose of bringing money to the Contractors, for paying His Majesty's troops, and the charge of any intention to land any other part of her cargo there, was given up by the learned advocates for the crown. Yet, if I am rightly informed, she was condemned by Judge Bedford, though Mr. Whitfield was brought up from Grenada to plead in her behalf, and, says my informant, made a speech on the occasion that took up upwards of four hours in the delivery. – From such an extent of eloquence, Heaven shield this Court, though the length of this sentence may, I fear, imply an imitation! On what statute that libel was founded, I have no information; nor can I quote that case as any authority; but here, I do not discard intention: the bills of lading and the whole circumstances of the case imply it. It is the duty of masters of vessels bound here, as well as of the shippers, to know in what articles the law and the proclamation allow them to trade. – They ought not to be permitted to speculate on the chance of getting a permission from the Governor to violate the law, or to place themselves in a situation calculated to elude the vigilance of the Custom-House, or to reckon on the chance of any connivance. If a great emergency should call on the part of his Excellency the Governor for an indulgence or a vigour beyond the law, no doubt he would fairly meet the responsibility of the occasion; but this can very rarely happen. – The hour of indemnity is past, and in this Court the Governor's permission cannot be pleaded against the law, and I have no fear of its ever becoming a question. Lieut. Guise's seizure may be considered premature, but I am here to decide not on the mode of seizure, but on its causes, and the consequent facts adduced from them.
"It appears to me, that a law, in some degree similar to that in the 30 sect. of the 5 Geo. III. as relating to Europe, viz. That no vessel should be allowed, under pain of confiscation, to enter the ports, or hover on the coast of the English colonies, that had on on board any articles, not the growth or produce of America, and not admissible there by law – seems to be wanting; but this want I have no power to supply. On the whole circumstances, therefore, I condemn the brig Park, together with her tackle, apparel, and furniture, and all the articles of her cargo not allowed to be entered under the Prince Regent's proclamation, for a breach of the Acts of the 15 Car. II. c. 7, the 28 Geo. III. c. 6, the 46 Geo. III. c. 111, and other Acts, as well as the Order in Council of the 6th of September, 1811; to be divided according to the act of Geo. III. c. 15, sect. 42 – one moeity to be paid to the Collector of His Majesty's Customs, for the use of His Majesty; and the other moiety to be paid to the Officers suing or prosecuting for the same; subject to the distribution of such produce as His Majesty shall think fit to direct, and for such articles as are specified in that proclamation, I acpuit [sic], them, and order them to be delivered to the Claimants, or the net proceeds of such as have been sold under orders of the Court.
Joseph Beete,
Judge-Surrogate C. V. A.

RUNAWAY and ARRESTED SLAVES, [heading]
In the Colony-Stocks of Demerary. [heading]

March 21. F. STRUNKAY, Scout.

RUNAWAY and ARRESTED SLAVES, [heading]
in the Colony-Stocks of Essequebo. [heading]

March 18.                  W. V. D. WAGT, Scout.

STABROEK: [centered]
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