Essequebo and Demerary Royal Gazette 1812 April 28

TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 1812.

For Sale, by J. P. Muncker, [heading]
A Very Elegant, Light, Strong, Well-made, and New CARRIAGE, complete, running upon four iron patent wheels; well worth the attention of gentlemen who have families. April 28.

ABSCONDED from the Subscriber, a Negro-Woman, named Old Peg, or Ma Bess. She is well-known about the town and country. A reward will be given for her apprehension; and all her friends are hereby cautioned against harbouring the said Runaway, as the law will be enforced against any delinquent.
April 28. Francina Keller.

ABSCONDED from the Undersigned, a Negro Boy, named Charles, a native of the island of Barbados. He is yellow skinned; and his left leg is very much swelled. Any person or persons bringing him to the Undersigned, at the Union Coffee House, will receive a Joe reward.
April 28. Thomas Marsh.

Old Copper wanted to purchase. [heading]
Apply to M'Inroy, Sandbach & Co.
April 28.

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

Chas. Griffith, in 14 days, from April . . . . . . . 10.
P. D. W. Cuvelje, ditto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.
George Martin, in 14 days or one month, . . . . . . . 12.
D. N. A. Van Hoytema, in 14 days, . . . . . . . . . . 15.
J. L. C. Brauns, in 14 days . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.
H. Cantzlaar, and one Servant, in a month or 6 weeks 16.
Colin Douglas, in 14 days or 6 weeks, . . . . . . . . 16.
P. M'Arthur, ditto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.
A. Reach, ditto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.
Alex. M'Bain, ditto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.
Secretary's Office, Demerary 25th April, 1812.
Robert Phipps,
Sworn Clerk.

PUBLIC VENDUES [heading]
IN DEMERARY. [heading]

On Friday, the 8th of May, at the Vendue Office, - 50 pieces of fine Irish linens, 20 barrels of park, &c. Also, a Negro man, named Nicholas, a capable boat Negro, the property of Mrs. E. Fletcher.
On the same day, - a consignment of a chest of printed calicoes, just received by the ship Belmont.
April 28. Robert Kingston.

Pursuant to the commands of His Excellency the Acting-Governor, the Kiezers assembled at the Court-House yesterday, for the purposes mentioned in the Proclamation - but nothing, as yet, has been allowed to transpire.

We have had no European arrival since Saturday; but a Vessel from the island of St. Thomas (touching at Barbados) entered our river on Sunday.

The arrival thus announced, brought a Barbados Paper to the 18th; but its contents are of no great importance. It has an article, however, which is of too interesting a nature to omit mention of; and that is, the ever-to-be-lamented loss of that humane and heroic Martyr, Captain Gore, who was drowned lately, in attempting to save the life of a sailor, who fell over-board. This is the Gentleman, it will be recollected, who came with Sir Charles Shipley to this colony.

A Private Letter, from Surinam to a Gentleman of this colony, just received - announces, on the authority of British Papers, the sailing of a French Fleet from port L'Orient, and that it steered for North-America.

The schooner Governor Bentinck, Capt. M'Kenzie, also arrived yesterday, from Oronoque; and has brought the following detail of the operations of the contending parties in that neighbourhood:
                  "Guiana, March 26, 1812.
"Yesterday, our squadron, consisting of eight schooners, two sloops, and six gun boats, under the command of our Governor, Don Joseph Charter, left the port and forts of ancient Guiana, in order to battle, at about 10 o'clock a.m. with a light wind, directing their course toward Mount Sorondo, where the Cumana escadre lay at an anchor, from north to south - that is to say, their line extended from one side of the river Oronoque to the other, in number three sloops, six schooners, one brig, and seventeen gun boats. The battle began at about half after 2 o'clock p.m. and lasted till 7 o'clock at night. The battle was renewed on the following morning at half past 4 o'clock, and at 9 o'clock, the whole Cumana squadron was in the possession of the Guiana people, with the exception of two sloops, which blew up, seven gun-boats, and three schooners, which were sunk. The battle was one of the most obstinate. Those from Guiana never fired until they were within reach of half grape-shot; though the Cumana vessels fired almost out of reach of gun-shot.
"The loss on the Guiana side, between yesterday and to-day, was five men killed and eight wounded. The enemy had more than 250 men killed and as many wounded, of which the greater part must have died in the woods, for want of succour. All the rest of the crews and soldiers, who were on board, threw themselves into the water; and those who could gain the shore, were sacrificed through the grape-shot of the Guiana vessels, in attempting to climb up the mount Sorondo.
"March 27. Our squadron and the prizes arrived at Angustura, at eleven o'clock at night. They very opportunely arrived to the assistance of our capital, which was to have been attacked six hours after that, by a small army of 1500 men, who were half a league distant from the town; having passed the river six days ago, at eighteen leagues above the capital. But the enemy seeing our vessels arrive in our port, the Saturday before Easter, together with the prizes taken, who fired a salute of at least three hundred guns - considered their affairs desperate, abandoned their camp that same evening, and retired along the river to the same place where they crossed, to try to re-cross the river; but, to frustrate this, and cut of [sic] their retreat, we sent immediately twenty gun-boats to observe their movements, and we make no doubt they will be obliged to surrender.
"In this battle, we have taken from the Cumana people two guns of 18, one of 24, two of 10, four of 8, eight of 6, and five of 4 pounds, four carronades of 12, and four of 8 pounds, two field-pieces on Mount Sorondo, fifty quintals of powder, 178 muskets, three hundred balls of all sizes, and an infinite number of cartridges, grape-shot, lances, pistols, and swords: and all their vessels either taken, blown up, or sunk, without being able to escape, not even a canoe. This little lesson will teach the Venezuelians to respect those of Guiana. There are in the water one gun of 24, one of 18, and one of 6 pounds, which cannot be brought out again, they being in 6 fathoms water."
N. B. The People of Spanish Guiana are for Ferdinand.

We have received Berbice Papers to the 18th instant; and the following is a summary of their domestic contents:

His Excellency Governor Gordon, having taken into consideration the commission allowed to sequestrators over estates levied on by execution - and deeming the sum of ten per centum, a heavy burthen to the proprietor of the estate, and the creditors in general, has by proclamation, reduced such commission to sequestrators jointly, to five only, - and which reduction is to continue "during the present disastrous times."
His Excellency, we find, has also been pleased to make the following appointments and promotions, in the Burgher Militia: - First Battalion, J. H. Schlarhorst to be First Lieutenant, (first company) vice G. Pauels, residing in another division. D. Carnegie to be Captain (third company) vice Houston, deceased; and J. Davies to be Second Lieutenant, vice C. Macintosh, residing in Demerary. - Second Battalion, Captain E. D. Fraser to be Major, vice J. Stobie, deceased. J. H. L. Maurenbrecher to be Captain (first company) vice J. W. Heytmeyer; and J. Guhicke to be Second Lieutenant. J. F. Stapel to be Captain, (third company) vice Glasius; and W. Klouwens to be First Lieutenant, vice Draan. T. Fraser to be Captain, (fifth company) vice E. D. Fraser, promoted; J. Fairbairn to be First Lieutenant, vice J. Blair; and H. Bethune to be Second Lieutenant, vice J. Fairbairn. - Lieutenant G. Bagot, of the fourth company, first battalion, to be Adjutant to the First Battalion, and M. Duggin to the Second.
The Aurora, Capt. Westcott, destined for Liverpool; and the Antelope, Capt. Bryan, for London - are the only vessels noticed in the Gazettes to be now in the river.
The sloop Favorite, from Barbados, lately arrived, had only brought Prpers [sic] of that island, to the 7th instant; and, therefore no foreign news can be expected.

It is doubtless in the memory of our readers, that, during the whole course of the present negociation between Great Britain and America, the later power has constantly maintained, that the Berlin and Milan Decrees have been repealed; we have, therefore, given place to the following copy of a Memorial, lately presented to the American Congress, because it gives irrefragable testimony that they are still acted upon.
MEMORIAL, [centered]
To the Honourable Senate and Honourable House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled,
HUMBLY SHEWS:
John Parker, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk, and state of Massachusetts, merchant, and a native citizen of the state aforesaid, as well in his own behalf as also in his capacity of agent for the owners of the brigantine called the Catharine, David Ockington, master, and her cargo, all of whom are also citizens of the United States; that the said brigantine sailed from the port of Boston on the 10th day of April, 1810, laden with a cargo of coffee, sugar, cocoa, dye-woods, and cotton, bound to Gottenburg, in Sweden, and from thence to any other port in the Baltic, which, on her arrival at Gottenburg, should appear to offer the most advantageous market; that the said vessel and cargo was wholly owned by American citizens, was furnished with every document required by our laws, or by the laws and usages of nations, including the most ample certificates from the consul of His Imperial Majesty of France; that on their passage to Gottenburg, she was captured by a Danish privateer, and carried into Fahrfund, where, after a detention of ten months and five days, she was liberated (subject, however, to the payment of costs), by a solemn decree of the Danish courts, on the ground that she was bona fide American property, and had not contravened either the law of nations or the modern law set up by the government of France, and enforced, under its influence and authority, in other countries of the continent of Europe.
Thus liberated, after so long a detention, and at an expence of more than 4,000 dollars, and thus furnished with the opinion of a vigilant court, that she was liable to no suspicion, the said brigantine departed from Fahrfund, and proceeded to Gottenburg, her original port of destination, where, finding that her cargo could not be sold, she proceeded toward St. Petersburg; that she entered the port of Elsineur, and paid the Sound-dues, in order that there might be no pretext either that she availed herself of enemy's convoy or that she had any wish to elude the laws of Denmark; that, having complied with all the regulations both of France and Denmark, having also had the good fortune to escape being visited by British cruisers, the said brigantine sailed from Elsineur toward St. Petersburg, and destined for that port, and, the 2d day of May, 1811, she was captured by a privateer, duly commissioned by His Majesty the Emperor of France, and carried into Dantzick; that, on her arrival at said port, she was put under the controul of the Consul of France, and all her papers were forcibly taken by the said Consul, and sent to Paris, in order that legal process might be there instituted against her. Your memorialist dose not think it of importance to detail the illegal and improper measure adopted by the said Consul of France in the unloading of said vessel and cargo, the utter contempt of the usages of all civilized nations in those procedures, the imprisonment of several of the crew for the service of His Imperial Majesty, and the impediments thrown in the way of the way of the supercargo, which prevented his arrival in Paris in season to defend the said vessel and cargo. These measures, constituting a series of injustice unknown in any other country, are of small importance, compared with the flagrant injustice of the final decree of the Imperial Council of prizes at Paris. The supercargo of said vessel, at a very early moment, by letters from Hamburgh, made known to Jonathan Russell, Esq. the Charge d'Affairs of the United State at Paris, the circumstances of the said capture; and the said Russel [sic] applied to the French Minister of Foreign Relations on the subject, and received assurances that he had made a favourable report of the case to the Emperor. It is apparent, therefore, that the case was fully understood, and that the proceedings which were afterwards had were taken with a knowledge of all the circumstances of the case. Nevertheless, your memorialist begs leave to state, that, on the 10th day of September last, the said Council of Prizes, without hearing the pleas and allegations of the owners of said vessel and cargo, did proceed to make a definitive decree in the said case, a copy of which is herewith submitted to the Honourable Congress of the United States; in which after reciting that the said vessel and cargo had been captured by the French armed ship the Jeune Adolphe, and that she had been libelled on the ground "that part of her cargo came from the Spanish and Portuguese colonies, and that, moreover, it consisted in colonial articles, whose importation was forbidden by His Majesty's decrees." - After reciting the capture by the Danes, and the acquittal of the Danish courts, the arrival of said brig at Gottenburg, in which an English cutter was then lying, but which had not hailed said vessel; after reciting that another vessel had hailed her on her passage, the officers of which had spoken the English language, that the captain, supercargo and had distinctly [illegible] all concurred in these facts; after reciting, moreover, a complete list of [mutilated - paper fold] papers found on-board said brigantine, which con[mutilated - paper fold] every document required by the law of nations, an[mutilated - paper fold] the modern usages of France, all certified by the [mutilated - paper fold] Consul at Boston; the said Council of Prizes proceeded to condemn the said vessel and cargo, on the following pretences, (if such they may be called): that "as the said brig Catharine had anchored at Gottenburg, at which port there was an English armed packet-boat, which was an indication, of proof, (the cargo also consisting almost wholly of colonial articles), that the same was in the interest of the enemy's commerce; and, moreover, since there is no reason to believe that she entered the Baltic without convoy, and that, if she was not disturbed by the numerous vessels of the enemy, it is because she was an enemy's ship under American mask; therefore the Council decide the said capture to be good and available."
Your memorialist forbears to remark upon the principles set up in this decree, because it must occur to the Honourable Legislature of the United State that they are much more dangerous to the rights of the United States, and more affrontive to their honour, than any which are contained in Berlin and Milan Decrees; while, at the same time, the allegation of the captors, and some of the reasons urged by the Council itself, conclusively prove, that both the captors and Council considered these decrees and in full operation on the 10th day of September last. The captors allege, that the cargo consisted of "colonial produce, the importation of which is prohibited by the decrees of His Majesty." But your memorialist would ask, by what decrees is such importation forbidden? He knows of none but the Berlin and Milan Decrees. It may be alleged, perhaps, that the Emperor had a right to interdict the importation of such goods into his own territories; but it will be recollected that this vessel was taken in the Baltic, over which His Majesty does not even claim jurisdiction, and that she was bound to the territories of a sovereign who has not interdicted that trade, but who has given every degree of encouragement to its during the last year. The Council admit, in the process verbal, that they interrogated the crew as to the fact of their having been visited by a British cruiser; but they failed in establishing either that fact or that her having taken convoy. Your memorialist would remark, that this fact could be of no moment, unless the Berlin and Milan Decrees were in force; because the ships of all the belligerents have an undoubted right to visit the ships of neutrals, who are bound to submit to such search, on pain of condemnation, in case of resistance. This principle it is well known, the United States have explicitly admitted: why, then, the interrogation and recital in the process verbal as to the fact of visit by a British cruiser?
Your memorialist would further call the attention of Congress to the reasons assigned by the Council of Prizes for condemnation of this valuable vessel and cargo. Among them we find, that the coming to anchor in a port in which there happened to be an English cruiser, is enumerated among her offences. Now. if it is said that this is not made the express ground of condemnation, but is only stated as an inducement to the conclusion that she was in the enemy's interest, your memorialist would remark, that the commerce of the United States is vastly more exposed, under the pretended relaxation of the Decrees, than it was under their most severe operation. By them, the act of visit alone caused the condemnation. By them, the act of visit alone caused the condemnation. Now, by this decree, the being in a situation liable to, or exposed to the danger of being visited, is conclusive evidence against the most abundant and plenary proof of the vessel and cargo being in "the enemy's interest." It will be observed, by a recurrence to the decree, that the vessel was not condemned as enemy's property; but trifling and innocent circumstances are accumulated, in order to found a conclusion that she was in the interest of the enemy's commerce.
There is another reason stated by the Council of Prizes, which is still more alarming, and, in comparison of which, the principles of the Decrees ought to be considered as favours and indulgences, which is, that, if this vessel has had the good fortune to escape "the enemy's numerous cruisers, it is because she is an enemy's ship, under American colours." The unblushing injustice even of the Imperial Court did not hazard he assertion that she was a British vessel under American colours. Now, your memorialist cannot conceive a case in which an American ship could escape condemnation upon the principles here set up, unless the United States can contrive to drive all the English ships into port: - this is the last and weightiest reason stated in the decree of the Council of Prizes.
Your memorialist would not have entered into his detailed examination of the Decrees, if it had been the act of a subordinate and inferior tribunal. Sovereigns cannot always regulate and controul, in the first instance, the conduct of their officers; but, in the present case, a direct appeal had been made to the Sovereign prior to the decrees, and a favourable decision had been expected, and promised by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs. The decision took place at Paris, by the highest prize-courts, and it was confirmed, with all its imperfections, and unheard of principles, by the Emperor himself, on the 14th day of September last. Thus, your memorialist, and the other parties concerned, have been deprived of property amounting to 85,000 dollars, as valued in Denmark, upon principles unknown to the law of nations, and which strike at the root of all the commerce of the United States; for, if the being in sight of British armed ship, and the eluding a visit by them, (while the sea is covered by their cruisers), is to be conclusive evidence of neutral vessels being in the interest of British commerce, and therefore cause of condemnation, a case cannot be conceived which would escape the cupidity of the cruisers and the scrupulous and conscientious decrees of the tribunals of France. Your memorialist is not disposed to advance the broad principles supported by great statesmen, that the representatives of the nation are bound, in all cases, to compensate those citizens whom they refuse or neglect to protect; but he thinks the claim of the owners of this vessel and cargo is one of a peculiar nature. The supercargo of said brig Catharine appears to have placed a strong reliance on the accommodation made between the governments of France and United States, in consequence of which, probably, and a full belief of the repeal of the Berlin and Milan Decrees, he departed from Gottenburgh, in April, 1811, without convoy, which he could easily have obtained from the cruisers of Great Britain. In the same confidence, he entered the Sound, and paid the Danish duties for the passage of that strait. The loss of this very valuable vessel and cargo may, therefore, be attributed solely to the arrangement by which the French Decrees were said to have been repealed; for, unless that measure had been announced, no captain or supercargo would have attempted to pass the Sound without British convoy - Under these peculiar circumstances, your memorialist relies on the justice of Congress that he and the other parties concerned will be reimbursed, out of the national treasury, the amount of the losses which they have sustained, by reason of their confidence in the official declaration of the President, and not through or by any neglect or default of your memorialist, his agents, or any others interested or concerned in the said brig Catharine or her cargo.
Boston, February 19, 1812. J. Parker.

CUSTOM-HOUSE, DEMERARY. [heading]

Vessels Entered and Cleared. [heading]

ENTERED.
April 24. Ship Belmont, G. Knubley, from Liverpool.
25. Brig Elizabeth, John Pary, New-York.
Ship Eliza Ann, W. Ross, London.

CLEARED. [heading]
April 22. Brig Favorite, A. Shannon, for Greenock.
Brig Mary, James Turzo, Quebec.
25. Ship White Oak, W. Stockar, Portsmouth.
Ship Fame, P. Williams, Liverpool.
Ship Caledonia, J. Cameron, Liverpool.

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Printed & published every Tuesday & Saturday Afternoon,
By Edward James Henery.
 

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