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Tlio following Iftlor from (Jen. to the . ominitt. e appointed to enquire into the ex pediency of occupy iirj; the mouth ot < ‘olmr;- Lia river, accompanied their rejiort, lie uh- Malice *>4 which, wc pobJrdi ‘<l lust e>k. Quartermaster <<’ mcn f* Office, | YV?.suiNCi /N, April 2f)t!i, 1H24. Sit —ln reply to votir letter, dated 1 he 30th ult. requestin',: me to commu nicate “any facts, views or opinions, ~ liicli may liave presented themselves to me, relative to the probable difficul ty of making an ■establishment, at the mouth *f Columbia river, ami the mili tary advantages,of that establishment,’ 1 have the honor to remark, that, ever -,‘rnce my attention was first directed to the subject, 1 have considered the possession and military command of the Columbia necessary not only to the protection of the fur trade, but to tke security of our Western frontier. That flank of our country, extending from the Lakes to the Cult of Mexico, is every where in contact with numer ous, powerful, and warlike Indian na tions, who, altogether, might be able to bring into the field, from twenty to thirty thousand warriors. Most of those nations communicßte,either with tile British to the North and \\ est, or the Spaniards to the South. In the event of war, that force, with a few hundred foreign troops, or under the influence of foreign c ompanies, might be made more formidable to us, than anv force which Kuropc combined, could oppose to us. On the other hand if such measures be adopted as to se cure a proper influence over them,and in the event of-war, to command their co-operation, they, with the aid of a tew small garrisons, would not only at ford ample protection for that entire line,but would become the scourge of our enemies. The dangers to lie apprehended,can only be averted by proper military es tablishments : and whether the post at the mouth of Columbia he intended to secure our territory, protect our tra ders, or to cut off all communication between the Indians and foreigners, I should consider ;! line of posts extend ing from the Council Bluff's entirely across the continent,necessary. ‘l oose posts should be situated, as well with a view to command the avenues thro’ which the Indians pass from North to South, as to keep open the communi cation with the establishment at the mouth of Columbia. A post should be established at the Mau<Jen villages, because, there the Missouri approaches within a short distance of the British territory, and it would have the effect of holding in cheek the Hudson’s Bay and North “West Companies, and of controlling the Ricarees.M inTiatarces, Assiniboins and other Indians, who either reside or range on the territory, Hast, North and Y\ est of that point. A post at or near the head of navi gation on the Missouri, would control the Blarkfoot Indians, protect our Traders, enable us to remove those of the British Companies from our terri tory, and serve as a depot at which detachments moving towards the Co lumbia might either be supplied, or leave such stores as they should find , it difficult tocarry with them through 1 the mountains. It might also be inadej u depot of trade, and of the Indian De partment. To keep open the communication through the mountains, there should be at least one small post at some con venient point between the Missouri and the Columbia, and on the latter river and its tributaries, there should he efc least three posts. They would afford present protection to our tra ders, and, on the expiration of the pri vilege granted to British subjects to trade on the waters of the Columbia, would enable us to remove them from our territory, and to secure the whole trade to our own citizens. They would also etmbleus to preserve peace among the Indians, and, in the event of fo reign war, to command their neutrality or their assistance, as we might think most advisable. The posts designa ted, might he established and main tiliued, at an additional annual ex pense not exceeding forty thousand dollars. By extending to those posts the sys tem of cultivation, now in operation at vc Council Hull's, the expense of supplying them would, in a few years, be greatly diminished. Mills might be erected at all the posts at a trifling expense, and, the whole country oboijtid.ng in grass, all the domestic aniimCi# necessary, either for labor, or -m’.sis fence, might be supported.— I Ins would render the establishment more secure, and consequently, more formidable to the Indian nations in their vit initv. As to the proposed posts on fiic Co i iitmbia, it. is believed thev might be supplied immediately at a low tate. may be obtained at New Cali •fiiiib.t about twenty-five cents per la !, oud heel cattle ut three or four dullar* each. Salt, In any quantify requited, mnv be had at an island near the Peninsula of California. Should transportation not be readily obtained for those articles, vessels might be constructed by the troops. To obtain the desired advantages,it is important, not only that we occupy the posts designated, but, that we com mence onr operations without delay. The British companies are wealthy and powerful; their establishments extend from Hudson’s /lay, and Lake Superior, to the Pacific , many of them within our territory. It is not to be supposed they would surrender those advantages without a struggle, and, though they should not engage in hos tilities themselves, they might render aH the Indians in that extensive region hostile. The detachment intended to occupy the mouth of Columbia might leave the Council Bluffs in June, and one hundred and fifty men proceed with the boats and stores ; and as the coun try is open, and abounds with grass, the remaining fifty might proceed by land, with the horses intended for the transportation across the mountains, arid might drive three or four hun dred beeves to the Mandan villages, or to the falls of Missouri ; at one of those places the parties should unite and spend the winter. The latter would be preferable, because there they might be able to estab lish a friendly intercourse with the Black Foot Indians,or, at all events by impressing them with an idea of the power of the nation, restrain their depredations upon the neigh boring tribes, and deter them from acts of outrage upon our traders. They might, also, during the winter reconnoitre the several passes thro’ the mountains, prepare provisions necessary to support them on the march, and down the Columbia; and, if authorised to do so, remove from our territories all British tra ders on the waters of the Missouri, ‘i hey would necessarily remain r.t, or in the vicinity, of their wintering ground, until June, but might be occupied during the months of April and May, in opening a road to the mountains, and constructing bridges over the numerous streams on the route. The work perform ed, they might, in about twenty clays, rfcach the navigable waters of Clark's river, a blanch of the Co lumbia, and, in ten days more, pre pare transportation to descend to their destination, where, after eve ry necessary allowance for accidents and delays, they would certainly arrive by the month of August. The vessels employed to trans port the stores by sea, might leave the United States in the month of November, and would arrive at the mouth of Columbia in April, at least four months before the de tachment from the Council Bluffs could reach that point; and, unless the ships should be detained during i that time, which could not be ex* j pected, the sto.es would be expos ed todamage and depiedation, and perhaps, by the time the troops ! should arrive, would be entirely j destroyed. It would, therefore, seem to me a measure of prudence, that at least one company of artille ry be transported with the stores. That description of force would be found necessary at the post, and the ships would afford them ample acconrj modation. That the route from the Council Bluffs t:> the mouth of Columbia is practicable, has In en proved by the enterprise ol more than one of our ci tizens. It, no doubt, presents difficul ties; but, difficulties are not itnpossi bilities. We have only to refer to the pages of our history to learn that ma ny operations, infinitely more arduous have been accomplished by Americans. The march of Arnold to Quebec, or of'General Clark to Vincennes, during the Revolutionary war, exceeded greatly in fatigue, privation, difficulty and danger, the proposed operation ; and I believe I may say, without fear of contradiction, that the detachment might be supplied, during the whole route, with less difficulty than in the war ol 173tf was experienced in sup plying the forces operating under Ge neral Washington and Gen. Braddock against the French and Indians, on the Ohio. A post at the mouth of Columbia is important, not only in relation to the interior trade, and the military de fence of the western section of the Union, but, also, in relation to the na val power of the nation. Naval pow er consists, not in ships, but, in sea men; anti, to be efficient, the force must always be available. The north west Coast of America is an admirable nursery for seamen—many of our best sailors are formed there ; without a naval station, however, on the Pacific the lurcc employed in the whale fishe ry, as well is in sealing,find the north west trade, would, in the event of war with a great maratime power, be, in some measure, lost to the nation. But, that establishment made.it would afford a secure retreat to all our ships and seamen in that section of the globe : and the force, thus concentra- 1 (ed, might be used with effect against the trade, if not the fleets, or posses-j sions of the enemy, in place of being driven to the Atlantic, or perhaps cap tured on their way. The establishment might be consi dered as a great bastion, commanding the whole line of coast to the North and South; and it would have the same influence on that line which the bastions of a work have ori its curtains; for the principles of defence are the same, whether applied to a small for tress, or to a line of frontier, or even an entire section of the globe. In the one case, the missiles used ate bullets and cannon shot; in the other, ships and fleets. I have the honor to be, sir, very re-’ spcctfuiiy, vour obedient servant, Ttl. S.JESUP. To the lion. John Floyd, House of Representatives. Slavery in the West Indies. —Karl Bathurst in the Lords, and Mr. Can ning in the Commons, hare introduced this subject. ‘The following are the provisions for tire amelioration of the .Slave condition : 1. ‘The use of the whip is to be ut terly abolished in regard of female slaves. 2. The whip is no longer borne by the driver in the field ; to be no long er employed as a summary punish ment of the male Negroes: to be whol ly laid aside as a stimulus to labour, and resorted to only as a chastisement for misbehaviour, deliberately proved and recorded. 3. Ample provision is to be made for the religious instruction of the Negroes, bv the appointment ol two bishops, with regular clergy under them. 4. Marriage is to bo encouraged, fa milies never to be separated, and the property of the slave is to be protected by positive law. 5. Banks are to be established, in which the slave may depo&ite his earn ings ; the money so piaced to be sa cred, in all cases, from the master’s grasp. 6. The testimony of slaves, under certain limitations depending ou per sonal character, is to be received in all civil cases except when the mas ters’ immediate interests are concern ed, and in all criminal cases, except when the life of a white person is in volved. 7. The slave v. ho has acquired a cer tain sum of money is to have the power of purchasing his own manumission, or that of his wife or child ; and thus the father may become the instrument of liberty to iiis offspring. YV ith respect to the Blave Trade, the French government had agreed to admit a mutual right of search, if the punishment was to be made severe.— I lie American Government had for merly made the trade piracy, and now had admitted a mutual right of search, by which British ships might visit American as well as British ships con cerned in the trade; but upon this con dition, that British ships should be sent for condemnation to a British tri bunal, and American ships to a tribu nal of their own countrymen. In the British House of Commons on the 16th ult. we find a long and animated speech of Mr. Canning, in which he observes, *• We offered both to France and the United States, by treaty, to give a l ight ot mutual visit and search in case of suspected slave trading. I am, says Mr. Canning, happy in being able to inform the House, that, not many hours, or rather not many days ago, a treaty was re ceived, signed by my Right lion, re lation, our Ministei to the United .States, and by the American Minis ter, according this mutual right of visit. £Heac, hear!] It lias * been granted, of course, under certain reg ulations and restrictions, applying to both states.” From the Leinster Journal. France vs. England and Ireland. ‘l'lie following advertisement, which we copy from The Times, London Newspaper, of the 16th ult. gives a very pretty comparative view- of the state of the above na med countries. We were well aware, notwithstanding the innu merable falsehoods of the lying lo ry press, that France had gained an immensitv of benefits by the charges which her revolution effec ted, because we know that the whole'annual expense of the ad ministration of that kingdom, in all its branches did not exceed three fourths of the yearly interest only ofour National Debt, independent ofthe mutter on - ’ Cl>uus>, an d local taxes which the people ot < the lutter kingdoms pay* andjwhith > are defrayed out of the genefal rev- 1 enue in the former > but this tuher tisement explains the happiness | which France lias obtained by her revolution, even although it ter minated in the forcible reformation of the silly Bourbons, in that plain, powerful, and homely way that comes home to the understanding of the humblest farmer : ‘‘'"Lands in France. — 1° he let by Mr. Iloggnrt, several larms, ol from 60to 500 each, at 12s. 6d. per acre, free of tithes , taxes oi poor rates. These farms lie togeth er, are situated 78 miles south ot Paris on the great road leading to Lvons. A canal communicating with the capital , passes through a part of the land, which \su\so boun ded by the navigable river Lone, good dwelling and suitable out of fices on each iarm, and there is an inexhaustible supply of rich marl within a few feet of the surface. A proportion ofpollards tor fire-wood will be allotted. 1 here is a flour ing hop garden on the estate, and no duty attached to malting or brewing. For further particulars apply to Mr. Hoggart, 62, Old Broad street, Royal Exchange. We shall make no comment on the above. Itrequires none- But how is it possible that the one country can long compete with the other; In France, the Farmer is not subject to anv charge for Tithe, Church Rates, Poor Hates, Min ister’s Monev, County Tax, Turn pike Charge, Hop Tax, Malt ‘Fax, Beer Tax, Leather Tax, tic. &c.— And yet here are farms situated in the best part of France, free of all these charges (and the tenant, who mav fish or sport in any way on his own farm when he lists, without tax or fear of any tnan, is allowed wood for his firing,) for 12s. 6d. per acre, a little above what is charged bv some, but un der wharis charged by some ofthe Irish clergy for the Tithe per acre. Good Heaven! what a difference! Excellent land, with houses and of fices, (not mud cabins, but good stone buildings,mind) to your hand lving on the charming bank of the Loire, and on the high road be tween the two greatest cities in France, at 12s. 6d- per acre, and free of taxation as above noticed ; while the farmer must pay all these rates, and three times 12s. 6d. for an acre of land in this changeable climate. Men would be idiots who would seek for a change of government in such a state of tilings as this advertisement describes, unless it were to replace such a being as Napoleon at the head of the regenerated nation ; a man whose energetic mind would add ten fold to the glory, without a bridging the happiness, of the peo ple. There is a rumor from Africa, bro’t bv a vessel arrived at Barbadoes, March 18th, that Sir Charles M’Cnr thy, having under his command, na tives of Africa and merchants to the number of 500, proceeding against Coomassle, the Ashantee capital,’ in Jan nary last, and was met by 10,000 natives, and totally defeated on the 21st of January. A few fugitives on ly had escaped and returned to the Cape. Sir Charles and his party had not been heard of when the vessel sailed, and it is supposed they were all massacred or taken prisoners. A letter from Manchester (Eng land) from a correspondent of the Na tional Advocate, savs : “ I send you our Manchester paper which has a sketch of parliamentary proceedings, and by which you wiil see that the duty on raw silk is to be removed immediately. Silk mills will nowise up here nearly as fust as cotton mills have done. In fact, our present ministry arc determined to give up the restrictive system and adopt a more liberal one. Another year will make great alteration in the corn laws, I have no doubt, and should your new tariff go into operation, which 1 don’t expect,John Hull would either tax Johnathan’s cotton a little more or take off the duty from other countries.” Tragical Event —The Ktoile of Sunday contains the following ac count of a fatal event which has j ust occurred near Paris:—“ Two families have recently been plunged into consternation. M. de * * * whose parents are in affluence, and who had himselfa fortune ol 100 - 000 francs a year, fell i n love a year ago with Mademoiselle Brecourt, a figurante cf the Royal A< :i;l,. a of Music. The vigilance of j, * mother, however, for some p n ’. obstructed the- views of the your man, who was waiting for an f; ./ portunity of carrying off the l a ,p’ The mother having been appri/,-,1 of his intentions, applied to th<- Police for assistance, who arrested Mademoiselle Brecourtat BouryK la Heine, when only half a league from M. de * * #. Sometime after, wards bt*, however, succeeded i u eloping with Mndemoisle Brec 0 . to Bordeaux: on their arrival ; that toum, he bought her diam 0p * and other expensive articles, in short, was so extravagant, at the end of a few months he \ v , destitute. He then wrote t 0 ‘ rich aunt in Paris to solicit assis tance which she promised upo a condition of his abandoning his con nection with Mademoiselle fi rc . court. To this, by the urgent en treaties of the young lady herself he agreed and they set o>t togeth er, on the 10th inst. for Paris where it was proposed that thev should separate. On arrivingW ever, at an Inn near Paris, the idea of seperation caused them such vi olent despair, that they resolved to put an end to their existence, and for this purpose, put a quantity of lighted charcoal (a common mode of suicide in France,) into tht room where thev slept, and in the morning thev were found suffo> ted.” The Evergreen, at Salem, left Ta ra on the 3d March, in company wi a Portuguese frigate and gun brig,aml several other vessels, having on board all the Portuguese and English mer chants, the English consul, aatl oilier Europeans—who left the place in con* sequence of 15,000 insurgents bein'- ready to enter the city, who were ex pected to massacre the European* without distinction. The town wasiu cooiplete confusion. On board ofone ship which left Para in the fleet were one hundred and ninety-two merchant* embarked for Lisbon. The Pioneer, at Salem, left Rio Ja neiro, Feb’ry. 25th. It was repoted that the French vessels of war which had arrived there, were placed at the order of the Emperor of Brazil. The British 90 gun ship Cambridge was at Rio with consuls on board for La Flak Chili and Peru. A report prevailed that Spain had ceded the island of Chiloe in the Pacific to France. English vessels of war were dailj arrriving at different ports on the coast of Brazil. Murder , in Mexico. —Died,in Mex ico, on the 28th of March, Mr.- James Crawford, merchant of Phila delphia. About five months since, Mr.C. and a Mr. Andrew's, were despatched by the United States’ Bank to Mexi co, for the purpose of eflecting some important negociations. On their re turn from the city of Mexico to Alva rado, as considerable danger was ap prehended from an attack bv robber*, on the supposition of their havin'a large amount in specie, they were furnished with a strong escort of 25 men well armed, under the dtrectio® of Capt. Murray, of the British Navy On arriving at Puebla, they w ere de prived of this escort, by the public au thority, and an inferior guard, of Id worthless men, badly armed, was sub si itu ted- A short distance from Pu# bla most of this guard deserted them, and they were soon after attacked a set of banditti, of 25, in ambuscade- Mr. C rawford, who was an excellent horseman, being mounted, by his cus tomary’ gallant port and mien, attiac ted the first attention of the robbers! he received the first shot, their balls passing through his lungs ; four “I the party were wounded, and a cou rier, who had joined them at the mo ment, with despatches for Capt. Mur ray, killed. Captain Murray and Mr. Andrews appear to have escap unhurt. ‘The banditi made prison# 8 of the party, robbed them of evert thing, including 25,000 dollars in s|> e ’ cie and being joined by those of guard who had deserted, deliberate whether to put tliem to death, but thro’ the intercession of two or thr# who had some remains of hum* lll *? they were, after some hours deten tion and cruel treatment, set Ire*-"’ Mr. Crawford expired in the arms ® Mr. Andrews, three hours after recei ving the fatal wound. T hus fell, in the prime of life, on the desolate and inhospitable of a foreign land, by the hands of ( blooded murderers, James Crawford’ —an accomplished gentleman, °l ll noble, generous, intrepid spirit, i r pectod and beloved by all wlm hr''* him. A liberal education had fiW"I*’ 1 *’ the foundation of a well cnltfe* 1 * 1 mind, and an intercourse f*r ~,all year a with foreign nations had iiim well skilled in most modern - ts g tinges.- — jJmcr. Daily Mv.