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? lie w.i? desiiojxthat ILL business, which kg.hi i.i an enormous scene of specujati- osj, should not also end in a like man ner. Mr. Oakley nnehtiorfed llie praclivahi- lily of llie object, in .which lie h id no «- tiler objection except the labor with which he thought it would unnecessarily Linthen the committee. Mr. higersnll modified his motion hy inserting therein the words •• if prndica- Me,” and thus iiwdiiied, hi* luoliou was agreed to. Mr. Stanford ohjeeted to the particula rity of I lie inoti , in it nmv stood ; refer ring only to one species of claim. Now Mr S. said that was not the only Yazoo «luim. A previous art had been passed by the Legislature of Georgia, selling a part of the very land embraced in this.— That wus also a Ya/.oo pur h ise, and might la lie embraced in the < nquiry. Mr. 8. did not, however, make any motion on that head moots. Ilow would posterity he able to account for the appearance of this trails* action, should it receive the sanction of Congress r the Legislature of Georgia originally sold tho land in question for .100,000 dollars ; the U. 8. shortly after wards purchased it lor 1,J50 : 00(J dollars, and it is now proposed to give 3,000,000 acres ol land equal In more than 5,000,000 dollars to the Yazoo claimants loconipro in isc. their eluims. Posterity must sav that we ourselves have been corrupted to consent to such a barter of principle ; that these Yazoo claimants, like the Gods of Milton, carried mountains in their bauds, and menacing you with claims in the amount of fifty millions of ides, under the decision of tfie Supreme Court, canled every tiling before them. As lock would have it, Mr. '1’. said, tills was one of the plainest eases in the world. Either the Vozoo elaiun.i.ts have or they have not a claim : ii'they have 110 claim, you have no right to compensate Mr Hall of Geo. said il would he re- them for a claim they have not. if they collected (hut the Legislature of Georgia I a claim for filly miliums, will you had passed an act suliscnueiit to the grant ! advantage of vour superior power passed an act siiuscqu to t.lio 01 iginal grantees authorising the wtllidravv.vl by t!)cin of the money which limy had paid into the treasury of Geor gia, u money 1 liich j 10,000 dollars of the had been actually withdrawn — With' a reference to this fact, ItO moved to amend the resolve hy adding thereto llie following words : “ also from which of the original companies the present elaimaiiis deiivetitle, and the amount of money v. ilhdraun Ly any o! the original gian'.ccr, or their agent or ugciiis, troui the treasury ol'Geurgiu.” This motion was further modified on suggestion of Mr. Stanford, Ly adding the words, ’• orpersons claiming under lliem,” after the word " grantees' * Mr. Wright leunrUcd that gentlemen appeared to him to he carving out for the committee more work than they could possibly go through during this session, lie could not Mil think the t itenlioii wus to delay the business so us> to ilcieut in directly an object whidi (lie Homo hud directly determined should he acted on i during (he present session, lie conclu ded liv moving that the resolution and a- ineiidtucuU life laid on the table. This motion was negatived. Mr. Oakley objected to Mr. IE* nioti- tion, he a use the facts leqnired to ho as eertaiued could have no intluence iu tSu* decision ou tne question ot a compromise of the claims now before the House, lie- cause they acquired all the title they pos scss between the passage of the first act by the Legislature of Georgia in January, 1793, and the passing of the rescinding act iu February 1790. Under the latter act it was that the grantees had gone in aud withdrawn the purchase money from the treasury of Ucorgiu, after they had transferred their claims to other hands. They had thus committed a second fraud, which, however base and unjuslifi- ubtc, did not affect the titles of those who purchased from them in the intermediate f iiue. The hill contained a provision that the United States might sue for and re cover from these persons the money thus withdrawn; hut the facts required, vvhieli it might be diilicull to ascertain, had no bearing on the question before the house, and ho was therefore opposed to the pro posed amendment. After some further conversation, be tween Messrs. Alston of N. U. Wright of Mass, and Burnett of Georgia, the lat ter of whom expressed his opiuiou that an enquiry into this subject would unfold some curious ifircumstauces not generally known respecting the withdrawal of this money from the Treasury of Georgia— Mr. Mall's amendment wus agreed to, the first clause of it without opposition and (lie latter elausc hy a vole, by Yens and Nays, of 71 '0 G9. Tbe question was then stated on the 11- doptinn of the whole resolution as amend ed, in the following words : Resolved, That the committee to which was referred the bill from the Senate, en titled “ An act for the indeuinilicatioti of certain claimants to lands in the Missis, sippi territory,” be instructed to report the evidence of the authority vested in the agents now attending to compromise the claims set up by tbe respective elaiinuiits; aud that llie committee be further instruct ed to ascertain, if practicable, and report Vo tbe House the amount of money actual ly paid hy bona tide third purchasers for grants or titles they may hold under the original grant: also from which of the o- rigiiial companies the present claimant's ck rive title, and the umomit of money withdrawn by any ot'tlie original grantees or persons claiming under them or their agent or ageuls from the Treasury of Georgia. And the same was agreed to, For agreeing to it 75 Against it 6tf DEBATE ON THE Y AZOO CLAIMS Mr. Troup oT Geo. rose, as be obscrv od, withverj gre.it reluctance,to move to reject a bill coming from the other branch of the Legislature. It was not his disposition lo treat with disrespect what conies from that body ; nor would lie do so in any case, but for one or two considerations—either that the measure itself was fo imled iu corruption, or that it was unconstitutional. It was fur the first uf these grounds, that it wus founded in corruption, that lie wished this Hill re jected. lie did not mean to be understood as saying that the measure now before the House was immediately founded iu oovruptiou, but that corruption wu* the source of the claims to which it relates. The hill proposed to give millions of a- ere* uf Uud by wav uf compromize to cer- pmoos usually called Yazoo vlai- to do injustice to these impotent iinlivi duals ? if they have a claim at all, they have a claim to the whole, and it becomes you to give it them, ni'd «uy no more u- bout it. Mr. T. adverted to the nolo- ri-iiis fraudulent character of the Yazoo act, ami the bribes vvhieli were pioved to have been given t 1 i.iul accepted hy every member uf llie Legist .lure w ho vo ted tor it out; uuly excepted. It was contended, he knew that the present cl ,i lirunts had purchased w ilhir.it know ledge of the Irami, & w ere then lore not lia- hlo to iis consequences. The question, however, turned ou the validity of the Yazoo act of 1795. If the present elai- .a.iiiits had any claim, it w as a claim de rived from llie original grantees; l! those grantees had a just claim, or any claim it'.v is derived under the corrupt act of 1795: If the gerund purchasers hud no claim il was because the grantees had Hour. Was it nut plain, then he asked, that tin- question turned no the validity or invalidity oft he act of 1793 ? If Congress should determine that a title did vest in the grantees under 1 hut iw-i, they would ih’tcimine that it whs compi ler.I to the coinipt Ilepresentutivcs of a .^virtuous people, under the inliuence ofjme most detestable bribery and eurruptiou, to bur- ler avvuy their right*. Was this house prepared to suurlinii such a principle f— lie called upon the majority of the house to recollect how they came into rower. The people had become alarmed lest the purity of Republican principles should be contaminated^ and (he presett majority .■time intoipovver under tbe well grounded expectation that they would preserve the principles of the goverumeut pm e aud uu- corrupted. Could it be suid that they had done so. iflbey establish a principle like this ? This government wus iuund ed exclusively on the basis of virtue and morality. IT such acts as this were to pass, these toundutions would bo broken up, over turned, immnoted and destroyed, >nd w ith them the best hopes of mail for ever blasted. If such a principle should he established as he had described, there •ould not lunger beiuthe community ei ther virtue or morality. Mr T. here en tered into an argumentative and legal view of the subject, lie undertook lo prove that the Legislature of Georgia Lad no power to dispose of the public j territory ; that even if they had the pow er, they hud not the power to dispose of it tiuuuulcutly and cmruptly ; that if by fraudulent and corrupt sale they could transfer u right to the Unit, the claimants, having notice of the the fraud, were par ticeps criminis—they had purchased of the grantees with their eyes open ; the) were not innocent hut guilty purchasers, and were not entitled to the interference oi congress in their behalf. The Iirst posi tion he supported hy various arguments draw n from the imtuie of the case, by (lie authority of Borlen.aqui, Grotius, Puf- fendorf, and other publicists, all tending to this point, that the power of disposing of (lie public domain rested with the peo ple unless expressly delegated. This doctrine was recognized by the constitu tion of flic United States, in which the power of disposal of such properly was given to congress, and in the constituli- ous of several of the stales the power of the people ou this head was expressly re cognized iu so many words. It might be said he added, that instances might be ci ted in which the Stale Legislatures had assumed this pnw er without express grant from the people, hut to all such instances the legislatures so acting hail been guilty of a ilagraut aud llagitious l:rcn-lt ol trust Upon the whole, hef’concluded his argument on this point, by observing that the Legislature of Georgia which pretend ed to sell the land hud plainly, obvious ly, aud demonstratively, no constitutional power to do su. But, suppose they had such a power; could they so sell the land of llie state fraudulently and enr- rupriy ? No, certainly. It was an uni versal rule, thut fiuud ami corruption vi tiate every act, invalidate every grant. Suppose any instrument of trust contain ed a declaration that the powers therein given should lie fairly executed, or that the constitution of any community were to contain a clause that the Legislature of the state should not fraudulently or cor ruptly sell the property of the -state, would not such provisions lie ridiculous and absurd? Certainly, and they would be so because the idea of a guilty transfer or corrupt right conflicted with the laws of God uod Man. Nay, he could .-.ay more—the great Heaven could not con vey the right to do a corrupt uud frau dulent act, because it w ould be inconsis tent w iih his divine attributes, and there fore a power impossible l*» be confer red. Ail yet this Legislature vyerc called upon lo do what is not with in the power of the Almighty, to sanc tify corruption. The ties between 1 lie Representative and his constituents are sundered when lie is corrupted. A Representative body therefore was obvi ously iueapahleof binding its constituent* by llie passage of a notorious corrupt act. But admitting for argument's sake, that the grantees under this corrupt act could convey a. title to ignorant purchasers ;j yet, Mr. T. contended that the claimants, j liav ing notice before purchase < f tho fraud ; became parlies thereto ; and that in the eye of law and equity, neither Congress nor any other tribunal was hound to re cognize their claims. To establish this position,* lie adduced many facts and ar guments, of which the following were the most prominent .- The trivial price given for the properly, that is to say, five hull- > dred thousand dollars for lifty millions oi^ acres of lam!, which was of itself aolli- j cieat lo have alarmed and deterred I1011- t cst purchasers: the rapid succession ofj events which followed the passage of! that act in the state of Georgia, portend-I inga revolution—thcponplc iu a ferment; j General Jackson, 011 whose character Mr. T. prouoitmeed a very animated eulo'gium, called from the senate at Phi ladelphia by the commotion of the times, a man who threatened to disclose the cor ruption murdered iu his house, and these events presented to the public through all the papers, even at Boston, iu the midst of these purchasers ; the public message of General Washington to Congress an nouncing the trausaolion, whose warning voice was ou (hat occasion no more heed ed hy these claimants than his parting ad dress has since been; the form of the deed conveying these lands from the grantees lo the present claimants, in which there was no! only an absence of general warranty of title, hut an express clause securing the grantees from all future respousiuility oii account thereof. To these proofs, Mr. T. superudded a statement of information de rived from a gentleman w ho had long been a member of litis House from Massachu setts, and was conversant with all the imimstaiires of the purchase as well aud as soon as the grantees. lie concluded, therefore, that the present claimants stood iu the snine relati on 11s the grantees, and had no higher claims on tho community. Mr. T. then adverted to some other points. It would be ('(indented, he believed, for it had been said elsewhere, that the faith of tho gov ernment was pledged to the appropriation of these live millions of acres to satisfy these claim*. '1 his argument he said, was unfounded ; because ultlin’ this quan tity hod been set apart l»y the compact with Georgia, uml subsequently by law, for tho sd' isfaetiol) of claims on the whole, Congress had reserved to themselves the right and the potter of examining and determining on the pretensions of these lainiaiits. In support of this construction, r. T. adduced the opinion of a former committee of this Hou*e on llie subject, and of Mr. Gallatin us expressed in u let ter written in 1803, in answer to a letter of enquiry addressed to him by Mr. Dana, chairman of .ho committee on that sub ject, in which Mr. Gallatin states it to have been his own opinion, that the five million I of acres would he sufficient lo cover alt actual claims, mid to make reasonable ( compensation for all claims derived or pretended to he derived from Georgia, am; leave it in their power to compro mise, without pledging the government to compromise, tho claims, if on a full Mow .1 different course should be thought proper. NY hut was the reason these, claimants, ifihey had been deceived hy the grantees, had not pm sued the obvi ous course of going Irak to t he original vendors, for repayment of their purchase money,interest and i wsts i Because they had precluded themselves hy their own acts, and refused to take less than the penalty of the bond. After reading a few documents from the volume in print on the subject of this cla'm in illustrati on of Lis remarks, Mr T. concluded by briefly remarking, being tired, wearied out and disgusted with the subject, on the argument that the Supremo Court Lad decided against the United Slates. Al- thnngh a decision of this kind might have been surreptitiously obtained, the Repre sentatives uftl.e people ought lo do their duty to themselves and to the good peo ple of the Uuitcil States, and the reme dy iu this ease was obviously in their pow er. rits of all conflicting claim* to sai l land, of the meeting of wliieb board three month* public notice shaH he previously given. That to the companies or per sons respectively, whose claim* shall be thus nilowed, the President shall cause to lie issued certificates ofStork-hearing no interest, payable oitV of the first pro cccds of sales of public lands, in the Mis sissippi territory, after the payment of the money due to Georgia, after the ex- penccs of surveying the land shall have been satisfied—such stock not to exeeed in amount the following sums, iu the whole, to the persons designated below, \iz.—To the persons claiming iu the name of, or under the Upper Mississippi Company 350,000 Tennessee Company OOn.ooo Georgia Mississippi Company 1,530,000 Georgia Company 2,250,000 Citizen*,' Rights 230,000 Making an aggregate of Five Millions of Dollars. The eertifientes thus issued are to be receivable in part payment for public lauds sold after their date, in the proportion of ninety-five dollars in every hundred, the remaining five being paid iu money. The balance of the ;• ir<*||,tse money paid into the Treasury 1 f Georgia, and remaining there, to he set «>,er and paid Ly the said commissioners to the state of Georgia, in part payment of the sum due to her hy the United States.— Suits to he instituted against all persons who have fraudulently withdrawn any of the purchase money, in sin-ii manner as the hoard of commissioners shall think most efleetual to compel them to refund the same. If the persons claiming under the act or pretended act of the Legisla ture of Georgia before recited, shall ne glect, or refuse (<, accept of the compro mise hereby authorised, (he United States are declared to b? exonerated and dis charged from such claims, which are for ever barred ; and no evidence of any such claim shall thereafter be admitted to lie used in any court whatever against any grant derived from the United States. Tliis abstract embraces all the leading provisions of the hill.—Nat. hit. FRO.\t THE UOSTON PATRIOT. WASHINGTON’S EMBARGO. It w ill he *een hy the following official letter of Washington, relative to the Embargo under his administration iu 1791, thut he urged a resort to mea sures of much greater restriction than were ever adopted by the present ad ministration. He not only poiuted out tbe necessity of restricting the coasting and fishing business, but SEN T HIS ORDERS TO THE GOVERNORS of (1,0 SEVERAL STATES, DI RECTING THEM TO HOLD THE MILITIA IN READINESS TO TURN OUT and ENFORCE I T ! Extract from the journal of the Senate of the United States. Gentlemen of the Senate, & of the House of Representatives; In the execution of the resolution of Congress bearing date, the 2«tli of March 1794. aud imposing an Embargo, 1 HAVE REQUESTED the GOVERN ORS of the SEVERAL STATES TO CALL FORTH THE FORCE OF THEIR MILITIA, IF IT SHOULD BE NECESSARY, FOR THE DE TENTION OF VESSELS, This Tone er is conceived to be incident to an embur- S°- It also deserves the attention of Con gress how fur the clearance s from one district to another, under the law us it now tfnnds, may give riso to evasions of the Embargo. As one security, the Collectors have been instructed to re fuse lo receive the surrender of coasting licenses tor the purpose of taking oat re gisters, and to require bond from register cd vessels, bound from one district to an other tor the delivery of the cargo w ith in the United Htate..* It is not understood, that (he resolution applies to fishing vessels, ulthough their occupations lie generally in parts beyond the United State* Ifni without further restrictions, there is an opportunity of the ir privileges being used as means of eluding the Embargo. Jo AM armed vessels, possessing public commission.. Iroin any foreign power,^let- ter-of-oiarque excepted j are considered as not liable lo the embargo. These cir cumstance* are transmitted to Congress for their consideration. * G. WASHINGTON. THE YAZOO CLAIMS BILL. From an examination of this bill, as it finally passed the Senate, we find we had materially misunderstood it* pro visions, us we had gathered their import from the debate in the House; and a* we have communicated somewhat erro neous ideas of the bill to our renders, we have taken the trouble to make out a condensed statement of it* provision* tor general information. ’The bill provides that all claimant* under the act of Geor gia, passed in January, 1795, shall he al lowed until the first .Monday in August next, to deposit in the office of Secretary of State of the United States, a sufficient legal release uml transfer to the United Slates of their claims to the land, and of their right lo the inouies subsequent!) w ithdruwu from the Treasury of Georgia hy the original grantees and their owuci*, ami a power to sue for the recovery of such money. Thut the Secretary ofthe Treasury, the Secretary ofblaie, and the Attorney-General of the United States, shall be aboard, to meet in the city of Washington on (lie said 1st Monday in August, to determine on the SUtfirieuey of the lease *0 deposited, aud ou the tac- Washington-City, March 15 THE SUPRFMECOURT. Among the very important derisions made during the present Term ofthe Su preme Court, is one announced on Satnr day Inst iu the case of the Veiius. whij decides the principle that an America! citizen who had removed to England ii time of peace, and resided there with tin auimu muntndi.aml was carrying on trail aud commerce there as a merchant, 01. the breaking outof a. war is to he consi- de;cd as an enemy, aud his property, in vested with his hostile character, is sub ject to capture on the high seas, though the property might have been shipped be fore a knowledge ofthe war. On this opinion, we learn, the Court was divided, Chief Justice Marshall and Judge Livingston liaviug dissented from the decision, and Judge Johnston bavin.- declined deciding on a point ou which he had uot hud time to make up uu opini- ou. 1 A IHJEL. The Bavarian genera I W rede, who has lately loiiglit su valiantly ou the side of the allies, is the same iirutinued in tho in the journal* oi* the time* 1 " on thft t JrsSz£r*j+ >*»»• iible duel wu fought ne, 4 r ib/( e,n . a !' fc * fortress of Brannau, with a niiM''‘". Str,aa a solemnity, web unplcd iu modern times’, iind^tl milates this combat <„ theTe J " , cial duels ofthe feudal ages 3 dJUdi * tie* were Baron Von Dahen r ,,&r * Swedish minister at Vienna? and* VoH.Wreile, a general iu .le Batt^ service; and the occasion of it r ““ we can collect, in general, i* l|„V k' ** despatches which had been sent framX* enna to , he C-JiTl':' mster, were intercepted by the and made public, hi these JBaro„uS had reflected very severely 11 rum tk« ta duetoftheUavaLiJoJsTrtfc p.uign ‘805, accusing then, of , U m a * sing even the French in mis 0 f nil cruelty. TM, «r.„ “i, 8 ! u “T- °".k l,e BttV irii n wilitury. G C v w 1 ode, a* the pnucinal • V" ately challenged Burin Duben* “S’ intimation that if he himself should fij? the Baron would he called out hi 1 m next in rank and so on until he wus killcit I he parties could not come together i* mediately—the respective »over#>; 1 ^ forbade their lighting, but the^Swedl ventured ,n a case of thi* kind to disobey and travelled into the south of German^ to meet Ins enemy But he found (hatthj Bavarian general had been more obedient , !l a, ! d 1 h4d > on command, gleoted to attend L.s appointment. (J lus the minister posted the general „ ! coward, ... the public prints iu German £ ; il,out 41 6 ‘ rico ; and the general o„L (.on war-, of course in his favor. \L find, Ii-om the last French puners, tha* the duel vi as lough ton the 12th ult. near Braunau, “ in the presence of a great number of the inhabitants.*’ Baion Du. , 1* lro,1 » Vienna on purpose ana had been already a week there ; general W rede arrived the day before. The para ties met ,n (h e village on the Bavarian ctiio. rT ’ f'n . i,le 1 “ Lu I sh Colonel Burtko, and Count Von echberg,J hud made tho arrangements' tKeutered the list*, which wire b e Tt by Bav a: inn military, m ,d placed thema selves at a distance of 15 paces—Baron Duben bred and the hall passed the right ear ol hi* adversary. General Wreifc'a hist pistol missed fire. The Baron's se cond hre was equally ineffectual, the ball passing the general’, breajl. The «ene- 1 ul s next pistol flashed in the pan. En* raged at this repeated mischance, thft genera drew I„s sword, and advanced ton wards the Baron ; hut the seconds rushl ed forward and declared that the con.ba- touts had acted like men f>f honor, and that nothing further should be done. 1 hey t hen departed from each other in a state ol perfect recoin filiation. REWARDS DUhTrO VALOR. VS e decidedly eo.ueide in opinion with (hose who think that congress and the nation have failed to bestow the merited applause and reward on the military heft roes who have distinguished themselves in the field by ieals of skill and valor ms* ver any where surpassed, or who havo le.t t heir families, their homes, their c se* and nobly sacrificed their lives j„ the service ot their country. Jt is true that trom the absence of discipline, from tho want of correct military ideas, and from the pi ('valence of pernicious notions in relation to the constitution, many iustana ces ol shameful misconduct and treache ry ,m ve occ urred in our military onerut* oils ; but this eiicuinstanre, instead of weakening, add* to the arguments in fa» vour of liberally rewarding those who have acted with patriotism and galkn. Hy. Men, who, m the midst of the mi** •onduet ot their fellow soldiers, vindiea!ft the jeopardized reputation of their counu try’s arms by behaving with fidelity and eon rage, and pcribriuiug exploits the heroic aud brilliant, ought not to be co , signed to the same ignoble late with thnsft who act disgracefully, hut ought vigilant- y * . 0 swJ&ht uni, and generously dig* tiQ£u:slied. Let the reader cust liig eyo over the despatch lately published from General Jucksou to General Pinekueyi and hr will there l.ud individual deeds of valorerecorded, not transcended even bv the splendid achievments ofonr navy— Who w ill assert that such deeds oiight not to be eminently rewarded ? Many a guilitnt military hero, who spontaneous ly relinquishes (he enjoyments ofdoines- tic happiness & affluence, and goes forth to fight the battles of his country, in the confident expectation of sacrificing his lile lor its good, may truly say to that country, as the admirable poet makes Le* ouidas say to Sparta— “ The life for thee resigned, 1 Knew not a painful hour to tire my souT. “ Nor vvere they common joys Heft be„ und has a right to receive all its grati tude, uflrction and admiration. But sur® aro we, that the army of the republic, liki* its navy, will crc long conquer its unbounded applause, mid confidence. If* brave officers need not despair; their full reward, though delayed, will assuredly rvaeli them at last. The pen of impar-. rial history w ill rescue from oblivion tho names aud exploits of those who have been heretolore and who may ho hcrcaf* ter neglected.—Whig. Norwich,Oont. March 9* Com. Decatur's squadron ha* drop ped down the ’Thames 3 or 4 miles* l he spuadnm now lie* about 11-2 miles from New London Harbor. The blockading squadmn consists of 1 ‘^ le V ietoriousamj La Hogue, a frigates auti one of two smaller vessels.