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to the P vc, of which the court was before composed. In this state of the case M’Dcr- mot presented a petition, stating that Mr. M. was about to-leave Spain, and praying that tie should be compelled to pay the money or be put in confinement, and the order was ac cordingly granted (through the influence of tire British minister) by the five primitive judges, though the king hail expressly de creed that no measure should be taken in tlje case of Mr. Meade but with the presence of the new judges. On the 2d May, 1816, Mr. Meade was seized and imprisoned in the cas tle of St. Catalina, and confined in a dun geon, with a sentinel at his door, and for se veral months locked up at night. The minister of the United States,Mr Err ing, has mude strong remonstrances to the Spanish government against these unjust and cruel persecutions of an American citizen •; those remonstrances have drawn from the king an order to the council to despatch Mr. Meade’s case j.but there is at this time strong reason to believe that, while such an ordep is given to amuse the American minister, iy secret order is given to delay the decision us the present state of the treasury woulij render the payment of the money inconveni ent, it being apparent that the money must be paid on the liberation of Mr. Meade. ■ For corroboration of the principal facts of the foregoing statement and particularly those respecting the deposite and the circumstances under which it was made, the president is re ferred to the documents herewith sent. Copies of those relating to Mr. Erving’s correspon dence with the Spanish government have al so been transmitted to the department of state at Washington. The undersigned, in making this appeal to the president, will not presume to add a sin gle comment, but must await the result with trembling anxiety; she cannot however avoid respectfully intimating a hope, that if kindly disposed to act. efficiently in a case so inte resting to Mr. Meade and his family, the pre sident will adopt some other means of attain ing this purpose, than through the agency of Mr. Erving, it being now perfectly ascer tained, that the representations of that gentle man to the Spanish government in Mr. M’s case are not received with that respect> or attended to with that promptness and desire of accommodation, due to their justice, to his station and conduct, or to the character of the country he represents. On the contrary his communications have been treated with marked disregard, or answered by trifling equivocations, insomuch as to render his ex ertions useless. MARGARET MEADE, Wife of Richard W. Meade. Philadelphia, Dec- 4. 1813. tempts to effect his "Silence, t gave him - a blow. Frequent outrage added to frequent insult,' pro voked this disagreeable censeqttencc. Mortified that I should so far forget myself as to raise my arm against any- officer holding a commission in the service of the United States, however improper his conduct might have been, and however just the cauae, I immediately, in conformity of this principle, offered to' make such an apology as should be proper for bbth ; this proposal was refused, which precluded the necessity of any further overtures. The offer was consonant to the views of the most distin guished officers of the squadron, after being made fully acquainted with every particular. From my having been educated in'the strictest discipline of the Navy, in which, respect and o- bedience to a superior was instilled into my mind as a fundamental and leading principle ; and from a natural disposition to chastise inso lence and impertinence immediately when of fered me, even in private life, must be inferred the burst of indignant feeling which, prompted me to inflict personal satisfaction on an officer who thus daringly outraged the vital interests of the service in lus own person. I have thus gone through this unpleasant reci tal with as much candor and conciseness as pos sible. 1 might indeed detail to you other acts of delinquency in this officer, but I will not fur ther weary you with the circumstances of this Unfortunate affair, but confinfe myself to the re quest that you will be pleased to order a court martial, as you may see fit, to examine into the causes which led to this seeming infraction of the laws of the navy. Aftter eighteen years of important and ardu ous services in the cause of my country, it can hardly be imagined that I have any disposition to infringe that discipline which is the pride and or nament of the navy ; and to prevent any inten tion being falsely ascribed to me, I beg you will give immediate attention to this request, tlmt the navy, as well as my country, shall be satisfied of the integrity of my motives. I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, O. H. PERRY. I. Chauncey,esq. Alabamatemto r y,fIic lands lately acquiredIfrom the Chickasaw and Chocktaw Indiaus, and au jacent to said district. Extract of a letter from a gentleman at ington City to the editor of the Raleigh Min erva, dated Feb. 21. . ..... j Uniformbankruptcy bill.—The leading, indeed the only measure of consequence that has arisen in the house of representatives during the week which ends with this day, is a bill to establish in the United States an uniform system of bank ruptcy. As it was one of the subjects on which the old leaven was likely if not certain of operat ing, it was foreboded that much controversy would arise out of it, and that prejudices and passions would have much influence over the de cisions even of men who all the time would not be aware that they were deviating from the straight line of impartiality and sound policy.— As was expected, the hill was from the first open ing of it, to this evening, when the first question was taken upon the subject, opposed with much obstinacy. Mr. Hopkinson who reported the bill, gave onMonday last a concise history of bankrupt cy, deducing it from the earlist times of Rome, when the claims of the creditor were exacted with the most shocking barbarity, and when the debt or and bis family were left to the mercy of the creditor to be sold into foreign bondage—up to the present period, when England refining and improving the law, gradually, by its own experi ments brought it to the present condition, in which it was considered as being beneficial to both par- debtor and creditor; reconciling humanity ealBog upon congress for some aid or privilege renlinding government of the enormous privileZ that hailteengranted to the southern states* the score of. their slave representation in c *n gress, and advisingjthem to return liberality^ liberality. Mr. Williams of Conneeticqt too ad. ded to the great weight of reasoning by judicious argument, and yesterday Mr. IMasoa showed, by a very able speech, that the subject was far from being exhausted. Mr. Colson,» Virginia member, took a decided part in favor'of the bill, establishing that high claim to honor and consideration as a faithful national legislator which a disdain of narrow local interests and psr, tial views must ever confer. That one deed hu done more for that gentleman’s legislative chi- racter than could the labor of many sessions in. dependent of it.—Finally, Mr. Hopkinson closed : 1 the debate by going sentence by sentence,(fik» i question and answer) into a refutation and expo, sure of the futility of the several arguments offer ed in opposition. DOMESTIC. COM. PERRY’S STATEMENT & DEFENCE. V. 8. ship Java, Tunis Bay, Oct. 8th 1816. Sir—I am under the painful'necessity of in forming you of a circumstance and of detail ing to you the causes which led to an event of a very unpleasant nature. The apparent violation of the laws of my country, which maybe imputed to me in my hav ing offered personal violence to the captain of the marine guard of this ship, 1 trust will be in a great measure extenuated by the consideration that, although I do not absolutely defend this mode of redress, yet I insist the consequences were produced by a sufficient provocation The general deportment of Captain Heath to wards me, so contrary to the usual address of my officers, ami moreover, his marked insolence to me in many instances, induced me to believe that his conduct proceeded from a premeditated determination to insult me on every occasion. His palpable neglect of duty on several im portant emergencies, together with the usual in dolence and inattention to the calls of his office, made it a desirable object with me to solicit his removal the first convenient opportunity, not on ly to obtain a more active and vigilant officer, but to save him the rigorous scrutiny of a court martial. I will now sir, narrate to you, the circumstan ces which have thus compelled me to addressyou. On the evening of Sept. 16th last, while this ship lay at anchor in the harbor of Mesina, two of ner marines deserted by jumping overboard and swimming on shore. Informed of the fact, captain Heath, as their commanding officer, was immediately sent for and acquainted therewith, but he refused to go on deck, alledging as a rea son therefor, the subterfuge of indisposition. I then repeated the order for him to come on deck and muster the marines. This duty he executed in so careless and indifferent a manner, and at the same time neglecting to report to me until called by me and requested to do so, that (con scious that such on occasion ought to animate the most careless and inattentive officer, to decision and promptitude) I Was induced from such a manifest neglect of duty, to say to him, “ that he mjght go below, and should do no more duty on board the Java. On the evening of the 18th Sept, he addressed me a letter, written by himself, which he caused to be laid on the table in the cabin, and which 1 received at a very late hour. The letter being couched in language which I deemed indecorous and disrespectful, I sent for him, and demanded why he had thus addressed me, and particularly why he.had selected a time so obviously imprnp er. He immediately assumed a manner so high ly irritating and contemptuous, that I believed it iny duty to arrest him, (after having expressed to him my indignation at such conduct) and for this purpose sent for the second marine officer, at the same time ordering him to be silent. In utter disregard of this order, though repeatedly warned of the consequences of his disobedience, he persevered in the same irritating tone and manner, until at length, after reiterating at- Mr. President, gentlemen of the Court.—( shall confine myself to a few brief remarks, on the subject which has brought me before this honor-' able court, begging leave to refer them td my letter to the commander in chief, requesting this court martial for a detail of circumstances, trust ing that a character gained in a long and.honor- able service, is safe in the possession of gentle men of your rank and professional respectability. I am deprived of a most important witness in my favor by the absence of Mr. Anderson, who was present at the commencement of the affair j (the time the conduct of the prosecutor was most offensive ;) it is my good fortune however, that several of the members of this court have fre quently heard him express his opinion of the provoking and insulting conduct of Capt. H. particularly on his entrance into my cabin ; this cannot fail"to have its weight on the minds of the court, as from the peculiar situation of a cap tain (and such was mine) he may be iusqlted when alone in his cabin, while Ids prosecutor shall have the advantage of corporals and pri vates stationed at his door to distort and mangle circumstances and language imperfectly seen or heard. Although^ had been so highly insulted by capt.' Heath not only, on this occasion, but on others, yet as I had raised my ham! against him while holding a comniision, I immediately, from that consideration, offered him prompt and hon orable atonement, as will appear by the paper signed by capt. Crane, and lieut. Macpherson, wliich they deemed sufficient, and earnestly re commended to his acceptance, but notwithstand ing this officer had before suffered a blow, and for which he was content to receive moderate satis faction, yet this was too favorable an opportunity to give liis commander (who had so frequently overlooked his offences ) trouble, to let pass. I must appeal to the knowledge the president and members of this respectable court have of my general character for a refutation of these charg es, and 1 ask if it is possible that I could in mere wantonness, commit an act of violence. No, gen tlemen, it was the outrageous conduct of this offi ccr, that produced the consequences that rdsul ted—I will therefore leave my case in your hands, with perfect confidence in y'&ur justice and liberal construction of the delicate situation in which I am, and was then placed, with one more remark, viz. the evident contradiction of the testimony and a misrepresentation of a part thereof. CONGRESS. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. Wednesday, February 18. Mr. Hugh Nelson from the committee appoint ed on the judiciary, reported a bill for the more convenient organization of the courts of the Unit ed States, and for the appointment of circuit judges. [Providing that the judges of the su preme court shall from and after J^pril next,cease to perform the duties of circuit judges ; that the supreme court shall consist permanently of one chief justice and four associate justices, whene ver vacancies shall reduce it to that number that this court shall be hidden in May and JYe- cember, annually ; that there be appointed eight circuit judges, to hold circuit courts twice a year in the several districts, in conjunction with the district judges, &c.] The bill was twice read and committed. On motion of Mr, Slocumb, “ resolved, that the secretary of war be requested to lay before this house information whether any of the pay masters of the armies of the United States, dur ing the late war, have failed to perform their du ty in making their returns and settlements, and the names of the delinquents, and the reason why coersive measures have not been used to compel a performance of that duty. On motion of Mr. Edwards ^resolved, that the committee on the public lands be instructed to enquire into the expediency of adding to the land district established at St. Stephens,in the to the one with justice to the other.—He then brought it home to this country, by calling the at tention of the house to that provision of the con stitution in Which the convention who framed that instrument, being aware of the future ne cessity of such a law as this to the commerce of the United States, delegated to congress the pow er to establish an uniform system cf bankruptcy, under which power the bill now in question was proposed. He then proceeded to show that the enterprise which distinguished our people, ani mating them to the boldest hazards, while the eonllcts between the European bclligerants, and thedisputes in which we were ourselves engaged, rendered the prosecution of commercial enter prise extremely hazardous, Imd accumulated in the United States a mass of insolvency, which, by leaving, under defective state laws, the cre ditor exposed to the frauds of the debtor, and on the other hand leaving the debtor at the mercy of the creditor, called aloud on congress to interpose for the benefit of both. Ife drew a lively picture of the profligate frauds committed in most parts of the union, under the abuse of the state laws, wliich afforded to debtors such facility to cheat their creditors, that the latter were at length ren dered so hopeless of ever getting any part of the property in possession of the debtor at the time of his taking the benefit of the insolvent law of most of the states, that they never took the pains to look after it: so that in most cases the credit or entirely lost his property and had nothing in return for it but the right to fall upon and sue the debtor if he should ever find him possessed of property. ^ This Mr. H. considered to be a great evil m this respect, that by fettering down the efforts of the debtor, he was disqualified from filling liis functions in society, from benefiting the commonwealth, and from supporting his fa mily—driving him to the necessity of living by stealth upon the concealed property of his cre ditors. The object of the bill he said, was to ena ble any of the creditors, upon any act of the debt or’s affording evidence ot his insolvency to save the whole property and have it fairly divided by the proper authorities, according to the amount ot their debts, among all the creditors ; after wliich the debtor should, upon two thirds of the creditors consenting to it, be absolved forever from all responsibility for those debts, and be en abled to. begin the world, unobstructed by his creditors. Every topic that could inflame dislike or enlist public prejudice against the measure, was either asserted or insinuated.—To awaken jealousies against the bill, it was described as a grant of privileges distinct and exclusive to mer- chants—who were to be rttade by it a privileged body ; when all the time the only privilege grant ed by the bill was that of those favored persons being compelled to disgorge the property they might secret; and, for that purpose, to have their ‘‘houses entered by force and searched as the law does in case of stolen goods.” “ Why (they asked) was not this privilege granted to the ag riculturalists ?” As if any agriculturalist would be benefitted by an act, which if he happed to owe two or tvree. hundred dollars that be could not pay the instant it was due, would cause himself to be sued as a bankrupt and all his effects takcu from him, and sold for the benefit of his creditors. But this is not all—because, in England, they hang bankrupts for concealing their effects, our orators would infer that under our new law, oui poor debtors, who, good souls, should, according to the usual custom among us, conceal their cre ditor’s property, must necessarily be hanged also, —though no such thing was to be found in the bill or ever was contemplated. Indeed, what must be thought of that assortment of arguments, of which one, and that one of the best ot them too, should be this, that we ought not to make laws to prevent forgery, because forget-y being punish ed with hanging in England’ our law in that re spect must necessarily punish with a rope also— and I do declare, that there was not one argu ment uttered against the law, of a more solid quality than these I now mention. Perhaps it never fell to the lot of such arguments to be so ably answered, as on this occasion. Mr. Ser- geantdelivercda speechofsuch powerful argument as, if the casehau been discussed before abend) of judges, would.haVe precluded the necessity of saying a word more upon it. Mr. Mills ol Mas sachusetts, the day after, threw a multitude of new lights upon the subject, exposing the fallacy of the objections taken to the bill, and the unfair attempts to raise prejudices against it by insinua tions addressed to the popular jealousies. Mr. Stores or New York, too, reasoned upon the mat ter with great force and ability, repelling an in sinuation that the commercial states were always Petersburg, January 30—Report of the com. mittee appointed to accompany the engineer, col. Baldwin, in a survey from Roanoke to Peters burg. Having proceeded, agreeable to an order from the common hall of the town of Petersburg, to accompany col. Baldwin, (he state engineer, on a survey of the Roanoke to 'Appomattox river, with a view of ascertaining the most practicable course for a canal between the said rivers, »e now respectfully report the following summary of our progress, viz : After several days spent in exploring the mar gin of Roanoke, for 20 or 23 miles, in Mecklen burg county, to where the Carolina line intersect! the Roanoke, and also the several creeks and country in that distance between the two rivetn Mehcrrin and Roanoke, to ascertain the mostc- ligible point to commence, and course to pursae ■ the survey, and considering it useless to go high. - er up the Roanoke, or at all into North-Carolini, 1 we Commenced the survey of Mile’s creek « : Goode’s ferry on Roanoke, continuing the count; in the dividing ridge—distance from Roanoke to the summit of the ridge 13 miles, and 232 feet above the level of Roanoke—thence to Meherrim 5 miles, at the mouth of Mountain’s creek, g miles below Davis’s mill. Here we found the bed of the Meherrin 10 feet above that of Roan oke. We crossed the Melierrin, and took our departure opposite to the mouth of Mountain) creek, with a level of 20 feet above the bed ot Meherrin, meandering along its banks, and prw- serving said level some .miles below Brunswick courthouse—thence to Nottoway river, at the Cut Bank bridge, the bed of which we found to be 70 feet below our level—thence along the stage road, to the foot of a cedar tree, in the Ha lifax road, at Kirkham’s, 85 feet below ourlevd thence to high water mark, 143 feet fall to Ap- lomattox, at M‘Neill’s bridge : Distance from toanoke 89 miles and a few rods, and 198 feet below the level of Roanoke, at Goode’s ferry. A further detail of the survey made by tbe committee, is considered unnecessary on their y part, as the engineer will make a regular reput < to the board of public works, a copy of which u» be procured in course, and which will particub*. ly shew all the bearings, distances, ascents altd descents, of every station—together with the various obstructions to be surmounted through, out the whole survey, and we suppose with a pro bable estimate of the cost. It may. not however be unnecessary to explain the plan by which it is deemed practicable to make a navigable comma* nication between the two rivers. Mjles’s creek, at the mouth of which the survey was commenc ed, can be made a medium to look ib and out of Roanoke, at a level of about 100 feet above the Roanoke, which level may be varied more or lesi, as the nature of the ground may be found to ad mit, and can be driven into the dividing ridge, by cutting 40 or 50 feet deep towards the centre, on both sides, so as to reduce the funnel to about 2 or 3 miles through the ridge—then to dim Mountain’s creek to this level, and proceed with a canal from this dam to Davis's mill, on Meher rin, where a dam can be readily made 40 or 50 feet high, and look into this dam or pond, out of the canal, from Mountain’* creek—from thence commence a canal at an additional heightof 20to 30 feet to that with which we Started from Meherrin to Nottoway, as stated in the survey The great advantage contemplated by this addi tional level, is, that it may serve so much to o- vercome some high land between Meherrin and Nottoway, and from which level we may easily descchd at Nottoway to any convenient level that will readily come to the Appomattox. An opinion as to the practicability of this desi rable object, may possibly be expected from the committee :—On that score they can only state their concurrence with the engineer in several conversations, that is, that the object is practi cable ; and as he very justly observed, that it may be fairly viewed a great and arduous under taking, yet when it, is considered the immense tract of fertile country the object would Com mand, and consequently a valuable and growing commerce to the town of Petersburg, resulting also in important advantage to the state, we rea dily agree with him, that such gteat ends would amply justify the means to effect them. Being associated with col. Baldwin, and wit nessing his performance so far in this undertak ing, we beg leave to,say, as attribute justly du* him, that as far as we are capable of judging « his skill and competency in the projection and execution of suen works, we have the most am ple confidence in his abilities. His zeal and in defatigable exertions, suffering no weather to jin' pede his progress, accommodating himself to e- very inconvenience occurring—rendering himself agreeable to those subordinate to him, and thereby rendering them ready and willing to perform their duty, are, in our estimation, valuable traits i* his character. With due respect, we are, &c.“ D. MACKENZIE. ROBERT BITCHtE JOHN HIN+ON, January 26, IS 18. rob’t bo lung-