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Indian War in Louisiana.
Vincennes, (i. t.) April 9.
Governor Harrison received on Mon
day last, a special express from Gov
ernor Lewis, by which he is informed,
that an association has been entered in
to by a bund of the Winnebagoes and
Puans, now living on the Illinois river,
with others of the nation now residing
in Louisiana, and by tne lowas, and
some others of the Missisippi tribes, for
the purpose of attacking Fort Belle
View, (a fort lately erected by the Uni
ted States on the Missisippi, in the
neighborhood of the Le Moin) and wag
ing war on the frontiers of Illinois and
Louisiana.
A party of the above association had
made their appearance in the settle
ment of Goshen, in the county of St.
Clair, a few days before the express set
out, all armed with new muskets, and
had taken olf in their retreat fifteen
horses. They were pursued by capt.
Whitesides and twenty men, and whilst
Governor Lewis was writing his dis
patch, inl ji untiion was received that
Whitesides and liis party had been cut
oil—the report, however, was nut cre
dited by the Governor.
It gives ns pleasure to say. that we
are authorised by Governor Harrison,
explicitly to state, that he has every
reason to believe the tribes of the Wa
bish continue firm and unshaken.in their
attachment to the United States.
Extract of a letter from Gen. William
Clark , to his friend in Louisville ,
dated,
St. Louis, April 4th, ISO 9.
“ I send this letter by an express, vve
are about to send to Governor Harrison,
to inform him of the situation of the In
dians, on the Indian side of the Missi
sippi. Those people have threatened
to attack the fort up the Missisippi,
above the Moin river, and from their
conduct we are induced to believe they
are not well disposed in that quarter.
Major Christy will march on the 15th
instant, with three companies of mili
tia to reinforce that post.—Captain
House of the artillery* and Lieutenant
Tyrol’s detachment of regular troops,
will set out from Belle Fontaine in a few
days, and 5 or 600 men are held in re
quisition to act if necessary. Ido not
think, that the Indians will make any
attempt, after they find we are apprised
of their intentions.
Sr. Lo.uis, (u. l.) April 12.
GENERAL ORDERS.
Head-Quarters , St, Louis ,
April 6, 1809.
The Commander in Chief directs all
the volunteer companies of cavalry, ri
flemen, and infantry, within the terri
tory of Louisiana, to hold themselves in
readiness to march at a moment’s warn
ing. These together with the corps
which are already held in a state of re
quisition under the general orders of
the 28lh of November last, will form a
body of reserve to act as their contigu
ity to the point of attack, or other cir
cumstances may render their services
necessary for the defence of the terri
tory.
The Commander in Chivd informs
the militia of the districts of Cape Gi
rardeau, St. Genevieve, St. Louis, and
St. Charles, that if they will each with
in their respective districts, form a vo
lunteer company of infantry to act as
circumstances may require for the de
fence of the frontiers of this territory,
and io co-operate in the defence of the
adjacent frontier of the territory of In
diana, he will immediately furnish them
with muskets and bayonets at the pub
lic expense, and will appoint such offi
cers to command each company, as
shall be recommended to him for that
purpose by a majority of the individuals
composing them respectively.
Major William Christy is appointed
to command the “ Louisiana Spies," and
is to be obeyed and respected accord
ingly.
Major Christy, under the directions
and instructions of Brigadier-General
Clatk, will muster and inspect the Spies,
and make a regular return of the same
to the Brigadier.
The Commander in Chief directs,
that the inhabitants of the frontier of
the district of St. Charles, extending
from the Missisippi to the Missouri, do
immediately erect such stockade works,
defended by block-houses, as may by
the field officers of that district be deem
ed necessary to defend and secure the
inhabitants of the same , and as far as
circumstances will permit, against the
threatened invasion of the savages :
Col. Timothy Libby, Majors Daniel
M. Boone, and James Morrison, or any
two of then., are hereby constituted a
Board of Vigilance , with power to de
termine on the necessary number of,
and scites for the fortifications; they
are further empowered to call upon the
captains of the several companies in the
interior of the district, to furnish their
respective quotas of such number oi
men and implements, as they may deem
necessary to assist the more exposed
inhabitants in erecting those fortifica
tions. All persons who, from their ex
posed situation on the frontier, would,
in the opinion of the Board of Vigi
lance, seek protection for themselves
and families in these fortifications, are
required, without exception, under the
direction of the board, to contribute
their due proportions of lab«r in erect
ing the same.
ME 111 WETHER LEWIS.
GENERAL ORDERS.
Head-Quarters, St. Louis ,
April 10, 1809.
In consequence of the extreme reluc
tance on the part of the young men of
Louisiana, to engage in the service pro
posed by the order of the 2d inst. the
commander in chief, for the protection
of the frontier, finds himself under the
necessity of ordering, that the militia
of the districts of St. Louis and St.
Charles, who were directed by the ge
neral older of the 28th of November
last, to be orgaaized, armed and equip
ped, within those districts, as their pro
portion of the requisition made by the
secretary of war on the territory of
Louisiana, as her quota of one hundred
thousand militia, do, and the same are
hereby directed to repair to their res
pective rendezvous; those of the dis
trict of St. Louis, will rendezvous at
the town of St. Louis, on the 19th inst.
and those of the district of St. Charles,
at the town of St. Charles, on the 20th,
armed and equipped, as is directed by
the order of the 28th of November last.
Cols. Chouteau and Kibby, will cause
this order to be punctually and prompt
ly executed, within their respective ■
districts.
The lieut. colonels, or commanding
officers of the militia, within their se
veral districts of this territory, will
without loss of time, take such mea
sures as they may deem expedient, to
cause each company of militia in their
respective districts, to be divided into
six classes.
When the companies shall have been
thus formed into classes, the several
captains, or commanding officers there
of, shall cause a roll of the same to be
made out, expressing the name and
class of each individual, and shall forth
with transmit the same to the major
commanding them, by whom they will
be forwarded to the lieutenant-colonels
oi the districts, who are required to
cause the same to be deposited in the
offices of regimental adjutants.
The volunteer companies are exempt
from the foregoing regulations. The
first and second classes of each compa
ny, will hold themselves in readiness to
march at a moment’s warning.
MERIWETHER LEWIS. :
Conspiracy against Bonaparte.
The latest letters from England,
mention the receipt of private informa- ;
lion from France, of the discovery of a i
real or pretended conspiracy against
Bonaparte, and that in consequence,
550 persons have been arrested at Paris
alone. Several senators, generals, le
gislators, and perfects, were said to be
inculpated in a plot of removing Napo
leon, and of placing the crown of Ft ance
on the head of its legitimate prince, i
Louis XVIII. as the only mean of res-;
toring Europe to its long lost tranquil- '
lity. No public examinations had ta
ken place, from fear, as was stated, of
alarming the armies; but the prison
ers underwent daily interrogatories in
the iemple and other revolutionary
Bastiles, before Touche, and the confi
dential members oftheseeftt police of
the French Emperor. Strict search
has been made after the Duke of An
gouleme, the presumptive heir of the
French Bourbons, married to the
daughter of Louis XVI. who v as sup
posed to be concealed at Paris. This
Prince was, however, safe in England
with his uncle Louis XVIII Ferdi
nand V 11. and his brother, were report
ed to be confined in the State Prison,
the Castle of Vincennes, near Paris,
where the Duke ofEnghiem was mur
dered in 1804—Bonaparte’s journey to
Germany, is stated to have been retard
ed by these occurrences : and before he
quitted liis Capital, he deposited his
\\ ill in the Senate, which the Grand
Officers ol State, as well as the Mem
bers of the Senate, swore, in case of any
accident to him, punctually to execute.
Philadelphia Political Register.
fit is with yiutsure we insert the annexed
observations on the Downfal of Republics,
from the Washington Monitor; they are re
plete with good sense and deep thought —pre
cedent strictly speaking makes nothing right:
customs are not consecrated ; yet they should ,
not be discarded without a tree and impartial
examination of their utility; and the enquiry
should be made with great prudence and cau
tion.]
THE DOWNFAL OF REPUBLICS.
Inquiries have been oilcn instituted
into the real causes of the downfal of
republics. No doubt they are nume
rous. But among them all, I know of
none more powerful and rapid in its op
eration than that continual disposition
which we See manifested by certain w ri
ters and talkers, to wrest mankind from
the course dictated by their nature, and
to instil into the mind strange nedions of
new systems for the management of so
ciety by government.
This idea has often been excited in
my mind ; and it was forcibly renewed
a day or two past, by a production in
the National Intelligencer, proposing to
withdraw the American community
from the ancient channels of human
wisdom, and to proceed upon projects,
which, to say the best of them, render
a nation ridiculous, and eventually lead
to desti uction.
Why should we discard the lessons
of experience ? Why should we forego
that knowledge which is the result of
the observation of half a century of
ages? What vain pride of the heart
would impel us to spurn every thing
European, merely because it is European ?
Whence came American civilization, it
it came not from Europe ? The abo
rigines of this country were the merest
savages in nature ; and even now we
treat them as such. I confess that. I
am cosmopolite enough to desire that
all the excellencies of the world were
concentrated, by importation, if you
please, in America.—The human mind,
i from barbarism to civilization, is of such
slow progression, that we ought to grasp
and secure every thing good within our
reach, whether it be English, French,
German, Italian, or Spanish. The
common law! says one ; down with the
common law; down with the law re
porters; they are English, rank En
glish. Softly, gentlemen. Do you
know all the transactions of civilized
bfe depend upon the common law? Do
you know that England was groaning
under despotism for many a year, till
the excellence of the common law re
lieved them ? Woe be to those who
follow the counsels of that fanatic who
believes the present generation of men
better or wiser in all things than the
generations which £yr many ages have
preceded it. \
And whence got England the con
mon law ? From Germany in part, and
part from her own experience. Age
succeeds to agr, and if we depat t in the
last, front what admonitions th first af
fords, we remain in the mists and in the
fogs of ignorance.
One theorist proposes one thing ; an
other a different thing ; novelty leads
i the people to vain hopes ; they forget
' maxims of their progenitors, and
| look forward to shadows which fade bs
i fore the inspection of solid judgment,
| like the colors of the rainbow vanish
from the eye. i’he Gracchi, at Rome,
: proposed an Agrarian law ; every man
| was to have a farm, and evety farm was
;to be precisely alike; the subject was
| pleasing; the Gracchi had followers and
advocates; Rome was in an uproar;
common sense finally prevailed, and the
Agrarians fell victims to their own folly
or ambition. Cromwell was to make
England free ; but he enslaved her—
Bonaparte swore fidelity to the repub
lic, yet where is that republic n-nv ?
The ruin of nations is produced invari
ably by departing from the knowledge
which experience affords ; and we are
always excited to leave the beaten path,
by weak brains in skulls so hot that they
are kept in a state of ebullition from the
beginning to the end of the chapter.
The worst of it is, you cannot restore
such brains to a state of soundness ; for
being impregnated with pertinacity, the
more you rebuke, the more obstinate
they are. Down with the judges, and
the courts, says a sagacious scribier ;
down with them ; I will shew you a
way by which the people shall ail grow
wise without learning, and learned with
out education; all heads [quoth he] are
alike ; sheep heads, and all. Would
you believe that such ideas are scatter
ed among the community, and bv ma
ny greedily gobbled down ? If we had
not witnessed the scenes of the French
revolution, the thing might be doubted.
But credulity is the ladder by which
knaves mount to power. A man six
feet high, o.ice announced he would put
himself into a pint bottle ; the multi
tude wondered ; common sense knew
it was a cheat; yet credulity was dup
ed, and paid its money for the fraud*
'After this, what should excite cut sur
prise I
Boston, May 10.
Laic from Portugal..
Capt. Sawyer, who arrived here yes
terday from Lisbon, informs that when
he sailed from that city (April 28th)
the French had not arrived there, Sc the
periods of their arrival were variously
stated, from seven day to two months :
That the French were advancing into
Portugal in two columns, under Mar
shal Lannes and Junot, whose united
force was estimated, in round numbers,
at 80,000 —that they had taken Oporto,
and had advanced several leagues be
yond it; but that their progress was
slow, owing doubtless to the scarcity of
subsistence in the country they were
overrunning—That the British troops
in Portugal amounted to upwards of
21,000; and the Portuguese army was
estimated at 50,000 ; —That the British
were repairing the fortifications; bur
that notwithstanding these it was not
expected a defence of the city would be
attempted ; and that on the near ap
proach.of the French, the British and
Portuguese would embark on board tire
British fleet in the Tagus, which con
sisted of two sail of the line, three or
four frigates, and 300 sail of transports ;
part of which would proceed to Brazil,
the others for England.—The intelli
gence from Spain was extremely vague
and limited.
■ACE IV-YORK, May li.
By the Vestal, from Lisbon, we have
received newspapers and letters to the
27th March. f
Letters were received in Lisbon from
the Marquis of Humana, dated Uth
March, at Requeijo, (Gallicia) ; he
mentions that the French have not lest
less than 10,000 men, in killed and pri
soners, in that province. Romana was
so stationed as to be able to cutoff the
communication with the French with
Leon and Gallicia. Vigo was in posses
sion of the Spaniards. Three linglit.;i
frigates had entered that place, and
supplied them with provisions.
Lisbon was still in possession of the
Portuguev.-, and troops were daily ar
riving from England. Arms and cloalh
ingfor 10,000 had been sent them : the
people were in hight spirits, and deter
mined to resist the French. The Por
tuguese army was divided into three
divisions, one of which consisting of
40,000 men, vva3 on the frontiers.
The French had not entered the fron
tiers of Portugal, as some time since
S.hiC v' *
A gentleman who was shortly since
u this town, direct from Liverpool,
brought wuii him the book which Mrs.
Clarke has published, containing a nar
rative ot the occurrences which took
place between herself and the Duke of
\ork, with accurate likenesses of bo;th
parties. From those books we select
the following anecdote, as illustrating
the wit oithis remarkable woman. It
seems a Cordwainer was employed as
an agent between the Duke of York and
Mrs. Clarke, who enjoyed the entire
confidence of both parties. Mrs. Clarke
was questioned be lore a committee of
the House ol Commons, wiiat person
was the barer of their respective mes
sengers r In allusion to the occupation
of the man, she answered, he was Am
bassador of Morrocco .
Providence fiaprr.
Lot. i/on, March 25.
In the House of Commons yester
day, the Sergeant at Arms reported,
that Brig. Gen. Clavering was in his
custody, and on the motion of M/r.
Wyns it was ordered, without any de
bate, k ‘ that Gen. Cluvcring be commit
ted to Newgate.”—The * House has
thus shewn the purest impartiality, by
extending to two men, offending in the
same degree, and different only in rank,
the same measure of punishment. This
proceeding cannot but excite the high
est sentiments of approbation.
Another London paper says, Gen.
Clavering was committed to Newgate
for prevaricating and contradictory evi
dence, in the case ol the Duke of \ock,
NOTICE.
NINE months after the date hereof,
application will be made to the
honorable the inferior court of Lincoln
county for permission to sell lice real
estate of Charles Hamrick, dec. for the
bene fit o( the heirs of s fi 1 deceased.
John Flowrance, Guardian
Jor the h i) s of Charles IJav.riclc, dec.
March 4, 1 800.