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cultivation aii(jinuuilTy. When
they were compelled by their
new matters to take up a fixed
re fide nee, and to apply to regu
lar labor ; when talks were im
pelled upon them disproporti
oned to their strength, and were
exacted with unrelenting seve
rity, they poffelled not vigor
either of mind or of body to
sustain this unufu.il lo2d of cp
prtftion. Dqje&ion and des
pair drove many to end their
lives by violence. Fatigue 2nd
famine destroyed more. In ail
diofe extendi vc regions, the ori
ginal race of inhabitants wafVed
Vvvay i in fome it Was totally *
extinguished. In Mexico, where
a powerful and martial people
duliuguifhed their oppofuion to
the Spaniards by efforts of cou
rage worthy of a better fate,
great numbers fell in the field;
and there, as well as in Peru,
, (I'll greater numbers perilled
under the hardihips of attending
the Spanish armies in their va
rious expeditions and civil wars,
worn out with the inceflant toil
of carrying their baggage, pru
vifions, and military stores.
if But neither the rage nor
cruelty of the Spaniards were so
deftru&ive to the people of
Mexico and Petti, as the incon
liderate policy with which they
eftablifned their newfettlements.
The former were temporary
calamities, fatal to individuals j
the lacier was a permanent evil,
which with gradual conlumpti
on, wafted the nation. When
the provinces of Mexico and
Peru were divided among the
conquerors, each was eager to
obtain a diftrift, from which he
might expect an infhntaneous
recompence for all his services.
Soldiers, accustomed to the
carelellnefs and diflipation of a
military life, had neitherihduftry
to carry on any plan of regular
cultivation, nor patience to wait
for its flow but certain returns.
Instead of fettling in the valiies
occupied by the natives, where
the fertility of the foil would
leave amply rewarded the dili
gence cf the planter, they chose
to fix their Rations in fome of
the mountainous regions, fre
quent both in New-Spain and in
Peru. To search for mines of
gold and (liver, was the chief
objebt of their a&ivity, The
pioipects which this opens, and
the alluring hopes which it cen
t.nually presents, correspond
wonderfully with the spirit cf
enterprile and adventure that
animated the firft emigrants to
America in every part of their
conduct, In order to push for
ward rhofe favorite projeds, so
many hands were wanted, that
the lervice of the natives became
indifpenfibly requisite. They
were accordingly compelled to
abandon their ancient habitations
in the plains, and driven in
crowds to the mountains. This
sudden tranfuion from the ful
iry climate of the rallies, to
the chill penetrating air peculiar
to high lands in the torrid zone ;
exorbitant labor, scanty or un
wholclome nourishment, and the
delpondency occafione and by a
ipec.es of oppreflioii to which
they were not accustomed, and
of which they jaw no end, affec
ted them nearly as much as their
ids indullrous countrymen in
die illands. They funk undt r
the united p.t fibre of tfcofe ca
lamities, and melted away with
almost: equal rapidity. In con
sequence of this, together with
the introdu&ion of the small
pox, a malady unknown in Ame
rica, and extremely fatal to the
natives, the number of people
both in New-Spain and Peru was
so much reduced, that in a few
years the accounts of their anci
ent population appeared alnioft
incredible.”
Nat, Intel .
Philadelphia, June 28,
Ytfterdav arrived, brig Nan
cy, Ramfdale, from St. Kitts,
which island she left the 7th inst.
as we are told by special com
million, an embargo being laid
on the flipping at that Island.
Capt. Ramfdale did not hear
of the arrival of any Britilh
naval force at Barbadoesj none
of the letters that we can hear
of from that Island lav any thing
of it, but lament the want of a
naval force in thole seas.
Capt. Ramfdale informs us,
that it was said a fleet of 17 fail
were seen on the sth or 6th of
June two days before he failed,
off’ Antigua, and that soon after
they came to there; 7of them
bore away towards Montferat;
but cf what nation not known.
Letters from St. Kitts fay,
the Island is in great alarm, be
ing in hourly dread of a visit
from the French, as they fay
there is no British force in these
leas to oppose them.
Capt. Tinker of the brig Ac
trefs, who arrived at New-
York on Tuesday evening ]aft,
in 16 days from St. Pierre’s,
(Mart.) informs, that on the
sth June, the French and Spa
nish combined fleets failed from
Martinique, for Gaudaloupe, &
left that place
(the day before captain Tinker
failed) for Antigua, Capt. T.
further informs, that two French
frigates had arrived at Martini
que, which failed from Ferrol
in company with a French and
Spanish fleet of 14 fail of the
line, frigates and tKanfports,
with troops bound for Marti
nique, and that two frigates
parted trom the fleet in a gale of
wind. Vv e are aiio informed,
that no account of a British
fleet having arrived in the Weft
Indies, had been received pre
vious to captain L inker leaving
Martinique. The combined
fleets captured a Britilh ship of
war, of 40 guns, in going out
of Gaudaloupe.—* •“This perhaps
is the Spy,
oe*o——*
Baltimore, July 1,
ANQGUA TAKEN.
A letter received in town last
evening from St. Thomas, dated
June the xot!i, dates, that the
combined fleets then confided
of thirty-two fail, one half of
which wentagainft and captured
Antigua. It adds, that the har
bor of St. 1 fnmas was crouded
with veflHs of every defeription,
from Antigua, waiting till the
itorm hadfubfided.
— aa *3> *. 1
NORFOLK, June 22.
Captain Brownlow, of the
? lannah, from Gaudaloupe, in
forms us that op. the is:h of
May, two (hips, of eighty guns, ;
arrived from France. They 1
said they formed a part of a
French fleet of twenty-fix fail
of the line, from Brefti and
had been separated in a itorm. —
They had taken a merchant
ship on their paflage. On the
4th of June the Kingfifher,
fl op of vvar, was captured by
two French frigates, off Basse
terre.
If the above report be cor
rect, if the Brefl Fleet has real
ly escaped, and is bound out to
the Weft-Indies, then is it J
doubly plam that the ohjebl of |
the Emperor is more than the
conquefl of the Colonies, for
which so great a force is by no
means renuifue. The Ferrol
squadron was also expecled at
Martinique, fuppofmg the in
formation obtained there by cap
tain Garrow to have been cor
rect j when the four fleets of
Bred, Toulon, Ferrol and Ca
diz, shall be united, they will
constitute a force of not less
than fifty-five to sixty fmps of the
Nine. Now as this embraces
about three fourths (or perhaps
a greater portion) of the whole
naval strength of the Allies, it
would be next to absurd to ima
gine that it would be detached
for the purpose of conquering a
few illands, to which one third
of its force with a proportionate
number of transports, would be
fully adequate. Now let us sup
pose this manoeuvre to be a
part of the grand Design again ft
England, the manner in which
it can contribute to it is evi
dent, Fo counteract the ope
rations of, or to engage with
luccefs, so large a fleet as 5$
fail of the line, it may be neccf
firy for the British mini ft ry to
fend after them at lead forty
fail of the line, in addition to
those already in the Weft-Indies.
We have not lately seen a navy
lift, but we believe the number
of line-of-battle ships in com
mission, in England, did not
exceed 65 to 70, in November
laft:.—Of this number suppose
45 in the Weft-Indies j there
would then be left aboiit 25 to
defend the Channel. As soon,
however, as the imperial squad
rons have united, if instead of
proceeding to leward, they
Ihould return diredtly to Eu
rope, they would elude the
Britilh fleets, and while these
were probably seeking for them
as low down as Jamaica, they
would arrive in a defencelefs
channel, which they would com
pletely open to their flotilla i—
and the fate of England would
then have to be decided on her
own territory, in a contest with
an army which could without
obftrueftion, for fome time u
leaf!, receive every aid of men
and neceflaries from France.-
Although this may not be the de
sign of Bonaparte, yet we can
not think that it is such a feheme
as is altogether improbable.—
If it should be his intention to
affedl: his main purpose in this
manner, a very short time will
devclope ir: for in that case the
flay of the Jmperialifts in the
Weft-Indies will not be long.—
I hey will be anxious enough to
‘get cut of the way before the
arrival of a British admiral.—
This circuitous rout may for
i other re a Ton? be ccr.ftdered if
net the fort if at leaf! the sass
way to the channel. The
French crev.s were mostly raw
and undifeipiined } such a voy
age was necessary before they
could venture to encounter the
hardy naval veterans of Greac-
Britain and Ireland.
PETERSBURG,
Thursday, July 25, 1805.
v
IN this day’s paper is notified
the publication of President
Nott’s address to his students.
We have no doubt, that the
fame pious zeal that prompted
several gentlemen, difhnguifhed
not only by the highest literarv
attainments, but for their purity
of fendment and rebtitude of
moral condubl, to express in our
hearing their approbation of it,
in terms the moft flattering, will
influence parents who have now
an opportunity, to place in the
hands of their Tons, a leiToa
of the utmost imoortance to
*
what concerns the advancement
of their temporal and eternal ki
te rest.
We are happy to hear (and
we receive it from the molt
refjpeftable source) that our go
vernment have ordered one of
the frigates at Washington, im
mediately to be equipped and
proceed off Charleston. to dif
perle the swarm of picaroons
chat infeft that coast.
Phil. Gaz.
An article, having fome time
since appeared in the Richmond
Enquirer, inferring from the
contents cf an English print,
that the late treaty between this
country and Great Britain had
been renewed for one year, we
have made enquiries, which juf
tify us in believing the inference
to be entirely inccrrebt. An
aft, we understand, has passed
the British Parliament, re-en
abling in whole or in part, the
provisions of the statute origi
nally passed for carrying the
treaty into effebt. It is proba
ble that this circumstance occa
sioned the error, which the fe
deral prints have seized with
avidity as a pretext for libelling
the consistency and character of
the administration. Unfortu
nately however fir them, no
fuen treaty has been formed,
nor do we believe that any o
vertures to form such a treaty
hrve on our part been made.—*
It is prcfumable, from the pas-
Lge ol the above noticed ad!,
teat a difpoftdon exists on the
pa r t ot Britain to renew the pro
visions of Mr. jay’s treaty.
Nat. Intel.
Jamaica, which is threaten
ed by the French, was taken by
die Bntifli from the Spaniards in
1656. Its annual exports are
conjectured to amount to 11 or
15 millions of dollars. Ir is
about one hundred and fifty miles
long, and forty miles broad—
and probably now contains 50,-.
coo free inhabitants and near
300,cc0 slaves. If the blacks
are attached to their mailers, and
wdl act heartily against the inva
ders, the French will be defeat
ed at once ; ar.d if th~y cannot