Washington, May 24.-This day both houses of congress assembled in their respective chambers. In senate 21 members attended. In the lower house, at the first call, 120 members appeared.

Gen. Varnum is re-elected Speaker.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.

Washington, May 23.-This day, at twelve o'clock, the President of the United States communicated, by Mr. Graham, the following message to both houses of congress. Fellow Citizens of the Senate, and of

the House of Representatives. On this first occasion of meeting you, it affords me much satisfaction to be able to communicate the commencement of a favourable change in our foreign relations; the critical state of which induced a session of congress at this early period.

In consequence of the provisions of the act interdicting commercial intercourse with Great Britain and France, our ministers at London and Paris were, without delay, instructed to let it be understood by the French and British governments, that the authority vested in the executive, to renew commercial intercourse with their respective nations, would be exercised in the case specified by that act. Soon after these instructions were dispatched, it was found that the British government, anticipating, from early proceedings of Congress at their last session, the state of our laws, which has had the effect of placing the two bellige rent powers on a footing of equal re

VOL. VI.

strictions; and relying on the conciliatory disposition of the United States, had transmitted to their legation here, provisional instructions, not only to offer satisfaction for the attack on the frigate Chesapeake, and to make known the determination of his Britannic Majesty to send an envoy extraordinary with powers to conclude a treaty on all points between the two countries; but, moreover, to signify his willingness, in the mean time, to withdraw his orders in council, in the persuasion that the intercourse with Great Britain would be renewed on the part of the United States.-These steps of the British government led to the correspondence and the proclamation now laid before you; by virtue of which, the commerce between the two countries, will be renewable after the 10th day of June next.

Whilst I take pleasure in doing justice to the councils of his Britannic Majesty, which, no longer adhering to the policy which made an abandonment by France of her decrees a pre-requisite to a revocation of the British orders, have substituted the amicable course which has issued thus happily; I cannot do less than refer to the proposal heretofore made on the part of the United States, embracing a like restoration of the suspended commerce, as a proof of the spirit of accommo ́dation which has at no time been intermitted; and to the result which nów calls for our congratulations, as corroborating the principles, by which the public councils have been guided during a period of the most trying embarrassments.

The discontinuance of the British orders' as they respect the United' States, having been thus arranged, a communication of the event has been forwarded, in one of our public vessels, to our minister plenipotentiary at Paris; with instructions to avail himself of the important addition thereby made, to the con

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sideration which press on the justice of the French government a revocation of its decress, or such a modification of them, as they shall cease to violate the neutral commerce of the United States.

The revision of our commercial laws, proper to adapt them to the arrangement which has taken place with Great Britain, will doubtless engage the early attention of congress. It will be worthy, at the same time, of their just and provident care, to make such further alterations in the laws, as will more especially protect and foster the several branches of manufacture, which have been recently instituted or extended by the laudable exertions of our citizens.

Under the existing aspect of our affairs, I have thought it not ineonsistent with a just precaution, to have the gun-boats, with the exception of those at New-Orleans, placed in a situation, incurring no expence beyond that requisite for their preservation, and conveniency for future service, and to have the crews of those at New-Orleans reduced to the number required for their navigation and safety.

I have thought also, that our citizens detached in quotas of militia, amounting to one hundred thousand, under the act of March, 1808, might, not improperly, be relieved from the state in which they were held for immediate service. A discharge of them has been accordingly

directed.

The progress made in raising and organizing the additional military force, for which provision was made by the act of April, 1803, together with the disposition of the troops, will appear by a report which the secretary of war is preparing, and which will be laid before you.

Of the additional frigates required by an act of the last session to be fitted for actual service, two are in readiness, one nearly so, and the

fourth is expected to be ready in the month of July. A report which the secretary of the navy is preparing on the subject, to be laid before congress, will shew at the same time the progress made in officering and manning these ships. It will shew also the degree in which the provisions of the act, relating to other public armed vessels, have been car ried into execution.

It will rest with the judgment of congress to decide, how far the change in our external prospects may authorise any modifications of the laws relating to the army and navy establishments.

The works of defence for our seaport towns and harbours have proceeded with as much activity, as the season of the year and other circumstances would admit. It is necessary, however, to state, that the appropriations hitherto made being found to be deficient, a further pro vision will claim the early consideration of congress.

The whole of the eight per cent. stock remaining due by the United States, amounting to five millions, three hundred thousand dollars, had been reimbursed on the last day of the year 1808. And, on the first day of April last, the sum in the treasury exceeded nine and a half millions of dollars. This, together with the receipts of the current year on account of former revenue bonds, will probably be nearly, if not altogether sufficient to defray the expences of the year. But the suspension of exports and the conse quent decrease of importations, during the last twelve months, will necessarily cause a great diminution in the receipts of the year 1810. After that year, should our foreign relations be undisturbed, the revenue will again be more than commensurate to all the expenditures.

Aware of the inconveniences of a protracted session, at the present season of the year, I forbear to call

The following singular Speech, addressed by the Governor of this province to the legislative assemblies, it is thought, by some, might have been, not unsuitably addressed to certain similar assemblies in other countries!

Gentlemen of the Legislative Council, and Gentlemen of the house of Assembly. The advanced state of the season, your private convenience, and the happy change that has taken place in the relations between his Majesty's government and that of the United States, from which we may reasonably look for a permanence of the public tranquillity, together with other circumstances, have induced me to put an end to this session; and upon a full consideration of the events by which it has been marked, I feel it to be a duty which I owe to his Majesty and to the province, to recur, as speedily as circumstances will permit, to the sense of his subjects, by calling a new parliament.

Gentlemen of the House of Assembly, When I met you at the commencement of the present session, I had no reason to doubt your moderation or your prudence, and I therefore willingly relied upon both. Under the guidance of these principles, I expected from you a manly sacrifice of all personal animosities, and individual dissatisfaction; a watchful solicitude for the concerns of your country, and a steady perseverance in the executing of your public duty, with zeal and dispatch. I looked for earnest endeavours to promote the general harmony of the province, and a careful abstinence from whatever might have a tendency to disturb it; for due, and therefore indis

pensible attention to the other branches of the legislature, and for prompt and cheerful co-operation and assistance in whatever might conduce to the happiness and welfare of the colony. All this I had a right to expect, because such was your constitutional duty; because such a conduct would have been a lasting testimony, as it was the only one sought for by his Majesty's government, of that loyalty and affection which you have so warmly professed, and which I believe you to possess, and because it was particularly called for by the critical conjuncture of the times, and espe cially by the precarious situation in which we then stood with respect to the American states. I am sorry to add, that I have been disappointed in all these expectations, and in every hope on which I relied.

You have wasted in fruitless debates, excited by private and personal animosities, or by frivolous contests, upon tri vial matters of form, that time and those talents, to which, within your walls, the public have an exclusive title; this abuse of your functions, you have preferred to the high and important duties which you owe to your Sovereign and to your constituents; and you have been forced to neglect the consideration of matters of moment and necessity, which were before you, while you have at the same time virtually prevented the introduction of such others, as may have been in contemplation. If any further proof of this misuse of your time were necessary, I have just presented it, in having been called on, after a session of five weeks, to exercise his Majesty's prerogative of assent, to only the same number of bilis, three of which were the mere renewal of annual acts, to which you stood pledged, and which required no discussion.

So much of intemperate heat has been manifested in all your proceedings, and you have shewn such a prolonged and disrespectful inattention to matters submitted to your consideration by the other branches of the legislature, that whatever might be the moderation and forbearance exercised on their parts, a general good understanding is scarcely to be looked for without a new assembly.

I shall not particularly advert to other acts which appear to be unconstitutional infringements of the rights of the subject, repugnant to the very letter of that statute of the imperial parliament under

which you hold your seats; and to have been matured by proceedings, which amount to a dereliction of the first principles of natural justice; and I shall abstain from any further enumeration of the causes by which I have been induced to adopt the determination, which I have taken, because the part of your conduct to which I have already referred, is obviously and in a high degree, detrimental to the best interests of the country, such as my duty to the crown for bids me to countenance, and as compels me to have recourse to a dissolution as the only constitutional means, by which its recurrence may be prevented.

Gentlemen of the Legislative Council,and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly.

I shall give the necessary orders for calling the new provincial parliament, as soon as convenience will permit, end having no other object, and confident that no other will be attributed to me but to preserve the true principles of the free and happy constitution of the province, and to employ the power intrusted to me by his Majesty, to the only end for which I received it, and the good of his subjects, I have an entire confidence in the electors, to whom I shall recur, trusting that by the choice of proper representatives further mischiefs may be obviated, and the important interest of the colony, considered in the next session, with less interruption and happier effect.

I will not conceal from you that it has been very much with the view to obviate misrepresentation, if possible, and to enable the people to judge of the grounds which have been afforded me for the conduct I have adopted, that I have entered into any detail upon this subject; the task has been painful to me in the extreme, and I turn from it with peculiar satisfaction to offer you, Gentlemen of the legislative council, the acknowledgments that are due to you for that unanimity, zeal, and unremit ting attention, which you have shewn in your proceedings. It rests not with you that so little has been accomplished for the public good. To a considerable portion of the house of assembly my thanks are equally due. I trust they will believe, that I do them the justice of a proper discrimination, in the sense I entertain of their efforts to avert that conduct, of which I have so much reason to complain. By this gentlemen,

you have truly manifested your affection to his Majesty's government, and your just estimation of the real and permanent interests of the province.

Then the honourable Speaker of the legislative council said,Gentlemen of the legislative Council, and Gentlemen of the House of Assembly,

It is his excellency the governor-in chief's will that this provincial parlia ment be prorogued until Wednesday the 21st of June next: and this provin cial-parliament is prorogued until the 21st day of June, next, accordingly.

SPAIN.

PROCLAMATION OF THE MARQUIS DE LA

ROMANA TO THE ASTURIANS. When our heroic nation became ac quainted with the perfidy of the tyrant. of France, she displayed all her energy to defend her liberty, her religion, and the sacred rights of the throne, and she was aware of the calamity and weakness which must be the consequence of the want of mutual co-operation for the public defence. The people at that time, deprived of their legitimate sovereign, pointed out persons whom they approved, to undertake the duties of the state, from whom they expected security and happiness. Under these circumstances, the provincial juntas were formed, and to this coalition, which appeared to be the effect of inspiration or miracle, we were indebted for those triumphs which were obtained against the enemy in various situations, at the commencement of the contest.

But in the midst of these sources of satisfaction, it must be acknowledged with much concern, that the junta of Asturias, although the most highly fa voured by British generosity in aids of every description, has in the smallest degree contributed to the great work of driving the enemy from our native soil. This junta was unhappily formed by intrigue, and by the preponderance of some individuals and families; it had in view the establishment in its own body of absolute and indefinite power; the persons who composed, contemplated only their reciprocal interests and passions; the destruction of those under false pretences and calumny, who should not subscribe to their decisions, and the gratification of others who should subscribe by pro

ductive employments. While this was going forward, I was at a great distance from the principality (of Asturias), but when I was engaged on the frontiers of Portugal in my military duties, I heard the language of complaint; suspending, however, my determination under the idea, that it might originate in envy or resentment. Without rejecting these representations, or entirely admitting their correctness, I waited till circumstances should explain what at that time I could not comprehend. But as I approached nearer to the province, my fears were increased, and, at last, I was obliged to surrender the hope that they were imaginary or deceptive.

In truth, persons of every class, from the lowest to the highest, told me of the enormous abuses of that power which ought to have been directed to different objects; and these statements were justified by the consequences. The junta blazoned forth, that this distinguished province had been the first which raised the cry of liberty, and yet, at the same instant abandoned its highest obligations, and, as if the war had been already terminated, turned its attention to trifling objects connected with local characters and circumstances, interrupting the regular course of business, and occasion ing delays and mischief even to the parties concerned in these affairs. Representatives who were ignorant, naturally devoted their minds to frivolous matters. The preference given to certain regiments connected with the junta, which had no right to priority, excited disgust in the others, and the misapplication of money in such channels, shewed that it was not intended to supply the public necessities, but to exhibit a certain arbitrary authority and injurious partiality, which disappointed all the purposes of public good.

Yes, beloved Asturians, although you have hitherto been preserved, almost wholly, from the calamities of war, I have perceived, that from other sources you have suffered a thousand distresess, and to relieve your afflictions I have arrived at your capital. By persons the most intelligent and impartial, by representations from public bodies the most respectable, and by my own ocular observations I have discovered, that those abuses to which I have adverted, not only exist, but many others in a greater degree affecting your safety and tranquility.

This junta ought to have recommended, and to have secured, the observance of the laws of our sovereign, and of the central junta, to have attracted respect to our tribunals and magistrates. But what has been their conduct? Some of our laws they have neglected, others they have openly abrogated. They have concealed the public orders, and intercept ed not only the correspondence of indi viduals, but the official intercourse of the state. In fine, misapplying the power with which they were invested, and misdirecting the authority which ought to have been employed in defence of the nation, they exercised that arbitrary sway with which they ought not and could not be entrusted.

Inhabitants of Asturias, I am confident that you will be thankful for this effusion of my sensibility, after the evils you have endured. I promise myself every thing from your dignity, fidelity, and fortitude, recorded in the annals of your country from the most remote periods of our history. You are the firstbegotten of an ancient monarchy, and the vast empire of Spain was once restricted within the boundary of your mountains. Asturian soldiers, I expect every thing from your valour; and if hitherto you have accomplished little, it is because the opportunity of serving your country has not been afforded you I will enable you to participate in her glory. I will lead you to the field of honour.

The commander-in-chief of the northern provinces of Spain concludes his address with stating the powers entrusted to him by the supreme junta, and the application of those powers, by which he dissolves the subordinate junta of Asturias, as unworthy of the authority with which they are invested, he trausfers their functions to the following persons:-El Conde de Aguera, president; Don Ignacio Florez; Conde de Toreno (who has succeeded to the title of father and was known here as Visct. Materose, one of the deputies of Asturias); Don Andres Angel de la Vega Infanzon (the other deputy of Asturias, lately resident in London), secretary with the power of voting; Don Gregorio Jove; Don Matias Menondez; Don Francisco Ordonez, secretary in case of absence; Don Juan Arguelles Mier; Don Fernando de la Riva Valdés Coalla.

EL MARQUIS DE LA ROMANA, Oviedo, May 2, 1809.