The Rhode-Island American, and general advertiser — Providence [R.I.], 1810-08-28 00:00:00, page 2

»M>M Wfß xaVeMLSfIAW WarCM-TOWM. *
Diaaolution of the Union.
\Vmen Mr. Genet, residing in Philadel
phia, wbi the accredited Minister of the
- terrible Republique,” Democratic!':, or
aa the great and good Washington styled
L them in his judicious philippick, “ self
created societies” were scattered all over
' the union. These ladders of young ambi-
5 tion, upon which demagogues, flattering
| the paaaiont of a prejudiced and misguided
roulutude, mount to ill deserved power,
t' besides being opposed to our representative
B x government which should be unawed and
f ' uncontroled by the clamours and denun-
ciations of self-assuming combinations, are
dangerous instruments in the hands of fo
reign powers. The mother society, to which
all the affiliated in Pennsylvania and else
where looked for direction and example,
f ' was seated in Philadelphia, that liot-bed of
(Reorder and tumult. The minor societies
of Pennsylvania were governed by their
archetype in the capital, and this was un
der the control of Dr. J«eib, and the late
Benjamhi, Franklin Bache, who being in
* daily intercourse with Mr. Genet, were at
the beck of that aealous and indefatigable
W minister. To these societies, ao managed
and influenced, was principally, if not alto
gether owing the Pennsylvania rebellion;
apd We were afterwards told by the suc
cessor of Mr. Genet, in one of his confiden
tly) despatches to the French Directory,
~ jhaV—alluding to distinguished patrons of
Xmoc.ratick societies—with a few thou
> iand dollars he could have lighted up
amongst, us the torch of civil war, and dis
persed to the winds the* ashes of our con
sumed union. /If, said that minister, by
way ef Reflection, the people are so corrupt
in theif infancy—the great body is ignorant
pf over Jealous, and not a few are corrupt
to the core—what may we not anticipate
from the age of decrepitude ? Happily for
eus the French minister bad not, at thia time
his few thousand doll am s, the price,
it seems of our frenchlfied patriots. The
Uriom therefore, although in imminent
danger, was accidentally saved.
Yet in a few years afterwards a dissolu
tion of the union was seriously threatened
in the south, owing, as was alleged, to the
passage of the Alien and Sedition laws.—
That the former law was unconstitutional
I Dever had nor have I now a doubt; and
that the latter improperly recognised an
excellent commom law doctrine is, I think,
demonstrable. A very important question
always occurs on such occasions, namely,
• whether k be not belter to bear the incon
venien'eies of a few laws, until they cau be
regularly and tranquilly repealed, than to
rush at once into civil war, and thereby
bring upon ourselves all the consequences
of that horrible state of anarchy and blood;
I think it is, but Mr. Senator Giles, the
state of Virginia, the Southern nates gen
erally, and those who now role or misrule
L us, thought differently, and openly and
boldly countenanced a dissolution of the
Union. At the head of this union—dis
solving party in Virginia, who first professed
to appeal to reason, and it is believed, ulti
mately looked to force, was Mr. Madison,
Dow President of the United States, who
wrote a laborious pamphlet on the two
obnoxious laws. With regard to Mr. Giles,
the authour of the late Forcing Act, the
most clearly unconstitutional and tyran
nical in the whole compass of our code, the
person who also moved in the United
States Senate for the suspension of the
Habeas Corpus act, that great guarantee of
our freedom and safety, his opinion in fa
vour of a dissolution of the. union is amply
and authoritatively let forth in the follow
ing letter.
Mr. Davis,
It is with reluctance that I appear in «
Observing in youi s of the 9th
instant, a publication of William B. Giles,
Esq. in answer to one of Major Nelson’s of
the 24th of January, I am compelled'to
publish the following facts respecting a
Conversation which passed at my house;
and whic h has been the cause of these pub*
licaticns. After much had been said re
specting the reports of the Secretaries of
the Treasury, War and Navy, and con
dernned by Mr. Giles, as he acknowledges,
Mr. Giles, rising to leave the company,
said, without any reserve, I AM CLEAR
LY FOR A SEPARATION, AND HOPE
IT WILL TAKE PLACE. A gentleman
pi esent getting up to go away also said, I am
d- ■ a glad, old fellow, to hear you say so:
It has been my wish these three or four,
years past. Mr. Giles replied, it is a late
opinion of mine,, and I hope it will take
p'ace. A third gentleman in the compa
ny, whose opinions, generally coincide with
the before mentioned, declared that he dif
fered from them; that he did not wish a
separation. This gentleman had.made the
same declaration in the early part of the
Conversation, and mention* d having re-
Ceived a letter from a friend of his, a mem
ber of Congress, in answer to one be had
written to him, and expressed a wish he
had bt ought it with him to Richmond,
wherein w<«B the opinion on this subject, of
a person who is held in the highest estima
tion by those who have generally disap
proved of the acts and measures of the le
gislative and executive of the federal gov
ernment, wherein he says, he by no means
•
TRON THR VIRGINIA GAZETfR.
approves of a separation; thdt it cAnnct be
loot before there wMI be a majority in Con
gress, who will think with him ; that the
increasing population of the Southern States
must produce this effect.
I have been thus particular in stating
the above conversation, supposing it may
bring th the recollection of the gentlemen,
who were present, the precise words that
passed on this occasion; I declare most
solemnly, I believe what I here state,
to be the very words made use of at the
aforesaid time, and by the aforesaid per
sons—-this I am sure of, that it was the ex
press meaning of what did pass; and I
trust, those to whom I have the pleasure of
being known will credit this assertion.
LEWIS BURWELL.
Richmond, March, 1799.
And now, having seen that one party
was eager for a “ srfaratiox,” when
things did not suit them, let us turn to the
other, and see whether, under circum
stances somewhat similar, but much more
alarming and oppressive, the other party
has been even so ready to violate the na
tional compact.
'fhe Eastern States, by far the most en
lightened and patriotick, powerful and
hardy of the union, having suffered with
unexampled patience, and to all appear
ance without the hope of redress, the tre
mendous effects of the embargo laws, and
the shocking consequences of the unconsti
tutional roactWG act, were on the point,
but particularly Massachusetts and Con
necticut, of opposing with force the dia
bolical system of French dictation and ruin.
That right of revolt against glaring, sys
tematick, and relentless oppression, (the
“ holy right of insurrection,”) is indefeasi
ble, and that, in extreme caoeo, the exer
cise of that right is judicious, and even in
dispensable to the preservation of freedom’
is acknowledged by our declaration of In
dependence, and confirmed by our revolu
tion. “ When a long train of abuses and
usurpations, pursuing invariably the same
object, evinces a design to reduce them un
der absolute despotism, it is their right.
[the right of the people,] it is their duty,
[the duty of the people,] to throw off
such government, and to provide new guards
for their future safety.-*’ This is correct
and sound doctrine in the abstract, and the
only question for the Eastern States to de
cide upon the occasion mentioned was, as
in the pregnant times of ’76, whether such
a “ train of abuses and usurpations had
been pursued,” and such “ a design” mani
fested by our government ? They thought
in the affirmative and it is well that the
abolition of the embargo and forcing acts,
reluctant as that abolition was, prevented
the appeal which Mr. Giles was ready to
make in the year 1799, and to which the
Eastern States were nearly driven ten
years afterwards.
From these facts, which admonish us
against excessive party zeal, virulence, and
oppression, might be drawn a very impres
sive, inference, which I will not however
name.
tions of the other to resist them, wrote to
his government a brief statement of what
had passed amongst us. Could any thing
be more natural ? But he says nothing of
his ability to purchase the “ patriots” with
“ a few thousand dollars, ’’ which the French
minister averred would have decided the
fate of our republlck in his day.
From one of the despatches of Mr. Ers
kine, lately come to light, it appears that
that gentlemkn, seeing, what every body
saw whose eyes were open, the wanton op
pressions of the one side, and the indica-
I he despatches lately brought from Mr.
Pinkney, in the Tamaahmaah, have been
for wauled to the Secretary of State; but
•hey are quite unimportant:—They state,
That accounts are received from Paris
of the intercession of the Emperour of Aus
tria with Bonaparte in favour of Ferdinand
VII. and that the Emprrnur would give
him his second daughter in marrihge, pro
vided Napoleon would restore him to the
throne of Spain, or otherwise provide for
him.
That Bonaparte meant to propose terms
of peace to England.
On these topicks there was much specu
lation ; some pronouncing it impossible that
Bonaparte could or would degrade his
brother Joseph to raise a Bourbon in his
stead ; others arguing the contrary, from
the circumstance of the monument decreed
to Louis XVI. that if the young Empress
and her family had obtained Bonaparte’s
consent to that measure, they might carry
their influence farther.
The termination of the suspense in which
some were held, respecting the state of
American property in the North of Europe,
is at length arrived. Both Sweden and
Prussia have sequestered it, and Denmark
has prohibited the American trade, doubt
less as a measure which is to lead to the
condemnation of what was already there.
It appears that these recent seizures were
compelled by menaces of military force
from ahe French agents, and they must
have been of a formidable character, since
the local position of the principal part of
the Swedish dominions, secures them from
BALTIMORE, August 18.
53p the
the fear of French >tivasi<m|f «nd such'a
step, considered as a new evidence of sub
mission to France, might attract active
measures from the tremendous naval force
England has-before the doors of the Swedes.
A’ed. /?e/l.
The arrangement made by the Govern
our, on his accusation, entitles hhn to great
credit; as it not only insured safety to the,
people, but tranquillity to the city. Not an
insult was offered to the prisoner, and his
conduct was such as to draw down the pity
of all who saw him on his route to the place
from whence he took his leave of the world.
There are numbers of his associates now
in the United States, and three or four of
them hourly expected her •, who will, en
their arrival, share a similar fate. The
seizure of this deluded young man, and his
papers, has completely developed the plans
of the traitors in South-Americ»< ks* jn ail
the other provinces of Spain, and:pbf‘gov
ernment in the possession of a tl»t op heir
names, their emissaries, their plqce of re
sidence, to what port or city bound. The
Cart Blanche found in his possession, sign
ed by Joseph, as well as blank commis
sions, were burnt under the gallows, while
he Was suspended there by the publick
The youth and appearance of the pri
soner, his solemn acknowledgement to the
publick, at the prison door, of his guilt,
and the justice of his sentence, and his
great contrition, and the decent deport
ment of all classes of people, through whom
he passed, from the prison to the place of
execution, made the scene truly awful and
solemn.
PHILADELPHIA, August 15.
Cofiy of a tetter from a gentleman at Ha
vana, to another in thio city, dated Ha
vana, July 30, 1810.
Drar Si a,—l have just witnessed a
scene from the upper story of my house,
so awful and solemn, as almost to chill my
blood—the execution of the sentence here
with enclosed.
hangman.
It is said that he had authority to name
and commission all officers in New-Spain,
under a Brigadier-General, and bad with
him commissions for the new Viceroy, and
chiefs of the kingdom.
A schooner is now getting ready, and
will sail in about two hours for Vera Cruz,
with a list of the names of the emissaries
already in that kingdom, and the names of
all those implicated by the confessions and
papers of this unfortunate young man—and
I hope sincerely, that measures will there
be taken, in timl, to avert and secure
them, before that valuable and beautiful
country is deluged in blood, by their nefa
rious conduct.
His papers were well secured in trunks,
made in France or Spain, without a false
bottom, or having the appearance of being
thicker than usual, hut by boring, were
found, and the trunks then split up.
The following is a copy of the State pa
per, alluded to in the foregoing letter:
Don Salvador Joseph de Murory Salazar,
Marquis de Somereulos, Lieut. General
of the Royal Armies, President of the
Royal Audience of Puerto Principe, Cap
tain-General of the Island of Cuba, and
of the Provinces of the two Floridas, and
Political and Military Governour of Ha-
vans, &c.
Maketh known to all the inhabitants of
this city—-That having substantiated and
determined the case of Manuel Rodrigutz
Alemant y Pena, with the approbation of
the Judge Advocate, Don Joseph Antonio
Ramos, and two other learned doctors of
law, of my full confidence, he has been
sentenced to suffer the highest punishment
for having been guilty of high treason, and
as an emissary of Joseph Bonaparte, who
came instructed to dissolve the ties which
unite us with legitimate government of
Spain, and to promote discord and division
in your peaceable countries, with a view
that the Americans, forgetting that loyally
which has always characterized them,
should acknowledge and obey the intruded
King.
The Judges have designated the day and
hour on which this ill-advised young man,
is to expiate his crime and temerity on the
gallows, which will be on to-morrow morn
ing, (Monday) at 7 o’clock.
But, chisens of Havana, justice is not
incompatible with compassion and urbani
ty. Those virtues shine pre-eminently, in
your hearts. Let not your anxious desires
for expiation confound nor suffocate your
sentiments of Humanity. Abhor the crime,
but pity the criminal. This maxim should
be strictly observed on the day of ex
ecution. A peaceable and well disposed
concourse will tend to make the act more
pathetick and terrible. Confusion, un
necessary and improper noise, illiberal
epithets or uncivil actions are unbecoming
worthy citizens, and must always produce
melancholy consequences. On the con
trary, decency and good order are the in;
separable companions of noble souls.
With abundant reasons I flatter myself
from the docility of your dispositions, that
during tue passage of the criminal from
the trial u> the gallows, and in the act of
his execution, you will afford ample proofs
of your civil and Christian moderation, by
compassionating the unfortunate fate of one
who could forget the sacred principles of
NEW-YORK, August 23.
We learn by a gentleman just arrived
from Hayti, ’that on or about the 24th of
July, about 10,000 Brigands, under the
command of General Gomas, (who is sup
posed to be in the pay of Christophe,) sur
rendered to the force under General Ri
gaud, at Jeremie. Rigaud had under him
at the time an army of 5000 men. The
surrender was by negotiation. Every de
monstration of joy was exhibited on the oc
casion.
patriotism, to unite himself with the ene
mies of his country. And if, not wUh stand
ing, my expectations and precepts, any one
should contravene, he will be immediately
apprehended and punished in proportion to
his excess, and to the quality and circum
stances of his person. And that this may
be publickly known, and in case of contra
vention, none shall plead ignorance, it is
ordered to proclaim it through the city by
beat of drum, and that bandbills duly au
thenticated by the Notary of the govern
ment, be put up in the usual places.
EL MARQUIS DE SOMEREULOS.
By order <f hio Excellency,
MIGUEL MENDEZ.
Havana, 29/A July, 1810.
We learn from Captain Church, of the
ship Marie, that the situation of the siege
of Cadis was much the same as for some
time past. The party of 5 to 6000 men
that h*d been despatched under Lacy to
the Sierra of Rondon, returned to Cadiz on
the 16th of July, without effecting the ulti
mate object of their expedition, which was
to co-operate with the English to retake
Malaga.
A report prevailed that Massena had
retrogaded, not being in force enough to
meet the enemy. No news of Craufurd’s
junction with the English army.
“ I am sorry to inform you that our
neighbours at Mobile have for some weeks
past been in much alarm under the appre
hension of a predatory expedition from
this settlement, under colour of avenging
our wrongs, and liberating the citizens of
the United States in this quarter from the
payment of Spanish tribute. They think
that they have demonstrative evidence of
the existence of such a conspiracy among
us. For my own part I have doubted it,
because I have seen no external evidence
of it.
Extract of a letter dated Fort Stoddert, {Mobile)
' 1
•• Possibly, however, the idea of forming
a confederacy for the purpose of attacking
Mobile, may have existed, or may now ex
ist ; but I do not believe that men of pro
perty will put their all to so much hazard;
nor do I think that they will be readily led
away by a doctrine advanced here, that as
the Floridas are not possessed by any
prince now acknowledged by the Federal
government, to attack them will be no vio
lation of the law prohibiting expeditions
against the territories of powers with which
the United States are at peace. Be this
however as it will, the Spaniards have very
imprudently Collected, as I am told, a body
of 400 Indians; the consequence of which
inevitably will be, that if any depredations
should be committed by them upon our
settlement, even peaceable and prudent
men will be drawn into an indirect support
of the wicked machinations of the lawless,
and will in defence of themselves and their
property feel impelled to take vengeance
on the savages and their employers. lam
in hopes, however, that the Indians have
no serious purpose, beyond that of eating
Spanish beef.
“ Some Frenchmen and others have been
apprehended' and confined in the fort at
Mobile, under suspicion of being hostile to
the Spanish government. I know some of
the men, and believe them to be innocent.
But thus it is that weak men drive harm
less men into guilt.”— Nat. Intelligencer.
Copy of a letter from General Vanda mme,
to the Minister of Wai, dated Boulogne*
June 11,1810.
" I had the honour of communicating to
your Excellency this morning, by a tele
graphick despatch, that I had received
certain information that the General of
Brigade, Sarrazin, went over to the enemy
yesterday. I have now to confirm this in
telligence to your Excellency, and lay be
fore you the particulars of this extraordi
nary event. On the morning of the 10th,
General Earrasin, accompanied by a black
servant, embarked at the little Warren, in
a boat belonging to a fisherman of the name
of Camier, under pretence of going out to
fish. Having gained a considerable offings
and perceiving an English brig, he com
pelled the crew to put him on board her,
asserting that he had orders to carry a flag
of truce. Having reached the brig, he
sent back the boat, after having given to
the owner a declaration, stating, that he
had ordered this fishing vessel to put him
on board the English brig, upon something
relating to the service. These facts are
substantiated by the official reports. So
soon as I became acquainted with his hav
ing deserted to the enemy, the countersign
was changed throughout the military dis
trict; strong guards and patroles took the
rounds vigilantly. 1 iumicdiatcly ordered
J'rom late London fiafiere.
~ Paris, June 16.
Colonel Vincent, my fimt A'W-de-Camp,
and Captain Monjovet oLhe Gendarmerie,
who commanded the pubnek force, to pro
ceed as quickly as possible to the camp on
the left, in which the residence
Sarrazin was. All his papers' were sc-,
cured. His two Aid-de-Camps and servants
were sent before the Commissary-General
of Police, as well as the crew of the boat
St. Laurent; and every one, in abort, sus
pected of being connected with General
Sarrazin, or who could communicate any
thing relating <o his conduct. The reso
lution of this general Officer struck the
whole army with astonishment, andean
only be ascribed to a sort of madness. All
the Generals, the principal Officers, and
even the soldiers, cannot account for it;
and I am the more surprised myself,, bar-,
ing received from this General the most
positive assurances of his zeal, of his atten
tion to his duty, aqd of his wish to promote
the good of his Majesty’s service. Tlwret
was no per-on who was more indefatigable
in his duty, who entered more minutely
into the details of his command ; and by
the measures he adopted impressed an
opinion that every thing he did was for the
good of the service. The very eve of hh
flight he communicated to me the resultoi
an examination into the accounts of the
troops under his command. Assuredly,
Sir, after these speaking proofs, it was im
possible to direct the slightest suspicion
against the conduct of that General Offi
cer.
” I have the honour to be, flee.
(Signed) ” VANDAMME.”
June 11.
ORDER OF THE DAT.
” The army has just witnessed an event
the least to be expected, and which must
have excited in them the strongest indfg-.
nation.
’• General Sarrazin has proved himself
a traitor to his country and his Sovereign,
who, by his numerous acts of beneficence,
is entitled to the gratitude and affection of
every Frenchman. This General aban
doned the post confided to him to go over
to the enemy. By this abominable action
he has covered himself with the greatest
disgrace, and incurred the contempt of all
nations, even of that whose cause he has
espoused. The army may rest assured
that every precaution has been adopted to *
prevent any bad consequences from this
crime; that all the plans that General
Sarrazin may have formed will be easily
frustrated, and that shame alone will re
main to the criminal, who has trampled
under foot the most sacred duties, and has
adopted sentiments the most culpable, and
worthy of the severest punishment. ‘ ;
” The General in Chief positively com
mands all the Generals and Officers com
manding on the coast to take the necessary
measures for arresting General Sarrazin
in case he should re-appear under any
pretence whatever, and conduct him under
a strong escort to the head-quarters.—
This important order is to be punctually
executed.
(Signed) ” VANDAMME.” '
Paris, June 16.
PRIVATE LETTER.
“ Reports have been in circulation here,
that the non-intercourse act in America
had been repealed, and that this measure
will consequently induce Bonaparte to de
clare war in the usual form against Ame
rica. His depredation against American
commerce has' existed now these 3 years.—
His treating the American seamen like
prisoners, of war, is certainly tantamount
to a declaration of war. His conduct to
the American Legation was equally out
rageous. It is well known that when Bo
naparte was at Bayonne in 1808, an Ame
rican flag of truce arrived at Havre with
despatches for General Armstrong and for
Mr.'Pinkney. The despatches were forci
bly taken from the Messenger, Lieutenant
Nourse, and were forwarded to Bayonne,
where they were first broken open and in
spected by his Imperial Majesty, as also a
bag of commercial tetters. Mr. O’Mealy,
an American, was sent by the American
Minister to Bayonne, to claim the despatch,
es, which were delivered to him ; but the
bag of tetters, M. Champagny told him,
were sent to the Ministry of Police. On
application there, some few were deliver
ed ; the remainder were suppressed, as
they were supposed to contain some politi
cal remarks.
London, July 4.
A full account of the interesting ceremo
ny, yesterday, at Oxford, is given in our
preceding columns. It is matter of regret
to all impartial lovers of decorum and lite
rature, that a 'great deal of party spirit
shewed itself in the reception of the differ
ent persons presented for Degrees. A rude
expression of disapprobation was even at
tempted against the Chancellor, Lord
Grenville, but it was feeble and confined,
and soon overpowered by loud and general
acclamations of applause- A similar at
tempt followed the nomination of Mr. Tier
ney, but with no better success. Mr. She
ridan it seems had declined, in a letter to
Lord Grenville, the proposed honour of
Doctor’s Degree, and did not arrive until
the ceremony was over. The American
Ambassadour was also absent, being pre?