Gazette of the United States & evening advertiser. — Philadelphia [Pa.], 1794-03-10 00:00:00, page 2

father, to make enquiiy and give the in
formation he should obtain, Tliat, fre
quently afterwards, he received letters for
Mr. Gallati'i from Europe which he al
ways liippofed to come from the friends
of Mr, Gallatin in Geneva. He supplied
Mr. Ca'kitin with money for a bill upon
London, and there supposed the funds to
pay the l'arhe were remitted from Geneva.
Mr. Morris paid Mr. Gallatin about one
thousand guineas by order of Meflrs.
& Co. Bankers in Paris,
believing always that they were re-imburf
ed from Geneva. Mr. Morris does not
recoiled dates, not having for a long while
ken any of the letters that pasTed on the
Jnbieft ; lie did not know the place of Mr.
Gallatin's nativity, but from the general
courie of the circumitances which came
under his obfi-rvation, he always did sup
pose he was born in Geneva.
deponent further fays that he never had
any conversation with Mr. Gallatin, but
founds his belief with refpeft to Mr. Gal
latin's not speaking the English with faci
lity, on the information received from o
thers.
Kir. John Breakbill being duly sworn
t "tli lies, that la it winter being a member
of the Legislature of Pennsylvania, previ
ous to the clcftion of Senator for the slate
of Pennsylvania, I heard Mr. Gallatin fay
h'.s.citizenfhip would not admit his being
a Senator ; what were his reasons for mak
ing the declaration I cannot fay, 1 took
it he did not wish to be elected. This de
claration by Mr. Gallatin was made at a
meeting of a number of members of Penn
sylvania legislature held for the purpose of
agreeing who should be set up as a candi
date ; the deponent further fays he does
not recollect Mr. Gallatin's afiigning any
other reason for his backwardness to serve
as a Senator than the want of citizenship.
Sworn to and fubferibed January 22d
1794.
Henry Kamnierer, Esq. being duly
sworn, teflifies, that last winter being a
member of the legislature of Pennsylvania,
and previous to the election of Senator for
the said (late, at a meeting of a number
of the members of the state legislature, to
agree upon a candidate to fill said office, I
heard Mr. Gallatin fay when his name was
S»vorn to and subscribed January 2 2d,
1 7 94-
Nathaniel Cabot Higginfon, Esq. be
ing duly sworn, depofeth, That he does
not kuow direaiy any thing of Mr. Gal
latin's being a foreigner or native—That
he recollects knowing him by reputation
and fight at Boston, in one of the years
81, 82 or 83, and that he was generally
reputed to be a foreigner—This deponent
believes th-t Mr. Gallatin then taught the
French languagr and did not speak the
English with facility, and further recol
leas that Mr. Gallatin was resident there
Sworn to and subscribed January 2 2d,
1794.
The committee of*cle<ftions to whom
was referred the petition of Conrad Laub
and others against the election of the Ho
norable Albeit Gallatin -as a benator of
the United States For the State of Penn
sylvania— report, tliat they the
lame underconfederation—and having giv
e 1 due notice, as well the petitioners by
their agent Michael Smyier as the laid
Mr. Gallatin, appeared before them, and
{hi the part of the petitioners the following
evidence was produced, viz.
Robert Morris, Esq. being duly sworn
depoieth, that during the war two of his
fbus went to Geneva for their education,
at that place they became acquainted
with some of the friends of Albert Galla
tin, who had gone for America, and they
bein£ solicitous to hear of his fafety, de
sired-Mr. Morris's sons to write to their-
or thereabout* a considerable time. This
The report of a coihmittee on the peti
tion of Conrad Laub and others above
referred to, and ffiadc on the 10th iulL is
as follows ]
Tiiofe who vcted in the negative, are
Meurs. Bladley, Bro\vn, Buh, Butler,
Edwards, CJunn, Jaodou, Langdon, Mar
tiij, Monroe, Robmfou and Taylor.
0:w vrtion,
Re . -ived, That an attelied copy of the
resolution of the Senate, declaring the e-
of Albert Gallatin to be void, be
tranfimued by the Prefideat of the Senate
to the executive of the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania.
Mefli-j. Bradford, Cabot, Ellfworth,
toiler, Freliughuyfrn, Hawkins, Izard,
King, Liverm:.re, Mitch el, Morris, Potts,
Strong, and Vmiog.
TTwfc who voled in the afLmatn-r,
*
Mr. John Smilie, member of the House
of Reprefcntatives of the United States,
being sworn, faith, that at a meeting of
sundry members of the Legislature qf
Pennsylvania, previous to Mr. Gallatin's
election as a Senator of the United States,
that gentleman was mentioned as a proper
person to fill the said office ; at which time
Mr. Gallatin started some doubt refpeft
ing his being qualified, but in what words
the deponent does not recoiled.
•That the deponent did not understand
upon what the doubt was founded, tho'
he thinks from something said by Mr.
thatit related to Mr. Gallat In's ci
tizen (hip, for as the deponent conceived,the
conversation proceeded from that kind of
modelty which gentlemen usually feel up
on having their names propol'ed upon such
occasions, he did not pay much attention
And that his reason for
this opinion was his having frequently ol>
fenred gentlemen to make excuses in si
milar situations, and from his knowledge
of Mr. Grllatin's modelty of difpofitiori.
—When being allied, whether he ever
heard Mr. Gallatin fay that he had not
been a citizen of the United States, nine
years previous to his election, the depo
nent replies, he never did. Upon being
ed by Lewis, counftl for the petition
ers, what he had ever heard Mr. Gall-tin
fey touching his citizenship, the deponent
f-ephes, that a considerable time subse
quent to Mr. Gallatin's election, Mr.
Gallatin in conversation with the depo
nent exprefled an opinion, that he was
qualified with refpeft to citizenship.—
\\ hat else did you ever hear Mr. Galla
tin fay with refpeft to his citizen/hip ?_
The deponent ar.fwers that he recollects
having heard him fay something with
refpeft to the laws of Massachusetts not
Pelatiah Webster, being duly qualified,
j teftifies, that eleven years ago lail l'ummer,
I let my house in Philadelphia to Mary
Lynn, who proposed to take lodgers, I
reserved apartments for myfelf, and board
ed with her—Soon after Mr. Savery and
Mr. Gallatin took lodgings of her, and
continued a number of months there, Mr.
Savery spoke no Englilh, Mr. Gallatin
fpokc good Eriglifh, and served as inter
preter for him ; they appeared to be well
bred gentlemen and their conduct was a
greeable and conciliating, and they soon
gained the elleem and refpeft of the'family
—I do not know that they ever declared
their country but we all fuppo w \j' they
were French, and of comic the people,
cuftomsand country of Fiance often made
the topic of fire-fide chat In one oi t hese
transient conversations Mr. Ga!!a-:.i took,
occasion to fay that his knowledge of
French affairs was not very p. no foi
he was not a native of France nor had ever
resided long in that country, but was from
Geneva. No one intereftmg circumstance
made any further enquiry necefiarv, nor
do I recollect that he made any more ex
plication of the subject.
N. B. Mr. Gallatin once said that his
original name was not Gallatin, but 1
think he said it was Sydney, but this con
versation was in drollery and not in earnest,
as I conceived at the time of speaking,
from the manner and air of his i peak in p
thereon.
Sworn to and subscribed January 28th
1794.
prepolo!, " A» for my flame It u out of
fie <ju«iiion, I hawc not lx<m a citizeh
long enough, to Entitle me to ferre in that
itation." That at a iecojid meeting for
die fame purpose, Mr. Caßatto was again
propofcd as a proper person for a candi
date, and then the deponent understood
(not from Mr. Gallatin) bilt from some
of the members of aflembly then present;
that the doubt about his citizenlhip was
then put to rights ; and then it was almolt
uuanimoufly agreed to put up Mr. Gal
latin's name. That 011 the morning suc
ceeding Mr. GaUatin'sele&ion, the depon
ent heard it observed, that notwithstanding
Mr. Gallatin's election, he could not take
his feat in confcquence of his declaration
tliat he had not been longVnuugh a citi
zen-. That he the fame day mentioned
this to Mr. Gallatin, who said that he had
made this declaration under a mistaken
idea, that it was necefiary for him to have
been nine years a citizen of Pennsylvania,
but that upon examining the Constitution
he had found that to have been nine years
a citizen of the United States was fuffici
ent, and that he had been above nine years
a citizen of the United States, or words
to that effect.
Sworn to and fubferibed January 2 2d,
179+.
writing afligning realms why he fliould
not adduce evidence on his' part in the pre
fect flage of the enquiry not boimr in the
opinion of the committee fufficiesit.
it appearing that Mr. Gallatin was an
alien in the year 178 c—and his anfweriii
The before recited evidence being in
troduced and clofcd on the part of the
petitioners, Mr. Gallatin was alked whe
ther he had any teilimony to produce on
his part, to which he gave the following
answer in writing, to wit:
" The committee to whom the petition
ot Conrad Laub, &c. was referred, ha
ving informed me that the petitioners had
doled their evidence, and a/kcd me " whe
ther 1 had any teilimony to produce on
my lide, ' I ANSWER, that it appears
to me that there is not fufficient matter
charged in the petition, and proved by the
teilimony to vacate my feat; that by the
icfoiution appointing the committee, the
petition is referred to them to Hate the
ta&s, « without prejudice as to any quef
t'ons which may, upon the hearing, be rai
sed by the fitting member, as to the fuf
ficiency of the parties and the matter
charged in the petition that epon the
hearing, & in the present stage of the fame,
the quellion as to the fufficiency of mat
ter, as above dated, is raised by me ; that
I conceive from the evident conflru&ion
of the resolution, I have a right to have
that question decided by the Senate : that
until the fame /hall have been decidcd, I
do not wilh to be at the trouble and ex
pense of collecting evidence at a great
distance ; and therefore, that at present I
do not mean to produce any teilimony,
reserving, however, to myfelf the right
which I conceive I have to produce any
teilimony in my favor, after the said
question (hall have been decided bv the
Senate, in cafe it is decided against me."
(Signed)
ALBERT GALLATIN.
Which being duly read and coniidered
the committee came to the following re
solution to wit:
Whereas the evidence on the part of
the petitioners having been closed,' and
Mr* Thomas Stokeley being sworn de
pofeth and faith, that some few days be
fore a Senator was chofcn for the State
«f Pennsylvania a meeting was had to fix
on a proper person to represent the state
in that oiiice, sundry perfon® were darted
as candidates, among whom was Mr. Gal
latin, who upon his being named, obser
ved that there were many other perlons
more proper-to fill that office and also ob
served, that there might be doubts as to
his citizen/hip, though the deponent from
the ,ength of time and not expecting to
have been called upon, retains too flight
an impression of what then pafled, to be
able to recollect the words with precision.
i oat at a fubfequerit meeting for the fame
purpose, Mr* Gallatin was finally agreed
to be nominated, and the deponent heard
no objedhon started thereto, either by Mr.
Gallatin (who was prefcnt) or any other
person-
Sworn to and subscribed February ill,
1 794-
relpe&ing his citizenftiip were founded on
this ground, the witneis referring in this
part of his testimony to the meeting be
fore mentioned, when these doubts were
expressed ; but he cannot fpecify the
time o£ Mr. Gallatin's having mentioned*
to him the cireumftance of his having ta
ken the oath of allegiance.
Sworn to and fubferibed January 28th
requiring an oath of il tli e
tin'e of his, opinion as aforcfeio'. D d
you ever hear Mr. Gallatin fay he was
born in Europe ? The deponent replies,
that he dix:3 mrt recollect Mr. Gallatin's
faying tint he was born iji Europe, but
that has heard Mi. Gallatin Ipeak of
himlell as a Genevan, mention his family
in Geneva, and in conversations with him
hath always understood him to be of Ge
neva. Did you ever hear Mr. Gallatin men
tion the time of his coming into Ameri
ca ? He replies, that he thinks Mr. Gal
latin, about a year past mentioned, that
he had been thirteen years in this coun
try, and that he was nineteen years old
when he came. Did you ever hear Mr.
Gallatin lay when or where he took the
oath of allegiance ? He replies, he heard
Mr. Gallatin fay that he took the oath
of allegiance in Virgina, but as to the
time, the deponent cannot be precise, but
he thinks, if he can recollect, that Mr.
Gallatin did mention to him, though he
cannot be certain, that it was not nine
years before he was elected. That the
deponent thinks Mr. Gallatin's doubts
x 794*
But wretchedneis and poverty would
no longer be their lot, If the Spaniards,
in witholding from the people of Ken
tucky and other western settlers, the free
navigation of the Mississippi, did not de
prive them of the natural market for the
produaions of their induilry. A right
they claim, and which they pafiionately
and clamoroully call upon the United
States to vindicate for tliem, with a threat
that jf refufed they will take rtdrefo into
their own hands.
An enlarged fpirrt of patriotism will,
however, not object to any thing while
the objedl is to better th; condition of
men—true ! but is it bettering the condi
tion of any men to take them from fixa
tions where every species of industry it
happily retributed, and turns to its full
account, and to set them down where from
circumstances of locality their faculties and
their labours are so little available, as
that according to, their own complaining
reprefentatioii " wretchedtiefs ar.d poverty
await them."
This proceeding of the state was far
from an adherence to the rule spoken of
the space already occupied by her exiftingf
lettlers, was then of an extent fufficicnt
for local jinifdich'on, for by her own con
sent Kentucky was set apart from her as
a new state—Kentucky ought then, ac
cording to the rule, to have been in the
allotment to the general government.
Injured in the loss of property, Ame
rica fulfained a further and more serious
injury by. this meafurc—inafmuch as it
was an attempt, of bad example, to form
premature settlements of the back lands,
which were necefiarily to lead off great
numbers of inhabitants from the maritime
country, that country which pught to
have been the obje6t of our immediate
hope and" care ! thus proportionably batt
ening its growth or retarding it progress
contrary to all true policy, which
would rather seek to confohdate our po
pulation than to spread it out thinly over
the vast expanse of Western wilderness,
where beyond the waters of the Atlantic
an intere.'l would grow up of its own, aa
wide apart from ours as the two countries
are wide in space.
A partial intereil prevailing over so
equitable a confideiation, and over the
sense of common good, few of the States
made cessions to Congress until they had
cut oti for themselves the nearcft and fair
ell portions, leaving to the Union i'carce
any parts that could in a generation be
brought into life—Such acceflion of pro
perty, in consequence brought, with it
r.ither a burthen than benefit. The in
jured Ifotes remonstrated in vain the
confederation was threatened in its con
summation, and for a time endangered.
One of the states particulaly a (Turned
and fold out the diftrift called Kentucky
for her tT.vti benefit ; which besides put
ting m~mey into her tieafury afforded a
profitable ipeculation to her individualci-
tizcns.
Had the government of the union been
in any respect efficient, such would have
been the event, but it being far otherwifc
it rfcfted upon the States themselves to
make the transfers.
expe&atioD was entertained on the fettling
of our independences, but that State*,
having the indefinite- claims, ihould be al
lowed to take out of them what further
it might be convenient to add, to their
local jurudi&ion, leaving the remainder
to the Union, as a fund towards extin
guifning the national debt incurred by
the war.
The States, then Colonies, confedera
ting in 1775, to aflot their common li
berties, had either definite, or indefinite,
territorial claims.
The whole being Gived and secured by
the ■: ins of the United States, 110 other
The cafe of the People of Kentucky,
in their demand of a tree navigation of
ths river Mifiifippi, through the dominions
of the Spaniards, is but little known or
understood—and dcierve* to be coufider
ed.
Which refolutioji being read ,to Mr.
Gallatin, he iiiformd the committer be
(hould n:ly on the aniwer he had before
given.
R f/ia:J, Tiot in the opinion of the
committee it is now iiicum ent on Mr.
Osllatin to Uiew that lie has become a ci
tizen of the Uiiited Stales ai:d when.
All which is refjieflnilly submitted to
the Honorable Si'ssti*, by the Omixuitc.
For the G.izstts of the Unitsd Stj Tit,
("To be coaiinuid.)