United States oracle and Portsmouth advertiser — Portsmouth, N.H., 1803-03-19 00:00:00, page 1

kicked out, without a struggle ? Was
there not spirit enough in the country
to repel and punish such unheard ofin
folence ? Is not the magnitude of the
interest at Rake, such as tq warrant the
most vigorous and decisive course which
can express public indignation? Go
then, take the guardianship of your
rights upon yourfekes—truft it no
longer to those who have so grossly a
bused the power they have had over it—
Reinstate yourselves in the possession of
that which has been wrested from you,
and withheld by faithlefs men who con
fefithemfelves no longer the owners
'fine country over which they are ex
t^ding thefeaas of injustice and out
rage—Negociation, may, perhaps, be
Y@e, but this is the effectual measure
<,Support it; when it is seen that you
that he had urged the importance of
car rights in the navigation of the Mif
fifippi founded in nature and acknow
ledged by compact :—This was the
great and the only highway of com
merce from the weftern country to the
ocean : —That the Spaniards after a
long execution of this treaty, havp now
flagrantly violated it, and four us out
from all intercourse, and from the right
of deposit :—That they, have plunder
ed our citizens Upon the high seas ;
carried our vefels into their ports and
condemned them without the resem
blance of a trial :~ Our seamen have
been cast into prifon,and our merchants
ruined:—Thus availed upop theccean,
and upon the land by a long course of
oppression and hostility without provo
cation and without apology, he knew
but one course we could take which
promised complete . redress of our
wrongs :—Experience had proved,that
compact was no security ; the Spaniards
either cannot, or will not observe their
treaty. If they are tender the direct
ion of a Granger power who will net
permit them taadhere to their fhpula^
tions ; or if they of their own accord
inflict these indignities under a belief
that we dare not refept them, it was
equally incumbent upon us to a& with
out farther delay. Theaggreffors are
heaping indignity upon . yow at your
own door, at the very borders of your
territory ; and tell you at the fame
tirtie, they have no right to the country
from whence they exclude you—ls
they aft thus without right, why not
enforce yours by taking pdfleffion ? Will
you submit to be taken by the neck and
Mr. R. laid, be would not return to a
repetition of what lie had formerly flat
cd, it would be Sufficient to mention,
WEDNESDAY, FEB 16, lßoj.
A FTER the reading of two or three billion
11 which there was no debate, Mr. Bracken
ridge moved to have the galleries cleared, and
the doors closed, which was done accordingly.
Ar one o'clock, the doors of the Senate were
opened, and in < few minutes afterwards
Mr. Pdfs rofc and said, That two days ago
he had the honor of stating sortie of his opinions
to the Senate r^'peding thealarming condition
of our affairs upon the Miffifippi : That in a
very interesting parr ol his inquiry he had been
called to order : That the Vice-Prcfident had
expressly determined him to have been in order,
and also declared that there was no confidential
information before the Senate relating to the
late aggressions upon our rights in the Miffifippi:
Yet notwithtianding this declarations the Vic
e as explicit as it was correct, Mr. R.
said, the doors were actually ciofed, and all fur
ther public difeuffion at that time prohibited.
Yetterday the doors were again clos
ed.— He said it would be wbll recollect
ed, that when this extraordinary mea
sure was resorted to, he had.given no
tice that he would not proceed further
in the difeuffion, while the doors,were
Shut, and that he wopU/cUroc I: when
ever they Should, be "opened. 1 From
that time to the prefers he had' remain
ed Silent ; but now, when a majority of
the Senate had resolved that this difeuf
fion should be public, he would proceed
to finilli the remarks.he had intended
to make, and then offer his refohrtions.
Tie could not, however, avoid expres
sing his acknowledgments to the ma
jority of that body, who had' decided
that this debate Should be public, far
although feme gentlemen might be de
sirous to Rifle, and smother in fecrefy,
an inquiry like the present, he firmly
believed that there would always be
firmnefs and independence enough in
that house to meet inpublic the investi
gation of, every fubjeß proper for pub
lic deliberations
. *
©nites ^tate^ ®tattefo
Portsmouth Advertiser.
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. Printed and Published every Saturday Morning, by Will'm & Dan'l. Treadwell.
• . . fffiOH#, raft • —• —
701. XIII.] SATURDAY, March 19,1803. Price OBE dollar and fifty cents per ann. [N0.23
Or ALL THE DISPOSITION 3A^ HA^TS „ !C J LEAD TO POLITICAL) f^ADVERTISEMENTS r toQ a^ftifo, foM-CoMMO
PROSPERITY, RELIGION 0 MORALITY are indispensable} 1 nications duly attended to-and every Favor thankfully acknowl
supports. WASHINGTON'S Legacy. ) ( edged.
Mr. Ross' Speech.
[concluded.]
In tie Senate of the United States.
It may be said that the Executive is
pursuing another and a very different
course. The Executive will certainly
pursue the course designated by the Le
gislature. To the Congress has been
confided the power of deciding what
flrall be done in all cases of hostility by
foreign powers. There can be no doubt
that, by the law of nature and nations,
We kre clearly authorized to employ
force for bur redress, in such a case as
this :—That we have a just right to
take such measures as will prevent a
repetition of the mifehief, and afford
ample security for the future quiet en
joyment "of the violated right. If we
leave it entirely to the Executive he can
only employ negociation as being the
folb means in his power. If the right
be not abandoned, what is to be done ?
I know, said Mr. R. that some gentle
men think that there is a mode of ac
complishing our object, of which, by a
most extraordinary proceeding, I am
, forbidden to speak in this house ; I will
not, therefore, touch it : But I will ask
honorable gentlemen,- especially those
from the weftern country, what will
they fry, bn their return home, to a
people pressed by the heavy hand of this
calamity — -when they enquire—What
has been done ? .What are our hopes>
How long will this pbßru&ibn continue?
Xou answer—We have provided a rem
edy, but it is-a secret ! ! !—We were
not allowed to speak of it there, much;
less here—lt was only committed to
confidential men in whispers, with clos
ed doors ; but, by and by, you will fee
it typerate like enchantment—lt is a
sovereign balsam which will heal your
wounded honor—lt is a potent spell, or
a kind of patent, medicine, which will
extinguish and forever put at test the
devouring spirit which has desolated so
many nations of Europe.—You never
can know exadly what it is—nor Can
we tell you precisely the time it will be
gin to operate —But operate it certain
ly will, and effectually too ! ! !—You
wilbfee Grange things by and by—Wait
patiently, and place full faith in ns, for
we cannot be mistaken.
This idle tale may amuse children-—
But the men of that csWOf will not
have determined to support your just
demands with force—that you have al
ready taken into your hands an ample
security for future security and good
behaviour, your ambafTador will be re
fpeded and attended to. But what
weight will his remonstrances have in
any country of Europe, when they hear
of no military preparations to vindicate
your preventions ; when theyltaru that
you have been chafed out of a possession
confeffedly four right ; that your have
been insultingly told, begone, you (hall
not buy, you Shall not fell, you are
such a nuisance we will have no inter
course with you !
. Where is the nation, ancient or mod
ern, that has borne such treatment with
out refentrcent or refinance ? Where is
the nation that will tefped another that
is passive under such humiliating de
gradation and disgrace ? Your outlet to
market closed—-next they will trample
you under foot upon your own territo
ry which borders upon theirs ! ! !—Yet
you will not stir, you will not arm a
Single man ; you will negotiate ! ! I —
Negociation alone under such cireum-
Rances must be hopeless, —-No—Go
forward, remove the aggressors, clear
away the obdrudions, restore yenr pos
session with your own hand,and tfe your
sword, if refinance be offered :—Call
upon those who are most injured to re
dress themselves ; you have only to
give the Call, you have men enough near
to the feene, without fending a man
from this fide the mountains ; force
fufficient, and more than fufficient, for
a prompt execution of your orders.—
If money be an object, one half of the
money which would be confirmed and
left by delay and negociation, would
put you in polfeCion.—Then you may
negociate whether you shall abandon it
and go out again. t-
You may also them negociate as to
compensations for the spoliations upon
your trade.——You will have ample
funds in your own hands to pay your
merchants, if the Spaniards continue
their refusal to pay. You will have
lands to give which they will readily
accept, and afUil in defending." In this
way they may all be indemnified ; by
negociation there is little hope that they
ever will.'"
yf London paper of Dee, 20, 180%, \fo, — Gen
Montricbard, TVho neasfeut to take the command of
the French troop/ in Holland, acquainted the Dutch
Government nvitb bis orders, and added, that bef,aid
fx bis bead-quarters at the Hague, where he ftouki
bring a bod, of French troops a, a garrison. This ex
cited much far,rife, for it was fappofed that the
Dutch were to be rclirrrdfrom the burthen of afd*
re l n force. The Government fgnifed that the,
could not recognize him as Commander in Chief, —
and it is said have also declared to the French Gov
ernment their refection not to continue paying those
facops after th end of this @tb.=[We do not
know how this will let upon the ftomacb of the
Firfl Con&l. The French have hot been used
to such suffers in Holland—Cc^.,
she Sfomiards have fuddenl, warned the British
feltlers in the Buy if Honduras, and tbe other parts
adj scent, to quit their settlements immediately —adding
that hut little time will be granted for this order to
be carried mid full effia,
I fay also let us go and redress ocr
felves, you will not have the whole na
tion with you. On no qadtion fir.ee
the declaration of indeptr --nce has the
nation been so unanimous as upon this.
We have at diffident times fuffcred
great indignity and outrages from dif
ferent European powers I but none so
palpable, so inexcufeble, so provoking,
or of such magnitude in their conse
quences as this. Upon none has public
opinion united so generally as this. It
is true Ive have a lamentable divifian
of political opinion among us,which has
produced much mifehief, and may pro
duce much greater than any we have yet
felt. On this Cueftion party Spirit ought
to fink and disappear. My opinions
are well known, and are not likely to
change.—But I candidly, and with all
possible sincerity, declare my conviction
to be clear that there will not be a dis
senting voice in the Weftern Country,
if this course be taken : — That so far as
my own abilities go, they (hall be exert
ed to the utmost to support it ; and I
know that my friends on this floor with
whom I have long thought and afted,
have too high a regard for the national
honor, and the belt interests of their
country tc hesitate a moment in giving
the fame pledge of their honest deter
mination to support and render these
measures effectual if taken : —call them
ours, if you please, we take the respon
sibility, and leave the execution of them
with you.—-For as to myfelf or my
friends, no agency is wished except that
of uniting with you in rousing the spirit,
and calling out the resources of the
country to protea itfelf against serious
aggression, and the total fubje&icn and
loss of the Weftern Country.
If you pursue this advice, and act
promptly and boldly upon it ; if you
take possession, and prepare tn maintain
it ; from the very unanimity displayed
you will have no war—you will meet
no resistance. Indeed, a war may be
said to be already begun, for hostility
of the worst kind on one fide has been
long in practice upon us, and our retal
iation or resistance will be juftified on
every principle which has governed the
conduct of nations. If the Spaniards
resist you in taking possession of what
by treaty they have acknowledged to
be yours, and what.they now conicfs
does not belong to them—the war cer
tainly begins with them. Under .all
these circumstances, with these offers
of support, could gentlemen doubt,—
could they venture to cry peace, peace,
when there was no peace, beca sword!
Mr. R. entreated' genflemQtrf view
and consider his propose factions
with candor. He declared;his inten
tions to be foUly the attainment of an
object, the loss of which Would destroy,
the country whereEe resided, and haz
ard -the union itfelf^ ' If gentlemen
thought the propoled means inadequate,
he would agree tn enlarge them with
cheerfulnefs ; ail that hewrffied was,that
effectual means be voted and employed
in this golden moment, which if loft
never would return.
• He said he would delay the Senate
no longer than to present his resolutions,
and give notice that be would move to
have them printed and made the order
of the day for some future day. For,
as gentlemen had confuted that this
bunnefs should be no longer a secret,
they would now become the fubjed of
ample and able difeuffion.
'He then read the resolutions.—[Ser
Oracle of March 5.J
befatisfied —They will r ell you that they
expeded better things of you, that their
confidence has been misplaced, and they
will not wait the operation of your new
ly invented drugs ; they will go and
redress themselves.
brom the Charleston (s.c.) Courier.
To the Ele^rs of the United Dfrift o,
Beatfort, Orangeburg, and Barnwell.
-Friends & Fellow Citizens,
11 will be in the recoiledion of many
of you, that I had expressed an in
tention co retire from public life, prior
to the last eteaior of Members of Con
gress, but that I was over-ruled oy the
persuasions of many refpe&able perfdns
of your diftrifts. It is alfc in your
knowledge, that having yielded up my
own inclinations and interests, to the
wilhes ofmy constituents, I was re-cleft
ed to a feat in Congress, in a manner
flattering to my feelings. The period
has again arrived when I am to decide
whether I Shall be a candidate for your
fuffrages, or withdraw from the public
service. I have weighed the question
maturely, and I have resolved to retire.
Ihe kind confidence which you have
been pleated to repose in me, evidenced
by repeated elections, entitles you to
be informed of tlre reasons of my reso
lution.
They are rounded on considerations
in part personal, and in part ofa public
nature.
My private affairs having Suffered by
the almoli entire devotion of my time,
for the latt fix years, to my public du
ties,now require my attention at home ;
more especially lince the venerable
friends who heretofore took cliarge of
them in my absence, have been torn
from me by death.
I trust I thill always be prepared to
make Sacrifices to the public welfare ;
yet I do not perceive that the Sacrifice
of my private interests; would produce
at this period, any equivalent public
good. And I feel myfelf more at lib
erty to pursue my own inclinations Since
by the new modification of the election
districts, the dillrift which I have had
thehonor to represent are separated from
each other, and yoked to others with
which I have never had any political
connexion.' . *I
The considerations or a public na
ture which have guided my judgment
are numerous and powerful, and natur
ally had to a large retrofpea. . The
fubje& is copious, but I will treat it
briefly.
The termination of the war with
Great Britain left these United States
in,an exhausted condition. Great debts
had been contrasted by Cengtefs, and
by the several States, and there existed/
no means of paying or providing for'
them ; public credit was totally at an'
end. Individuals were equally exhaust
ed, and equally destitute of credit.- The
States without an efficacious head,
crumbling in their weakness, and urg
ed by the wants and diftreSles of their
citizens, resorted to instalment and
tender laws, to paper money, and other
expedients, which aggravated the evils
under which they laboured. The most
gloomy apprehensions began to be en
tertained for the fate of the country,
the eminent men who had planned and
effected the revolution were alarmed,at
this apparent issue of their toils and
fufferings ; they felt that there exited
an imperious neceflity to provide a rem
edy for these evils. A convention of
the States was called ; it was filled
with great and virtuous men. They
soon difeovered that a national head
was wanting ; ;and that nothing Short
of the formation of an efficient general
government could restore the country
to a found State. They therefore form
ed a constitution or frame of govern
ment, on new principles, combining
the advantages ofa confederated re
public with those of a national govern
ment. It was adopted in the State
Conventions, and went into operation
in 1789, under President Washington.
The firft care of the new government
was ta provide for the liquidation of
the public debt, and the puu&nal pafq
ment of the interest of it ; to restore
public credit, and to 'Retire the found
administration ofjufrice? The success
bf the measures then devised, and Since
purfued,has been complete : the nation
advanced with gigantic steps from pov
erty, distress, weakness and degreda
tion, to wealth, character and great
ness. In the mean time a war Stole
out in Europe, unprecedented in its
nature, extent and effects. It was the
interest of the American nation, and
the duty of its government to avoid be
ing drawn into die war, and to enjoy
the advantages of its neutral position.
France desired, and'Great Britain ap
/ prehended that the United States would
become a party in the war ; and no in
trigues were spared by the form er to
Seduce or to force them into it
^lndeed, both the belligerents abused
their rights and their power, and the
r enormous spoliations committed by
j both or. the American commerce,made
jit difficult to pronounce which of them
s ;wzs most i- mical to America, or with
' which Pie Should be firft compelled to
' wage war: the chief difference between
- them confided in this, that the French
fuperadded insult to injury
This date of things demanded the
exerCife of the greatest caution, mixed
- with Hrmnefs, by the American govern,
ment. The difficulties and the varied
-hostile appearances which threatened
1 our peace ; the Struggles and the ul&i
--• mate success which crowned the labors
;of the adminftrations of Presidents
1 Washington and Adams are known &
> felt by us all. Our nation alone, of all
• civilized nations, conneded with France
and Great Britain by commercail ties,
>efcaped the Storm ; and by the wisdom
: of the government enjoyed, in troubled
times, the immense advantage of &
r great neutral commerce, which enrich
'ed our people, and extended the na
tional resources During the whole
; course of things thus summarily bro'c
: to your recollection, there existed a
I marked opposition to every important
I meafure which has been Rated. The
adoption of the federal constitution :
} was refilled with a violence and to a de
>gree which endangered it. Many vi
tionary men who acknowledged the im
becility of the old confederation, were
; et afraid to trust any government with
the powers delegated by the new con
dilution. In general, however, the
Small States had the discernment to per
ceive that it was deeply their interested
adopt the constitution ; they were weak
without it; they would be Strong with
it. Os this they Were sensible, and ac
cepted the instrument by great majori
ties in their State conventions. The case
was far different in the great Rates : the
pride of date Sovereignty would be hum
bled by a fiiperintend^g & controuling
general government. Nor could the,
brook the equal reptdentation in the
Senate of the United States, which made
Delaware as important as Viginia,New-
f Jerfey as Pennsylvania, Connecticut as
New-York—Many of the eminent men
who guided the councils of the great:
Rates were galled at the reduction of
their authority, and excited a fierce op
position to the adoption of the inftru
• ment which was to produce these es
, fedrs ; nor was it adopted in Virginia,
New-York and Pennsylvania without
^mighty Struggles, and by very small
^majorities in the two former. The
"igood which has been obtained by the
{adoption, is on record. The evils a
avoided are incalculable.
j Irritated by defeat, those who had
(opposed the acceptance of the confti
{tution, aided by by feme others, who,
: friendly in the firft instance to that in
-I,ftrument,had,ftrument,had been disappointed in their
I personal expectations, formed a fyfte-
{ matic opposition to the administration
'of it. The assumption of the debts of
the Rates incurred in the general de
fence, which saved several of them
from bankruptcy ; tire funding the na
: tional debt, which revived public cred
it ; the eftablifhmerit of a national
bank, which gave facilities to govern
• ment and to commerce, before unexpe
^ rienced, were all refitted."
When the French revolution broke
lout, and a general war in Europe com
■ pelled the American government to
: decide what conduct it would pursue.
I President Washington, whose penetrat
.mg judgment quickly difeerned the
1 true path of found policy, issued his
f proclamation of neutrality-, 'recalling
jibe minds of the citizens to a due at*
rhention te the duties of affair heutralid
ty. : This wife measure firmly adhered
, to, preserved our nation from rafil,
{engaging in the war. No man of sense
{Will now deny this; : Yer, at that time,
- it was reprehended in the wildest terror
-of reproach. • An aGociaiion with the
^deftiaibs of France was the great ob
jje& of democratic desires ; and the
; government was Slandered, and almost
: Shoken, for daring to negotiate with
I Great Britain, and to terminate th#
- differences with that nation by treaty^
F ln the pro^fi of the war, the French#