The United States oracle of the day — Portsmouth, N.H., 1801-08-22 00:00:00, page 2

ciplioe.
All the civil and military authorities encofume
had met at the government house. About fix
they fee off for the place of ceremony, where
they arrived in the following order :
The Commission of Commerce,
The AJminiftration of Marine,
The Municipality,
The Tribunal of Commerce,
The Tribunal of Peace,
The Civil Tribunals,
The Central Assembly,
The General in Chief accompanied by the
two Generals commanding the. Department and
arrondiffement; then followed the non com
missioned Military officers, &c. Being arrived
on the square, the civil and military authorities
placed themselves in a circle round a tribune
which had been elevated, in order that the pro
mulgatiou of the Confutation might be done
with more solemnity, and that every body might
hear more drliu% the orator who was charg
ed to announce it.
The croud was immeufe. The inffitutors &
their nupiis were Rationed in the center of the
fqcare near the authorities. There existed the
moss profound filerce, and every one waited
with impatience for the reading of a workwhich
is to fix the deflinies of St. Domingo.
At that moment, citizen Borgclla, President
of the Central Assembly, appeared at the tri
bune, and previu- to the reading of the Con
stitution he delivered a very eloquttt difeourfe,
which we here give entire, as follows :
“ French - 'ocifs, and you brave soldiers,
“ For a long time St. Domingo aspired to
the" unappreciable happiness of having a local
Constitution.
“ Fa&ions which have fuccecded each other
in the government of the metropolis, and in
propagating their subversive principles in this
distant Island, had smothered the just-reclama
tions of its unfortunate inhalritants ; liad de
graded them of the dignity of freemen ; had
even ravished from them that precious rapture
of those noble sentiments which elevate and
dignify the foul, and had forced them to receive
the Law, which they had neither made nor con
fenced to.
“ The French Colonies." Gid the constitu
tion of the year 3 (Ait. 6) “ are integral parts
of the Republic, and are fubje&ed to the fame
constitutional law."
Thus by the most terrible fatality, the defti
,ties of St. Domingo have been associated with
those of the Metropolis.
It is thus that the spirit of Party, which de
solated France, has spread its ramifications thro'
the immensity of the seas, and has made St.
Domingo bend under the enormous weight of
its perverse influence.
This dreadful posture, this Rate of dissolution
could it last ? No—lt was reserved to a re-edi
y, asking a favour of Touifunt.
iVhat is it ? To restore 12 of the prin
cipal planters to their eft'ates. Touffaint
jeireJ they might be font to his care.
Thev were so. He clapped them in
91 ifon.
Some days afterwards, he had them
brought into a church, before a, large
body of his fellow blacks; and he
mounted the pulpit to preach a sermon
—for his prowess at arms is but a Imall
part of his distinction. Here he enforc
ed the virtue of forgivenefs to the re
pentant, faying, "We were for a while
Spaniards,(the blacks fled to theSpanilh
for protection in the beginning ol the
troubles) but we are milled. We were
born Frenchmen, and now we are
Frenchmen a^ain. These twelve men
have also been milled. They were
born Frenchmen. For a time they
have been British ; but now they have
returned, and are Frenchmen again.
Let us embrace." Here Touffaint em
braced them, and reconciled his follow
ers.—He restored them to their estates,
and gave them negroes as Servants.
It would be the disposition of a lit
tle mind in rouffaint's Situation, to
hate and persecute the whites ; but he
knows well, that the island cannot
flourish without them, that they are
necefiry to cultivation and good gov
ernment, to the commerce and proffer
rity of the place. Therefore, his chief
aim is to restore the planters, and re
vive the trade. He fears that France
will one day endeavour to puniSh him
as a rebel ; but this, France will never
be able to accomplish. Houdeville,
the French commissioner, is a fool and
a person of no influence: Touffaint
disregards him ; but all Touffaint's
a&s are in the name of the French Re
public, for which alone he pretends to
ad; and his utmost wifli is, that the
Direftory would name him their gene
ral. TotiOaint is anxious to find a
market for the produce of the island ;
and there is an understanding, as if a
treaty had been concluded. Col. Grant
is appointed our agent in St. Domingo.
His ostensible business is, so fettle feme
points about the evacuation of the inl
and ; but his real business is to edab
lifh a trade, by which the whole pro
duce of St. Domingo will be brought to
Jamaica.
From the Official Bulletin.
PROMULGATION OF THE COL
ONIAL CONSTITUTg)N.
Care-Francois, 19 Meffidor rfjuly B.]
fX OVERNMENT had announced a lew
I, days ago, in a hand-bill distributed to the
public funaiouaries of this commune, that the
Central Afl>r%y had fixed upon the 18th of
this month (,th July) to proclaim the Colonial
Confikunou; and, to render this Ceremony as
maj^ flic as important, the General had himfelf
made the arrangements. In conference of his
orders, the celebration of the day was announced
at three in the morning in all the fusions of
the town, by beat of drum, and bands of music
intermixing alternately their melodious found to
those of the iuftruments which war seems to
have adopted to announce its furies.
At five the whole troop of the line and the
National guard were assembled on the public
square. They presented the bell order and dis-
IN IELLIGENCE
FROM ST. DOMINGO.
You have been awakened by the art. 91. —
The wane of laws has made itfeff be heard in
stantly ; and you have manifefted your wiSh to
the General who governs this colony, to the
General who so many times has preserved it
when on thb brink of a precipice, and who has
defended it with so much fucccfs against the en
terprize of the enemies of the French name, and
against the influence of all the factions. Ah !
How could you not but be heard by him who
confcerates all the moments of his life to heal
the deep wounds, done to the colony; and
to Spread on you a consolatory balm !
Toffaint Louverturc, that extraordinary man,
whose great anions commanded your admira
tion and your acknowledgments,has raised him
felf, like a phoenix from the aftics,and has whol
ly devoted himfelf to the defence of your coun
try, of your perfens, and of your properties.
Amidil the convulsive movements of anarchy
he has had the generosity, the courage to take
charge of the reins of an abandoned colony,
without any other defence than those which
nature has given to it, and deprived of all the
means which culture and commerce mfure.
From that moment, in Short, jufticc has (hone
for you. The powerful and generous nation
of which you have the taste and character, and
of which you make a part, has broken the dis
graceful irons which the Spirit of party and an
archy had combined to give you.
She has acknowledged the rights which ysu
hold from nature. Henceforth you will not be
exposed to these terrible commotions to these
violent Shocks, to these tempeftueUs politics,
which originate from the execution of laws,
made without interest, far from you, & which
could hot suit cither your manners, your usages
or the climate vou inhabit.
He has, you know, made rhe French name
refpe&ed, by causing its flag to be hoified every
where; he has known how to fill your ports
with provifioiis ; he has visited your plantations
invited commerce, repaired your cities, & dif
cinhned the troops.
He has even done more ; he has conquered
invetet ate prejudices ; hehas a@opg you,ftrength
ened the ties of the most tender fraternity ; those
ties which the old colonial system had so inhu
manly reprobated, and which anarchy,to main
tain its odious empire, made it a barbarous
jest to tighten or break at pleasure.
The proclamation of the General in Chief,
who has convoked your fele&men together,
proves to what a degree he wishes for your
welfare; he announces to you that the time of con
vulsion is pas ; be demonstrates the necessity of
giving you laws of convenience; & adopting this
constant maxim, that laws are conventions es
tablished by men, to conform themselves to,
for the regulation of the order of society. He
makes you cone live that it is with them as it
is with the productions of the earth, that eve
ry country has its manners, its statutes, as well
as its appropriate fruits.
From these principles, an affamblv of inhab
itants has received from you the important talk
to lay down the constitutional basis of the inte
rior regimen of this colony ; and, faithful to
the metropolis, the General, who has authorised
the convocation of this aflhmbly, has proclaim
ed that this constitutional baftsfa!l be fabmitted
to the /antlion of (be French Government.
But it was the duty of your felcdmen to in
terpret favourably the too long fileuce of the
metropolis; to confider its diflance, and the
Rate of welfare in which (he finds herfelf, they
could not but be frightened at the absence of
the laws, and in that immiucut danger, it was
their duty, through love to you and attach
ment to France to dissipate all disquietude.
They remembered that the Salvation of all is
the supreme Law; and they have thought pro
per to invite the General who watches over the
deflinies of St. Domingo, to cause the basis of
the Legislation which they have laid out, to be
put in execution immediately.
But this new Constitution—has it been made
for you, infalars, who inhabit a region so far
distant and so different from the Metropolis ?—
Your representatives, like those of the other
French departments, have they concurred or
participated in it? No.
Wisdom, and all the Virtues, her companions,
who have prefixed at the digestion of that con
ftirutional adl, have therein consecrated your
rights, and stipulated your interests, by pro
claiming that it was not made for you, that you
would be submitted to (he empire of peculiar
laws.
fying genius speedily to fix the fate of the repub
lic. In effect, Buonaparte flies from the con
fines of Egypt into the^eart of France, and on
a sudden the factions disappear : asocial order
fuecceds co the convutfions of anarchy. Ihe re
public relishes the sweets of peace within, and
prepares itfelf to reap the fruits of it without.
A New Constitution is laid ; it is disengaged
of that multiplicity of wheelwork which run
foul of each other, and which give rife to pop
ular cabals, diversity of opinions, and public ca
lamities.
To day thi^bafis is offered to ycu, Your
welfare, pre&rand to come, has constantly oc
cupied your mrCnlen; they have endeavored
to render it durables May they not have been
mistaken !
French Colonies, and you, brave soldiers,
Never forget that it is time and experience
only that can consolidate human institutions.
Rally yourfelvcs round the family compact which
is now presented to you ; your ft seamen depos
it it in your bosom, as the Palladium of your
liberty civil and politic, and as a pledge of their
affection for ycu and of their devotion to the re
public. —
A NEW REPUBLIC.
[The new Conftitutiori of the colony of St. Do
mingo was promulgated at Cepe Francois,on
the Bth of July. General Touffaint, who
has been invested with the authorities of
Governor, under the new order of things on
being picftiited with a copy of the Constitu
tion, addressed the inhabitants ns follows:
Liberty. Equality.
FRENCH REPUBLIC.
People of Sts Domingo,
THE Colonial Constitution for this
important island, has just been handed
to me by the Central Assembly, com
posed of Legislators who, in virtue of
my proclamation of the 1 6th Pluvoife
last, have met to establish laws which
are to regulate and govern us.
I have read that law with attention ;
and persuaded that it will insure the
welfare of my fellow-citizens, being
founded on good morals, on localities,
and principally on religion,! approve it.
But when I confider that I am charg
ed with the execution of theie Consti
tutional Laws, I fee that my talk is
more difficult than that of the legifla
Thanks be given tothe newFrenchConftitution!
French Colorrifts,
To the President of the United States
of America.
THpetition of the Makers, and Supercar
goes of American vefels in the part 0/
Barcelona, the 15th May, 1801.
HUMBLY SHEWETH,
THAT your petitioners came into
the Mediterranean tea, in the pursuit of
a lawful commerce, and a just reliance
on the faith of exiting treaties, for pro
tection against any depredation that
might be attempted on them; it is
with pain they have therefore now to
represent the adual situation in which
they are placed by the Bafhaw of Tri
poli having declared war against the
American flag. They forbear intrud
ing on you, by dilating on the unhappy
confequei.ces that usually result from a
.rupture with a Barbary State. Sensi
ble of the exquisite feelings which are
yet alive to the fufferings of our fellow
citizens, when under that word of hu
man degradation, Slavery, a repetition
of which is now threatened, and may in
all probability be at this moment felt
by many of our wnfufpeded countrymen
who would not he apprised of danger.
Your petitioners look to their govern
ment for aid and protection, against
the ruthless hands of a barbarous ene
,my, to whose tyrannic grasp, upwards
of three hundred citizens of the United
States (now waiting to return to their
families and friends would be expofej
if they attempted to leave this port ;
they therefore solicit your prompt at
tention to their situation, that Ships of
war may be sent to this place, to pro
test them in this hour of danger and
calamity. And your petitioners, as in
duty bound, will ever pray.
(Signed by 23 American makers.)
tors has been. Nevertheless I announce
that however vail and spacious this un
dertaking may be I will do my belt to
go through with it.
O you, my fellow-citizens, of every
age, of every station, and of every co
lour, you are free ; and the Constitu
tion, which is this day remitted to me,
is to render that liberty eternal.
Let us, in the fojl place, proflrate our
selves before the Creator of the Universe, to
thank Himfor a blef^gfo precious.
It is my duty to Speak to you in the
language of truth. This Conftitation
allures to every individual the enjoy
ment of his rights ; it requires of eve
ry citizen the practice of the virtues,
as it calls within our climate the reign
of good morals, and the Divine Reli
gion o/Jrsus Christ.
Therefore, then,the Magi flrates serve
as an example to the people of whom
you are to consider yourfelvcs as the
Fathers and the Defenders. Let Pro
bity and Rightcufaef guide your ac
tions and dictate your feniiments. You
will secure to yourselves the esteem of
your fellow-citizens ; it is the sweetest
consolation which a man in office can
desire.,
Brave Military Men ; Generals, Of
ficers, Subalterns, and Soldiers ! Ob
serve discipline and Subordination,
give activity to culture, be obedient to
yaur Chiefs : defend and maintain the
Constitution agair.il foreign and do
mestic enemies who might endeavour
to injure it. Let your motto always
be, Bravery, and your guide Honor ; —
you will deserve well of the Country.
Cultivators ! avoid indolence, it is the mo
ther of vices. Guard principally against the fe
du&ions of men as ill-intentioned as malevolent.
You will at all times find in me, as well as in
the generals my representatives, the Repreffors
of injustice and abuses.
Indn&rious inhabitants of the towns ! Be
submissive to the laws ; they will not cease to
be your protection and your aegis.
People Magistrates, andScldiers ! 1 lay before
you your duties and mine. For me, I promise,
in the face of heaven, to do whatever will
depend on me, by the permission of God, to pre
serve union, peace, amt public tranquility, and
consequently the happiness of my fellow citi
zens. I promise to execute what is prescribed to
me by the Constitution. Swear to me in like
manner, before the Supreme Being, that you
will submit yourfe'vas to those laws which
are to ensure your happiness and consolidate
your liberty.
Citizens! I inform you that the law is the
compass of every citizen ; that when it speaks
they mud yield obedience. The civil and mili
tary authorities are to be the firfl to submit to
them, and give thereby an example to the people.
Follow from point to point the Conffitution
which the Central and Legislative Assembly
of St. Domingo have just preferred to you : and
may the sublime principles it has just confecrat
cd, remain eternally engraven upon your hearts.
At. alltimes, my dear fellow citizens and
friends, my desire, my wish, and my ambition,
confided in finding and preparing the means to
render you fee and happy, if 1 can attain an
object dear to my heart, I faall rm regret life,
and 1 Gall go without any remorse to render an
account of my adieus to the Almighty God, the
Sovereign Author of all things.
live forever the French Republic, and the Colo
nial Confutation !
The General in Chief,
(Signed) TOUSSAINT LOUVERTURE
"-TheTateTir John Barber, whole
virtues are too indelibly written in the
hearts of honed men ever to be erased,
had a son, whose resemblance to his fa
ther was very faint. In a course of
extravagance, he had tired himfelf of
this kingdom, and said, he wiihed for
nothing more than an opportunity of
feeing the world. Sir John listened to
him with great attention, and then re
plied, " Indeed Jack, 1 foould not have
the lead objection to your travelling,
and feeing the world, provided the
world could not fee ycu," [Lond.pap.
SAmuel Smith, is a member of Con
gress, and at the fame time difeharges
the duties of the Secretary ©f the Navy.'
Nancy Dawson is a member of Con
gress, and at the fame time Envoy to
France. The incompatibility of all this
is not seen by the democrats of Virgin
ia—there is now an end to their re
publican jealousy ; for Mr. Jefferfon
is President, and " the King can do no
wrong." A correspondent from WaSh
ington fays, the Ships there are in a moll
miserable situation. They are all fall
in the mud—every ebb tide leaves them
18 inches—in going up the river they
frequently grounded, which very much
injured their Sheathing, the guns have
been mostly taken out of the Ihips, and
are not painted and hoofed, but lying
in the mud—the gun carriages are also
exposed to the weather and lay on the
ground with their wheels funk and
rotting fall. If our ships were wanted
at Washington, to fire the salutes and
do “ hostage" to the President on gala
days, or as a shew to the Virginia De
mocrats, it is a pity some of our infe
rior ships were not carried up for those
important services. Sending our fineft
ships, such as the United States, Con
stellation, and others, hundreds of miles
from the sea, to rot in the Virginia wa
ters, is, to be fare, a very certain way
of getting rid of our Navy. Had the
ships, as they arrived from their respec
tive cruises, been immediately ordered
into eastern harbors, where the water is
deep and cool, they would have been
in perfect fafety, and no expense incur
red—but by fending them into a frefh
water river, and in a hot climate they
will decay moll rapidly :—The expense
too of getting them there has been
monstrous. The Ihip John Adams re
turned to Charleston after a year's
cruize, and (the treaty having arrived
with Gen. Davie) the was dismantled
and laid up. The whimsical projed
of getting our frigates into a creek at
the head of the Potomac, made it ne
celfary to have the John Adamr com
pletely rigged, fitted for sea, victualled,
manned, and sent round, at the expense
of 20,000- dollars, to lay on Shore at
the head of the Potomac. The Gen.
Green, which lay dismantled at New
port (one of our fineft harbors) was
also rigged, fitted for a cruize, and sent
at a great expense to rot in the Virginia
waters—the other ships which were
sent to this grave, went there at an e
qually expensive rate.
[Conefficut Courant.]
PHILADELPHIA, AUG. Ifr
Entr^a of a letter from New-York, Aug. I itb, to
a ref/caablefGufe in this city.
"A . —
£ I Rrrived yesterday Capt. Jercovick,
of the pollacre Benevenuto, chartered
by the American Consul at Tunis to
carry dispatches for government. The
Consul told the Captain that the Bey
of Tripoli asks from the American
government 500,000 dollars for the
present, and 400,000 dollars for every
eufuing year."
0
SYMPTOMS of REVOLT. 1
CARLISLE, (Penn.) august 5.
Extrafl of a letter from a Gentleman in Meadville,
dated July l&b, to bis friend in this place.
"Tlie only thing of consequence
here, is, that there appears to be in the
people of this country, every disposition
to rife in open rebellion against the laws.
Some time since, anonymous letters
were dropt in certain houses, polled up
in stables, and found in the streets, con
taining threats and menaces against a
number of people of this place, as well
the decent part of the Democrats, as
the Federalists, by which some are or
dered to leave the country, others are
threatened with the Guillotine, and
others with hanging ! They gave no
tice to a Mr. Gibson of this place if Ire
would not turn off a Mr. Foster, an at
torney, that he would destroy his prop
erty, and two nights ago they put
their threats in execution by burning
his stable. The night was very calm
and no other damage was done, but
had the wind arose, his whole property
would certainly have been destroyed ;
the incendiaries escaped undiscovered.
They appear to have a particular aver
sion to Dr. Kennedy, our Prothonotary,
who is much of a gentleman because he
puts good men on struck Juries, which
is, what of all other things they most
deleft, because then truth and justice
prevail over wickedness and Jacobiniim.
There is a secret association in this
country, in which they are bound to
each other by an oath to oppose the law
by force. I Shall fee much surprised if
there is not an i&irredion soon ; we
have every reason to believe those vil
lains are countenanced by some people
below."
0
NEWYORK, AUG. 12.
His Excellency Charles Pinckney, Esq. Min,
ifter Plenipotentiary from the United States to
the court of Madrid, failed from Charlcfton
on the 25th uln
Accounts at Havanna, received at
Charleston, (S.C.) Rate, that the Min
ister of Marine at that port had been
arreiled at midnight, Seals put on his
papers, & himfelf closely confined in the
By the last Mails.
COMMUNICATION.
This event occasioned feme dismay,
as many thought it ominous of the
fpecdy fall of their party.
0
Contrafl.
Mr. Jay came into office in July, 1795.
A Federal Republican Council then
existed. Mr. Jay found the office of a
Secretary, an Attorney General,and an
Auditor who then Supplied the place
of a Comptroller, all bit decided opponents.
Neither of them were removed. The
Auditoi and Secretary died in their of
fices—The Attorney-General resigned.
Governor Clinton has been about
fix weeks in office.—De Witt Clinton,
Ambrose Spencer and Robert Role
boom are his Council.—The Attorney
General, the Comptroller and the Sec
retary are opposed in politics to those
gentlemen. —The Secretary and Comp
troller are already facrificed—The fate
of the Attorney General may be delay
ed, but is equally certain.
o
De Witt Clinton and Ambrose Spen
cerfay they must have men only of their
feet in office—and Mr. Jefferfon fays
Federalists won't die, and will not re
fi^n, they therefore must be turned out.
A practical moralist would alk the phi
losopher and his two disciples, the dif
tindion between giving men poison to
kill them, and reducing them to pover
ty and want by robbing them of their
means of livelihood.
- o .
SPRINGFIELD, (MASS,) AUG. 18.
Mllancholly Accident.
A Mr. Wolcott Russel, of this town
was splitting wood near his door, his
son, about two years old, ran from be
hind the unhappy father, and received
the blow of the axe, which, enter
ing the back part of the occipital bone,
and penetrated quite into the substance
of the cerebellum, and proceeding in the
form of a crefeent, came out not far
from the ear, making a wound, near
five inches in length, quite through the
bones. The poor little patient Sutterer,
survived the deplorable accident about
a week, and then died. At each time
of dressing considerable quantities of the
brains issued out and were wiped off. Q
0
The Dyfentcry,
Pray, is not the Mr. Erwing, who
is now appointed Consul tofoLondon,
the son of a Tory conspirator and man
damus councilor of Governor Hutch
inson, a pert coxcomb, that used to call
his countiyinen, in the London Coffee
houfes, rebels ? If so, how long has
he been converted, and where did
this mean beau acquire the necessary
qualifications to make him Consul for
the port of London ? QVafo. Fed.]
Moro callle. Two Admirals and a
Captain of a Ship of the line, had alio
been put under arrest. These proceed
ings were said to have taken place in
consequence of some disagreement with
the Comptroller of the Spanish navy.
o ,
ALBANY, AVGUST 11.
It will appear by the following, that
the successor of Governor Jay, and the
father in law to Genet, is imitating a*
certain great man, in “ disturbing the
tenure of office."
STATE APPOINTMENTS.
Edward Livingston, Esq. mayor, wa
ter-bailiff, and clerk of the market, of
the city of Newyork, vice Rs.bard Far
rick, removed.
.fohn Stagg, jun. Sheriff of Newyork,
vice fames Morris, removed.
Elijha fenkins, (one of the Lfferfo
nian Electors) comptroller, vice join
V. Henry, fuperceded.
Thomas Tillotfon, Esq. Secretary of
State, vice Daniel Hale, Esq. fuperceded.
Thomas fenkins, Mayor of Hudson.
EliJha Pitkins, Recorder of do.
Lafon Paddock, Marshal of do.
7 homas Fretkin^bam, Clerk of do.
fcfepbC.Fates,Mayor of Scheneftady.
Perer ZT^Lt, Sheriff ofCayuga county.
fames Hildrith, Sheriff of Montgom
ery county.
frim Hillyer, Sheriff of Richmond do,
John ^A/.&,jun.Sheriff of Orange do.
Peter Vrooman, jun. Sheriff of Scho
haire c Arity.
Y r efterday arrived in this city, a frefh
supply of Republican office hunters. The
number of candidates, aflembled on the
piazza of the Coffee-Houfe, where two
of the triumvirate Council of Appoint
ment lodge, was so great as to break it
down.
This disorder which- was so preva
lent and fatal the last year, in many
towns of this andthe neighboring states,
we are sorry to state, has again made its
appearance. It prevails at Northamp
ton with considerable malignancy. At
Lyme, (N.H)the people are groaning
under its weight. Seven children have
died of this disorder in that village
within the space of seven days—We
learn that the Canker Ra(h is prevalent
and proves fatal among the children at
Belcher in that date.
3ALBM, AUGUST 4.
Extraß of a letter 'dated " LISBON, JUNE zs,
“ The peace between this country,
Spain and France, was concluded about
the Bth or gth inst, and ratified by the
two former immediately ;—The condi
tions have not been made public; how
‘Sylvanus Miller, Surrogate of N.York.