The constitutionalist — Exeter, N.H., 1810-10-15 00:00:00, page 2

'' It appears by authentic documents
which I have examined, that there has
been paid to General Wilkinson, this
favourite of the Administration, (for I
think none other than a favourite could
have obtained from the Treasury of
the United States money to such an a.
mount) the following sums, viz.
For his pay as brigadier-gen
eral from March 16,1802,
the date of the law, to Feb.
1,1809, at 225 dollars per
month, $10,562 50
For extra rations, quarters,
&c. as per amount before
stated, 2033 16
For his compensation as In
dian commissioner, from
July 12,1801, to July 18,
1802, 2976
For his compensation as In
dian commissioner, & run
ning lines from July 19,
1802, to Ist June, 1804, 3606
For his personal ex pences
for 1802 and 1803, 2715 29
For his salary as governour
of Upper Louisiana, from
' July 4,1805, to March 2,
1807, 3326 9
For amount of monies and
supplies furnished him by
public agents, with which
he is charged on the public
books, and for which he
* has not accounted, 7891 3
For monies charged by John
Wilkins, late quarter-mas
ler-general, as advanced to
Gen. Wilkinson, and for
. whichhehas not aecounted, 3879 71
For secret service money,
received Jan. 10, 1809, on<
the certificate of the Fresi-
1
tion. Men mus(be visionary indeed,
to produce the republick of Plato, the
Utopia of More, or the Oceana of
Harrington. ; The ancients, to be sure,
had some Vague notions of such a gov
ernment as ours, but could not be per
suaded of its practicability.
Let us not, therefore (says De Lolme
on the Constitution of England) ascribe
to the confined views of man; to his
imperfect sagacity, the discovery of
this important secret. The world
might have grown old, generation
might have succeeded generation, still
seeking it in vain. It has been
by a fortunate conjunction of circum
stances; I shall add, by the assist
ance of a favourable situation, that
liberty has been at last able to erect
herself a temple. Excluded from
'those places to which she had seemed
to give a preference, driven to the ex
tremity of the western world, banish
ed even out of the continent, she has
taken refuge in the Atlantic Ocean.—-
Being sheltered, as it were, within a
citadel, she there reigns over a nation,
which is the better entitled to her fa
vors, as it endeavors to extend her em
pire, and carries with it, to every part
of its dominions, the blessings of in
dustry and equality. Such is the o
pinion of an eminent civilian respect
ing that great and glorious nation,
from whom we derived those princi
ples that constitute the life-blood of
our constitution and political liberties,
and about whose existence the fates of
our own country are still indissolubly
entwined. LUCELLUS.
SCIENCE OF DRAINING MO
NEY FROM THE TREASURY.
—At a time when the public Treasu
ry has become so far exhausted, that
Congress at their last session thought
it necessary to pass a law, authorising
the borrowing of more than five mil
lions of dollars, for the current ex
penses of the present year, the people
of the United States ought to be in
formed, in what manner their money
has been expended. To give the vari
ous items of the late extravagant ex
penditures in the army and navy, would
require volumes. There are, however,
some items in the public accounts,
which are of so singular and extraordi
nary a nature, as to require the peo
ple should be particularly informed of
them. The items now referred to, are
those which relate to General Wilkin
son, and the various modes which he
^has made use of, to draw money from
the public Treasury. On the 13th
of February, 1809, the Hon. Mr. Ilill
house made the following statement,
in the Senate of the U.S. ; a statement,
which never has been contradicted ;
and it is presumed, it cannot be con
troverted, as he says, he took it from
authentic documents, which he had ex
amined.
From the Connecticut Mirror.
$44,470 21
To which, if there be added
the table expenses of Gen.
Wilkinson and the other
commissioners holding trea
ties in 1801 and 1802, ex
clusive of the expense of
furnishing the Indians, 5026 20
And the table expense of
Gen. Wilkinson and Gov.
Claiborne at N. Orleans,
from Dec. 7th, 1803, to
April 24, 1804, 6619 72
3d.- Gen. Wilkinson's connexion
with Aaron Burr.
4th. The conduct of Gen. Wilkin
son, as Brigadier-General of the army
of the United States.
This committee, it seems, made their
report to the House of Representatives,
o^ the first day of May, being the last
dap of the session, and the same was
ordered to be printed.—The report
with the documents accompanying it,
have lately been printed, and make a
volume, which ought to be read by ev
ery person in the United States. The
committee, however, say, “ from the
limited period in which they have act
ed, and from the extensive and com
plicated nature of the subjects, they
are under the necessity of stating, that
they have not been able to make a
thorough and conclusive investigation
of the objects of their enquiry."
The fourth object of enquiry, to
which the attention of the people of
the United States is now particularly
called, was principally cot fined, as ap
pears by the report, to Gen. Wilkin
son's obtaining money from the public
Treasury. The extravagance of this
man, in his expenditures of the public
money, has long been known to the
government of the United States, as
well as to all those who have become
acquainted with his character. His
charges against the public had become
so enormous, that on the 16th of
March, 1802, Congress thought it ne
cessary to pass a law, expressly limit
ing the sum, which he was to receive
annually as Brigadier-General, to
D. 2700 ; and this sum was to be " a
full and entire compensation and with
out a right to demand or receive any
rations, forage, travelling expenses, or
other perquisite, or emolument what
ever, except such stationary as may be
requisite for the use of his department."
Notwithstanding this law, it appears,
by the report of this committee, and
other documents which have heretofore
been published, that from the-13th of
March, 1809, to the 30th September,
18'09, he has received an additional
sum of D. 1454 40, for rations, mak
ing iu the whole addition to his salary,
D. 3487 56 for rations, and charges
for quarters, stabling, &c. Not only
so, but that during the same time he
has likewise,got into his hands many
thousands of dollars, from different
military agents, for pretended secret
services and other purposes, and for
which he has simply given his receipts,
and for which he has never yet account
ed. Not satisfied with thus obtaining
the public money, not only without
law, but expressly contrary to law,
it appears by the committee's report,
that in order to filch money from the
public Treasury, for the purpose of
supporting his extravagance, he has de
scended to practices and artifices so
mta& and pitiful, as could not be cred
ited of any public officer, much less of
a Commander in Chief of the army of
the United States, were not the facts
vouched by unquestionable testimony.
The following statement will show
some of the artifices, which the general
has practised, to obtain money from
the Treasury, and to which the atten
tion of the people of the United States
is particularly invited.
During the Winter of 1809, when a
detachment of the army was moving
down the Ohio and the Mississippi, to
New-Orleans, under the command of
It will be remembered, that towards
the close of the last session of Con
gress, a committee was appointed by
the House of Representatives, to en
quire into the conduct of Gen. Wil
kinson. The objects of enquiry
were :—
Ist. In relation to his receipt of
money corruptly from the Spanish gov
ernment, or its agents.
2d. The counexion ofGen. Winkin
son, with the age rt^ of Spain, in a pro
ject to dismember the United States.
Makes the enormous) ^ 56 11( ^ 13 „
sum of
dent of the United States
for that sum " disbursed/
for objects in relation to
the contingent expenses of
intercourse between the U.
States and foreign nations,
the specification of which
disbursement at this time
is deemed inexpedient," 1196
For his compensation as a
witness on the trial of A.
Burr, at Richmond, cir
cuit court, U. States, May
term, 1807, 284 50
Capt. George Peter, Gen. Wilkinson
gave orders to Capt. Peter to stop at
Louisville in Kentucky, and to take
into his boats 9 or 10 horses, which
were the private property of the Gen
eral, and which his agent had purchas
ed for him in Kentucky, and un
doubtedly at a very low price—Capt.
Peter agreeable to his orders, stopped
at Louisville, with his detachment, con
sisting of six companies, and took in
the general's horses, after a delay of
two or three days. For the purpose
of transporting these horses from Louis
ville to New-Orleans, a distance of a
bout fifteen hundred miles, a public
boat was provided, at an expense not
less than one hundred dollars, and the
horses was fed and taken care of at
the public expense, from Louisville to
New-Orleans. After their arrival at
New-Orleans, the horses were also fed
and shod at the public expense, until
May, 1809, when a man by the name
of Frederick Sandhagen, who had been
formerly a driver of a hack in the City
of Washington, and was a servant of
Gen. Wilkinson, and supposed to be
worth nothing, pretended to sell five
of the same horses to the United States
for the sum of 800 dollars, and the sale
was approved by Gen. Wilkinson, and
payment ordered by him; and pay
ment was actually made for them, by
Abraham D. Abrahams, our military
agent at New-Orleans. There is no
doubt, that this Sandhagen, who was
them &servant to the General at New-
Orams, was the mere instrument and
tool of the General, in the sale of these
horses to the United States, at a price
fixed by Wilkinson himself, and for
which he ordered payment to be made ;
and that the general himself received
the money ; and that he in this way
obtained the difference between their
cost in Kentucky, and his own price
in New-Orleans; after detaining three
or four hundred men, with twenty
boats, two or three day, and trans
porting and keeping the horses with
the public money. The expense oc
casioned by the delay of the troops,
and the transportation and keeping of
the horses, could not be less than 800
or 1000 dollars, and this expense the
people of the United States must pay,
in order to enable the Commander in
Chief of their army to sell to them his
own horses at his own price, and there
by put into his own pocket, four or
five hundred dollars more of their
money.
If any should doubt the truth of
this statement, they are 'requested' to
attend to the following documents and
vouchers taken from the report of the
committee.
Ist. An extract from the deposition
of William Simmons, Esq. the account
ant of the War Department.
2d. The deposition of Capt. George
Peter.
The following admirable Address is
copied from a Greenock paper of Au
gust 29.
3d. Copies of the accounts them
selves of Sandhagen, from the War
Department.
(To be continued.)
HOLLAND.
The following Address, it is said, has
4 been privately circulated in Amster
dam, and other parts of Holland:
" Hollanders,
" Remember your ancestors ; ex
ert all your energies in support of those
principles for which they contended,
and the rights which they have be
queathed to you. —You are reminded
by your tyrant of Tromp and Buyter.
Let the names and the memory of those
heroes inspire you with equal Zeal in
asserting the dignity and the freedom
of your country. Would they have
stooped to a foreign tyrant? Would
they have renounced the principles of
true Republicans? But you should^
also remember the Nassaus and De
Witts.—With what horror must the
venerable shades of these august char
acters, if they are sensible of what is
passing on earth, behold the degraded
condition of their country, now the
scorn and the victim of a barbarous
ruffian, who tramples upon every thing
held sacred among mankind! It is said
that your oppressor is about to visit
your country, in ordeq to enjoy a
sight of the people whom he has enslav
ed, and the land which he has brought
to disgrace & ruin.—Your tyrant will
then be in your power, and by one
bold effort of national energy, you
may release yourselves and the suffer
ing world from the monster who has
abused power more than any despot
that history has recorded. It is true
that he has sent a powerful army into
your country, in order to confirm bon
dage, and prevent all resistance. But
powerful as that army is, it would
sink before the energy of a whole na
tional exertion : besides, that army
cannot be so insensible to all human
obligations as the tyrant who directs
them. They know how lavish he ^
FOREIGN.
of human blood, and how many of
their countrymen he has sent to inevi
table destruction in Spain, and that as
many more must fall victims to his am
bition before he can succeed in subdu
ing it, even if his outrageous and wick
ed attack upon its independence should
at last be triumphant. Appeal to the
army who have been sent to rivet your
chains. Remind them of their efforts
in pursuit of what they deemed liberty.
Remind them of their lawful monarch,
who is now a fugitive and a dependent
on the generosity of another state.—
Endeavour to impress them with a sense
of the disgrace which they will eternal
ly entail upon themselves if they con
tinue to fight merely to gratify the cru
el ambition of a wretch who is the en
emy of human nature. Inured as
they are to spoliation and to slaught
er, they cannot be so utterly callous to
every sense of justice, and every feel
ing of humanity, as the tyrant who
drives them to acts of desolation, from!
the impulse of the most savage ambi
tion and unrelenting ferocity. Though I
the degraded soldiers of a tyrant, they
still are men, and may be roused into a
conviction of what is due to an unof
fending and independent nation.
" The Tyrant has shewn by his treat
ment of his brother, whom he forced you
in violation of all your hereditary prin
ciples as Republicans, to acknowledge
as your King, how little mercy you
have to expect at his hands. Yet you
endured that phantom of a King, be
cause he seemed disposed to rule over
you with mildness, and to regard the
interests of your Country. This mild
ness, and this regard for your welfare
were crimes not to be expiated in the
eyes of his unnatural brother, and
Louis was obliged to abandon a throne
which he ' was compelled to adopt,
which was only a seat of thorns to him
while he possessed it. Hence you
may infer what a lamentable fortune
awaits you if you calmly submit to the
dominion of the Tyrant.—He will in
flict ten-fold vengeance on you, and
you will hereafter vainly writhe in
the pangs of misery and despair.—
Recal to your minds your former tri.
umphs, and let the glowing recollec
tion impel you to emulate the virtue
and valour of your forefathers, who
rescued you from foreign oppression,
and completed your independence, as a
people. Be assured that the Tyrant
trembles on his throne, and a glorious
exertion on your part would tend ef
fectually to hurl him from the eminence
which he has gained by unparalleled
turpitude. Ile sees, by the desertion of
his soldiers in Spain, how hateful to
them is the cause in which they are
engaged, and be assured that the cause
is only dear to his Generals, who
know that their security depends up
on the continuance of his power, and
that his downfall would be the certain
presage of their own. Even those
generals heartily detest their Tyrant,
and would most readily be content
with their present rank & acquisitions,
& rejoicein thedestruction of so oppres
sive & insulting a master,if they had rea
son to believe that they could escape in
the wreck of his fortune. Holland
ers, the awful crisis of your fate has
arrived.—ls you suffer the present
moment to pass without a bold asser
tion of national vengeance, yon will be
lost as a people forever, and must
hereafter be the wretched victims of
foreign domination. How glorious is
the opportunity which presents itself
to you : what an example will you
hold forth to the enslaved nations of
Europe! You will recover your char
acter in the eyes of mankind ; you will
regain the rights of which you have
been so wantonly and barbarously de
prived; and you will transmit those
rights to your latest posterity, who
will look back upon your success with
pious gratitude, with reverence and
emulation. Reflect that the descend
ant of the house of Orange, of an il
lustrious line of ancestors, once the
protectors of your Conntry, is now a
wanderer from his native land, nor can
you do better than invite him to your
shores, and invest him with the priv
ileges which his ancestors enjoyed.
He will have learned the duties of the
station, and the esteem, which is due
to you in the school of adversity, and
he will look with love and veneration
on a people who have recovered their
riglits and invested him with those which
his family enjoyed. But however
you may determine respecting him, do
not forget what is due to yourselves.
The eyes of all Europe are upon you,
and other States would find in the re
covery of your independence the res
toration of their own. Hollanders do
not pause a moment; —arise as one
man : you are many : your enemy is
in himself but a weak individual, and
the hearts of all mankind are against
him. Renown or infamy, freedom or
bondage, depend upon yourselves at
this eventful crisis. If yon rise in the
fullness of national might, you will be
irresistible. Assure yourselves that
the efforts of other countries will be
the result of yonr heroick vindication
The democrats with boyish exulta
tion, are announcing their grand tri
umphs in several counties.—We re
peat what we asserted before election,
that in most of the counties the Fed
eralists had agreed to make no exer
tions this year, but to give their opo
nen ts ghe full length of their rope.
In Cecil county, local circumstances
induced the federalists to run a ticket,
which took about 900 votes to the
democratic tickets 1000. We notice
the subject merely to put our distant
political friends in posession of the
facts ; and to assure them, that not
one ligament of the firm cord of Mary
land federalism has been impaired.
Boston, oct. 6°
FROM PORTUGAL.
[(^The following Letter is from an
American gentleman in Lisbon, to
The Editor of the Centinel, and
contains information on which reliance
may be placed.] ;
'' LISBON, AUG. 17. 1810.
" I have seen enough since my ar
rival here from Boston, to discover how
easily the vague and undigested stories
that have reached America have arisen.
Although upon the spot, it is not easy
to form a correct judgment of the actu
al state of things on the frontier; and
many opinions are propagated by folly,
and others at the suggestion of ground
less apprehensions. It now appears to
be the idea, that an attack, especially
an attack with an overwhelming force,
is not to be expected. I was, I con
fess, one who three weeks since yielded
for a few days to the impression, that
after the fall of Cidnad Rodrigo the
French were able and determined to
make a greatpush into Portugal. In
deed, in the eyes of a martinet, their
strenuous attack on that place could
only appear to be preparatory to such
an attack, for which we should have
thought they had considered themselves
competent by having a sufficient body
of troops to keep down the Spaniards
in their rear, and send up provisions : —
For if they were not able to follow up
their success by advancing, of what
use was it wasting troops and time
which might have been better employed.
What is the fact ? Rodrigo surrendered
the 10th July, and after its fall some of
the French advanced, it is true, to the
Coa, summoned Almeida, and some of
their advanced corps penetrated to Pin
hel. —Butso small has been the force
which has been put forward, that the
communication between the British
head-quarters and Almeida remained
open.—ln short, they appear to have
retreated, as the great body of their ar
my was at the last accounts, between
the Coa and Aqueda, a distance 45 or6O
miles from Lord Wellington. "hy has
notMassena advanced&driven the Leo
pards into the sea, as his Master promis-
Extract of a letter from a gentleman
near Kenhawa C. ff. (Virginia)
to his friend in Chillicothe (Ohio)
dated sth September, 1810.
" There has lately been a well sunk
on the land belonging to my brother
and myself, by one of my brothers,
who has an interest in it. He bored it
92 feet, and obtained salt water, which
is, in my opinion, stronger than any
heretofore discovered at this place, and
a sufficient quantity to supply ten fur
naces, and to make at least 600 bush
els in 24 hours! In about a week we
expect to start three furnaces at this
well."
of your rights. The Tyrant will be
confused and distracted by a revolt u
the enslaved Continent. He will fall
in the struggle; mankind will exult in
the event, and history will proudly re
cord your triumph as a dreadful ware
tag to oppression, and a glorious ex
ample for mankind."
BATON-ROUGE, AUG. 26, 1810,
Before the Convention adjourned,
all its proceedings were submitted to
the Spanish Governor, De Lassus,
and by him approved. The organiza
tion of the government has been simi
lar to that adopted in the United States ;
and all the persons appointed bear
American names. ' The Governor en
joys general confidence, and has a sal
ary of 3000 dollars a year. Every
thing is conducted with American spirit
and Spanish gravity. The Convention
will assemble again in November.
new-orleans, aug. 30. The Spa
nish Governor of East-Florida, [Folch]
has arrived in Pensacola from Havana,
and will honor the Convention of
West-Frorida with his presence in
November, attended with an escort of
5000 men !
nfyge trails.
MARYLAND.
BALTIMORE, OCT. 4, 1810.
MOCK TRIUMPHS.
WEST-FLOR I DA.