Russel & Davis' Republican gazetteer — Concord, N.H., 1797-02-28 00:00:00, page 2

idea that the Executive might[
in like manner cause the prose-/
cytion against leCaffim to cease;
—But the proceeding! io the 'j
case of the Favorite were whol-[
ly in the hands of the Executive :
officer#, who were under the
Prefidem's im„diate controul,
and to whom, on evidence fa
tithaory to the Executive, or-,
den were given .to difcontinuej
the procefr. In this affair of thel
Favorite we are fortunate io|
finding one case in which Mr.|
Adet (contrary to hit affertion|
, in hit note ofNov. 15) acknow-|
ledges that justice was done by|
our government. You will ob- ;
serve in Mr. Fauchet'a letter of 4
the 23d of ^ept. 1794, a very!
formidable complaint in this as-j
fair of the Favorite : That it ,
was pretended th,t a privateer[
fitted for a cruise had depofited|
arms on board her, and that I
this pretext was used for visit- [
ing and pillaging her: Thu the §
wag a ship of war of theßepub-%
lie, then serving at a store (hip 1
until she could be repaired :
That the sovereignty of Francel
was violated, and her fl<g in-|
fulted. Yet the letter of Johnl
Lamb, E'q. collector of thel
port of Newyork, of the aid of|
November, 1794, you will feel
that at the time the ftizure was|
made of the fufpeded articlesl
on board the Favorite, “ ffi;[
having been totally dismantled,;
her crew lent on board other J
ships of war, and her fails, rigrl
ing and other material fold at|
public auction, she was confid
cred as a hulk ; otherwise the
event would not have taken
place." The collector further
declares that the charge of pul
ling down the national flag andl
hoisting another in its place was|
groundtefi.l
These are all the cases ex-I
prefiily mentioned by Mr. A
det, in which French privateers
and their prizes have been bro't|
under the cognizance of the|
courts of justice ; and all there-I
fore, to which an aofwer can be §
dueled. Had he cited the 0-
ther cases, which he fays would§
fill a volume, we have no doubtq
that there would be found io§
them as in those which have§
been mentioned, abundant rea-'|
son to juftify the government I
and the tribunals.
Mt. Adet's complaints are|
not confined to imputations of !
iojuftice experienced by French ]
privateers and their prizes from§
our courts: *|
Ift. "He protefli again fl
the violation of the 17th article
of the treaty, in contempt of
which the American tribunals
have taken cognizance of the
validity of prizes made by
French ffiips of war or priva
feera, under pretext of original
armament or augmentation# of
armament in the United States,
lorI or of capture within their line
§ of jurisdiction.*" But his prede
^'ceffor Mr. F^uchet, after faying
jthat our admiralty courts infert
yed in prize caufts on the ground
lofI of " seizure within the jurildic-
I tion line of the United States,
lor of armament or augmenca-
I tion of armament of the cap
, curing veffeli in their ports,"
/immediately adds, 66 On this
I fubjed, Sir, you request me to
I fpecify to you a circumfiance
fin which a prize was arrested,
[which did not come under that
$ denomination, and you take the
I trouble to eftablilh that they
Ihave a right to i terfere ineve-
Iry case that can be brought da
nder those heads. In the firft'
I place, fir, 7 never bave, at toft
|to my recollection, contefled the
[right of your courts or of the go
I vernment to interfere in matters
of the nature of those you men
[tion ; but I complain of the
£facility with which prizes have
{been thrown into thole two
Iclaffes, which do not belong to
Ithem." He then fays he could
I cite a great number of affairs to
jwhich he alludes ; but contents
Ihimfelf with, mentioning only
§ two. The firft is the case of
| |Talbut, of which I have alrea
§dy given some details, & which
I with the documents referred to:
I will show this to have been an
lunfortunate instance to fopport
his complaint. The other is that
Los the prizes of the Citizen of
[ Marfeil ei, also already men.
I tioned, and which will not jaf=
tify a complaint ; for although
the final decision was in favor
of the privateer, yet the Sen
tence of the diftrid court was
not reversed m the circuit court
but upon the introduaion of
: new teftimon, : and the supreme
I court allowed no damages, be
cause the testimony was so am
biguous as to juftify the appeal.
But quitting the contradiao-
I ry declarations of the French
[ Minifters; and referring you
I to the letter dated Aug.f 16,
§*793' f' om she Secretary of
jS<ate to cur Minister at Paris
?(which has been published) for
Ithe reasoning of our govern-
[ ment on this fubjed, and 11^
I demonftration of their right &
I duty as a neutral power, to pro-
I hibit any of the belligerent pow
leraI era arming their vessels (Q@\
Iports, conlequently to restore to
Itheir proper owners prizes tak
len and brought io by veffeh so
? unlawfully armed, or when ta
jken within our line of jurisdic
tion, 1 will only add here—
That the principles of the rules
on this fubje& firft adopted by
the President on the most ma
ture deliberation received after
wards the function of Congrefty
by their actof the sth of June,
!7941'"'dofthefo^
• Lithr, ",^ 8, 1795, :
+&#/,,„",,. 7s.
Itheir1 their judicial proceedings, in the
prize esufes in question. If then
the 17th article of the French
treaty has been violated, the
Executive, the Legilliture and
the Judges of the federal Courts
have all deliberately concurred
;io the violation. This 00 A
merican citizen will be inclined
to believe, and we might (up
pofe that the coofideration of
such concurrence in one opin.
ion would any where produce
a pause, and some diffidence in
I pronouncing it erroneous. Nei-
Ither the rules adopted by the
IPnfiJeot nor the aft of Con-
Igrefs have made a new law te
fpeding such prizes : they have
only directed the modes of pro
ceeding to fulfil our neutral du
ties agreeably to the univer [al law
of nations. The Judges have
applied this law ; but not with
out due attention to the obli
gations of our treaties, which
they regard as supreme laws of
the land.
2. Mr. Adet " proteftsagainft the
violation of the 17th article of the
treaty, in contempt of which En
glish vessels, which had made prize
on Frenchmen, have been admitted
into the ports of the United States."
(The conftrudion of this part of the
17th article for which Mr. Adet, af
ter his predecessor Mr. Fauchet, con
tends, is this— That if a national
; (hip of war of the enemies of France
has & am, time, and tn an, part of tbt
Globe, made prize of a French vessel,
such (hip of war is to be allow d no
shelter or refuge in oar ports, uniefs
she is driven in through stress of wea
ther ; and then she is to be made to
depart as soon as possible. On the
f ontrary, the conftruaion adopted by
the Executive of the United States,
and expressed in the rules before
mentioned, which had been trans
mitted to the colledors in Aug. '93,
was this— That privateers only of the
lenemiesI enemies of France were absolutely
. excluded from our ports, except as
before, when compelled to enter
through stress of weather ; pursu
ant to the 22d article of the treaty ;
while the national Clips of war of an,
other nation were entitled to any asy
lum in our ports, excepting those
which should have made prize of the
people or property of France, coming
in with their priws.
[to BE CONTINUED.]
rt"*"*±™=="™"*f'°=^^±l =^^
CONCORD, February 28.
died] —At Canterbury, on Tcef
day the zoth inst. Mr. THOMAS
CLOUGH; in the 81st year of his
age——To pass over unnoticed, the
death of a Man, whose life was so
blameless and valuable, would be
unpardonable. In early life, tbo',
obliged to brave the troubles and
" difficulties infeperable from the lot
; of the firft settlers of a new country,
harraffed by savages, his per fever
ing industry, in time secured him a
very ample eftate—ln the enjoyment
of it, he has through life liberally
fulfilled and verified that charitable
maxim of the royal Philosopher of
Israel— —"- Caf th, bread upon the
waters ; for thou Jhalt fad it after ma
„da,."- —Every son of misfortune
and poverty, has been to him an ob
ject of benevolence and charity, and
to obtain his assistance at any time,
!it was only necessary to need it—yet
( though in aiding and relieving the
fuffuring and distressed—He often
Ivery much negleded his own interest
—Providence ever foiled upon his
I honA, and his wealth enereafed with
Ihis bounties—A sincere and practical
I Chriftian; neither a bigot nor an sty
believer ; —and very different from
those violent theories in religion,
who think it enough to believe in all,
though they pradice none of its du-
I ties— He seemed to confide more in
modes of dred than modes of faith, and,
thought examples better than precepts,
and principles useless without the ap
plication—Fair and equitable in bis
dealings—a ftrid folfiller of every,
moral and social duty—an ^ffeaien.'
ate husband—an indulgent father—
a peaceful and obliging neighbor—
thefriend of all, and the etem, of none:
His lamp of life went out in a good
old age, and left him covered with
jears and virtues. The numerous
concourse that attended to pay their
last tribute to the deceased, evinced
that his character was esteemed in
proportion as it was known ; and the
voices of all attested, that the prior
and unfortunate had loft a benefac
tor, and the wealthy a living pattern
for imitation.
NE^bjl^ Mail.
NEWYORK, FEB. 10.
We understand there is a
letter in town, informing
that Mr.Pinckney has been
received by the French di
rectory."
SALEM, FEB. 17.
By the Southern Mail last
evening, we have the fol
lowing important news!
That the Negotiations be
tween France and England
had ceased That the
orders to bring in neutrals
bound to British ports had
not been enforced inFrance
—and that our now fortu
nate countrymen had arriv
ed in the Delaware from
Algiers.
WAR is INDIA, betwieu Tip
poo Saib and the Euglijh.
By Capt. Derby in 67 days
from Cape of Good Hop^
we are informed, that a
few days previous to his
touching at the Cape, two
British packets had arrived
there, one from Calcutta &
the other from Bombay:—
That notwithstanding a
profound secrecy was ob
served refpe&ing the intel
ligence they brought, it
had transpired that Tippoo
was making ^ formidable
preparations for war ; that
the Mahrattas were difaf
fe<fted, and were about to
join him.
It was consequently re
ported that 4orjooFrenoh
officers' had been lent over
by the way of the Medi
terranean, to serve in Tip
poo's army. It was not cer
tain that hostilities had ac
tually Commenced, but that
the British every day ex>