The United States oracle of the day — Portsmouth, N.H., 1800-06-28 00:00:00, page 1

A Wonderful Phenomenon.
f,rt letter from Vermont fays, a Child of fames
Waller, born blind, and only $ years of age, is li
fted by crouds of people for bis great fugacity and
forefigbt.— He foretold the coming, and the continua
tion oftbeTelloras- Fever at N.Tork & Philadelphia
)ffc@n, and theprefendfcarcity of bread ih Europe.
He fays, that before tbeyear 18o8± the Jacobins
are to fearp in this country to overthrow our pre
pent, government, and to put to death all the Clergy
and religious of tabfats. That having effected this
revolution, tbey will then fall oyt for thefu,temacy,
and finally defray each other toitb tbe fvaord; after
teb^b the gave* ament trill again be reared, and
tie country JtouriJb for one hundred years, idle. tfc.
" Ceafetben, nor order, imperfection name,
" Our proper Wife depends on uh<: ice blame.
WHEN we contemplate the infinity of
creation, the harmony of ks order, and
the beauty of its workmanship, with awful ven
eration and love must we adore that being who
spake worlds out of chaos, and balanced them
by his Omnipotent hand. The incense of grat
itude Should rife to his throne, who bequeath'd
to mdn his appropriate qualities of mind,
and a world for the happy subsistence of his
body. The harmony and beauty of his earth
ly productions were apparent, while simplicity
glowed on the face of nature, unadorned by
the embellishing, yet destroying hand of art. —
If we can draw a conclusion by comparing his
works in their primitive formation, to their
Since apostate Rate, we Shall cease to he igno
rant of what may be termed fafhionable de
pravity.
* Man, when firft formed by the creative pow
er of his God, was innocent and free from guile,
but he, awthe instigation of the arch fiend and
the persuasive charms of the Angel of his heart,
was induced to eat of the forbidden accursed
-fruit. The effects of his disobedience to the
mandate of Heaven drew on him the reproach
es of the monitor of his life, and the displeasure
of his Maker. Peace and happiness were no
more residents in his once approving consci
ence, but his corroding reflections attached a
heavy gloom on all the feenes of delight with
which he was once Surrounded. Happy in his
pristine state, he now deplores it irretrievably
loft, by the specious pretexts of the seducers of
his innocence. Oh woman ! from thy offend
ing hand does the chriftian's holy record declare,
that man received the fruit of miftry and death.
If thou waft the fountain from whence all our
calamities have flown, why Should you not al
leviate the misfortunes you have accumulated
on him, and be the gentle soother of his pain ?
Why not the companion and promoter of a
happy life, and the deserving object of his love ?
The fashions and habits of our American
Paradife, are the inlets of vice and the seducers
of modern simplicity and innocence. Woman
is made the fubjed of a beautiful allegory in
sacred hiftory ; She is represented as betray
ing innocent Adam into a participation of her
own guilt and disobedience. The perlon un
tutored in the school of falhion and luxury, may
justly be compared to Adam, and the one aban
doned to these vices may with equal justice be
compared to Eve, addressing him with the gold
en apple in her hand, the charms of whose lan
guage, and his own defife, he could not refill.
The mind in its youthful innocence is pure
and transparent as the lucid Stream, free from
the chilling hand of vice, it gravitates to the
center of perfection ; but alas ! luxury and pride
the withering peflilcntial bane of virtue and
true dignity, gradually steal into the heart, and
eradicate the noble qualities of the foul; their
forms are more alluring to the tender imagina
tion, than the gaudy attire of Solomon's harlot,
or the tapiftfy of her bed-chamber. The mines
of America, nor the riches of India, can satiate
the wants of these destroyers of all that is ami
able and durably attractive. How much more
consonant to rcafon and the dictates of wisdom,
would be the garb of simplicity without the
tinsel of fafhion and ornament. But as cafily
might we direct the headlong current, or arrelt
the thunder of OMNIPOTENCE, as reflrain
this fafhionable calamity. Rcafon and fortitude
revolt from the talk, but duty impels me to
declare truth when I address myfelf to the
feelings and understanding of the social world.
The coldncfs and inattention that newspaper
readers generally receive miscellaneous obser
vations, induce me to makeimylclf the fubjedt
of these numbers, and the unafpiring object of
criticism and satire. If I Should attempt an
accurate and circumstantial biography, the even
ing of my days would close in tveilafting night.
Let the reward of my labor be that of the
diligent fower^not for myfelf to reap the fruit,
hut for those who follow rectitude and wis
dom.
The authors of my exigence, and the guides
of my early youth, ufhercd me into time, and I
am now on the fleeting wings which bear all
the fubjeds of mortality to a world unknown.—
To them, the world and my own frailty, may I
ascribe many of the errors which reason accuses
me of con.mitting. Reverence for my Creator,
religion, and moral virtue, an inviolable refpe3
for the rights of others, were the firft impres
sions on the tablet of my heart ; these princi
ples were inculcated as the great palladium of
human excellence, they were my just and only
objects of adoratit - ; but a^ the young idea be
gan to shoot and the bud of unfufpe&ing fraud
to bloom, the bane of happiness destroyed the
blpffom of innocence.
A vain and weak ambition pervaded aflion,
not to excel in ufeful literary accomplishments,
but in the vain and pompous shows of fafnion
and ornament. Thrice happy should I now
bp, had my ambition been circumscribed by the
confines of prudence and economy, but the
fame allurements impelled me to ruin which
have hurled thousands from the summit of
plpafure and diflipation into the yawning gulph
of poverty and misery. JUNIUS.
Ftt the United States Oracle of the Day.
I - -" •; - 3 J "-“— - •■-.-■ ^- -.„-••■
AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, TWENTY-FOURTH YEAR.
=_ — _ .
<be ©nitetiStates
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. Printed and Publiihed every SATURDAY
the United States,
SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 1800.
ffltfcllan,.
THE REFORMER—No. 1.
OF AGL THE DISPOSITIONS AND HABITS WHICH LEAD TO POLITICAL PROSPERITY, RELIGION AND MORALITY ARE INDISPEN ST BLE SUPPORTS. —IVASKINGTON'S LEGACY.
A depute cxifting between the UnitpdJStates
and the Rate of Georgia, relative to the title of
some lands on the Miffifippi, where Georgia
claims a very extensive and valuable territory,
which file has exprefled a wiliingnefs to cede
to the. United States, commissioners have been
appointed on the part of the United States, to
adjuftthis dispute, and to agree on the terms
of the proposed ceffion—fliould it take place,
of which Strong hopes are entertained, a most
difgrceable cause of contention will he remov
ed, and the United States become possessed, on
terms mutually advantageous, of a very valua
ble territory. :.
Tn my last letter 1 informed you, that a mo
tion was made early in the session, for the re
duftion of the army ; which was opposed and
reje&ed on the ground, thac the date of things
was yet too uncertain to warrant such a mca
fure, the tendency whereof, if adopted, in the
beginning of a negotiation, must be ,to render
Among the mod important laws of the ses
sion, thus terminated, is the " Bankrupt Aft”;
which has long been an object of attention in
Congress, but hitherto delayed by the difficulty
and extent of the fubjedt itfclf, or by the pres
sure of matters more immediately interefling.
Its operation is confined to merchants and deal
ers, and will be rarely felt, except in the great
commercial towns . for a person thuft owe at
least a thousand dollars before it can affect him.
Its object is, in the firfl place, to fupporc mer
cantile credit, by protecting the rights of cre
ditors against the fraud of dilhoncd, and the
folly of imprudent debtors. -who may waste
or conceal their property while the ordinary
forms of law are going on against them : and
secondly, to encourage fair industry and pru
dent conduct ; by enabling honest debtors, re
duced by misfortune, to give up their proper
ty, free themselves intirely from their debts, and
begin the world anew ; which no man will
ever have the courage to do, while a load of
old debts is hanging on him.
A system so new, so extensive, and operating
on such a variety of unforfeen cases, will, no
doubt, be found very imperfect at fir ft, and in
need of frequent rcvifion and amendment, ac
cording to the light which experience alone can
afford. It may also be liable to abuse in many
inftanccs : for what human institution may not
be perverted. But the example of other coun
tries proves, that to a trading people, a bank
rupt law is highly beneficial, if not absolutely
necessary.
An attempt has also been made to revise the
Judiciary Syflem of the United States, which
is found to be very inconvenient in practice,
and by no means adequate to the proper ad
ministration of justice. At present there is but
one fupcrior or circuit court' of the United
States, held in each state I for the trial of civil
actions,and the punishment of offences, thro'-
out the whole state. The consequence is, that
people who are sued in the federal court, or
prosecuted for offences against the United
States, are obliged, in many cases, especially
in the large States, to attend with their wit
nesses, at great distances from home, and with
much expeace and inconvenience. These cir
cumstances have a Strong tendency to bring the
laws of the United States into neglectand
disrepute, by detering people from prosecuting
offenders against them. In order to remove
these evils, and render the administration of
justice more effectual, and lel's burthenfome,
it was proposed to increase the number of courts,
by dividing the larger dates into two, three or
four districts, with a circuit court in each.
The Circuit courts ate now held by the
judges of the fnpreme court of the United
States, fix in number : who are obliged, for
that purpose, to travel perpetually, from one
end of the continent to the other. This im
mense labor employs alriioft the whole of their
time, and prevents them from giving that ap
plication to the Study of the law which is nc
certaryjn order to keep up, renew, and enlarge
their flock of legal knowledge. The fatigue,
moreover, of such continual journies, is too
great to be borne for any length of time, by
men of that advanced age, in which the ex
perience, maturity of judgment, and weight of
chara&cr, necessary for a judge of the highest
court in the nation, are usually to be found—
Nor can it be expected, that men of this descrip
tion, will long retain employments, the duties
of which requires them to be so frequently and
so leng, absent from their homes, and depriv
ed of their domestic comforts,
Small as the number of circuit courts now
is, these circumstances render it extremely im
proper to compel the judges of the Supreme
court to hold them. In case of the number
being increased, it would become utterly im
poflible.—This increase appeared unavoida
ble, for the reasons already Stated.
It was, therefore, proposed, to reduce the
number of judges of the supreme court to five,
and to confine thein to the business of that
court, which must become very considerable,
and will afford them Sufficient employment ;
and to appoint a new set of judges, for the pur
pose of holding the circuit courts. These were
the two fundamental points of the new system
which was introduced : firft to cncreafe the
number of circuit courts : and secondly, to ap
point a diStinCt set of judges for holding them.
The business, however, being of great im
portance, and requiring much consideration, it
was thought bell to postpone it till next feflion
of Congress. It will then, probably, be again
brought forward.
PHILADELPHIA, MAY $, 1800.
YESTERDAY, my dear Sir, Congress ad
journed, to meet, on the third Monday in
November, at the city of Washington ; hence
forth the feat of the Federal government. The
public offices will, probably, be removed thi
ther early in next month.
Is full of the most valuable political information.
g, f e foould bave been bappy to have given it a
place in the U. S. Oracle, ere this,but a press of tbe
Lazes of tbe Union, ^c. for tbe moment prevented,
— Holeever,lue hope, that every patron of tbe Ora
cle, mill read, practice and treasure up, tbe impor
tant truths it contains.
ROBERT GOODLOE HARPER,
Th? following excellent Letter from
TO HIS CONS TITUENTS,
Appearances in Europe are more favorable
to the hope of a general peace, than they lately
were. It feenM certain that the Ruffians, fa
tisfied with having checked the pro
gress of France towards universal em
pire, and curtailed her power and her
conquests, and perhaps diftruftful of
the views of some of the combined
powers, have withdrawn their armies
and probably separated themselves en
tirely from the coalition. If this be
true, Auttria will, in all probability,
, soon find, that more is, to be got by di
viding the spoil equally with France,
than by continuing to contend for the
whole of it ; and in that case, as
France will probably have the fame
view of things, an arrangment may
soon be expected to take place between
them. England, who, notwithstand
ing the great expences of the war, has
gained more by it than any other pow
er, will then have no rational objeft
for its continuance ; and will most
probably, avail hcrfelf of the firft fafe
No official or direct accounts have been re
ceived from our Commissioners since their ar
rival in France. It is, however, known from
the public prints, that they are in Paris ; that
they were received with great cordiality by
the people of France, and with great refpe&
by the government ; and that General Buona
parte has appointed three Commissioners to
treat with them, one of whom is his brother.
It also appears, that the French, in a great
nieafure, abstain at present, from molcfting cur
vessels, except in cases where they are author
rifed to do so by the law of nations ; and that
several which w ere detained improperly, have
been released. Thus the Spirited conduct and
wife measures of our government, aided and
supported by the courage of the nation, are
likely to produce their natural and usual effect,
of avoiding a serious and deftruaive war on
one hand, and maintaining our rights ^nd
and honour on the other.
This reduction of the army will probably
constitute a saving, of about two millions in
the cxpences of the year.
Many other a&s were puffed during the ses
sion, but they are not fufficiently important to
be detailed here. Far the greater number, as
usually happens, are of a temporary nature, or
intended for particular purposes. The business
of a government so extensive as ours, necessari
ly requires a great number of occasional and
temporary laws; but those of a general and
permanent nature, are far leG numerous than is
sometimes supposed,
a fair and honorable ^djuftment of differences
Jess eafy,hy impreCjg the opposite party with
an opinion, that we woe too weak, too avari
cious, or too much divided, to support the mea
furey necessary for refinance.—Thefe reasons
had, in a great degree, ceased before the close
of the feflion. It was then known, that our
Commissioners must have reached Paris about
the 10th of March ; add confcquently that the
fate of their million, having, in all probability,
been decided before the middle of May, could
not be affeded by any thing to be done here
after that period. The late revolution in France
had also taken place. General Buonaparte had
suppressed the Directory and the Jacobins, and
created his own power on their ruins' He
manifestly aimed at acquiring popularity in
France and in Europe, for his new government,
by holding out the appearance, at lead, of a
just and pacific system, if not by adopting it in
reality. This plan would Strongly incline him
to a reconciliation on fair and honorable terms
with America ; the quarrel with which was
always unpopular in France, and had become
much more so, since She displayed the will and
the means of refinance, and since the effeCt of
her nieafure had been felt in the French com
mercial towns and colonies—Hence it was to
be prefumed,that the result of the neguciation
would be favorable ; and fevcral mcafures of a
nature to confirm this opinion, and to Shew
that the new government wished to be on good
terms with this country, were known to have
been adopted by it. If, on the other hand, the
result of the negotiation Should prove unfa
vorable, and our quarrel with France continue,it
was to be presumed that General Buonaparte's
failure and misfortunes in Egypt, %ald render
him very cautious about attempting to attack a
country more distant, far more powerful, and
which had manifefted a determination to de
fend itfelf. Should he feel the disposition, yet
the formidable combination against him in
Europe, would find him full employment for
all the means which his country, in its present •
exhausted state, could furniih. And in case of
a new change in the go vernment, which might
place the Jacobins again in power ; or of a
tide of success, which might revive the former
Spirit of conqueSt, dominion, and injustice ; we
mult have a warning fufficiently long, to en
able us to provide anew for our defence ; which
the spirit and alacrity formerly displayed by
the country, when threatened with attack, gave
the utmoll assurance of our being able very
speedily to do, Should the danger return.
This change in the State of things, between
the beginning and the end of the feflion, in
duced the persons who oppofeJ the motion for
disbanding the army, at the former period, to
be of opinion that the measure might be fafely
adopted at the latter. They therefore brought
it forward themselves, and it passed into a law.
The difeharge of the troops is to take place on
or before the 15th of June.
But as those troops are to be discharged Sud
denly, and Sooner than was expected at the
time when they were raised it was thought rea
sonable and just, to make them an allowance
of three mouth's pay, after their discharge; so
as to enable them to look about them at return
home, and support themselves till they can get
into new occupations. This was not only a
just measure, but a very wife one; Since it will
operate as a Strong encouragement to persons to
enter into the Service on any future occasion,
when it may be necessary to prepare for de
fence.
^^^. a ^x.
"- —±",=r-'=re=-"r-t=='=±- —r,*= "?===CT=r^^ a.^' _ th'::"-,
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, TWELFTH YEAR.
®ratlt of tbe Bap.
Morning, by CHARLES PEIRCE, Printer elf the Laws &c. of
in New-Hampshire;
-—. :———t —
PRICE I DOLLAR 50 CENTS Per Annum
As to our internal concerns, the
moll important of them and the only
one which seems likely to agitate the
public mind, is the approaching eleft
ion of President. Mr. Jefferfon is a
gain brought forward in opposition to
Mr. Adams, and the utmost exertions
are made td ensure his success. Those
who have been in the constant habit
of opposing the present lyilem of ad
ministration, from the moment when
it was firlt adopted by General Wash
ington, its reaUauthor, to the present?
time, will no doubt promise a great
many good things to tile nation, if they
can at length obtain the management'
of its affairs. It will however be re
membered, by men of sense and reflec
tion, that they have been employed, for
ten years, in finding fault with, and op
posing every measure of the federal gov
ernment ; that many of those measures
which they clamoured moil against,
have been approved by experience, the
only unerring judge in matters of this
kind: That the Britijb treats, from which
they predicted the mod direful conse
quences, has secured; thus far, the
peace of the country with that nation ;
has given us pofleffion of the territory
which was before withheld from its ;
and has put all our former differences
in a train of amicable adjustment. —=
That our commerce, the ruin of which
was confidently predicted from the op
eration of that treaty, has since its a
doption, flourished more than ever :—
That the mcafures adopted towards
France, instead of bringing on us the
exemplary vengeance of that nation,
with which they never ceased to threat
en us, have on the contrary, ensured
to us better treatment from it than any
other people has received ; and are
now, apparently, in a fairway of pro
ducing an honorable and fatisfadory
accommodation ; —That our navy,
which those persons opposed to the ut
most, cried out againit as too expen
sive to be supported, arid ridiculed as
too ineonfiderable to do any good,
has protested our Commerce, raised
our national character, and taught the
French to refpeft our rights :—That
since the establishment of this navy, our
commerce has recovered from the dc
preifion into which the depredations of
France had plunged it, and become
more prosperous than before ; —-
That our national credit, the ruin of
which they foretold, is high and firm :
And finally, that the army, which they
charged the supporters of administra
tion with having raised for fihifter pur
poses, is laid down by its authors them
selves, as soon as there was a reasona
ble ground to believe that it had be
come unnecessary.
Men of sense and reflexion will recol
lect these circumstances ; and they will
alk themselves, what more could any
adminidratibn have done ? Party-men,
who are heated by constant opposition
to all that has been done, and view ev
ery thing with a prejudiced eye, will
no doubt fay that more might have
been done, had their advice been fol
lowed ; but for this, we have nothing
but their word ; and it is just as fair, to
suppose that less would have been done,
had their advice been followed. They
have predicted much evil, which we
know has not happened. May we not
lately conclude, from this, that their
predictions about the good effects of
following their advice, would have prov
ed equally fallacious ?
When we were engaged in a dispute
with England, Mr. Jefferfon's friends,
and I presume himfelf, Strongly urged
the moll violent and high-handed mea
sures. To make a Single attempt at ne
gociation, before resort was had to mea
sures of compulsion, was Stigmatized
by them as pusillanimity and meanness.
Nothing but sequestration of property,
and prohibition of intercourse, would
suit them. When we afterwards got
into a dispute with France, which was
manifestly forced upon us by the injus
tice and aggrellions of that nation, these
fame persons wholly changed their tone.
They were then.all mildness and Sub
million ; talked of nothing but the hor
rors of war ; inlifted upon negotiation
after negotiation ; perpetually held up
to view our own weakness, and the
power and vengeance of France ; and
even when the second embassy was
driven off, and a tribute demanded, Still
pertilted in opposing every measure of
defence or preparation, for fear it would
involve us in war. When persons ad
thus inconsistently, is there not fame
rcafon to apprehend, that their conduct
is influenced more by pallion, party
Spirit, animosity against one nation, and
and favorable opportunity of making
peace.
improper attachment to another, than
by an enlightened and wife regard to
the interest of their own country > —
Ought we not to listen with caution to
the counsels of men, who arc so much
more under the guidance of pallion
than of sense ? When their former pre
dictions have been so fully refitted by
experience, ought we not to distrust
their present promises ? Is there not
every rcafon to believe, that had their
advice been formerly followed, we
Should hav£ been plunged into tbe war
against the English, and now in a state
of fubjediori to France, under the name
of an* alliance, as we know some other
countries to be ?—^Should not this teach
us the danger of listening to them now>
After all, what do these persons ex
ped to gain for the country, by a
change of administration ? What can
they hope to do, which is not already
done, or in a fairway to be done ?—
Will they make peace with France ?—
It is in a train of being made.—AVill
they reduce the army ?—dt is reduced.
Will they repeal the alien ana sedition
laws, about which they have raised so
loud and so unfounded a clamour ?—
They expire of themselves next feflion ;
and the occasion for them having ceas
ed, nobody thinks of renewing them.—-
Will they discharge the public debt ?—-
Provifon is already made for its difeharge.
If they mean only to do things of this
kind, which are already done or doing,
there is no need of putting them in -
It can do no good to the public, al
though it may gratify their lull of
power, their aninlofity against their op
ponents, or their part, spirit. If they
mean to destroy all that has heretofore
been done ; to overfet the funding sys
tem, and abolish the public debt with
out paying it ; to resume their old and
favorite schemes of a French alliance,
and a war against England, whereby
the payment of British debts may be
postponed ; to destroy the navy, where
on rests our only hope of relped abroad,
and complete security at home ; in fine
to repeal all the laws which they have
opposed, and to throw every tiling into
confufion ; if all this be their mean
ing, they will do infinite mifehief, and
ought to be kept out, as they have hith
erto been.
If under the present system of ad
ministration the country has prospered;
if peace has been preserved with honor,
during a conflict which has involved
almost every nation except ourselves :
If commerce has been protested, indus
try made to flourish, public credit main
tained, tranquillity preserved at home,
and the character of thenation raised a
broad ; I alk what more could any ad
niiniftration have done ? And where is
the need of a change ? Shall we ad like
foolilh children, who throw away their
play-things, and take new ones merely
because they are tired of the firft ? Or
fliall we imitate the condud of prudent
men, who retain in their service and
confidence those by whom their affairs
have been managed with fidelity and
success ? If you had an overseer, who
for ten years together had made good
crops, and kept your plantation in ex
cellent order, would you turn him a
way, merely because some other man,
whom you knew little or nothing about,
should come and tell you, that he
would manage better, if employed.
We know the present administration,
by the success of their actions. Those
who are so anxious to succeed them,
.we know only by the fairnefs of their
promises, their perseverance in fault
finding, and die failure of all their for
mer predictions. It is, therefore in my
judgment, solid wisdom to adhere to
the former, and leave the latter where
they are.
In order to effed this purpose, it is
necessary to fix on two men ; in both of
whom those who are fatisfied with the
system of administration adopted by
Washington, and pursued by his suc
cessor, can confide; and to support
them both as President. This necefiity
is imposed on us by the constitution ;
which directs that every elector Shall
vote for two persons, and that he
who obtains the highest number of
votes, Shall be President, and the next
to him Vice-President.—Mr. Adams
and General Pinckney have been pro
posed as candidates, to be voted for to
gether, with the hope and wilh that Mr.
Adams may be President, on account
of his long ferviccs,his well-tried virtue,
the fidelity wherewith he has difeharg
ed the duties of his office, 431 the 11>
cefs which has attended the leading
measures of his administration. BMh
howeverought to be Supported, became
the principle ought to be preferred to ,
the man ; and beanie if both arc Tup-