The Rhode-Island American, and general advertiser — Providence [R.I.], 1810-05-22 00:00:00, page 2

Ip course, th® taking off alt re*rictt,on» so fat
j 1 as it respects Fraaoe,. whiyh they say will
| enable us to obtain goad/ from her ; find
; the adoption of vlgorous./hostile measure*
[ against England, whicty they- any wou «
L soon compel her to accede to an accomnto
? dwtion on our own terms! But as they are
sensible, thia plan cannot.be carried through,
therefore they do not promise it.
*♦ In addition to the Clashing of parties
in the .House of Representatives, alm<>
the' only thing in which the House and Se
bate appear to agree,, is to disgrace almost
etery thing. Indeed our situation is nearly
o* quite a novel one. i It is uncertain what
is the majority in the House, and wher® the
majority faith. There can be no calcula
tion on a majority in the Senate ; and it is
extreme ly questionable whether the Ex- %
1 ecutive can command a majority in either
House. Jefferson, by an influence almost
unboaoded, moulded, fashioned and man-
' aged the party a< Hit pleasure. His influ
ence however waa fn <he decline before he
left the helm. Madison is rather managed
by, than a manager of the party. Indeed
1 can consider him but a little more than a
, mere puppet, without either energy or in
dependence, but bandied about at pleasure;
and hia managers are 1 believe, rapidly
losing their influence. The party must
evidently soon crumble to pieces; but the
danger is, that the constipation of our coun
try will gn to wreck with it.
•« When th® session waa protracted for
eight days longer, I thought it probable
Something might be done ; but a week,
lacking one day, has elapsed, and nothing
Is like to be done. The second coinmcr-’
cial bill, called No. 2, or the 50 per cent,
duty bill, is like to share the fate of the
first. The duty has been struck out, and
a provision to grant convoy has been sub
stituted in its stead. This will not pass
the House; and the whole apparatus of
neo-intercourse, embargo, &c. will be suf
fered to expire with the close of the session.
Two or three days has been taken up,
during the last week, on a proposition for
reducing the navy. This has been dis
cussed, not so much with any expectation
of being able to pass any bill on the subject,
as with a view to protract the time until
th • close of the session, and with a view to
expose an abominable sinecure establish
ment/ the expense* of which were enor
mous.' Was the British navy maintained
at a proportionate rate of expense with
that of the pigmy navy of the United States, •
the revenues <>f the world would not be suf
ficient to defray the expense.
“ Some statements have been obtained
from the Treasury Department this ses
sion, which gave a proper view of the
economy of the two administrations. En
closed, I send yon the Copy of a summary,
prepared from official documents and pub
lished as part of a circular, by the Hon.
Mr. Swoope of Virginia; its authenticity
may be depended upon. It is to be ob
served, that the federalists did something
•with the money which they expended.—
At the close of their administration, thr
federalists had upwards of forty ships of
war of different grades. They had had a
long and tedious Indian war to carry on,
and two insurrections to quell. The navy,
under the present administration, has, by
selling and ratting together, been reduced
to the mere skeleton of what it was once.
Excepting the trifling war of Tripoli, the
nation has been at peace, and there has
been no insurrection to quell.
*• Upon the whole, my dear Sir, our situ
ation affords but a gloomy prospect. From
what quarter light may arise in the midst
» of our darkness, time will unfold. What
ever communications have been received
from Europe by the Executive, none has
been communicated to Congress, consisting
I suppose, of what would be called' private
letters. We know nothing only what we
learn from the papers. The long expected
John Adams had not left England, March
35th, and probably has not left Europe yet.
The Jatest accounts from England were
favourable; but if the same disposition
prevails in the cabinet as formerly, no
arrangement can be made which our gov
ernment will dare to accept. I hope, how
ever, this hostile spirit begins to be a little
mollified, not perhaps so much by a change
of feeling, as by a sense of incapacity to
carry on a system of hostility. The dis
organised state of the party, and the de
struction of our little army at New-Orleans
and the exhausted State of our treasury,
present but little, gratifying to the war
feelings. May God appear for our nation,
and save us from the perdition with which
we are threatened!”
Trk third President of the United States,
Jefferson, was, in som? points of view, the
most extraordinary of all political charac
ters, in all countries and in all ages. Gift*
ed by nature with many of the brillian
cies of genius, and with no inconsiderable
strength of mind ; bom in a period replete
with wonderful events ; introduced upon
the publick theatre of the most favoured
nation under Heaven, amid the happiest of
all possible auspices; and placed in the
direct path to the temple of fame with
scarcely aa effort of his own, it would have
been no more than to sail gently with a
current a* delightful aa splendid, with gales
moa rut freeman's younvAt.
aa salubrious as auspicious, for him to be
come like * * *
One of those patriots, the renown of GREECE.
Who lived in oioax add for r«sboom died.
But alas I this brilliant and fortunate a a
TiFicsß or mis own fortune, invitee
by all that ought to animate genius end
patriotism to make himself a great man.
chose to make himself a small one. Nevei
did a popular character exist, except per
haps Oliver Cromwel, so perfectly a poll
tician aui generic. Never did any othei
man, not even Pericles, Alcibiadbs, Julius
Casar,or, perhaps, (last and least,) even
Wilkes of England, so completely devote
his whole heart and soul to the pursuit of
popularity. No breeze but the rura popu
lar" could blow uweet musick to bis ear.—
Yet, although he had less of the soldier in
his composition than aoy human creature
that ever has existed, from Adam to Mad
ison, he might have been tempted to say
even to the druid and trumpet, at a safe
distance, If (martial) mueick be the food
of love (of popularity) play on. Every
other successful candidate for popular af
fection has been, in some degree at least,
a soldier or an orator. The very great
succesgpf Thomas Jefferson, a man totally
destitute of courage and eloquence, and
also destitute of solid talent and of pure in
tegrity, in the acquirement of popular fame,
i» one of the most wonderful of human
events, and at the same time one of the
most reproachful to human nature. U
proves, however, tnt* gccat probability of
success in the pursuit of any object what
ever, to which the whole powers of any
individual's mind are inflexibly and per
severingly directed.
It is impossible that Jefferson could have
felt the reverence which he professed to
feel for the name and character of Wash
inoton. The “ National Gazette” and
the ** Prospect Before Us,” the names of
Freneau and Callender, have spoken upon
that subject, a language to the present age
and to posterity, which cannot but be con
clusive, in spite of the majestick portrait
of the father of his country, which "has
been suspended in a. certain dining hall,
and the tears which were shed over his
tomb. Whenever the late President strode
through his rooms, and the picture of Wash
ington met his eye, he must hav® beheld
a silent monitor, replete with contempt
and indignation ; and whenever he looked
adown the Potomack, Sepulchrvm incipit
apparere Bianoric, the tomb of the most
illustrious of men must have frowned hor
rour on the meanest of mankind. Oh!
Washington! how sadly have thy precepts
been perverted! What guilt has been com
mitted in thy name !
Not through the threatening regions of
arms, or the flowety ones of eloquence, did
leffersoo ascend the Presidential Throne.
He wound riong the briery but not danger
ous paths of humility and of deception.—
Could he but worship popularity, it made
no odds whether his idols were in number
twenty, or but one. It broke not his shoul
der* in the field of war, it deprived not his
purse of the pjwer to pay the libellers of
Washington and Adams. Yet, with all his
miserable deficiency of nerve, there were
certain pointsfopon which no one could ex
ceed him in energy. Witness the embar
go, that charming and continual theme of
the applauses of that rare judge of repub
lican merit, Napoleon of France. Con
vince Thomas Jefferson that a measure is
popular, and he will enforce it with the
spirit of an Achille*.
Now that imperious, that uneonqner’d soul,
No laws can limit, no respect control;
Before his pride must his superiours fall,
His word the law, and he the‘Lord of all.
Convince him that among the people a
majority of one vote is against his favourite
measure, and all his powers vanish as if
smitten by the spear of Ithuriel.
History will describe the third President
as a phenomena, equally extra
ordinary, but in truth not equally detesta
ble, in its origin, progress, decline, and
dissolution.
• “ Thereby hangs a tale," not of “ Paul,"
but of “ Virginia." The shoulder of Jeflerson
was broken in a different manner and a dif
ferent scene from that of Sir John Moore.
Ma. Yorki moved the order of the day,
for bringing Mr. John Gale Jones to the bar.
Mr. Jones being brought accordingly the
Speaker addressed him as “John
Gale Jones, a complaint having been made
to this House of the publication of a scan
dalous and libellous handbill, reflecting on
the proceedings oi this honourable House*
and the conduct of certain of its Mem
bers ; and the printer of the said handbill
having been called tn the bar nf this House
to answer for the said publication, alleged
that you arc tbe aulhout* thereof. What
have you to say in your behalf >
Mr. Jones answered, " I acknowledge,
Sir, that 1 was the authour of that paper,
and I am 'extremely sorry tbe printer has
experienced any inconvenience on my ac
count." Mr. Speaker—" Repeat whutyou
have said. *
House of Commons, February 21.
Mr. Jones complied.
foreign Untdlhjence,
BREACH QF PRIVILEGE.
LONDON, February 24.
Mr. Speaker—Have you any thing mor®
js say in your behalf?
Mr. Jones— “ I sincerely lament that I
hould have incurred .the displeasure of
his honourable House ; and I trust they
* will not consider, that, In what I have done,
1 was actuated by-any sense of
to its privileges, or the persons of any of
its Members individually ; or that I had
any other motive, hi mentioning the names
~f the two honourable Members alluded
to, save that they happened to be connect
ed with a subject of publick discussion. I
have always considered it the privilege of
every Englishman to animadvert on pub
lick measures, and the conduct of publick
mqn; but -nt looking over the paper in.
question, again, I find that I have erred;
1 beg to express my contrition, and 1 throw
myself on the mercy of this honourable
House; this House of Commons, which as
an important branch of the Constitution,
has always had my unfeigned respect.
The Speaker then addressed the House,
and put the question : •
“ That John Gale Jones, having now
acknowledged himself to be the aathour of
the paper in question, was guilty of a
gross violation of the privileges of that
Houser
Sir Franoie Burdett hie conitituehta
denying the power qf the Nouae of Com
mono to impriaon people qf England'
House of Common*
having passed a vote which amounts to a
declaration that an order of theirs is to be
of more weight thpn Magna Chart* and
the laws of the land, I think it my duty to
lay my sentiments thefeon before my con
stituents, whose character as freemen, and
even whose personal safety, depends In so
great a degree, upon the decision of this
question—a question of no less importance
than this: Whether our liberty be still to
be secured by the laws of our forefathers,
or be to lie at the absolute* mercy of a part
of our fellow-subjects collected together by
means which it is not necessary for me to
describe.
The question was carried mem con.
Mr. York then rose and said that after
the vote just phased, he thought it impossi
ble the House dhtald not follow it ep by
fui'tirtr-' resolution, which should
mark its own sente of the indignity offered
to its high authority, by the person now at
(he bar and by making a proper example.
warn such persons from taking upon them
to comment in such a way upon the pro
ceedings of that House, and the Parliamen
tary conduct of its Members. He there
fore moved, that John Gale Jones, for bts
offence, be committed to his Majesty's gaol
of Newgate.
Shortly afterwards, Mr. York appeared
prepared to offer Mr. Dean’s petition, and
presented it to the House.
The petition having been read, Mr.
Dean, the printer, was then called to the
bar, and the Speaker having recapitulated
to him the nature and circumstances of his
offence; told him, that in consideration ot
his demeanour yesterday, and the peculiar
Circumstances of Isis case, it was the plea
sure of the House that he should be dis
charged without fees; and he was dis
charged accordingly.
[On the 12th of March, Sir Francis Bur
dett, after denying the right the House ol
Commons had to commit Mr. Jones, moved
that he be discharged—but this motion
was negatived, by a majority of 139.]
SIR FRANCIS BURDETT.
The following extraordinary publication
appeared in Cobbed’* Register of Satur-
In order to give to this subject all the at
tention to which it is entitled, and to avoid
the danger to be apprehended from par
tial view* and personal feeling, it will be
adviseable to argue the question on its own
merits, putting the individual (however we
may deplore his present sufferings) out of
view; though, at the same time, every
man ought to consider the, case his own;
because should the principle upon wfflch
the gentlemen of the House of Commons
have thought proper to act in this in
stance, be once admitted, it is impossible
for any one tn conjecture how soon he him
self may be summoned from his dwelling,
and be hurried without trial, and without
oath made against Him, from the bosom of
his family into the clutches of a jailor. It
is, therefore, Ww th® time to resist the
doctrine upon which Mr. Jones has been
sent to Newgate; oe» it is high time to
ceasa all pretension® to those liberties,
which were acquired by our forefathers,
after so many struggles and so many sa
crifice*
Either the House of Commons is au
thorised to dispense with the laws of the
land, or it is not. If the constitution be of
so delicate a texture. So weak a frame, so
fragile a substance, that it is to be .only
spoken of in terms of admiration, and tq|
be viewed merely as a piece of curious
but unprofitable workmanship ; if Magna
Chana, and all the wholesome laws of
England, be a dead letter ; in that case
the affirmative uf tha proposition may be
admitted: But if tha constitution lives,
and is applicable to its end, namely, the
happiness of the community, the perfect
security of the life, liberty and property,
uf each Member, and all the Members of
the society, then the affirmative of the
day last:
** M
But, I would fain believe that such is
not to be our fate. Our forefathers
stern grim-visaged Prerogative hide his
head: they broke in pieces his sharp and
massy sword.—And shall we their sons, be
afraid to enter the lists with undefined pri
vilege, assuming the powers of Peroga
tive ? '
The principle, fellow-citizens, for which
we are now contending, is the same priori
pie for which the people of England have
contended from the earliest ages, and their
glorious success in which contests are now
upon record in the great charter of out
Rights and Liberties, and in divers other
subsequent statutes of scarcely less impor
tance. It was this same great principle,
which was again attacked by Charles 1.
in the measure of Ship-Money, when again
the peojjje of England, and uncorrupted
House of Commons, renewed the contest,
s contest which in the imprison
ment, the trial, the condemnation, and the
execution of that ill advised King. The
«o}f same principle it was, so daringly
violated by his son James ll.—for which
violation, he was compelled to flee frqm the
just indignation of the people, who not
only stript him of his crown, but who pre
vented that crown from descending to his
family. In all those contests, the courage,
perseverance, and fortitude of our ances
tors, conspicuous as they were, were ndt
more so, than their wisdom ; for talk as
long.as we will about rights, liberties,
franchises, privileges, immunities, of what
avail are any, or all of these together, our
persons can, at the sole will and command
of any man, or set of men, be seized on,
thrown into prison, and there'kept during
the pleasure of that man or set of men ?
If every one of you be Hable at any time,
to be sent to gaol without trial, and with
out oath made against you and there to be
detained as long as it pleases the parties
sending you there, (perhaps to the end of
your life,) without any court to appeal to,
without any means of redrete, if this be
the case, shall we still boast of the laws
and of the liberties of England ? Volumes
have been written by Foreigners as well
as by our own countrymen in praise of that
part of our law, which in so admirable a
manner provides for our personal safety
against any attacks of men in power.—
This has indeed, been, in all ages, the
pride of our country ; and it is the main
tenance of this principle which enabled
u/to escape that bondage, in which all the
States and Kingdoms in Europe were en
thralled, by abandoning and yielding it up;
and we may be assured, that if we now
abandon it, the bright days of England’s
glory will sit in the night of her disgrace.
*■ * ’ z V;. *1 > ' • v'
proposition cap paver be adn)itl®d;
must vpe be fretfmeo; for we neeqpo let
ter security, noftmare powerful protection,
for our rights and liberties than the laws
and constitution. We seek for, and we
need seek for,. nothing new. We ask for
no more than what our forefathers insisted
upon aa their own ; we a**k for no more
than wbqt they bequeathed uutous;—we
ask for no more than what they, in the
Testament which some of them, had seal
ed, and which the rest of them were ready
to seal, with their blood, expressly de
clared to be “ the birth right of 'the peo
ple of England,” namely, *• TH* laws
of England.” To these laws We have
a right to look, with confidence, for securi
ty : To these laws the individual now im
prisoned has, th rough me, applied for re
dress in vain. Those who have imprison
ed him, have refused to listen to my voice,
weakly expressing the strong principles of
the law, the undeniable claims of this
Englishman's " bit tit right.** -Your voice
may come with more force, may command
greater respect; and, I am not without
hope, that it may prove irresistible, if it
proclaim to thia House of Commons, in the
same tone as the tongues of our ancestors
proclaimed to the Kings of old, “ Mvlu
mue Legea Angliac Mutari f* or, in out
own more clear and not less forcible lan
guage, th* la#s of England shall
NOT BE CHANGED.”
I shall be told, perhaps, that there is not
much danger of this power very frequent
ly exercised. The same apology may be
made for the exercise of any power what
ever. Ido not suppose that the gentlemen
of the House of Commons will send any of
you to gaol, when you do not displease
them. Mr. York did not move for the
sending of Mr. Jones to gaol, until Mr.
Jones displeased him ; but it is not a very
great compliment to pay to any constitu
tion to say, that it does not permit a man
to be imprisoned, unless he has done some
thing to displease persons in power. It
would be difficult, Lshould suppose, to find
any man upon earth, however despotick his
disposition, who would not be contented
with the power, of sending to prison, during
his pleasure, every one who should dare to
do any thing to displease hirfl. Besides,
when I am told that there is littlr danger
that the gentlemen in the House of Commons
will if ten exercise this power, I cannot help
observing, that, though the examples may.
be few, their effects will, naturally, be great
and general. At this moment, it is true,
we see but one man actually in gaol for
having displeased those gentlemen, but,
the fate of this one man, (as it is tbe ef
fect of all punishments,) will deter others
their opinions of the con-
Sa- '
L <!®ct of fcose the
punish MS And, moreover, iU* in the
natur®< *l> especially of
undefined power, to increase
as it advances in age; and as Magna
Charts and the law of the have not
been sufficient to protect Mr. Jones, ®s we w
have seen him sent tegaol fur tasMfeg de
scribed the conduct oftme of the Members,
4ts an outrage upon pubtick
security have we, unless this power ©f.lm
prisonment be given up, that we shall not
see other men sent to gaol for string their
opinion respecting Rotten Boroughs, r®-
specting Placemen and Pensioners sitttog
in the House; or in short, for making ariy
declaration, giving any opinion, stating anjr
fact, betraying any feeling, whether by
writing, by word of mouth, or by gosthre,
which may displease any of the gentleman
assembled In St. Stephen’s Chapel f
Then again as to the Jcind of punishment;
why should they stop a€ sending persons to
gaol ? If they can ®chd who they please
to gaol; if they can keep the person®, so
sent, in gaol, aa long as they please, if they
can set theib prisoner* free at the end of
the first hour, or keep them confined for
seven years; if, in short, their absolute
will Is to the force of law, what se
curity can you have that they, will stop at
hnpnaonnttnt! If they have the absolute
power of imprisoning and releasing, why ,
may.they not send their prisoners t® YiA-k
gaol, as well as to a gaol in London ? Why
not confine men in solitary cells, or load
them with chains and boh* ? They have
not gone these lengths yet, but what is
i there to restrain them, if they are to be
«ole judges of the extent of their powers
without any control, and without leaving
the parties whom they Chose to punish, any
mode of redress.
That a power such as this should exist in
any country, it is lamentable to be obliged
to believe; but that it should be suffered to
exist, and that its existence should be open-,
ly and even boastfully avowed in a country
whose chief glory has been its free consti
tution of government is something too mon
strous to be believed, if the proof were net
before our eyes. Had the least dokbt hung
upon my mind of the illegality or the pro
ceedings in tbe present case, it would haw®
been altogether removed by the answer® N
given to tbe references made by me th® It
Great Luminaries of our law, and the law®
themselves. The argument, by which I
endeavoured to convince the gentlemen of
the House of Commons, that their acts, in
the case of Mr. Jones, were illegal, I shall
now lay before you, in a more foil and
connected way than it could possibly b®
done by the Parliamentary "Reporters, and
in doing this, 1 shall do all that now re
mains in my power, towards the correction
of this as I deem it, most enormous abuse
of power, and most dangerous of all en
croachments upon the rights and liberties
of Englishmen. I remain, gentlemen.
Your most obedient humble servant.
FRANCIS BURDETT.
Piccadilly, March 23, 1810.
BALTIMORE, May 14.
FRENCH PRIVATEERS AGAJPT.
W* believe that no inquiry has been
made into the equipment of tbe privateer
Amiable or Montebello, fitted out here,
and if both the executive and the per
chant choose to let it rest, it would be ab
surd for us further to interfere. If a nu
merous combination of pirates, who ** rob,
burn, sink and destroy every American,
Spanish and English vessel they fall in
with,” are to be encouraged in all the port®
from here to New-Orleans, by suffering
them to be fitted and to sally forth without
previous interruption or subsequent inquiry,
it will serve at least to convince his Corsi
can Majesty that his vessels ar® not con
fiscated as he suppdses, but fostered here,
and that we have cheerfully for his sake
taken serpents to our bocqfo to sting us.
As Captaiq White is now in Baltimore,
we hope he will not scruple to throw the
odium and criminality from bis own shoul
ders upon those which ought toxbear them. -
He was not tbe oWqer of the Amiable at
any time.
PHILADELPIfifA, May 14
Yesten.’ay arrived brig Susannah, Thurs
ton, 42 days from Lisbon. By whom we
learn that the spirits of the inhabitants of
Lisbon were much elated from fre
quent arrival of British troops and the tor
pour ef the French, who by accounts, were
much in wane of provisions and had made ’
few or no movements on the frontiers ex
cept in foraging parties, with which the
new organised Portuguese troupe had fall
en in and had proved themselves good sol
diers. That there was in the town of Lis
bon, and other parts of Portugal, a consid
erable impressment of horses, to mount
the English dragoons, lately from England,
by which it seems they mean to form 4
large body of horse to oppose the French
on the frontiers.
NEW-YORK, May 17. *
The subjoined article is from the Dome
erstick Press of Friday evening. Robert
Smith haCactually arrived in this city. The A
report alluded to has been confirmed to us > < »
'hrough a re«pocuble channel, directly
tije JBati#.