Gazette of the United-States. — New-York [N.Y.], 1792-02-01 00:00:00, page 2

The French Revolution, and true liberty to the
wbole world.
May the Agriculture of this province procure us
an ample supply of good wines.
Liberty of Conscience drank with three cheers.
. The abolition of the Feudal Syttein.
May Agriculture cause Commerce to flourish and
Commerce sustain Agriculture.
May the fire of Liberty extend itfelf to the frozen
climate of Hudson's Bay.
IC?" Health and Ready Money.
this day.
May the New Constitution (peak the will and
promote the happiness of the people.
The Liberty of the Press and n.ay freedom be
guided by wisdom and decorum.
Tiial by Jury—and may the right of Jurymen to
protect the innocent, remain for ever inviolable.
May the Britifti Nation be ever united with all
free Nations, to promote the Liberty and Hap
piness of all mankind.
May all the inhabitants of Canada be grateful to
Great-Britain.
May all civil diftiniftions among men be founded
on public utility.
May the feelings which have produced this hap
py meeting find their way into the hearts of
the rising generation.
Peace on earth and good will towards all men.
The Constitution of Great Britain drank with
maintained the cause of the People of this
Province and supported their petition.
The friends of Freedom who meet to celebrate
Lieut. Governor Simcoe, iand the Province of
Upper Canada.
The Peers and Commons of Great Britain who
THE KING, by found of trumpet, flourifh with
rhree times three cheers,and God save the King.
New Constitution, do. Rule Brirannia.
The glorious Revolution of 1688.
The Queen and Royal Family.
The Governor General of British America.
The Lieut. Governor General Clarke, and the
Province.
The Angularity fuggelted, will doubtJefs form
an ingredient, among the incitements to the ge
neral gratitude las the country, for so honorable
a pre-eminence over the reft of the provinces ;
(I trust) it will be molt sensibly felt by ihe devout
Canadian, whose recolletftion of the hard condi
tion of these neglected branches of the domini
on of France will admire and adore, that myste
rious providence, by which the separation of
Canada from that kingdom, became the way of
her escape, from the miseries to which France
(as we can now fee) was then destined, and that
theconqueft so mach dreaded herefrom the long
continued enmity of the rival provinces in her
vicinity, by drawing this country into a connec
tion with a brave and generous nation, which
has been the means of accelerating the advance
ment of the Canadian French to that degree of
felicity and security, which neither the provinc
es lately Briiifh, nor the European French, who
put every thing at risk for it, as yet have acquir
ed, and which England free as her spirit is, ne
ver gave to the colonies planted by her own hand.
The Bishop of Nova-Scocia governs the Cler
gy in these provinces, who are to be allowed as
tythes one seventh of all grants of lands.
Among others the following Toaps were given at the
principal entertainment in the celebration of the
Coihmencement of the New Cunflilutton uj Canada,
December 26.
According to the form of the New Conftituti
on, as pa fled into an Adt by the Parliament of
Great Britain and fan&ioned by the King, the
number of members of the legislative councils is
limited as follows : Seven for Upper Canada,
and fifteen for Lower Canada, the legislative
councillor's heirs to succeed in totation, if wor
thy. The number of members to compose the
lioufes of aflembly in the two provinces, are 16
for Upper Canada, and 50 for Lower Canada,the
province to be divided by proclamation. Voters
eligible who have rented a house of iol. per an
num one year. The proclamation with refpec?t
to the division of the province, to be prior to the
ill of January, 1792. The executive councils
are likewise to call the legislative councils and
houses of aflembly before the expiration of the
said year 1 792.
left to ages to measure the value of the benefits
conferred by the late change and reforms.
How flattering to Canadians of all ranks, that
this corner of the empire becomes the firft of any
of its remote appendages, upon that envied foun
dation ! —that rare ltruifture of human policy ;
which adverting to the natural, inevitable, and
providential distribution of mankind into Rich
and Poor, wit h qualities appropriate to their con
dition, and of adverfi bia{fej, restrains the spirit
and vices incident to each class, and creates a
controul upon both, by the elevation of a third
order , which in its own turn is corrected by the
other two ; and all singly or conjointly operate
the welfare of the whole.
three cheers
The Memorial of John Churchman, presented a few
days finee, was taken into co/ifideration. —It was
moved by
MR. PAGE, that the memorial should be re
fered to a feletft committee.
Mr. Williamfon objetfted to the reference—he
remarked generally that the fubjecfi had already
been before Congress, and had consumed much
time. In the Senate, he understood, it had not
received any great attention. With ref'peift to
the prosperous Hate of the finances, on which the
petitioner appears to found his hopes, he would
not pretend to determine the state of the Trea
sury ; but if it was full, and flowing, he conceiv
ed there were other expeditions which would
call for all the money we had to i'pare.
Mr. Page moved to refer the memorial to the
conlideration of a feledt committee—he hoped
there would be no opposition to this motion, as
the ingenuity of the memorialist, and the impor
tance of the objects he had in view, entitled him
to the attention of the house. He (aid lie had
prelented the memorial to the house last week,
at the defile of the memorialist, and had moved
that it fhou|d lie on the table for the confidera
lion of members; that one objecfl of the memo
rialist could not so well be stated to the house as
to a committee, where numbers of his papers and
calculations might be examined ; that if he should
attempt to do Mr. Churchman justice in the house,
he might be charged with affetftation, or he might
Hot be heard, or if heard, he might not be fuffi
ciently undcrftood—he therefore hoped that the
memorial might be refered to a feletft commit
tee.--In reply to Mr. Williamfon, he was sorry
to find that a gentleman, whose name flood on
the lift of philosophers, instead of aiding him in
countenancing a philosophical enquiry, should
oppole even his motion that the house would re
fer it to the consideration of a felecft committee.
He had not presumed to fay that there was mo
ney in the Treasury to be (pared for such purpo
ses— or that even-is we had money, that we had
a right to give it to Mr. Churchman, if he should
prove the truth of his theory ; nor had he, Mr.
Page, laid that Mr. Churchman would find the
magnetic pole—lie had only affirmed that Mr.
Churchman s ingenuity, which was acknowledg
ed by many competent judges, and the import
ance of the objetffs he had in view (one of which
the member himfelf confefled deserved attention,
and the other was confefled by several philoso
phers and learned societies in Europe) deserved
the attention of the house. Sir, added Mr. Pacre,
I affirm, since 1 am thus compelled tofupport my
motion, that Mr. Churchman's theory, whether
he shall be able to find by his proposed voyage
the magnetic pole or nor, is a proof of his inge
nuity, and is preferable to that of the great Hal
,ey- The latter supposed four magnetic poles,
and that they resided within the bowels of the
earth ; the former supposes but two, and that one
of them is ill the neighbourhood of one of the
United States, and within the reach of the fifh
ing voyages of another. Since Dr. Halley's the
ory has been exploded which did not long account
tor the variation of variation, as it is called, and
which he explained by an hy'pothefis w'hich has
been called extravagant, as it supposed theearth
a hollow (hell, with a nucleus within, revolving
freely and carrying round it the four points
which he supposed attracted the magnetic needle,
and gave it its direction ; no theory, except Mr!
Churchman's, has been offered to the world which
solves so many phenomena of the variation of the
needle, and bids fair to be of real use. 1 assisted
(by the invitation of one of the committee of the
Congress at New-York, to whom Mr. Church
man's memorial was refered) in the examination
of his theory > elpedting the finding the longitude
of any place whose latitude is known, and where*
the variation is known, and I did put it to the
test ,n this manner I gave Cook's voyages to one
of the committee, and desired him to tell me the
latitude of any place and the variation found
<here, and 1 calculated what the longitude ought
to be according to the theory, and conftan.lv
found u to be nearly that stated in the voyaoe*-
the committee compared Mr. Churchman's caten
ations o the longitude which they demanded of
htm with that given by Cooke, and found a won
derfu agreement ; and I have since seen many
of Mr. Churchman's companions of this fort
which agree with observations so nearly, as in
jnftify my assertion that the theory {hews the in-
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
FRIDAY, January 6, 1791-
PHILADELPHIA
CONGRESS.
318
Mr. Williamlon faicl it was the very'fatrte pe
tition which had been before Congress the la It
leffion, when there were only three or four mem
bers who appeared to support ir.
Mr. I'age laid it was not out of order to recon
sider the fubjecft—and to condemn it ra/hly, with
out a proper inveftigaNon, would be to render
Congress ridiculous in the eyes of the world.
Mr. Murray hoped the houie would appoint a
committee—he was not in Congress when this
Subject was before decided against. This was a
queflion 011 which lie was incompetent to decide,
but he could feel fufficiently for the literary re
putation of the houle, and the great interest ot
science, to believe, that to commit the bulinefs to
a committee, would belt comport with the dig
nity of the subject. Something more than was
then submitted to the wisdom of Congress, is now
brought forward—at lead Mr. Churchman foal
ledges. Let those gentlemen who wilh to have
an opportunity ot gratifying a laudable curiosity,
he indulged— When a man of science conies here
with luppofed discoveries in the active sciences,
we owe it to the fubjeift, to ourlelves, and to hu
man nature, togive his propositions fair play and
mature consideration. We can not do this with
out a reference to a committee. Weoughtto be
cantiotis how we haflily decide 011 the views and
experiments of philosophical applicants, and
ought to take warning from the disgrace of other
nations whom history has held up for their pre
mature rejection of enterprises and schemes ot
science. Columbus, him 'elf, Columbus, to w ho" 1
we owe our country, trjvelled about a philofo
genuity of Mr. Churchman ; and I will add ti,
although it may not l,e generally appl ied tQ ' fi J
nig the longitude because of the fmalluefsof"a
nation in some places, and other circuinltance?'
yet it may be used in many pi if the truth *f
theo, y be once eltablifhed ; and whateve
can contribute to the discovery of longitude a
sea, Mil be worthy os-encouragement • I*
granting,hat the variation of the needle could
not be applied to the discovery of the longitude
at lea, yet_ an easy and certain method of ffndino
the variation is a most desirable iliing and f
great conference to geography, navi g a tio „ an ° c
ftirveymg; and it Mr. Churchman's theory be
true, not only the variation, but the alteration of
that variation will be found by an easy calcnla
t.on at any place whose longitude and latitude'
is known, and tor any given time; and he puts
the truth of his theory to the test, whirl, few
theories have been willing; to do, of a single ex
permient, a voyage to Baffin's Bay. The United
States need not be ashamed to encourage the me
morialift: the British Parliament encouraged
voyages to ascertain the truth of Halley's theory
and, if I nnftake nor, when that was abandoned'
it was supposed that the poles of the earth infl,,'
enced the needle ; the Parliament offered 20 00c!.
to any one who would go to the north pole and
at the expence of their go/vernment, the attempt
has been made. But Mr. Churchman only re
quires that a voyage be made within 14 degrees
of that pole—and all I have allied is, that his me
morial be refered to a committee to examine his
theory, his calculations and vouchers, refpetTtinw
the probability of its truth, and the reasonable*
nefSjOt his petition. If the committee fliould
think his theory worthy of the experiment, lie
proposes to eftablilh its truth; and this h'oufe
lheuld not think Congress authorised to grant
money for that purpose ; they may recommend
Mr. Churchman and his theory to the patronage
of the legislatures of the filler dates, whose au
thority and ability to enable the memorialist (0
prosecute his enquiries cannot be doubted any
more than their readiness to lirten to a recom
mendation so worthy of Congress. On the other
hand, fliould the committee be of opinion that
Mr. Churchman's is a mad projection, and that
his petition ought to be rejected, let the house,
it fatisfied with their report, confirm it by their
unanimous vote—Where then is the danger of
refering the memorial to the confederation of a
committee? But if the house reject the mor'an
for a reference, and the ingenious memorialist
be obliged to apply to foreign countries, whose
learned societies have already applauded his the
ory, and fliould there meet-with encouragement,
and be enabled to establish its truth, may we 110 c
be in danger of incurring the censure of the li
beral and enlightened world ?
Mr. Clark made some observations on the fub
je<ft. He said that the variation of the needle
was already fufficiently understood by all land
lurveyors, otherwise they were not fit fsr their
business; and with regard to any discoveries by
sea, he had little hopes from them, after all the
frnitlefs attempts which have been made by the
ablell navigators and philofophei s of Europe.
Mr. Seney said that there was ,a degree of at
tention due to all applications from men of ge
nius, and as Mr. Churchman's memorial comes
supported by many refpetftable vouchers, it ought
certainly to be refered to a committee:—if
Congress fliould not deem it proper to give him
the aid he requires at present, perhaps it may be
recommended to the next house, to affoid him
encouragement.