National gazette. — Philadelphia [Pa.], 1793-09-07 00:00:00, page 2

For the National Gazette.
I HAVE fometirrte part with fitrprize, and
regret, beheld tftepublU prints teeming
w ith illiberal «*nfiire and Itrichirei on the
conduct of our firft magiltrat«. The man
whom we have been taught to reverence
»s the saviour of our country, whom none
.but the tongue of blasphemy hath hereto
iore dared 10 attack, is,now proclaimed bj
a vile Jacobin faOion, an enemy to tin
iand which gave him birth and recompensed
his merits with her honours. To develope
the cause of such a change, inveftigatioi
exerts herfe'.f in vain; a long life devotee
to the interelts of this country, alone i ifes ir
evidence agaißll him, and we are fioa'lj
compelled to end our refearche« by alcrib
ing the prtfent partial turn .of public opi
nion to tne natural depravity and incoii
fiftencyof the humancharafter. But as! an
willing to believe the former principle i:
less pi evalent than the latter, that error noi
guilt is the fifnrce ol'the discontent gene
rally difleminated, I will endeavour by r
clear and concifa exposition of fails to dis
pel the milts so inrUtftrioufly excited, anc
to prove by irrefutable arguments that tlie
present adniiniftration is conduced by wort
than Machiavels in fmeffe, and that the
mod refined fyltem of policy, far above the
vulgar conception of mankind has been tht
father of all its aits ; nor would I have ths
President to fuppole a blind devotion tc
his judgment has induced me to hazard 2
Jala aiitrtion. Indeed, I am a true re
puolican, as any one will believe betsre h«
has read through this address ;
to th? undertaking by no delire to Hatter,
or by any idea too partially entertained ir
favour of the "firft magillrate, but pure!)
from a motive to do justice to his real cha
racter, to dil'play things in their true co
lours, to c'ivelt men of their borrowed at
tributes, and to Ihew guilt in all its natura
deformity.
The firft division in the sentiments of the
people refpeiting the President was at th<
promulgation of the Conftitiition. Tin
individuals of the different hates whicl
compol'e the Union, determined "its in
trinlic n erit or demerit from the relative
advantages they might severally derive si on
it, not viewing it as a plan extenlive and
complicated in its nature, and whose ope
rations were intended to reconcile interefb
in many refpecls different, as far as such ;
tiling could be done.—Hence divifi
ons in opinion, and the odium ot measure:
was crroneonlly transferred to persons.
Henzt Federal and Anti-federal: terms va
riously received according to the differenl
tempers of people. The independent and
iluuriihing citiz.ens of the Union were fait
to b? fignified by the one, the abandonee
in principle and fortune by the other. In
deed fonu- have thought them fynoniinon;
with the words good and bad, and that the
Almighty ought to erase them from his
■book of accounts as trite and common,
and substitute in their place the new invent
ed terms as more expreflive of virtue ar.d
vice. Inthisfenfe, after the acceptation
of the Constitution, when the Prefidenl
was called to tbe firft office of our govern
ment by the voice of United America ; in
this sense, he appears to have received
tliem ; and tho' the citizens who had fworr
to übferve the Conhitution came adorned
with every quality necefl'ary to ensure trull,
or merit confidence, he wifely resolved tc
•c#nfider ttism as the specious garb of a
tainted heart, to recolleit in the day of
tryal he had been enrolled in the devoted
hand, and rejedt him from his councils :
Indeed, I would not infinnate tbat he who
repented of his political heresy remained
unpardoned, the mature and timely apoll
ate has, as everyone knows, been reward
ed and raised to honour.—No—none twl
those hardened and determined zealots who
opposed their puny voices t() the majority,
even while the dreadful fiat hovered over
their heads, have been denied a partici
pation in the loaves and fillies. So far the
President has not given a shadow for dis
content, altho' the fame insidious affafiins
fay he h3s made himfelf the head of a party,
instead of a nation : Their accusations are
equally unjust as their objections to some
other pans of his conduct, of which a fiare
reutal will be fufficient to prove his three
successive appointments to the wcfternariny
have not been able to escape auimadverlion.
They are so unjust aifo as to endeavour to
make him answerable for misfortune! ; and
while they censure him for every untoward
accident ; give him no credit for what has
been even more lucky than they could have
expected.
The firfl expedition, which wasconfi
tlered as purely military (though in that
light not quite such as we could have wilh
cd it) has added dignity to American lite
rature, and enriched tlje geography of this
country with a description of the Miami &
Maumee settlements, at lead worth fix or
seven dozen of men, and the paltry sum
it costs, whatever the cynical may fay to
the contrary. Moreover, had the succeed
ing commander paid that attention which
so judicious and elegant a performance de
manded, I make no doubt but he would
have been better acquainted with his fitua-
Jion, and been able to have made a proba
t>le guess where hi was. But surely our
firft magistrate canftot lie Mamed bcc;uife
the tawney sons of the desert plilcK'd the
laurels, the fruit of many a hard fought
field, from his aged brow. What will be
the fortune of the prefect and lall appoint
ed commander, time alone can determine.
He has the advantage of being well ac
quainted with his enemy, and when he calls
to mind the days of his youth, will rather
will) for than avoid a surprize, though his
Mentor, by refuting the providential ap
pointment of a brigadier, no longer at
tends his motions. All the foregoing mea
sures, which have been alledged as caules
of complaint, I rather conceive, originate
fromtlte malevolence of party, than from
any misapprehension of the wisdom which
dictated them. Tlrofe other circumfVances
which have created uneafmefs, evenin lome
of the President's molt zealous friends, are
the offspring of error, and will have hut a
temporary and tranlient exigence. Thc-
Ainericans, not yet fated with the crp ol
liberty, have farmed most erroneous opini
ons of what is meant by republican govern
ment, patriotijin., and many other infigni
ficant terms. While every thing else has
undergone some revolution tnrotig.li the re
finement and liberality which every where
prevail, they expected to have seen exemp
lified in this country what they have read
of ancient Greece and R»me. The soldier.
who had extended bis arm to lave hiscoun
try, after the fuccef ful struggle, converting
his sword into the plough-flnre, not affe£c
ing the parade of* an eatlern Nabob, more
over an enthusiastic attachment to the peo
ple of France, who sent forth their fleets
and armies to (hield us from the BRITISH
TYRANT, with wliofe freedom they idly
ftippofe our own connected, has increased
the canfe of disgust. in a word, a late pro
clamation, which it is plain they do not
understand, has diflolved the chain which
bound the federal head to their fouls.
They do not reflect how dangerous it
would be to afford the fmallelt cause of
complaint to the Britilh court, particularly
at this momentous period, when the arm
raised to truth French freedom might ea
lily extend itfelf to the feed from whence
the tree of liberty arose. Besides, if we
mr.ft take a part, how much more glorious
it will be to follow emperors, kings, and
princes, than join thole detested regicides,
who have compelled those honourable per
sonages ro the disagreeable necelfity of
making a government for them. They
have, too, the oddest notions of the invio
lability of treaties, not reflecting that
Hutch policy is fafeit, and that faith and
profit ought to go hand in hand. Indeed
tticy feein to think that national and indi
vidual honour ought to be equally sacred,
a.id that the Prelident, by an aflumption of
power, has unnecefl'arily separated them,
and by a refinement in polic; has rendered
their goveninent detestable, while th<>y
tltemfelves are refpeftable. They malici
ously fay, he imprisoned and tried two men
for what he encouraged in another ; that
tlie Marquis Fayetle came to this country
and fought in our cause. contrary to the
commands of his king ; that the American
General received him as a friend, and en
tertained a paternal affeflion for him.
Thus by the {(ranged implication do they
convert into a fault what ought to redound
to his eternal praise. The conduct of the
one might have injured, that of the other
benefited, this country. It was the ofFence
of the Canci/le that they attacked the pro
priety of the proclamation ; it was the
crime of the Marquis tliat he disobeyed
the authority of an absolute monarch. Alas 1
poor Louts, your fate has been severe !
Thus have I made good my alfertion. I
have fliewn that many charges againtl
our firft magiftrste have arisen from the
malevolent and factious, because the ad
vantages accruing from those acts of ad
miniliration, which they pretend not to
understand, are too palpable to be miltaken
—that still more originated in ignorance
and niifconception For, what common
uilderftanding could have fathomed the
depth of executive wisdom ?—I pretend
not to a greater degree of penetration than
others; but, I have conlidered objects,
untainted by paflion or prejudice. I could
not conceive how a man who had acquitted
himfelf so well in a war, not carried 011
with the boisterous violence of a Charles
the 12th, but with the discretion and wis
dom of a Fabius, could be so deficient in
peace, as the measures imputed to him by a
malignant faction, would infer. I have
therefore thought deeply on the fnbjeit,
and can truly fay, the pleafitre I feel at
having been able to do justice to a real
meritorious character, fufficiently rewai ds
me for the trouble I have been at. And
though, there may be many who will think
this performance too much tinctured with
flattery, the consolation will be, the con
fctotifnefs of personal worth, and the re
flection, that no man obtains his true
character tili many years after death.—En
vy, emulation, the natural hatred of supe
riority, so congenial to the human heart,
will arrett the pen of truth, until that pe
riod :—when if departed spirits are per
mitted to be acquainted with the things ol
this world, we thall be convinced I have
not said half the truth, or bestowed hall
their deferu on genuine merit.
DECI'US,
Sept. 2.
Abjlracl of Foreign Intelligence-.
O'l the 19th of June, the number of per
sons arretted by tile department 'of Par's,
amounted to 1345. The late minitter Ro
land, fled to Lyons, audit is said Brifot
was.going to join him when he was arrett
ed. Seven hundred and eighty five milli
ons of Affignats had been burnt 011 the 2?d.
of June; thirty three millions more were
ready to destroyed. Collot de Herbois
was pcelidentof the national convention on
the 2Cth of Jnne. —The SpaniUi army Was
pressing hard upon some ttrong French
potts on the frontier of the Pyreiines. Bel
legarde, a ttrongly fortified French town,
(till held out norwithftanding a continual
bombardment, and apprehended nothing
but from want of provisions : the garrison
of Fort Des Bains l'urrendered on the 57th
day of the siege, having eaten nothing the
la ft 48 hours. Fonrques was also taken,
three leagues from Perpignan.
M. Egalite in a letter to the National
Convention of the 2d. of June, fays tfeat
the moment he had flattered himfeif with
a favorable decision qn his cafe, at that
moment he found himfeif" more ciofely
confined.—He was transferred 10 the fort
St. Jean the 27th of M^y—a very cold pri
son, without receiving communications
from any one—and without any attendants
for himfeif or his foil ; hisdomettics had
been driven away although they had par
ports from the committee of the public
fafety, and he was not permitted either to
fee or speak to them ; he prays that the
Convention would judge him according to
his merits and attachment to the cause of
the republic through the revolution. He
prays for a speedy decifron-— and if their
decree (hould not give hint entire liberty,
he alks perirfiffiou to converse with such
persons as he (hall defu e, not to be. flint up
in that prison, that he may be at l'berry to
walk, and to take the air, which he fays i.
absolutely necefliiry to his health, now
greatly injured by his distress of body and
ifiind.
This letter was referred to the commit
tee of fafety.
The combined fleet, confiding of 52 fail,
had entered the Mediterranean, it was
said with a view to attack Toulon.
Lord Howe, with the lull division of'the
channel fleet, had failed from Spithead ;
and was to be joined by the Ruffian fleet of
frigates and transports, having 011 board
12,c00 troops. A cleftent on the coatt of
Britanny is confidently fta'ted to be their
object in the British papers. It appears
that there has been perpetually fighting be
tween the French and Sardinians ; the ac
counts are from Turln, these Rate that the
former loft 4COO men in one aflion. The
Pruflians have made themselves mutters of
Weifienau, near Mentz, after a (harp con
test. A bomb thrown from Valenciennes
fell ar ong anumher of those of the besieg
ers, and caused an explosion of forty of
thera.
The town of Conde furrfnderec! to the
cwmbined forces 011 the 10th of July, the
garrison had consisted of 4000 men, 150 c
only were found fit for duty who were
made prisoners 0/ war, 2000 were sick in
the hospitals. General Cufline had been
at Paris : the latt of June as stated in our
latt, he had set out for the army, previous
to which lie had informed the executive
council that the army deftincd to act against
the prince Saxe Cobourg mutt be encreaf
ed till it amounts to 120,000 men, in addi
tion to which he required another army of
60.000 to make inctirfionsinto the enemy's
country; with this force he promises never
to return except he is victorious. The
sieges of Valenciennes and Mentz were
going on ; the French making forties daily.
It was afl'erted as a fact that the combin
ed forces could have 110 hopes of taking
Valenciennes without the facrifice of
20,000 human beings, and when accom
plilhed, they had no more than prepared
for the capture of Lisle, which could not
fail of coding them at lealt 50,000 more—
on the 6th and 7th of July, an immense
number of wounded soldiers of the com
bined armies arrived at Brufl'els from ihe
camp before Valenciennes. Another train
of waggons, with the fame freight, arrived
on the 30th of June preceding. Prodigi
ons desertions prevailed from the combin
ed armies. At Lisle at lead 30, on an ave
rage, came in every day. —On the 15th of
July 4000 more English troops were
under orders of embarking for the conti
nent i a petition was signing at Glasgow
by many thousands of the citizens, againfl
the war; a«td it was agreed every manti
faftnring town in England, Scotland, and
Ireland would fiiortly do the fame.
On the 3d. of July eleven sections of the
department of Paris announced their ac
ceptance of the new conttitution.—The
son of Louis Capet, on the 3d. of July,
was removed fioin his apartment in the
temple ; in consequence of a resolution of
the committee of public welfare. The
difcoiifolate widow of Louis Capet was
Separated from her son with much
difficulty. Your-g Capet was put under
the care of citizen Simon and his wife.—
On the sth the Convention were informed
that a Pflay, two leagues only from Paris,
was taken fy the insurgents. Twenty
thousand men were inttantly raised in Pa
ris only. The insurgent genera', Evereux
had ten thousand,
Oil the 6th 6f July the garrison in Va.
lenciennes made a te. rible/or/ze, in which
clicy deltroyed all the enemy's works,
and Slaughtered :in immeme number of
their men. Such were the etxefis and
fuccefles of the gar r: full on several fitnil-ir
occasions, that it was thought the enemy
would no longer be abie to take any posi
tion to attack the place. The greatest
engineer in the world, M. Lafite, iTirrOed
the operations in Valenciennes—l*he com
bined armies had begun the reconqueft of
Savoy ; little more than frequent ikirinifties
had hitherto taken place, with various suc
cess. One of the insurgent armies had
been completely defeated near the town
of Nancy. They were totally routed
with great fl- ;hter. Lord Howe failed
the,lsth of Ji ly with the channel fleet,
some Ruffian {hips of war, and tranlports
with 12000 troops on board: their object
was said to be a descent on the coast of
Mrittany, where the people are in general
favourable to royalty.
Breda, May 28. The patriots of Holland
derive hopes from their natural courage;
and in a thousand persecutions which are
exe'ted, they fhev. that they arc not un
worthy to fufiVr in the came of liberty.
At present, without protection, they aie
delivered up to the refenlment of the court
of the Stadtholder, and that court is impo
litic enough to' exercise its vengeance,
when there is cert.'inly but a tingle flep by
which its yoke can ever be ftrengthjened.
They purfwe, therefore, with ripriur, all
who are fitfpcfied to have fV-voured th«
French invasion of Holland. They even
produce the letters, true or falfe, with
which the wealthy merchants invited Du
mourier as a conqueror, and engaged for
an advance of money by their filbfcriptt
ons. Forty-two of these persons have
been arraigned, who are poffefled of offices
either civil or military'
Paris, July 3. The ft'ifiofi cf the Nati
onal Convention have, except the preci
pitate formation of the conftituiiin, oller
ed 110 discussion worthy of remark for this
month pall- This inaition, however, au
gurs but badly; this calm appears to be
the forerunner of a itorm, the ueceffary
result of the A. hi fin which prevails in gene
ral throughout France, of which the con
trariety of the addrefies which are daily
presented to the alfembly is a convincing
proof. Some contain ilie ttrifteil adher
ence to the transitions of the 31H of May
and the 2d of June; others contain the
molt marked disapprobation of them, ex
preiitd in the mod menacing manner. A
fatal division in fine, c!illra£ts Fiance, and
Paris seems to be particularly threatened.
The provisions of every kind which pafg
through the departments of Normandy in
their way to Paris, are flopped 011 the road,
and above 30 waggons with butter remain
feizid at Caen.
PHILADELPHIA.
Saturday, September 7.
An extraordinary phenomenon, happen
ed i<i the river La Plata, in South-Ameri
ca, in April lad. An impetuous wind rose,
and blew with a violence so extreme, that
it drove the waters of the river ten league*
diftamefrom its banks. All the neigh
bouring country was inundated—the bed
of the river was left dry. This terrible e
ruption difcovereti vefiels which had been
101 l for thirty years—they found among
others an Englifli (hip which was wrcckcd
in the year 1762 —many peifons went to
the place, and walked all about the bed of
the river with dry fret; and. returned
loaded with the filverand spoils which had
been ("wallowed up in the vefiels. This
phenomenon. \\ hich ought to be ranked in
the number of the grand revolutions of na
ture, lalted three days, at the end of which
time the wind ceased, and the waters re
turned with grand impetuosity to the na
tural bed of the river.
By order of the governor of Connecti
cut, a party of militia took pofleffion of the
British brig Nancy, lent into New-LfTndon
oil the lOth ult. prize to the Petit Demo
crat and Carmagnole, Frei.ch privateers;
one fitted out in the (late of Delaware,
ar.d the other at Philadelphia.
Several addresses, from different counties
and towns, have been publiOied in late
newspapers, exprefling to the President of
the United States, the approbation of the
inhabitants of his proclamation, enjoining
neutrality towards the belligerent powers.
On Wednesday last a number of French
men, who had been sailors and marines,
&c. 011 board the Jupiter in New-York,
and who had deserted from that (hip,svere
apprehended near Kensington, on their
way into this city, by a party of the mili
tia, ordered out by the governor, under
authority of a warrant from the Chief Jus
tice and judge Shippen. They were after
wards brought before the Chief Juflice;
and after an examination, they were deli
vered up to the Consul of the French Re
public- They ard lodged iagaol, and will
probably be tried by a court-martial.
We are autborifed to inform the public,
that the buildings in the new Federal city
are rapidly advancing: tfcePrsidcm*sia>nfc'