Oracle post — Portsmouth, N.H., 1805-05-14 00:00:00, page 2

There were several other questions of consider
able consequence on which I differed from the ma
jority of the republican party in Congress ; but in
all of them a number of the most respectable re
publicans, and in two or three ofthem all the mem
bers from the five New-England states, with one or
two exceptions, united with me in opinion. In this
review I shall only notice, and that briefly the mo
tion to enquire into the official conduct of Judge
Chase, the resolution for abolishing the loan offices,
the motion to extinguish the State Balances, and
Mr. Randolph's Resolutions respecting the Georgia
Claims. I was opposed to an inquisitorial investi
gation of the conduct of a public officer, upon the
mere demand of a member in his place without a
ny specific accusation ; but submitted without a
murmur to the decision of the majority, and voted
for the impeachment in the first instance, after the
evidence was reported. I voted, in the first in
stance, in favor of discontinuing the office of com
missioners of loans ; but upon a further examina
tion, I began to fear that the measure might with
propriety be construed into a violation of the pub
lic faith and altered my vote. Most of the repub
lican members from Massachusetts, like myself al
tered their votes upon deliberate investigation, and
the resolution was rejected by a small majority.
Upon the motion to extinguish the state balances
the members from the New-England states were
united, with the single exception of my colleague
Mr. Olin, to whose integrity and ability I shall al
ways bear my feeble testimony : and the same was
the case on,the subject of the ' Georgia Claims, ex
cept that one member from Massachusetts did not
vote upon the question. These questions were con
sidered as involving the interests of the eastern
States to the amount of several millions of dollars ;
those states being creditors to a large amount as it
respected the state balances ; and numbering among
their citizens most of the honest claimants whom
the United States had stipulated with Georgia, up
on the cession of the Georgia Missisippi Territory,
to compensate in a certain ratio for their claims
upon that state. These subjects, like all others of
a local and complicated nature, have never been
thoroughly investigated by the people at large ; but
„ they have now become of national importance, I
shall render my constituents an acceptable service
bv detailing to them the information I possess upon
the subject. This letter will be devoted toa gener
al view of the subject of the state balances, and the
succeeding ones to that of the Georgia Claims.
The State Balances, as they are celled, result
from circumstances immediately connected with
our national independence. Innumerable were the
difficulties which presented themselves in our coun
cils during the revolutionary war ; and the smiles
of Providence alone could have enabled our fath
ers to surmount them. From peculiar circum
stances, certain states contributed more, and others
less, than their equitable proportion, towards the
support of the common cause ; and certain princi
ples were prescribed by Congress for ah ultimate
equalization and settlement between the states.
The resolution under consideration proposed the
Extinguishment of the balances, due from several
of the individual states to the United States, as ap
pears by a import of Commissioners appointed to
adjust and finally to settle the demands of the sev
eral states fir services rendered and supplies fur
n'shed the United States in the late revolutionary
/war with Great Britain. This report was made
«n the sth December, 1795. The Whole amount
heir cupidity to moral and natural law. If the
Custom which it sanctions leads to actions inconsis
tent with divine commandments, an individual thus
misled, may in human judgment foe absolved of
crime & his death alone be accounted as one of the
atonements which God requires of raan, for the
disobedience of his laws. Somers lived like a
Christian ; yet when he contemplated the barbarity
of the foe, and the disastrous consequences which
would attend the survival of his enterprize, he em
braced those principles countenanced by war, and
died like an officer. If he yielded to the enthusiasm
that seeks voluntary death, that rash courage which
usurps the right of self-immolation, and that love
of liberty which prefers death to slavery, it was be
cause he thought them virtues, without which no
one could be a hero, and devoid of which, he could
mot, in the existing warfare, faithfully serve his
country.
Over the lives of his brave associates, he how
ever had not the delegated right of war, and we
believe it would be injustice to his memory not to
believe, that he neither claimed, nor exercised it.
Somers, though desperately brave, was yet gener
ous and humane. Sooner would he have declined
the honor that he did accept, and have forgone the
opportunity of acquiring glory, than commanded
the lives of his men ; sooner would he have com
mitted solitary suicide, than carried along with him
one unwilling comrade. No, no cloud like this ob
scures his glory, or hides the fame of his self devoted
companions, they too aspired 'ike their gallant lea
der, and with him shared in the commission of the
deed."
Although in a moral view, we have disapproved
of the principles that occasioned this sad catastro
phe, we canr.ot suffer the worldly merit of it to be
lessoned by ascribing to mischance, what was the
premeditated resolve of an invincible spirit. When
the war against Tripoli commenced, Richard Som
ers and the writer of this article were fellow officers.
They had been together at school, parted as friends
and met again in friendly intercourse. Then it
was that Somers asserted without vanity, or idle
boasting, that “ an officer before he goes out should
make up his mind never to be taken alive ; if said
he, ray men will not agree to blow the vessel uft,
the dirk or pistol shall end my life." The writer
at that time believed Somers to be sincere in his de
claration, because he knew the hardihood of his na
ture, had witnessed the ardor with which he enter
ed the juvenile lists of combat, to cope with superi
or size and strength, and beheld his intrepid obsti
nacy in the unmatched contest ; and when he re
collects, that in one of these youthful engagements,
when overpowered and exhausted,Somers exclaim
ed, " strike on—l will never give out," he readily
realises the hand that put the match to his fireship
and was blown up before the walls of Tripoli.
• Late Commander„of one of the firc-ihips which was
voluntarily blown up by the crew, before Tripoli ; who
preferred this measure rather than fall into the hands of the
Barbarians,6
These are facts, that every one who enjoyed his
intimacy will accredit ; and if the more direct tes
timony of Capt. Preble be allowed its weight, we
must believe that Richard Somers voluntarily per
ished ; though religion and humanity forbid his ex
ample to be emulated.'
From the Vermont Herald.
Mr. ELLIOT,
TQ HIS CONSTITUENTS.
LETTER V.
the balances due from the debtor states, and how
proposed to be extinguished is 3,517,582 dollars.
NeW-Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode-Island,
Connecticut, New-Jersey, South-Carolina and
Georgia are creditor states ; New-York, Dela
ware, and North-Carolina debtor states to a large
amount ; the other states but little interested in the
question. The commissioners were men of integ
rity and talents, and their report met with a gene
ral acquiescence at the time when it was made.
The state of New-York has actually paid a large
sum towards her balance, & some of the oth?r debtor
states have expressly recognized the settlement.
It is now proposed to extinguish the balances by a
mere act of power, and Congress are almost equal
ly divided on the question. Were it not that so
large a number of representatives consider the
states they repi esent as interested, and were it not
that some meh possess a wonderful faculty of mak
ing any question whatever a party one, this equal
division of the national legislature on a subject so
simple, Would appear to a candid observer unac
countable. I cannot better illustrate the nature and'
merits of the settlement, and the irresistible strength
of the arguments against the extinguishment, th|n
by subjoining 4, extract from the able spee c
Gen. Varnum, of Massachusetts, upon the 6 ,-
tion in question.
“THE ordinance which passed the old C ic• ^
in 1787, authorising the settlement of the a 1
of the several states, against the United Str
services rendered and supplies furnished du
war, makes as ample and liberal provision
allowance of all the accounts exhibited, ^ c&
possibly be expected^or even asked, byaqu„ft3
parties to the settlemenF^it wa^foundeloivap
principles of mutual compromise, and by the unan
imous consent of all the states. By the conditions
of the settlement agreed upon by that ordinance,
the public faith of each state, was solemnly pledged
to all the other states, and the public faith of the
United States was solemnly pledged to each indivi
dual state, that the settlement, and proportion of
the debt allotted to each state, by the commission
ers thus mutually agreed upon and chosen by all
the states, should be final and conclusive. Soon
;after the establishment of the present government
I in the year- 1789, a law was passed by Congress
for facilitating the settlement and for filling vacan
cies in the board agreeable to the principles of the
v ordinance of 1787, and so far as I have discovered
by recurrence to the journals, this law passed
without any opposition. In 1790, Congress again
assumed the consideration of the subject, and pass
ed a law which recognized all the principles of the
ordinance of 1787, and provided that a distribu
tion of the whole expense should be made among
the several states according to the first census un
der the present constitution.—This law was also
passed by an unanimous consent of the House, and
in the Senate where the state sovereignties are more
particularly represented, it appears by the jour
nals, to have passed without opposition. Thus,
sir, from the first agreement of 1787 to the final
close of the settlement, all the states were unani
mous in the mode prescribed for settlement, and
stood most solemnly bound to each other to abide
by it ; and the public faith of the nation was, by
the several acts of Congress on the subjects.most
solemnly pledged to carry it into effect.
Can the legislature then relinquish these balan
ces, without violation of plighted public faith ? And
yet will they undertake to do it? Sir, it is a funda
mental principle in the government of all civilized
nations to pay the most sacred regard to plighted
public faith. And, sir, the friends of our govern
ment have derived much consolation from the idea,
If the balances should be extinguished on the
principle that the settlement was unjust, which is
the only ground taken in favor of their extinguih
ment, I am apprehensiye that this is only to be a
stepping stone to a more favorite object. I mean
the extinguishment of the balances due to the cre
ditor states on the settlement : for although these
balances have been funded by the United States, it
is well known, that the evidences of the debt in
the possesion of the creditor states are not transfer
able, so that Congress will have nothing to do to
effect this part of the. business, but to order pay
ment to the creditor states on these balances to be
stopped."
I shall conclude with observing that it is not pro
bable that the debtor states will ever pay the full a
mount of their balances ; nor is it probable that the
creditor states, will ever engage in a civil war to
compel them to make payment. This situation of
things furnishes, however, no argument in favor of
the adoption of the monstrous principle, or ratter
pervertion of all principle, that honest debts may
extinguishment could not be a violation of public
faith, because Congress had already given up a
part of the debt. It seems to me that the gentle
man's conclusion does not naturally follow the pre
mises which he has stated, for if it could under any
circumstances, be considered a dereliction of public
faith to extinguish these balances, it cannot at this
time be considered the less so, merely on the ground
of the legislature having heretofore fallen into an
error on the subject.—The fact is, that Congress
did, in 17^9, pass a law, for remitting the balances
on condition, that each debtor state would pay into
the treasury of the United States by a given period,
the amount of the sums which had been assumed
by the United States, of their respective slate debts
prior to the settlemert. But, sir, at the time of
passing that law, and ever since, I have considered
it in in the same point of light as I do the resolution
before you, and therefore cannot admit that as a
circumstance in favor of the resolution. That pro
vision has now expired, without being embraced by
any of the debtor states, except in that which has
been done by tire state of New-York in fortifying
her ports and harbors. If the state of Delaware
had thought proper to have complied with this lib
eral provision, she might have been discharged
from a debt of 600,000 dollars for 60,000 dollars,
but it seems that she prefers a total extinction to a
partial payment.
that the United States would never suffer their na
tional character to be stained by a violation of this
i important national principle. Yet, sir, from what
has taken place, it has been believed, that the
United. States would not be behind any nation on
earth in the preservation of this public virtue. But
if the resolution on the table should be passed into
a law, this valuable principle will receive a wound
which may lead to fatal consequences. I must be
permitted to doubt the power of Congress to extin
guish these balances without the concurrence of all
the states. The settlement having been made un
der a solemn agreement of all the states, where
will you find a power vested in Congress to alie
nate the interest which any individual state has
acquired in the balance in consequence of that a
greement, and vest it in another state ? No such
power is expressed in the constitution, nor can I
conceive it to be implied by any thing which is ex
pressed in that instrument.
If then Congress have no constitutional power to
make the extinguishment, will not the transaction
be considered as innovation on the rights of indi
vidual states, as well as a dereliction of the pub
lic faith?
A gentleman from New-York has said, that the
be extinguished by a wantonact of power. Let the
balances stand on record against the debtors until a
sense of justice shall prevail over private interest,
and induce them to make an honorable composition
ifith their creditors.
JAMES ELLIOT.
A DESCRIP TION OF THE ISLAND AND
CITY OF MALTA".
By Citizen Robert, Chief Physician to the Milita
ry Hospital of Malta.
Malta is situated in the middle of the Mediterra
nean, between Barbary and Sicily, in lat. 35, 30,
long. 32, 30. This Island, which has for its basisa
calcareous rock, contains, according to several
travellers, nothing interesting to the natural histo
rian, except a few fossils. Its figure is irregular,
composed of small valleys, defiles, and hills : and
may be represented as a plain inclining from the
south west to the north east, so that the calcareous
strata, of which it is entirely composed, are very
near parrallel to each other, rising towards the
south east, where they form the declivities nearly
two hundred toises above the level of the sea. A
chain of low mountains, running from south west
to north west, divides the island through the middle,
so that only one half of the country can be seen
from the city. Malta is seven leagues in length,
three in breadth, and twenty one in circumfer
ence.
The city is situated to the north east of the isl
and, on the borders of the sea, and is divided into
the eastern and western city. The last is called Va
riette, from.the name of its founder ; it is built on
a peninsula between two spacious harbours ; to the
south east is found the large port, and to the north
east that of Marsamuchet. The eastern city is di
vided into parallel portions, the one called Burmo
-la, and the other Isoia, which are also situated be
twixt two large ports, contiguous to the great har
bour, which they cut perpendicularly. These nat
ural harbors afford a safe shelter to vessels naviga
ting the Mediterranean, and appear to be so con
veniently formed as in no event to admit of any im
provement from the interference of art.
The city of Valette, although built upon irregu
lar and broken ground, is nevertheless extremely
handsome. The houses are low ; they have all one
or more balconies, and a terrace for walking on ;
the apartments are large, commodious, and well
lighted, and the ceilings are extremly" lofty.
The streets are wide, with commodious foot
paths on each side ; they are paved with flat square
stones, and so free from mud, that even during win
ter the feet remain perfectly dry.—The four prin
cipal streets run in a parallel direction from north
east to south west. Under each street is a canal,
which carries off all kind of filth into the sea, and
another by which are conducted into each house
the waters that are brought from the country, by
means of an aqueduct well deserving the notice of
travellers.
It is one of the strongest cities in the world be
ing built on a very high rock, and so fortified by
nature as not to require the assistance of art ; the
ditches are extremely large, and have been dug in
the solid -rock. It is not concealed, or buried un
der the fortification, like the greatest number of
fortified cities ; the houses are fully exposed to
view, and the air every where circulates freely ;
the ramparts afford a delightful prospect, as they
command a view both of the sea and country.
The Works proceed from the side of the country
inclosing La Florianna, a small village that may
with propriety be termed the suburbs of Malta ; its
streets are well lighted, and on the whole it is ex
tremely salubrious.
The eastern city forms a very inclined place
front the eas:t to the west : it is far from possesing
the same salubrity as the western city ; the houses
are more concealed by the ramparts, the streets are
narrow, ill paved, and ill lighted, and few of them
are supplied with any water but what is collected
in cisterns.
The great number of gardens scattered througli
Malta, particularly in Florianna, and towards the
east, not only greatly adds to its beauty, but tends
to preserve the air in a state of salubrity
The greatest part of the country is planted with
cotton, which is protected from the vicissitudes of
the weather, by walls of above five or six feet high,
placed at a small distance from each other. The
grain produced on the Island is scarcely sufficient
to support the inhabitants during three months; but
there is in the city of Valette an establishment,
called the University on which they depend for a
supply, and of which they are obliged to purchase
it. The grain which is imported, is laid up in pits
hollowed out of the rock, in the form of truncated
cones hermetically closed, where it can be preser
ved several years ; and there is usually contained
in these stores a sufficient quantity for one year's
consumption. The soil, which has been mostly
brought from Sicily, is very fertile during the spring
and autumn, but in summer it becomes dry, arid,
and sterile. The French soldiers, however, during
the blockade, afforded a proof to the natives, what
may be done on such a soil by judicious culture, as
during the greatest heats of summer, they raised
every species of leguminous plants and other veg
etables.
These artificial gardens produce the same fruits
and vegetables as those of the country ; we found in
them abundance of cauliflower, water-mellons, and
every species of grape, but not in a sufficient quan
tity to be converted into wine. The most common
trees are the orange, the citron, the fig, the pom
egranate, the peach, and apricot ; we also some
times observed pear, apple, cherry, and walnut
trees. The fruits of all these trees are of the very
best qualities. There are also, principally in Co
tonnere, some fields sown with wheat, barley, and
cotton.
The Botanical Garden might easily be rendered
very valuable in Malta, as nothing more is neces
sary, in order to naturalize the different plants,
which grow in the four quarters of the globe, than
not to expose such a flourish under the line to the
most intense heat of the sun, and carefully to pro
tect from its influence those that are indigenous in
colder countries.
In this inclosure, they already cultivate most of
the plants used in medicine, and among others
squill, arid the fungus melitensis, of such boasted
efficacy in ha^morhages.
The hog is the most common anitnal in thjs city
and also the dog, a great numberof which the trav
eller encounters in every street ; hence the proverb
El mezzo delgiotna non si cede nelle strade ehe
Francesi, cani o ftorci : At mid-day nothing is to
be seen in the streets but Frenchmen, dogs, and
hogs. Horses are very rare in this island , as
beastsfof burden, asses or mules are mostey employ
ed, which are exceedingly hardy, and of a very
large size ; goats are also numerous, but there are
few black cattle ; the ox is brought either from Bar
bary or Sicily, and is fattened with the seed of the
cotton, which renders the flesh delicate; Ahe poul
try consists mostly of her® and a great abundance
of pidgeons ; game is exquisite and very plentiful,
particularly at the time of their passage ; rabbits
abound in the island.
From a late London Paper.
Malta is well supplied with a great variety of
fish. '[ he insects are numerous ; ants and masque
toes prove extremely troublesome during the summer.
Lizards are observed in great numbers, but they are
perfectly harmless ; and the venomous reptiles, such (
as the serpent, are seldom found in the Island.
The influence produced by the state of the at
mosphere on the rife, the IHealth, or the diseases of
mankind, is generally acknowledged. At Malta
the qualities of the air vary according as the wind
proceeds from different points of/the compass ; and
as i' frequently changes several times a-day, an al
m< , continual variation of temp#ature is thus
produced. The north winds are always cold, and
those from the south warm ; it is somewhat singu
lar that when the north or north-west winds pre
vail during the day, their force is diminished dur- /,
ing the night, whilst on the contrary, the south wind
becomes sensibly increased at that period.. The
winds from the north-west are colder and more
pure, because they blow over a larger extent of sea,
than those from the west, which touch a little on
the African coast. The north wind is sufficiently
pure from traversing Italy and Sicily, where vege
tation is abundant, as well as that from the north
east and east, which blows over a considerable space
of sea. The south and south-east winds are the
most unwholsome and the least pure, as they pass
over the continent of Africa ; and the strait, which
separates this burning and arid country from Malta ,
is not sufficiently broad to produce on thdm any"
amelioration in their course.
WASHINGTON, April 6.
On Saturday, the last day of tlie superior court
held in and for the county of Clark, William Wil
liams, who has rendered himself notorious by the
many nefarious deeds perpetrated in this, and in
the State of South Carolina, was sentenced to die
on Wednesday the 3d instant. But on the evening
preceding the day set for his execution, he effected
his escape from the jail in open day, and under the
eyes of a vigilant guard, who were surrounding
the place of his confinement. His aunt, wife, and
sister had obtained leave of the sheriff to go into the
goal, to take their last adieu ; while there, Wil
liams, exchanged garments with his sister and
in that habitude made his escape. Thus it ap
pears that this felon, though twice condemned
before, has again by his artful intrigues, rescued
himself from the demands of Justice. His two
brothers, wife, sister, and aunt, we are informed,
are kept in imprisonment, charged with having
aided and abetted in procurioug his release.
New-York, Aftril 30.—0 n the 13th ult a man nam
ed Francis Major, called at the house of Mr. Cam
den, near Lancaster, in Garrand county, Kentucky,
and asked for some fire to light his pipe, Mr. Cam
den handed him some fire, after which Major di
rected him to hold his horse until he loaded his pis
tol—when his pistol was charged and he had moun
ted his horse, he offered if Camden would give him
ten dollars, to shoot him through the head. On
Camden's refusing, he proposed to do it for five,
then for three, and at last came down to two pence,
Camden still refusing. He then declared he would
do it for nothing ; and accordingly shot him through
the head which caused his immediate death.
Major instantly rode off full speed. but
was followed by two men, who soon took him and
had him committed to jajl in Lancaster.
Capt. Reynolds, arrived at Charleston South-Car
olina, on the 18th ult in 10 days from Havanna, in
forms, that two days before he sailed, an Eng
lish sloop of war, which had been cruising off that
port for some time past, landed a number of men
and took the fort at Mariel (a small place to leeward
of Havanna) by storm. Thev took, and destroyed,
a considerable quanty of coffee, &c. &c. This at
tack w$ made, in consequence of that fort having
fired at a flag of truce, which had been sent to Ha
vanna a short time previous by the sloop of war.
BOSTON, MAY 9.
FROM FRANC?.
May 3,. —Yesterday afternoon, arrived the brig
Lovely Lass, Capt, Clark, in 44 days from Nantz.
By this vessel we have received the Paris Argus
(printed in English) and the Moniteur to the middle
of March. They however furnish very little infor
mation, in any respect new or interesting. It ap
pears that Bonaparte,pursuing the grand plan of ag
grandizing and ennobling the, members of his fami
ly, was preparing to leave Paris, for Milan, to at
tend the coronation of his brother Joseph, as King:
of Lombardy.
We lately had an account, byway of New-York,
which was deemed not only improbable, but chime
rical. We allude to the report of Bonaparte's in
tending to require of the government of the United
States, indemnity for the property carried by. our
citizens from St. Domingo—property belonging to
French subjects.
By a gentleman passenger in the Lovely Lass,we
are informed of an act o. the French government
which render this account by no means improbable.
Bonaparte, it appears, in the midst of his higher
concerns, has not been unmindful of the unfortunate
exiles from St. Domingo. A decree has been issu
ed by him, declaring that every subject, formerly
residing in that colony, who may have been called
from his home and property by the brigands shall
be allowed from the national treasury 300 livens per
year, every married man 500, and for each child
100. That this provision could have been made
without an eye to the ultimate recovery of the
property sacrificed by the Brigands is incredible ;
and surely Bonaparte will not apply for remunera
tion to the blacks.
We are happy to learn, that the passengers and
crew of the ship Jupiter, who embarked on board
the Long Boat, were fell in with by several fishing
schooners, soon after they parted with the Yawl,
and happily rescued from their perilous situation.
Mr. Gilbert J. E. Smissaerf, one of the passengers,
arrived in town a^n, Saturday, from Marblehead,
where he was brought by a vessel, who received him
from one of the fishing boats. He informs, that the
people, preserved with him were all in health, and
distributed among the seyal fishing vessels on the
banks.
Gun Eodt, No. 8, under the command of Capt.
Harridan, sailed or Saturday for the Medit^
ranean.
new-orleans, APRIL 4.—The Louisiana, Bank
went into operation this day. The Cashier of the
Branch Bank of the United States has arrived and
purchased a house for the institution.—An Insurance
Company, with a capital of 700,000 dollars, is now
open lor subscriptions in this city.
Philadelphia, May 2.—A gentleman late from
Port-au-Prince informs that a great Mortality pre
vailed in the black army of Gen tessalines. Indeed
the particular situation of all theiW. India islands
at this moment, dictates, on the part of the guardi
ans ci our city, a most scrupulous]regard to means
of preventing the introduction of disease.
AI THE MAILS.