The Republican ledger — Portsmouth, N.H., 1801-11-03 00:00:00, page 2

These regulations refer to three great ob
jects, I. Quarantines. —2. Lazarettos; and
4. Areas' and Stores for unladed goods and
merchandize. On examining the hiftprv
and actual condition of each of these, it will
be found that in most cases they are inftrn
mental Tn engendering and perpetuating that
pestilence which it is their profeffed obje&
to avoid. They all take it for granted that
malignant and pestilential diseases are con
tagious, a supposition entirely groundless,
and then Undertake with vast parade to pre,
vent tne importation of this imaginary con
tagion. But a Concise Review of thqir hif
tory will set these eftablilh ments in the clear
ed light. „/
A Quarantine„ .from..“ quarante" the
French word for “ forty" in its fanple fepfe
means a duration of “ fortv".days. As a
term of the common Law, it means thetime
a Widow is permitted to remain in the
mansion-house of her deceased husband, and
this is called her " quarantine.", This was
a reasonable regulation that the widowmight
not be turned out of doors immediately by
the heir, but after funeral-rites were per
formed, might be allowed time to make de
liberate arrangements for removal and to re
ceive an affignm^nt of Dower.
* .But, what could have been the reason of
fixing upon " forty" days for the detention
of grips fufpeaed to be already too dirty to
live in apd consequently to be admitted into
Port r The direction of plain found judg
menfn such cases would be to hoist out the
cargo l as faft as possible at some convenient
Ration rather remote from thick population
and to remove the nuifancYs, corruption and
poison engendered on board wigi all speed.
The mode of removing these and 6f gleaning
apdfweetening a room so as to make it hab
itable and-healthy is so perfectly and parti
cularly understood, that scarcely a Washer
woman or a chamber-maid is ignorant that
lime, alkaline leys and soaps will deftrov
every particle of infe&ion there. And as
the pestilential poison tould be thus destroy
ed in a habitation on /Lore, there can be no
possible reason IQ doubt their efficacy in de
stroying it on board a ship, which is but a
human habitation afloat. But it has been
the misfortune of American and Ehglifh
Navigators to adopt a mode of cleansing
ships different from the method of cleaning
houses ; and great sickness and mortality
have been the consequence.
Christendom is beyond a doubt the most
intelligent portion of the globe. How then
came the Christians, I fay, to fix upon
" forty" days as the expiatory period ? It
proceeded* probably from a religious or su
perstitious veneration for the number “ for
ty." For " forty" is a very remarkable
number as well as " three," “seven" and
“ twelve." In the days of Noah the rain
was upon the earth forty days and forty nights
(Gen. vii. 12). Moses remained on Mount
Sinaifer/y days and forty nights (Deut. x. Io.)
If a wicked man wasto be beaten, the num
ber of stripes to be given by order of the
Judge was not to exceed forty, (Deut. xxv.
3.) The men sent by Moses to search the
land of Canaan were engaged in that em
ploymentfaf, days, (Numb.xiii. 25.) And
the Jews who murmured or. hearing the re
port of the spies were denounced to wander
in the wilderness, and bear their iniquities
(a year for a day)fa, years (Numb. xiv.
33, 34.) Christ fafted forty days and forty
nights in the wilderness (Matth. iv. 2.) And
was seen by the Apoftles/br/y days after his
refurredion (A&s, i. 3.) And in the Chris
tian Church the season of Lent or Peniten
tiary Abstinence between Shrove Tuefday
and Easter was continued for forty days.
Thus we find a term of forty days bad
been frequently noticed in sacred history.—-
Even an opinion of fan&ity had been attach
ed to it both among Jews and Christians,
It was aifociated with various events and
tifages of their religions : and had been em
ployed as an expiatory and penitential peri
od for uncleanness and fin.
The expeditions of the Franks or Chris
tians of the Weft, who in the spirit of cruz
ading poured into Pulcftinc io refcueit from
Inserted by particular requefl.
REGULATIONS ' for preserving the
health of men against foreign contagions
make so considerable a part of the cede of
several European Nations, that it is very in
tefefting ro know in what state of society,
and under what circumstances they arose,
that we may thereby the better judge of
their value and ufefulnefs. It will appear
on inveftigatign that they were originally a
dopted in times of fanaticism and terror, be
fore the principles of feience on which they
depend' had beeri unfolded, and at a time
when the human mind was not in a condi
tion to judge calmly about them, if they had
been unfolded,"
QUARANTINES & LAZARETTOS.
Addressed to the Health Officer of the port of
New-York, by Dr. Mitchell.
Miscellany.
' >...<-<..<fr^^ < g^^—,^,^fyfefe ►>->..-
THOUGHTS,
Quarantines, you fee, thus arose from a
desire of flopping a ; supposed contagion,
catcher as was 'errogeoufly believed from
the Asiatics, and were tin&u red with fuper
ditions notions or ideas of religion badly in
terpreted. During the for/, days' detention
of a ship and cargo, tye persons who were,
actual!, tick of fiifpe&ed to have contagion
lurking about them,' were removed to'an
hofpital,,o remain fontil the period bf dan
ger was supposed (e, be past. %his hofpiW
was called by oneof the7noft odious and
"ifguft ing'names that,could be thought of.
It was derived from Lazarus the decriped
beggar, who lay, covered with fores and
flarving at the rich rofwi's gate. The Laz
ar-house or Lazaretto, was (he place of re
ception for those who were Buffering from
pestilential nastiness and venom ; and for
those who were supposed to be in imme
diate danger of sickening by it, or of ren
dering others tick. Being evirated, fre
quently of very durable materials, these
Lazarettos were the receptacles of all the
1 bus a dirty or sickly veflel, in a hot cli
mate, with corrupting and perishable things
on board, became more foul and intolerable
from inbred mifehief working within her
during her quarantine in one of the Medi
terranean harbors, than flic had been during
her voyage ; and by the most preposterous
interpretation all this local and domeflic in
,feaion hatched and reared by bad manage
ment in ships and increased under quaran
tine regulations among the Christians, is as
cribed to a plaguy contagion imported from
Turkey, Syria or Egypt !—And so, because
quarantines was established in days of igno
rance, prejudice, rancor and intolerance be
tween the Franks and the Turks, they have
been adopted, as matters' of course by the
Christian nations in their intercourse with
each other. In consequence of which the
(hips of New-York-are compelled to per
form a quarantine at Cuxhaven, those of
Baltimore at Cadiz, and tlrofe of Naples at
Philadelphia, for fear of mutually importing
yellow' fever and plague.— Surely these
things are worthy of being better under
stood. - '- :
the' Mahometans, gave rife to the quaran
tines foe ships and sea vellfe. The readers
of these expeditions well know what miferj,
want, uncleanness and mortality accompa+
nied them as they marched or failed. There
was an incredible deltruQion of, the,human
species by diseases, independent of the num
bers who fell by the ray-faring accidents or
perished by the sword of the enemy.
After severe and coßly exertions, the faith
ful accomplished their ,rrpofes, and .eflab:
lifhed the Kingdom of Jerusalem. But they
held it uneasily and they held it not long.—
Forced at length to abandon,heir dear bo't
conquest, the Infidels once more took pof- _
session of the Holy Land. During the wars
which had been waged between the Chris
tians and Mahometans for the pofleflron of
Judea, the religious animosity of the two
P* es ^^ been carried to the utmost vio
ie^feof opposition and hatred, by every fpe
ciesWf private aggravation. And the Franks,
as they reludantly quitted the country of
the Patriarchs & Applies charged the Turks
with all their disasters and accused them as
the authors of almost every evil which they
Offered. Among other mifefies, arid that
nat the least in the 'enumeration, the return
ing Europeans affirmed that the Ahatics had
in fe died them with the plague.
They forgot that the desolation of their
armies by this difeafehad been so great that
their line of march from their places of ren
dezvous could be traced thro' Hungary andl
along the route to Constantinople by the
bones of the unburied dead. On this the
Orientals might have affirmed that these in
vaders had imported the plague from Eu
rope ; and because similar sickness attended
them on their return from the Levant, pro
duced by similar uncleanness, bad manage
ment, exposure to hardships and want of
neceflaries, they roundly averted the dittem
per was contagious and the contagion catch
ed from the infidels. To countenance this
notion they affirmed, the Turks were fatal
ifts, arid as they toot no pains to deitroy or
avoid the contagion of ibis-horrible difegfe,
it -was always alive and iaivifamong (hem.
They persuaded themselves this contagion,
if introduced, would fpjead like life, fund
consume as a conflagration. A prudent
government therefore Ihould guard agaihft
it, by every precaution.
An interdiction of all intercourse with the
infe&ed cities of the Archipelago and the
Levant promised the mbit perfea security
from the contagion. But the policy and
commerce of nations forbade so itria a pro
hibition. It was therefore agreed that tra
velling and trade might be carried on, pro
vided voyagers, merchants and every thing
they carried with them were fubfcaw to
certain salutary restraints, and one of these
restraints was a Quarantine or detention of
forty days and nights to conquer the pestilen
tial contagion or so let it die for want of
fumething to feed upon. Latterly “ Quar
antines" have been Shortened to fourteen,
eight, or even three days, according to cir
cumdances.
government. * 7 ff
Much, probably by far the greater portion of
this difference, has sprung from error : for it is
fincerety believed, that most of our rulers had at
heart the public welfare ; though, from a.partial
ity to pre-conceived ideas,on dissimilar fyflem, pf
government, they have frequently loft fight of it.
That a division exists among many of our citi
zens, as to the meaning of several of the most im
portant members of the confutation,a division too,
which future events will probably rather widen
than diminish, can be doubted by no one.
From what has this dfyifion ^rifen ?
Id part, it has certainly arisen from the ambi
guity of the conflitutibn, and from its not having
anticipated all the cases which have occurred un
der ft. ,
Is not this ambiguity fiifceptible of removal. —
That it is susceptible of removal, partial at least, if
not entire, cannot, in my mind, admit of ques
tion.
A review of the pall events will expose the cases
in .Which a diversity of opinion has existed. In
tliefe cases, either certain powers, denied by the
opponents oftbe government, have been exercised
by it ; or certain powers, declared by the oppo
nents of (he government to exist and require ex
ercife ; have been neglected by the government,
and have remained inoperative. In both cases a
more precise enumeration of powers, affirmative
ly or negatively dated, would lessen the exiting
obfeurity. ^. . .. r -
In my next number, in order to attract the at
tention of the public to the fubjett, 1 shall show,
that the general evil under which a people can
labor, is the exigence of a constitution which con
fers, upon, the government created by it, powers
nil properly circumscribed and defined.
SOLON.
THER E are periods in the affairs of nations,
in which it is not only the di&atte ; of policy, but
the command of duty, to review past, events, to
inquire into the error of particular measures, to
trace them to their causes, and to aideavor to
fuggeit remedies for them?
, Jrjs confidently believed that the present is such
a period. The recent agitation of feeling, which
disturbed the harmony of public, and the peace of
private life, is fall ftlbfidjpg into a date ol tran
quility and security. Nolonger at war, with any
foreign power ; but on terms of amity With all
nations, and the enjoyment of domeltic happiness;
the mind may be considered as free to pursue the
ofeful deductions of reason, uninfluenced by pas
sion and unalarmec iby fear.
On the improvement of such periods, it is not
raWto affirm, depend the permanent bappinefs
of individuals, and the (table refpeftability of
dates. Every thing announces imperfection in
the temporary policy that governs nations, as well
as in the great political institutions by which they
are guided. No man of candor and intelligence,
whatever fliare he may have taken in past events,
will, on reviewing them, fay they have been dic
tated by the molt perfect suggestions of reason.—
He will have the magnanimity to acknowledge,
whatever portion of pomparitive merit he may
claim, -that either his own afts have been in feme
cases mistaken, or the constitutional or legal rules
of action whereby be has been controlled, have
been imperfect or erroneous. It is only in the
mad paroxifms of party violence, in which the
fury of affanlt demands equAl vigor of refinance,
that man, forgetting that he is a befog of limited
powers, proudly fays, "I am perfea. Question
not the wisdom of my meafores. They admit not
of improvement." In such periods, man, bofift
ing infallibility, is' a madman : inverted with
power, he* is an object of terror ; but he inspires
not rerpeft. We look back after such ±ras, with
gloomy humility, at beholding the noblest powers
of the mind, not merely loft, but employed in ig
noble purposes.
Behold citizens America, in this picture, the
delineation not of my particular period, but of
the mifehi^vous eff%ts of the violence of passion,
and the subjugation of reason.
The object of these remarks is to shew the ne
cessity of viewing and examining, with" coolness
and candor, but with truth also, part errors. -'
Consider not, renow-citizens, Toch attention
and enquiry as tending to amuse the fancy, or to
employ unproduttively tiie powers of the mind in
trains of abftra& reasoning. No.' This were not
only useless, but worse than useless. The objects
of such an enquiry are deeply momentous. Their
effects will be if properly improved, the introduc
tion of cures for those evils which have heretofore
dittratted our councils, and agitated the nation.
The people, I affirm, with our patriotic president,
are all republicans, all fetleralills. They are all
in pursuit of happiness. Their great interests are
thf fame. They have every .wish that early edu
cation inspires, and every reason that experience
devolves, to cement and confirm their union.—
They know, that united they (land, and divided
they fall.,
With these feelings, with these views, what more
do they require to be in faft united, than a cor
reft knowledge of their true interests, and a vigi
lant protection of them?
To infufe this knowledge, and to inspire this
sentiment, is my-ambition. IJappy,if I can erad
icate one error from their minds, and implant in
the confeioufnefs of doing good, the highest retri
bution that can be conferred.. %.■ *
One of the greatest sources of division among
our citizens, has arisen from the different, and in
some cases, the opposite conftruftion given to the
federal confutation. Each fide has declared the
other to be in error ; and accordingly as different
fyflems of national policy have been pursued, have
different condru&ions and publications of dele
gated powers, been transfufed into the arts of the
,newl, arrived persons who were thought
,p§;oper fubieQs -of detention, for a great
number of years in Tucceffion? Hence they
became remarkably foul and pestilential.—
The chambers were often much neglected,
,at)4abounded imupdew^Gs and corruption.
From an accumulation of all manner of im
purity from year to year, those hospitals
themselves became the Nurseries of the
Prague ; not arising from contagion here,
4nf more than on ship-boa rd, but proceed
ing from animal excretions, corrupting pro
vilions and the like, undergoing putrefac
tion in a hot climate.; The plague engen
dered and perpetuated in these direful hos
pitals too, was most uncharitably ascribed to
the Turks!
' [To %/e confiftued.j
From the National Intelligencer, <
BOSTON, OCT. go.
A letter from Gibraltar, of Aug. 15 lays,
ah attack from the French and Spaniards is
expected. Spaniel depredations on the A
merican trade continue. Lt% Maley, who
commanded th^ U. S. schooner Experiment
is a prisoner at Algeziras. The Tripolitan
Admiral has offered his vefleis for sale at
Gibraltar, but has been unable to dispose of
them. The governor has refufed a Supply >
of provisions to his veffcls, A Tripolitan 1 •
cruizer was in chafe of an American Drip,
which it was supposed the took.
Domeflic.
•«-<-«Q) —<«,>.>.>..
Sentence of the Court Martial pronounced in
the trial of Capt. George Little, together
with thr letter of she Secretary tf&Nwuy,
approving the fame.
1 he Court, having heard all ihc^idence,
and prisoner's defence, and maturely and
seriously considered the whole, are untni
froufly of opinion, that the charges are ma
heious and ill-founded.
Ihe Court do, therefore, unanimotifly
^d honorably acquit the said Capt. George
Little of the Several articles contained in the
charge against him ; and he is hereby fully
and honorably acquitted accordingly.
Dated on board the Constitution, Sept. H ißot.
SIGNED,
s. Nicholson, President.
SILAS TALBOT
STEPHEN DECATUR
ALEXANDER MURRAY
EDWARD PREBBLE
JOHN IVIULLOWNY
THOMAS ROBINSON
HUGH G. CAMPBELL
CYRUS TALBOT.
GEORGE BLAKE, lifting as Judge Advocate
f( crake occasion.
'THE LETTER. 4
:Nary Department, Sept. 25, ißor.-
The a& of Congrels tor the better gov
ernment of the Navy of the United States,
declares, that no person of the navy shall pil
lage prisoners on board a prize, on pair : of
such punishment as a Court Martial shall
adjudge. In the aforegoing case, among
several unimportant informal allegations,
there is a charge of fllage exhibited against
Capt. Little, and it was for the trial of this
charge, principally, that the Court Martial
was constituted. Not only the honor of the
Nation, but the honor of this officer, was
deeply implicated, and, therefore, called for
such a solemn investigation. ]n this trial,
it was the government, that was the party
prosecuting. The prisoners were only as
the inforrning witnesses in a criminal prefe
cution. These prisoners, in legal contem
plation, are not, neither were they, in the
contemplation of government, considered
parties. They could not have been in any
degree benefitted by a sentence against Capt.
Little ; because a Court Martial is not com
petent to decree a reiteration of any proper
ty alledged to have been pillaged. It is on
ly competent in such a trial to pass a sent
ence of acquittal or punishment.
The evidence addticed in this trial clearly
proves, that the prisoners on board the prize
have bcen $ pillaged. It is apparent, that
watches, rings and buckles, constituting a
part of the dress of the prisoners, have been
pillaged from them by some persons belong
ing to the Boston frigate ; that these articles,
at the time of taking them, were not deem
ed, even by the persons who took them,
lawful prize ; that they were not reported
to the officers of the Admiralty Court as
prize, to be adjudicated and condemned ;
that they have not at any time since, been
produced ; and that no kind of fatisfa&ory
information has yet been given refpeaing
them. But from the face of the proceedings
of tit, Court-Martial, it does appear, that
the orders ilined by Capt. Little were per
fe&ly correct and legal ; that he was not, in
an X degree, a party in this mean and dif
graceful pillage, and that the charge against
him has no evidence positive or presumptive,
to support it. I, therefore, do approve of
the feptence of acquittal pronounced by the
Court Martial on his trial.
Rt. SMITH,
Secretary of the Nary.
The aforegoing are true copies from the
originals on file in the Navy Department.
Ch. W. GOLDSBOROUGH.
PHILADELPHIA, OCT. 22.
We understand that the chamber of com
merce of this city, having presented to the'
President of the U. States a remonstrance
on lhe fubjea of depredations 'committed
andi threatened from the Spanish port of.Al
gezjras have received from the offices of
State, official intimation, that the fartcrcfls
of the United States, thus fuffering, will en-'
gage the immediate attention of "the Presi
dent—that he will order without delay the
proper representations and demands to be
made to the Spanish government'; and will
take into confederation, frith the solicitude
due ,o the obje& how far any other mea
sures within the authority of the Executive,
may contribute to arrest the progress of fo^
serious and so unwarrantable an aggression
on the lawful pursuits of our commerce."