The Dover herald — Dover, Del., 1800-01-16 00:00:00, page 3

prelîive of the fenfe of the lofs fuftained,
and the afleftion we had for the greated j
charafter eitlier the Antient or Modern 1
world ever produced.—Yes, me thinks I !
now fee your hearts melting, ydur eyes 1
lillitig, and hear your tongues declare—
We will not only drop a tear with you,
but before we rife, by a legiilative tclti
inonial, prove to the world how much
we loved and admired the man who was
not only truly wife in Council, but great
in the field.—Clory to God ! We trult our
Infs is bis infinite gain. l 7 e died as he
lived
Walhington lives for ever, and j
will he not continue to live in the heart of
every true American, who has, or iliall
read or hear his wife, weighty, humble,
adeftionate and molt foletnn addrefs to the
American people, at the time lie with
drew from the Prcfidency of the United
States ? Yes, he muft—he will. Here
let me (top—an awful hlence belt becomes
me--abler pens and far more enlarged
minds having failed in deferibing the
worth ofthat excellent man. 1 have tlio't
j roper to recommend to the civil as well
as the military officers of the State upon
the melancholy occulion to wear mourning
f ir three months, which i trull will meet
your approbation, and alio that of the
citizens of the Hate.
ne» of the Si nute and M, of R.
c
Notwithilanding the lofs our country
Has .fuda'ned, by the departure of our il
taitrious friend, yet 1 feel happy in oblefv
ing that Provide no 1 lias been and Hill is
kind to us as a nation, we are not left
without a man who fears God and works
Pvigliteoufuefs. A man eminently diltin
gnilhed, tried and beloved—Virtuous from
principle ; great in council and firm in
.execution- ucli a man, 1 trait, now
prelides over tlie United States, whofe
whole foul has been, and 1 believe dill is,
;ed in the fupport of the general go
Cl
vernment and the happinefs of the people,
and vvlto 1 have a firm confidence hath
marked the road (and w ill continue to
walk therein) of his late highly favoted
and exalted predecefibr, which leads un
doubtedly to immortality and eternal
glory
Is, through the wife and prudent
t
e induct of the Prelident of the e lilted
.States, a diilaut glare of hope, that our
h ippy country may yet avoid the calami
ties attending a date of war, every pru
dential preventative mealitre, fo far as 1
urn able to form a judgment has been a
dopted, to produce the defired eifcCl : Yet
if the pr.ofpect of a continuation of jpvt
:c
was far brighter than at prefcnt, Wif
dom's voice proclaims aloud the way to
infure it is to' be ready to allert our rights,
! and oppofu violence and injudice, let it
come from what quarter it may :
It is
1
with thankfulnefs and much pleafure that
1 can inform you the lait feafon has not
been fo afiik'ting to any part of the citi
zens of the Hate as the former, kind Pro
vidence did not fend the l'eftilential Hod
into any part of our date, which was fo
feverely felt in many of our filler dates ;
neither did our farmers fuller fo much in
j their crops the lad, as they did the for
mer year ; and it is with much latistaction
1 congratulate you on the union and har
mony which meafurabiy prevails through
out the date : lint while this affords great
confutation, and would be a d roll g re
fource in any event, yet the circumltances
of our national affairs are dich, as jollities
me in fuggeliiag, the propriety of a Re
v'Jion of our Alilitni Lirai, cfpecially re
fpefting the feveral /Jel'dtery Co vpauies in
the date, whole ufefulnels mult forever be
tad, unltfs they are furnilhed with field
pieces, carriages and apparatus, and alfo
refpefting the impofing fines on delin
quents, and the mode of collection. A.s 1
Hand informed, in fume parts of the date,
the law, as it now Hands, as to fines for
non-attendam e, on millier and field days,
by the conduct of fume officers, only af
fect tliofe perlons who are contaient ioully
fcrupulous of bearing arms in any cafe,
the roll not being called over, or if called
over, fo managed as to elude the taw
with refpect to others. Again from my
information the mode of collecting the
lines, as the law now Hands, is luch from
the fmallncfs ot the compenfatinn allowed
for collection, that renders it impractic
able, I believe, and out of the power of
the Commifiary to get perfotrs w ho are
trait-worthy to undertake the collection.
1 therefore beg leave to fugged the pro
priety of putting, bylaw, tie collection
of all militia lines into the hands of the
Hundred Co lectors, to he by them col
lected c:i the warrant of the eommill'iry,
upon the lame terms the county rates and
levies are collected. I further beg leave
to ohferve, that in my humble opinion a
partial review of the whole brigade in
each county, would he far more ufeful
than the renewing the militia in regi
ments, fnppoling the whole altended, and
i cannot help exprriliug a wifh that the
commander in chief (hon'd he unequivo
cally anth,wiled by the law to review the
militia in brigade or regiments^ when he
might think the fame ufeful anti neceOiiry.
Gentle wen,
Since the lait felfion I have received
from the Executives of feveral of the dates
copies of their laws to be prefented by me
to you, viz. from the date of Virginia,
New-Hampfliirc, Rhode Hland and Pro
vidence Plantations, and South Carolina,
the governor of South Carolina has for
warded three copies ef their Laws, one
tor each branch ol the Legiflature, ar.d
one for the Executive, and e.xprcfles in
his addrefs to me the wifh of his Legis
lature, and his own, that three copies of
the laws of this date Ihouid be forwarded
to him in return. This mode of recipro
cating the laws of the refpeftive dates, I
mult own ftrikes my mind with peculiar
force, but (hall wait your dcciiion on tills
fubjeit, before 1 forward the copy of our
laws under the prefent exiding refolution
to South Carolina.
Alfo 1 have received fundry refutations
from the dates of Pennfylvania, New
Hamp/hire, Vermont, Virginia, & Mary
land, refpefting amendments to the con
llitution of the United States, and one
from Maryland on the fubjrCt of Negroes,
together with a letter from the governor
to me on the fuhject matter of thole re
futations ; and 1 alfo have received a co
py ot an act of the Legiflature of Penn
fylvani-i, and one of the Legiflature of
Maryland on the important (object of
clearing the navigation of the Sufqiiehanna
and opening a communication between
the waters of the l liefapeake Bay and the
River Delaware, through this date. This
is a tabject, no doubt, that demands your
early ami greatell attention, as it is one
of conliderahle magnitude, and involves
not only the interefl <vt the citizens of this
flute, but that of a great body, if not the
whole citizens of the United States. The
feveral documents and papers above re
ferred to, together with a copy of my
anfwer to the governor of Maryland I
have directed the Secretary to lay before
von.
Gentlemen,
In the lad claafe of the aft entitled
" An Act fur bailing prifoners. and about
linprifotiments," it is declared that no
perl'on or perlons are bound to anfwer to
any indictment or prefentment found a
gain!! them until a prulecntor's name is
endortad on the fame. 1 have long feen
the pernicious eftefts of this claufe in the
law, its operation is extremely difadvan
tugcous to the community at large, and
float many recent indauces, conceive my