The Patowmac guardian, and Berkeley advertiser — Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.], 1796-06-09 00:00:00, page 2

’•''deep roll at yiea fa re, free is ep. > Tlas the deity
g\,znn patent for that element to any defcripnon
of his creatures; or will not the great law of all
f nations protect the American flag, while they fop
port a national character f And the people ot Bri
tain are too wi,-. magnanimous and jult, to in
crt-.e ine reproachful character ot mighty fea rob
b'"s.
it the prefent treaty is defeated, as it ought to be,
the nft'.ter will then be open to friendly and equal
negociuiion ; and though sthe commerce of tint
cc jntry is much againlt the common intereft of this
country, yet the people have no fixed antipathy to
treat on terms ot reciprocity. Read the fecond ar
ticle, and fit ft paragraph ofehe third article ot this
t’reaty. The fecond article convert" our ternto*
>»ry, io long withheld, into mere neutral ground,
a.jd tc fofter curmoft iuveterate foes*,' thele ftamp
the whole. I will read only the paragraph sluiced
to, ard that I trull, will place the matter in a
proper point of view, and induce feme ferious re
■flections on this bulinefs, as the Warmelt -advocates
fortlie treaty cannot niilconlt rue that paragraph.
It will evjnce a friendly difpofition, and a dclirc to
efiabtiih good neighbourhood, harmony, and inter
courfe, il the Weltern Fofts are no longer detained,
by the moft manifeft infraction of s* treaty, lo
lemnly concluded more than 1.3 years finer. For
Purely a treaty, while the hatchet of death Was fuf
pended over the heads of our aged men, and our
jnnocent vvomen and children, can neither be cor
dial or of long duration.
The Bmilh nation have too tr.nrh wifdom to
draw a different conclufion, and they will, on a
dilpalliotrate retrofpect, lureiy decide with prudence
and i iftice. The Americans demand no more than
uiliicc, and thev willi to avoid all retaliation,
though wi.hin their power.
This being truly the ltate of things, fhaM the tem
ple of jui’iict be ilnit, and this people denied the
advantages relulting from 'his unerring guide to
tTan, and coeval with the phyhtal world.
Treaties embrace the deartft interelfs of a r.ati
on. Then lureiy, the treaty making power, mnft
be tuliiect to i'ortie other power or controul. Rea
foil is itunned by an idea that a people can transfer
power, beyond their cwr. controul, without an al
ternative, or that the prefent generation can bind
pofterity forever.
Much ItreTs has "been laid ob the Prcfidcnt's fig
Astute, fo that 1 will enquire what could the Pre
fluent do but flgn this treaty, as it tattle to his
bands,- w-is it net natural for a man of his huma
nity to iimdder, at tlie idea of being folely relpori
fible, in a bwflnels of fuch moment, while be was
Stunned, as it were, by the Unrounding cry of war,
from fuch as dreaded that event.
Surely the misfortune was antecedent to that fig
Ifraiureand originated in fending one man to tie
gneiate with a very wife and powerful court ; prac
tiled for centuries in all her art's ol negotiation,
iiot to fpeak ofihe belt lh.illed, and molt powerful
companies cf merchants on earth. Was Mr. J ly
< n equal -ground ? I ihali not reply. Much might
Le added.
But ihali we not reafon on this great fubjecc ere
It be too late ? 1 fpeak for thfs-gf-r.erous people, and
for all polterity. 1 am intimately connected with
the prefent race; my relations are numerous, and
every nan of probity and patriotifm is my friend,
and let no honelt mau fear the level of this v-irtuous
U<) gooc, parrior3 rtnect on me contequences re
fulling from their principles, arid on the-great dif
ficulty that prefects in recalling powers once fur
rendered.
Arguments to prove that all is fmiling profperi*
tv, ate very fallacious, and cannot operate forci
bly agafnlc a prudent and timely precaution to turn
alidc thole evils which mult eniuc if Inch precaution
be neglected ; one fcruple of prevention being of
more real worth, than many pounds of remedy.
Or will a man of common fenfe recline in the
fhnde on a fine lummer day, without reflecting that
night, and even wintry (terms and pinching cold
will approach.
Much has been faid without thefe walls, about
Sriiilh debts and an averhon to pay, by many who
are not rightly informed in this matter, and hurri
ed on by party clamour: but for the information
even of thole, I will offer a few words by way of re
ply*
The frrong Cutting Companies in Britain, had
long received the produce ariimg from the labour of
individuals in Come ftates> and all the fpecie, that
the people could acquire, was uniformly received by
their factors, by which thefe companies?! became
more po werful and weak hy .
That they really engrol'sed the trade of fome
ftaics, worried and run down the native merchant
by a general credit, which of courfe created ionic 1
bad dehis, as is the cafe in’ con/mon life.
And this evil was ir. ere a fed/by the flight of their
fccJors, who Ihut their books, and retired fo foon
3 s the great conflict corn me needy*- Ami 1 have been
told, ar.c! believe it to he a fact', riaGi feme of thefe
companies actually fitted our privateers to cruile
sgainft thole our friends and fupporters, which in
reality was diftrcfllng this people.
Be that as it mr.y, every man of property who
rad not deposited his febt for them, haftened tQ pay
fo foon as their factors returned, to inform them
the amount of thyr feveral debts.
Biit will any nrfan contend that thetJnited States
ought to be rpfpontible for bad debts, contracted at
the d ure of thofe companies and with clefign to cut
Up the native merchants—what can entitle them to
this great indulgence ; did they fend their feveral
facroisto ferve the people ?
fiat to return to the treaty, was the Prcfident fa
i tisfied w::h the treaty ? Surrly not; bet were not a
Well informed and very relpectable minority in ihe
Senate, decidedly againlc this treaty ; anti have not
the members of this mere numerous body, an un
doubted bight to judge for their cortftituents, who
have repoied fuck confidence in them ?
They intend no reflections cn the Prefident and
( Senate ,- they conlider them as acting for the beft 3t
the time they did act, and with th« information they
‘then polselsed-; but time 9nd oblervanon has hip
I piird this boule with iuch information as the Sctiate
i could not be in pof&tffiou of.
W-e are not contending about tfie virtues of the
| Prefident, or of the Senate. All regard the Preli
I dent at a common parent, and reverence the Senate
for all their virtues and the fcations which the peo
ple have affigned them.
-Upon the whole, i call to myeaftern patriots, it]
low labourers, and conjure them by thcii affect ions,
for this our common country, by the names of the
great Warui*, and all out departed patriots and
hehces, not to be doped by an opinion, that malig
nity and party fpirit actuates numbers to bi'ternets
I agjinli t fie Prefident and benate for finiher purpo
{es.Such opinions aie nut advanced by the fritucis of
the Union cr of the Revolution, and being entirely un
founded ought to be viewed with horror and con
; Finally \ cal? to the Britiib nation, warning and
I conjuring the m by their real intereit and national
; character, not to indulge a violent or captions ma
i lignity, which can only tend to lever the two na
! tiors w hile they < xilt as iuch.
'Thus have! offered my fentiments with (jnceriry,
| and I truir, with refpect to all, while 1 am conhi
I ous of the noth and ‘he iuttice of what 1 have ail
| vanced, bift fharll yield t .* : be opinions of a mrjorky
j of the representatives of the people as they m.»y d<
| cide, and without a murmur.
Lattji Europear. i?itelligence.
-J.-L—,—
Bj ihe fnoiu Hebt, Copt Coj, arrived ct Philadelphia,
from L’jndjr,.
COPENHAGEN, April t.
In the courle of this week two couriers have been
difpatched from hence to Paris, whole difpatchcs
concern the negotiation for peace."
April 6.
Another German mail arrived yenerdsy. !t
brings, zs ulual, intimations ut fuch a difconlsnt
Oppolitc tendency, rhjt whether me ipecu’ai i; iik of
the reader be for war or peace, be will hr.d matter
|
to jufiiiy his opinion.
On rhewhulc the inclination of vh<* Oale is to.
waid3 a peace. The letters irom Vienna five,
that the warlike preparations are ft ill j.urfued with
vigor,* but the arch duke Charles has not vet let
oui to take the command of the army. At Co
blent? the f'retich officers are languine in their <x
pectations of peace, w i’ich they arc retarded only
to adjuft the claims of ihe German princes : ii the
fate or the low countries be in fact decided, it is
not ro be fuppoftd that theie claims can long t:n
barrafs the decilion ; much ieis that they can induce
the exlrmfted combatants to prolong the hoiiid ia
crifices of the war.
UPPER RHINE, March jo.
The ’-Vurtzburg grenadierg who gavrifoned Li'X
. emburg, and che fecund division ol La Tour's dra* |
j goons, who were mjde prifoners in Valenci' nnes, ;
have arrived ^ ’he army of the Rhine from Rohe* :
m:a, and every thing is prepared 'or the campaign,
i The Armiftice, however, is net yet infringed, and ;
we flatter our-eives with the hope that the com
I meucement of holtilities will it ill be prevented by
?. negociation which, we fiuctrdy wiih, may termi
nate ih a lifting peace.
WEShL, March 20.
Accordingto accounts from Berg, the Aoftrians
are continually receiving large reinforcements on
I the banks of the Sieg ; but there is not t he leak pro
bability that holtilities will loon commence.
March 24.
The reafon of the French withdrawing their
head-quarters to the Meuie, appears to be txplain
| ed bv intelligence we have lately received, that the
Prufiian provinces on the other fide the Rhine, are
not only to be exempted from all contributions and
from the forced loan, but that the French troops
will entirely evacuate them in the courle of three
weeks. We wait the confirmation of this agreea
ble news. In the mean ritne we are afsured, that
the French government have piomifed to draw a
newline of demarcation.
FRANKFORT, March ij.
The reports of peace and war have lucceeded
each other with great rapidity, throughout Ger
many, within this loft fortnight. Letters from Vi
enna even give reaionto believe, for an inftant, that
a plan of pacification was on the tapis, and that,
| but for the oblfinacy of the minifier of Irate, baton
Thugut. w»o thwarted the pacific views :•[ mare
! fchal Ciairfayr, it would already have been carried
into execution.
ih that as it may, we are afsured that it is in
contemplation to hold a general congrefs of all the
I belligerent powers at Conftance, in order to at
tempt to bring abour a general pacification.
March 22.
From Coblentz they write, that the French rffi
; cers rhere entertain ro doubt of the conclulioi* of
peace,- they even affirm that the preliminaries are
I as good as iettled, only that feme difficulties occur
relative to the claims of iome of the princes of the
empire. The French army v.J!] fear- retire b,;£
lheiVlcufe. Gewei al Jourdan is expected at <\.
blentz. ,
Should a peace not take pl?ce, the Imperial ar
my will draw together m the vicinity m Mem*
in which the aich duke Chuiles will ha\e i us head
quarters, tor which purpoie ainiairicnts are already
prepared for hint. As y n , however, no part t ins
army is in motion. Eighteen thouiand horttSare
expected «.t the Ault run army on the Rhine h oc;
Bohemia, Hungary, &
Znick and Bern, have formally acknowledged
the French rrpuulic.
PARIS, Apt il f.
It has been confidently reported, that the armi'f
tice bet ween our at mh-s and that ol the Ault rir.n*
on the Rhine, has been prolonged for iour months.
It has been larrher laid, that citizen Bacher, fir't
"French fecretary of legation in Swi;'crl.'-nd, n«.J
j'llt arrived in Paris, '^ith important dilpatcties
trom Bar'hHerni. Jf thefe two tacts be true, we
may conclude that terious negotiations are acuut
to be opened.
LONDON, April
yrfterday a variety ot letters and difpjtrch.es
were teceived at Mi. Dundas and lord Grenville's
offices; and alto at the German tfflue, i>t. James's,
from tlie continent ; which were conveyed by a
melsenger to the king at Winrllor. They are all
laid uniformly to dignify that a mediation is cer
tainly oh foot, and that a p^cihcaiion among the
prelent belligerent poweisis to he txucitd in the
courts or the lummer.
1 iie emperor jS to have a loan Item England.—
The precile iutn is not publicly known ; lome lay
four, others'fi-.e millions. And many believe that
the campaign will not lie opened, on hi's ban, until
he receives the money; and that this is the ca'ule of
the prefenc delay in opening the campaign.
April 7. Yclierday v/e received the iaft of the
Hamburg mails due, wkich fean rly brings tin arti
cle of intelligence worth reporting.
In this nuif, as in many that have preceded it,
there are many repot is niprctiirg peace and war,
wh.ih, 1 :i o' r tounioP, dcUrves little or nc credit.
And as trom tlTisTtaie of uncertainty a net ij eculati
ort, ir is probfhle that fuch tumors will conti..ae 10
be afloat, until either a negotiation is actuary 1st CD
foot, or tIt-• campaign ia opened, '■»£ thirk u may
not be unimportant. to make an obtcrvativn on this
head.
Fiotn the knowledge we have of the frete of af
fairs 'in this country, we have rcalon to ucmctc,
that our minifiers have rvj expect9tion at prnvut
rf a peace. "I his doe's nor arii'e froui any indsipo
fr. inn of theirs to n eat for peace, inti from the
high language which (he executive directory is f:»;l
fuppofed to hold 111 regard to the terms 01 ii. Bur
as the oblcrcciion lies with the French go»err. inmu,
and not with us, fo i is iinpofiiole ro depend from
day today, whether the Liter may not think fit to
abandon in dr lofty pretentions, before another fatal
blow is ft ruck.
Hence, then, it will he perceived* that let men
be ever fo well informed of the its'c of iif irs at
home, t.uy may perhaps be the very worlt inform
ed in reipccr to the event. The executive directo
ry may unexpectedly alter their tone, and incline
to peace ; and, if we may judge from the Paris Ga
2et(t 3, this would appear to oethe caie at prefent.
At the iamr titn«-, it is nectliary to remark, that
thefe journals are not altogether to be depended on,
^nd that it is on facts only that have occurred, that
the public ought 10 place a (met reliance.
IMPORT AN T!
Received by the Britannia, arrived Qi George Town.
APRIL u.
Late laft night v> t received the following very
important pvipns, which were yelterday communi
cated by lord Grenville to ail the Foreign Mu/ifters
refident at this Court. They arc the conrems of
the diipi'ch received on Friday laic by Mr. Wick
ham, his M-jefiy’i Envoy to ifieSwifs Canton ; and
appears to be ti>e relult of the meafores Mr. Pi’.t
fume Weeks fince announced to be in train for afeer*
taining the real difpohtior) of the French Directory
on the queftion ol peace or war. It will alio be re
collected that we mentioned about three weeks fince
that we had reaion to believe Mr. Wirkham was
the gentleman to whom Mr- Put alluded as being
charged with this inquiry. We are lorry the refuit
is ol .bat gloomy nature, as to leave no other alter
native wim h,i3 M 'j-d'ty and his minil’ters, than of
continuing f he war with unabated vigor; in which
determination they mult, and no doubt, will, be
fupported i>y every good lubject ir. the kingdom.
in conlVq ience otMr. Wickham's difpatch, a roef
fage from his Majelty i; expected to be delivered
this day by Mr. Put to the houfe of Commons.
N O T E.
Tranfmkted to M. Barthdemi, by Mr. Wickham,
March 8. i7r,6/
The undei figned, hi* Britan: M ijefty'sMinilter
Plenipotentiary to the Swifs Cantons, is authorised
to convey to Monf. Barthelemi, the dtfire ot his
Court to be made acquainted, through him, with
the dilpofnion ol France in regard to the obj-ct ot
a general pacification. He therefore requefts Monf.
Barthelctni to tranlmit to him in writing (and al
ter having made 1 he oecefasry inquiries) his aniwo
to the following quefrions .•
1. Is there a dilpofition in France to open a nego
ciation with his M-jefty and his Allies for the re
cltal liihn’.ent of a general peace, upon ju!t and
fuilable tcmis, by (ending, lor that purpoie, M