The national intelligencer and Washington advertiser. (Washington City [D.C.]), 1800-11-14 00:00:00

The National Intelligencer,
AND WASHINGTON ADVERTISER.
VOL. I. WASHINGTON CITY, PRINTED BY SAMUEL HARRISON SMITH, NEW-JERSEY AVENUE, NEAR THE CAPITOL. No. VII.
FIVE DOLLS. PER ANN.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14th, 1800.
PAID IN ADVANCE.
The following account of the Prigioni Pubbliche, or Great Common Prison in Venice , is given by Dr. Mosely, an English gentleman, who, with some difficulty, obtained permission from the Inquisitors to visit it on the 16th September, 1787. This " Horrid Tale ," the authority of which cannot be doubted, forms a striking contrast to the treatment of criminals confined in our prisons, where Justice is wisely tempered by Humanity, and the only end of punishment is reformation.
"I was conducted thro' the prison by one of its inferior dependants. We had a torch with us. We crept along narrow passages, as dark as pitch. In some of them two people could scarcely pass each other. The cells are made of malle marble: the architecture of the celebrated Sansovino.
"The cells are not only dark and black as ink, but being surrounded and confined with huge walls, the smallest breath of air can scarcely find circulation in them. They are about nine feet square on the floor, arched at the top, and between six and seven feet high in the highest part. There is to each cell a round hole, eight inches diameter; thro' which the prisoner's daily allowance of twelve ounces of bread, and a pot of water is delivered. There is a small iron door to the cell. The furniture of the cell is a little straw and a small tub: nothing else. The straw is renewed, and the tub emptied, thro' the iron door, occasionally.
"The diet is ingeniously contrived for the perpetuation of punishment. Animal food, or a cordial nutritious regimen, in such a situation, would bring on disease, and defeat the end of this Venetian justice. Neither can the foul, if so inclined, steal away, wrapt up in slumbering delusion, or sink to rest, from the admonition of her sad existence, by the jailor's daily return.
"I saw one man, who had been in a cell thirty years, two who had been twelve years, and several who had been eight and nine years in their respective cells!
"By my taper's light I could discover the prisoners' horrid countenances. They were all naked. The man who had been there 30 years, in face and body, was covered with long hair. He had lost the arrangement of words & order of language. When I spoke to him, he made an unintelligible noise; and expressed fear and surprise; and, like some wild animals in deserts, which have suffered by the treachery of the human race, or have an instinctive abhorrence of it, he would have fled like lightning from me, if he could.
"One, whose faculties were not so obliterated, who still recollected the difference between day and night, whose eyes and ears, though long closed with a glent blank, still languished to perform their natural functions, implored, in the most piercing manner, that I would prevail on the jailor to murder him; or to give him some instrument to destroy himself. I told him I had no power to serve him in this request. He then entreated I would use my endeavours with the inquisitors to get him hanged, or drowned in the Canal Orfano. But even in this I could not serve him. Death was a favor I had not interest enough to procure for him.
"This kindness of death, however, was during my stay in Venice, granted to one man, who had been "from the cheerful ways of man cut off," thirteen years.
"Before he left his dungeon, I had some conversation with him; this was six days previous to his execution. His transport at the prospect of death was surprising. He longed for the happy moment. No fainter ever exhibited more fervor in anticipating the joys of a future state, than this man did at thoughts of being released from life, during the four days mockery of his trial.
"It is in the Canal Orfano, where vessels from Turkey and the Levant perform quarantine; this place is the watery grave of many who have committed no offences at all. They are carried out of the city in the middle of the night—tied up in a sack, with a large stone fastened to it, and thrown into the water. Fishermen are prohibited, on forfeiture of their lives, a-
gainst fishing in this district; the pretence is the plague. This is the secret history of people being lost in Venice.
"With age, the government grew feeble; was afraid of the discussion of legal proceedings and of public executions; and navigated this rotten Bucentaur of the Adriatic, by spies, prisons, assassination, and the Canal Orfano.
"If there be an hell—the idea of which a virtuous mind can be susceptible—this is that hell; and some Italian devil was its inventor. Such a one, as he of that country, who, to accomplish the eternity of the perdition of his enemy, beguiled him to discover his faith, to save his life; then instantly stabbed him to the heart, to prevent his repentance.
"What I now unfold, in regard to the prison in Venice, is known but to a few foreigners besides myself ever witnessed the scene I have related; the exploring of which, nearly cost me my life.
"The heat and want of air in the passages among the cells, so oppressed my strength and respiration, that I could scarcely walk or breathe when I left the prison. Sweat ran thro' every pore of my body. My clothes were to my coat-sleeves wet thro'. I staid too long there. I went to St. Mark's Place as soon as I could; and by the assistance of the trembling Dominico waiting my return, the blessed light of day, fresh air, and a few glasses Maraschino, I was enabled to get to my lodgings at the Scudo di Francia, on the side of the great canal, near the Rialto; where I was for several hours extremely ill, and for several days much indisposed.
"It is not my purpose here, to enquire whether the Venetian people were wicked, or the Venetian government wise; nor to settle the proportion of crimes and punishments, in such a state as Venice. An Englishman cannot.
FOR THE NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER.
It is a subject of deep regret that the Constitution of the United States, in directing the manner in which a President and Vice President shall be chosen, has not been more explicit. The terms, in which the mode is designated, admit of so wide a latitude, that different constructions have been put upon them and governed by varying views of policy the same state has been found to abandon its first plan in the adoption of another.
Unfortunately, some states, owing to a division of opinion among their legislatures have been threatened with a total exclusion from participating in the election of the Chief Magistrate.
Among these, at present, is the large and respectable state of Pennsylvania.
The mode heretofore pursued in that state has been an election of electors by the people; in a general ticket, prescribed by a temporary law. As this law has expired, no new election can take place, until a new one be passed. And with regard to this mode a difference of opinion is understood to exist in the Legislature of that state.
It is unquestionably all important that the Chief Magistrate should be the representative of the whole union. The very existence of a republican government depends upon the complete vigor of the representative principle; public opinion is the pillar on which it rests for all its support; if deprived of it discontent may subvert it in a day. The People are accustomed to be governed by laws of their own making, and to submit to them with cheerfulness because passed by their own representatives. But if it shall at any time appear that the government represents a part, and not the whole of the community, this sentiment may be impaired or ever destroyed.
Every friend, then, to the harmony and stability of the union, and every friend to the federal constitution, as the best shield of that harmony and stability, will endeavor to reconcile opposing views, and to produce a result which shall preserve to each state its portion of the mass of representation.
There are three modes of choosing electors.
1. By the people of each state. 2. By the Legislature of each state; the two houses electing by joint vote. 3. By the several Legislatures; voting by concurrent vote.
The object of my remarks will be to examine, whether all these modes are constitutional; and if not so, which is constitutional and which is not.
After this enquiry, I shall examine, in relation to Pennsylvania, which is the most expedient, supposing more than one mode to be constitutional.
1. I do not hesitate to say that the Election of Electors by the People themselves is most congenial to the spirit, and most conformable to the words of the Federal Constitution. As there exists no diversity of opinion on the Constitutionality of this mode, it is entirely useless to enter into a detail of the grounds on which it is supported.
I shall therefore enquire whether, in the 2d. and 3d. places, the choice of Electors by the several Legislatures be constitutional; and if it is, whether the joint or the concurrent vote be constitutional, or whether both be constitutional.
Art. II. Sec. 2. of the Federal Constitution prescribes, that "Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Representatives, to which the state may be entitled in Congress."
The first enquiry that presents itself is what is meant by the term state ? I answer that it sometimes implies the people in their original constituent capacity, & sometimes in their incorporate representative capacity.
The only elucidation, which this point seems to admit, must be derived from the construction of this section of the Constitution, made at a period when party feeling had little, if any, influence on the decisions of the several legislatures.
It appears that the choice of Electors by the Legislature has been pursued by New-Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New-Jersey, New-York, Delaware, South Carolina and Georgia, making nine states out of sixteen; and recently Massachusetts has adopted the same plan. These states send to Congress 20 Senators out of 32, and 55 Representatives out of 105. From which it is evident that a majority of states, and a majority of the People of the United States, as represented in their state councils, have adopted the Legislative choice. In addition to this; the mode has been sanctioned by the unanimous reception by Congress of all the votes given in this way.
Those, who hold different opinions, and contend that this mode is unconstitutional, will do well to calculate the consequences that would proceed from a general establishment of their tenets.
It would follow that no President, since the adoption of the federal Constitution, has been constitutionally elected; that in the passage and execution of every law the Constitution has been violated; that those, who have sworn to defend the Constitution, have broken down its strongest barriers; that the people are under no obligation to obey the laws; & that that very law, under which the present election of President is held, is nugatory and of no force. For the Constitution has declared that every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall before it becomes a law, be approved by the President; unless, after his disapproving it in a prescribed form, it shall be re-passed by two thirds of each house. Now if there existed no constitutional President, it irresistibly follows, that no law has been constitutionally passed, as such President must in order to give conclusive force to a law, either approve, or, disapprove it; in which last case two thirds of each house must re-enact it.
However, then, men may have differed in theory respecting this part of the Constitution, in practice there has been a complete agreement. Now it has appeared that ten states out of sixteen have pursued the mode of legislative choice, and that all the
states, by their representatives in Congress, have confirmed that mode. Nor is it recollected that, at the times of election, any disapprobation was expressed of this mode from any public or private quarter.
Great deference ought to be paid to the cool and impartial expression of the public mind at periods, when no personal attachment, or party motive influenced our public councils. When in addition thereto, it is considered that no state, that has revised its constitution, since the adoption of this mode, has, in such revision, interdicted it the strongest evidence is furnished that the mode was not deemed unconstitutional. For had it been deemed so, it would undoubtedly have been prohibited by the new constitutions framed. Since the adoption of the Federal Constitution, new frames of Government have been established in New-Hampshire; Pennsylvania, Delaware, South Carolina, Georgia, Vermont, Tennessee, and Kentucky; making exactly one half of the states in the Union.
If the legislative choice be constitutional, let us in the next place enquire whether this mode should be pursued by a joint or a concurrent vote. In making this enquiry, we can be guided only by three considerations; the first is derived from the directions of the Federal Constitution, the second from those of the Constitution of Pennsylvania; the third from the acts of the several states.
By the Section of the Federal Constitution, above quoted, it is directed "that each state shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may direct electors," &c.
Considering the legislature as the organ of the choice, let us enquire what the Federal Constitution means by the word "legislature."
The 3d section of the 1st Article, says, "The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each state, chosen by the Legislature thereof," &c.
Now, what construction has been placed upon these terms, than which none can be more explicit? Every state in the union, it is believed, has adopted the mode of choosing Senators by a joint vote of the two houses. In some few cases, a concurrent vote has been contended for; but the contest has soon been abandoned by the Senates of the States, who have ultimately agreed to elect by a joint vote.
Some slight doubt is entertained of the accuracy of the above statement in relation to the state of New-York, though from recollection, it is believed that even that state elects Senators in the same way.
Senators, thus chosen, have taken their seats in the Federal Senate, without any impeachment of the constitutionality of their election; though the Senate, not only had the power, but, having it, were bound to exercise it, to exclude any members unconstitutionally returned.
This case does not furnish a solitary precedent, dictated by passion or prejudice; but it furnishes a construction of the constitution, systematically acted upon by most, if not all of the states, and approved by the Senate of the United States.
If this construction be a false one, then has the Federal Senate usurped all the power it has exercised, and no law made by them, can have any force.
The greater weight is to be attached to this construction, from its having been adopted after the fullest investigation; particularly in the state of Pennsylvania, which was for a considerable time deprived of one of its federal senators by the disagreement of the two houses in the mode of choice.
The Constitution of Pennsylvania does not seem to throw any light on the meaning attached to the term "legislature." But it may not be unworthy of notice in this place, that the constitution directs that in case two persons, voted for as Governor by the people, have an equal number of votes, "one of them shall be chosen governor, by the joint vote of the members of both houses."
From this direction of the constitution, it may be inferred, that though in the passage of laws it was proper that the two houses should act in their distinct capacities, (it

being rarely absolutely necessary that a particular law should be enacted) yet, that in a case, where government might stand still unless a particular office was filled, it became not only proper, but of prime necessity, that a mode should be adopted that would without failure ensure an election.
From the above statement, I think it admits not of a doubt, whether the point be considered on abstract ground, or whether we consult the opinions and constructions which have been uniformly expressed, that the legislative choice by joint ballot is constitutional. If it be constitutional, can its expediency be doubted?
It is certain that the vote of Pennsylvania, accordingly as it is given, will decide the President. It may be, that if Pennsylvania shall not vote, a man will be elected to that important office, in direct opposition to the prevailing will of Pennsylvania.
Can the legislature, appointed by the people for the express purpose of carrying into effect the federal as well as state constitutions, the first of which declares, "that electors shall be appointed," under the direction of the state legislatures, can the legislature omit to do what the constitution directs? And this too, at a period, when the public mind is expressed with unequivalency in the recent elections?
In Pennsylvania there can be no other mode of election, but by the legislature. This mode, then, the legislature are bound to pursue.
But which mode shall be pursued, the joint or the concurrent ?
I reply for one reason , in addition to the many already urged, for one reason, which outweighs a thousand common ones, the joint vote ought to be adopted, because that vote will truly express the will of the people, while the concurrent vote will either express no opinion at all, or an opinion at war with the existing sentiments of the people.
From this view of the subject, made with a guarded abstinence from passion or inflammation, some considerations of solemn moment arise.
If any thing can divide the American people from their government it will be the unequal operation of laws, the unequal enjoyment of rights. At present the government is seated in the affections of the people, because it truly expresses, in its acts, the public will, and is guided by a regard to the general interest. Deprive it of this distinctive feature, and you alter its character, and hazard its duration. A president of the United States, who is the representative of the people, will be respected, beloved and obeyed by the people. A president who is not the representative of the people, may be despised, hated and opposed.
A FRIEND OF THE PEOPLE.
On the 7th inst. the Governor of Pennsylvania, made the following address to the Legislature of that state.
Gentlemen of the Senate, and Gentlemen of the House of Representatives.
The legislature having omitted to prescribe the manner, in which the Electors of President and Vice President of the United States, shall be appointed, I have thought it incumbent on me, to furnish the present opportunity, for discharging a trust, so interesting to the honor of the state, and so essential to the prosperity of the Union. To preserve, indeed the political balance of our Confederation, to promote the regular operations of government, to diffuse the blessings of concord, and to ensure the confidence of the people, are considerations intimately connected with the object for which you have been convened; and having thus prompted an extraordinary interposition of the Executive power, they will also, I am persuaded, command on your part, a serious and salutary attention.
It is to be regretted, Gentlemen, that the difference of opinion, which occurred on this subject, between the two branches of the last general Assembly, has deprived our Constituents of an immediate participation in the choice of Electors, either by an election of the citizens at large, or by an election of the citizens in districts. Since, however, the crisis affords no other alternative, than a legislative appointment, or a dereliction of the right of election, we cannot, I think, reflect upon the dangerous and disgraceful consequences of the latter course without resolving to pursue the former. On the fidelity and vigilance of its several members, the Union depends for its energy and duration; and, it is obvious, that a neglect, or omission, of the important duties, assigned to the individual States, must, eventually, prove as destructive to the Federal Compact as an opposition the
most active, or a secession the most daring. For, a free and enlightened People will not long continue to maintain or to respect an institution, in which (from whatever cause) they have ceased to be represented. Nor can we resist the influence of those occurrences which admonish us, at this momentous period of human affairs, to rally round the Constitution of our Country, as the palladium of civil Liberty, and the hope of Republican Virtue. To rescue Pennsylvania, therefore, from the stigma of exhibiting to her Sister States, a fatal example of discord and disorganization, is a motive, that cannot fail to supersede in every patriotic mind, the pride of opinion, as to the theory of our government, or the bias of predilection, as to the various means of supplying its departments. For my own part, I acknowledge, that I have ever contemplated a general choice by the people, as the truest, fairest, safest, exposition of the Constitution; but a deference for the judgement and practice of others, taught me to respect a departure from that rule elsewhere, where the necessity had arisen, which imposes a departure from it here. In eight States of the Union, Electors are appointed by a vote of the two branches of their respective Legislatures; and appointments so made, have been uniformly recognized by congress. It is a great consolation, therefore, that on the present occasion, we have these authoritative precedents to pursue; since, permit me to repeat, it is only left to your discretion to decide, whether Pennsylvania shall abandon her elective rights, or exercise them in a manner, which has already been adopted by one half of the confederation.
Though I have thus explicitly communicated my sentiments, and exonerated myself from all official responsibility, I still deeply partake of the general solicitude, for the issue of your deliberations. The situation of our country is critical; but not alarming. In her external relations, the prospect of reconciliation and peace appears, by recent intelligence, to be realized; and nothing seems wanting to her domestic happiness, but a recollection of the common interest, by which all her citizens must be equally animated in their efforts to promote it. It has, perhaps, then, fallen to the lot of Pennsylvania, not merely to determine an important election, but to extinguish, by a magnanimous example, those feuds and jealousies, which have disturbed the order of society, and threatened to eclipse the glory of the Revolution. Under this impression, we see without surprise, the attention of the Union fixed upon the proceedings of the present day; while, from every quarter of the State, the wishes and prayers of our fellow citizens, emphatically appeal to the patriotism and fidelity of those, in whom they have reposed their confidence, and to whom they have delegated their power. Such just and honourable expectations will not be disappointed! No:—Superior to the suggestions of party, disdaining a contest about forms, and yielding to the precedents that have been established, your decision cannot fail to merit the approbation of our Constituents, the applause of our Sister States, and the gratitude of posterity.
I shall reserve, Gentlemen, the communications on the general state of the Commonwealth for a future message: but I cannot conclude at this time, without assuring you of my most cordial co-operation, in every measure for the public good. Let us, then, cultivate, by all the means in our power, a liberal and harmonious intercourse between the departments of the government;—convinced, as we must be, that our private happiness, not less than our public duty, will be best promoted, under the influence of mutual confidence, deference and esteem.
THOMAS M'KEAN.
Nov. 7, 1800.
On Friday afternoon, after the governor had delivered his speech, Mr. Boileau of the House of Representatives, read in his place, a bill for appointing by a joint vote, electors of President and Vice-President of the United States.
FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.
VIENNA, Sept. 13.
The Archduke John will retain the command of the army till the Archduke Charles is able to take it: the latter is now recovering, and on the 9th was no longer confined to his bed.
In Hungary, the general levy, which is now to be carried into effect, meets with the public approbation. Twenty-five thousand infantry will immediately be formed.
Yesterday notice was published here, the purport of which was, that "the departure of his Imperial Majesty for the army, and the example he had given, must inflame the courage of the brave Austrians, and inspire them with the resolution, as faithful children of the Father of their Country, to oppose the enemy with arms in their hands, till they should obtain just and honourable conditions of peace; and though the present circumstances do not render necessary a general levy, like that in the year 1797, yet it is the will of his majesty that some light battalions of volunteers, similar to the Tyrolese riflemen, shall be raised immediately in his capital of Vienna, and sent to the army. The organization of several thousand men, is confided to Prince Ferdinand of Wurtemberg.
Our accounts from Alt-Oettingen state, that his majesty's arrival there had created inexpressible joy. An eye witness assures us, that if it should be attempted to describe the energetic manner in which the whole army expressed their joy at the arrival of their beloved chief, it would appear improbable. The tidings spread from cantonment to cantonment, as far as the advanced posts and the privates literally shouted. A more beautiful spectacle could not be seen than that when his majesty reviewed the army and many veterans shed tears of joy. His majesty's address to the army, in which he reminded the warriors of the courage, bravery, and fidelity, with which they had often conquered the enemy, and with which he hoped they would further meet him, not only created the most lively joy, but also the highest resolution in every individual. The whole army were afterwards informed that for three days their pay should be doubled; and the review being over, they returned to their cantonments. The great agitation, and the feu-de-joie of the army being observed by the French, their general sent to inquire what was the meaning of this unusual movement? And was informed of the cause of it. On the 11th, his majesty set out from Alt-Oettingen for Innsbruck, where it was expected he would arrive this day. During the emperor's absence from the army in Germany, the archduke John will transact every part of the business.
LAUSANNE, Sept. 11.
The new French army of reserve, under general Macdonald, amounting to between 30 and 40,000 men, is now marching through Switzerland. One division of it marches through this neighbourhood, the other through Yverdon, with the utmost speed, towards Italy and the Tyrol. A third army of reserve is to be formed immediately. General Macdonald arrived at Berne on the 9th inst. accompanied by general Dumas.
BIRMINGHAM, Sept. 29.
Yesterday morning several treasonable hand-bills, violently inflammatory, were discovered stuck up in various parts of the town. On information being given to the peace officers, they were taken down and conveyed to the Magistrates. The writing appeared to have been executed by different hands. The language of each, though totally dissimilar, was equally expressive of rebellious sentiment. One hundred pounds reward was immediately offered for the discovery of the offenders, and the papers dispatched to his Grace the duke of Portland.
Birmingham is now perfectly tranquil; but the scarcity of bread and potatoes seems to increase.
PARIS, Sept. 27.
The Gazette of Frankfort having stated that general Menou had died in Egypt of the plague, or by poison, citizen Bacher, Charge d'Affaires of the French Republic with the general Diet of the Empire, was requested to procure information of the authority on which the Journalist had given this intelligence. He found that it rested merely on a report which was first circulated in Constantinople, without any authentic foundation, and which has not been confirmed in that city; that advices from Joppa, subsequent to the date of this report, make no mention of it; and that at Constantinople not the least credit was given to this fable, which was invented and circulated by the Agents of England.
[Moniteur.]
PARIS, OCTOBER 3.
AERIAL EXCURSION.
The following is the account given by Garnier, of his dangerous experiment on the occasion of the late celebration of the foundation of the French Republic, at Paris:
Paris, 2d Vendemaire, 5. 1804.
The weather was never less favourable than it was yesterday for descending by a parachute. I consider that which I effected as extremely dangerous, on account of the storms by which the atmosphere was agitated. The south west wind which directed the first percursory balloon sent up turned suddenly to the west and covered the heavens with thick clouds, which seemed to announce a great hurricane. I however, informed the minister of the Interior, that I was resolved to hazard the experiment, notwithstanding the probability of danger. He endeavoured to prevail on me with great sensibility to delay my departure for a quarter of an hour, till the threatened storm should be over.
"I at length rose with great force of ascension. The west wind being extremely violent above the earth, made me pass over the Champ de Mars and the Military School with rapidity, and agitated the balloon and the parachute in such a manner, as to give them a rotatory motion in opposite directions, so that the cords became twisted around the principal rope which might have rendered the development of the parachute difficult. I conjectured that by rising higher, I should have more time to descend, and consequently there would be more hopes of the parachute being unfolded, which was actually the case, for having cut the rope by which it was made fast, when at the height of between four and five hundred fathoms, I descended with a great deal of velocity until the air gradually filled the parachute. The rope got untwisted, and I began to descend more gently, experiencing oscillations which were not so great as the violence of the wind had made me apprehend, which proves that there was a great degree of perfection in my parachute. I at length approached the earth very sensibly, and perceived that I was falling directly on the spikes of garden rails, by which my net was caught, so that I remained suspended in the most miraculous manner, the spikes being within two inches of my breast. I ought to thank fortune for having preserved me from so painful an end. The wife of the President of the Conservative Senate, and another lady, were so kind as to take me into their carriage, and to conduct me to the military school. I immediately repaired to the minister of the Interior who received me with much affection.
"I hope the public will see in my devotion, a new proof of my eagerness to fulfil my intention, for, notwithstanding the notice given that my descent with a parachute would not take place, should the wind be too strong, I did not desert it a moment on that account: I have always chose rather to expose myself to every thing than to break my word."
The Emperor of Russia was dissatisfied with the manoeuvres of the Finland troops, on the 1st inst.—Prince Gortschakow was reprimanded by the Emperor for neglect, with this remark, "that his conduct was certainly of the same kind as that which had occasioned the loss of the battles in Switzerland and Holland."
The younger brother of Buonaparte is shortly expected at Berlin.
When General Kray resigned the command of the army, he caused the following to be communicated to the troops:
"His Imperial Majesty having found it convenient for the service graciously to recall me from the command, and as I have already surrendered it to Field Marshal Count Collowrath, the whole of the Imperial troops, and of the troops of the Empire in the army, are hereby desired to direct to him their reports and communications. I also think it my duty, herein to testify my warmest thanks and acknowledgements to the generals, staff, and other officers, and the troops composing the army, for their indefatigable zeal and bravery, evinced while under my command and to recommend myself to their further friendly remembrance.
(Signed)
KRAY."
The Minister of the Interior, L. Buonaparte, in his speech of the 23d ult. in the Temple of Mars, amongst a great number of common places, had an apostrophe of some beauty, in which the eighteenth century, now about to expire, is made thus to address the century which is to succeed her in the following terms:—"I bequeath to you a great inheritance. I had collected all human knowledge, and was entitled the Age of Philosophy . I am now about to disappear, and tempests accompany me into the night of time. Thy reign commences on a serene day: preserve then repose and liberty, the painful fruits of my labours which thou are about to gather. Banish with horror from thy bosom Revolution and Civil Wars. I carry with me, it is true, many benedictions, but I

also hear some piercing lamentations, and witness the traces of many misfortunes. Thou art more happy, for it will be only necessary for thee to preserve what thou hast received, that blessings unmixed may follow even to thy last hour. Do not disappoint the hopes of the wife!"
LONDON, Sept. 26.
It is stated in the Paris Journals, and probably with truth, that the whole of our forces now in the Mediterranean, commanded by Sir R. Abercrombie and Sir James Pulteney, have orders to disembark in Italy, and to act under the orders of the Austrian Commander in Chief. It is said they are to land at Ancona.
The following is said to be the state of the Brest fleet:—It is divided into two squadrons, or two lines; one without the harbour, composed of eight three deckers, and four ships of 90 guns. The second consists of seventeen ships of 74 each. Both squadrons have springs on their cables. In the Bay of Biscay there are eleven 74's and one ship of 80, with springs on their cables, to answer either line; and each ship has 400 troops ready to be disembarked, to reinforce the camp of Quelerne, which consists at present of 3,000 men. The lines at Quelerne are 650 toises in length, and are defended by 72 pieces of artillery of large calibre. These intrenchments are remarkably strong; 40,000 men would not be able to carry them.
DUBLIN, Sept. 19.
Some speculators in the negotiations between France and England, assert the latter demands, as the price of an armistice by sea, the evacuation of Egypt, and the surrender of Malta to the king of Naples.
The scarcity of flour in this metropolis for a considerable time past, would have been aggravated to a melancholy degree, but for the incessant working of the steam engine mill in Phoenix street, which we are told grinds 80 barrels of corn each day. As to the flour mills at Island bridge, they have only worked intermittently on account of the scarcity of water; we hear, however, with pleasure, that from Monday next, they will be enabled to work incessantly.
Heretofore the average rates of wheat and flour per quarter were pretty nearly the same, at most only a few shilling difference, and sometimes the wheat has been even higher than the flour, especially when the harvest has produced remarkable fine grain, as at present, (as fourteen stones and a half of the latter are deemed equal to twenty and a half, or barrel, of the former in the calculation of the assize of bread) but last week there was the vast difference of 21. 11s. 4d. the quarter between flour and wheat.
WASHINGTON CITY.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14th, 1800.
We this day conclude the publication of the Life of DR. FRANKLIN . It has been too common, of late, to depreciate his character as a philosopher, a legislator, and a man. The time was when the fame of Franklin had the unanimous suffrage of his countrymen. That time preceded the rage of party spirit, which, not contented with calumniating the living, would impotently attempt to obscure the glories of the dead.
No dispatches have been received by the government of the United States, as stated in a Philadelphia paper; but from concurrent advice there is the greatest probability that the account, taken from an English Paper, that a Treaty has been concluded between this Country and France, is true. We know this belief is entertained by the best informed men in Washington.
Messrs. Baldwin, Tracey and Langdon of the Senate U. S. have arrived.
In the County of Frederick, in this State, Mr. Murdock, the federal candidate for the office of Elector, had 2,084 votes, and Dr. Tyler, the republican candidate, 1724 votes.
LEGISLATURE OF NEW-YORK.
On Nov. 5. both houses of the Legislature formed a quorum, and immediately proceeded to business—Samuel Osgood and D. Ten Broeck were the candidates for the chair. The votes were 62 for Mr. Osgood and 31 for Mr. Ten Broeck.
On the 6th inst. the senate met the assembly in the assembly chamber—the nomination being read over, they proceeded by joint ballot to choose Electors for President. For the Republican ticket 84 votes, for the Federal 62.
General John Armstrong was elected senator for the U. States, in the room of John Laurence, Esq. by a unanimous vote in the senate, 99 votes in the assembly, and 2 votes for Peter Ganvoort, jun.
The following are the names of the candidates nominated by each party in the Senate and assembly, with the number of votes—42 members of the senate being present; one federal member absent, being sick; 103 members of the assembly present.
REPUBLICAN TICKET.
   Names. Residence. Votes in Ass. Sen.     Isaac Ledyard, Queen's co. 64 18   Anthony Lipinard, City of N. Y. 64 18   P. Van Cortlandt, W. Chast. co. 64 18   James Burt, Orange co. 64 18   Gilbert Livingston, Dutchess co. 64 18   Thomas Jenkins, Columbia co. 64 18   Peter Van Nels, Ditto ditto, 64 18   Robert Ellis, Saratoga co. 64 18   John Woodworth, Rensselaer co. 64 18   J. Van Rensselaer, Albany co. 64 18   Jacob Eacker, Montgo. co. 64 18   William Floyd, Suffolk co. 64 18  
FEDERAL TICKET.
   Names. Ass. Sen.     John M. Smith, 39 24   John Outhout, 39 24   Richard Morris, 39 24   Jonathan Hasbrouck, 39 24   Peter Sylvester, 39 24   John D' Witt 39 24   Amos Hall, 39 24   James Cocheran, 39 24   Joseph Kirkland, 39 24   Abraham Ten Broeck, 39 24   Aaron Lane, 39 24   Cornelius Van Vechten, 39 24  
General Wm. Butler is elected a member of Congress, for Ninety-six district S. Carolina, by a majority of 393 votes.
Mr. Lowndes is elected a member of Congress for S. Carolina, in the room of Mr. Thomas Pinckney, declined.
In the Counties of Jefferson, Montgomery, Washington, Hancock, Burke, Warren, Bullock, Scriven, and Wilkes, the votes for Representatives in Congress flood nearly thus: James Jones, Esq. 4000, Benjamin Talliaferro, Esq. 2500, Francis Willis Esq. 1000.
We have received information from an authentic source, that the election for electors has taken place in Rhode-Island, and that Mr. Jefferson will have three votes, and Mr. Adams but one in that state.
We have equally good grounds for stating that Mr. Jefferson will have at least two votes in Vermont. [Aurora.]
NORFOLK, Oct. 30.
To the Editor—"Columbia (S. C.) Oct. 17, 1800. "General Sumpter, our Republican Member of Congress, is re-elected by a Majority of 500 votes; and it is almost reduced to a certainty, that John Rutledge will be ousted by Colcock, the Republican candidate."
PORTSMOUTH, Oct. 28.
Yesterday the inhabitants assembled, and voted for a person to supply the place of Mr. Gordon in Congress. Messrs. Tenney and Upham were the candidates. The former had a large majority of the votes.
RALEIGH, November 4.
The Election of an Elector of President and Vice President of the United States, was held in this county yesterday. Colonel Taylor, the Anti-federal candidate, got 301 votes, and Henderson, esq. the Federal candidate, 266 votes.
SAVANNAH, October 21.
Extract of a letter from a gentleman in Camden county, to his friend in this city.
"The famous Bowles is supposed to be in our neighbourhood, a party of his friends, the Indians, have arrived opposite to Colerain; they are much in want of ammunition, which I hope they will not get here—a small party of horse are watching their motions, and captain Bowyer is on his march with his detachment of federal troops for Colerain."
CHARLESTON, October 25.
Mr. Michau, the botanist of the French Republic, who resided for a number of years in this state, in that capacity, we find is not to return here immediately, as the following extract of a letter from his son mentions. The letter is dated in Paris, on the 6th of August last.
"I have to inform you, that my father appears to have abandoned absolutely the idea of again seeing Carolina. He has taken a direction entirely opposed to a voyage to that country; and it is, with grief I announce to you, that he is to embark on board of one of two vessels, which are destined for the South Seas. This expedition, the object of which is to make new discoveries, has been ordered by the First consul, and the British government has granted passports for it. The National Institute has made a selection of learned men who are to accompany it, and my father is one of them; they are to depart by the 15th of September, at the latest, from Havre. Captain Baudin is to command the expedition. It is supposed they will be absent four or five years. My father expects to leave it at the Philippines, where the squadron is to refit."
varying opinions and actions of men. Let it however, be considered, that impartiality does not consist in the admission of as much political matter on one side as the other; but in a readiness to insert articles of merit on either side.
POUGHKEEPSIE, October 4.
The enumeration of the Inhabitants of the town of Poughkeepsie taken in 1790, was as follows:—
   Families 371   Free white Males 1190   Free white Females 1092   Free People of Colour 48   Slaves 199   Total 1529  
The enumeration just taken is as follows:—
   Families 488   Free white Males 1490   Free white Females 1425   Free People of Colour 140   Slaves 177   Total 3232   Increase 703 since last enumeration.  
Samuel A. Barker. Beekman, Oct. 27, 1800.
WINCHESTER, October 1.
In taking the census, conformable to an act of Congress passed at the last session the borough of Winchester (Virg.) is found to contain.
   Free white males, 926   Free white females, 822   Free negroes and mulattoes, 22   Slaves, 347   2117  
It is reported, and we have reason to believe there is good foundation for it, that Mr. Otto, and Mr. De La Forest, who were formerly in this country in the diplomatic line, appointed by the French government to come out to this country, as Commissioners to settle the differences existing between the two countries.
[The above was handed us yesterday from a respectable source—it came by the Dispatch, from St. Sebastians.]
[New-York Paper.]
NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER.
The appearance of the NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER has been protracted to this day, by the unavoidable, though unanticipated embarrassment attending the removal of a Printing Office. The vessel, which contained the greater part of the materials, failed from Philadelphia on the 20th of September; but did not arrive in this City till the 27th inst. owing to her having been driven on shore by the violence of the late storm. This information is given to remove any censure that may have been thrown upon the Editor for his unexceeded delay.
The Editor, at the commencement of his duties, considers it as not improper to state the nature of the plan, which he intends to pursue, and concisely to notice the principles by which he proposes to regulate his own conduct, as well as those by which it is expected that Correspondents will regulate theirs.
Various political opinions divide the civilized world. These opinions in some cases are diffused by the press; in others by the sword.
Amidst this collision of hostile sentiments no surer safeguard of human happiness exists, than the liberty of the Press.
There is truth in the declaration the venerable CONGRESS of 1774, who in their address to the Inhabitants of Quebec, speaking of the freedom of the press, say "The importance of this consists, besides the advancement of truth, science, morality, and the arts in general, in its diffusion of liberal sentiments on the administration of government, its ready communication of thoughts between subjects, and its consequential PROMOTION OF UNION AMONG THEM, whereby oppressive officers are shamed or intimidated into more honorable and just modes of conducting affairs."
But while the Editor classes with our dearest rights the Liberty of the Press, he is decidedly inimical to its licentiousness.
As on the one hand, the conduct of public men and the tendency of public measures will be freely examined, so, on the other, private character will remain inviolable, nor shall indelicate ideas or expressions be admitted, however disguised by satire or enlivened by wit.
No sentiments whatever, on the prevalence of which the general good depends, will be excluded from enquiry and discussion. Guided by this principle, the editor need not caution the public against ascribing to him, a belief in all the opinions which may occasionally be supported, or a disbelief of those which may be opposed. For he means not to surrender his own sentiments, nor does he not expect that those who write for the National Intelligencer will surrender theirs.
In the admission of compiled as well as original articles, it will be his object to be impartial, and to exhibit, as they exist, the
varying opinions and actions of men. Let it however, be considered, that impartiality does not consist in the admission of as much political matter on one side as the other; but in a readiness to insert articles of merit on either side.
Aware of the equivocal character of professions, and convinced that the public judgment will be formed, as it ought to be, from the manner in which the National Intelligencer shall be conducted, the Editor will add only one remark. His Paper will be PURELY AMERICAN. It will be his effort to promote the true interests of his own Country, uninfluenced either by foreign attachments or enmities.
The following are the TERMS on which the National Intelligencer will be published, subscribed to which is the address which accompanied the Proposal Papers.
1st. The NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER shall be printed three times a week on good cemi paper, and with a new type.
2d. The annual subscription shall be Five Dollars paid constantly in advance by all subscribers not residing in the City of Washington, and Six Dollars paid by those who reside in the City; in which case the payment shall be half yearly. It being understood that subscribers, residing at a distance from the City of Washington, are invariably to pay for a year in advance, and in every such case the transmission of the Paper will cease as soon as the period shall expire for which payment shall have been made. No paper will be forwarded in any instance until the money is actually paid.
3d. All Letters to be post paid.
The Editor of the NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER, impressed with the great importance of the present crisis, and with the strong necessity of having conducted, at the seat of the General Government, a newspaper, that may claim the reputation of being useful, by diffusing unperverted facts, and correct political ideas, has determined to enter upon the arduous duties which such an object requires. He is well apprised of the expense and exertion which such an establishment requires. But he confides in the prompt and energetic co-operation of the friends of truth and of their country in the different parts of the Union. As it is his firm determination, that nothing shall be admitted into the NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER, which shall wound national, or excommunicate private character, so it is his unalterable purpose freely to insert, and earnestly to invite, whatever shall promote the general welfare. This, and this only, shall be the motive by which his professional deportment shall be guided.
Hitherto, in the management of the UNIVERSAL GAZETTE, the Editor has confined himself, agreeably to the original plan, to recording events as they occurred, with but little animadversion on their causes or effects; and as far as opinions were involved, to relating those of others rather than his own. The Universal Gazette will still be continued on the same plan; the only change that takes place, will arise from its being printed at the seat of government at Washington, instead of Philadelphia; whereby its value will be appreciated rather than impaired.
With respect to the National Intelligencer, another plan will be pursued. Over a faithful and comprehensive detail of facts will precede a spirit of investigation, a desire to enlighten, not only by fact, but by reason. The tendency of public measures, and the conduct of public men, will be examined with candour and truth.
In addition to the mass of information, formed by domestic and foreign events, and especially by a detailed statement of the debates and proceedings of Congress, as mce original matter will be furnished as the exigencies of the Editor shall be able to command. And if he be not deceived, he can promise the readers of the National Intelligencer, an organ, which shall communicate the language of truth with accuracy, with dignity, and with spirit.
JOHN BARNES,
FROM PHILADELPHIA,
Has just opened for sale the following articles at his store opposite Mr. Semmes's tavern, in Georgetown, a general assortment of
Fresh Teas of the first quality, viz.
   Imperial, Large Hyson,   Young Hyson, Hysonkin,   Souchong and Poucha.  
SPICES.
   Nutmegs, Mace,   Cinnamon. Cloves,   Four bags fresh Almonds.  
LIQURS.
   Madeira, six years old, Dry Sherry & Port,   Brandy, 4th proof Jamaica Spirits, and Holland Gin.  
COFFEE,
Pennington's best refined sugars. With a handsome assortment of gentlemen's fashionable London Hats and trimmings. He has likewise for sale, ten cases well assorted STATIONARY, consisting of writing paper of different qualities, Quills, Wafers, and ink powder, in packages from 80 to 180 dollars on the most reasonable terms for each or approved notes.
English and American playing cards, Pasteboard per gross, Wrapping paper per ream, A case of 7 1/2 and yard wide Irish Linen per piece. Nov. 14th, 1800.
PRINTING OF EVERY DESCRIPTION
EXECUTED BY
SAMUEL H. SMITH.

The Life of Dr. FRANKLIN.
(Continued from No. V.)
Three days before this event, he begged that his bed might be made, that he might die in a decent manner. His daughter told him that she hoped he would recover, and live many years longer, but he replied, "I hope not." His issue are one son, governor William Franklin, who was a zealous loyalist during the revolution in America, and now resides in London, and a daughter, married as before mentioned, to Mr. Richard Bache, a merchant of Philadelphia. To the latter he bequeathed the chief part of his estate, during their respective lives, and afterwards to be divided equally among their children. To his grandson, William Temple Franklin, Esq. he left a grant of some lands in the state of Georgia, the greater part of his library, and all his papers, besides something additional in case of his marriage. He made also various bequests and donations to cities, public bodies, and individuals, and requested that the following epitaph, which he composed for himself some years ago, should be inscribed on his tombstone:
THE BODY OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, PRINTER, LIKE THE COVER OF AN OLD BOOK ITS CONTENTS TORN OUT, AND STRIPPED OF ITS LETTERING AND GILDING, LIES HERE, FOOD FOR WORMS; BUT THE WORK ITSELF SHALL NOT BE LOST, FOR IT WILL, AS HE BELIEVED, APPEAR ONCE MORE, IN A NEW AND MORE BEAUTIFUL EDITION, CORRECTED AND AMENDED BY THE AUTHOR.
Philadelphia never displayed a scene of greater grandeur than was exhibited at the funeral of this great man. His remains were interred on the 21st, and the concourse of people assembled was immense; the body was attended to the grave by thirty clergymen, and persons of all ranks and professions, arranged in the greatest order; all the bells in the city were tolled, muffled, and their mournful sound was accompanied by a discharge of artillery. Nothing was omitted that could shew the respect and veneration of his fellow citizens for so venerable and exalted a character. The congress on this occasion, ordered a general mourning for one month throughout the United States; and the National Assembly of France decreed also a general mourning for three days. "The august spectacle of the first free people on earth in mourning for the father of the liberty of two worlds," says a gentleman, in a letter, dated Paris, June the 14th, "added a peculiar interest and solemnity to the session of this day. So memorable a victory of philosophy over prejudice, is not recorded in the annals of the human race."
Various and respectable testimonies have been given of Franklin's merit, and some of them conceived in the highest strain of panegyric. In the year 1777, Lord Chatham, in a remarkable speech, adverted to his dispassionate arguments against the American war, and the sagacious advice he gave Great-Britain respecting the manner in which she ought to behave towards her disaffected colonies. The year following Dr. Franklin received a very flattering compliment from Voltaire, who had a very great desire to see and to know the American Newton. This celebrated writer being introduced to him, conversed with him some time in English, till his niece, Madame Denis, interrupted him, by saying that Dr. Franklin understood French, and that the rest of the company wished to learn the subject of their discourse. "Excuse me my dear," replied the bard, "I have the vanity to shew that I am not unacquainted with the language of a Franklin." On his reception into the French academy, D'Alembert welcomed him with that well known line, which revived all the boldness and sublimity of Lucan.
Eripuit celo fulmen, sceptrumque tyrannis.
And Dubourg, the first Frenchman who openly espoused the cause of America, inscribed under a head of him the following lines:
Il a ravi le feu des cieux; Il fait fleurir les arts en des climats sauvages; L'Amerique le place a la tete des sages; La Grece l'auroit mis au nombre de ses dieux.
The memories of old people are supposed not to be retentive. To this rule Franklin was an exception, for he acquired the French language after seventy, and spoke it fluently, and even scientifically. In his French embassy, he became the ton, and the fashionable topic of modish conversation. The ladies, for whom he was always a warm advocate, had hats a la Franklin; and crowds of belles and beaux often fluttered after him in the garden of the Thuilleries.
His conversation was rendered valuable not only by a love of truth, but by a precision and accuracy of definition which made him always intelligible, even to the unlearned; and which he had acquired from mathematical study. Speaking of the Count de Vergennes, the French minister, and having accidentally said, that he was a man of honor, he immediately added, "I call him a man of honor because he never made me a promise, nor even gave me a hope that he did not amply fulfil." In society he was sententious, but not fluent; a listener rather than a talker; an informing rather than a pleasant companion. He was impatient of interruption, and he often mentioned the custom of the Indians, who always remain silent some time before they give an answer to a question which they have heard attentively; unlike some of the politest societies in Europe, where a sentence can scarcely be finished by one party before another begins to reply.
Dr. Franklin's merit as a philosopher is universally acknowledged, and science will hereafter record his name in the truest registers of fame, which, however unjust it may be to the living, from caprice, the malevolence of party, or the adulations of servility, is ever just to the dead. The principles and properties of electricity were little known in the last age, and the electric fluid is but barely mentioned at the end of Newton's optics. It was reserved to Franklin to investigate the nature of this subtle agent, the cause of so many wonderful phenomena; and of the science of electricity he may be called the father. By uniting theory with practice he was enabled to make very important discoveries, independent of those in Europe, of which his three first publications, entitled Few experiments and observations on electricity made at Philadelphia, in America , communicated in several letters to Peter Collinson, Esq. F. R. S. the first of which is dated July the 28th, 1747, and the last, April 18th, 1754, are a convincing proof. "Nothing," says Dr. Priestley, "was ever written on the subject of electricity which was more generally read and admired in all parts of Europe than these letters. There is hardly in European language into which they have not been translated; and as if this were not sufficient to make them properly known, a translation of them has been lately made into Latin. It is not easy to say, whether we are most pleased with the simplicity and perspicuity with which these letters are written, the modesty with which the author proposes every hypothesis but his own, or the noble frankness with which he relates his mistakes when they were corrected by subsequent experiments."
"Though the English have not been backward in acknowledging the great merit of this philosopher, he has had the singular good fortune to be perhaps more celebrated abroad than at home; so that to form a just idea of the great and deserved reputation of Dr. Franklin, we must read the foreign publications on the subject of electricity; in many of which the terms Franklinism , Franklinist , and the Franklinean System occur in every page. In consequence of this Dr. Franklin's principles bid fair to be handed down to posterity, as equally expressive of the true principles of electricity as the Newtonian philosophy is of the true system of nature in general." The invention of conductors, which was entirely Dr. Franklin's, will be remembered with gratitude while the safety of mankind is an object of importance; and he appears, notwithstanding the claims of some philosophers to have been the first person who ventured to raise an electrical kite in the heavens; for we find in the Philosophical Transactions a paper of his on the subject, dated October 19th, 1752.
Dr. Franklin's powers of mind were not only strong but various, and his observations were not confined to this science alone: there were but few subjects of common utility upon which he did not comment, and he turned his thoughts to none which he did not improve and illustrate. Those who wish to be convinced of the truth of this assertion, need only peruse his observations concerning the increase of mankind, peopling of countries, &c. his Way to Wealth; his Thoughts on the Price of Corn, and the Management of the Poor; his Advice to Servants, to Tradesmen, and to Settlers in America; his treatise on the
Cure of Smoky Chimneys; his Rules for Clubs and for conversation; his Maxims to convert a great into a small empire, written with all the satirical spirit of Swift; his letter on fundry Maritime Observations, written during his last passage to Philadelphia, and addressed to Mr. Alphonse le Roy, at Paris, author of a treatise on the Navigation of the Antients; his Remarks concerning the Savages of America; and his letter on the criminal laws, and the practice of Privateering; all of which may be found among his miscellanies that have been published. In short, to be generally useful, that he might be universally celebrated, seemed to be his ruling principle.
If we may judge from many parts of Dr. Franklin's writings, his character in private life must have been marked with all those finer feelings which are calculated to render mankind in general, and particularly one's friends and dependents happy. Upon every occasion he seems to have exerted himself to promote virtue, tolerance, and liberality of sentiment; to excite a spirit of diligence and industry among his countrymen; to improve literature and science, and to advance the interests of humanity and universal benevolence.
In a plan drawn up by him and Mr. Dalrymple for subscribing towards a voyage to civilize the inhabitants of New-Zealand, which had been discovered by capt. Cook, to consist of two islands as large, taken together, as Great-Britain, the Dr. among other things, says: "Many voyages have been undertaken with views of profit or plunder, or to gratify resentment; to procure some advantage to ourselves, or to do some mischief to others: but a voyage is now proposed to visit a distant people on the other side of the globe; not to rob them, not to seize their lands, or enslave their persons; but merely to do them good, and make them, as far as in our power lies, to live as comfortably as ourselves."
"It seems a laudable wish that all the nations of the earth were connected by a knowledge of each other, and a mutual exchange of benefits: but a commercial civilization of mankind, since trade is always carried on to much greater extent with people who have the arts and conveniences of life, than it can be with naked savages. We may therefore hope in this undertaking, to be of some service to those poor people who, however distant from us, are in truth related to us, and whose interests do in some degree concern every one who can say, Homo sum, nil humani a me alienum puto ."
These reflections certainly breathe the true spirit of that philosophical philanthropy which soaring to the utmost verge of the earth's boundaries, feels an interest in the fate of all mankind, wherever dispersed by the will of heaven. His ideas too of the slave trade are a further confirmation of his benevolence of his disposition. "Navigation," observes our philosopher, "when employed in supplying necessary provisions for a country in want, and thereby preventing famines, which were more frequent and destructive before the invention of that art, is undoubtedly a blessing to mankind. When employed merely in transporting superfluities, it is a question whether the advantage of the employment it affords is equal to the mischief of hazarding so many lives on the ocean; but when employed in pillaging merchants, and transporting slaves, it is clearly the means of augmenting the miseries of human misery. It is amazing to think of the ships and lives risked in fetching tea from China, coffee from Arabia, sugar and tobacco from America, all which our ancestors did well without. Sugar employs near one thousand ships, tobacco almost as many. For the utility of tobacco there is little to be said; and for that of sugar, how much more commendable would it be if we could give up the few minutes gratification afforded once or twice a day by the taste of sugar in our tea, rather than encourage the cruelties exercised in producing it. An eminent French moralist says, that when we consider the wars we excite in Africa to obtain slaves, the numbers necessarily slain in those wars, the many prisoners who perish at sea by sickness, bad provisions, foul air, &c. &c. in the transportation, and how many afterwards die from the hardships of slavery, he cannot look on a piece of sugar without conceiving it stained with spots of human blood! Had he added the consideration of the wars we make to take and retake the sugar islands from one another, and the fleets and armies that perish in those expeditions, he might have seen his sugar not merely spotted, but thoroughly dyed scarlet in grain. It is these wars that make the maritime powers of Europe, the inhabitants of London and Paris pay dearer for sugar than those of Vienna, a thousand miles from the sea, because their sugar costs not only the price they pay for it by the pound,
but all they pay in taxes to maintain the fleets and armies that fight for it."
If Dr. Franklin's fame is celebrated, and his name revered in America, they are no less so in France, which is perhaps in a great measure indebted to him for the liberty she has acquired by the late revolution. "Thou venerable sage!" says the Abbe Fauchet, "thou august Philosopher! thou great cause of the happiness of thy country! thou promoter of the French liberty! thou prophet who hast foretold that unanimity which shall bind all the people of the earth, by what pleasure and satisfaction hath thy career been closed! From thy happy asylum, surrounded by thy brethren, who in peace enjoyed the fruits of thy virtues, and in the success of thy genius, thou hast rejoiced in the deliverance of mankind. With thy last looks thou hast beheld America flourishing around thee, France free beyond the ocean, and in a futurity not far distant, the universal happiness of the world. The united states, all thy children, bewail thee as the father of their republic. The French, thy family by adoption, honor thee as the reformer of their laws, and mankind, thy grand family, will revere thee as the universal patriarch, who hast formed an alliance between nature and society. The remembrance of thee belongs to all ages; thy memory to all nations; and thy glory to eternity."
* He snatched fire from Heaven, and the sceptre from tyrants. * He disarmed Heaven of its thunder; he caused the arts to flourish in the most unfavorable climates; America places him at the head of her sages; had he lived in Greece, he would have been ranked among the number of her gods.
THE SUBSCRIBER OFFERS FOR SALE, THE FOLLOWING VALUABLE PROPERTY.
In George Town & the City of Washington, VIZ.
A BRICK HOUSE & LOT near the Union tavern; the terms of payment as follows, one half cash, the balance in 6 and 9 months, the purchaser giving notes with approved indorsers.
—ALSO— A number of Lots unimproved; one lot adjoining the above, 47 feet front, 120 back; one lot on the causeway, near Mr. Joseph Peck's building, 26 feet front by 125 back; one fourth of the square in Thomas Beall's addition to George Town, on an elegant eminence, it being part of that square improved by Mr. William Smith; also, a lot in said addition, it being at the diagonal corner from the place of residence of Joseph Nourse, Esq. one lot in the City of Washington, square 164, fronting North K. street 66 feet 4 inches by 80 feet 10 inches on Connecticut Avenue, containing 8295 square feet, with a spring of excellent water running through said lot.
All the above property will be disposed of on the most reasonable terms, and indisputable titles will be given on the purchase money being paid.
JONATHAN JACKSON.
November 12, 1800.
FIFTY DOLLARS REWARD.
WHEREAS on Wednesday night last, the 8th inst. between the hours of 11 and 12, after the election of Representatives to the Assembly, had in the most orderly and peaceable manner, taken the usual round of procession, and the greater part of them had retired, a body of men having rendezvoused, as can be proved, with a spirit of opposition, among whom were recognized two militia generals and one of the disappointed candidates, escorted by a Lieutenant of Marines and a number of his company with side-arms, some of the party also wearing daggers; and in this order paraded through several of the streets, for what purpose let the public judge when they are informed, that in passing and repassing my house, it was wantonly assailed with stones, after I and my family were gone to rest. The windows of one of my bed-chambers were shattered in a manner that sufficiently testifies the spirit which it was done, and the regard that those "friends of order and good government" pay to the lives of their fellow-citizens.
Now in order to testify to a liberal public, the indignation I feel for having repeatedly become the unmerited victim of federal violence; and to bring the culprits to that penalty which the law of this state provides in such cases—I hereby promise a reward of 50 dollars to whoever will give such information as may enable me to prosecute to conviction the person or persons of that party, who were guilty of the above daring outrage.
SAMUEL DUVAL.
Frederick-town, October 15, 1800.