National gazette. (Philadelphia [Pa.]), 1792-02-06 00:00:00

National Gazette.
By P. FRENEAU: Published MONDAYS and THURSDAYS, at THREE DOLLARS per annum.
VOL. I.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1792.
NUMB. 29.
AUTHENTIC.
(Never before printed.)
COPIES OF THE LAWS
Passed in the TERRITORY of the UNITED STATES, North-west of the River Ohio,
By the Governor and Justices thereof, Agreeably to the Ordinance of Congress of July 13, 1787, and made out from the Original Re- cords in the Office of the Secretary for the said Territory.
VII.
ALAW regulating MARRIAGES.
M ALE persons of the age of seven- teen years, and female persons of the age of fourteen years, and not pro- hibited by the laws of God, may be join- ed in marriage.
It shall be lawful for any of the judg- es of the general court or of the coun- ty court of common pleas in their re- spective counties, ministers of any re- ligious society or congregation within the districts in which they are settled, and the society of christians called Quakers in their public meetings to join together as husband and wife all persons of the above description who may ap- ply to them agreeably to the rules and usage of the respective societies to which the parties belong.
Previously to persons being joined in marriage as aforesaid the intention of the parties shall be made known by publishing the same for the space of fif- teen days at the least, either by the same being publicly and openly declared three several Sundays, holy days, or other days of public worship in the meeting in the towns where the parties respective- ly belong, or by publication in writing under the hand and seal of one of the judges before mentioned, or of a justice of the peace within the county, to be affixed in some public place in the town wherein the parties respectively dwell—or a license shall be obtained of the governor under his hand and seal authorising the marriage of the parties without publication as in this law be- fore required.
Male persons under the age of twen- ty one years, and female persons under the age of eighteen shall not be joined in marriage without first obtaining the consent of their fathers respectively, or (in case of the death or incapacity of their fathers) of their mothers or guardians, provided such parents or guardians live within the territory.
Where persons not resident within the territory apply to be joined in mar- riage, the consent of fathers, mothers or guardians shall be obtained in like manner as if they were citizens of the territory.
A certificate of every marriage so- lemnized as aforesaid, signed by the judge or minister celebrating the same, or in case of Quakers by the clerk of the meeting, shall be by such judge, minister or clerk respectively transmit- ted to the Register of the county where- in the marriage has been solemnized within three months thereafter to be entered on record by such Register, an exemplification of which shall be evi- dence of such marriage.
If any judge, minister or others by this law authorised to join persons in marriage shall perform the celebra- tion thereof contrary to the true intent and meaning of the same, the person or persons so offending shall upon con- viction thereof forfeit the sum of one hundred dollars to and for the use of the territory.
And if any judge, minister or clerk as aforesaid shall neglect to transmit a cer- tificate of such marriage to the Register as aforesaid he shall upon conviction thereof forfeit twenty dollars to and for the use of the territory.
VIII.
A LAW in addition to a law entitled "a law for regulating and establishing the mi- litia in the territory of the United States north west of the river Ohio," passed Nov. 23d, 1788.
T HE officers of the militia are re- quired, and it shall be their duty to cause all persons who by law are obliged to do military duty to be enrol- led in the companies of militia.
Any person who by the aforesaid law is obliged to do military duty, and shall neglect to furnish himself with arms, accoutrements, and ammunition agreeably to the requirements of said law by the times herein after mentioned, shall pay a fine for each month he shall neglect to provide the articles by said former law required in the sums herein after specified, that is to say for a mus- ket bayonet or rifle not provided within thirty days after the publication of this law, or next after such person shall be enrolled, five dimes. For every pound of powder and four pounds of lead or forty rounds of cartridges, not provided within fifteen days next after the pub- lication of this law, or after such per- son shall be enrolled, two dimes and five cents. For every cartridge box and pouch or powder horn and bullet pouch, not provided within fifteen days next after the times before herein specified, two dimes. For every six flints not provided within ten days next after the times before mentioned, one dime and five cents. For every prim- ing wire and brush, not provided with- in thirty days as aforesaid, one dime.
And the military officers are hereby required and directed to inspect the arms, accoutrements and ammunition of the men belonging to their respective companies, on the first sabbath day in each month. And the officers of the companies of militia are authorised and directed to collect the fines by this law inflicted, in the same manner as other fines are by the said former law to be collected.
IX.
A LAW appointing Coroners. Passed December 21, 1788.
A CORONER shall be appointed in each county within this territo- ry, who shall be sworn to a faithful dis- charge of his office, and shall give bonds in the sum of two thousand dollars, with two sureties for the due perform- ance of the same, before he enters upon the duties thereof.
And it shall be the duty of the coro- ner by a jury of the county to enquire concerning the death of a person slain, who dies suddenly or in prison, and his inquisition so taken, he shall certify to the next general court holden within the county, or to the court of general quarter-sessions of the peace holden for the county.
And it shall be the duty of the coro- ner to execute process of every kind, wherein the sheriff is a party or interest- ed in the suit, or for other just cause is by law rendered incapable to execute the same.
And in case the sheriff for any cause shall be committed to gaol the coroner shall by himself, or such person as he shall appoint be keeper of the gaol dur- ing the time the sheriff shall remain a prisoner.
X.
A LAW limiting the times of commen- cing Civil Actions and instituting Crimi- nal Prosecutions. Passed December 28th, 1788.
A CTIONS of trespass, trespass quare clausum fregit, case (other than for slander) debt upon simple con- tract, or for rent, detinue, trover, waste and account, other than such accounts as concern the trade of merchandise between merchant and merchant, their factors and servants, shall be commen-
ced within six years next after the cause of action shall have arisen and not afterwards.
Actions of trespass for assault and battery wounding and imprisonment within four years next after the cause of action, action on the case for slander within two years next after the cause of action; actions of debt upon specialty and matters of record, and covenant with- in ten years next after the cause of acti- on, and not afterwards. Provided however that if any person entitled to any of the actions aforesaid shall at the time of the cause thereof accruing be within the age of twenty one years, seme covert, non compos mentis, or imprisoned, then and in such cases the actions may be commenced within the space of one year after such disabilities shall respectively be removed.
All prosecutions for crimes other than for capital offences, forgery, per- jury and larceny shall be instituted within two years next after the crime shall have been committed, and prose- cutions for the crimes of forgery, per- jury and larceny shall be instituted within four years next after the crime shall have been committed and not af- terwards.
Interesting Extracts, translated from French papers; October 20—25.
PARIS, Oct. 25.—The following is an ex- tract from a speech of a member of the Na- tional Assembly, (spoken Oct. 23) on the subject of reducing the refractory non-jur- ing clergy to order. "Fanaticism is at this moment laying her plans to deluge this country with blood, and wants nothing but a rigorous law to acquire full strength for the execution of her designs. Persecute her, and you instantly give her an advantage over you; treat with contempt the miser- able bickerings between the non-juring clergy and those that have taken the oath, be- tween the proselytes of the one and the par- tizans of the other, and the immediately be- comes weak and harmless. It is a sad truth that the two fanatical parties, I may say, armies, are now met and ready for combat. It is no less certain, that if the National Assembly does not act the part of mediator, and that without further delay, if they do not fall upon some means to quench this mutual hatred, the nation will be abandon- ed to all the miseries which religious dis- putes have in all ages been known to pro- duce—Let us consider, first, the cause of the mischief, which will best instruct us in pro- viding a remedy. On one side I see ulti- mate fanaticism, on the other an intolerant and persecuting spirit. The prospect is painful. I am far from thinking that there are no men in the world who do not act sim- ply from virtuous motives, but give me leave to say, these men are members of no club, of no party—unless I except the party of peace and good order—I return to my subject.
In taking a view of the disturbers of na- tional felicity, I observe, first, Hypocrites, who care not how much trouble they occa- sion to mankind, provided they themselves can fatten upon the spoils; wretches who cover themselves with the garb of religion, with a view to turn the credulity of the su- perstitious multitude to their own emolu- ment. These are the men who are wont to conduct the blind to the verge of a preci- pice, under pretence of ensuring their salva- tion and future felicity!
In the second group I see pretended pa- triots, intriguing characters, ambitious des- pots, scheming how to subjugate mankind, and assuming the cloak of patriotism to pro- secute those who dare to be of a different opinion, who refuse to bow down before them, and have the modesty to be less positive or less noisy than themselves. Hence arise those disorders that interrupt the public re- pose: hence those proscriptions, resentments, and heart burnings which are ever more at- tendant upon religious schisms and the esta- blishing of sects: Hence come a thousand abuses, all originating with the men, who oppose the religious exercises and preachings of the non-conforming clergy. If the first duty of man is to worship the eternal Being, certainly his first right is to worship the De- ity in his own manner. Liberty in matters of religion is as much a man's property as any other possession, and it is the duty of so- ciety to yield it unlimited protection.
In order to destroy all party spirit on this
subject, and to disappoint the malevolent, who hope, from the shock of opinions, and the opposition to religious liberty, to find their own ends answered, the foregoing principle must be constantly kept in view— Would you disarm the well meaning enthu- siast?—Do it not by violence, but by en- deavoring to persuade him that the civil constitution of the clergy is by no means their religious constitution; that religion has nothing to do with exclusive privileges; and that every one is at liberty to choose his own religion and his own ministers. But beware of rigorous and oppressive measures. Fanaticism grows strong in proportion as you attempt to crush her, and persecution inspires a spirit of keen resentment in those who are the objects of it. When you see men renounce every worldly consideration for what they esteem the rights of consci- ence, beware of disturbing them in the pos- session of this imaginary treasure, because persecution has in times past rendered sa- cred the most infamous tenets. Why should the old non-juring clergy be reckon- ed enemies to the constitution and rebels to the law because they choose to adhere to the ancient modes of worship and articles of be- lief, and retain their livings? Those who do not infringe the political laws of the community, in disturbing the public peace, ought to be left in quiet, and not involved in a general proscription.
I owe you the whole truth and nothing but the truth; and I have the courage to say so in the face of the world. No man can be a rebel to the law but by overt acts, clearly and unobjectionably proved. But, in turning adrift the old non-conforming clergy, I see no proof of facts, none of those legal forms which ought always to precede punishment.—Shall we surrender to the ex- ecutioner of the law persons whose only crimes are fanatical opinions?—I say, let justice rather be done to them, in being pro- tected, while they continue faithful subjects to the state, however monstrous their ten- ets in points of religion.
I call the turning off the old non-juring clergy from their livings a tyrannical mea- sure—a measure that will provoke resist- ance and reprisal.—The law itself, for this purpose, is the signal of civil war—should it be adopted, I will beg leave to propose one amendment—that it shall be written in characters of blood, and published by the minister of death (the public executioner) through all the departments of the king- dom!—The spoiling of the old clergy will, I foresee, be the same thing as planting a poisonous seed, which will soon swell into a tree and extend its branches for our de- struction.—To obviate these disastrous con- sequences, I, therefore, offer the two fol- lowing heads as the groundwork of a de- cree.—1st, The not having taken the oath to the new government shall not operate to prevent any priest from saying mass in a church or chapel. 2d, All, and every priest may open public chapels, for any mode of worship whatever, provided he conforms to the laws of the police."
[To be continued.]
For the NATIONAL GAZETTE.
Farther and concluding THOUGHTS on the In- dian War.
By H. H. BRACKENRIDGE, of Pittsburg.
I CAN easily excuse those, who, from motives of humanity, call in question the justness of our cause in the war against the Indians. But could I make my obser- vations their's with respect to the ruthless disposition of a savage, that is not soothed continually by good offices, or kept down by fear; could I give my knowledge recol- lection, and impression of the accumulated instances of homicide committed by the tribes with whom we are at war, the hu- mane would be more humane, for their feelings would be more awake, not in fa- vor of these people, but of the persons butch- ered by them in cold blood, or dragged to that pole seen by the soldiers under Gener- al HARMAR, by the Miami village, where the ground was beat like a pavement by the miserable victims moving round the stake to avoid the still pursuing tortures, which the circle of black coals, at a dis- tance from the piles burned, shewed whence they brought their brands or heated gun- barrels to afflict the object. All this, tho' there have been but three instances since the conclusion of the war with Britain, where an Indian has been hurt on our part; one on the Susquehanna, and two on the Ohio; with respect to one of which instan- ces, that of M c Guire and Brady, it is a

doubt whether they were hostile or peaceable.
I consider men who are unacquainted with the savages like young women who have read romances, and have as improper an idea of the Indian character in the one case, as the female mind has of real life in the other. The philosopher, weary of the vices of refined life, thinks to find perfect virtue in the simplicity of the unimproved state. He sees green fields and meadows in the customs and virtues of the savages. It is experience only can relieve from this calumny of the intellect. All that is good and great in man, results from education; and an uncivilized Indian is but a little way removed from a beast, who, when incensed, can only tear and devour, but the savage applies the ingenuity of man to torture and inflict anguish.
Some years ago, two French gentlemen, a Botanist and Mineralist, Monsieur Sograin and M. Pike, the Botanist a very learned man, and truly a philosopher—but his brain turned with Jean Jacques Rousseau's, and other rhapsodies—the man of nature was his darling favorite. He had the Indians with him at his chamber every day. Fitting out a small boat on the Ohio, with only three other persons, and without arms, he descended. It was in vain to explain the danger, and dissuade him. He was conscious to himself of loving Indians, and doubtless they could with him no harm. But approaching the Scioto river, a party came out in a canoe, as he thought, to pay their respects to him; but the first circumstance of ceremony when they came on board, was to impale the tomahawk and take off the scalp of the philosopher.
A great dependence seems to be placed on Cornplanter and his party. I know Cornplanter, and Big Tree, and Half-Town; they are good, as Indians, and are well disposed to us, because they can be of little or no account on the other side. Brandt treats them with contempt, and adheres to the British. Instead of bringing them down at a great expence, and presenting them in Philadelphia, and appropriating 800 dollars for their maintenance and veltment, were things put upon a right footing, and Presqu'ile garrisoned, we should have no more occasion for Cornplanter, or Big Tree, or Half-Town, than they would have for us; and if we gave them goods, they would give us furs.
As to Cornplanter's speech, I have known myself, a speech made for him, that he never heard. I know a little of the mystery of agent-craft, and the mummery of Indian speechifying. An Indian chief in the hands of a good interpreter and agent, is a more profitable property, than a tame bear or a lion presented for a show. I have seen Indian princes in Pittsburgh, as plenty as in the time of Adonibezek, who had three score and ten kings under his table. Many a chief I have seen driven out of a kitchen by a maid with a broomstick, left he should steal a tin cup or a table spoon. I have seen a certain blind Sam, so called, because blind of an eye, taken down to this city, passed for a warrior, dining with clubs, and have heard of him presented at a ball, on his way down; the favored ladies looking upon themselves as beatified in receiving the salute of a king. When he returned, with a laced waistcoat, the vulgar Indians that before thought him one of them, laughed immoderately at the farce.
I say, the business with the Indians is war and reduction, and after that, away with the system of agents and interpreters, and leading Indians down to your capitals like pet-beasts. Let them stay in their woods and negotiate an equal trade. This trade may certainly be a very great object. When the line of savages, that are at present hostile, is removed, our way is open to peaceable and remote nations. I have conversed with those, who, in behalf of great trading companies, had been four years on discovery for the purposes of trade, had penetrated many thousand miles, traversed the country beyond the source of the Missouri, but were delicate in their communications of the route and advantages of trade with the myriads of the natives in those woods: they, however, gave me to understand, that most of the trading companies of Britain were turning their attention to it.
Of the vast nations of Indians that are ready to trade with us, were the Miami and Wabash Indians peaceable, there is no conception. It will cost but one effective armament to accomplish this object, and why employ years in doing that which may be done at once? No longer any starved campaign!—but I am disposed to believe that Presqu'ile is the route. Let others calculate and explain the saving of expense by this route, I only touch the advantage of beginning with the Six Nations in our rear.—It is said, that the persons interested in our funds are against an effective armament, as it may turn away the revenue from the payment of their interest. I could give them a small hint on this head. Be careful not to check the spirit of the people. It is electrical, and if confined may burst. Let it have an egress in acquisitions to the westward, and you may rest safe.
It is considered as a great sacrifice to public credit, to have provided for the discharge of the public debt, without discri-
mination, and it is a prevailing opinion, that the monied interests thus constituted, are a dead weight, by their extracts of letters and paragraphs in the papers, on the wheels of government, and all this to secure the payment of their interest. But the maxim is, ne quod nimis , nothing too much: they may overshoot themselves and cause the people to revolt, and call in question the original justice of their claim.
As these are defultory observations, I remark and conclude that some think me rather rash in presuming that the king of Britain has given any countenance, directly or indirectly to the Indian depredations or armaments. I should be sorry to do injustice to any power, and it was with great difficulty that I admitted the idea, but I have been convinced of it, and can have no doubt, because that government could not but have heard of the hostilities, and by one simple word of the commandant of Detroit to M c Kee and Brandt, we should have had a perfect peace. But M c Kee and Brandt, when messengers were sent to call the Indians to the treaties at Muskingum and at the Miami, advised them not to go: witness—I shall suppress my authorities. It may perhaps injure these men in their future trade with the Indians or connexions at Detroit. Good God! that an island where I drew my first breath, where a Milton and a Hume have lived, where a Howard has sacrificed to humanity—there can be those who can aid, at least not disarm, what may be in their power, the savage of his axe, battered on the skulls of their species, in the cottage or the field of the settlements adjoining their province—they could do this by the surrender of the posts, for at that moment I proclaim peace to the westward, and ensure safety.
But the posts are not surrendered, and the Indians are supported.—Nay more; I would not wonder if the British gold has found its way into our states; and some of these sentiments against effectual measures, that are thrown out, may come from this source. We are thus between two fires, seduction at home and invasion from abroad!
The chiefs of the western nations, elated with their victory, are at this moment at the mouth of Buffalo-Creek, which empties into lake Erie, at no great distance from the port of Niagara, under the auspices of the government of Canada, soliciting and convening the chiefs of the Six Nations to a council. The chiefs are actually convening, and the populace are clamorous for a war. They talk with irony and sarcasm of the attachment of Cornplanter, Half-Town, and Big-Tree to these states. They exult in the victory obtained: For Indian loves Indian, and like a bone out of joint, they wish to find their proper place, and coalesce with a like people. It is true, the northern and western Indians have been formerly hostile to each other; but it is well known that the Six Nations were reduced by the campaign under Gen. Sullivan, and ever since submit. It is in spite of nature; and could they have the least chance of success in revolt, they would join their brethren, and the long confined indignacy of their resentment would burst forth. I think this is the occasion, and I am disposed to believe they will think so. A force in their front, a garrison at Presqu'ile is the talismanic charm in this case. It will intercept the communication of the Indians, who are at present open and avowed enemies, and we shall hear no more of council fires at Buffalo-Creek, or talks sent to Cornplanter and his people, of shaking him by the head, and the like, unless he joins them in their warfare. Presqu'ile, Presqu'ile is the object, and ought to be seized instantly, and made the foothold from whence, as with the mechanism of an Arcimedes, the whole system of the western affairs may be moved and directed.
It may be thought that I am inhumane in my sentiments towards the savages: it is a mistake; I am inhumane to no man or men; but in order to be humane, let me have it in my power. Let myself first be safe, and then I can shew what humanity dictates. The question is, Whether we shall submit ourselves to the savages, or they to us? I say, let us conquer because we cannot depend upon them, for the weaker ever distrusts the mightier, and the unenlightened man, the sensible; but when we shall have it in our power, let us dispense treaties on principles of reciprocity (to use the term of the diplomatists) and let them know that we are not about to purchase a treaty, but to make one and preserve it. These principles, founded in nature and truth, will strike the mind of the savage, that we ask no more than he ought to give, or that we give more than he has a right to ask. By the immortal gods! (a Roman oath, but sworn with Christian devotion) if this principle could be made the basis of our negotiations, we should govern not only these people, but all the world with whom we have to do. When I say govern , I mean command of them all, that is our right on principles of the laws of nations or of nature. But in our affairs with the western Indians, we have for a series of years pursued a sickly tampering system of half peace, half war, from which nothing could result but half success. A bold and decisive act of effective hostility at the conclusion of the war with Britain would have composed these Indians and preserved in exile the countless numbers that have fallen victims to torture or death on the bourne of the wilderness. It was therefore inhumane not to have adopted this system, which would have been effectual. But I saw, and lamented the circumstance of the Congress besieged with candidates for agencies and commissionships, and messengers, and runners, to negotiate with these tribes.
There was not a thing that had ever been a squaw, or a half king, or a chief, or had heard the guttural sound of a Kickapoo, or a Delaware, but would have it that he understood fifty Indian languages, and could interpret, and could draw all the tribes after him just as a boy would whistle pigeons. Hence, treaty and not war. It is not to be supposed that men at the helm know every thing; they are just as ignorant, with respect to affairs beyond their reach, as other people. It is the man on the extremity of any government, as I have been, that sees the most absurdities. I shall say no more at present; for I with all things conducted well, and would rather help forward what ought to be done, than blame what has been transacted.
Philad. Feb 4.
To the EDITOR of the NATIONAL GAZETTE.
SIR,
OF the many newspaper advocates for the Indian war, I think there is no one who has stated the principles of it more candidly than Mr. Brackenridge in your last paper—he justifies it upon two grounds:
First, that the Indians never had any right to the soil; and secondly, if they ever had such right, it is destroyed by our treaty with Great-Britain.
Whatever colouring we may attempt to give the subject, I suspect we shall finally be obliged to depend, for our justification in this war, upon the one or the other of these principles.
Mr. B. seems indeed to insinuate that the Indians have relinquished their lands to us by treaty, and that the Secretary of War has stated the whole transaction. But with his pretended knowledge of facts, Mr. B. ought at least to have known that the Secretary does not, and could not, pretend that the Miami or Wabash Indians with whom we are at war, have ever relinquished any lands to us. The Secretary only suggests that a treaty was holden for that purpose, and the abovementioned Indians were urged to attend the treaty, but they refused.
Have the Indians, then, no other right to the soil than the Buffalo who has run over it? Where did Mr. B. learn the doctrine that a right to the soil is acquired only by agricultural occupancy? If this doctrine is true, what right have the United States to an immense tract of uncultivated lands between the Atlantic settlements and the country claimed by the hostile Indians? In those stages of society, when men were hunters and shepherds, was there no possibility of their acquiring a right to the lands they lived upon? The idea is quite new to me—Mr. B. confesses that he lives in the western country, and that he is interested. I can readily believe him, and I presume no man will adopt his opinion who does not fall under the like description.—The truth is, we have an undisputed title to a much greater quantity of land in proportion to our wants, than is possessed by the Indians; while that continues to be the case, we can have no pretence to encroach upon their territory.
In the next paragraph we are told, that the Indian right is destroyed by our treaty with the king of Great Britain. But was it possible for the king to alienate what he never owned? The king never claimed a right to the soil in question. Had the Indians all engaged in the cause of Great-Britain (which was far from being the case) the treaty instead of forfeiting, would have secured their rights, for it expressly stipulates, that there shall be no future confiscations made, nor any prosecutions commenced against any person or persons, for or by reason of the part which he or they may have taken in the war, and that no person shall on that account, suffer any future loss or damage, either in his person, liberty or property. Can there be any colour then to suggest that the title of the Indians to their lands, was destroyed by this treaty?
Mr. B. avers, that except a few chiefs, the Six Nations are in disposition hostile to us—I am convinced there is no reason for this aversion, but I fear the opinion he entertains will produce a scene like that exhibited in the Moravian towns on the Muskingum in the year 1782. Have we not enemies enough, without increasing the number? Or do the people of Pittsburgh covet the small tract that is still possessed by the Six Nations?
The Indians are denominated "beasts of prey" and we are encouraged "to penetrate the forests where they haunt, and extirpate the race." Good God! is this our temper towards these unfortunate people? Sentiments like these have in former ages rendered man a savage to man—It is supposed they have given birth to the present war; and if these sentiments continue to operate, we may perhaps effect our purpose and extirpate the whole race of Indians. But if we do so, and God is just, we shall surely receive for the wrong that we have done, of HIM, with whom there is no respect of persons.
Philadelphia, Feb. 3, 1792.
PHILADELPHIA, CONGRESS.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
THURSDAY, Feb. 2.
A petition was read, from Udney Hay, praying payment of a claim against the United States for advance of money to two American officers, prisoners in Canada, during the war—Referred for examination and report to the Secretary of the Treasury.
A resolution was laid upon the table for the appointment of a committee to enquire into several particulars relative to the expedition against the Indians; and the causes of the late unfortunate defeat.
The House took up for consideration the amendments proposed by the Senate to the post-office bill, and concurred in them all except one or two, which respect the cross-posts.
One of the amendments proposed by the Senate, and agreed to by the House, is in favor of the newspapers; inasmuch as it permits any person whatever, without authority from the post master general, to "take up, receive, order, dispatch, convey, carry and deliver" newspapers for hire on the established post-roads, without being subject to any fine, penalty, or forfeiture for so doing.
By another amendment, it is enacted that if any person employed in any department of the post-office shall unlawfully detain, delay, or embezzle, or destroy any newspaper, with which he shall have been entrusted, such offender shall, for every such offence, forfeit a sum not exceeding fifty dollars: and the postmaster, in any contract he may enter into for the conveyance of the mail, may authorize the person, with whom such contract is made, to carry newspapers, other than those conveyed in the mail.
FRIDAY Feb. 3.
Sundry petitions were presented to the House, which were read and referred to the proper departments.
A message was received from the Senate by Mr. Secretary Otis, notifying that the amendments made by the House of Representatives to the amendments to the post-office bill, were agreed to.
Mr. Goodhue moved that the House should resolve itself into a committee of the whole on the fishery bill; this motion, after some opposition by Mr. Parker and Mr. White, who urged the superior importance of immediate attention to the militia bill, was agreed to—and Mr. W. Smith took the chair; the bill was then read by the Clerk, and on the first section's being repeated by the Chairman—Mr. Giles moved that this section should be struck out; this motion being seconded, a debate ensued, in which Mr. Giles and Mr. Murray spoke in opposition to the bill—and Mr. Goodhue, Mr. Ames, Mr. Gerry, Mr. Laurence, Mr. Fitzsimons, and Mr. Barnwell, in favor of it: the committee rose without coming to a vote, and had leave to sit again.
The House adjourned till Monday.
PHILADELPHIA.
FEBRUARY, 6, 1792.
SAMUEL POWELL, Esquire, was on Tuesday last chosen Speaker of the Senate of the State of Pennsylvania, in the room of Richard Peters, Esquire, who had resigned.
The general court of New-Hampshire have passed an act incorporating a company of gentlemen, for the purpose of establishing a Bank at Portsmouth, by the name of the New-Hampshire Bank.
The Quebec Herald, of Jan. 2, contains accounts of the celebration of their New Constitution by four different companies, viz. By the "friends of the Constitution," at Frank's Hotel—"The late Committee and a number of inhabitants," at the Merchant's Coffee-House—"The Garrison Club"—and by a number of Gentlemen, at Lane's Tavern. Lord DORCHESTER is among the toasts given by the three latter companies.
The Sierra Leona company, in G. Britain, have notified to all free negroes at present resident in Nova Scotia, their intention of receiving into their African colony such of them as can produce testimonials of their moral good character, and are inclined to remove and settle in Africa. Every approved emigrant is to have 20 acres of land for himself, ten for his wife, and five for every child, subject to the company's charges and regulations.—To inspire the blacks with the fullest confidence, the company have re-published the incorporating act of Parliament, whereby they are prohibited, directly or indirectly, from dealing or trafficking, or being any way concerned in the execrable slave trade.
In the New-York Journal of the 28th ult. appears a private address to the legislature of that state, including a plan for opening the navigation several thousand miles inland from the Atlantic, by way of the Hudson, the Mohawk, the Lakes, &c. The following is an abstract of the

writer's ideas on the subject. "The natural commercial advantages of the State of New-York are vastly superior to those of any other state in the union, and yet there is no part of the world advanced to the same stage of maturity that has done less, in its public capacity, for opening the natural channels of access to its interior and remote parts. A rivalry subsists, and must subsist between Pennsylvania and New-York for diverting the produce of the immense northwest territory to their respective capitals: it is a consolation, however, to reflect that New-York can accomplish the object for one tenth part of the expense that must be incurred for the same purpose by her neighbour.—By opening a canal of one mile in length at Fort Stanwix a water communication is at once formed between the main ocean and the great lakes. The other obstacles are, some impediments in the Mohawk river, Wood-creek, and the western waters, which at present confine the navigation of these streams to boats carrying only ten or twelve barrels, with an expense and delay barely equivalent to any advantage. From an actual survey of skilful persons these impediments can be obviated by three or four locks at the little Falls.—The writer supposes the sum necessary to effect all the improvements he contemplates will not exceed seventy-five thousand dollars." It is doubtful, (says he) by establishing reasonable tolls to perpetuity, if the state could invest their funds in any mode so advantageously—as, upon the lowest computations on the aggregate expense, it will not yield less than from 12 to 15 per cent. per annum."
[The following letter from Gen. St. Clair to the Secretary of War, is explanatory of the postscript to his letter of Dec. 9.—See National Gazette, number 14.] Philadelphia, January 29. 1792.
SIR, TO the letter of the 9th of November, which I had the honor to address to you from Fort-Walshington, a postscript was added, relating to information communicated by Capt. Slough to General Butler, and not imparted by him to me, and that did not come to my knowledge till after the army got back to that fort. As the nature of the information was not mentioned, the postscript must have appeared mysterious, and it is proper that I should explain it.
Captain Slough, Sir, was intended to have been the bearer of the letter, and so it was endorsed upon the cover, and therefore I thought it needless to insert the particulars; and had he presented it, you no doubt would have inquired into it fully, and all ambiguity would have ceased; but at the moment he should have set off, some account of the situation of Colonel Gibbon (who is his uncle) induced him to delay his journey, and the packet was put into the hands of another person, then going to Lexington.
You will be pleased, Sir, to recollect it was stated in the letter, that in the night preceding the 4th of November, the militia were in advance of the rest of the army.—For greater security, and to intercept any small parties of Indians that might be approaching, with predatory views, it was thought fitting that a party of regular troops should be advanced, from a quarter to half a mile in front of the militia. The party was taken from the right wing which formed the front line, then under the immediate command of General Butler, and Capt. Slough was the officer ordered out by him for those purposes. In the night, it seems, he discovered the Indians approaching in such numbers, that he thought it necessary to draw in his party, and immediately made report of what he had discovered to General Butler, from whom he had received his orders. He proposed to the General to make the same report to me; but the General replied to him, that as he must be fatigued, he had better lay down to sleep, and he himself would give the information.
This is, as nearly as I can recollect, the account Captain Slough gave me at Fort Washington.
The orders given to Colonel Oldham, mentioned also in the postscript as not executed, were, that he should send out, from his command, an hour at least before day, and as much earlier as possible, four or five parties of 20 men, with an officer to each, in different directions, for the purpose of making discoveries. I was very anxious on this point, and not without some doubt that it might not be punctually attended to: the Adjutant-General was therefore, about the dawn of day, but rather before it, sent to Col. Oldham that I might be certain of that precaution having been taken. Colonel Oldham was met by him at some distance from his encampment, and informed him the parties were not then gone out, but would be dispatched the moment he returned.—Unhappily he never returned.
I have the honor to be, Sir, Your most obedient servant, A. ST. CLAIR. The honorable Major-Gen. Knox, Secretary of War.
Extract of a letter from a member of Congress, to his friend in Richmond, dated Philadelphia, January 8, 1792.
"I was yesterday evening favored with yours of the 27th ult. I have heard of the act of assembly alluded to, but had seen no copy of it, nor has a copy been received by any of the delegation: the letters in which it has been noticed pass it over so slightly, that we scarcely know how to understand it; some mentioning it in general
terms as a law, and others, as conditional, depending on an act of Congress expected to pass."
"The bill apportioning representatives among the people of the several states, was brought in with a clause providing for an election of additional members to take their seats in the present Congress, but that clause was expunged with little or no debate. I do not recollect that the committee said any thing in support of it, but that they conceived it to be agreeable to the order of the house. If in this we erred, it was not owing to the cause suggested; we are anxious to give our country her full weight in the political scale, as any of our constituents, and would most cheerfully have provided for the admission of additional members, had we conceived the constitution authorised it. Sect. 2d. Art. 1st, declares, that the House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year, &c. That representatives, &c. shall be apportioned among the several states, &c. according to their respective numbers, &c. The actual enumeration shall be made within three years &c. The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, &c. And until such enumeration shall be made, the state of New-Hampshire shall choose three, &c. Yet this provision cannot take immediate effect, a legislative act must intervene, if it were only to fix the ratio of representation, by which the number of members would be ascertained; and as no provision is made in the constitution for the admission of additional members, or for lessening the number of members from those states whose census will not authorise their present numbers (which by the constitution is equally required) until the next biennial election, we conceived that this constitutional right must be postponed till that period. These reasons were conclusive with me; but surely the time when the additional members should take their seats ought to be so regulated as to give all the states an opportunity of coming forward at the same time, otherwise very unequal advantages would accrue to those near the seat of government, and whose legislatures might be in session. And this can only be done by an act of Congress, and was provided for in the clause of the bill abovementioned. But as this matter appeared so clearly in a different light to you and to the Assembly of Virginia, as not to induce a suspicion that Congress would act on the principle which they have embraced—and as the business is again taken up, and the whole ground I presume to go over, I shall be extremely obliged by a communication of your reasons, and 'will if possible become a convert'."
"Will the people of Virginia proceed to elect members without any act of Congress on the subject? Though the business is again taken up and a resolution for bringing in the bill made the order of the day for next Thursday, I have no expectation that a law will finally pass in any shape before the second Tuesday in February—certainly not in time to be promulgated."
"Should Virginia bring forward a measure which cannot be supported, it will afford matter of triumph and malignant pleasure to various descriptions of men, while her most affectionate sons will feel a chagrin scarcely to be endured."
THE RIVER NILE.
(Extracted from an original letter, written by an American traveller, who not long since died in Grand Cairo.)
Having left Alexandria, where there is little to arrest the curiosity of a stranger except a few melancholy shattered reliques of antiquity, I proceeded in a boat up the celebrated river NILE. Of all the disappointments I ever experienced, the sight of this river was the greatest. It was now late in the month of August, when it was near the height of its swell, consequently my imagination, and the accounts of former travellers, had led me to expect an inundated country in the lower Egypt, with houses, villages and towns upon artificial mounts surrounded by water. Be not surprised when I tell you, that the European travellers into Egypt have been universally liars. The Nile (you may rely upon my word) is not an inundating river: I saw it at its height, or very nearly so, and the surface was no where less than four and five feet from the top of the banks. If the parched soil of Egypt depended upon a natural overflow of the Nile, for its fertility, the country would soon be deserted by the inhabitants. To answer this purpose, canals and ditches are cut in all directions through the plains, which upon its rise are supplied by the river; and by this means its fertility conveyed every where to the farms and settlements. I was deceived also in another respect; from the eulogiums of ancient, as well as modern times, I expected to find an immensely majestic river, rolling in awful pomp to the ocean.—No such thing, my friend—It is but a dirty puddle, comparatively speaking, not so wide in general as Connecticut river, and to say the exact truth, but little wider than the Thames in most places.
INDIAN ANTIQUITIES.
Never was a more absurd supposition than that of certain philosophers or naturalists who have ascribed the curious remains of antiquity in the Indian country to Ferdinand Soto, a Spanish military adventurer in America, about two centuries ago. Soto had but a few men, and even from his own accounts, rather ran the gauntlet
among the American savages, than made a stay in any place long enough to erect the superb works, the ruins of which are so much talked of by travellers. Certain hieroglyphical inscriptions upon rocks, still remaining in the immense western regions, have been thought by some to be the work of Soto and his followers; and have been brought as an argument to prove the reality of his visits to those remote regions. Late travellers, however, have discovered that those inscriptions are totally unlike any thing of the kind ever seen in Europe. Had they been the work of Soto they would no doubt have presented us some remains, or similitude to the Roman character: whereas, this is by no means the case, and the very Eagles which are said, by some, to have been engraved on the rocks by the Spanish soldiers, are discovered to be nothing more than the rude resemblances of wild turkies, done by the hands of Indians.
GOVERNMENT of the UNITED STATES.
POWER being found by universal experience liable to abuses, a distribution of it into separate departments, has become a first principle of free governments. By this contrivance, the portion entrusted to the same hands being less, there is less room to abuse what is granted; and the different hands being interested, each in maintaining its own, there is less opportunity to usurp what is not granted. Hence the merited praise of governments modelled on a partition of their powers into legislative, executive, and judiciary, and a repartition of the legislative into different houses.
The political system of the United States claims still higher praise. The power delegated by the people is first divided between the general government and the state governments; each of which is then subdivided into legislative, executive, and judiciary departments. And as in a single government these departments are to be kept separate and safe, by a defensive armour for each; so, it is to be hoped, do the two governments possess each the means of preventing or correcting unconstitutional encroachments of the other.
Should this improvement on the theory of free government not be marred in the execution, it may prove the best legacy ever left by lawgivers to their country, and the best lesson ever given to the world by its benefactors. If a security against power lies in the division of it into parts mutually controuling each other, the security must increase with the increase of the parts into which the whole can be conveniently formed.
It must not be denied that the task of forming and maintaining a division of power between different governments, is greater than among different departments of the same government; because it may be more easy (though sufficiently difficult) to separate, by proper definitions, the legislative, executive, and judiciary powers, which are more distinct in their nature, than to discriminate, by precise enumerations, one class of legislative powers from another class, one class of executive from another class, and one class of judiciary from another class; where the powers being of a more kindred nature, their boundaries are more obscure and run more into each other.
If the task be difficult, however, it must by no means be abandoned. Those who would pronounce it impossible, offer no alternative to their country but schism, or consolidation; both of them bad, but the latter the worst, since it is the high road to monarchy, than which nothing worse, in the eye of republicans, could result from the anarchy implied in the former.
Those who love their country, its repose, and its republicanism, will therefore study to avoid the alternative, by elucidating and guarding the limits which define the two governments; by inculcating moderation in the exercise of the powers of both, and particularly a mutual abstinence from such as might nurse present jealousies, or engender greater.
In bestowing the eulogies due to the partitions and internal checks of power, it ought not the less to be remembered, that they are neither the sole nor the chief palladium of constitutional liberty. The people who are the authors of this blessing, must also be its guardians. Their eyes must be ever ready to mark, their voice to pronounce, and their arm to repel or repair aggressions on the authority of their constitutions; the highest authority next to their own, because the immediate work of their own, and the most sacred part of their property, as recognizing and recording the title to every other. Feb. 4.
ON THE ORIGIN OF NOBILITY.
THE most attentive observers of human nature have found it to comprize within itself a vast variety of virtues and vices, every individual of our species having certain qualities, or a certain general temperament of his own, in the same manner as every degree of latitude from the equator to the pole (or, as far as vegetation extends) has one or more productions almost peculiar to itself, flourishing in its own parallel, and gradually declining in growth or quality as they are removed therefrom to the Northward or Southward.
There being thus, from nature, different grades of virtue in the human species, upon viewing the matter in theory, it would seem proper enough that the most virtuous should be the real nobility of every nation, the fathers and instructors of the rude populace, the examples and patrons of morality, the promoters of peace, and the most active agents in the happiness, peace and prosperity of the great family of mankind.
There can be little doubt that such was the first idea upon which a distinct nobility was founded, which, from its patriotic character, served at once as a guard against the ambition of monarchs and to moderate the tumultuous impetuosity of the multitude. Unfortunately, virtue proved to be not hereditary, and when men were once induced to count upon a parental transmission of the virtues that do real honour to man, they soon experienced the fatal consequences of such a belief. Hence, the idea of virtue itself became changed, her true nature was mistaken, and among the Romans, in particular, for many ages, the word imported nothing more than courage or brutal ferocity.
One or the other of two interests, it is said, for the most part prevail in every government, the monied interest, or family interest. In the present age, when all romantic ideas seem to be obliterated and equal rights are coming more and more into vogue, the latter of these two interests has become extremely weak, unless connected with or included in the former. The French Count, who was descended from Charlemagne, gained very little respect when people found he climbed up a fig tree once a day to make his dinner on figs; and the Swiss peasant must have been rather ridiculed than otherwise, who, upon the strength of his ancient nobility, every day said to his son, Duke! do me the honour to go to the fly, and feed the hogs.
Family interest then, at the present day, may be fairly considered as one and the same thing with the monied interest of a country, since this interest will in future be the foundation for family, and consequently the probable mother of despotism. Every attempt to counter-act the efforts of the rich by instituting an hereditary order, deriving their importance, exclusively, from the virtues or merits of their ancestors, will no doubt, prove abortive.
Most of the present real nobility in Europe, as well as Asia, may be called the posterity of invaders and plunderers. Their ancestors had discernment enough to know, that what were called heroic actions, varnished over by the hand of historical fame, would not be sufficient to ensure the future importance of their descendants, unconnected with substantial domains. Hence originated the peasantry of those countries, who are no other than vassals to the heirs of plundered property.
The only effectual check upon the monied interest (which ever lies among a few) must proceed from the efforts of the popular interest.—When the people, however, become so inattentive as not to know what those interests are, or are artfully precluded from being acquainted with them by the virtual prohibition of a free circulation of knowledge and information, those efforts must in that case be of little or no avail, as that man would appear superlatively ridiculous who came to demand a right; and from habits of neglect, mis-information, or no information at all, had not a single rational idea, what those rights are. Feb. 3.
PRICE of STOCK. Six per cents, for cash, - 25/0 1-2 Three per cents, - - - 15/3 Deferred six per cents, - - - 15/4 Final Settlements, &c. - - 22/6 Indents, - - - - 13/4 Bank Stock 1-2 Shares 105, to 109 pr. ct. prem. Prizes in the Tulpehocken canal 68 to 70 dl.
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS.
January, 1792. Monday, 30. 7 30. 25 8 N.E. Cloudy 2 30. 15 28 do. Snow. Tuesday, 31. 7 29. 5 38 S.W. Rain. 2 29. 5 39 do. Cloudy. Wednesday, 7 29. 7 31 W. Cloudy. Feb. 1. 2 29. 75 32 do. ditto. Thursday, 2. 7 29. 8 26 W. Fair. 2 29. 8 30 do. ditto. Friday, 3. 7 30. 15 21 N.W. Fair. 2 30. 7 39 S.W. ditto. Saturday, 4. 7 29. 9 30 calm. Cloudy. 2 29. 8 39 do. ditto. Sunday, 5. 7 29. 75 36 N.W. Fair. 2 29. 8 47 W. Cloudy.
WANTED, to go to a healthy flourishing town in New-Jersey, a DISTILLER, that can be recommended for knowledge and abilities in his profession, as well as sobriety and general good character. Any person, so qualified, will meet with the most generous encouragement. The works are entirely prepared for the distillation of grain, and the person engaging will be put into immediate employ.—Enquire of the Editor of this paper, at No. 239 Market-street, or at 58 North Fifth-street Feb. 6.

MARRIAGE A-LA-MODE.
[Occasioned by a quarrel between a weaver and a ditherer; the latter having supposed his family consequence disgraced by the clandestine marriage of his son with the weaver's daughter.]
B ORN in the woods, in neighboring cabins bred, Two lovers long a mutual passion sway'd, When vex'd with lice, she fondly comb'd his head; He often help'd her with the hoe and spade.
Her spinning wheel if accidents befel, He strait with joy repair'd the rude machine, And once a week (not led by found of bell) At country church was each fond lover seen.
Amidst these joys ambition had no share, No hope of spendid domes, no wealth had they; Amidst these joys, this loving, lounging pair What could have tempted to have run-a-way?
To gossip Joan's she hardly knew the road, He to the market and the mill had been; Their names unknown beyond the adjacent wood, He had no towns, and she no cities seen.
At midnight hour, when troubled ghosts patrol He, silent, to her bed-room window came; She from her nest of straw to meet him stole; He, mounted on his nag, bore off the dame.
A struggling parson tied the sacred knot— A quick pursuit the trembling couple fear'd. Then mov'd again, and forc'd the steed a-trot, Her father's voice in every breath she heard.
By break of day be-devil'd and be-swamp'd, Deep in the mire, this couple and their nag Were fix'd—she snuffled, while he swore and stamp'd, Horse-whip'd the horse, and call'd his bride a hag.
Slow, and on foot, with shame returning home, Both from their angry friends forgiveness pray, Then to his spade he turns, and she her loom; And when they're ask'd the reason of their flight, He answers strait, (as many other's might) "Zurs, 'tis the fashion, now, to run-a-way!" Feb. 2.
From the American Daily Advertiser.
CAIUS, No. III.
I N the review already taken, it will be seen, that republican principles are not less endangered from ambitious, latent designs, cloaked in the garb of ministerial systems, than from the more open and avowed attacks of a bold and persevering aristocratic junto, which exists amongst us; and should the silence and success which have hitherto marked the progress of those systems, induce a confidence, that the further pursuit of them will be equally successful, it would perhaps be wise in those who patronize them, to pause and reflect, that there is a point at which further adherence to a pernicious system becomes treason against the rights of the people: that the principles of the last glorious revolution, which was pillared on republicanism, are still dear to the hearts of Americans: that the public mind, although seemingly indifferent or inattentive to the present progress of things, is not insensible, nor the spirit of the people extinct—and that however minute the instance, or subtle the approach of oppression, yet, when manifest, a common sense of danger will unite the people in opposition to it. Let it be remembered too, that this is not the cause of party or of faction, or of any individual, but the common interest of every citizen; and moreover, that it is no exaggeration of evil, or evidence of disposition to causeless complaint, to ask, "Why are members of Congress permitted to hold and exercise the office of bank-directors, under the authority of a law enacted by themselves? when it is provided by the same law that these directors may receive any emoluments which the stockholders shall vote, and when the constitution of the United States has expressly provided "that no person holding any civil office under the authority of the United States, shall be a member of either house." As a man of plain understanding, my faculties cannot distinguish, why, under sanction of this precedent, the Secretary of the Treasury himself may not be eligible to a seat in Congress: nor can I discover, how any endeavor to justify or direct a violation of the constitutional rights of the people, will not be regarded as an attempt to trifle with the public mind, and the addition of insult to injury—It will not be forgotten that one precedent creates another, until by accumulation they constitute law, and that while examples are quoted to justify the most dangerous measures, there is always a mode of reasoning by analogy to supply any supposed defect in each new assumption of power. Thus it will not be remote, should the precedent remarked on be suffered to remain, before under the power of Congress to grant exclusive charters of incorporation, we may hope to see land jobbers as well as stock jobbers, manufacturing, commercial and fishing companies, severally incorporated under the management of directors, members of that honorable body, receiving six dollars a day from the people, and as many thousands per annum from their respective companies, by which, all the great interests of the union being consolidated under the care and management of one wise and immaculate body of men, the people will be contented and the nation happy—And will it still be asked, Where is the instance of danger from ministerial systems? Or will the public be longer amused with the contemptible puffings of ministerial sycophants, or of interested and profligate flatterers? It will be well for such to remember, that the political reputation of their principal is built on the basis of an humble and servile imitation of British systems of finance, and all their baneful concomitants of debt funded and unfunded, annuities, chances, lotteries, tontines and schemes from British authors and British statute books, without even the merit of originality,
and under the miserable, mistaken policy of engrafting upon the American constitution, healthful, young and vigorous, all the weaknesses, vices and infirmities of the decayed and expiring constitution of Britain. And I trust the public will never be at a loss, how justly to appreciate the merits and endeavors of the daring and designing junto I refer to, who may not, inaptly, be thus characterized: "unanimous and diligent in intrigue, variable in principles, conformed to flattery, talkers for liberty, but slaves to power."
CAIUS.
From the Maryland Journal.
On the proposed TAX on NEWSPAPERS.
I CANNOT help lamenting, when I consider the great injury the people will derive from so unprecedented and partial a tax, as that proposed by Congress, on the carriage of newspapers—unprecedented, because I believe no such thing was ever heard of before, unless it was in countries where the government wish to prohibit the circulation of newspapers; and partial, because it is paid by one particular profession only. It is certainly a tax, and, for my part, I believe it little short of a stamp—and I wish it may not prove more destructive to the profession, than any stamp could possibly be. I have always understood it as one grand principle, in our political creed, "that the freedom of the press ought not to be restrained;" and I well know that the citizens of this country are so fully impressed with this idea, that any steps which might be taken to obstruct it, would be considered in a very unfriendly point of view. The people are not without their jealousies and fears, and I hope they never will be, as it is that alone which can prevent the arm of authority from encroaching upon their rights and liberties. The liberty of the press is the grand palladium of our political freedom—the people have a sacred regard towards its preservation, and they have too much penetration not to feel alarmed, when they see any measures taken to clog it. It is the only channel through which they can be informed of the proceedings of their rulers. They are already but badly informed of them, which has given rise to many misapprehensions; and they will be much worse informed, should the proposed enormous tax, or postage, take place.
There are now published in Virginia, nine newspapers, and more than two-thirds of them entirely depend upon subscriptions, for their support. Now, is it possible that a printer, who, perhaps, does not receive more than one or two advertisements a week (for this is actually the case with many of them) can afford to pay three or four dollars a week postage?—His subscriptions will barely support his papers, and they are paid annually. A printer, therefore, thus situated, must give up his business—and this will be the case with a great many of them. Here is an act of government, restraining the press, by which the people are deprived of that useful source of information. Will they not, then, have fears and apprehensions? I know it is suggested, by some, that so many newspapers are a burthen to the community—but, if there was one printed at every court-house in Virginia, I believe they would greatly tend to preserve our internal tranquility, and would prove a blessing to the community; and I will not harbour the idea, that any one can be so great an enemy to his country, as to wish to destroy a profession that has proved so beneficial to it.
In North-Carolina, there are but two newspapers published, and which afford but little profit to the proprietors of them. Here, in my opinion, government ought rather to contribute towards the support of the press, than do any thing which might tend to destroy it. The printers of both these newspapers derive little or no profit from advertisements—how, then, are they to pay the postage? and, if they do not receive the papers from their brother-printers, how will the people of this state be informed of the proceedings of government?—This state is worse off than any other state in the union, in the circulation of newspapers; and I do firmly believe, that the enemy still prevailing in this state to the federal government, may be attributed to that cause. How, then, will the people be informed, should these two printers be obliged to give up?
In South-Carolina, there are three newspapers published, two of which are printed in Charleston; the other, I expect, will meet the fate of the rest of his unfortunate brethren, whose paper is not amply furnished with advertisements.
In Georgia, there are two. Both in South-Carolina and Georgia, the news-papers circulate badly, and will much worse, when the people find themselves heavily taxed to receive that knowledge of the conduct of their rulers, which ought to be conveyed to them upon the most easy terms possible.
Now, situated as the printing business is, in the southern part of the United States, is it policy, or is it safe, in Congress, to abridge the number of news-papers?—and, if they lay that heavy postage, or tax, which they have at present in contemplation, the downfall of some of them will be the natural consequence.
The printers of the United States have always shown themselves to be men of liberal and independent sentiments; and, I am well convinced, would cheerfully pay a compensation for their papers being conveyed in the mail-coaches—but for government to attempt to derive a revenue from them, is a measure so partial and impolitic, that, I flatter myself, a majority of our representatives, on a review of the subject, will be more favorably disposed towards them. By the proposed post-office plan, it can easily be proved, that from the printers alone (if they were able to pay it) upwards of sixty thousand dollars would be annually paid to government—a sum fully sufficient, with proper management, to support the post-office establishment—and this to be extracted from the vitals of the poor printers of the United States!—A circumstance they little expected while struggling, with their fellow-citizens, in the late glorious contest, and since the termination of that happy period which gave us liberty, have less reason to expect, in our present flourishing and prosperous situation. The post-masters appear to have been extremely anxious in
this business, and they really have completely effected their purpose—for, they are to receive one half of this postage, for their additional trouble; and the fact is, they will have no more trouble than they have now.
But, have not the mail-carriers carried the printers' papers, for these seven years past, without asking one shilling more for so doing? And would they not have done it again, if Congress had not interfered in the business? Then, why should Congress saddle the printers with a tax that is unnecessary?—or why should Congress tax them more than what is necessary to pay the carriage of their papers? The fact is, Congress ought not to have interfered in this matter at all. They might, with equal propriety, lay a postage upon the baggage going in the mail-coach. The printers' papers are, indeed, part of the baggage, though they have been admitted in the mail. The carriers of the mail had a right to refuse to carry newspapers; and, if they had done so, the printers would have compensated them for their additional trouble, rather than pay government an enormous tax, unparalleled in the proceedings of any political body on earth.
I hope, however, that Congress will permit the printers to exchange their papers with each other, free of postage, as it is of material consequence, both to them and to the citizens at large. In the mean time, the printers had better associate together, and adopt some plan, so that their papers may be conveyed, through their friends and brethren, in the places where their papers circulate, to their subscribers, without troubling the post-masters with the business. Their papers may be conveyed in the mail-stage, from one end of the continent to the other, at a considerable less expense than that proposed by Congress—and they may save the fifty per cent. by getting their friends and brothers to deliver their papers to their subscribers. In this they will be countenanced; for there is not a citizen but reprobates the proposed tax, or postage, on newspapers.
PHILANTHROPOS.
Virginia, Jan. 1792.
REMARKABLE APPEARANCES IN NATURE.
[Translated from the works of a late French Traveller.]
NATURE always gives some preface proportionably great to the danger she intends.—This observation may be particularly applied to the tempests about the Cape of Good Hope, which are much more terrible than any we are acquainted with in these parts of the world. It may be remarked here, that every kind of tempest is characteristic of its latitude; the storms in the neighborhood of the Cape of Good Hope are different from those about Cape Horn; those of the Baltic are not like those in the Mediterranean, and the tempests upon the banks of Newfoundland do not resemble those on the coast of Africa. And in all these places they are different again in different seasons, and in different hours of the day.
I remember to have been in two severe storms in doubling the Cape of Good Hope, and in both the sky was perfectly clear, of a delightful blue, and the sea, all the while, of an azure colour. There appeared, indeed, over head, a thin mist, something, in point of colour, like polished brass, rising from a particular point of the horizon, and flying with the rapidity of an eagle.
In one of these gales, about midnight, a severe clap of thunder struck our main-mast, sounding in our ears precisely like the discharge of a cannon at a small distance. This was in the month of June, which is their first winter month in the latitude of the Cape of Good Hope.
I was in another gale, when re-passing the Cape in the month of January, which is the height of their summer. The sky was perfectly clear, as before, except five or six clouds in the horizon, of considerable size, which resembled broken precipices, or the sharp crags of mountains suspended in the air. In this form we had, as before, the thin mist, or scud flying over our heads; the sea perfectly azure-coloured; and upon the comb of the waves there was a constant succession of rain-bows, delightfully variegated with the most pleasing colours.
Severe tempests and hurri canes, blowing amidst a glare of light, are more frightful than can easily be imagined. The mind becomes troubled, to find a raging ocean amidst all the usual signs of a calm, and the clear blue of the heavens, and the rain-bow itself serving only as a prelude to the rudest convulsions of nature. In these phenomena the principles of harmony seem to be disturbed. Nature assumes a perfidious character, and, under the appearance of benevolence, is secretly boiling with all the violent emotions of the most irritated resentment.
GLASGOW.
We have been favored with a copy of a letter from David Dale, Esq. Glasgow, to Colonel Dalrymple, of Fordell, which breathes such a spirit of philanthropy that we give it entire:
October 20.
"SIR,
"I AM just favored with your esteemed letter of the 19th current, and I have already done all that you suggest with respect to the Highland emigrants. So soon as I learned that they wished to remain, if they could find employment to themselves and families, I sent two friends to Greenock, and invited old and young to come to this place, and I would give employment to them all. I have sent up in waggons several families to Lanerk, and the rest are now in my house waiting the return of the waggons to take up the whole.
"I have, for some time past, been devising every method I could think of to contribute my mite towards preventing these emigrations, which are not less hurtful to the poor people themselves than to this country; and I have been making attempts to introduce a branch of the cotton manufactory into the Highlands, which I find will soon spread, and employ a number of people; but I wish to see a plan executed that would enable the people in the Highlands and in the Islands to work up their own wool, and I do not despair seeing an establishment of this kind, which is better suited for the Highlands than any other manufactory.
But though such a plan were already established, it would be too slow in its operations to produce that immediate relief to the poor people that their present situation requires; for I have information that there are now persons traversing the Islands, to entice the poor people to go to America. I have, therefore, wrote to several persons, to endeavor to send information to all the places where the people are proposing to leave their native country, to advertise them that they may all have employment in the Lowlands, particularly in Glasgow, Paisley, and the towns and villages round them; and I have pledged myself to build houses at Lanerk for 200 families, and to give them employment.
"Several gentlemen in this place are forming a society to prevent emigrations, and your subscription will be thankfully received. I am confident that not a single person in Scotland, who is able and willing to work, has any occasion to leave their native country for want of the means of a comfortable subsistence; and the design of the society now forming here is, to direct the people in the Highlands, who are under the necessity of leaving their own country, where to find employment without going to America. Could the people find employment in the Highlands, it would be much better for them to remain there; but, as this is not the case, the best thing that can be done for them, and for this country, is, to invite all that cannot find employment to come here, and they will be provided for.
"I am, dear Sir, "Your humble and obedient servant, "DAVID DALE."
[The following is a copy of the report of the committee on Mr. Churchman's memorial, the substance of which was given in our last—leg No. 28 for Wednesday's minutes.]
The committee, to whom was referred the memorial of John Churchman, have had the same under consideration, and report as follows:—
That the said Churchman having pursued his enquiries into his theory of the variation of the magnetic needle, has found a number of observations, made in different parts of the world, which confirm his hypothesis;—that, animated by this circumstance, and applauded for his ingenuity, by several learned societies in Europe, which have looked up to him for the prosecution of his plan for establishing the truth of his theory, he has been emboldened to ask again the aid of the general government of the United States, to enable him to gratify the expectations of the philosophical world, and to put his theory to an immediate and the strictest scrutiny.
The committee are free to declare it as their opinion, that Mr. Churchman's ingenuity displayed in proposing and supporting his theory, and his labors in prosecuting his examination thereof, entitle him to the applause of the enlightened world, and to the encouragement and support of his country. And it is the opinion of the committee that as a more perfect knowledge of the laws of magnetism, and the variation of the magnetic needle is greatly to be desired, as it would furnish a ready means of adjusting and preventing disputes respecting the boundaries of ancient surveys of land, and of correcting many inconveniences in geographical charts, and in the journals of the courses and distances run by vessels at sea, every possible encouragement ought to be given to all persons, who, by their theories confirmed by observations, contribute towards the perfecting this desirable knowledge; and that as the United States are peculiarly interested in whatever can adjust or prevent disputes between their citizens, and can improve geography and navigation, the Congress of the United States may with great propriety patronize such a person as Mr. Churchman, and grant him such aid as may be necessary to enable him to prosecute his laudable enquiries to good effect. But the committee submit it to the wisdom of the House to say whether in the present circumstances of the United States such grant shall now be made.
As to that part of the memorial which states, that in the act for the encouragement of learning by securing the copies of maps, charts and books to their authors and proprietors, the penalty annexed to the offences of copying such maps and charts was too small, and by no means adequate to the offence, and praying for an act to amend the same, the committee are of opinion, that the prayer of the memorialist is reasonable, and that copy right of maps, charts, tables and prints, ought to be secured to their respective authors or their assigns, by greater penalties than those declared in the act aforesaid, and that a committee ought to be appointed to bring in a bill for this purpose.
HOWELL'S
SMALL MAP of PENNSYLVANIA.
May be had of Mr. Bailey, and Mr. Cruikshank Printers, in Market-street; or of the author in Nr. Fifth-street, No. 88, who has the said maps pasted on canvass, cut, folded and cased for pocket carriage.
Philadelphia Jan. 30. 1792.
This Day are published,
S E R M O N S,
Historical and Characteristical: By WILLIAM LINN, D. D.
One of the Ministers of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, in the city of New-York.
Sold by T. DOBSON, R. CAMPBELL, & M. CAREY.
[Price Three Quarters of a Dollar.]
PRINTED BY
CHILDS AND SWAIN, AT THEIR OFFICE, NO. 239. HIGH-STREET,
NEAR SIXTH-STREET,
PHILADELPHIA.