National gazette. (Philadelphia [Pa.]), 1791-12-08 00:00:00

National Gazette.
By PHILIP FRENEAU.
VOL. I.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1791.
NUMB. 12.
For the NATIONAL GAZETTE.
No. 1.
ON the establishment of the federal government, it was reasonably expected by the free citizens of America, that they would find that protection to their general and individual interests, which it is the duty of government to render: Nor did any man suppose that, immediately upon its organization, one of the first acts of the administration thereof would be to enforce the obligations of a treaty mutually obligatory upon the contracting parties, and which, having been shamefully and avowedly infringed by one party, could no longer be deemed binding on the other. It will be seen, that I allude to the cognizance which the federal courts have taken, and the decision they are about to give on the subject of British debts, in the event of which, as I conceive, the dignity, peace, and safety of the government greatly depends: And altho' those courts, from the terms and manner of their institution, cannot avoid to meet the question, whenever it is brought before them, yet surely a notorious public infraction of the treaty on the part of Great-Britain, and that too, in the instance of with-holding public and private property, should have induced such a proceeding on the part of the present government, for obtaining indemnity for this infraction, as would have kept equal progress with the claims of British creditors in our courts of law, or, in case of refusal or delay of such indemnity, a like refusal or suspension of the recovery of British debts.
It may perhaps be alleged, that the situation of the government hitherto, and the dubious terms of the constitution, as to the competent power for declaring an infraction of the treaty, on the part of Great-Britain, have delayed such a proceeding: it may be so; but surely a farther delay for this cause will argue a disinclination, and not a power to demand and obtain justice. The power to make the declaration I have mentioned, certainly exists; nor is it to be supposed that a longer delay will be patiently acquiesced in; for already in one state (and that an important one) is the public mind awakened, the public voice exerted, and the measure of equal justice and full protection demanded, on behalf of its abused and injured citizens. Perhaps the patient suffering of this people hitherto, may be misconstrued by some into an admission of the truth of that common but mistaken suggestion, that the payment of the private debts, due from the individuals of one country to those of the other, has no relation to that infraction of the treaty on the part of Great-Britain, which is complained of. It cannot, however, be forgotten, that this suggestion has been fully and publicly refuted by the conduct and declaration of both the contracting parties; by the former Congress in the instructions to their ministers at the court of London, which produced so long, tedious, and ineffectual a negotiation on the subject, on their part; and by the court of London, in the well-known animadversions made by the marquis of Carmarthen, on the existing laws of the several states respecting the recovery of British debts, and in which it was ultimately avowed, that the impediments to a recovery, which those laws had created, and the well-known imbecility of Congress under the powers of the then existing government, to enforce the execution of the treaty on their part, were a sufficient justification to Great-Britain for with-holding a compliance on its part. The recollection of these facts, therefore, will be sufficient to justify the conduct of the state to which I have alluded, which demands that the policy of the British court should be retorted upon
them, by with-holding a compliance with the treaty on our part, so far as respects the recovery of British debts, until adequate reparation be made for with-holding the western posts, and for the value of the slaves carried off; and it is almost superfluous to add, that this example of the British, in holding fast a security for our performance, should be followed by us in holding fast this only security for a performance on theirs, until in the course of future negotiation the dispute is accommodated to mutual satisfaction. Perhaps no reasonable objection can be offered to this mode of proceeding, so proper to vindicate the violated rights and honor of an independent nation, unless it be a blind adherence to certain fashionable and courtly maxims of the day, by which it is endeavored to be inculcated, "that peace, and a good understanding with Great-Britain, must be preserved at any price; that by pursuing this policy alone can the infant system of our government take root and stability; and that America ought, imperceptibly, to grow to greatness, like the trees of her wilderness, in the midst of silence and retreat."—Maxims, repugnant to the essential interests and prosperity of our country, which do not apply to her relative situation and circumstances, and which, in the opinion of the great body of the yeomanry of America, flow from the influence of that partial system of things, wherein the advantage of the many is made subservient to the emolument and aggrandizement of the few; a system already too well understood, to admit the aggravation of that farther injury to the rights of the people, which, an adherence to those maxims in the present instance, might produce.
AMERICANUS.
December 7, 1791.
Extract from UMPREVILLE'S "Present state of HUDSON'S-BAY."
(A late Work.)
THERE is not, perhaps, any joint trade or monopoly existing, that is carried on in a manner more unostentatious, or what is meant by the vulgar term snug , than that which is in the hands of the Hudson's Bay Company. The commodities in which they trade, are procured in so sterile and frigid a climate, and by so few agents, that there is no scope for that eager competition for subordinate emoluments which the more genial and extensive territories of the East hold out to needy adventurers.
Twenty years ago the governor of York-Fort, which was the company's principal establishment in the Bay, annually sent home at least thirty thousand skins, and maintained no more than twenty-five men, at very low wages; at present that place has upwards of one hundred men at it, who have increased salaries, and it sends home no more than twenty thousand skins, upon an average, from itself and four subordinate settlements; and these are procured at an expence, which a few years back would have been looked upon as next to an annihilation of their commercial existence.
It is an incontrovertible fact, that since the French have evacuated Canada, the fur trade from the inland parts of Hudson's Bay, has been carried on to a greater extent than ever it was before; for the company, who till then confined themselves to the sea-shore, knew nothing of the numerous nations inland; and these again knew as little of them: that the company, notwithstanding they had obliged themselves by their charter to explore the whole of their territories, confined themselves within a small circle. They consequently did not exert their influence to procure peltries, or to augment the consumption
of British manufactures, by any other methods than through the channel of a very few Indians, comparatively speaking. These Indians, however, brought down enough to enrich a few individuals, whose interest it was to prevent too great an influx of furs, which would not only lower the price at market, but probably open the eyes of an injured commercial people. In the days I am alluding to, the port of York-Fort was surrounded with nations of Indians entirely unknown to the traders of the company; and they would have remained in the same state of ignorance to this day, had they not been awakened from their reveries by the unsurmountable perseverance of a few Canadian merchants, who found them out, through obstacles and impediments attended with more danger and personal hazard than a voyage to Japan.
Since that time their affairs have undergone a material change in these parts. The Canada merchants annually send into the interior country, for the Indian trade, about forty large canoes of about four tons burthen each, a considerable part of which goods are conveyed to those Indians who used to send their furs down to the Hudson's Bay, by the Indian carriers, which did not amount to half the quantity at present procured. So that by this interference of the Canadian traders, it is evident that many more peltries are procured and imported into England, and a greater quantity of its manufactures consumed than heretofore. And when it is further considered, that these goods are of a very inferior quality, which perhaps would hardly find a sale elsewhere, this extension of the trade will appear an object not very inconsiderable.
By the prosecution of this commerce from Canada, the Hudson's Bay company found themselves effectually supplanted on the sea-shore, the natives being supplied inland with every convenience for war and domestic uses. This induced the company, in the year 1773, to begin their inland voyages, so that the Canadians from Canada, and the Europeans from Hudson's Bay, met together, not at all to the ulterior advantage of the natives, who by this means became degenerated and debauched, through the excessive use of spirituous liquors, imported by these rivals in commerce.
PARIS, Sept. 8.
IT may be agreeable to some of our readers to be informed of the projects, wishes, whims, and dreams, of the gentlemen [French anti-revolutionists] beyond the Rhine. For this purpose, we will make a few extracts from intercepted letters really written from Worms, Coblenz, Brussels, Mons, Ath, &c. &c. to their good friends of the clergy, the nobility, and the old government. They are as follows:
"The coalition of sovereigns armed for the support of the interests, and for the restoration of the rights of royalty in France is definitively agreed upon.—The means of executing their resolutions have been concerted between the kings of Spain, England, Prussia, Sweden, Sardinia, the emperor, the German electors, the German princes, the Dutch stadtholder, and the exiled French princes and chiefs."
"Twenty thousand Prussians are upon the march; whose apparent destination is for Liege.—The Austrian troops are coming in from all quarters to the cantons and to the frontiers.—The king of Sweden is on his march with thirty thousand men—he is to be generalissimo of the army.—Five hundred chariots, laden with ammunition and weapons of war, are arrived at Luxembourg.—Fifteen thousand life-guards men have met at Worms and Coblenz; also one thousand gentlemen from Auvergne,
with their horses, baggage and accoutrements; also two hundred Limousins are marching from the same place.—The Bretons are coming in from Jersey.—The British fleet is divided into two squadrons, the one to rendezvous at Plymouth, the other at Portsmouth.—The Spanish fleet is in complete readiness.—The preparations in Savoy go on very slowly, but are very considerable."
"Orders are given to invade France early in September—in the mean time an English squadron will block up the harbour of Brest; another will form a junction with a Spanish squadron, and proceed to French St. Domingo to open the ports of that island."—"As no resistance can be made to such a union of strength, the army will be able to penetrate into the heart of the kingdom without striking a stroke. The first step will be to disarm all soldiers that pretend to be citizens, and all citizens that pretend to be soldiers."
"It may be expected that the united forces will get possession of Paris about the 4th of October.—The king will then be re-instated on his throne; with all those prerogatives which support his august title; except that some small dependence shall be retained upon the councils of the princes, his brothers, and the prince of Conde."
"The national assembly shall be dissolved—its members, absent or present, shall receive sentence of perpetual imprisonment—those among them who were of the noblesse shall be degraded—such of them, without titles, as were in reality attached to the old government shall be ennobled.—The bishops and curates that subscribed the new constitution are to be shut up in their colleges. The faithful clergy to be re-instated in their places, with a benefice.—The parliament to be restored with some modifications, and purged of all weak or unfaithful members."
"To give stability to this renovated monarchy in France, and to extend the advantages of this form of government, the power of the nation shall be exerted to destroy all the republics existing.—It might be proposed, however, conditionally, to retain the republics of Switzerland and Venice. As to Holland, it would seem best to erect it into a kingdom for the husband of the princess of Orange.—With the addition of the Austrian Netherlands Holland would make a pretty kingdom enough. Brabant, with a few of the neighboring margraviates, might be given to the king of Prussia, in exchange for Silesia. This would make a kingdom for the duke of York, the king of Prussia's son-in-law."
"The Milanese, the States of Genoa, and the small republics of Italy, might be thrown into one kingdom, under the name of the kingdom of Liguria. The island of Corsica should be re-annexed to the kingdom of Sardinia. The French part of St. Domingo to be restored to Spain by the assistance of fleets and the white colonists.—These same fleets might afterwards go and take possession of the United States of America, which, when formed into a kingdom, would be very acceptable to one of the sons of the king of Great-Britain."
The means of executing all these projects would no doubt correspond with the convenience of the arrangements.
[Gazette Universelle.]
LONDON, Sept. 26.
WE cannot agree with Mr. Paine in considering this country as destitute of a constitution. A constitution we certainly have, and excellent in theory, but what do we behold in its practice? Corruption and undue influence appearing in a thousand horrid forms—Political honesty made a jest of by men in office; two thirds of the people excluded from any share in the choice of

representatives; and a general election, instead of being an exertion of the national virtue, a signal for the introduction of bribery, perjury, drunkenness, riot, and every vice that can taint the morals of the people. The long duration of parliaments is matter, too, of serious complaint; but unless the manner of electing be amended, the frequency of elections would only be to curse the nation with a more frequent repetition of the most horrid and flagitious practices. These things, and many more that might be mentioned, must undergo a reformation, if we would avoid the very lowest depth of public degeneracy, and its unavoidable consequences, impending ruin and destruction.
It requires no uncommon degree of foresight to perceive that the revolution now accomplished in France will force us into a reform, from motives of the most cogent and convincing kind, and which will come home to the feelings of every individual, namely, those of interest—the interest, not of a few, but of all. The French have the honesty and courage to call into actual exercise those excellent principles, which our constitution does, indeed, present to us in theory, but of which our domestic politics, as long as it continues, will prevent the practice. They have extended the right of election to its utmost possible limits—their representatives are to sit no longer than two years—they have endeavored to check ambition in its career, and to cut up every species of undue influence by the roots—they have cancelled all invidious distinctions on account of religion; and there scarcely can exist a doubt that they will, in a very short time, annihilate that enormous load of debt in which the pride and extravagance of former kings and ministers had involved them.
Let us carry our view forward to what will probably be the comparative situation of France and England in the course of a few years.—The former eased of her taxes, enabling her merchants and manufacturers to carry the produce of their industry and ingenuity to every foreign market on the cheapest terms—holding sacred the rights of conscience as well as property—admitting to the privileges of citizens all men of all nations and religions—opening her fostering bosom as a nursery for genius, and a refuge from every species of oppression. In a word, holding out every possible inducement to the people of other countries to come and participate in the blessings of peace and plenty—liberty and virtue.
Shall we contrast the actual situation of England with that of France—we cannot—the picture is too gloomy to be realized—we too must have a revolution, not in the principles but in the practice of our constitution.—Although we shall be the first to feel the beneficial effects of the reform in France, they will not be confined to this country. Connected as the world now is, by the ties of commercial intercourse, they may be considered as one society, and united in one universal interest, so that whatever promotes the benefit of a part will necessarily extend to the whole; and the measures which one nation finds by experience to be conducive to its welfare, will of course be adopted by the rest. What a pleasing prospect here opens upon the mind—Go on generous and enlightened people, and if your new charter of government should in any instance be found erroneous, you have ability and wisdom to correct the error. Natural enemies! detestable idea! Natural neighbors ought to be natural friends—With you may we speedily associate for preserving the peace and freedom of all mankind; and may one nation and another be continually added to the compact, and create a vortex of love and concord, which shall attract and involve all God's rational offspring!
Sept. 26. Strange as it may seem, Mr. Burke's book against the revolution in France is likely to operate considerably in favor of Warren Hastings, late governor of Bengal, now under impeachment for mal-conduct in India. A gentleman who has passed about two years in France, and is just returned from that country, having read Mr. Burke's book at his return, declared that matters were so exaggerated and misrepresented in it, that he must for the future abate considerably of his former wonted confidence in what Mr.
Burke had, some time since, so forcibly urged respecting the unparalleled enormities perpetrated by Mr. Hastings in the East-Indies. Another gentleman, who was present when this observation was made, said, that from a long residence in India, to his knowledge, all that Mr. Burke had brought forward in parliament, in the impeachment of Mr. Hastings, was so heightened and overcharged, that he could not help suspecting, that the "Reflections on the Revolution in France" must appear to competent judges to be no better than a political romance.
EUROPEAN STATE OF POLITICS.
The emperor and the king of Prussia are said to have met about something, but no one can clearly tell what; they may, or may not have conversed concerning France; but whatever they may intend, it is to be trusted that little mischief to the cause of liberty, in an age like the present, can ensue, against the energy of an unanimous people, which as advocates for a different form of government from that which they lately experienced, the French nation certainly are—for if absolute monarchs be permitted to suggest by what form a neighboring kingdom shall be governed, little in favor of the people can be expected. Imperfect as the new constitution at present may be, the people of France have now sufficient materials with which to work out their own happiness, without the interference of surrounding nations; and we will hope there is too much virtue in Europe, to suffer such an officious assistance.
THE PAPAL STATES OF ITALY
Have lately discovered strong symptoms of discontent; and the mischief of it is, his holiness has no power to oppose against any advances that may be made upon his ancient prerogatives, but the artillery of anathema, which of late years has been discovered to be very harmless in its effects.
POLAND
Has yet met with no interruption in its happy revolution; the new wheels which have been inserted into the machinery of its constitution, have been put in motion, and found to work well and harmoniously with the whole.—Neighboring despotism affects to frown, but its frowns are despised; though much remains at some future time to be done for the Poles. The people at large are certainly much happier circumstanced than they were, and the nobility not less so. Comparative liberty has been given, without licentiousness having been encouraged.
RUSSIA
Has begun to fulfil her terms with the Porte, and the peace, at length, established between these violent foes, promises to be one of some continuation.
TURKEY
Having temporarily disengaged itself from its unsuccessful conflict in Europe, finds its Asiatic possessions in a great ferment; but having now leisure to attend to them, it is not supposed from the sanguinary mode in which the court of Constantinople proceeds in cases of rebellion, that any loss of territory on that quarter will be the consequence.
PHILADELPHIA.
CONGRESS.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
MONDAY, December 5.
Petitions were read from Joseph Bird, Ebenezer Brooks, Burr Gilbert, and Jonathan Houghton, respectively praying compensation for wounds received or injuries sustained, during the late war.
A petition of Sarah Parker, of Massachusetts, praying relief for the support of herself and a large family of children; being the widow and orphans of lieutenant colonel Moses Parker, wounded in the battle of Charlestown, in June 1775, and afterwards died of his wounds in Boston jail.—The above were all referred to the Secretary at War.
A memorial was read from the distillers of spirits in New-Port, Rhode-Island, complaining of the operation of an act passed at the last session of Congress, imposing a duty on spirits distilled within the United States, and praying a revision and amendment of
the said law,—Referred to the Secretary of the Treasury.
A petition from John D. Mercier, late a Canadian resident, praying compensation for losses sustained in consequence of his adherence to the American cause, during the war,—Referred to the committee to whom was referred the petitions of certain Canadian refugees on a similar occasion.
According to the order of the day, the house then resolved itself into a committee of the whole on the bill making appropriations for the support of government for the year 1792. Mr. Muhlenberg in the chair—after some time spent in considering the bill, Mr. Muhlenberg reported the same with amendments, which were twice read, agreed to, and the bill with the amendments re-committed to Mr. Laurence, Mr. Baldwin, and Mr. Afhe.
The Speaker laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, accompanying his report on the subject of manufactures, made in obedience to an order of the House, of January 15, 1790—Read and ordered to lie on the table.
The Speaker likewise laid before the House a letter from the Treasurer of the United States, with his account of receipts and expenditures of public money from July 1st to September 30, 1791—Read and ordered to lie on the table. Adjourned.
TUESDAY, Dec. 6.
Petitions of John Wilson, of Benjamin Keese, and of Samuel Gibbs, were read, praying compensation for services, &c. rendered in the late war—The first referred to the Secretary of the Treasury, the two latter to the Secretary at War.
Mr. Benson called up the motion which he had laid on the table yesterday; and after some debate, the following resolution was agreed to.
Resolved, That Mr. Benson, Mr. Gerry, and Mr. Smith (S. C.) be appointed a committee on the part of this house, jointly with such committee as shall be appointed on the part of the Senate, to consider and report to Congress the most eligible manner for carrying into effect the resolution of the United States in Congress assembled of the 7th of August, 1783, directing that an equestrian statue of General Washington should be erected.
Ordered, That the clerk of the house do acquaint the Senate therewith.
The three following motions being severally made and seconded, to wit:
First—That a committee be appointed to examine and report upon the state of the treasury department; and that such committee be appointed on the second Monday after the meeting of Congress in every session.
Second—That it shall be the duty of the Secretary of the Treasury to report to this house, on the third Monday of every annual session of Congress, a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money, for the preceding year, as far as the same can be then ascertained, and as soon thereafter, as circumstances will permit, of such receipts and expenditures as cannot be specified in the first statement.
Third—That within the month of January in each year, if Congress shall be then in session, or if not then in session, within the first week of each succeeding session, the Secretary of the Treasury shall lay before the House of Representatives an accurate statement of receipts and expenditures down to the last day of the month of December immediately preceding, including the said day, in which statement shall be distinguished the expenditures which fall under each head of appropriation, and shall be shown the sums, if any, which remain unexpended of such appropriations. And that a committee be thereupon forthwith appointed to examine the said statement and report concerning the same to the house, and that this be considered as a standing order.
Ordered, That the said motions be referred to Mr. Gerry, Mr. Dayton, and Mr. Barnwell; that they do examine the matter thereof, and report the same, with their opinion thereupon, to the house.
Agreeable to the order of the day the house resolved itself into a committee
of the whole on the bill for establishing the post-office and post-roads within the United States, and after some time spent thereon, the committee rose, and asked leave to sit again to-morrow.
Mr. Laurence, from the committee to whom was recommitted the bill making appropriations for the support of government for the year 1792, reported an amendatory bill, which was read the first time. Adjourned.
PHILADELPHIA,
DECEMBER 8.
Extract of a letter from New-Jersey, Dec. 5.
"Too much cannot be said in favour of that policy which is beginning to turn the attention of this state towards manufactures. We shall not only, by an adherence to this principle, add to the wealth of new Jersey, but shall work a reform in the morals of a very great part of our citizens. Poverty is generally attended with a propensity to vicious practices, but if we take away the cause of vice there can be little doubt that the usual effects will of themselves soon cease. A life of industry is generally a life of virtue, but so great a proportion of the soil of Jersey is barren and unthrifty that even industry is but partially rewarded; and it is well known the greater part of the net produce of our labour has ever centered in New York and Pennsylvania, as having no foreign trade of our own. It therefore becomes the duty of those two opulent sister states to take us by the hand, in the infancy of our great undertaking, and as they have ever rendered abortive all our attempts to become a mercantile people, now is the time for them to exert their influence in constituting us a manufacturing people. No situation can be better calculated by nature for this purpose than New-Jersey. The distances from any spot whatever within the state to the several landings are short, and we abound in rivers, which, tho' not navigable at present, may at a moderate expence be cleared of obstructions, so as to convey the produce of our manufactures to the commercial cities of other states, without the expence incident to land carriage. The inhabitants are naturally hardy and laborious, and when they find themselves relieved from paying a considerable part of the taxes of New-York and Pennsylvania, and have some mode of turning the product of their industry to account, in lieu of commerce, there can be little doubt but they will exhibit a more respectable figure than ever in the great family of the United States. Perhaps there are few parts of the world that can equal New-Jersey in the quality of its iron-ore; and the quantities of this mineral are absolutely inexhaustible. Immense parcels of it are sold every day to New-England people at about half a dollar per ton; the purchase being made with hollow ware, nails, spades, axes &c which are previously wrought out of this very ore. This is a proof of the necessity of establishing more iron works amongst us: one great step to which would be the encouragement of canal navigation thro' the State. Perhaps it is a truth little known that a few thousand pounds would open a navigation for boats of 15 tons burthen from the Delaware, near Trenton, to Brunswick, on the Raritan."
A vessel arrived a few days ago in Hampton road, Virginia, from Lisbon, which place she left the latter end of September, and brings accounts that all ships bound to Lisbon, having passengers on board, if the bill of health does not describe them, and what business they have come on, the ship will be refused entry, and must lay quarantine, and afterwards undergo an examination—And that there will be one of the worst vintages in Portugal this season that ever was known, owing to the great drought, there having been no rain for upwards of six months, and the warmest summer ever remembered by people of an old age.
Extract of a letter from Nantz, September 8.
"I send you a small packet of newspapers by which you will see among other things, that the complete establishment of the new French government will be attended with a reform of the Catholic church in Italy, or, in other words with an entire loss of what little influence the prejudices of people had left it; so that the Holy Father has a prospect of retaining only his spiritualties , without those more pleasing temporal emoluments, for possessing of which the other branch of business has always been made the pretext.—The present Pope Pius the sixth is in a very awkward situation. His subjects see plainly that his politics are ruinous, the church is in a tottering condition, and his prerogatives every day more and more abridged: and our accounts say, that the people in Rome are beginning to recollect the antient prophecy, that under the Popes of the sur-name of Sextus , [the sixth] the city should always suffer some unfortunate revolution."
Semper sub Sextis perdata Roma fuit.
A remarkable paper was some time ago pasted upon the statue of Pasquin in the center of Rome, of which the following is a translation:
HOLY FATHER,
In your late lying edict, styled the Royal Manifesto, you have the effrontery to call those persons traitors, who have dared to abet the cause of the friends of liberty. How can you clear yourself of this charge?—You would not have presumed to excommunicate the French nation had you not vainly imagined that they would soon be laid prostrate at your feet, in chains—but it is to no purpose that superstition and perjury are brought in to the aid of tyranny. The edifice of liberty is established on a sure foundation, and

the efforts of slaves can avail nothing against walls of adamant.— Father of the faithful, why do you conspire against your children—repent speedily of this mortal sin—go to the country where liberty has taken deep root, and thus address the French nation, whom you have basely wronged—“I come not to renew my claim of former usurpations, nor to preach against religious toleration—I rather come to bestow my benediction upon that Evangelical Constitution, the first principle of which is, that mankind are brethren—I trample the Triple Diadem under my feet with contempt and indignation—I do acknowledge my Kingdom not to be of this world, and I promise henceforward to shew myself the true Vicar of the God of peace and goodness.”—Pope Pius the sixth, by making and adhering to this declaration, you will be one of the greatest of men—but, remember, an opposite conduct will make you the last of the Roman Pontiffs!
The General Assembly of the state of Connecticut, at their late session, held on the second Thursday of October at New-Haven, passed an act for securing equal rights and privileges to christians of every denomination, within their jurisdiction. In this act, religious liberty is so far extended, that any person, a member of the commonwealth, and actually belonging to any church or religious society within the same, wishing to leave such society and become a member of some other, shall be at liberty to do so, with an exemption from being taxed for the future support of the society he may have left. All separating churches or societies are allowed, by the same act, to exercise the usual powers for the support of ministers, erecting and repairing buildings, and other matters, as occasion may require.
[The following Epigram was written under the Equestrian statue of Louis XV. at Paris; where the figures of justice, prudence, fortitude, and other virtues, were represented at the foot of the pedestal.]
O belle statue! O beau pedestal! La Vertu a pied, et la Vice a cheval!
[Paraphrase on the foregoing.]
Hail charming statue, form'd with art divine! And hail, thou work, this pedestal as fine! How aptly here the carver's art displays The path that Louis takes to merit praise— High on the stately horse is Bafenef shown, While trampled under foot—the Virtues groan!
On the present state of Religion in Scotland. [From “French letters, dedicated to the National Assembly.”]
TILL within these few years, the inhabitants of all the towns, except during the hours of public worship, kept themselves closely pent up in their chambers, and by indolence, slander and prayer, sanctified, as they imagind, that sacred day, Sunday. Except while walking to church, a stillness pervaded the streets, like the dead of the night: at times interrupted, and rendered more solemn by the singing of bells and the singing of psalms.
The articles of faith at present prevailing in Scotland were drawn up and established in the midst of a civil war, during a period of gross fanaticism and barbarity; they are, by consequence, strongly marked with absurdity. Their doctrines, of absolute decrees, and of arbitrary election of sinners; of their conversion by the irresistible impulses of grace; of the necessity of human actions; of the trinity and satisfaction; are certainly the grossest insults on the understanding. If these were, what they never will be, made a strict rule of action, they would completely level all distinction between virtue and vice, and open a door to the greatest profligacy. Where the clergy deal in profound mysteries and preach absurdity, the people must always be ignorant; and ignorance is a powerful ingredient in fanaticism.
A branch of ecclesiastical power usurped by Priests, the most dangerous ever established among men, is, happily for the honour of Scotland, greatly limited in that kingdom, that is, the power of judging of the orthodoxy of opinions, and of condemning and punishing hereby. This bold encroachment on the prerogative of omniscience, has, beyond all comparison, produced more wretchedness and misery to man than the most wicked of all his inventions. It has disgraced a religion of peace, by rendering it a source of contention; it has destroyed the blessings of freedom, by rendering reason itself a curse, and in every christian country it has led men to imbrue their hands in each other's blood. The abuses and cruelties to which this dangerous power has been applied, will be read and contemplated with horror, as long as the world shall endure: so uniformly pernicious have been its effects, that, according to the state in which this single power is left, a nation is either prosperous and happy, or flavid and miserable.
It is strange, that in Great-Britain, the favorite residence of science and liberty, the same solemn farce, in defence of systems, which heretofore disgraced the declining cause of Paganism, should continue to be acted at the close of the eighteenth century. The prejudices of the people are the demagogue's support, and their applause is the gross nutriment by which his vanity is fed.
By the jurisdiction of the Scots clergy over the doctrines of their brethren, the best of men are brought under the power of the worst. By perpetuating the errors of a barbarous system, all men of education and good sense are disgusted with the religion of their country. It will always be as difficult for the human mind to separate true religion from the unseemly garb she is made to wear, as to distinguish a venerable char-
acter under a ludicrous dress. In Scotland, therefore, men of education and good sense begin, almost wholly, to abandon public worship, which enthusiasm has rendered ridiculous; and to despise those doctrines, the absurdity of which has shocked their understandings. To suppose that a man of enquiry in Scotland pays any regard to revelation, will hardly be deemed a compliment. To presume that he believes the orthodox opinions of the frailer clergy will be received as the greatest insult to his understanding. Many individuals of this class, therefore, launch into the dark and joyless depths of atheism; a system, the principles of which are too wild and uncertain to prove an adequate support of virtue. But the generality of the men of fortune, possessing little thought, and less erudition, content themselves with indulging an unrefrained licence of behaviour: they ridicule the systems of their country, without substituting in their room any sober rules for the direction of life. In a word, the established faith of the Scots church is as sincerely despised among the higher ranks, as among the inferior orders it is implicitly received. The consequences of these extremes are pernicious to both. The one class flies from religion with disgust; the other despises morality as unnecessary. The errors of both arise from the same cause, an obstinate adherence of the fanatical clergy to the dogmas of an antiquated creed, which does not enforce the obligations of virtue, nor accommodate itself to the rational ideas of an enlightened age.
There has been lately published from the Press of Childs and Swaine, in New-York, a volume of sermons, by the Rev. Dr. WILLIAM LINN, one of the ministers of the Reformed Dutch Church in that city. One peculiar excellence observable in those sermons, is, their being of such a complexion as to suit the ideas of every denomination of christians; the author having carefully avoided those controverted points in divinity, the discussion of which might indeed have proved acceptable to the furious zealot, but would by no means have suited the taste of the cool and dispassionate votaries of real religion; a description of men, which, to the honour of the present age be it said, are rapidly gaining ground in the world. The author takes for the subject of every sermon the more striking features of some character in sacred history, worthy of imitation, and from thence deduces such practical observations and advice, as at once meliorate the heart and improve the understanding. The language of these sermons is simple and easy; and altho' the work is not unprecedented in respect of plan, it will not on that account be the less acceptable to all persons of taste and discernment, that may afford it a reading—These sermons are for sale, in this city, by Mr. Dobson, Second Street, and at No. 239 High Street.
The Senate and House of Representatives of this State met at the State House in this city on Tuesday last.
The Assumption of the State Debts, (says a New-York paper of the 2d inst.) was amongst the wisest measures of the late Congress; even those who formerly thought it an exceptional act now approve of it, because they have seen the good consequences flowing from it, and they now join with its former advocates in lamenting that the opposition made to it was the cause of its being left incomplete. Had the sum been assumed which was originally reported by the Secretary of the Treasury, as the amount of the debts of the several states, nothing more than justice would have been done, and some time would have been saved to the present Congress, who will undoubtedly be disposed to follow the liberal and just example of their predecessors, and compleat that, which peculiar circumstances left unfinished on a former occasion.
“A new whim (says an extract of a letter from Prussia, in a French paper) has seized our King. He has made a catechism for all his subjects, and compels them all, even the officers of the army, to go regularly to church to hear sermons. Corporal punishment is by law inflicted upon any person who shall twice, successively, omit going to church. Would to heaven that all kings may be, in like manner, illuminated with the spirit of religious perfection—Revolutions would soon follow every where.”
A late French paper has the following paragraph:—Marfeilles, August 25.—“The Buft of the author of the history of the Two Indies (Abbe Raynal) had for some years been hung up in the hall where the friends to the constitution held their meetings. It was a piece of respect which they thought due to genius and philosophy.—But no sooner were they informed of the Abbe's “Address to the National Assembly” and its aristocratical tendency, than they ordered it to be taken down, with some marks of contempt, and carried to the hospital of St. Lazarus, where idiots and madmen are kept confined. To add the more to the solemnity of the removal of the Buft, it was carried in the same covered cart in which patients are usually conveyed to the hospital.”
[The following paragraphs appeared in Le Patriote Francois, a newspaper of Sept. 8, printed at Paris.]
“Late advices from the continent of North America say, that sugar, made from the juice of the maple tree (with which that continent abounds) is like to supersede entirely the use of that article imported from the islands. A gentleman of the editor's acquaintance has received a loaf of the maple sugar from Philadelphia, in every respect equal to that produced from the sugar cane, and
impossible to be distinguished one from the other. There are, we are told, several respectable quaker houses in London, that confine themselves wholly to this sort of sugar; and there is every reason to hope, that in a few years Europe will no longer be under a necessity of using that species of the commodity above mentioned, which is extorted from the blood and sweat of miserable slaves.”
A prejudice has hitherto prevailed, on this side of the Atlantic, that the life of man is of shorter duration in America than in Europe; that the natives of the first mentioned country begin to wear the marks of age at thirty, and that the proportion of those that die in their infancy is much larger than in Europe.—All these positions are found to be false; on the contrary, it has been recently discovered from careful observations, and an inspection into the most accurate bills of mortality, that human life is of longer duration in America, and less exposed to the assaults of disease, than in Europe.—The tables of longevity ought to be the universal touchstone of Governments. These are the unerring scale by which we may compute the degrees of vice or virtue, the perfection or the degradation of the human race.—In applying this principle to the United States, we may see the reason why life is longer there than elsewhere. To the natural advantages of their soil and climate, they add the blessings of liberty to a degree unknown in the old world, and in this liberty is found the great principle of health.—It is proved beyond contradiction, from a great number of accounts in our possession, that in the eastern states of America, and even in those of the middle parts, one person out of every ten that are born, reaches the age of eighty years; whereas at Breslaw, in Germany, the healthiest spot in Europe, and most likely from its climate and situation to be favorable to long life, it has been proved from numberless observations, that not more than one person in thirty reaches the age of eighty.
Till very lately, the Americans of the United States have been reproached in this country for want of national fidelity in discharging their public debt owing to France. We have now in our hands the most complete and authentic tables of the general debt of the United States; and it would not be improper to inform the financiers of Europe, and such as speculate in the American funds, that the aggregate of the debt of the United States, constitutes no more than the yearly interest of the national debt paid in England or France. In fact, since the separation of the United States from England, they have prospered beyond belief. Their exports are increased almost one third; manufactures are every where established, and bid fair to flourish, equal to any in Europe.—New states are forming in the immense region beyond the Alleghany, called the empire of the west. In the nature of things, this empire must soon become powerful; and there, some Peter, or hermit, will, in time, preach up new crusades to unfetter the enslaved nations of Mexico and Peru!
To form a just idea of the importance of the American empire, we, in France, must transfer ourselves beyond the age in which our lot is cast. In the midst of their rude forests we may then survey not, perhaps, towns and cities at every step we take, but beautiful farms and rural settlements, from New-Hampshire to Quito, in Peru. We will image to ourselves happiness, the attendant of industry; beauty, the possession of the fair daughters of nature; liberty and good morals making laws and government almost unnecessary; and the blessings of toleration in the place of a bloody inquisition—we may, there, by anticipation, on some joyous festive day, behold Peruvians, Mexicans, the free Americans, and the French emigrants to America, meeting together, embracing each other like brethren, curling the memory of tyrants, and extolling the reign of Liberty, which must gradually restore every thing in this world to its former universal harmony.—But the Peruvian and Mexican mines, and the slaves therein—what will be their fate in these days of futurity?—We answer, the mines will be shut; the slaves will be the brethren of their masters, having first made themselves worthy to be such, by acquiring their knowledge and their customs and habits of life.—But (you will say) how will the world do without that gold which avarice has in all ages found so necessary?—We answer, that the precious metals, even at this day, are of very little value, unless they are dug out of the bowels of the earth by the hands of fettered slaves—a people really free will never want the mere signs of wealth to facilitate the exchange of merchandise. Gold has ever served the purposes of despotism and tyranny, rather than of virtue and liberty; and liberty can at any time find out agents of commerce of a less dangerous nature, as a substitute for gold and silver.
The Speculatists of the present day hardly imagine that two revolutions are at this moment preparing in the new world, which shall totally change both the ideas and commerce of the old. A channel of communication will be opened betwixt two immense oceans [at the Isthmus of Darien] and the mines of Peru will be abandoned—a number of other stupendous events will most certainly follow, from the enterprising character of the people and prevalent opinions in America.—Reader, would you wish to know the cause of them?—Read, then, the following passage out of Tristram Shandy, and be convinced:—“Nature, like a kind mother, has shown the same good will to all her offspring. In distributing her favours she has been so extremely solicitous for equality of condition, that she has placed almost all the world, in respect to abilities, on the same footing. We may here and there indeed, meet with instances of superior genius but take the world at
large, inspect into every rank of men, and you will find impartially scattered among them, good sense, sound understanding, and a sufficiency of natural knowledge to guide them aright in whatever relates to their domestic felicity, or the rights of man. With us, indeed, in England, the case is different—we are either very high or very low—we are either great geniuses or deplorable dunces—and with us, extremes are always much more common than a medium.”—From hence we may argue that the general prosperity of a nation is only found in a mediocrity of condition.—Slavery and tyranny are at an immense distance when knowledge is disseminated alike to all. Despotism can never steal in upon any nation while so many eyes are open to watch her most secret steps, and where the principles of independence and equal liberty come into the world with every man that is born. What is it that has placed the whole world under the yoke of despotism, but those two extremes of which Sterne speaks?—Men of superior genius and discernment, who commonly make an ignorant multitude their tools, and, with aristocratic influence, crush that part of a nation who are the most useful to the community!—In America, the European mode of classing the several ranks of a nation is unknown—they allow neither of great men among them, nor men of genius, nor aristocrats, nor populace—and this is what is to be understood by a PURE REPUBLIC.”
The Editor has been favoured with London Papers to the 30th Sept.—The most material intelligence from them is the following:—
PARIS, Sept. 26.
On Friday the Mayor of Paris received the following letter:
“SIR, “The KING, touched with the marks of affection shown to him by the inhabitants of the capital, and desirous of affording a new occasion for the display of the public joy, his Majesty has ordered me to inform you, that on Sunday next he will cause the Thuilleries and the Champs-Elysees to be illuminated. His Majesty recommends to you to take the necessary measures for maintaining peace and safety.”
(Signed) “DELESSART, Minister for the Home Department.”
The Municipality accordingly forbid, as usual, on such occasions, the appearance of any carriages in the streets and squares near the Thuilleries, and the Champs-Elysees.
In the evening all the world repaired to the Thuilleries and the Champs-Elysees, which were most fancifully and superbly illuminated, and the night concluded with the retirement of a delighted and exulting populace to their several houses.
The same day the Mayor received the following letter from the King:
“Sir, “I was desirous of marking the epoch of the completion of the constitution, by a public festival; but the Queen and I are, at the same time, attentive to the interest of the poor, which shall never be absent from our hearts. We have defined the sum of 50,000 livres for their relief; and I thought it my duty to charge you with the distribution of this sum among the several sections, in proportion to their necessities. I am persuaded, that you will execute this mission in a manner the most agreeable to my intentions.”
(Signed) “LOUIS.”
All these popular acts of the King and Queen are received with infinite satisfaction, because they are supposed to be voluntary; and, notwithstanding the republican spirit, which to a certain degree pervades not only Paris but all the great towns in the kingdom, it is still in the power of their Majesties, and with very little trouble to themselves, to secure the acclamations and the blessings of the people whenever they appear in public. But if they should attempt any thing that may shew their professed adherence to the new constitution to have been merely assumed for the purpose of delusion, the situation of the meanest subject in the kingdom will be enviable, compared with theirs.
It is currently reported here, and very confidently believed, that the King, since his acceptance of the constitution, refused to receive a packet addressed to him by his brothers, or to hear any verbal explanation of the contents from the bearer; to whom he said, that he could hold no correspondence with the Princes till their return to Paris.
M. de Segur, who was lately appointed ambassador to Rome, will, it is said, proceed to England to replace M. de la Luzerne, deceased. Every thing is as peaceable and quiet here as if nothing had happened; trade is taking its usual course, and we have not the least suspicion of any of the powers of Europe attempting to disturb our domestic tranquility. We shall, however, be prepared for defending ourselves, but we shall treat any attacks as those of an assassin who endeavors to disturb individual repose.
The choice of a new Marine Minister was not declared or known yesterday.
Conformable to the decree of the National Assembly, two preachers yesterday informed the Municipality of Paris, that they had formed contracts to enter into wedlock immediately.
LONDON, Sept. 30.
So great are the advantages secured to this country by the free navigation of the Dnieper, which our late armament was equipped to establish, that the imports of naval stores from that river only have amounted, since the conclusion of the negotiation with Russia, to the enormous sum of 6,000,000.
The Duke of York's marriage was celebrated yesterday at Berlin. Political formalities would have deferred it for some months, but these obstacles the impatience and address of a lover found means to remove.
M. La Fayette is to succeed M. Bouille in the command of the troops in the departments of the Meurthe and the Moselle.

THE DEBTOR'S SOLOQUY.
ALLUR'D by trust, from shop to shop I ran, Gaz'd at the windows deck'd with gaudy gear Mullins, and lawns, and laces; papers, books, And cloths, the finest from Britannia's looms Too tempting to the eye!—Much did I talk With that thrice happy wight, who constant stands Musing behind the counter—all his aim To catch the pence of lady or of squire.
Most things I bought, but always sigh'd for more. I bought, indeed—but not one ounce of wit: Mark that, and mark it down to my confusion— O credit, credit, what a cheat art thou! I paid no cash—'twas noted for a crime By that recording hand, which WASTE-BOOK keeps.
Nor that alone; but cruelly transfers To Journal, Ledger—and the Lord knows what.
Away I went; my buyings safely stow'd, Whether on negro's head, or dray—no matter— Soft pafs'd the joyous months that interven'd, While yet the busy hours ran sweetly on, While yet no 'prentice boys approach'd my door With lectures short, but serious as the grave, Preaching up mournful truths from beardless chin!
But PAY-DAY came at last—and with it bro't Unnumber'd plagues and cares, and doubts, and fears,
And grunts, and growls, and grumblings without end,
And quibbles, and quibbles, lies and subterfuges, Bills and notes with compliments cut short; Aye—such as scarcely said your humble servant!
Whene'er I walk'd the streets, I found no rest— And rather would have met (horn'd, tail'd, and hoof'd,
Old Satan's self, than fac'd one creditor— The knocker had no interval of pause, And every man that came, came with a dun, And fancy looks, and stiff impertinence, And heavy lowering brow, that spoke no good! What could I more?—I bundled up my duds, Pull'd to the door, that stood upon a jar, Beneath the threshold laid the landlord's key, And at the hour when ghosts are said to walk March'd off, and left even Master Snip unpaid!
Blame me, ye men of cold philosophy, That fear not sheriffs, constables, or writs— Blame me who will—I relish not a jail, And, be my trotters in what plight they may, (Even tho' my galley-gestins were unsoal'd) Still should they bear me from those dull retreats Where want of spirit keeps the prisoner fast, And wretches pine, and harpies turn the key.
Philadelphia, December 6, 1791.
STATE of NEW-JERSEY.
An Act to incorporate the Contributors to the So- ciety for establishing useful manufactures, and for the further encouragement of the said Society.
WHEREAS it is represented to this legisla- ture, that a subscription has been made for the purpose of introducing and establishing use- ful manufactures, to an amount which already ex- ceeds two hundred thousand dollars; and where- as the State of New-Jersey having been deemed by the contributors the most suitable for carrying the same into effect, the aid of the legislature has been requested, in promotion of the views of the said contributors; and whereas it appears to this legislature, that the granting of such aid will be conducive to the public interest: Therefore,
Seet. 1. Be it enacted by the council and Gen- eral Assembly of this State, and it is hereby en- acted by the authority of the same, That all those persons who have already subscribed, and who, according to the terms hereafter mentioned shall subscribe for the purpose of establishing a company for carrying on the business of manu- factures in this state, their successors and assigns, shall be and are hereby incorporated by the name of "The Society for establishing useful manu- factures," and by the same name they and their suc- cessors and assigns, are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate in law, and shall be able and capable to acquire, purchase, receive, have, hold, and enjoy, any lands, tenements, hereditaments, goods, and chattels, of what kind or quality soe- ver, to an amount in value not exceeding four mil- lion of dollars, and the same, or any part thereof, to sell, grant, demise, alien and dispose of; also to sue, or be sued, implead, and be impleaded, in courts of justice, or any other place whatever, to make and use a common seal, and the same to al- ter and renew at their pleasure, and also to ordain, establish and put in execution, such bye-laws, or- dinances, and regulations, as shall seem necessary and convenient for the government of the said corporation, provided the same are not contrary to the laws and constitution of the United States, or of this state.
And be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the original or capital stock of the said so- ciety or company shall not exceed the sum of one million of dollars, to be employed in manufactur- ing or making all such commodities or articles as shall not be prohibited by law, and to that end in purchasing such lands, tenements, and heredita- ments, and erecting thereupon such buildings, and digging and establishing such canals, and doing such other matters and things as shall be needful for carrying on a manufactory or manufactories of the said commodities or articles.
3. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said corporation shall not deal, nor trade, except in such articles as itself shall manufacture and the materials thereof, and in such articles as shall be really and truly received in payment or exchange therefor.
4. And, the more effectually to encourage so useful and beneficial an establishment; Be it fur- ther enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all the lands, tenements, hereditaments, goods and chattels, to the said society belonging, shall be and they are hereby declared to be free, and ex- empt from all taxes, charges, and impositions whatsoever, under the authority of this state, whether for state or county uses or for any other
use whatsoever, Provided always, That the said exemption shall not be construed to extend to the private or separate property of any member of the said corporation in his or her individual capacity; and as touching the lands, tenements, and heredi- taments of the said society, shall continue in force for the term of TEN YEARS only, after which term it shall be lawful to lay such taxes for the use of the state upon the said lands, tenements, and hereditaments, as shall be laid upon other lands, te- nements, and hereditaments of like value, nature or description; Provided nevertheless, that, in case the said taxes shall be laid by way of assess- ment, it shall be according to a certain rate per cent. to be prescribed in the law laying such tax- es of the true and absolute value of the lands, te- nements, or hereditaments whereupon the same shall be laid or assessed, and shall not extend direct- ly or indirectly to the monies, goods or chattels whether in possession or action, or to the profits real or supposed of the said society.
5. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all artificers or manufacturers, in the immediate service of the said society, shall be free and exempt from all poll and capitation taxes, and taxes on their respective faculties or occupations, and from all taxes in the nature of general assessments, upon their persons, faculties or occupations: Provided that this shall not be con- strued to exempt their property of whatsoever kind from taxes of a specific and definite nature, per quantity or per article, or according to a certain rate per centum of the true and absolute value thereof.
6. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the original or capital stock aforesaid, shall consist of ten thousand shares, each share being one hundred dollars; and that any person, co-partnership or body politic, may sub- scribe for such number of shares in the stock of the said company which yet remain to be sub- scribed, as he, she or they shall think fit, until the whole number of shares subscribed shall a- mount to five hundred thousand dollars, after which it shall be in the discretion of the directors to permit or not further subscriptions, from time to time, and in such proportions as shall seem to them ex- pedient, not exceeding in the whole, the said sum of one million of dollars. And it shall be lawful for subscriptions to the said stock to be continued in the same manner, and under the same direction, as they have been heretofore conducted, until the day herein after named for the first election of directors, after which it shall be the province of the said directors to regulate the manner of re- ceiving further subscriptions. And in case it should happen that the subscriptions which may be made after the passing of this act, together with those made prior thereto, should exceed the sum, which in the judgment of the said directors should be sufficient in the first instance to consti- tute the stock of the said society, not being less than five hundred thousand dollars, it shall be lawful for the said directors to make a propor- tional reduction from the number of shares which, after the passing of this act, shall have been sub- scribed by any person, co-partnership, or body po- litic, so as to reduce the total amount of the sums subscribed, to the sum by them deemed sufficient as aforesaid, not being less than five hundred thousand dollars; all which subscriptions, made prior to the said first election of directors, shall be payable, one half in the funded six per cent stock of the United States, or in three per cent stock at the rate of two dollars of such stock for one, and the other half in what is commonly called deferred stock, or at the option of the party subscribing, such subscriptions may be paid for in specie, computing the said six per cent stock at par, and the said deferred stock according to the present value thereof at the time of payment, which value shall be determined by a calculation founded upon a rate of interest of six per cent per annum, during the period for which the payment of interest upon the said deferred stock is suspended; and the pay- ments for such subscriptions as shall be made prior to the first election of directors shall be made in four equal parts, that is to say, the first within 45 days after the period of such first election, the se- cond within six calendar months after the time of the first, the third within six calendar months af- ter the time of the second, and the fourth within six calendar months after the time of the third payment. And such subscriptions as shall be made after the said first election of directors, shall be payable according to such regulations as shall have been previously prescribed by the directors of the society for the time being: Provided that nothing herein contained shall prevent any subscribing party from paying, with consent of the said direc- tors, the whole amount of his, her or their sub- scription at one payment.
7. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That so much of the capital stock of the said company as may consist of public debt, shall be placed on the books of the treasury of the Unit- ed States, in the name of the said corporation, except so much thereof as may be converted into stock of the Bank of the United States; and that it shall be lawful for the directors thereof to invest any monies which may be received on account of the said capital stock in the purchase of such debt, and likewise to invest both the said debt and the monies in stock of the Bank of the United States, in the name of the said corporation; and that in either case the said directors, on the request of any stock-holder, shall grant to him a licence to inspect and examine the amount of stock which may at any time stand in the name of the said corporation, either on the books of the Treasury of the United States, or on the books of the Bank of the United States.
8. And be it further enacted, That there shall be a yearly dividend for the first five years imme- diately ensuing the last day of December next, and thenceforth a half-yearly dividend, of so much of the profits of the said society, as to the directors thereof shall seem expedient.
9. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the stock of the said society may be invested, secured, assigned, and transferred, ac- cording to such rules as shall be instituted in that behalf by its laws and ordinances.
10. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That there shall be holden an election of directors of the said corporation on the last
Monday of this present month of November, at Trenton, in this state, which election shall begin between the hours of twelve and two in the after- noon of the same day, and may be continued by adjournment from day to day for three days, counting the first as one, and may be conducted under the superintendence of any three persons whom the stockholders then and there convened may, by a majority of voices, nominate for that purpose: and there shall be holden on the first Monday in October next ensuing, the said time of the said first election, and on the first Monday of each succeeding October, an election for directors of the said society, at such place as shall have been previously appointed for that pur- pose by some law or ordinance of the said society; and the directors chosen at one election, shall be capable of serving by virtue thereof until another election shall have been had; and each stockhold- er shall be entitled to one vote in person, or by attorney for each share he or she may hold, but neither the United States, nor any state which may become a subscriber, shall be entitled to more than one hundred votes.
11. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That at every such election thirteen di- rectors shall be chosen by ballot, and the directors so chosen shall at the first meeting after their elec- tion, not less than a majority of the whole num- ber being present, elect from among themselves one person to be governor, and another to be deputy governor: That any five of the directors, the gov- ernor or deputy-governor being one, shall consti- tute a board for the transaction of business, ex- cept as hereafter excepted;—but if it shall at any time happen, that there are two different or sepa- rate meetings of five or more directors each, but in neither of such meetings a majority of the whole, and the governor be present at the one, and the deputy-governor at the other, that shall be deemed the legal board at which the governor shall be present; and that if it shall happen, that the governor and deputy-governor are both absent, seven of the said directors shall constitute a board for the purpose aforesaid: That no director shall receive any emolument on account of his office, unless the same shall have been allowed by the stockholders at a general meeting; but the direc- tors may appoint such officers, and assign such compensations as they shall think fit, not less than a majority of the whole number of directors being present when the same shall be done.
12. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That there shall be a stated meeting of the directors of the said society at the place which shall have been chosen and designated as the prin- cipal seat of the manufactures to be carried on by the said society on the first Tuesday in the months of January, April, July and October, annually; but the governor, or in his absence or inability the deputy-governor, or in case of their refusal, any three directors may from time to time, by writing from under his or their hands, directed to the other directors, and left at their respective places of abode, at least fourteen days prior to the time of meeting, or, by advertisement printed in one public Gazette of this state, and in one of the public Gazettes printed in the cities of Philadel- phia and New-York respectively, thirty days prior to the time of meeting, convene special meetings of the directors for the transaction of business, and the directors at such stated or special meetings shall have power to make all by-laws, ordinances, rules and regulations, requisite for conducting the affairs of the corporation, and to transact such other business as may be necessary touching the same. Provided that no by-law shall be made or altered, nor any new manufacture undertaken by any board of directors, at which less than a ma- jority of the whole number shall be present. And provided further, That the stockholders lawfully convened, at any general meeting, may alter or abolish any by-laws, rules or regulations, which may have been made by the directors; and may make and establish such by-laws, rules and regula- tions as to them shall seem meet; and that no by-law, rule or regulation, which may have been abolished by the stockholders at any general meeting, can be re-established by the directors; and further, that no by-law, rule or regulation, which may have been obtained by the said stockholders, at a general meeting, can be altered or repealed by the directors.
13. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That any board of directors shall have power to call a general meeting of the stockholders, giving thirty days previous notice thereof in three public gazettes, one printed in this state, and one in each of the cities of Philadelphia and New- York respectively; and that each stockholder, be- ing present at any general meeting in person, or by attorney, shall be entitled in all questions and cases whatsoever, to one vote for each share such stockholder may hold.
14. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That every treasurer or cashier of the said corporation shall, before he enters on the du- ties of his office, give sufficient security, to the sat- isfaction of the directors, in a sum not less than twenty thousand dollars.
15. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That at every annual meeting of the stockholders, for the purpose of choosing directors, the directors shall lay before them a general state of the affairs of the company, exhibiting the amount of its stock, debts and credits, the differ- ent kinds of manufactures carried on, the number of persons employed in each, and their respective compensations, and an account of the profit and loss. And that the stockholders may, if they think fit, at any general meeting, elect by ballot any five of their number for the purpose of exam- ining into the state of the affairs of the said com- pany, who shall have a right of access and exam- ination to and of all the books of the said com- pany; and the said persons, or a majority of them, may, at any time, call a general meeting of the stockholders, giving the like notice as is above directed to be given by a board of directors for the like purpose. And that the United States, or any state which shall subscribe for not less than one hundred shares, may appoint a commissioner, who shall have a right at all times to inspect the proceedings of the corporation, and the state of its affairs, but without any authority to control; and such commissioner shall have the like right of ac-
cess and examination as is herein before assigned to the five persons who may be appointed by the stockholders.
16. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, That the said corporation may be dis- solved at a general meeting specially summoned for that purpose, provided at least three-fourths in value of the stockholders shall be present, or re- present or represented therein; and upon such dissolution, the directors for the time being, and the survivors, and survivor of them, shall be ipso facto trustees for settling all the affairs of the said corporation, disposing of its effects, recovering and paying its debts, and dividing the surplus among the stockholders in proportion to their respective interest in the stock, unless the stockholders, at such general meeting, shall appoint other persons, not less than nine nor more than thirteen in num- ber for such purpose, in which case the persons so appointed, and the survivors and survivor of them, shall be trustees and trustee for the purpose afore- said.
[To be continued.]
GEORGE MEADE HAS FOR SALE,
At his Stores on WALNUT-STREET WHARF, FEW pipes of 3 and 4 years old bils of ex- change Madeira WINE, which he will dis- pose of by the pipe, hogshead or quarter cask.
London market Madeira WINE, 5 and 6 years old, Old Sherry WINE of the first quality, by the hogshead or quarter cask.
Three and 4 years old Lisbon WINE, of a su- perior quality to what is generally imported, by the pipe, quarter cask, or larger quantity.
Choice old Coniac BRANDY, by the pipe, tierce, or larger quantity.
A few quarter casks of first quality H. Jon TEA. He has just received by the Pigeon, Lozley, master, from London, a few quarter casks of old Madeira WINE—And
By the brig Mercury, capt. Stevens, from Dub- lin, a few boxes of Irish LINENS, low priced and well assorted: a few bales of Red and White FLANNELS, and some GLUE.
A few boxes of Spermaceti CANDLES of the first quality, and Burlington PORK of prime quality. He has also to dispose of a quantity of dressed White Oak STAVES.
He means to keep a constant supply of First Qua- lity Madeira and Lisbon WINES, and whoever is pleased to favor him with their custom, may be assured of being well served.
He will, through the Winter and Spring, buy undressed HANDSPIKES. He is purchasing FLAXSEED and BEES-WAX, and will give the highest Price for them.
N. B. A few Hamps of excellent London PORTER and Taunton ALE, just arrived and to be disposed of.
CHARLES BITTERS, No. 120,
South Market, near Fourth Street, Has received from New-York, and manufactured
BY LOT MERKEL, A large and General Assortment of Muffs & Tippets, Trimmings & Edgings,
Great Coats, Caps, Mitts & gloves lined with Fur; which he will sell, Wholesale and Retail, at the lowest Prices.
Oct. 4. IAWt
JUST PUBLISHED, and for sale by THOMAS LANG, No. 21, Church alley;
An Essay on COMMERCE and LUXURY.
Re-printed from the London edition—Price 1/6. The merit of this work will be acknow- ledged by every judicious reader. The re- publication of it in this country, at this time, has been advised by several enlightened patriots. These wish to promote our national commerce, on the ba- sis of agriculture and industry, and free from the base alloy of imposition and gaming. They set a proper value on the conveniences and ornaments of civilized life; but detest that luxury which is the offspring of a frivolous taste, and the mother of profligacy, dishonesty, poverty, of number- less private and public vices and misfortunes. Nov. 28. Bt.c.t.
This day is Published By CHILDS and SWAIN, In one Volume Octavo; [Price One Dollar and a half, the small Edition, and One Dollar and three quarters, the large.]
THE LAWS of the UNITED STATES. Collated with, and corrected by the original Rolls in the Office of the Secretary of State.
With a copious INDEX; or A complete DIGEST of the LAWS; (Making 56 pages:)
Executed by an eminent Law Character. To obtain this useful and necessary Part of the Work complete, has retarded the Publication. This Volume comprizes the Acts of the Three Sessions of the first Congress; also, the Federal Constitution, and the Treaties between the United States and Foreign Nations—Together with an Ap- pendix, containing the Declaration of Independ- ence, and sundry Ordinances and Resolves of Con- gress under the Confederation.
Sold by Childs and Swaine, No. 239, High- street, Thomas Dobson, Joseph Crukshank, and Robert Campbell, Philadelphia. October 25.
PRINTED BY CHILDS AND SWAIN, AT THEIR OFFICE, NO. 239, HIGH-STREET, NEAR SIXTH-STREET, PHILADELPHIA.