National gazette. (Philadelphia [Pa.]), 1792-04-02 00:00:00

National Gazette.
By P. FRENEAU: Published MONDAYS and THURSDAYS, at THREE DOLLARS per annum.
VOL. I.
MONDAY, APRIL 2, 1792.
NUMB. 45.
For the NATIONAL GAZETTE.
To the FREEMEN of the UNITED STATES.
FELLOW CITIZENS,
A this awful moment which presents a crisis big with the fate of our common country, I now address you & whilst your most sacred rights and privileges, all the blessings of liberty, your general welfare and that of your posterity forever, stand suspended on one eventful circumstance, inferior considerations will be waved, lesser evils overlooked, and nothing regarded but the pestilential influence of that corrupt and poisonous principle which shall sweep away in one indiscriminate blast, every thing that is dear and precious to freemen. In vain, my countrymen, have you fought and conquered—in vain have you lavished your best blood and treasure—in vain have you surmounted the most unparallelled scenes of difficulty and distress, and attempted to secure and perpetuate the hallowed blessings of equal liberty upon the solid base of a constitution of government, founded on the principles of a federative union of states and the mutual guarantee of individual rights. Consolidation, that many headed monster of power, that creature of monarchy and instrument of oppression, has made its appearance among you; and clothed with the influence of a maxim as novel as it is dangerous, "that the majority can do no wrong," it comes sanctioned in the form of a bill issuing from the two Houses of Congress, and ready to be presented for its final fiat. In one mighty sweep it prostrates the rights of states, beats down the boundaries of the constitution, annuls the principles of your government, and reduces by practice that beautiful theory, you have so recently reared and venerate into the awful result of "We will, and you obey"—confounding the original and fundamental laws of representation, which constitute the vital principle of government, it substitutes virtual for actual representation, destroys all responsibility between the representative and his constituent, and re-establishes the tyrannical doctrine against which America so lately fought in the contest with Great Britain, "that a foreign representation has a right to bind us in all cases without our consent." The plain and simple provision of the constitution of the United States, which declares "that representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers," is by a Jesuitical perversion, which would make even a Loyola laugh, rendered thus, "Representatives shall be apportioned among all the states according to their aggregate numbers"—as if the casting vote of a Vice President in the Senate and a majority of two in the House of Representatives, occasioned by the casualty of sickness and inability to attend, of three of the southern members, could blind the understanding, and pervert the judgment of the people of America, or induce them to receive as gospel truths, those fiats of Congress which attempt to declare right to be wrong, or black to be white. Equality too, that sacred principle, which is applied to mitigate the rigor of the severer rules of law, is not less perverted and abused in pursuit of this new fangled mode of construction, and as if to do injustice were to establish equality, this political fractional divisor is used, on the one hand, with all the care of mathematical certainty, and on the other with all the latitude of speculative fancy. Thus is the ratio of one for 30,000 first applied to the aggregate numbers of all the states, which, including their respective fractions gives 120 members, and then the same ratio applied to the states severally, giving 112 members, the remaining eight members are assigned not apportioned a-
mong such of the states having fractions, as Congress in their discretion saw fit to give them to—and in this scramble for power and plunder of the people's rights, it is, as might be expected, "that the weakest goes to the wall," and local considerations supersede all others; thus there is given to N. Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont, four adjoining states, each an additional member, which, by the plain sense and common meaning of the constitution they are not entitled to, and to the states of New-Jersey and Delaware each an additional member, whilst the two states of North and South Carolina, alone, of all the southern states are to receive a like advantage. Nor is this all, the Senate of the United States, with whom this bill originated, have said, that by taking the aggregate of the federal or representative numbers of all the states, which is 3615825, and dividing that by one for every 30000, the constitutional ratio, you would give 120 members, the number declared in their Bill, and leave only a fraction of 15825 unrepresented in the whole United States, whereas the fact is, that according to the bill, as it now is, the states of Rhode-Island, New-York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Kentucky and Georgia, leave a fraction unrepresented of 50981; for which upon the principles of virtual representation, you must look to the states of New-Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont for members, thus producing in the same government and among the same body of men, the monstrous absurdity of a part of the Legislature consisting of actual and a part of virtual representatives, although the amendments of the Senate make no provision for allowing the virtual representative a fractional vote, that is to say, if he represents 10000, one third of a vote, if 15000, half a vote, if 20000, two-thirds of a vote, which upon their legerdemain principles of equality would be certainly right. But the application of this golden mean of truth to the states individually, will more manifestly show its effect and satisfy the public mind what motives gave birth to a measure so wild, so arbitrary, and so absolutely in dereliction of all principle, that it renounced and rejected all pretension of being dictated by or made pursuant to the constitution, and therefore struck out of the bill sent up by the House of Representatives, all that related to a specific ratio or apportionment, according to the constitution, and left it upon this simple ground—
   STATES. Members Federal Numbers     Vermont 3 85533 28511   N. Hampshire 5 141823 28364   Massachusetts 16 475327 29705   Rhode-Island 2 68447 34225   Connecticut 8 236842 29605   New-York 11 331592 30144   New-Jersey 6 179559 29926   Pennsylvania 14 432879 30919   Delaware 2 55540 27770   Maryland 9 278514 30846   Virginia 21 630560 30026   Kentucky 2 68705 34352   N. Carolina 12 358523 29460   S. Carolina 7 206237 29462   Georgia 2 70844 35422   120 3615825  
Giving one Representative for
From which it will appear, that the three small states of Rhode-Island, Kentucky and Georgia, are to have a proportionate less representation than any within the union, while Delaware is to have the largest, and next to her N. Hampshire, which, with federal numbers, not more than two-fold to that of Georgia, is to have five members and Georgia only two:—thus, advancing to equality by encreasing the difference and adding to injustice. Enough, however has been
stated, and whether the bill in question, by the ambidexterity of its contrivers, has on the scale of 120 members, apportioned by the ratio of one for every thirty thousand on the aggregate numbers of all the states, really, left an unrepresented fraction of no more than 15825, when the six states of Rhode-Island, New-York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Kentucky and Georgia alone, present an unrepresented fraction of 50981, common sense will determine. Nor should it escape observation through how many forms, and with what variety of management this business has been conducted; two bills have been originated on the subject, in the first of which the House of Representatives, by no less than seven solemn votes, by ayes and noes, adhered to the original and constitutional principle of a ratio of one for 30,000 applied to the several states according to their respective numbers, and the bill failed solely on the difference occasioned by the Senate, of insisting on a ratio of one for 33,000, without regard to the present contrivance of fractional constituents and a virtual representative—The other bill, which is now in question also originated, or was intended to originate in the House of Representatives, although as it stands nothing but the words "Be it enacted," and the names of the states now remain of all that was inserted by that House, the senate having struck out all the rest, and even changed the very title of the bill: On this bill too, grounded on the same principle with the first, of one for 30,000 applied to the several states according to their respective numbers, the House of Representatives by eight solemn votes, adhered to the principle; and lastly, after repeated attempts to introduce fractions, the amendments of the Senate prevailed in the absence of three sick southern members, by a majority of two under the novel and extraordinary circumstance of a question precedent to determine what effect an after question should have, and then of a question subsequent to determine whether a question just taken related to one or a dozen amendments.
To add more upon so plain a subject would be to insult the public understanding, since both the principle and operation of this bill are so obvious, that he who runs may read. Ten years will elapse before it is probable another census will be taken, and whether in the mean time some states are to have a greater representation in Congress, and in the elections of a President and a Vice-President, than they are constitutionally entitled to, or whether at the end of that term, Congress on a second census, may by some new rule of fractions, have another scramble for influence and power, are questions of inferior magnitude, whilst the mind suspended, by the progress of the principle of consolidation awaits with anxious concern, that eventful issue which is to decide whether the Constitution of the United States is a compact or federative union of states, possessing separate rights, and entitled to individual influence according to their respective population and extent—or whether the mere will and discretion of Congress can overlook state limits, dispense with their national boundaries, disregard their population and appropriate their strength, wealth and resources to any purpose of consolidation and national government.
FEDERALIST.
** A few Copies of the Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the Act for laying Duties on Spirits, &c. for sale at this Office.
A few Copies of the Report of the Secretary of State on the subject of the Cod and Whale Fisheries—may be had at the office, No. 239 High-street.
PHILADELPHIA.
CONGRESS.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
TUESDAY, March 27.
Mr. S. Bourne, from the committee of enrollment, presented to Mr. Speaker, duly enrolled, a "Bill, supplemental to the act making further and more effectual provision for the defence of the frontiers of the United States;" Mr. Speaker signed the same; and before the house rose, Mr. Bourne reported, that the committee had waited on the President of the United States, and presented him the said bill, for his approbation.
A message was delivered by Mr. Secretary Lear, informing the House, that the President of the United States had this day signed an "Act providing for the settlement of the claims of particular persons, barred by the limitations heretofore established;" and also an "Act for the relief of widows, orphans, invalid pensioners, and certain other persons."
A message was received from the Senate, "receding from their disagreement to the amendment adhered to by the House of Representatives to the Bill for establishing a mint, &c."
A resolution, laid yesterday on the table by Mr. Giles, was taken up, and amended, as follows:
"Resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to institute an enquiry into the causes of the late defeat of the army under the command of Major General St. Clair; and also into the causes of the detentions or delays, which "are suggested to have attended the money, cloathing, provisions, and military stores for the use of the said army; and into such other causes, as may in any manner have been productive of the said defeat."
After a debate of some length, a division of the question being called for,
The question was taken on the first part, as far as the words "Major General St. Clair," which passing in the negative, yeas, 21; nays, 35; the remainder of the resolution was left of course.
The yeas and nays were as follows: 1 YEAS—Messrs. Ashe, Boudinot, Clarke, Findley, Giles, Goodhue, Heister, Kitchell, Lee, Macon, Page, Parker, Schoonmaker, Seney, Sumpter, Sylvestor, Thatcher, Tredwell, Venable, Ward, Willis—21
NAYS—Messrs. Ames, Baldwin, Barnwell, Benfon, S. Bourne, B Bourne Brown, Fitzsimons, Gilman, Gordon, Gregg, Griffin, Grove, Hartley, Hillhouse, Huger, Key, Learned, Livermore, Madison, Mercer, Moore, Muhlenberg, Murray, Niles, Sedgwick, J. Smith, I. Smith, W. Smith, Steele, Sterrett, Sturges, Vining, White, Williamson—35
The following resolution was then adopted; yeas, 44 nays, 10.
"Resolved, That a committee be appointed to enquire into the causes of the failure of the late expedition under Major Gen. St. Clair; and that such committee be empowered to call for such persons, papers and records, as may be necessary to assist their enquiries."
YEAS—Messrs. Ashe, Baldwin, B. Bourne, S. Bourne, Brown, Clarke, Findley, Fitzsimons, Giles, Gilman, Gordon, Gregg, Griffin, Grove, Hartley, Heister, Huger, Key, Kitchell, Kittera, Lee, Livermore, Macon, Madison, Mercer, Moore, Muhlenberg, Murray, Niles, Parker, Sedgwick, Seney, J. Smith, Steele, Sterrett, Sturges, Sylvestor, Tredwell, Tucker, Vining, Ward, White, Williamson, Willis—44.
NAYS—Messrs. Ames, Barnwell, Benfon, Goodhue, Hillhouse, Page, Schoonmaker, I. Smith, W. Smith, Sumpter—10.

A committee was accordingly appointed, consisting of Messrs. Fitzsimons, Giles, Steele, Mercer, Vining, Clarke, and Sedgwick.
In consequence of the passing of the act, by which a general provision is made for claims to invalid pensions, many of the petitions, heretofore referred to heads of departments, not requiring now to be particularly reported on, the following order was proposed by Mr. Sturges, and adopted by the House, viz.
"Ordered, that the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of War return the petitions presented to this House by invalids and others, whose cases are comprehended in the provisions of any act of the present session, with the papers accompanying the said petitions, which have been referred to them, and are now in their offices; and that the several petitioners have leave to withdraw their petitions."
The report of the select committee on the memorial of the officers of the levies, late in the service of the United States, was taken up for consideration: and on a motion that the House should agree to the report, the question passed in the negative.
Mr. Madison, who had voted with the majority, for the appointment of a committee of enquiry, moved for a reconsideration of the vote, for the purpose of substituting the following resolution, instead of the one adopted:
"Resolved, that a committee be appointed, to make enquiry into such circumstances, connected with the late unsuccessful expedition under the command of Major-General St. Clair, as may be proper to be reported for the information of this House."
Some objections, however, being made, the House, without taking a question on the motion, adjourned.
WEDNESDAY, March 28.
The Speaker laid before the House a letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, inclosing the returns of duties arising on imports and tonnage for one year, ending the 30th of September last, and a return of exports to the same period—which was committed to Mr. Parker, Mr. Key, and Mr. Gilman.
Mr. Fitzsimons, from the committee on the specific account of the Treasurer of the United States, made a report, which was read and ordered to lie on the table.
Mr. Madison moved, "that it be an instruction to the committee of seven, appointed yesterday, to consider the enquiry committed to them, as confined to such circumstances, connected with the late unsuccessful expedition under Major-General St. Clair, as may be requisite for the information of the House."
The question, on this motion, passed in the negative.
A message from the Senate, was delivered by Mr. Secretary Otis, notifying, that they had concurred with the House in passing the bill for finishing the light-house, on Bald-head, at the mouth of Cape Fear river, in the state of North-Carolina.
Mr. Otis delivered a second message, informing the House, that the President of the United States had notified the Senate of his having this day approved and signed an act supplemental to the late act for the defence of the frontiers.
Pursuant to the order of the day, the House resolved itself into a committee of the whole—(Mr. Sney in the chair)—on the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, on the public debt.
The first of the resolutions proposed on the 22d instant, by Mr. Fitzsimons, being taken into consideration,—as follows:
"Resolved, That the term for receiving on loan, that part of the domestic debt of the United States which yet remains unsubscribed, be extended to the first day of September next, on the same terms as was provided by the act making provision for the public debt of the United States."
The word "September" was struck out, leaving a blank, to be afterwards filled up.
Mr. Mercer moved further to amend the proposition, by striking out the words "on the same terms, &c." to the end, and substituting these.
"And all persons, so subscribing, shall receive stock of the United States, for the principal sum so subscribed, bearing an interest payable quarterly at the rate of five per cent. per annum,—and stock of the United States, for the interest due on said principal at the time of subscription, bearing an interest payable quarterly at the rate of three per cent per annum, until the principal sum of the said stock shall be redeemed."
In support of this motion, Mr. Mercer spoke near an hour.
Mr. Madison, in lieu of the proposed amendment, offered the following:
"Provided that, instead of the terms contained in the act making provision for the public debt of the U. States, the subscribers shall receive certificates for the joint amount of the principal and arrears of interest subscribed; which certificates shall bear an interest equivalent to the terms contained in the said act."
The subject was warmly debated till the usual hour of adjournment, when the committee rose, and reported progress.
Mr. I. Smith, from the committee for enrolled bills, reported that the committee had waited on the President of the United States, and presented to him, for his approbation, the "bill establishing a mint, and regulating the coins of the United States."
Mr. Sedgwick, from the committee appointed, reported a bill in conformity to the resolutions adopted on Monday last, respecting the Ohio company. [See Tuesday's minutes.] Adjourned.
THURSDAY, March 29.
Mr. Sedgwick, from the committee appointed, presented a bill authorizing a grant and conveyance of certain lands to the Ohio company of associates—which was twice read and committed to a committee of the whole House on Monday next.
Petitions were presented and read from William Scott, Lydia Henderson, James Robertson, Sluyter Bouchell, Mordecai Sheffall, and Ebenezer Allen, praying reimbursements, compensations, &c. The three first referred to the Secretary of War; the others to the Secretary of the Treasury.
Mr. Steele, from the committee, to whom were referred the petition of Andrew Jackson and the report of the Attorney-General thereon, reported, as their opinion, that it is not expedient to grant the prayer of the petitioner.
Mr. Vining, from the committee, to whom were referred the memorials of the minister and trustees of the Lutheran, and the wardens of the Calvinist Church in Chester county, state of Pennsylvania, and of the corporation of trustees of the public grammar school of Wilmington in the state of Delaware, reported in favor of an indemnification to the said school; but gave it, as the opinion of the committee, that the aforesaid churches, being barred by the acts of limitation, ought not to be indemnified.
The committee of enrolment presented to Mr. Speaker an enrolled bill, for finishing a light-house on Bald-head, at the mouth of Cape-Fear river, in the state of North-Carolina; and Mr. Speaker signed the same.
Pursuant to the order of the day, the House again resolved itself into a committee of the whole, on the report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the public debt: Mr. Sney in the chair.
The amendment proposed yesterday to the first of Mr. Fitzsimons's resolutions being withdrawn; the resolution stood as follows:
"Resolved . . . that the term for receiving on loan, that part of the domestic debt of the United States, which yet remains unsubscribed, be extended to the first day of next, on the same terms, as was provided by the act making provision for the public debt of the United States."
To this Mr. Giles moved to add the following,—
"Except that condition in the act, which renders the debt, so far subscribed, subject to redemption by payments not exceeding, in one year, on account of both principle and interest, a proportion of eight dollars upon the hundred, and any certificate, which shall be issued according to the terms therein specified; which condition, so far as it relates to any part of the debt, which may hereafter be subscribed, shall be abolished."
A debate, of three hours continuance, ensued; in which Messrs. Giles, Ames, Laurence, Mercer, Gerry, Heister, and Findley, having severally spoken,
The question was finally taken on the amendment, and passed in the negative;—yeas 25, nays 32.
The question, on agreeing to the resolution, passed in the affirmative.
The second resolution was agreed to, without debate, as follows:
"That provision ought to be made for payment of the interest on the unsubscribed part of the domestic debt of the United States, to the first day of January, 1793, on like terms as was provided by the act aforesaid."
The third resolution was amended as follows:
"That the holders of loan-office certificates issued between the first day of September, 1777, and the first day of March, 1778, be entitled to receive interest thereon, "according to the liquidated value," at the same rate as other non-subscribing creditors of the United States, without being obliged to exchange such certificates."
A motion, made for a further amendment, was under discussion, when the House adjourned.
FRIDAY, March 30.
Mr. Parker of the committee to whom was referred the report of the Secretary of the Treasury stating the amount of imports and exports, brought in a report which was read and laid on the table.
The report brought in yesterday by Mr. Vining respecting the Wilmington academy, &c. was taken into consideration, agreed to, and a committee appointed to prepare and report a bill. Several petitions were read and referred.
In committee of the whole on the report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the public debt. Mr. Sney in the chair,
The third proposition was taken into consideration—an amendment was proposed by striking out the last clause, in these words, "without being obliged to exchange their certificates." this amendment was disagreed to—and then the question being put on the proposition, that was also negatived—24 to 22.
The 4th proposition being read, the word "September" was expunged; and the question on the proposition with the blank being put—was carried in the affirmative.
The fifth proposition which respects a further assumption was then read; September was struck out.—On motion of Mr. Key, Maryland was inserted.
The subject was then debated till after 3 o'clock, when the committee rose, without a decision, and reported progress.
A message was received from the Senate by Mr. Secretary Otis, with the militia bill—passed the Senate with amendments.
The committee of enrolled bills, reported that they had this day laid before the President of the United States, for his approbation, the Bill for finishing the light-house, on Bald-Head, at the mouth of Cape Fear river. Adjourned.
FOR THE NATIONAL GAZETTE.
THE UNION.
WHO ARE ITS REAL FRIENDS?
NOT those who charge others with not being its friends, whilst their own conduct is wantonly multiplying its enemies.
Not those who favor measures, which by pampering the spirit of speculation within and without the government, disgust the best friends of the Union.
Not those who promote unnecessary accumulations of the debt of the Union, instead of the best means of discharging it as fast as possible; thereby encroaching the causes of corruption in the government, and the pretences for new taxes under its authority, the former undermining the confidence, the latter alienating the affection of the people.
Not those who study, by arbitrary interpretations and invidious precedents, to pervert the limited government of the Union, into a government of unlimited discretion, contrary to the will and subversive of the authority of the people.
Not those who avow or betray principles of monarchy and aristocracy, in opposition to the republican principles of the Union, and the republican spirit of the people; or who espouse a system of measures more accommodated to the depraved examples of those hereditary forms, than to the true genius of our own.
Not those, in a word, who would force on the people the melancholy duty of choosing between the loss of the Union, and the loss of what the union was meant to secure.
The real FRIENDS to the Union are those,
Who are friends to the authority of the people, the sole foundation on which the Union rests.
Who are friends to liberty, the great end, for which the Union was formed.
Who are friends to the limited and republican system of government, the means provided by that authority, for the attainment of that end.
Who are enemies to every public measure that might smooth the way to hereditary government; for resisting the tyrannies of which the Union was first planned, and for more effectually excluding which, it was put into its present form.
Who considering a public debt as injurious to the interests of the people, and baneful to the virtue of the government, are enemies to every contrivance for unnecessarily increasing its amount, or protracting its duration, or extending its influence.
In a word, those are the real friends to the Union, who are friends to that republican policy throughout, which is the only cement for the Union of a republican people; in opposition to a spirit of usurpation and monarchy, which is the menstruum most capable of dissolving it. March 31.
ODE to the ECHO Writer.
IN ECHO'S caves, with shrill-voic'd conchs hung round, And pumpkin shells, responding all they hear, A Bard, call'd Whacum, catches every sound, Governs their tone, pricks up his lengthy ear; In putrid ink then dips his pen of lead And scribbles down what prattling Echo said. Bard of the lengthy ode! whose knavish paw Ne'er grasp'd the helm, besprent with odious pitch, 'Twas better far, (you knew) to practise law, Whine at the church or in the court-house screech; No heart had you to face the wintry blast Fight with the storm, or climb the tottering mast. Then why so wroth, thou bard of narrow foul, If Sinbat, tir'd of puppies, sought the brine?— He drank no swichell from your white-oak bowl, Nor from your poems filch'd a single line:— When he does this—then echo from your caves, "Who robs a beggar, is the worst of knaves." March 31.
Further accounts from the westward say, that Capt. Shaylor is arrested, and will be tried by a general court-martial for leaving his garrison, at Fort-Jefferson, in consequence of which he met with the accident mentioned in our last. No other depredations have been made since the general engagement, except by a small party of Indians, who, about the beginning of March, stole seven horses from Wheeling. The Wabash and other hostile tribes, it is thought, are meditating some capital blow on the frontier posts, a circumstance not much dreaded by the garrisons, as, of all people, Indians are the most feeble in an attack upon fortifications.
A general estimate was presented in the French National Assembly, on the 30th Dec. last. of the public expenses of the year, 1790—which stand as follows:—Maintenance of the princes, five millions of livres; army, two hundred and twenty-one millions; foreign affairs, six millions; marine and colonies, forty-three millions; general administration, five millions; public worship, eighty-one millions; pensions to ecclesiastics, sixty-eight millions; national assembly, five millions; civil list, twenty-five millions; bridges and roads, four millions; high national court, and court of appeal, four hundred and fifty thousand; schools and academies, one million; interest of public debt, twenty millions; life annuities, one hundred millions; perpetual annuities, three hundred millions—Making a total of seven hundred and seventy-four millions of livres, or upwards of thirty-two millions two hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling. —Of this vast sum, two hundred and forty-four millions of livres are upon the list of extraordinaries, caused by the revolt in St. Domingo, and other national convulsions.
The last London papers mention uncommon high tides to have prevailed along the south coast of England the latter end of January. Causeways, bridges, &c. were overflowed which the ocean had scarcely ever reached before—tradesmen's shops, and all other floating bodies were in many places carried entirely away, or driven up to spots that the tide had not been known to visit for more than forty years, and streets in certain towns on the coast were navigable for boats of considerable size. This took place with a succession of hard gales at north-west, so that the tides must have swelled much higher on the opposite shores of France.
In consequence of an inordinate thirst for sudden acquisition (says a letter from New-York) this city is at present far from being in an enviable situation. Confidence between man and man seems almost ruined; and it would be some consolation if contemptible misers and rich skin-flints had alone suffered in the late failures—Unfortunately the widow, the orphan, and some other characters, who deserve our pity, have been also taken in, and even upon the best aspect of the matter, must suffer the loss of the greater part of their little all. From the spirit of speculation which has stalked at large amongst us, commerce has for some time been diverted from its regular course into an improper channel; and the money, destined for commercial purposes, having been employed in speculating manœuvres, the mercantile interests have suffered accordingly.
A bill was presented last Thursday in the Pennsylvania house of representatives, and read, entitled, An Act to prevent the practice of stock-jobbing.—It was ordered to lie on the table for consideration.
The last accounts from the southern parts of Hispaniola are dated Feb. 14. The mulattoes then had entire possession of what is called the Plain, in the neighborhood of Aux-Cayes, and had recently burned a number of buildings and cane-plantations. The encampment of the whites was about two miles from the town last mentioned. Vessels had arrived there a day or two before from France, having on board between three and four hundred infantry and artillery men, who with three hundred militia of the town were to march about the 17th of Feb. to attack the mulattoes. These people had attacked Tiberoon (S. W. part of the island) on the 24th of Jan. but had been repulsed with some loss. Aux-Cayes was reckoned safe; more troops being daily expected; a French and an English frigate in the harbour, and the town well fortified.
British papers, by the last vessels, mention the refusal of the queen of Portugal to interfere in the affairs of France, in consequence of overtures of that nature from the court of Russia.—They say further, that the King of Sweden has at last accepted the notification from Louis the 16th that he had accepted the constitution; and had sent off his answer. His motive for this sudden change of opinion was thought to be the empress of Russia's having accepted the same notification from Monf. St. Priest, and the evident disinclination of the emperor of Germany to intermeddle in the affairs of France.
The answer of the emperor of Germany to the letter of the king of France presented by M. de Noailles, requesting his final answer, whether he meant to support the emigrants or not, is couched in the following terms:—"There can be no longer any doubt as to my manner of thinking upon the affairs of France. My a

declaration, and the orders which I have caused to be given by my government at Brussels to the agent of the French emigrants, prove, that I consider my brother-in-law as free, and that my intention is, not to meddle with the affairs of his kingdom, as long as the French shall leave him all that they have voluntarily assured to him, and that which he has voluntarily accepted in the new constitutional contract.
"But nothing further is to be required of me. If the king of the French has complaints against particular states of the empire, free sovereigns like myself, in virtue of the Germanic constitution, let him address himself to those sovereigns, and settle with them as he may understand them."
"Mr. J. (says an Albany paper) who is now talked of for governor of this state, has been, or is chairman of a club, who wish to give all the negroes their liberty—the Patroon, too, is for setting them all free, and voted for it some years ago, when a member of the assembly—These gentlemen, however, ought not to take our property away because they think it wicked for us to hold it—the fair way would be for them (both being very rich) to give up part of their property to clear the country of this wickedness, since we that have possessed property in slaves ought by no means to be singled out to pay for the wickedness of the country:—But perhaps the rich people wish to set the slaves at liberty that they may have a chance of hiring the best of them for servants—and who knows if certain would-be-governors, after having set the negroes free, would not make voters of them for governor and lieutenant-governor, and thus, by degrees, become strong enough to get people of the African colour into those offices!"
Advices from the Cape of Good-Hope (via Salem) dated October 6, mention affairs in that place to be in the utmost confusion. The governor is sent to Europe; the fiscal absconded, the company's property falling off, and the company itself said to be bankrupt. The troops were gone to Batavia and Ceylon, and the king of Candia (in Ceylon) had rebelled against the Dutch.
A letter from Nashville, in Cumberland county (territory south of the Ohio) mentions the completion of a Carding-Machine in that place, which will card an hundred weight of cotton per day, with only the attendance of one hand. Another is finished at the same place which carries fifty spindles; and three others are nearly ready to go; carrying, in the whole, two hundred spindles. The same letter informs, that cotton is becoming one of the staple commodities of that country, several planters having in the course of the last season raised near one thousand weight each. Six hundred weight of clean cotton had been produced on half an acre of land, but upon a moderate calculation, an acre would produce one thousand weight.
M. Bouille, the French apostate General, is like to see all his schemes prove insufficient for restoring despotic monarchy in France. European accounts say, that he has been for some time past exerting himself to negotiate with one of the German Princes for ten thousand Hessians, for the service of the emigrant French princes. The Landgrave of Hesse, however, grown wise by experience, refused to furnish any except condemned malefactors, at a Louis d'or per head.
Some accounts are mentioned in London papers of the celebrated French circumnavigator Peyrouse being still alive with some of his crew on a desert Island in the Indian ocean. A vessel was to be dispatched from the Island of Bourbon to bring him, and his unfortunate surviving companions, home.
The King of Prussia (says a London paper) has declared that Louis the 16th having accepted the constitution, prevents his acting in favour of the emigrants—but that, notwithstanding, he will act with all his forces in favour of his most Christian Majesty, if the National Assembly, or any prevailing party, forget the obligations they have contracted towards the King.
The African society in England (or association for promoting discoveries in the interior parts of Africa) have at present in their employ, Major Houghton , successor to the celebrated Ledyard , in exploring those inhospitable climes. This Gentleman, in a letter to the society, informs them that he has penetrated one thousand miles up the river Senegambia. He has also transmitted an accurate account of the distances, bearings, latitudes, and longitudes of the several places he has visited.
By the latest information from England and France, the emigrants are returning in vast numbers from the low countries and Germany into the French dominions. Mirabeau's legion, in particular, have almost universally returned with their arms and baggage; finding the promises of the self-exiled princes to be no longer relied on, and that they had become, literally, beggars in supporting a ruined cause.
It is strange (says a daily paper of last week) that our legislators have so far forgotten the rock from whence they were hewn, as well as the first line of the Federal constitution, as not to have thought of stamping upon our money the following words— The people of the United States.
From the tenor of various newspapers, it seems to be ascertained that the Em-
press of Russia means to guarantee the new Constitution of Poland (which, however incompatible with her conduct towards France) it is thought will effectually secure the liberties of Poland against the attempts of the elector of Saxony and other powers, who look with a jealous eye, upon every innovation in favour of the liberties of the people.
"The death of Prince Potemkin (says a late Leyden paper) has visibly affected the health and spirits of the Empress of Russia. For fifteen days after hearing the news she did not appear in public. To the affliction of losing so esteemed a favorite is added a severe cold, which with the variety of business that has occurred in consequence of the Prince's death, keeps her constantly shut up in her closet, making new arrangements in the state and military departments."
A plan is agitating in the state of Massachusetts for separating the old (included) province of Maine therefrom, and erecting it into a new state. Preparations are making for forming such arrangements that the separation (with the consent of Congress) may take place in 1795. Maine, it is said, will not be a contemptible state either in population, or extent of territory.
The legislature of New York has ordered three thousand bushels of corn to be purchased for the use of the Indians of the six nations, to be distributed as the governor or shall direct—some cloathing has also been ordered to be purchased for the particular use of the Oneida Indians.
Four frigates have lately arrived at Kingston, Jamaica, with a reinforcement of troops, arms and ammunition. By the last accounts there are near twelve thousand effective men armed and accoutred in the Island, to awe the negroes from a tendency to insurrection.
On the 25th of January last the French National Assembly decreed, that the king shall, by message, be requested to declare to the Emperor, that he cannot hereafter treat with him but in the name of the French nation, and in virtue of the powers delegated to him by its constituents—to demand also "Whether, as head of the house of Austria, he intends to live in peace and good understanding with the French nation, and if he renounces all treaties and conventions directed against the sovereignty and independence of the nation—if the Emperor of Germany does not before the first day of May, 1792, give full and entire satisfaction upon those, and some other points, his silence, or even an evasive answer will be considered as a declaration of war."
For the NATIONAL GAZETTE.
On the REPRESENTATION BILL.
(Continued from No. 42.)
THE plan contended for by the House of Representatives, which applies the ratio to the numbers of each state, is founded on the principle of a compact between the people of several independent states, stipulating their relative weight or interest in some department of a national system. Graduating the representation by numbers, 'tis the inseparable quality of that principle that it be formed on those, such states shall respectively contain. To give a member to one state for the people of another, would subvert it, and with it the sound principles of representation. Its numbers would thus become the source of aggrandizement to a neighbour, and oppression to itself.
But that contended for by the Senate, which applies the ratio to the aggregate population of the United States, is obviously founded on the opposite principle. It excludes the idea of a compact stipulating equal rights, to be measured by a common standard, between the people of separate states; for it has been shown that the two modes were incompatible, and if either was adopted the other must be abandoned; or in other words, if the ratio be applied to the whole numbers of the union, it could not afterwards, as an uniform rule, to those of each individual state. Hence it follows, upon this principle, that the only purpose to be answered by it, and of course that alone for which it must have been intended, was to give the Congress a control over the number or extent of the representative body. To enable them, under the restraints contained in the constitution, in the progress of an encreasing population, to prevent too great an encrease of the House of Representatives.
Yielding the idea of a compact between the people of separate states, and of state rights under it, it follows there can be no violation of it: for where there has been no stipulation there can be no breach. In this view the consequences become more serious and interesting; for there remains of course no rule whatever, by which those members shall be distributed among the several states. Nothing binding or obligatory, a departure from which would furnish a constitutional ground of complaint to any quarter of the union. If for instance, one third of all the members should be given to any one state, how could it be resisted, or upon what principle opposed? If urged that the ratio was unequal, might it not be said in reply, we have nothing to do with it. It has been already applied to a different, and the sole purpose, for which it was intended. The hope that a sense of justice and regard for the equal rights of every part, would mitigate the rigor of local interest, and prevent an improper distribution, might administer comfort to some; but the number of those who could derive consolation from this source, believing that public virtue will be al-
ways found a sufficient barrier against those abuses which interest and ambition suggest, would be small. The most unequivocal declarations in the state constitutions, have not always been able to resist their impulse, and shield the people from encroachment in the state assemblies. Upon what principle: then could it be looked for, in that of the union (especially in the present case) where the temptation is greater, the spirit of locality more active, and no constitutional restraint?
But the objection to a boundless control over this interest, would be diminished, if the constitution had not prohibited its execution, by the only mode, which could be equal, uniform or certain. As the aggregate population divided by 30,000, gives 120 members, so that rule should be observed in their distribution by dividing the union into districts, each of that number. But this we have seen was impossible, from its unavoidable interference with the state boundaries—Thus then we find the door barred, against the only rational and fair mode, by which it could be executed; discretion at best objectionable, assumes an aspect peculiarly offensive and dangerous in the present instance.
If the demonstration should be deemed satisfactory, that the aggregate principle excluded the idea of the state character, it would only remain to inquire upon the principles of the government, whether that were in reality the case. For if it were not, it must follow, that the principle itself is unconstitutional. Had the state authorities been completely annihilated, there would be no doubt on the subject: there could, in such case, be no compact of the kind above suggested, and of course nothing to interfere with its execution. But whilst they are preserved in complete sovereignty, however extensive the powers delegated or independent the government formed may be, it possesses the inherent qualities, and must be deemed a federal one. The principle is the same, whether it originates from the states in their political capacities, or the people composing them in their original character; with this difference only, that in the latter case its constitutional acts are paramount to the authority of the state legislatures, and require not their sanction to give them force. It must be conceded that the people can make a compact, as well as their representatives, under any government they may form—Their own state governments respectively, are in fact, so many compacts, between the several individuals composing each. Why may they not then, in that character, as so many distinct communities, ratify a federal one? Will the manner in which they give their assent make it less so?
The lightest view of the constitution will demonstrate that the state character, or that of the people in separate and distinct communities, was not destroyed, on the contrary the government has been founded on them, in such separate capacity, in every instance. "We the people of the United States, &c. do ordain & establish this constitution for the United States of America." "All legislative power shall be vested in a Congress of the United States." Art. 1. Sct. 1. "Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states, &c. according to their respective numbers &c." 2d Sct. A nd again, "when vacancies shall happen in the representation of any state the executive authority thereof shall issue writs," &c. Sct. 4. "The senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State chosen by the legislature &c." 3d Sct. In the election of the President and Vice-President, the same principle has been observed. The electors are those of each state and their numbers secured by express stipulation, evincing a compact brought about by compromise. In short who ever examines the instrument from commencement to the end, will find that although the powers of the government have been greatly enlarged, and for wise and necessary purposes, yet 'tis still a compact between separate communities: And in such character its form rests, and its powers must be executed on the people.
If then the state character has not been annihilated, but on the contrary the national system which has been raised upon it, a league of separate communities, securing by express stipulation their respective rights and interests, as well in the organization as the exercise of its powers, it follows that the aggregate plan founded on the opposite principle, must be abandoned: for on what can it rest? Will it be urged that the federal idea was relinquished here only, or supposed there was less solicitude to secure the rights of the larger states in the House of Representatives, than of the smaller in the Senate? or that a boundless discretion should be given the Congress over the number of the several states in one branch, whilst independent of population or other contingency, two members were secured to each in the other? and if their relative numbers form the scale of representation, how can it otherwise be, than by those they shall respectively contain? Or upon what principle of state sovereignty, compact, or representation, can one state supply its deficiency from those of another?
The words of the constitution upon this point, appear so plain and unequivocal, that it must have required a mind earnestly resisting an interest, it wished to repel, ardently pursuing an object it wished to embrace, to create a doubt on it. "Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several states which may be included within this union according to their respective numbers," &c. Does not this shew that the extent of the representation must depend on that of the population in each state, or why the terms "their respective numbers," or that of "apportionment," which evinces the necessity of a distribution among those having a claim founded on a principle? And can any one read the first sentence of this paragraph and hesitate to pronounce, it is the states alone who have such claim, founded on the principle of their respective numbers?
If it had been intended that the ratio should be applied to the population of the union instead of that of the individual states, the whole of that part of the first sentence which respects apportionment, was not only unnecessary but improper: For in such case the interposition of the idea of states and apportionment could only serve to confuse the sense. What was material of that sentence might have been supplied, by amending the 3d.
in the same paragraph so as to read thus: "The numbers of Representatives shall not exceed one for every 30,000 counting the whole number of free persons including those bound to service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed three fifths of all other persons." Thus the power of forming the representation upon the people of America would have been complete unfettered by state rights, numbers or apportionment.
That the people of America have understood the right of apportionment, as the House of Representatives have done, giving the power to Congress simply to fix the ratio of representation at 30,000, or some other number, and that the article of compact, contained in the constitution, regulated the residue by applying it to the numbers of each state, cannot be questioned. If the clause had admitted a probable doubt, upon a point so momentous, under the able and enlightened discussion it received in the state conventions, is it not surprising it should have escaped notice? Must it not impress on the benevolent mind of the philanthropist, a painful apprehension for the future, in contemplating in the perspective the prospects of those whose many exertions intitle them to it, and who might be a happy people, if he reflects that it has been the discovery of the present moment, when the effect is discerned, and contending interests have probably suggested it!
March 31.
LUCIUS.
PRICE OF STOCKS. Six per cents, per £. - 20/5 1-2 20/6. Three per cents, - - 12/4. Deferred six per cents, - 12/3 12/3 1-2. Final Settlements - - 17/6. Indents - - 12/6. Bank stock 1-2 shares, 55—per cent. advance.
METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS. March, 1792.
Table with 6 columns: Day, D., H., Bar., Ther., Wind., Weather. Rows for Monday through Sunday, April 1st.
This day is published—Price 6/6. By MATTHEW CAREY. No. 118, Market-street, near fourth street, The Ladies' Library, Containing 1. Miss More's Essays 2. Gregory's Legacy 3. Lady Pennington's advice 4. Marchioness of Lambert's advice 5. Swift's Letter to a new married Lady 6. Miss Chapone on Command of temper 7. More's Fables for the Ladies.
Said CAREY has lately published 1. M c Fingal, an epic poem, 2/9 1-2 2. Blair's Sermons, complete in two vols 15/ 3. Neckar's treatise on Religious Opinions, 6/ 4. Examination of Sheffield's Observations, 4/8 5. American Constitutions, 4/8 6. Doway Bible—neat, 6 dol., elegant 50/2 7. Vade Mecum, 1/10 1-2 8. Charles Grandison abridged, 15/ 9. Humphrey's poems, bound 2/6, in blue paper 1/10 1-2 10. American Test Book, in 2 parts, bound, 4/6 11. Select Poems, 15/ 12. Think Well On't, 1/10 1-2 13. Beauties of Poetry, British and American, 6/ 14. Beattie's elements of moral science, 5/7 1-2 15. The Christian Economy, 1/10 1-2.
** Sets of the American Museum. AS several gentlemen in different parts of the United States, have been heretofore disappointed in their applications for complete sets of the American Museum, the printer informs the public, that he is engaged in reprinting the deficient numbers of the work, and has now and will henceforward have a constant supply of Sets on hand; such gentlemen, therefore, as please, may be furnished with Sets neatly bound, in ten volumes, at sixteen dollars. This work will be found to contain at least as great a variety of political, agricultural, and miscellaneous essays as any ever published in America.
Of said Carey may be had, wholesale and retail, Bibles, Testaments, Spelling-Books, Primers, Quills, Ink-Powder, Writing-Paper of various kinds, Bonnet-Paper, Pocket-Books, Ink-Stands, Message and playing cards, &c &c. 6/12 6/6
CHESTER TOWN & BALTIMORE STAGE.
THE Eastern-shore Stages, by way of Chester-town to Baltimore, start regularly from James Thompson's, Indian Queen, Fourth-street, Philadelphia, every Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, precisely at 7 o'clock, and on the same mornings, at four o'clock, from Mr. Grant's in Baltimore. The cultivation of the country, and goodness of the roads, together with the attention that shall be paid by the proprietors, will, it is hoped, be a sufficient inducement for a preference being given to this route.
JAMES THOMPSON, ROBERT HODGSON, N. B. Light Wagons for hire by James Thompson, at the Indian Queen. March 30.

Interesting translations from French papers.
BOURDEAUX, December 11. THIS day was held the CIVIC FEAST; followed by an inauguration of the united flags of France, England, the United States of America, and Poland. The Club room was opened at one o'clock in the afternoon, when the President attended to receive the gentlemen from several nations, who were invited to the feast. As soon as the company were seated, the President announced that the entertainment was begun by giving "Homage to the Supreme Being," as a toast. A religious silence succeeded this sudden impulse of devotion to the eternal cause of all things. Various other toasts were drunk, in the course of the entertainment, suitable to the occasion. That of Mr. Savage, interpreter for the English, Scots, Irish, and American captains, was remarkable:—May that union of nations speedily arrive, when all shall partake of the same glass.—That given by Mr. Fenwick, consul for the United States, was thus—To the glory and prosperity of all free nations. This was highly applauded by the assembly, as was also the sentiment of M. Laski, a Polish officer—The strictest union and friendship between the citizens of England, Scotland, Ireland, the American States, France and Poland!
The entertainment being ended, the President invited the guests into the common hall of sessions, where the inauguration of the flags was instantly made, with the repeated applause of the assembly. The President then made a speech suitable to the occasion.—Mr. Fenwick, also, pronounced a discourse which was highly extolled.—The president, in a very polite answer, requested him to deposit his discourse in the office of the society, for publication; and that honorable mention should be made thereof on the verbal process. M. Laski, Polish Lieutenant, of the Corps du Genie, made likewise a speech, and was complimented in like manner.
The President's Oration was as follows: Citizens, brethren, and friends, of several nations; You also, our brethren and allies!
The moment is arrived, so interesting to every friend of humanity. Nations long separated by reciprocal hatreds and local prejudices, consent to forget them all, and ally themselves in the bonds of fraternal friendship.
Thanks to that eternal Providence, who has put it into the hearts of freemen to abolish those dissensions, which have hitherto divided mankind only to destroy them.
You, whose perfidious instigations, stimulated by the prejudices of antiquity, have pointed the murdering sword against the bosom of your country, listen at length to the voice of reason, and come here to enjoy a spectacle so ravishing to humanity; consider well this our convocation, which unites so many men from so many different countries; behold all ranks, all distinctions melted down into perfect equality; behold the intoxication of joy and pleasure possessing every mind; and then judge if all the despots of the world, with all their pride and splendor, were ever the cause of half so much happiness.
Forget, then, your ancient prejudices, and make yourselves worthy of the blood that flows in your veins; upon the altar of your country take that sacred oath which binds you even to die in her defence: but if reason has no influence over you, at least forbear to poison the free air which we breathe; and pay some respect to this place which is the abode of liberty.
Fellow citizens! You see the flags of four great nations, acknowledged free, united under the symbols of freedom and friendship, suspended over this hall; they are the happy signals of an alliance, which will soon be perfected.
Contemplate that solemn act upon which rests the fabric of our government; those rights which tyranny shall never abolish, and which shall one day be acknowledged the legal system of the universe!
Let that standard, in particular, be dear to you which calls to remembrance the immortal 14th of July, 1789; that day forever memorable, when all Europe saw the huge Colossus of fourteen centuries tumble down into that abyss of non-entity in which it shall forever remain.
Ye descendants of ancient Albion, separated from this our continent by some ancient revolution of the globe; unite with us to repair the disorders of nature, and to destroy those prejudices, which have too long separated nations, who ought to have been only ambitious to rival each other in the love of liberty. The waters of the Seine and of the Thames mingle in the vast ocean, and when there, the nicest observer cannot distinguish a shade of difference between them—Be it so with us, likewise, and let us be one and the same people in advancing the interests of liberty.
This standard (of the United States) which so much attracts your attention by the variety of its colours, belongs to those bold revolutionists who first raised the emblem of liberty on the shores of the new world! It is the badge of the union that indissolubly exists between thirteen powerful states, who when their common country is in danger, consider her cause as individually their own. It was under this standard that WASHINGTON, that citizen chief who, first of mankind, had the enviable honor to command the hearts and hands of a nation that declared itself free and independent; under this standard it was that he conducted his countrymen to honor, independence, and victory. Wherever he marched, his attempts were crowned with the most brilliant success.—How could he otherwise than conquer?—Liberty was his object, and the Almighty protected his cause.
Frenchmen! you were witnesses to the generous efforts of the Americans; they thought no sacrifice too great for their darling Liberty; fortune and blood were lavishly spent to attain her; eight entire years did they struggle with inconceivable difficulties to conquer that monster Despotism, which for a century had been suspended over them; while we, the posterity of those Gauls, who carried the spirit of liberty and independence to the capitol itself; we, who have been bowed down to the dust for more than fourteen hundred years; a single day has sufficed to break our fetters, to overthrow a despotic throne, and upon the ruins thereof to erect a fabric sacred to justice and the equal rights of man!
And you, generous and magnanimous nation (Poland) descendants of the ancient Sarmatians, who first dismembered that empire under which the Romans had subjugated the universe, renouncing that spirit of party which so long rent the bosom of your country, and conducted by a citizen-king, you have at length destroyed that barbarous code of legislation, under which you have so long groaned. You will now do more, you will second the exertions of the friends of humanity; you will annihilate feudal systems; you will restore your fellow citizens to the true dignity of man; and will not indulge the base idea, that the bulk of your nation has no taste for the charms of liberty.
Thou daughter of the skies, whom the Eternal Mind created to enlighten mortals and dissipate the mists of that error in which they have been wholly involved, sublime Philosophy! finish thy work, and inspire human hearts with the love of peace; and remove from them forever that spirit of ferocity which has for so many ages secluded them from each other; inform them, inculcate upon them, that God placed men upon this earth to love each other, to afford reciprocal aid in distress; and not to hate and tear each other to pieces: breathe into them a love of universal liberty, which is the source of all virtue; and persuade them, that when actuated by this sacred flame, man is capable of all things.
It was this spirit that actuated the three hundred Lacedemonians at the fatal pass of Thermopylae, and enabled them to discomfit innumerable millions of Persian slaves; it was this that preceded the Grecian standards on the plains of Marathon and Salamine; it was this that softly whispered to the heart of Brutus, when he condemned his own son to death, for conspiring against the liberties of his country; in fine, it was this that by unfolding the manly virtues of that nation, and by stimulating their courage, laid open to them the road to immortality.—&c.—&c.
[The conclusion is thus.]—"May the age of gold succeed the age of iron; and may the dawn of the nineteenth century expand into a glorious morning for all mankind; who, by forgetting their prejudices and mutual hatreds, will exhibit to the Supreme creative power an immense family of brethren, united under the standard of liberty, and the empire of law."
The above was succeeded by a discourse pronounced by Mr. FENWICK, consul for the United States of America; as follows:
"GENTLEMEN, "I am sensibly affected by those sentiments of esteem and friendship which the citizens of France express for my countrymen, the people of the United States. Be assured that the inhabitants of the American States will esteem themselves happy to have it in their power to testify what an interest they take in essentially serving a country, to which they are united by every tie of gratitude, and attachment for past services: those ties are every day becoming stronger; and your own glorious revolution calls to our minds those great constitutional principles, which both nations have adopted; inspiring us with all the energy of gratitude for those national favors received from you in the crisis of our political regeneration; and inclining us to wish you the perpetual enjoyment of those blessings which you have assisted us in procuring for ourselves; we, on our part, hope for a lasting enjoyment of the same blessings, by our obedience to the laws, and a spirit of peace and unanimity amongst our citizens; being fully convinced that a submission to our constitutional code, and love for good order is the only means of preserving to our nation the blessings that liberty procures. May the mutual obligations that unite France and the American States, form also a union amongst all nations, contribute to the establishment of universal harmony, and make one great family of the human race."
To this the President made the following reply: "BROTHER AND FRIEND, "Our national society, with the deepest sensibility, accepts your wishes, that the United States of America, whom you represent, may second us in the advancement of our revolution, as we did them in their infant struggles for liberty. It will be no more than candid in us to confess, that some years ago, when the great question of assisting America in her revolt, was agitated in the king's council, policy had more sway over us than any particular attachment to a people whom we had hardly known. From the time of agitating this question, however, we may date the era of French liberty. Our soldiers and citizens who assisted you upon the banks of the Delaware, or on the shores of the vast Chesapeake, in rearing your standard of liberty, when they returned into France, animated by what they had seen of the happiness of freemen, expanded the sacred flame of liberty, and united in demanding freedom or death! Their voices were heard to the remote corners of the empire, and the revolution instantly followed."
We accept with pleasure your good wishes for our general prosperity—they are the expressions of a man of sincere heart, whose first care is the preservation of liberty to his fellow men."
N. B. At the above entertainment were given forty-one toasts, the most remarkable of which are the following—Homage to the Supreme Being—THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE PEOPLE—The division and the limit of powers—The philosophers who labored for the good of mankind, Sidney, Hampden, Price, Franklin, Voltaire, Rousseau, Helvetius, Locke, Leibnitz, Milton—Stanhouse, Priestley, Thomas Paine, Washington, and other defenders of liberty—The English nation—The United States of America—Poland, and her citizen-king—The patriotic Englishmen who first met to celebrate the French Revolution—The Revolution Society of London—Semoville, who so worthily represents the French nation at the court of Genoa—Trial by jury, the true palladium of French liberty—The decree of the National Assembly that renounces the right of foreign conquest—The decree of the Assembly against the emigrants; may they crown their labours by a decree explanatory of ministerial responsibility, to preserve the nation from the treacherous machinations of the tools of the executive power—The re-union of Avignon,
to the French empire—To the souls of the victims of religious fanaticism in all ages—THE UNLIMITED LIBERTY OF THE PRESS—The patriotic Editors of newspapers, who like true centinels of liberty, give us the earliest information of plots against it—The union of all parties; Free liberty to every mode of religious worship.
Paris, Dec. 31. It is remarkable that the French peasantry are much better clad of late than heretofore. This change may be variously accounted for. 1. The peasants are a class of people who have gained most by the revolution, the legislature being now more engaged in promoting the happiness of the peasantry, than any other denomination of people, the soldiery excepted. 2. The fear of being over-taxed no longer prevents them from dressing according to their real abilities—under the old government, which was in fact worse than the Turkish, they found it necessary to conceal their hard-earned pittance of treasure with as much care as if it had been stolen. 3. Freemen will naturally habit themselves with more neatness than slaves. The celebrated Diderot, when in Russia, expressed his surprise to the empress, that her subjects in general were so miserably ragged and ill-clad—The empress answered the philosopher thus—Why would you have these wretches to pay any regard to a body which does not belong to them?
January 2. What has Russia gained after all her victories? The town of Oczakow with its territory!—a spot of land, less than a span in comparison to the empire—and even this miserable acquisition was made at the expense of two hundred thousand men that perished by the sword, hardship, or sickness. Austria retains old Orsofaw and some miserable villages of huts scattered over a desert and ungrateful land—but this wretched conquest cost one hundred and fifty thousand men of her best troops, and 300,000,000 of florins. On the other hand, the Turks have expended in their last war with Russia no less than 250,000,000 of piastres, sacrificed two hundred thousand men, and have had their best and most fertile territories laid waste—Such are the fruits of war!—and there are still found men who thirst for it, and who stir up the heads of nations to become the executioners of their subjects. We will hope that these projects of blood and cannibal plans of devastation will be discouraged in future by the growing reason of mankind; and that the people will not in future suffer themselves to be conducted, like a vile herd, to the slaughter, to satisfy the unreasonable desires or the inordinate passions of a few ambitious characters.
For the NATIONAL GAZETTE. UNIVERSAL PEACE.
MANY monarchs and philosophers have talked of universal peace, yet for want of the means all their schemes have proved abortive. Notwithstanding the system of Rousseau may be subject to some exceptions, our good friends the French have in modern times renewed this idea—sensible as they seem to be of the folly of national wars, as a step towards this desirable end, they have renounced the idea of conquest.
A citizen of these United States proposes a convention of nations for forming a constitution, to put this project into execution, having certainly discovered that the surface of this globe is subject to perpetual and periodical changes, and that above two millions of acres annually emerge from the ocean in some places, while the same quantity is overwhelmed in others by magnetic tides.—These principles are now pretty well known in America and Europe, and are proved, 1st. By the stratum of sea shells, in every country, below the surface of the earth—2dly. By the same kind of shells universally found on the tops of mountains—3dly. By a multitude of ancient and modern historical facts. Were these United States subject to a monarch, by the laws of nature and of nations these new-discovered lands might become his property, but subject as they are to a republican government, the case is different; besides the territories of the United States are already very extensive.
If the wandering Indian discovers on the sea shore an oyster deserted by the waves, nobody denies the right which the laws of nature allow him to possess it. Who then has a better right to recommend the disposal of these new lands than the person who made the first discovery of the laws by which these changes are governed? In short, the out-lines of the present plan is, that all national disputes may be settled by law, and that the two millions of acres, annually may be appropriated as a fund to defray the expense of the universal government, and for other purposes; that all nations shall partake of the advantages of the fund, as they adopt the constitution, and not sooner—here need be no cutting throats for possession—there will be nothing to do, but wait with patience until the inhabitants of the watery element quietly surrender up the premises. It is true, all schemes at first view are apt to be looked upon in an unfavorable light. I will however beg leave to propose a question for arithmeticians:—Suppose these new lands not to be sold but rented as they appear, at the rate of one dollar per acre per annum, which according to the mean rate of rent throughout the world, would be very moderate, and suppose the money put out to use at the awful interest of six per cent per annum, to be paid as it becomes due, this will be a perpetual annuity; there would be added every year to the principal not only the interest but two millions of dollars. What would be the amount at the end of the first century, and what at the end of the second? It is certainly known that before very many years it would amount to more of that dirty dross call the precious metals, than there is in the whole world, & as it requires something more than five thousand years for this globe to be regenerated, in time all the land would become public property. Should such calculations appear better in theory than practice, I remark, that the will of the great Dr. Franklin is known as well as that of the celebrated Fortune Ricard, of France. These two famous financiers have also bequeathed immense sums of money to posterity for certain good purposes, calculated with the annual addition of the interest to the capital. March 29. MAGNET.
Washington, in the Territory of Columbia. A PREMIUM
OF a lot in this City to be designated by impartial judges and 500 dollars; or a medal of that value, at the option of the party, will be given by the Commissioners of the Federal Buildings, to the person, who, before the fifteenth day of July 1792, shall produce to them the most approved plan, if adopted by them, for a Capitol to be erected in this city, and 250 dollars, or a medal for the plan deemed next in merit to the one they shall adopt. The building to be of brick, and to contain the following
apartments, to wit. A conference room } Sufficient to } be A room for the Re- } accommodate } these rooms to be 300 persons } of full elevation. representatives } each. A lobby or antichamber to the latter. A Senate room of 1200 square feet area.
An antichamber or lobby to the left. 12 rooms of 600 square feet area, each, for committee rooms and clerks offices, to be of half the elevation of the former. Drawings will be expected of the ground plats, elevations of each front, and sections through the building in such directions as may be necessary to explain the internal structure, and an estimate of the cubic feet of brickwork composing the whole mass of the walls. THE COMMISSIONERS. March 14, 1792.
Washington, in the Territory of Columbia. A PREMIUM
OF 500 dollars, or a medal of that value, at the option of the party, will be given by the Commissioners of the Federal Buildings to the person who, before the fifteenth day of July next, shall produce to them the most approved plan, if adopted by them, for a President's house to be erected in this city. The site of the building, if the artist will attend to it, will of course influence the aspect and outline of his plan, and its destination will point out to him the number, size, and distribution of the apartments. It will be a recommendation of any plan, if the central part of it may be detached and erected for the present, with the appearance of a complete whole, and be capable of admitting the additional parts, in future, if they shall be wanting. Drawings will be expected of the ground plats, elevations of each front, and sections through the building in such directions as may be necessary to explain the internal structure; and an estimate of the cubic feet of brickwork, composing the whole mass of the walls. THE COMMISSIONERS. March 14, 1792.
RAN away on Wednesday night last, a Negro Man, about twenty-three years old, bad on a light-coloured sport coat: took with him a pair of leather breeches and a pair of green stuff do. a beaver hat half worn, narrow brim and deep crown; a pair of boots; striped cotton and silk stockings—he is slim made—reads and writes a legible hand—has, I am informed, procured a pass and a certificate of his being a freeman. It is probable he will endeavor to get on board some vessel, either at this place or New-York. He has a small fore under his chin, occasioned by cutting out a wen. I will give Ten Dollars reward for securing him, if in this city; Twenty Dollars if taken in New-York, or any other place of the same distance, and pay all reasonable expenses. ANDREW MOORE, Spruce-street, No. 112. Philadelphia, March 9, 1792.
HOWELL'S LARGE MAP of PENNSYLVANIA
THIS work is engraved in the most elegant style, and will be ready for delivery in the Spring. It is 63 inches long and 36 inches wide, and for the most part very full of work (except some small places of which materials were not to be had) and was nobly compiled from actual surveys, acquired at great expense of money, and more than four years labour, and from its manifest public utility, the Legislature has been pleased to grant the proprietor the sum of three hundred pounds.
This map exhibits the County and Township Divisions, and those of the Surveyors Districts in the New-Purchase, Donation and Depreciation Lands; the waters, portages, and the Canal mountains and valleys, roads, towns, &c.
He thanks the Public for their very liberal subscription, and informs them that it will not be closed before the middle of April next. He sells his SMALL MAPS, on canvass, folded and eas'd for pocket carriages, at 15s. 6d. and plain at 8s. 6d.
READING HOWELL. North-fifth street, No. 38—March 1.
TEN POUNDS REWARD.
RAN away, a Negro lad about seventeen years old, who left the subscriber sometime in August last. He goes by the name of LEVEN; is of a yellowish colour, and about five feet high. He is supposed to have gone to the Delaware state. Any person bringing the said negro to the subscriber, shall be entitled to the above reward; and any person giving such information as will enable the owner to recover him again, shall be entitled to one half the above sum, which will be paid by THOMAS MILLS.
PRINTED BY CHILDS AND SWAIN, AT THEIR OFFICE, NO. 239, HIGH-STREET NEAR SIXTH-STREET, PHILADELPHIA.