The national intelligencer and Washington advertiser. (Washington City [D.C.]), 1801-09-28 00:00:00

The National Intelligencer,
AND WASHINGTON ADVERTISER.
VOL. I. WASHINGTON CITY, PRINTED BY SAMUEL HARRISON SMITH, NEW-JERSEY AVENUE, NEAR THE CAPITOL.
No. CXLII.
FIVE DOLLS. PER ANN.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28th, 1801.
PAID IN ADVANCE.
LA PARTENZA, or the SEPARATION.
FROM METASTASIO.
Nisa, the dreadful time Is come to bid adieu! Nor to a distant clime Must I thy steps pursue. No hope will fates allow To sooth the harsh decree, Yet who can tell if thou Wilt ever think of me!
II.
Let me in volant thought Ideal bliss renew, By reminiscence taught I'll still thy steps pursue. Full in my sight as now Thy image e'er will be: Yet, who can tell if thou Wilt ever think of me!
III.
In solitary ways, While sorrowing I go, To rocks I'll sing thy praise, To echo tell my woe. The woods shall hear my vow, And Zephyr bring it thee: Yet, who can tell if thou Wilt ever think of me!
IV.
To scenes my restless mind Will ever have the clue, When time and fate were kind, And Nisa was in view. And these regretting, how From pain can I be free: Yet, who can tell if thou Wilt ever think of me!
V.
Sometimes the fountain viewing, Where Nisa once look'd grave; Then kindness sweet renewing, Her beauteous hand she gave. Here hope sits on thy brow, There fear no hope could see; Yet, who can tell if thou Wilt ever think of me!
VI.
What votaries soon will croud Thy shrine both day and night, Declare their suit aloud, When I am out of sight? Oh heav'n! while these all bow And bend the supple knee, Who, Nisa, knows if thou Wilt e'er remember me!
VII.
Think of the fatal dart, Evermore shall guard, Deep rankling in my heart, Remote from all reward! Think from my misery now, How wretched I shall be— But dare I hope that thou Wilt ever think of me!
CONVEYANCERS OFFICE,
AND
OFFICE FOR SALE OF CITY LOTS,
On the Pennsylvania Avenue fronting the President's Square, near Rhodes's tavern, City of Washington,
THOMAS HERTY has connected with the business of drawing Conveyances of Land Wills, Mortgages, Leases, Bonds, Assignments powers of Attorney, petitions, and every other pecies of deed or contract in the profession; that of buying, selling and leasing lots and houses in the City, negotiating loans, &c.
His long experience as a draftsman, and knowledge of the laws relative thereto—the knowledge which he has acquired by residence of the situation of City Lots, and how their titles have been acquired, or are liable to be affected; together with his impartial and strict regard to the interest of those who may be pleased to employ him, will, he hopes, secure to him a continuance of public patronage.
Titles to real property investigated, and opinions given thereon when required.
For sale a great variety of Lots, in desirable situations in the City.
N. B. At the above office may be had, his Abridgement of the Laws of Maryland, price 6 dollars. Also his Digest of the Laws of the United States, price 3 dollars. As the Laws of Maryland are in full force on this side the Potomac, it behoves settlers to avail themselves of that information which affects their lives, liberties and property. He who is without a knowledge of his "rule of conduct" is like a stranger in his native land.
May 4.
2aw4w. 1awa
FOR THE NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER.
No. VIII.
THE sixth power, whose constitutional exercise has been disputed, is the application of privilege to each branch of the legislature.
The constitution says, "Senators and representatives shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective houses, and in going to or returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in any other place."
Inasmuch as this is the only provision of the constitution on the subject, it has been the opinion of those in favor of limiting grants of power rigidly within the terms of the cession, that Congress had no power to inflict punishment for infractions of law which particularly affected members, except in those cases, where punishment could not be imposed unless Congress should assume it themselves, and in those which required, for the actual preservation and protection of the legislature, the most summary procedure.
On the other hand, the usage of the English parliament has been declared to be the law of Congress on privilege, and whatever has been done by the former is considered as a precedent for the latter.
The only cases which have claimed the interposition of Congress are, one, in which an attempt was alleged to have been made by a member to bribe the members; and the other, that of the Editor of the Aurora, proceeded against for contempt of the Senate.
In both these cases the power of the legislature was sustained by the acts of the House of Representatives in the former, and of the Senate in the latter, directing the persons charged with misconduct into confinement.
But in the last of these cases, a great diversity of opinion existed, and the decision made was, as will appear by the votes, that of party.
It was contended, against the decision, that the rules of parliament did not apply to this country; that most of those rules sprang from a state essentially different from ours; that the prerogatives of parliament were originally claimed to defend that body against the power of the crown; that, as in England the crown had been perpetually encroaching on the popular branch, it became the latter, in order to defend itself, to raise barriers of protection; whereas in the United States the powers of each branch of the government being well defined, each moved in a distinct and co-ordinate sphere, and it was useless to invest either with powers, which, though not necessary for its own protection, might be exercised to the great oppression of the citizen; that it was opposed to the whole plan of our institutions that any man or set of men should be judges in their own case; that under such circumstances injustice would be inevitable.
It will not be denied, that these reasons have great weight; and it may be inferred, that they will continue to influence the opinions of those who have embraced them, until the constitution shall clearly announce a different decision. Hence the necessity of an amendatory article.
OLON.
The Schooners Dolphin & Kitty
now lying at Mr. Young's Wharf will constantly take freights every three weeks from this to Annapolis or Baltimore. For terms apply to BRO. HAWN and BOYS.
Washington July 15. 1801
The subscriber respectfully ac-
quaints the public, that he has removed to the corner of Ninth and B streets, where he continues to manufacture and sell all kinds of Ornament for Chimney pieces, Door Caps, Frontispieces, Metal Safes, &c. which may also be had at his store No. 51, Barclay Street, New-York, and at Mr. Wild's store, Market Street, Baltimore.
GEORGE ANDREWS.
Who has gold leaf for sale by the package or book.
May 3, 1801.
17
EGYPT
DAMIETTA AND ITS ENVIRONS.
Damietta is larger, and not less agreeable than Rosetta; it forms a semi-circle on the eastern shore of the Nile, two leagues and a half from its mouth. It contains about 80,000 inhabitants. The houses especially near the river are very high; most of them have pleasant saloons, built on the terraces, in which charming places, open to every wind, the Turk, indolently seated on his sofa, passes his life in smoking, viewing the sea on one side and the Nile on the other. Various grand mosques with high minarets, ornament the city.
Multitudes of boats and small vessels incessantly fill the port of Damietta. There is a great trade between this city and Syria, Cyprus and Marfeilles. The Christians of Aleppo and Damascus, for many ages established here, carry on the principal trade; they are suffered to grow rich by Turkish indolence, which contents itself with occasional extortions.
What is most disadvantageous to the trade of Damietta is its defective harbour; the road where vessels lie being totally exposed, every gale that rises the captains are obliged to slip their cables, and take refuge at Cyprus, or keep the open sea. By cutting a canal of half a league only, it would be easy to give ships a free entrance into the Nile, which is deep; and this small expence would render Damietta a fine harbour; but despotism, insensible to the good of nations, has neither will nor power to create. How strange the fatality, by which the finest country upon earth is destined to become the prey of a few robbers, who sport with public utility and the lives of men.
The slip of land where Damietta is built, shut in one side by the river, and on the other by the lake Manzala, is only from two to six miles wide, east and west. Rivulets intersect it in every direction, and render it the most fruitful part of Egypt. The rice in common yields 80 bushels for one, and other products are in the same proportion. Here nature, eminently and profusely displaying her riches and her pomp, presents the year round fruits, flowers, and harvests! She withers not in winter; she fades not in summer! She is neither scorched nor frozen! Verdure is no where so fresh as here; trees no where so loaded with fruit!
There are many villages round Damietta; most of them have manufactories, where the finest Egyptian cloth is made, particularly napkins, much in request, at the end of which is silk fringe: they are brought to table, especially on visits of ceremony; the slave presents one to wipe the mouth after drinking Sherbet. Round these villages usually are small woods, where the trees, planted promiscuously, have an uncommon and picturesque effect. Besides the sycamore and gloomy tamarind, the elegant capia grows, with clustering yellow flowers, resembling those of the cytisus! the top of the date, loaded with clusters, lords it above the bower; and near its shade the citron and orange rise, or over the peasants cottage extend their golden fruit. The long-leaved banana, the scarlet flowered pomegranate, and the sweet-fruited fig, scatter charming variety. Often straying among their meandering paths, shaded on one side by trees, and on the other by clustering reeds, impervious to light, I have unexpectedly found myself on the banks of the great lake Manzala. Here a different prospect arose; thousands of boats were employing in fishing or spreading nets for the innumerable birds which hither come in search of abundant food, and a temperate climate. I wish to paint nature such as I have seen her a thousand times round Damietta; but I feel myself unequal to the task. Imagine all the delights that running brooks and fresh verdure, all the odour that orange-flowers, all that a mild suavity, a balsamic air, and a most enchanting horizon, can impart, and you will then have but a feeble idea of the small slip of earth included between this expansive lake and the ever-flowing Nile.
A mile south-west of the town is an orange grove, to which the inhabitants
resort. This is the only place where art has any way aided nature; no where else are the trees planted in rows. Here I almost daily went, especially during during February, March, and April, when the orange is in flower. No words can express the pleasure of breathing the cool and perfumed air of these delightful shades. The unmutilated trees are above 30 feet high, and their intermingled branches and thick foliage, all in bloom from top to bottom, wholly exclude the sun's rays. Each orange tree is a vast nosegay, the flowers of which almost conceal the leaves, forming together the most beautiful canopy ever beheld. There is a small rivulet beside each row, and twice a day a reservoir is opened, by which the trees are watered. It is intoxication of pleasure to walk here at noon; never did I so forcibly feel all the delicious enjoyments that odours and aromatics can inspire. Here, in these hot climates, was I convinced that such sweets, far from injuring, are even necessary to health.
THE NILE FROM CAIRO TO DAMIETTA.
On the 15th of Feb. I went from Damietta in a canjoi, or boat, built for pleasure. A faithful Janissary, and an Arabian servant accompanied me, all well-armed; a very necessary caution on the banks of the Damietta, where attacks are continual. We left Boulac about one o'clock, with a serene sky, and a heat as temperate as one of the finest days of our spring. The inundation had been over about six weeks, and the waters of the Nile insensibly decreased. The current being rather slow, and the North wind blowing, the men were obliged to take to their oars. Wheat and barley began to ripen. The Indian millet was a foot high; and the third crop of Lucern was springing. Cucumbers and water melons spread their flexible branches over the river banks, and beans were almost ripe. The foliage of the trees was verdant, but differently tinted, and the orange and citron were in flower. Such was the aspect of the country on the 15th of February.
WATERS OF THE NILE.
The waters of the Nile, lighter, softer, and more agreeable to the taste than any I know, greatly promote the health of the inhabitants. All antiquity acknowledges their excellence, and the people drink them with a kind of avidity, without ever being injured by the quantity. Being impregnated with nitre, they are only a gentle paretic to those who take them to excess.
CLIMATE.
An antient historian says, that the Egyptians are the most healthy people on earth, which advantage they owe to the salubrity of the air, and the temperature of the climate, which seldom varies. But Mr. Savary observes, that there is an unhealthy season in Egypt. From February till the end of May, the south winds blow at intervals, and load the atmosphere with a subtle dust (which makes breathing difficult,) and drive before them pernicious exhalations. Sometimes the heat becomes insupportable, and the thermometer suddenly rises 12 degrees. The inhabitants call this season Rhawlin, fifty, because these winds, are most felt for fifty days, between Easter and Whituntide. It must not, however, be supposed, that this wind, which in a few hours corrupts meat and animal substances, blows fifty days. Egypt would become a desert. It seldom blows three days together, and sometimes is only an impetuous whirlwind, which rapidly passes, and injures only the traveller overtaken in the desert. These whirlwinds of sand have buried caravans, and armies.
Mr. Savary maintains, in opposition to Mr. Paw and other modern authors, that the plague is not a native disorder of Egypt, but is commonly brought from Smyrna, and the Turkish ports. It always stops in the month of June, or those who catch it then are always cured. Excess of heat and cold seems to be equally destructive of this dreadful contagion; winter kills it at Constantinople, and summer in Egypt; it seldom

reaches the polar circle, and never passes the tropic.
The Egyptian stands aghast with fear at the calamities it produces in Grand Cairo. This city is computed to contain from eight to nine hundred thousand inhabitants. They are so crowded that 200 citizens occupy less space than 30 at Paris. The streets are very narrow, and always full of people, who crowd and jostle each other; and the passenger is sometimes obliged to wait several minutes before he can make his way. One person with the plague will communicate it to an hundred. The Mamelukes die in their houses, public squares and streets, without one of them endeavoring to save himself. The Europeans, who shut themselves up, and avoid communication, alone escape the general disaster.
All do not die who are attacked; but I have been assured that the plague from time to time carries off 300,000 people from Grand Cairo.
The Turks use no precautions to prevent the plague; they say it is fate; nor is quarantine performed at one single port.
Parallel between Fontenelle and la Motte, extracted from Aikin's translations of D'Alembert's Eulogies.
Agreement in temper, in cast of genius, and in principles, had formed that solid union between our two academicians which does so much honor to their memory. Perhaps it may be interesting to examine in what these two writers, so similar in various respects, differed in others. Both of them, replenished with judgment, knowledge and good sense, constantly display a superiority to prejudices, as well philosophical as literary; both attack them with that modest timidity under which the wise man will always shield himself when combating received opinions; a timidity which their enemies termed hypocritical gentleness because hatred gives to prudence the name of cunning, and to art that of falsehood. Both of them carried too far their decided, though apparently moderate revolt from the gods and laws of Parnassus; but la Motte's free opinions seem more closely connected with his personal interest in supporting them; and Fontenelle's with the general interest he took in the progress of reason in all departments. In the writings of both are to be found that method which is so satisfactory to correct minds, and that artful ingenuity which gives so much delight to the delicate judges; but this last quality in la Motte is more developed; in Fontenelle it leaves more to be guessed by the reader. La Motte, without ever laying too much, forgets nothing that his subject offers, makes use of the whole, and seems to fear that he should lose some of his advantages by too subtle a concealment of his meanings; Fontenelle, without ever being obscure except to those who not deserve that an author should be clear, gives himself at the same time the pleasure of reservation, and that of hoping to be thoroughly understood by readers worthy of understanding him. Both, too little sensible of the charms of poetry and the magic of verification, have sometimes become poets by the force of ability; but la Motte somewhat more frequently than Fontenelle, though he has often the double defect of weakness, and harshness, while Fontenelle has only that of weakness; but the latter is almost always lifeless in his verses; whereas la Motte sometimes infuses soul and interest into his. Both were crowned with distinction at the lyric theatre; but Fontenelle was unfortunate on the French theatre, because he was absolutely destitute of that sensibility which is indispensable to a tragic poet, and of which nature had bestowed some sparks on la Motte.
Fontenelle and la Motte have both written in prose with great clearness, elegance, and even simplicity; but la Motte with a more natural, Fontenelle with a more studied simplicity; for this quality may be studied, and then it becomes manner, and ceases to be a model. What renders Fontenelle a mannerist in his simplicity is, that in order to present refined, or even grand ideas, under a more simple form, he sometimes falls into the dangerous path of familiarity, which contrasts with and trenches upon the delicacy of grandeur of the thought; an incongruity the more sensible, as he seems to affect; whereas the familiarity of la Motte (for he, too sometimes descends to it) is more sober and measured, more suited to its subject, and on a level with the things treated of. Fontenelle was superior in extent of knowledge, with which he has had the art to adorn his writings, and which renders his philosophy the more worthy of being recollected and quoted; but la Motte has made his reader sensible that, in order to be equal in wealth
and value to his friend, he only wanted as Fontenelle himself said, "eyes and ability of talent which fitted them for various kinds of writing; but they had the imprudence, or secret vanity, to try their powers in too many. Thus they weakened their reputation by attempting to extend it too far; but Fontenelle has solidly established his glory by his immortal "History of the Academy of Sciences," and by refined and profound sense, which inspire the noble emulation in rising genius and will transmit to posterity the name of the author with that of the celebrated society whose worthy organ he was, and of the great men whose equal he rendered himself in becoming their panegyrist.
To conclude the parallel of these two celebrated men, it would be useless, after having displayed them in their works or in the society of those of their own class, to paint them as they were in common society, and especially amid those two classes of it which demand the greatest caution, in order to avoid giving offence—the sometimes formidable class of the great, and the always troublesome class of fools, so copiously diffused among all the others. Fontenelle and la Motte, always reserved, consequently always dignified, with the great, always on their guard before them without shewing it, never displaying more wit than was necessary to please them, without shocking their self-consequence, "saved themselves," according to Montaigne's expression, "from undergoing effectual tyranny from them, by their care in not making them undergo talking tyranny."—Sometimes, however, in this society, as in their style, they gave way to a kind of familiarity; but with this difference, that la Motte's familiarity was more respectful and formed into a reserved; Fontenelle's more easy and free, yet always so circumspect as not to tempt any one to abuse it. Their conduct with fools was still more studied and cautious, as they too well knew that this kind of men, internally and deeply jealous of the splendor of those talents by which they are humiliated, never pardon persons of superior understanding, but in proportion to the indulgence they experienced from them, and the care taken to conceal this indulgence. Fontenelle and la Motte, when in company not made for them, never gave way to absence or disdain; they allowed the full scope to folly of every kind, without suffering it to fear a check, or even to suspect it was observed. But Fontenelle, never forward to talk, even among his equals, was contented with listening to those who were not worthy to hear him, and only studied to show them a semblance of attention, which might prevent them from taking his silence for contempt or weariness; la Motte, complaisant, or even more philosophical, recollecting the Spanish proverb, "that there is no fool from whom a wise man may not learn something," took pains to discover, in persons the most void for his own instruction, or the consolation of their vanity. He put them upon topics with which they were the best acquainted, and thus without affectation, procured them the pleasure of an outward display of all the little they possessed; whence he derived the double advantage, of not being wearied in their company, and of rendering them happy beyond their hopes. If they were satisfied with Fontenelle, they were enchanted with la Motte. May this example of philosophical charity serve as a lesson to those stern and untractable men of wit, whose intolerant pride is not satisfied without treating fools with humiliating disdain; while this unfeeling mode of teaching them what they are, still leaves them understanding enough to seek and to discover the means of revenge.
NEW BOOKS.
JUST received by the Sloop Highland, capt. Hand, from Philadelphia, and now opening at the store of Rapine, Conrad & Co. corner of South B street and New Jersey Avenue; a very handsome assortment of books, amongst which are: De Valcourt, by Mrs. Bennett, author of Welsh Heiress, Beggar Girl, &c. &c. Nocturnal Visit, 2 vols. by Maria Regina Roche, author of the Children of the Abbey, &c. The Girl of the Mountains, 2 vols. by Mrs. Parsons, author of "Women as they are." Rash Vows; or the effects of enthusiasm, by Madame de Genlis. The Farmer's Boy, a rural poem, by Robert Broomfield. The life of Catharine the Second, Empress of Russia, 3 vols. Dawin's physiologia; or the philosophy of agriculture and gardening. Also a general assortment of law books and miscellaneous history, stationery, writing and wrapping paper, &c. &c. all which they will dispose of on the most reasonable terms. N. B. Bookbinding in all its branches, with neatness and dispatch. Washington, May 15;
GEORGETOWN, (S. C.) August 5: The following is col. SENE's report relative to the canal proposed to be cut through North Island, furnished by him at the request of the committee appointed by the inhabitants of Georgetown and its vicinity to obtain information appertaining to said canal:—
Georgetown, April 15th, 1801. GENTLEMEN,
Agreeable to your request, I have examined that part of North Island, where you have it under consideration to make a new inlet. In my humble opinion, the situation is very favorable for the purpose. The small survey and level I have been able to make, joined to the chart of Georgetown entrance and harbor, which judge Waties took last year with a great deal of trouble and accuracy, will, I hope, give every explanation.
The distance from high water mark, (A.) to the other, (B.) is only fifty-five chains. On the sea shore the low water leaves a beach one chain and a half broad, and on the river two chains. At the course recommended, the ground is level, the greater part of it marsh, and the rest of it a loose sandy soil. The sand hills on the sea shore at that place are 400 feet broad and 8 and 10 feet higher than the level. By all appearance, I do not suppose any impediments under ground. I beg leave to recommend, to dig a straight canal, as marked on the plan, as deep as the low water mark, which is only seven feet, and at some places only five feet, (or dig it deeper if the water will permit it.) Two hundred feet on the upper part and one hundred and thirty feet at the bottom, (referred to the section C. D.) The ground is to be carried out on each side and formed into straight banks, which will be agreeable to the quantity of ground to be moved, forty feet on the upper part and eighty feet on the lower, and nine feet high. At each end the canal is to be deepened by the currents of the water, it is necessary that it should be wide, and the banks have a considerable slope, (as here, 5 to 1) otherwise, the current would make at once two steep banks; they would cave in and turn the current from one side of the canal to the other: it would of course become crooked and unsafe for vessels, and form bars immediately at the mouths of the canal.
Adopting the proposed plan, about 186,000 cubic yards of ground must be dug and removed, as before mentioned. Rating the cubic yard at sixpence, the digging and removing the ground would be £4650 For tools, wheelbarrows, overseers wages, and for huts, &c. 350 £5000
As laborers for such work can only be hired in this country by the year, I would recommend to engage two hundred negroes for the year, and when the work is completed, towards the end of the year, these laborers may be employed in other works, public or private, to reimburse some of the expences.
The practicability of this work is certain. It began with activity; the currents of the tide are favorable; the soil is promising. The inconveniences and dangers of the present bar are well known. If even with considerable expences it could be improved, it would only be temporary. As the shoals are always changing, the currents and the sediments of Santee river will always oppose improvements. The currents of the bar can make but little progress over a bar which is above four miles broad, from eighteen feet water inside, to eighteen feet water outside, and the channel at first wide and then divided into four different branches on the shallowest part. The New come Shoal, marked on the chart, is a proof that these shoals are increasing. At the intended inlet, the distance from 18 feet water inside, to 24 feet water at sea, is only one mile and a half; with what a superior force will the current not soon make through this confined passage a better and a safer channel, where every aid can be given if required.
As long as the lower currents, (the strongest) do not go thro' the intended inlet, the present bar will certainly remain as it is; and whenever that takes place, it will be a happy exchange.
If the currents of the four rivers, which join near Georgetown, were diverted in part, another course, the sea water would flow higher up the bay; but by making this inlet only a mile nearer, it does not diminish the opposition of these currents; on the contrary, will increase them, and coming it with the present channel, which is above a mile wide, the difference of the flow of salt water can be little, if any.
I with gentlemen, I was able to explain
myself better on this subject in writing; however, when I return from the northward, I shall with pleasure give every assistance I may be capable of, and on my journey make enquiry about similar works, and inform you of it when I shall have the pleasure to meet you next November, at Columbia. I have the honor to be, with respect, gentlemen, your most obedient and humble servant. CH. SENE.
To Joseph Blyth, Paul Trapier, Erasmus Rathmaler, Savage Smith, Robert Grant, Samuel Wragg, and John Shacelford, esquires.
Bag of Feathers mislaid.
IN December last JAMES MITCHELL received from Messrs. M'Culloch and Birkhead, at Baltimore, a Bag of Feathers, directed to Samuel H. Smith, Washington, which he engaged to deliver to Mr. English, George-Town. Mr. Mitchell did not deliver the Feathers according to their direction, owing, as is supposed, to the obstruction of ice. In the spring he was at Baltimore, when he stated that he still had the Feathers.
The Feathers belong to the subscriber, who requests Mr. Mitchell to forward them to him, or to Mr. English, George-Town.
The subscriber will feel grateful for any information respecting the residence of Mr. Mitchell. SAMUEL H. SMITH, City of Washington. September 25.
This day is Published
BY RAPINE, CONRAD & Co. Corner of south B street and New-Jersey Avenue, near the Capitol.
SELECT NOVELS, vol. 2d & 3d.
EXECUTED in a superior style, and each volume containing two handsome engravings—Price to Subscribers, one dollar per vol. Nocturnal Visit—A tale in 2 vols. by Maria Regina Roche, author of the Children of the Abbey, &c. &c. Acts passed at the second session of the sixth Congress, began and held at the city of Washington, on Monday the 17th of November 1800.
Also just received, A very handsome assortment of NEW NOVELS, of the first merit, with a good collection of LAW, and miscellaneous HISTORY, and a very elegant assortment of Ladies' and gentlemen's POCKET BOOKS, of various prices and qualities. R. C. & Co. Have always on hand a general assortment of stationery, such as writing and letter paper, quills, wafers, sealing wax, ink-powder, pen knives, slates, parchment, playing cards, blank and account books, inkstands, black lead pencils, &c. &c. All which they will sell at the most moderate prices. Almanacs for the year 1802, just published. Sept 16, 1801.
DISTRICT OF POTOWMAC. To wit: BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the thirty first day of August, in the twenty-sixth year of the Independence of the United States of America, AUGUSTUS B. WOODWARD, of the said District, hath deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as author, in the words following, to wit: "Considerations on the Substance of the Sun"; in conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, "An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned." Witness GEORGE DENEALE clerk of the DISTRICT OF POTOWMAC, the day, month, and year aforesaid. GEORGE DENEALE, clerk. September 9, 1801.
FOR SALE, A good and convenient Lot and House, BEAUTIFULLY situated on the South-East corner of Square No 973, in the vicinity of the Navy-Yard, commanding an extensive view of some miles down the Potowmac. The house is two story high, fronting 42 feet on 11th street east, and 42 feet on South G street, adjoining the south front is a commodious kitchen, with oven and other conveniences. A large frame stable, carriage-house, with a hay loft 50 feet by 25, and a pump of fine water near the back of the kitchen. The lot will extend ninety one feet on 11th Street East, and 139 on South G street. The purchaser may have a preference of the south half of the Square. Also, a number of LOTS, eligibly situated in various parts of the City. The titles to the whole are indisputably free of every encumbrance, the terms moderate and convenient, which may be known by application to the subscriber, occupying the premises first mentioned, possession of which may be given within 30 days after purchase. THOMAS TINGEY, Who will also sell one whole and four half pipes, London, particular Madeira wine, of excellent quality. Washington, 10, April 1801.
For Sale or Rent,
Two three story brick houses in Alexandria, completely finished, on King and Columbia-street, with sundry valuable property near the same; possession whereof may be had immediately. The situation for the flour and grocery business is equal to any in Alexandria. For terms apply to Henry Thomas Moore, Alexandria, or to the subscriber. NICHOLAS VOSS.

WASHINGTON CITY.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 1801.
FRENCH CONVENTION RATIFIED.
Letters have been received at the Department of state from Major Mountmore...
MEDITERRANEAN SQUADRON.
A letter from Consul O'Brien, dated Algiers 22d July, states the arrival there...
The Frigate Essex, Capt. Bainbridge arrived off Marfeilles on the 29th July...
Extract of a letter from David Humphreys, Esquire, dated Madrid, July 27, 1801.
"Since the date of my last dispatch to you, I have received a letter from commodore DALE...
"Fortunate indeed, will it be for us if our Mediterranean Trade, should escape the threatened peril...
By letters of the first respectability from Spain dated late in July, we learn...
On the 28th of July, whatever related to the disposition and measures of France...
CENSUS OF NEW-YORK COMPLETE.
Table with 2 columns: Category, Number. Includes 'Free White Males' and 'Free White Females' with age group breakdowns.
Table with 2 columns: Category, Number. Includes '45 and upwards', 'All other free persons', 'Slaves'.
Table with 2 columns: Category, Number. Includes 'Total', 'Numbers previously given'.
Table with 2 columns: Category, Number. Includes 'Total of New-York'.
The unexpectedly large addition of numbers in New-York to those previously stated...
M. Le Bouyer's Desmortiers, of Nantes, has effected the solution of the Urinary Calculus...
At the requisition of M. Chaptal, the French Government has bestowed the bust of Hippocrates...
Danger of Bouquets in Bed-Rooms. Doctor Heister, of Gottingen, is of opinion...
Among the grand preparations at Paris for the celebration of the 14th July...
Love of the Country, by a Pelican—Courage, by a Lion—Valour, by a Horse...
NEW-YORK, September 24.
By the Schooner Morning Star, arrived at Martha's Vineyard from St. Croix...
To be Rented.
THE subscriber will rent by the year, or during the session of Congress...
TO SUBSCRIBERS.
THE period is approaching when, according to the original and indispensable terms...
A considerable number of subscribers of respectability, as far as the Editor is acquainted...
In order that each Subscriber may be informed in time due to make remittance...
LOTS FOR SALE
By virtue of a power of Attorney, the Subscriber will sell 3 valuable Lots...
LAND FOR SALE.
A VALUABLE TRACT OF LAND, LAYING on Mountain Run, in the county of Culpeper...
One other tract of nearly 700 acres of Land laying on the river, 4 or 5 miles above Fredericksburg...
Was committed on the 20th September, as runaway, to the jail of Washington county...
DANIEL C. BRENT, Marshal of the District of Columbia. Sept. 28.
By virtue of a decree from the Chancery Court of Maryland, will be exposed to
PUBLIC SALE,
To the highest bidder, at Mr. William Rhodes's Tavern, on the eighth day of September...
A LOT of ground situate in the District of Columbia, adjoining the City of Washington...
On the ratification of the sale by the chancellor, and on payment of the purchase money...
HENRY WHETCROFT, Trustee. Washington City, August 14, 1801.
City of Washington, July 24, 1801.
The subscribers
HAVING on hand a number of house frames of different dimensions, also, a large quantity...
JOHN CONNER, Somerset County, near Princess Ann, Maryland.
THOMAS MUNROE, City of Washington. July 27.
The quarterly court of Northumberland in Chancery, have decreed that part of the Tract of Land...
MOUNT SION,
THE property of Catesby Jones deceased, together with the MILL adjoining, BE SOLD...
The Land and Mill are very valuable, and are situated on the navigable waters of the river Potomac...
Wm. Claughton, Hierom Opie, Samuel Beachum, Commissioners. September 7, 1801.
ANTHONY SAWYER,
LADIES' & GENTLEMEN'S HAIR-DRESSER. RESPECTFULLY informs the public, that he has opened a shop...

CHARACTER OF HOMER.
The following splendid character of Ho- MER, is extracted from the Travels of Anacharsis, a work which cannot be too strongly recommended to general pe- rusal.
Posterity, which cannot estimate the glory of kings and heroes by their actions, hears, as it were, from far the reound- ing fame of their immortal deeds, and re- echoes it to following times. But the re- putation of an author whose writings still subsist, must be the result of the suc- cessive judgments which consecutive ages have pronounced in his favor. The glory of Homer, it is to be remembered, has in- creased in proportion as his works have be- come better known, and his readers more capable of appreciating their real worth. The Greeks have never been so learned and polite as they are at this day, and never were they impressed with so profound an admiration for that poet. His name is in every mouth, and his portrait before eve- ry eye; several cities dispute the honor of having given him birth; others have dedi- cated temples to him; the Argives, who invoke him in their holy ceremonies, send an annual sacrifice in the isle of Chios in his honor. His verses resound through all Greece, and are the brightest ornament of her splendid festivals. In them youth finds its first instructions: from them Eschylus, Sophocles, Archilochus, Herodotus, De- mosthenes, Plato, and the most esteemed authors, have drawn the greater part of the beauties that abound in their writings; and by them the sculptor Phidias, and the painter Euphranor, were taught worthily to represent the awful majesty of the sove- reign of the gods. How wondrous then is this man, who instructs legislators in the science of politics; who teaches philoso- phers and historians the art of writing, and poets and orators that of moving the pas- sions; who discloses and expands every ta- lent, and whose superiority is so universa- ly acknowledged, that we are no more jea- lous of his pre-eminence, than of the sun by which we are enlightened!
I am aware that Homer must more espe- cially interest his own nation. The prin- cipal houses of Greece think they discover in his works the titles of their origin; and the different states, the epocha of their greatness. Frequently his testimony has even sufficed to determine the ancient li- mits of two neighbouring nations. But this merit, which he might possess in com- mon with many authors now consigned to oblivion, never could produce the enthu- siasm excited by his poems; many other springs must have operated to obtain him among the Greeks the empire of the mind.
I am but a Scythian; and the harmony of Homer's verses, that harmony which transports the enraptured Greeks, frequent- ly escapes my unpolished organs: but I am no longer master of my admiration, when I see this lofty genius, hovering if I may so speak, over the universe; darting on every side his ardent glances, and collect- ing those flames and colors with which all objects sparkle in his light; entering the council of the gods; fathomng the rece- sses of the human heart; and quickly, rich with his discoveries, intoxicated with the beauties of nature, and, no longer able to support the ardour that consumes him, dis- tributing it with profusion in his descri- ptions and expressions, making heaven con- tend with earth, and the passions strive for mastery with each other; dazzling us by those strokes of light which appertain only to superior talents; hurrying us away by those sallies of sentiment that constitute the true sublime, and ever leaving a pro- found impression which seems to expand and ennoble the soul. For what above all distinguishes Homer, is the power of ani- mating every thing, and of perpetually communicating to us the emotions with which he is himself agitated; it is the skill with which he renders every other subor- dinate to the leading passion; following it through all its transports, its extravagan- cies, and incongruities; elevating it to the clouds, and again precipitating it, when necessary, from its height, by the force of sentiment and virtue, as the flames of Et- na are dashed by the wind to the bottom of the abyss: it is the felicity with which he has seized great characters, the skill with which he has diversified the power, the bra- very, and other qualities of his personages, not by cold and fastidious descriptions, but by rapid and vigorous strokes of pencil, or by novel fictions scattered as it were for- tuitously through his works. I mount with him into the heavens: I discover Venus in all her beauty by that girdle incessantly emit- ting the fires of love, impatient desire, fe-
ductive graces, and the inexpressible charms of language and the eyes; I recognize Pallas and her furies, by that ægis on which are suspended terror, discord, vio- lence, and the tremendous head of the hor- rid gorgon. Jupiter and Neptune are the most powerful of the gods; but Neptune must have a trident to shake the earth; and Jupiter his nod to make Olympus tremble. I descend to earth; Achilles, Ajax, and Diomedes, are the most for- midable of the Greeks; but Diomedes retires at the sight of the Trojan army; Ajax does not give way till he has several times repulsed it; Achilles shows himself, and it disappears.
These differences are not contrasted in the sacred books of the Greeks, for so the Iliad and Odyssey may be termed. The poet had given a solid basis to his models; he detached at pleasure those discrimina- ting shades, and had them present before his mind, at the very instant he was bestowing on his characters some momentary varia- tions: for, in fact, art alone attributes a constant unity to characters; nature pro- duces none which do not occasionally differ from themselves in the various occurrences of life.
Plato did not find sufficient dignity in the grief of Achilles, nor in that of Priam, when the former rolls himself in the dust after the death of Patroclus, and when the latter has recourse to a humiliating ac- tion to obtain the dead body of his son.— But how strange is that dignity which sti- fles the feelings of nature! For my part, I commend Homer for having, like nature, placed weakness by the side of strength, and the abyss by the side of elevation; I commend him still more for having shown me the best of fathers in the most powerful of kings, and the tenderest of friends in the most impetuous of heroes.
I have known the poet blamed for the insolent and abusive language which he puts into the mouth of his heroes, both in their assemblies and in the heat of battle: I then cast my eyes on children who ap- proach much nearer to nature than our- selves, on the vulgar always in a state of childhood, on savages who are always the vulgar; and have observed in all these, that their anger constantly expresses itself in insolence and outrage, previous to produ- cing any other effect.
I have heard Homer censured for having painted in all their simplicity the manners of the times that preceded him; I smiled at the criticism, and was silent.
But when it is alleged against him as a crime, that he has degraded the gods, I con- tent myself with relating the answer made me one day by an intelligent Athenian.— Homer, said he, ascribed to the gods the infirmities of men, according to the poeti- cal system of his time. Aristophanes has since exhibited them on our theatre, and our fathers applauded that licence; the most ancient theologians have said that men and gods had one common origin, and al- most in our own days Pindar has held the same language. It was never imagined then, that these gods could be substitutes for the idea we entertain of the Divinity; and in fact genuine philosophy admits a Supreme Being superior to them, who has delegated to them his power. It is that Being whom men of understanding adore in secret: the multitude address their pray- ers, and sometimes their complaints to those who represent him; and poets in ge- neral are like the subjects of the king of Persia, who prostrate themselves before the sovereign, and inveigh against his mi- nisters.
Let those who are unmoved by the beau- ties of Homer dwell on his defects. For why dissemble the truth? He frequently reposes, and sometimes slumbers; but his is the repose of the eagle, who, after visit- ing his vast domains of air, drops, oppressed with fatigue, upon a lofty mountain; and his slumber resembles that of Jupiter, who, according to Homer himself, hurls his thunder when he awakes.
Whoever shall judge of Homer not by frigid reasonings, but by his feelings, not by rules too often arbitrary, but according to the immutable laws of nature, will un- doubtedly be convinced, that he merits all the honors lavished on him by the Greeks, and that his works are the greatest orna- ment of the ages whose history I have been abridging.
EQUALITY OF MANKIND.
IN the center of those islands, situated in the midst of the South Sea, lies one dis- tant from the rest, and large beyond pro- portion. A descendant of one of the great men of this island, becoming a gen- tleman to so improved a degree, as to des- pise the good qualities which had original- ly ennobled his family, thought of nothing but how to support and distinguish his dig-
nity by the pride of an ignorant mind, and a disposition abandoned to pleasure. He had a house on the sea side, where he spent great part of his time in hunting and fish- ing; but he found himself at a loss in the pursuit of these important diversions, by means of a long slip of marsh land, over- grown with high reeds, that lay between his house and the sea. Resolving at length that it became not a man of his quality to submit to restraints in his pleasure for the ease and convenience of an obstinate me- chanic; and having often endeavored in vain to buy out the owner, who was an honest poor basket-maker, and whose live- lihood depended on working up the flags of those reeds in a manner peculiar to him- self, the gentleman took advantage of a very high wind, and commanded his ser- vant to burn down the barrier.
The basket-maker, who saw himself un- done, complained of the oppression in term- more suited to his sense of the injury, than the respect due to the rank of the offender: and the reward this imprudence procured him was the additional injustice of blows and reproaches, and all kinds of insult and indignity.
There was but one way to a remedy, and he took it. For going to the capital with the marks of his hard usage upon him, he threw himself at the feet of the king, and procured a citation for his oppressor's appearance; who, confessing the charge, proceeded to justify his behaviour by the poor man's unmindfulness of the submis- sion due from the vulgar to gentlemen of rank and distinction.
"But pray," replied the king, "what distinction of rank had the grandfather of your father, when, being a cleaver of wood in the palace of my ancestors, he was rais- ed from among those vulgar you speak of with such contempt, in reward of an in- stance he gave of his courage and loyalty in defence of his master? yet his distinc- tion was nobler than yours: it was the dis- tinction of foul, not of birth; the supe- riority of worth, not of fortune. I am sorry I have a gentleman in my kingdom who is base enough to be ignorant, that ease and distinction of fortune were be- stowed on him but to this end, that, being at rest from all cares of providing for him- self, he might apply his heart, head, and hands, for the public advantage of others."
Here the king, discontinuing his speech, fixed an eye of indignation on a sullen re- sentment of mein which he observed in the haughty offender, who muttered out his dislike of the encouragement this way of thinking must give to the commonalty, who, he said, were to be considered as per- sons of no consequence in comparison of men who were born to be honored.— "Where reflection is wanting," replied the king with a smile of disdain, "men must find their defects in the pain of their sufferings." "Yanhumo," added he, turn- ing to a captain of his gallies, "strip the injured and the injurer, and conveying them to one of the most barbarous and re- mote of the islands, set them ashore in the night, and leave them both to their for- tune."
The place in which they were landed was a marsh, under cover of whose flags the gentleman was in hopes to conceal him- self, and give the slip to his companion, whom he thought it a disgrace to be found with. But the lights in the galley having given an alarm to the savages, a consider- able body of them came down, and disco- vered in the morning the two strangers in their hiding place. Setting up a dismal yell, they surrounded them, and advancing nearer and nearer with a kind of clubs, seemed determined to dispatch them, with- out sense of hospitality or mercy.
Here the gentleman began to discover, that the superiority of his blood was ima- ginary; for, between a consciousness of shame and cold, under the nakedness he had never been used to, a fear of the event from the fierceness of the savages approach, and the want of an idea whereby to soften or divert their asperity, he fell behind the poor sharer of his calamity; and with an unfinewed, apprehensive, unmanly sneak- ingness of mein, gave up the post of honor, and made a leader of the very man whom he had thought it a disgrace to consider as a companion.
The basket-maker, on the contrary, to whom the poverty of his condition had made nakedness habitual, to whom a life of pain and mortification represented death as not dreadful, and whose remembrance of his skill in arts, of which these savages were ignorant, gave him hopes of becom- ing safe, from demonstrating that he could be useful, moved with bolder and more open freedom; and having plucked a hand- ful of flags, sat down without emotion, and making signs he would show them something worthy their attention, fell to work with smiles and noddings, while the
savages drew near and gazed in expecta- tion of the consequence.
It was not long before he had wreathéd a kind of coronet of pretty workmanship, and rising, with respect approached the sa- vage who appeared the chief, and placed it gently on his head; whose figure under this new ornament so charmed his follow- ers, that they threw down their clubs, and formed a dance of welcome and congratu- lation.
There was not one but showed the marks of his impatience to be made as fine as his captain; so that the poor basket-maker had his hands full of employment: and the savages observing one quite idle, while the other was so busy in their service, took up arms in behalf of natural justice, and be- gan to beat him.
The basket-maker's pity now effaced the remembrance of his sufferings. He arose, and rescued his oppressor, by making signs that he was ignorant of the art; but might, if they thought fit, be usefully employed in waiting on the work, and fetching flags to his supply as fast as he should want them.
This proposition luckily fell in with a desire the savages expressed to keep them- selves at leisure that they might crowd round, and mark the progress of a work they took such pleasure in. They left the gentleman therefore to his duty in the bas- ket-maker's service, considering him, from that time forward, as one who was, and ought to be treated as inferior to the artist.
Men, women and children, from all corners of the island, came in droves for coronets; and setting the gentleman to work to gather boughs and poles, they made a fine hut to lodge the basket-maker; and brought down daily from the country such provisions as they lived upon them- selves; but never offered the imagined ser- vant any thing till his master had done eat- ing.
Three months reflection in this morti- fied condition gave a new and just turn to our gentleman's mind, inasmuch, that ly- ing awake one night, he thus confessed his error to the basket-maker. "I have been to blame," says he, "and wanted judg- ment to distinguish between accident and excellence. When I should have measured nature, I looked only at vanity. The pre- ference which fortune gives is empty and imaginary; and I perceive too late, that only things of use are naturally honorable. I am ashamed when I compare my malice with your humanity. But if the gods should please to call me to a repossession of my rank and happiness, I would divide all with you in atonement of my justly punish- ed arrogance."
He promised, and performed his prom- ise. For the king soon after sent the captain who landed them, with presents to the sa- vages, and ordered him to bring them back again. And it continues to this day a cus- tom in that island, to degrade all gentle- men who cannot give a better reason for their pride, than that they were born to do nothing: on which occasion they usual- ly try out, Send him to the Basket- Maker's.
Ten Cents Reward.
WILL be paid for apprehending my appren- tice boy GEORGE W. BROWN, who having gone from home on Sunday the 6th inst. with my permission has not yet returned: There- fore, I do hereby caution all persons from har- boring said Brown, also masters of vessels and others, from carrying him away; or I will pro- secute them according to law. He is about 17 years of age, very tall and well built, pale com- plexion and small village. I will pay the above reward and no charges, for taking him up.
JOHN MINCHIN, New Jersey Avenue.
Washington, Sept. 23, 1801. 3t.
Whereas a commission of Bank-
ruptcy has been awarded and issued against ISAAC SMITH, of Harwich, resident in Boston, in the District of Massachusetts, trader; and the said Isaac Smith has been declared a bankrupt; he is hereby required to surrender himself to the Com- missioners in the said commission named, or to the major part of them, on the 5th day of Sep- tember next, on the 24th day of said September, or on the 9th day of October next, at 11 o'clock in the forenoon of each of said days, at the of- fice of Nathan Goodale, Esq in Tremont-street, Boston, and make a full disclosure and discovery of his estate and effects—When and where his Creditors are to come prepared to prove their debts; and at the second meeting to choose an assignee or assignees, and at the last meeting, said bankrupt is required to finish his examination. And at said last meeting, any of the creditors of said bankrupt may be heard before said commis- sioners, against the making or allowing of a cer- tificate to the judge of said district, to entitle the said bankrupt to a certificate of discharge.—All persons indebted to the said bankrupt are to make payment, and those who have any of his effects are to deliver the same to such persons only as the commissioners shall appoint.
By order of the Commissioners, JOHN HEARD, Sec'y.
Dated August 23, 1801.