The national intelligencer and Washington advertiser. (Washington City [D.C.]), 1803-07-11 00:00:00

NATIONAL INTELLIGENCER, AND WASHINGTON ADVERTISER.
Vol. III.
WASHINGTON CITY, PRINTED BY SAMUEL HARRISON SMITH, PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE.
No. CCCLXXIV.
FIVE DOLLS. PER ANN.
MONDAY, JULY 11th, 1803.
PAID IN ADVANCE.
LOUISIANA.
MEMORIAL
ON THIS QUESTION, WHETHER IT BE ADVANTAGEOUS FOR FRANCE TO TAKE POSSESSION OF LOUISIANA?
“Presented to the French Government by Mr. Livingston, the American Minister at Paris.”
TRANSLATED BY MR. NANGREDE.
This question presents itself in two points of view:—First, in the relation of commerce and manufactures:—Secondly, in those of the political or relative force of France.
Colonies do not excite interest for their own sake, but only as respects the influence they may have on a nation; and as one man alone is more useful by remaining at home, than two by removing at a distance, a wise nation does not seek to colonize, until she has a superabundance of population, which she cannot usefully employ in any other way.
Though very considerable, the population of France is very far from having reached the term which renders colonies necessary: Her soil, climate, and local situation give her, as a commercial, and especially as a manufacturing nation, great advantages over all the nations of Europe. The spirit of invention, the taste and industry of its inhabitants, place her in the first rank. But those advantages are wonderfully abridged by the want of capitals sufficient to make use of them. A rival nation, greatly inferior in every one of these particulars, has, by the effect alone of an immense capital, obtained the superiority, not only in commerce, but also in manufactures; and these advantages, by increasing the national fortune, furnish it with the means of maintaining that very superiority.
Capitals increase the number of manufactures, by the introduction of machines, by the regular payment of workmen, by the reduction of the interest of money, and especially by the possession of new markets.
None but rich individuals can undertake those flow and expensive speculations, which often give the superiority to a manufacturer. A poor merchant cannot undertake long voyages, returns from which are slow: they are reserved for the wealthy, who can give credits long enough to tempt foreign nations to give his articles the preference over those of other nations, which expect a quick return for theirs. The want of capitals in France, is such, that no manufacturer has at his command a quantity of articles sufficient to answer the demands; and consequently no foreigner can be sure to obtain from his French correspondent wherewith to make his returns without retarding his vessel in port, or, at least, without being obliged to take a considerable quantity of articles of inferior quality, picked up in a number of different manufactures; so that if he commits any fraud, no one can be charged with it. This renders the character of a manufacturer of very little importance in the eyes of a French workman.
Hence when a foreign vessel, especially if owned at a great distance, sells her cargo in France, she is ordered to take nothing but wines or brandies, because they are the only articles which the owner is sure to procure in sufficient quantities, in the fixed time.
In England, on the contrary, he will find all sorts of goods, in one hour, from one manufacture, the reputation of which would suffer, if the whole supply were not of the same quality with the sample. This consideration will ever induce a foreigner to apply to an English, in preference to a French merchant, for a purchase of goods of the same kind. Hence cargoes are sold in France, and the proceeds carried to England, there to be sold for articles which France might supply, if her manufactures were rich enough to answer every demand, in a short time, without compelling the purchaser to have recourse to a great number of manufactures.
This inconvenience can only be removed by increasing the capitals of manufactures. It would be too great a deviation from my subject, to point out the means of obtaining those capitals; but it is evident, that they must be considerably lessened by the forming of a navy, at the expense of manufactures, or by using the capitals of the nation in distant countries. It is beyond doubt, that capitals open new channels; for nothing is more natural for merchants whose capital is small, than to content themselves with acting the part of brokers or commission-merchants, to those who can supply them with goods on credit; and for this very reason, England lost no
thing by the independence of America—Her immense capitals have created a monied dependence, which, in a commercial relation, replaced the supremacy she had lost in the government. The increase of capital in America, frees it in some degree from that dependency, and by furnishing her with the means of extending her commerce, and even to offer capitals to other nations, which know how to calculate the value of the markets which she offers to manufactures and to the luxury of Europe.
It will be readily granted, that colonies beyond the seas add nothing to the force of a nation, there are, on the contrary, weak points, which are guarded at a very great expense, both in men and money; especially if they be in hot and unhealthy climates.
The question, therefore, is reduced to this, Has France a superfluity of men and money great enough to justify the settling of a new colony?
Those which France already possesses in the West-Indies and at Cayenne, are more than sufficient for her wants, and even the wants of all Europe, if they were cultivated so as to produce all they are capable of. But how are they to be cultivated? Experience has proved that the inhabitants of hot climates never work from want: Force alone can supply the two great spurs to labour in northern climates, hunger and cold, which nature has placed in those severe climates. Hence slavery alone can fertilize those colonies, and slaves cannot be procured but at a great expense.
The Spanish part of Hispaniola was almost uncultivated for want of slaves. It is now possessed by France; and, to render it of advantage, it will be necessary to lay out immense capitals in slaves, in buildings, and in improvements of uncultivated lands. Others will be necessary to make up for the losses of the French part of that, not to mention the other islands. Where are those capitals to be found? Men who travel into distant and unhealthy climates are seldom wealthy. Those riches must therefore be found in France, or in some country that has a superfluity of capital. If they are found in France, it can only be, to a certain degree, at the expense of internal manufactures. It may, however, appear advantageous, in a national point of view, to encourage the use of the riches of France for that object; considering the extreme fertility of the French West-Indies, and their present situation of culture, those funds will soon yield a profit. But as long as money will command so high an interest; so long as the interior of the Republic shall offer monied men a source of speculations, and property shall lie in so few hands, it will be difficult to induce the majority of them to dispose of themselves of this capital to lend it at a distance, and run the risk of the integrity of their agents, and all those whom recent examples have taught them to dread.
Foreign coin was formerly introduced into France through the United Provinces; but the present state of the Batavian colonies, and the losses they have sustained by the war, leave but little hope, that much may be used in the restoring of French colonies.
The United States possess considerable capitals in money, and productions necessary to the restoration of the islands—No great credit, in money, will probably be given to the planters; but with suitable encouragements, there is no doubt they will be able to obtain those productions which must, were it not for that circumstance, be paid for in cash, and the commercial speculations of the United States will extend to the French islands, when the public and private credit of France shall have been restored, and when experience shall have convinced the people how unwise it is to establish a revenue upon foreign trade, while it is in fact collected from their own citizens. At Hispaniola, a duty of 20 per cent. is paid upon articles introduced by foreigners. This duty is in fact paid by foreigners, and it happens that fraud, and the bad administration of custom-houses, is, as usual, a source of vexation for foreign merchants. But it is the planter who furnishes the money, for this tax is always added to the price, and even an interest is advanced upon it as a compensation for the vexations which the captains experience in their commerce. What then is the effect of that operation, if not to take from the planter one-fourth part of the money which he had so much difficulty to get from France? Or otherwise to stop, by that means, partly the re-establishment of the capitals which alone can render the islands finally productive? I say finally, for it is folly to believe that they will yield to France a compensation for
her actual outsets, unless it be after a great many years. I will even say, that unless the ports of Hispaniola are open to every vessel loaded with articles of necessity, unless the inhabitants have the right of buying cheap and selling dear, by encouraging the rivalry between the sellers and purchasers, unless every sort of vexation is removed, and strangers receive every possible security for their capitals in the islands, ages will pass away before Hispaniola will cease draining France of its riches and strength without offering her any equivalent return.
It is, therefore, evident, that if France had no other possession beyond the seas, except her islands, it might easily place all the capital of which she now can, & probably hereafter will be able to dispose in a long series of years.
But if to all this, we add the immense possessions in Guyanna, her productions, and the capitals necessary to carry the whole of it to its full value; if we add the settlements necessary to be made in India, if the design be to bring into the ports of France that variety of articles which invite exchanges, and give commerce its due activity, we shall find that one century at least will pass away before France may want possessions of that kind.
But as France has, like other countries, but a confined capital, the only question is, where shall this capital be placed? Shall it be here? in the West-Indies? at Cayenne? in India, or at Louisiana? For it is obvious that what will be placed in one of those settlements will be at the expense of another; it is equally so, that the national expenditures will increase with her colonies; and that in case of war, the points of attack and defence will be multiplied in the same ratio.
Able statesmen have questioned whether colonies were useful to a country situated like France; but my design is not to examine this theory. France has colonies; she has invited her citizens to go and carry their riches to them; honor requires that she keep and protect them; but she is under no obligation to create new ones; to multiply points of defence; to squander away the capitals she wants at home and abroad. How could the possession of Louisiana be useful to her? In the first place, its cultivation is to be carried on, as in all warm countries, by slaves; the capitals spent in buying them, or the slaves themselves, would have been carried to the islands, if this new channel had not opened. This rivalry will raise the price of slaves for the planters, and may thus much retard the settlement.
On their arrival at Louisiana, the slaves will be employed in the barren occupation of felling the large forests with which this immense country is covered, a labor but little suited to slaves, for it requires being long accustomed to the ax; and force and activity are seldom found in slaves. They must be clothed, fed & maintained during whole years before any profit can be derived from them. What I am about to relate may serve to determine that period. In the northern and middle states of America, the usual term of a quit-rent lease in the new lands is ten years free from rent, and after this the leasee pays 12 bushels of wheat for every 100 acres forever. It is, therefore, obvious, that the first ten years are considered as a time of expense, during which term the owner requires no payment. But in the southern states, new lands cannot even be given out on those terms, because the white planter sets a higher value on his labor, and the clearing of forests requires too great outsets for any one but the owner of the land.
Who then will cultivate Louisiana with slaves? Who is the citizen willing to bestow large capitals upon so precarious a property with the prospect of a distant return?
It may be asked, why does it not happen in the southern states? It is answered, first, because none are southerly enough to be wholly free from the colds of winter, which renders savage life very difficult to men, born in hot climates; and secondly, because the southern states, are mostly surrounded by the sea, and by mountains the whole population of which is white, and which cut off the communication between the slaves and the vast forests of the interior parts.
But let us suppose all these difficulties overcome, what commercial advantages can France derive from the settlement of this colony? The productions of Louisiana being the same with those of the West-Indies, no advantage is to be reaped, for the islands, being well cultivated, will suffice for the wants of France, and even all Europe. The introduction
of those from Louisiana, would only lessen the price without adding any thing to the value, and France would be obliged to prevent the ruin of those who had employed their funds in the colonies, to imitate the Dutch, who destroy their spices and teas, when the quantity of these commodities in Europe is large enough to cause a depreciation of their value.
The productions of Louisiana which do not grow in the West-Indies, are only lumber, and perhaps rice; but it is certain that those productions, considering the difficulties of procuring them in a hot and unsalubrious climate, will not cover the outsets, or, at least, will not yield the same profits as would be procured by raising them in the islands, in procuring the same or other and more valuable articles.
The proof of this is found in the United States. It is not from Georgia or South Carolina, that the West-Indies are supplied with lumber, but chiefly from the northern states, where forests are more scarce and more valuable than in the south. The cause of this is, that the supplying of lumber, the mills necessary to prepare them for sale, all these are the work of free hands, which are satisfied with a moderate price.
I shall presume further to lay down, however paradoxical it may seem, that it is not advantageous for France to supply herself with lumber, even if she could procure it from Louisiana. I have two reasons to offer:—What lumber the northern states supply her colonies with is paid for in molasses and rum. The first article costs the planter nothing, for, were it not for that, there would be an useless production of his sugar, and the second is but a very moderate expense for distillation. If it were not consumed in America, molasses would be thrown away as useless, and this was the case when America was a British colony, because French commerce does not offer any other market for that commodity.
It may therefore be said that the colonies have from the United States, lumber for nothing. Should, on the contrary, a settlement be formed in Louisiana for the supplying of that article, every expense and outset of this establishment, all the labor necessary to cut, saw, and transport to the place where it is to be sold, would be a real loss for the nation, even admitting that the cutters and other men employed, should take as payment, molasses and rum; because their labor would produce nothing to the nation.
But it is certain that Louisiana could not furnish a market for molasses or rum. It is only in New England (northern states,) that those articles are consumed. The inhabitants of the south prefer ardent spirits, distilled from grain, apples, and peaches, to those distilled from molasses.
On the supposition, therefore, that the planters supply themselves with lumber in a French colony, exclusively at Louisiana, they would be forced to pay for it in money or objects of real value. If the right of supply is not exclusive, it is null, because the laborer of a southern climate cannot work as cheap as the robust son of the north.
It might be thought that molasses would still find a market in New England, though it were no longer the price of lumber. It would be an error. They have, no other reason to take it, than its being offered them in exchange for an article for which they have few other markets. Let the colonies refuse lumber from the north, spirits from grain, apples, &c. will immediately be substituted to those from sugar, because the price of rum would immediately be higher. Then it will be that every sort of commerce between them and the colonies will cease, unless it be for provisions, which they will necessarily require to be paid for in money, or in what will pass in foreign markets for money.
The second reason why France ought not to get her lumber from Louisiana, even though she might do it, is, that in case of war, supposing England should preserve her naval superiority, no sure calculations could be made upon receiving provisions; and they could not be supplied from the United States, for that commerce, having been abandoned since the peace, those whom it then employed have sought other objects of industry; and saw mills, erected to prepare that lumber, are out of use, and will not easily be let up again, at the renewal of hostilities, so that the misfortunes which are the consequence of it would be doubly distressing to the colonies.
It is, therefore, very evident the colonizing of Louisiana, would, in a commercial point of view, be very injurious
to France, because it would employ capitals which would be more usefully employed in the other colonies; because those capitals would lie dormant for several years, and because admitting they should become productive for individuals, they would add nothing to the national mass, and would have no other effect than to lower the price of colonial produce, and lessen the profits of their labor.
It might however be thought, that the possession of Louisiana would afford one more market to French manufactures, and thus compensate the expense of the nation for its settlement. This question deserves a particular examination, and the provisioning or the consumption of French manufactures may relate either to the free or bond population.
If it be the free class that is to be mustered by emigrants from France, it will be composed of that portion of the people, which not only could support themselves in France, but, besides, increase the national riches by their industry. For France is not overburthened by her population, and consequently every emigration will form a vacuum somewhere, or abandon some useful branch which will no longer be carried on. The emigrant carries away with him a portion of the general good, in the mass of the productive labour of the mother country; he also carries away with him a portion of the capital, for he never goes with empty hands, and, as I have already observed, ten years must pass away before his settlement produces beyond his first necessities. He must, at the same time, live with the strictest economy, for having nothing to offer in exchange, he receives scarcely anything from the mother country, and the nature of the southerly climates requires very few of the articles necessary in Europe. It is, therefore, beyond all doubt, that, as to the present emigrant, the few articles furnished him by the French manufactures will not cover the loss which the nation will sustain of his own labour; besides, he will consume much less in America than he would in France, and besides his labour, the manufacturer, who supplied his wants in both countries, will be a loser by his emigration.
Black population will still less contribute to the support of French manufactures, because their consumption in articles of dress is very small; and even in South Carolina it does not amount to more than forty livres a year for each negro. Louisiana, where the winter is still less severe, it will be reduced in proportion; it will consist in cotton, principally worked in the country, and still more smuggled from the United States. But if the whole were brought from France, after deducting the raw materials which must be purchased, the profit of the French manufacturer will not amount to more than 30 livres for each negro, every year. Now as each slave will cost the nation 1000 livres, and as this capital would have produced, in France, at least 10 per cent. in every other commerce or manufacture, the difference between 100 livres French produce, and 30 livres, produce of the Louisiana clothing, gives the real loss to be sustained by France in the first ten years, during which, they can only, as I have said before, supply their first wants, if so much; and as a certain number must die by the change of climate, and a number will run away, the real loss of France on every slave imported and employed in Louisiana must be 1000 livres every year.
But if we add to this, the profit which this very slave could have furnished, if transported to the islands, (and it is certain that all the slaves carried to Louisiana are so many hands taken from the islands,) we shall find that the actual loss of the nation, in the interruption of labour, will amount to upwards of 500 livres per annum; so that the first loss for the nation, in the introduction of 1000 slaves to Louisiana, will be 600,000 livres. It is true, that if peace continued, and if, in opposition to expectation, the colony should prosper, the rich planters will make a great consumption of French goods, but that of the slaves will ever be very small, or their labour without profit, because, as I have already observed, being employed to cultivate articles which the islands can more easily supply for every demand, and the sale of which is confined, by increasing the quantity, they will only lessen the prices of those commodities which it is essential for France to keep high, because she possesses the most fertile islands. I know there is an opinion entertained by many, viz. That French goods, in their way to the Mississippi will find a market
(Continued on last page.)

From the Ohio Gazette.
Mr. Editor.
I wish you to give the following piece a place in your paper; it is intended to expose the many slanderous insinuations and falsehoods, which have been artfully propagated through some of the federal prints and otherwise, against the character of my son John G. Jackson, who was born on the 22d day of September 1777 in the county of Hardy, in the state of Virginia. Mrs. Jackson (his mother) as soon as she was able to travel was removed to the settlement of Beckenbough in this county, where she was taken in from an account of the Indian War; I continued there with my family in a log cabin for upwards of four years; the war continued with such violence that the whole settlement was abandoned, and the fort burnt to ashes by the savages; I then, with my small family moved to Clarkburg, the place where John G. Jackson my son has continued to reside ever since, except while at school and upon public business.
In 1798 he was elected to represent the county of Harrison in the legislature of Virginia, in which capacity he served three years, during the last year he got married and commenced the practice of the law, and declined a re-election. In the fall of 1798, the famous resolutions of the legislature of Virginia were adopted, and upon that occasion John G. Jackson addressed a printed circular to his constituents condemning in severe terms the conduct of the federal party, this routed the whole federal majority in his quarter against him. Col. R. B. Wilson a prominent federalist even lost one of those circuits to the President of the United States (John Adams) to have John G. Jackson indicted for sedition; from this moment onwards he was active against him, taking her flight upon the wings of the wind, he was called Jacobin, a disorganizer, an enemy to our government and a friend to France. The President, however, disapproved very little about J. G. Jackson and his wife, Mrs. Wilson, to that nothing was heard of from that quarter. Some time afterwards a suit was commenced against him by the relations of a Miss Triplett charging that he had violated a marriage promise to her and upon the trial the jury found a verdict in her favour for 400 dollars damages, upon the oath of her sister-in-law, Mrs. Triplett, whether she is yet satisfied I am not able to say, but the same witness told me before the trial that she hoped to be revenged of John G. Jackson before she died, and that if it ever was in her power she should be revenged of him—God forbid she has done it by swearing one thing I am sure of, almost all the acquaintance of both parties believe that John G. Jackson never seriously courted Miss Triplett—the following report of a case certified by Wm. G. Payne, Esq. who has lately been elected a member of the Assembly of Virginia, for Monongalia county, will enable the public to judge correctly upon the subject, and as a proof of the opinion of the people of this country, who from the foregoing statement it is evident must know every thing relative to John G. Jackson's character, and just before the last congressional election for this district, several resolutions were entered into, an abstract of those unanimously adopted by upwards of eighty free men of Harrison county, taken on the 21st of March last for that purpose I here subjoin, to wit:
Resolved, That being acquainted with John G. Jackson from his infancy we declare our conviction to be that in point of honor, integrity, talents and republicanism he justly ranks among the best characters in this district and that we will vote for and support the said John G. Jackson and all his honorable efforts to procure his election as our representative to Congress.
On the 17th of April following, J. G. Jackson got 539 votes out of 640 in this county, and was finally elected our representative to Congress by a large majority, facts speak louder than words. I will now leave it to an impartial public to judge who is the most in fault the character who published an incorrect account of the trial in the Washington Telegraph, or the editor of U. S. Gazette, who inquires why the President did not direct a Noli prosequi as he did in the case of a favorite culprit—or he who wishes to correct misrepresentations against the character of his child.
GEORGE JACKSON.
Harrison County, Va.
May 28th, 1803.
LAW INTELLIGENCE.
District court of Virginia, held at Monongalia county house before Archibald Stewart a judge of General Court. September term, 1802.
Frances A. Triplett, vs. John G. Jackson, Alleged breach of marriage promise.
The counsel for the plaintiff read the declaration to the jury and then introduced their testimony to support it.
Mrs. Triplett (sister-in-law to the plaintiff) deposed that the defendant had
for some time past attended to the plaintiff and at her request declared to the witness (with whom she lived) his determination to marry her—that time afterwards the defendant made further declarations of attachment to the plaintiff, in presence of the witness and upon being informed that the plaintiff was going to the state of Kentucky, he further declared he was determined to marry Miss Triplett, and that nothing but death should separate them; that the plaintiff went to Kentucky in June 1799, and she heard had a child but had not seen her since her departure.
Mr. Nathaniel Davison was then examined, he deposed that previous to the arrival of the Triplett family in Clarkburg, and during the stay of the plaintiff therein, the most uninterrupted friendship and mutual confidence subsisted between himself and the defendant, and that among other confidential communications they had frequent conversation concerning the plaintiff and one R. B. James, with whom the plaintiff was generally considered to be in habits of criminal intimacy, that from the knowledge which the defendant and the deponent had of their conduct, each frequently declared his belief to the other, that the general opinion was well founded, the witness knew that the plaintiff was also fond of the defendant, and in conversation upon that subject the defendant acknowledged that the plaintiff had informed him the family were unusually concerning their intimacy, and begged of the defendant that in order to silence their clamours and to blind their eyes, he would be permitted to pay attention to her—that the defendant said he felt unwilling to implicate himself and to evade the subject observed that her brother was a personal enemy, and he would not make the request—that Miss Triplett desired that the subject might be mentioned in that way to her sister-in-law, and at the solicitation of the plaintiff and to effect the objects expected by her, she did ultimately in conversation with Mrs. Triplett ask permission to visit the plaintiff—upon being so examined the witness said the character of Miss Triplett was extremely bad, that the plaintiff was acquainted therewith; and that Mrs. Triplett's general character as a woman of truth was also bad.
Maxwell Armstrong was next examined, he stated that Mr. Jackson and himself were upon very intimate terms, that upon a journey across the mountains they conversed very freely with each other, and that among other things the conversation turned upon the plaintiff, and the defendant confidentially made the same disclosure to him as to Mr. Davison—upon cross examination he said that the general character of the plaintiff was that she was an unchaste woman and particularly so as it related to James, and that the defendant who lived in the same little town was well acquainted therewith—Mrs. Triplett (the witness) was not generally considered to be a woman of truth.
Adam Hickman, deposed that the plaintiff (to use the expression of the witness) as good as told him, that the defendant was intimate with her; and that he had been alone with her in her room almost all day, the witness informed the defendant of the confessions of the plaintiff, who then admitted they were true, and expressed his astonishment that the plaintiff had been so imprudent—the witness upon further examination added that James had informed him, that he kept the plaintiff—the plaintiff he said was of general bad character as a prostitute.
Mrs. Patty Wilson was then examined, she testified that during the plaintiff's stay in Clarkburg, the defendant was in the habit of speaking of her to the witness in terms of disrespect, and he informed the witness that "Wm. Armstrong, the little fool, wanted the defendant to tell Miss Triplett that he (the defendant) had no respect for her"—the defendant enquired whether the witness did not hear him after the departure of Miss Triplett from Clarkburg—challenge Mrs. Triplett, the witness, with having falsely reported that he was engaged to marry Miss Fanny, and whether Mrs. Triplett did not deny she had ever said so, and acknowledge she never had any conversation with the defendant except once upon that subject, and further if she did not recollect that the defendant said Mrs. Triplett absurdly introduced the subject at that time by saying she had but two objects of desire upon earth, one to go to Carolina and get her father's carriage and horses, the other to see Fanny married to the defendant, and that he mentioned he understood that Mr. Wm. Armstrong was the favorite swain of Miss Triplett—the witness answered she could not relate the conversation; but that a good deal upon that subject had occurred at Mr. Armstrong's—here Mrs. Triplett came forward, and said it was the uncle of Mr. Jackson who had mentioned, and admitted she had said (as the case originally published in the Western Telegraph expresses it) "that he had but two subjects of anxiety in this world, the one was to see the plaintiff happily married, and the other to visit her parents in one of the Carolinas" and turning to the defendant she laid
Mr. Jackson you know you promised to me you would marry Fanny, and you cannot deny it, I'll declare to God it is true"—the defendant replied, "madam I am not permitted to state to the jury the truth of the case, if I were I would say upon oath most explicitly it is not true."
Mrs. Nathaniel Davison was then examined, she stated she had never been the plaintiff, she had left the county before the arrival of the witness; and that she knew nothing of the affair—upon cross examination she added that some time after arriving at Clarkburg, Mrs. Wilson (who was then Miss Davison) and herself, with the defendant and some others, walked one evening to the river, about a mile distant, and during the walk the conversation turned upon the Triplets, the defendant observed, what a damned fool Mrs. Triplett is, it wanted me to marry Fanny and the whole world could not induce me to it.
Hedgeman Triplett (brother to the plaintiff) deposed that the defendant spent the evening before the departure of the plaintiff to Kentucky, at his house, and appeared very fond of her, he never heard any declarations on the part of the defendant, that he was attached to, or would marry his sister.
Here several witnesses were called forward who deposed that during the evening and the whole night previous to the departure of Miss Triplett to Kentucky, the defendant was in company with them, at the wake of a deceased person.
Here the testimony on the part of the plaintiff closed and the defendant having plead non assumpsit with leave to give any special matter in evidence upon the trial of the said issue, opened his defence, it consisted in proving the universal infamy of the plaintiff's character, the standing of the defendant in society, and hence the irrepressible conclusion, that the allegations of his having made the promises alleged by Mrs. Triplett were false—as well as to prove that she was a common liar, under-serving of any credit, and of a most malicious disposition—for this purpose he introduced the following witnesses:
Mrs. Prudence Davison (mother of Miss Wilson and Mr. Nathaniel Davison, and mother in law to Mrs. R. Davison, and Mr. M. Armstrong) the deponent, she had lived in Clarkburg, they spent some short time with the deponent, until they removed to a house they had rented near to her, some time afterwards she observed an unusual intimacy between Miss Triplett and a Mr. James, whom she believed to be a married man, and that her belief was thereafter confirmed by the information of a Mr. Holden and family, who asserted that James had a wife and four children in New Jersey—she communicated this fact to Miss Triplett and all the family, they promised to interdict any further intercourse between James and the plaintiff, but it still continued—H. Triplett became at length outrageous, and abused James, and forwarded him from coming to his house, and the plaintiff frequently went to the tavern where James lived, and it was reported was often caught alone with him in private—the deponent added, that the plaintiff went out of the country and some considerable length of time afterwards a report prevailed that she had a child; the deponent had frequent conversations with Mrs. Triplett concerning Fanny and James, the defendant and others, and Mrs. Triplett declared that there had never been any serious courtship between Miss Fanny and the defendant; and added, "God knows I on Jackson never wanted Fanny, and she never wanted him"—at other times she assured the witness that the report concerning the plaintiff's having a child was a lie, that had been raised upon her.
Upon being examined the deponent declared she knew that the defendant was well acquainted with the conduct of the plaintiff and James, as she had often heard him mention it, she added that the character of Miss Triplett, during the latter part of her stay at Clarkburg, was very infamous, and that Mrs. Triplett was considered a common liar, and of evil disposition.
Mr. John Webster, deposed that he had frequently observed the conduct of the plaintiff and James, which induced strong suspicions of improper behavior on the part of the plaintiff; that he understood Hedgeman Triplett finally forwarded James from coming to his house, and upon catching James one night thereafter in company with his sister, he sent to his, the deponent's house for a gun (he believes) to shoot him; and that Triplett frequently drove James from his premises—he knows the defendant was acquainted with these circumstances as he heard him often mention them—he declared that the character of the plaintiff was more infamous than that of any person he knew of, and that Mrs. Triplett was of general bad character, as it respected truth.
Mrs. M'Neely deposed that the plaintiff came to Morgantown (37 miles from Clarkburg) and was at her house at a ball, that James followed her, and found means to get into a private room upstairs with the plaintiff, and that she was informed thereof by a girl living with her, and went in person and told the
plaintiff such conduct would not be indulged about her house.
Mrs. Williams (sister to the defendant) was introduced—the defendant said he did not with his sister examined as to general character, it was merely to prove a particular fact, that she was introduced, it was painful to him to have to resort to family connections upon any point of testimony, and he should therefore avoid every thing he possibly could. The witness stated that upon the day Miss Triplett left for Kentucky, she went to her desiring to see her that she wished to speak to her—The messenger brought a little bundle containing some necking and a lock of the plaintiff's hair, the witness refused to go, and soon after the departure of the messenger Miss Triplett came to the fence near where the deponent was and said she wished to speak to her, the deponent walked up and offered to return the bundle—the plaintiff put it into her hands and said "I see you are above keeping my hair—I am now about to be sent away on account of James; but you will hear the result, I am determined to marry him at the risk of my life." The plaintiff declared that James was not a married man, and gave the witness to understand that he was to follow her. The witness was cross examined by the plaintiff's counsel—the stated that some months afterwards she was treated with indifference on account of her conduct, and during this time the deponent's mother was dangerously ill and the plaintiff came sometimes without invitation to sit up with her, and that almost every female in the town was in the habit of coming, but she knew the company of the plaintiff was displeasing to the family.
The plaintiff's counsel introduced several of the inhabitants of Morgantown who testified that the plaintiff lived in that place with her brother before his removal to Clarkburg, and had behaved herself very well and was of good character—among the most prominent of these witnesses was Mrs. Wilson wife of the candidate who opposed Mr. Jackson in the election; she testified that the plaintiff was always considered of good character, and that she had never heard any thing against her.
Quest. by defendant—Mrs. Wilson did you ever hear any thing disadvantageous to the character of Miss Triplett? Answer, No sir, never.
Quest. by same—Did you never hear any thing respecting her conduct with James?
Ans. No Sir, I never did.
Here the testimony closed and his honor (the judge) requested that the parties would consent to the jury's retiring without having the cause argued which was acceded to and while the jury were out the court rose for dinner—during dinner the subject of the trial was introduced—Mr. Jackson declared the procedure of that day truly surprised him, the doors of confidence had been forced open and testimony drawn from its most secret recesses. The judge observed "Mr. Jackson I do not think you have cause of complaint as the testimony of Mr. Davison was certainly the most favorable to you that has been offered." After dinner the court resumed its sittings, and the jury returned a verdict of 400 dollars damages for the plaintiff—the defendant was silent when the verdict was delivered and when he came into court was informed by his counsel that upon application being made by them for a new trial, the court had refused it—he then rose and addressed his honor as follows—"I presume Sir, that from the multiplicity of the testimony the jury have been confounded, and if leave is given to address them, that they will re-consider and change their verdict."
Court (to plaintiff's counsel) will you consent gentlemen to have the cause argued by one counsel on each side and let the jury again retire?
Counsel—No, sir, we will not consent to any thing, we have admitted too much already, we have admitted general report to be given in evidence relative to a particular fact.
Defendant—I conceive, Sir, that the verdict was contrary to evidence, and if such be the fact the court ought to interpose its authority.
Court—Mrs. Jackson, the jury are the sole judges of the weight of evidence, one witness has sworn pointedly to the promise of marriage, it is not for the Court to say whether he believes her or not, the jury have thought proper to believe her."
Defendant—I have another reason for some of the witnesses summoned by me were prevented by indisposition from attending.
Court—That would have been a good ground of continuance.
Defendant—I have other reasons to offer, I believe the sheriff and the jury were prejudiced against me, it is well known that I stand in a political relation to the people, and that a party spirit now exists which disregards all respect for truth and propriety and which takes pleasure in rioting upon the sacrifices it can make—I am the more confirmed in this belief, as the jury were summoned expressly to try this cause and some of the jurors were heard to say before the trial came on that none but men with daughters ought to sit upon the trial, and they could then give ample damages
(here Mr. Daddridge one of the plaintiff's counsel interrupted Mr. Jackson by observing he believed a majority of the jury were the political friends of Mr. Jackson, or agreed with him in politics.)
Court—The judgement must be entered for damages &c. as I cannot upon suggestion let slide the verdict.
I was one of the counsel of Mr. Jackson and took notes upon the trial of the foregoing case, I do declare my conviction to be that it is correctly reported; if however the words are not verbatim the same that occurred, I believe the substance to be truly stated.
Morgantown, } May 19th 1803. } (Signed) Wm. G. PAYNE.
[CORR.]
Whereas, a publication has appeared in the Washington Telegraph of a trial between Frances E. Triplett and John G. Jackson, in which Adam Hickman is mentioned as a witness with a preface that he is a man of low and infamous character, we whose names are hereunto subscribed, certify that we have long been acquainted with the said Hickman and had dealings with him, and freely declare, we consider him a man of upright disposition and of unblemished character.
April 20th 1803. (Signed) Alfon Clark Thomas Haymond Micajah Barkley Maxwell Armstrong.
Benjamin Wilson jun. has had dealings with Mr. Hickman to a large amount and has ever found him punctilious, fair and honorable.
From Relf's Philadelphia Gazette.
By the brig Fame, capt. Grainsbury, we have accounts from New Orleans to the close of May. The effect of the restoration of the deposit had not been so favorable to business as was expected. Considerable languor prevailed. The Marquis de Caste Calvo was there, waiting the arrival of General Victor and his troops to whom he was to deliver the province in form. Our correspondent says, "that it is well understood that the Floridas as well as a strip of land on the eastern bank of the Mississippi, extending from the river Iberville to the American limits, including Baton Rouge, remain under the dominion of Spain." From this it will be very early for every individual to ascertain the boundaries ceded to the United States by France if indeed any cession has been made.
By the Fame we have received a file of the "Moneur de la Louisiane" printed at New Orleans, from which we have translated a few articles for this day's Gazette. We have also received a translated copy of the royal order for the delivery of the colony to the French, which we subjoin:
TRANSLATION.
His Excellency Don Pedro Ceballos under yesterday's date, informs me what follows:—
Most Excellent Sir, The French government having requested that in delivering to it the colony of Louisiana, it be put in possession of the artillery, arms, ammunition, stores, hospitals, sea craft and other effects belonging to the king, that may be found in the colony, and that the royal order to be expedited to the captain general of said provinces, for the delivery of the colony, be forwarded by an express to Paris, that the captain general Victor, who goes out on that commission, may carry it with him. His majesty, desirous of pleasing without delay, the said government, has determined to expedite, through the office of state, under my charge, the royal dispatch, a copy of which I enclose herewith; adding moreover that it is his majesty's will, that conformably thereto, you give the necessary orders for the formation of a detailed inventory of all the excellencies relating to your department, observing too a separation of the papers to be delivered to the French, in consequence of the cession; and of those not relating to said affair, which are to be transported to the dominions of his majesty. I acquaint you of this by royal order for our information and government, in what respects your royal dispatch.
Don Carlos, by the Grace of God, &c.
Having thought it expedient to retrocede to the French Republic, the colony and province of Louisiana, I order, that when this is presented to you by Gen. Victor, or any other officer duly authorized by said republic, to take charge of said delivery, you put him in possession of the colony of Louisiana and its dependencies; as likewise the city and island of New Orleans, with the same extent that it now has, that it had when possessed by the French, when ceded to my Royal crown, and as it ought to be after the various treaties between my states and those of other powers, in order that in future it may belong to said republic, who is to administer and govern it with its officers and governors, as if it belonged to her without any exception. I order that as soon as the said troops of the French Republic have taken

possession of said colony, you withdraw therefrom all the officers, soldiers and persons in my service, and send them to Spain, or any part of my possessions in America, excepting those who prefer remaining in the French service, to whom you will make no objection.
I moreover order, that after the evacuation of the said ports and town of New Orleans, you collect all the papers and documents relating to the revenue and administration of the colony of Louisiana, in order to bring them to Spain to settle the accounts; delivering nevertheless, to the French Governor, or officer charged with taking possession, all that may relate to the limits and demarcation of said territory, as likewise those respecting the Indian and other affairs, taking necessary receipts for all for your discharge, and that you give to the said Governor all the information that may be wanting for him to govern said colony to the satisfaction of the Republic. And in order that the said cession be effected to the satisfaction of both powers, you will form an inventory, signed by you and the respective Commissioners of the Republic, of all the artillery, army, ammunition, etc., etc., that may belong to me in said colony, and you will proceed jointly with said Commissioners to make an exact estimation of all the effects belonging to me in the different parts of the colony, that their value be reimbursed me by said Republic, agreeably to valuation. We hope at the same time for the interest and tranquility of the inhabitants of the colony, and we promise ourselves, from the sincere friendship and close alliance which unite us to the government of the Republic, that it will give orders to its governor and officers employed in its service in said colony and of New Orleans, that the clergy and religious houses that serve there may continue their functions, and enjoy the privileges, prerogatives and exemptions which have been granted to them by the title of their establishment. That the ordinary judges as likewise the established tribunals continue to administer justice according to the received and common laws, that the inhabitants be maintained in quiet possession of their property, that all the grants, of what nature soever issued by my governors, although not confirmed by me, be confirmed to them, and hoping moreover that the government of the Republic will show to her subjects the same proof of protection and friendship which they have experienced under my dominion.
Given at Barcelona, the 5th of Oct. 1803. I THE KING. DON PEDRO CEVILLOS. I transmit to you by order of his Majesty for your information and for the fulfilment of the part that relates to you. God preserve you many years. SOLEN. Barcelona, 16th Oct. 1803. To the Intendant of Louisiana.
WASHINGTON CITY MONDAY, JULY 11.
The pitiful attempt, made in some of the federal prints, to derogate from the merit due to the President of the United States and the confidential friends that surround him, or those measures which have issued in the cession of Louisiana, would be matter of surprise, but for the premeditated and systematic violations of truth which characterize the opponents of the administration. After having ridiculed the idea of obtaining the cession of even New Orleans by pacific means as the wildest chimera of a moon-struck brain, (to prove which reference need only be had to the celebrated speeches of Morris, Ross and Dayton in the Senate) it is natural for them, in the paroxysm of chagrin and disappointment to endeavour to avert the public attention from the greatness of the measure and their recent actions and language, to the inordinate agency of those who accompanied it. But so barren is the measure of all opportunity even to ingenuity to impair, with the least plausibility, the merit of the administration, that recourse is had to reports and insinuations too weak to impose upon the most superficial observation.
Hitherto federalists have denounced our Minister, Mr. Livingston, as a rank Jacobin, and as possessing no weight with the French government. Now, all at once, as it were by magic, he has become the victim of their panegyric. Why? Solely, to furnish an occasion to revile the President, and to repress that sentiment of gratitude and admiration which an enlightened nation will ever pay to the successful exertion of great talents. We are told that the cession of Louisiana was effected by a man "acting without authority from his government."
Can there be a man, woman, or child in the United States, that has not sufficient sense to pronounce this false. Mr. Livingston's merit may have been great. Far be it from us to impair it. But his merit consists, not in standing alone, but in carrying into effect the will of those he represented. We will not be un-
debtors as speaking from a knowledge of official documents; but solely from a conviction arising from these indisputable truths.
The obstruction of the Mississippi and the means of permanently averting it have long engaged the attention of our government.
Though Mr. Monroe was dispatched as Envoy Extraordinary, Mr. Livingston was associated with him in the negotiation. Of consequence instructions and information must have been given to both.
A constant correspondence must have been kept up on our Mississippi rights between the government and Mr. Livingston. The public were accordingly long since possessed of information that Mr. Livingston had had a pointed conversation on the subject with the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
Is it possible—can any other than an idiot conceive it possible—that Mr. Livingston, so late as the 30th of April, nearly two months after the end of the session of Congress, remained uninformed of the dispositions of his government? We will not insult the understanding of the most common mind by supposing it would harbour so fantastic a notion.
CAPTAIN SPRIGG'S ORATION.
Colonel Brent, having at the request of the officers of his legion, solicited and obtained of capt. Sprigg for publication, a copy of his oration, delivered on the 4th of July, now hands it to Mr. Smith, and will thank him to insert it in his next paper.
If man, in every age and country, has been taught to celebrate the annual return of domestic and national events, to welcome the advancing progress of his own life, or to unite in the commemoration of general calamity or of public joy; then, should this Day, which ushers in the twenty-eighth year of the Independence of America, be welcomed with grateful ardor by every child of virtuous liberty.
Can the human understanding search for a nobler subject! Can the illuminations of reason display a loftier theme! Can religion teach an holier zeal, or nature dictate purer virtue! Or, can the Deity hold with higher complacency any spectacle on earth, more benevolent, more int. thing, more glorious, than the general cause for which we are now assembled? viz. To commemorate the emancipation of the American people; and, to celebrate the eventual happiness and equal rights and privileges of uncreated millions.
Delegated to the station in which you this day behold me, by the officers of the first legion of the militia of this district, I have promptly obeyed, the call of duty, without sufficiently reflecting, that ripe years, abilities, and experience, are necessary and indispensable requisites, to constitute the character of a faithful eulogist.
How great a proportion of your partiality and indulgence must I, then earnestly and respectfully solicit?
In the growth and manly vigor of the American government, it will not be useless, nor unpleasant, to pause, for an instant, and to contemplate its infant state of weakness and debility; and, the operating causes by which it has acquired such strength, energy & beauty.
I purpose to be brief; you will not, I am certain, expect me to trace, minutely, the origin and progress of the American contest with Great Britain, nor to follow, in detail, our armies to the field, nor our heroes to the tomb of glory. Often have the wrongs, the insults, and the painful sufferings of our countrymen, agonized the heart.
I could not dwell with pleasure on scenes of misery, of desolation, and carnage: Nor, is there a virtuous child of confederated America who can ever forget that a long list of worthies fought and bravely fell, to secure to us the present blessings of freedom and Independence. The aged will still remember those various calamities of our country, which marked the earlier years of the revolutionary war; and how the arts of intrigue, venality, and corruption were exerted, to rivet the shackles of political oppression. They know, by what toil and danger, and patient firmness, by what unwearied struggles, and difficulties, each year, each day, and hour, characterized the virtues of an injured people.
Glancing only, therefore, at remoter transactions, the investigating mind will rest to contemplate the awful situation of America, at the commencement of the year 1776. Gracious God! What then was the state of this wretched country? Weary by the war, although energetic to support its principles, the friends of freedom were almost exhausted by dangers and distress; domestic resources failed; foreign aid was, coldly, furnished; secret enemies were railing their voices, and by cabals and treachery, were imposing the minds of a wavering people; and irresolution and dismay pervaded the councils of the nation, and had penetrated into the field. At this solemn crisis, when life and liberty were vibrating in the balance opposed to slavery and death, at this
awful and eventful moment, the wisdom, the courage, the exalted policy of a Congress of the representatives of the people of America, issued the Declaration of Independence.
A new creation stood confessed! Liberty, with the rapidity of light, illuminated the western world; public confidence resumed its station; fraud and duplicity, treachery and tyranny, were crushed by the energies of virtue; and then America cherished, respected, and venerated, ascended her lofty eminence among the empires of the world.
This is the glorious cause which we are assembled to commemorate.
O, let the expanding hearts of congregate millions unite in grateful praises to the god of battles! And, let every citizen, by due subordination, mix any firmness, and active co-operation, support and rivet the constitution of that glorious republic which their fathers purchased with their blood.
Let other nations boast pre-eminence in fashion, in fashions, in dissipation in power and opulence, do you my countrymen appreciate the blessings of peace and independence. Be the children of America the first of virtue! and, let this extensive empire soar among the nations of the earth, characterized by the features of a rational religion, by virtuous industry, and commercial honor.
Citizens of America! In commemorating this natal day of liberty, although the dictates of reason, and the calm voice of philosophy must deplore the dreadful necessity of national contention, still it is the general duty to offer a merited eulogium at the shrine of our departed heroes; and, to rivet to our grateful hearts the actions of that venerable remnant which still survives.
Instruct your children to lift the gallant deeds of lamented Montgomery; teach their little hearts to emulate the dawning virtues; and to bewail the early fate of Warren; guide their expanding minds to scientific Franklin's flights, to Henry's thunder, and to revere that great philosopher from whose sagacious mind the charter of our independence emanated; tell them, too, that Gates captured a British army! and, humbled the pompous chief of Saratoga; that Moultrie, and Mercer, Green and Wayne, that aged Patrim, and the youthful Fayette, were fired with equal ardor to retrieve our wrongs: forget not hapless Wooster! nor active Smith, whose single arm so long preserved the Delaware! nor Smallwood and Lincoln, Morgan and Lee, with a long, numerous catalogue of native and adopted sons, whose brilliant and recorded deeds, testified their heroism, and secured to us the inalienable blessings of civil liberty; and tell them also, while the big tear rolls down their manly cheeks, that Washington, the good, the great, and lamented Washington! revolved in a more extensive orbit; while those splendid fatalities rendered the glorious system perfect, by the number, the grandeur, and the harmony of their motions. Yes! America, will never forget, on this revolving day, to adorn with grateful eulogy the memory of Washington. It diminishes not the glory of her numerous children, to be receptive of his renown; nor can it subtract from their excellence, to immortalize his virtues.
To cherish and to protect the blessings which have flowed from the independence of America is unequivocal patriotism! it is an honest proof, that we appreciate their value; and the occasional celebration of these blessings, is founded upon a principle of generous policy.
Let us grant that no human institution ascends to perfection—still, amidst the existing variety of systems, amidst that continual fluctuation of opinion which, particularly, obtains in republics, I ask, in what country upon earth are the incidental calamities of the wretched more tenderly ameliorated? Or, where is that government to be found which stands, like the American, lofty, pre-eminent, uncorrupted! The firm and steady friend of equal liberty; and the guardian of the natural and civil rights of man? In what age or climate has the ratio of population been so wonderfully demonstrated? Where has agriculture been more widely recommended? Or, arts and manufactures protected and cherished? Commerce now spreads her sails from the ports of America to almost every region of the earth.
The civilization of manners; the refinements of literature and the expansion of the human mind are encouraged, by the example and patronage of individuals, and by the liberality of a nation emulous for fame, and loaring with eagle flight to the loftiest heights of science. These are not accidental nor adventitious blessings; they are the choicest gifts of heaven, they are beams of celestial glory emanating from a source of universal benevolence.
Cautiously I have skanned, in this day's delegated duty, the investigation of every subject foreign or irrelevant. Let no diversity of political opinions contaminate the general joy! All descriptions of citizens participate in the blessings of independence. Let all therefore unite to celebrate the fiftal-day which ushered it into existence!
Let peace and unanimity be the universal result! A'd, O America! O my
beloved country! tranquil, happy, highly favored, crime! long distinguished as the chosen habitation of peace! animate thy children with the pure flame of virtuous liberty! and instruct them to co-operate for endless ages, their rights, their privileges and independence by the eternal bands of national confederation.
MR. SMITH. If through the medium of the National Intelligencer, the attention of the commissioners of the Potomac Company could be called, to a material part of their duty, the public would probably be much gratified and the interest of the company very much promoted. The inhabitants of George Town, the Federal City, and Alexandria would doubtless be very much elated at the light of at least doubling the number of boats annually descending the river—this they would certainly see, and of course feel the consequence of such an increase of boat trade, if the company would turn their attention to one of the principal branches of the river. The Shenandoah proceeding to its junction with the Potomac, passes through Frederick, Frederick, Frederick and Jefferson counties, draining one of the most fertile valleys in the state of Virginia, or perhaps in the United States. No person who is acquainted with the country through which both rivers pass, would hesitate to hazard an opinion that there would be wasted into the Potomac by means of the Shenandoah, abundantly more produce than would be brought down the river from all the other branches united. If the company would begin at the mouth of the river Shenandoah, they would ascend Little's Falls within 7 or 8 miles; above which the river at this time is navigable safely in time of a small swell to the forks, within one mile of the division line, between the counties of Frederick and Shenandoah, a distance of almost one hundred miles.
We learn, that a subscription was carried about on Monday last amongst the members of the mechanic society, to raise a sum of money, for two marble bulls, of Franklin and Rittenhouse; to be erected in the large room in the Mechanic Hall. Nearly the whole sum necessary for its completion was immediately subscribed. N. Y. paper.
The Antigua Journal of June 14, says—"There is an embargo at Dominica. Since this paper went to press we learnt that the Hornet (a ship of war) had carried a ship, (had to be an American bottom) into St. Vincent, with a number of French troops on board."
From Cape Francois, June 18. After the general in chief had embarked at Port-au-Prince, to come here, he was obliged to disembark again in consequence of an attack from the blacks, the result of which we are ignorant of as yet.
TWENTY DOLLARS REWARD.
RAN AWAY from the subscriber on the 24th of June last, near the Eastern Branch ferry, City of Washington, a Negro man named ABRAHAM, but being an artful fellow, I expect he will change his name, and pass for a free-man. He is about 28 years of age, about 5 feet 9 or 10 inches high, well made; He is rather of a yellow complexion; his wool is very short, and a scar on one side of his head near the top; he speaks very quick, and stammers in his speech. He was formerly the property of Doctor Blake of Calvert county. I have some reason to believe he has made for that place, or otherwise for Baltimore. He had no clothing with him but what he had on, which was Osnaburg trowsers, an old shirt, a grey short coat. Whoever delivers the said fellow to me, shall receive the above reward.
LEVIN TALBUTT. July 11. 1803. tawtf
ABSCONDED from Warburton, the farm of Thomas A. Digges—a negro fellow named MOSBS, about 25 or 26 years old, lightly marked with the small pox. There is reason to believe he is lurking about the Eastern Branch ferry. If taken and secured in the District, Ten Dollars reward will be given or a liberal addition if taken further off or brought safely home.
THOMAS A. DIGGES. July 11, 1803. copf
FOR SALE.
AT the Navy Yard on THURSDAY next, to o'clock, A. M. sundry articles of damaged and slop clothing, also two barrels of flour, four barrels pork and two hundred pounds of rice. CONNER, Auctioneer. Washington, July 11. 2t
CHARLES VARDEN,
TAYLOR, FROM PHILADELPHIA.
HAS received from Philadelphia an elegant assortment of the best quality Sacerfine Cloths, Cassimeres, silk Florentine, black and fancy silk mouselin velvet, white & figured Marcellus, Swadownes, Tollifettes, Velveteens, Fancy cords, Coating, &c.
With a variety of other articles suitable for the winter season. N. B. Ladies Habits, Regimentals and Navy uniforms made in the first style of fashion. New Jersey Avenue, the second House from the Capitol Square. December 3, 1802. tf
ELISHA RIGGS, Has just received from Philadelphia A large supply of Seasonable Goods, viz. MEMO SRED and Coloured Muslins, Very fine Wat. Muslins & Book do. Tace Shawls and Wat. Laces, Spunged Tulley and J. B. Fans, Silk Cotton and tho. Linney, Very fine Cambrick and Jene Lawn, Cotton Counterpans and Dimities, striped S. & C. Coats, Fancy Waistcoats and Janes, 9-8 and 7-8 Buff and Silk Chintzes, London Cloths and Cambricks, Nankeens, Fustians and Checks, White and Buff Cord for Uniforms, Silver Lace and Blue Plumes, Iris and German Sheetings, Bed Prints and Tickings, Mouseline de laine Hats, Disper Table Cloths.
ALSO, Cheap Irish Linens, And many other articles which being bought at the best market, & will be sold very low for Cash. George Town, June 15, M & Faw F4w
JUST COME TO HAND,
AND FOR SALE AT RAPINE, CONRAD & CO'S.
BOOK STORE, New-Jersey Avenue, near the Capitol A Prospect of exterminating the Small-Pox, being a narrative of facts concerning the progress of the new inoculation in America together with practical observations on the local appearance, symptoms, mode of treating the King Pox; including and letters to the author, from some distinguished characters—By Benjamin W. Russell, M. D. professor of the theory and practice of medicine in the University of Cambridge—Price One Dollar. R. C. & Co. have always on hand a good assortment of MEDICAL BOOKS, which they will sell at very moderate prices. April 4. M & F6t
20. Dollars Reward.
RAN AWAY on the 28th inst. from the subscriber residing in the burrough of Lancaster, (Penn) a pound Negro Servant lad named LESTER, but sometimes calling himself BILLY JONES, aged about 20 years. He is about 5 feet 10 inches high, pretty well limbed, and likely in the face. He took with him an olive coloured ribed nankinen Coated new, an old coat of tan-color brown cloth, a white Marcellus and a cotton-rippe waistcoat, white dimity pautalons and brown fullin trowsers, good shoes, and a good e. floor hat: but it is probable he has other clothes besides these. It is supposed he will endeavour to get a place as a waiter, or attempt going to sea. All masters of vessels are therefore cautioned against carrying him off; and any person who shall secure him so that his master may have him again, shall receive the above reward and reasonable charges. WILLIAM BARTON. Lancaster, June 23, 1803.
N. B. The printers in Frederick town, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New-York, are requested to give this advertisement a place in their papers.
THE subscriber offers for sale the following thorough bred Mares, viz. Lady Bollings-brooke and her three Colts; Lady Bollings-brooke was got by the imported horse Panton. Panton was got by King Herod out of Nutcracker, her dam by Herod out of Panton, who was got by Dove, out of Stella, who was got by Black and all Black, out of Celina, who was got by the Godolphin Arabian. The above mares in foal by the celebrated horse Dionoti; her eldest Colt is a Filly got by Dionoti, two years old this Spring, full 15 hands high—She is engaged in a Sweepstakes at New-Brunswick of 100 dollars each, nine subscribers; and is full sister to Levina who won the great subscription for 3 year old's at Peterburg in May last. Her second is a Filly, very large and promising, full 14 hands high, and is full sister to Col. Taylor's famous running mare Delmona, by Darc-Devil, who won 4 capital Sweepstakes at 2 years old, distancing the field in every instance. The above Filly is engaged in the great subscription to be run for at Richmond in October, 1805, of 250 dollars 200 dols. each. Her third is a stud colt foaled this Spring, is very large and handsome, and was got by the imported horse Whipple Saltan. The whole of the above stock or any part thereof may be bought of the subscriber, living in Chesterfield county, Virginia, near Peterburg. All of the above colts are perfectly gentle, round and healthy. EZEKIEL DANCE. June 27. gtw
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, to wit:
BE it remembered, that on the ninth day of November, eighteen hundred and two in the twenty-seventh year of the Independence of the United States of America, SAMPSON HARRISON SMITH of the said district hath deposited in this office, the title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as Proprietor, in the words following, to wit:
"HISTORY OF THE LAST SESSION OF CONGRESS, which commenced on the seventh of December, 1801—taken from the National Intelligencer,"—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."
In Testimony Whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name, and affixed the Seal of my office, the thirteenth day of November, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and two.
URLAH FORRESTER, Clerk. Of the Circuit Court of the District of Columbia for the County of Washington.

(Continued from first page.) in the western part of the United States. The most complete ignorance of the navigation of that river could alone have given rise to such an opinion, which is likewise grounded on the ignorance of the wants of the inhabitants. It is certain that the wines of France are not fit for climates as hot as those they must cross before they arrive in the western states, that they are ill-suited to the means and taste of the inhabitants, who are more accustomed to their own liquors such as cider, beer, whiskey, & peach-brandy, the latter, with time, becomes superior to the best French brandy; 1) that, instead of receiving those articles through Louisiana, they might themselves supply the colony with them. As to the articles of glass and earthen-ware, they are made in every part of the western states, where the raw materials are everywhere found. The demands for China-ware are small, but if they were large, French ware is too dear to hurt the sale of China.
Large iron works also wrought on the spot, and English hard ware has so well known a superiority over the French, that the latter would certainly remain unsold, if both were exposed at market. The only articles which perhaps, might be introduced into the country, would be silks, cambrics, and a few other articles of luxury. But even all these can never pass through the river Mississippi. The dangerous navigation of the Gulf, the long and expensive distance to go against the current, the capitals of the English and American merchants at Philadelphia, and the great improvements which are made every day in the roads and inland navigation, will cause land carriage to be preferred as far as the Ohio, and other rivers, whence they are carried to the settlements, easily and cheaply. It is a well known fact, that dy goods have been carried from Philadelphia to New Orleans by land, by that route in preference to sea carriage. It is, therefore, visionary to believe that goods from France will be carried that way; whilst the enterprising English, who have the right of navigating that river, and the prejudices of the Americans in favor of their manufactures, never attempted to introduce their goods that way, because they well know that they are more easily brought by Philadelphia and Baltimore. But should France be desirous of introducing, that way, more bulky articles into the western states, and accustom the inhabitants to their wines and manufactures, it could only be by putting New Orleans into their hands, with the reserve, that it shall ever be a free port for French vessels and goods, without being subjected to any other duties, than those paid by the Americans. By this means the American merchants, settled at New Orleans, may be interested in their commerce; instead of going to England, their capitals will go to France; the latter will have all the advantages of a colony without the expense of supporting it, and the money, which American activity obtained from the Spaniards, would go to France, for England, which has not the means and which pays higher duties, could not supply those goods at so low a rate.
But should France, on the other hand, resolve to keep the island, a great proportion of the capitals of the commerce of New Orleans, which are especially in the hands of the English and Americans, will naturally take the course which the United States shall fix, and that must be a rival place of commerce with New Orleans, which being rid of the vexatious consequence upon a military government, at a distance from the foreign, will draw, in spite of all the disadvantages of its situation, the whole commerce of which the other is at this day the centre.
The boundaries established between Spain and the United States, and very lately between the English and Spanish possessions, have deprived the inhabitants of Louisiana of their share of the fur-trade, which it must be confessed was not, nor could ever be, very important, as the peltry of the South are of but little value, the few skins are of no importance to commerce, as may be seen in the tables of importation of New Orleans. Goods are ever to be transported from the Mississippi in the United States that way.
In these considerations I have kept no account of the pains, expences, and loss of men, which are inseparable from new settlements in a marshy country, and a burning climate; the invasion of Indians; the insurrection of slaves; the subordination of the troops; the abuses committed by officers, remote from the sovereign's vigilant eye. All these inconveniences united, or only a few of them, are enough to stop an undertaking, and ruin a settlement. A very important observation is, however, to be made, and that is of some weight. Many of those who will carry their families to Louisiana, observing that the lands are as cheap on the American side, will prefer settling there, even in time of peace; some, because they will prefer the government of that country, others by caprice, others through spite, or to rid themselves from a military go-
vernment, such as that of Louisiana must necessarily be. That will be general in the case of a war between France and England, for admitting that the latter maintains her naval superiority (as I have already proved in another place she must, unless France changes her commercial system in order to establish it upon more liberal principles,) the mouth of the Mississippi will be blocked up, and the planters in the French colonies will be reduced to the greatest distress, while those of the U. States, will derive from the war the greatest benefit.
Then it will be, that a great part of the capitals brought from France to Louisiana, will pass into the United States, where are found farms, already cleared, for one half of what it would have cost a French planter to clear his; because an American, familiarised from his infancy to the use of the axe, has acquired a dexterity & a muscular strength which are never obtained by a man used to other business.
The experience of the past is wholly in support of these observations. Tho' settled for one century, Louisiana has never prospered under either the French or the Spanish government. And one half of the commerce of New Orleans is now carried on with American capitals, under the guarantee of their treaty with Spain. As soon as the French will plant a rival colony, that commerce will be carried on in any other place in the United States, which the policy of that government may judge proper to encourage.
If the settlement of Louisiana is not advantageous to France in a commercial view, because it diverts capitals from a much more important channel, it is still more contrary to her interests in a political point of view. America is of the utmost importance to France, whether considered as a commercial or maritime power. I have explained my opinion fully in this last relation on another occasion; as to the other there is no question that an agricultural nation, which, by her industry and her raw materials, is able to procure all the superfluous luxuries of Europe and whose habits and occupations prevent them from manufacturing for themselves, there can be no question that such a nation must afford a very important market to the inhabitants of the old world.
In this view, the commerce of the United States is considered as very profitable to England, but when the French manufactures shall have obtained all the improvement of which they are capable; when commerce shall be established upon a suitable basis, it will present a much greater variety of articles upon which to support itself than the commerce of England. Woollen articles and hardware are the only articles which America receives from England; but France shall furnish not only all these, but her agriculture will gain by the sale of her wines, her brandy and her oils. Those advantages, added to the relative situation of France and the United States, which removes every suspicion of rivalry between them, both by sea and land, have exhibited France as the natural ally of the United States, to the eye of those who have considered, in the extent of her power, a new pledge of the security of their commerce and their future tranquility. They have done homage to the wisdom of those statesmen who, at the conclusion of an advantageous war, have thought that France would gain more by securing the solid friendship of the United States, than by acquiring a territory which would be for them an object of jealousy, and might again force them under the domination of a people whose yoke they had just abolished to shake off.
I am not ignorant how delicate it is, to foretell political misfortunes, which might result to France and the United States from the possession of Louisiana and the Floridas by the former. I must either conceal that which truth would have me say, or, on the other hand, frighten certain querulous minds, who may fancy they see a threat in my frankness. Nevertheless, a citizen of one of the two nations, and strongly attached to the other, I hope that those to whom this memorial may be delivered, will be able to set a just value in the motives of my conduct, and will be in it, nothing but my exertions to remove every subject of dispute between two people formed to assist one another and although I am two well acquainted with the resources of my own country to dread the power of any of the European nations, it will easily be seen, that I am incapable of conceiving the ridiculous idea of threatening a government which has seen all Europe bend the knee before its power.
I have observed, that France and the United States are in a respective situation, so fortunate as to have no point of collision. They may assist, without being tempted to hurt one another in any manner. This commerce is useful to both nations; this union of sentiments and interests rests upon principles which ought to form the maritime code, and deliver the universe from the tyranny founded by Great Britain, which she maintains, and which never will be combated with success, until the other powers, by uniting, will abridge her means, by transferring to nations
more moderate a part of her commerce; and as there are no nations on the globe whose consumption offers to foreign manufactures resources as vast as those offered by the U. States, if we consider with what rapidity this consumption increases, the means which America has of creating a navy when her political situation shall render it necessary, we shall be obliged to own that France must have very strong motives and very powerful, to induce her to abandon these advantages, and change a natural ally, from a warm friend into a suspicious and jealous neighbour, and perhaps hereafter into a declared enemy.
Experience has proved, that two nations could not be neighbours without being rival; and if this be true, of two neighbouring nations, it may be said with still more truth of a colony formed by a great and powerful nation, removed from the metropolis, and of a people bordering on the territory of the other. The reason of this is plausible; where two nations are neighbours every thing passes under the inspection of the foreigner; the quarrels are as soon extinguished as kindled; but when the governor of a colony, calculating upon the protection of the metropolis, is guilty of an act of hostility, the war is soon commenced, before a physician can be called. The offended sovereign, who also thinks that the offender will be so much the more strongly supported, as his nation is more powerful, tries every means, in order to anticipate on the hostilities which he dreads, uses reprisals, and both nations are at war before any explanation has taken place.
If there be a situation in the world which may be attended with these consequences, it certainly is that of France, when she is in possession of New Orleans. It is situated in such a manner as to block up the great passage towards the sea, from as great a number of States, and a very extensive population which increases rapidly.
A military government is about to be established on the island. The general, proud, with reason, of the glory of his nation, will cast on every thing that surrounds him a look of superiority; commerce will be degraded; and merchants, subjected to the despotism of men who will seek in the laying up of riches, a recompense for their privations in the remote and insalubrious country whither they are sent. The colony presents no lawful means of growing rich, except those (slow and progressive) of commerce and agriculture; ill-fitted means for soldiers. However vigilant the mother country, she will not prevent, at that distance, the vexations which may be exercised. On the other hand, the government of the United States will not be able, in a thousand instances to restrain the petulance of the near inhabitants bordering on the limits of the Mississippi; to confine their vengeance wholly, and compel them to expect from diplomatic representation a slow justice. Hatred will take place between the two people; the bonds of friendship will be destroyed, and the government of the United States, which ever shared the sentiments of the people, will be forced, by its situation, to alter its political relations. Then, for the sake of guarding themselves against their old ally, for a pretended act of hostility, they will form a cautious connection with England, which will be sedulous in obtaining her alliance, and will excite her resentment against France; because in that alliance she will see the means of preserving her commerce with America, which she now possesses almost exclusively, securing her colonies to be able, in case of war, to invade the French colonies, and especially of preventing the union of the commerce and navy of France and the United States, upon which alone France can engrave her naval superiority.
It may be asked, why those jealousies which I seem to much dread for France, have not taken place for England in possession of Canada? First, because Great Britain has prudently separated her territory by a natural limit which prevents the contact of the two nations. Whilst she occupied the western posts, the United States saw her with jealousy, and it is beyond doubt that hostilities and a national hatred would have been the consequence when the increase of population in that part had taken place; when those forts were given up, numerous symptoms had already manifested themselves.
Secondly, because the usual road of the exports from the United States, being made, through their own rivers, there is no important communication between them and Canada.
But it is chiefly because Upper Canada is inhabited by American emigrants, who, in case of rupture, would join, according to all appearances, to the the United States, had not the spirit of their government been to prevent the extending of their limits.
But, after all, what political or commercial advantage can France receive from the possession of New Orleans, and of the East Bank of the Mississippi, that may balance the loss, which, in these two points of view, she will sustain in their rivalry with the United States? The Floridas are a narrow strip of barren land, incapable of defence in case of a rupture, and which will cost more than it is worth to guard, garrison, and she
presents to the Indian tribes. However advantageous New Orleans might be for the United States, it will be of very inconsiderable value for France, when the foreign capitals shall be taken from it, or a rival city, shall be established on the American side. From the best information, I find that one-third of the best commercial houses employed in New Orleans, are American. No sooner will a military government be established in the country than all these commercial houses, with the capitals which support them, will pass into the United States, to that place assigned them by the treaty with Spain, or to the Natchez, where every vessel which may go to New Orleans may be received. Large vessels, from France, have already arrived there, and unloaded their cargoes without difficulty, and as the soil is so much the more advantageous as we penetrate further, there is very little doubt this establishment will soon rival that of New Orleans, when the American capitals shall have been taken out of it. When the United States shall have declared the Natchez a free port, New Orleans will be very little as a place of commerce, and only an object of useless expense for France, and an inexhaustible source of jealousy between France and the United States.
The cession of Louisiana is nevertheless very important to France, if she applies it to the only use which sound policy seems to dictate. I speak of Louisiana alone, and by this I do not mean to comprehend the Floridas, because I think they are no part of the cession. As it can, by this cession, acquire the right of carrying on the Mississippi, a free trade, if she knows how to profit of this circumstance, by a perfect understanding with the United States, she will find markets for a very great variety of articles, when she has accustomed the inhabitants of the Western countries to prefer them to the English, which she can only obtain by selling them cheaper, and she can only sell them cheaper, by intercepting the American merchants to sell them, to have the use of their capitals, and by engaging the government of the United States to give them the preference. All this can take place only by the cession of New Orleans to the United States, with the reserve of the right of entry, at all times, free from all other duties than those paid by American vessels, together with the right of navigation on the Mississippi.
This would give her vessels an advantage over the vessels of all other nations will retain and even increase the capitals of New Orleans, where the provisions for the islands will be bought at the cheapest rate possible, and where the articles of her manufactures will be introduced in the western countries. The United States will have no interest in preventing it, for every reason of rivalry will be removed. Then France will command respect without inspiring fear to the two nations whose friendship is the most important for her commerce; and the preservation of her islands; & all these advantages will be obtained without the expense of establishments which ruin the public treasure, and divert capitals from their true object.
But if, on the one side, France keeps New Orleans, by attempting to colonize Louisiana, she will become an object of jealousy to Spain, the United States and England, which powers will not only discourage her commerce, but will compel her to make expensive establishments to secure the possession of it.
In the foregoing observations I have confined myself to observations which presented themselves, without having recourse to subtleties, which only serve to mislead the judgment. I have exposed simple facts, with candor and all the simplicity of language. If a reply is made it will be by pursuing a contrary course. With eloquence and sophistry they may be combated and obscured; time and experience will demonstrate their solidity.
FOR SALE On easy payments at the premises, A tract of land containing 390 acres, situated in Montgomery county, Maryland, and lying on the great road leading from the Federal city to the mouth of Monocacy, near Mr. William Darnes's, and about seven miles above the court-house. On this tract there are two small settlements; there remains upwards of 200 acres still in wood. A particular description of the quality of the land and the improvements thereon is deemed unnecessary, as it is presumed any person inclined to purchase will first view the land, and by applying to Henry Jones on the premises, he will show the same to any person who may be inclined as aforesaid. If this and is not sold at private sale before the 6th of August next, it will then be offered to public sale; one third part of the purchase money must be paid down, the remaining two thirds will be divided into three equal payments, by giving bond with approved security bearing interest from date. The first payment to be made on the first of December 1805, the second payment on the first Dec. 1807, and the third payment on the 1st Dec. 1809. If punctually paid at the stipulated times no interest will be required; and on the last payment being made a title will be given to the purchaser, possession will be given on the 1st of December next. BEN. W. JONES, and HENRY JONES. May 13. 1W6A.
WILL sell five hundred and fifty acres of Land whereon I live, in Fairfax county, within five miles of the court house, and within twenty of the City of Washington, Alexandria, Dumfries, and twelve of the Occoquan mills, it is a healthy situation, the land fertile, and has about two hundred acres of wood to cut, there is a great proportion of white and red oak, popular and hickory timber. There is nearly one hundred acres of prime land for meadow, I will give six months credit for one fourth of the purchase money—twelve months for the other quarter, eighteen for the third, and two years for the last payment, a purchaser will find me on the premises. THOS. FOLLARD. Feb. 21st. cp
FOR SALE, By public auction on Thursday the 28th inst. at 11 o'clock before noon, at Stelle's hotel, on Capitol Hill.
THE commodious two story brick dwelling house, with the out houses and lots number 10 and 11 in square number 525 in the city of Washington, open to and bounded in part on Pennsylvania avenue, and by ninth street east, leading to the Navy Yard. The premises may be viewed any day previous to the sale. The terms one third cash, when a clear and sufficient title will be given; one third in 6 and one third in 12 months with interest on the last two payments, to be secured by bond and mortgage on the premises. THOMAS TINGEY: Washington, July 5, 1805. tdol
THOMAS CARPENTER, TAYLOR. HAS just received by recent arrivals at Philadelphia, from England, and the East Indies, a handsome assortment of SPRING and SUMMER GOODS, of the best quality, also Patent water proof Cloth's and Callimere's, superior NAVY BLUE and other colours; handsome NAVY & FASHIONABLE BUTTONS, &c. Gentlemen of ARMY, NAVY and FASHION served with expedition and taste. New Jersey Avenue, seventh house from Capitol Square and Pennsylvania Avenue near the President's square. April 13 1803. tf.
FIVE DOLLARS REWARD, FOR delivering to the Subscriber a negro boy, Edmond, who was a few days ago sent with a gentleman to a gentleman in the city and has not since returned. RICHARD FRAZER. Washington June 27, 1803. 6tp.
Boarding & Day Schools. PRESIDENT'S SQUARE. J. GARDINER instructs Youth in Arithmetic, Book-Keeping, Writing, and English Grammar. Mrs. GARDINER teaches Needle-Work, Tambouring, &c. Young Ladies who desire to do so, can divide their time betwixt the two schools. Boys from the country accommodated with Board and Lodging on reasonable terms. June 1. 2mo
Lots for sale. IN eligible situations, and upon very advantageous terms—A plan of the several squares in which they are contained may be seen and terms thereon by applying to, ROBERT W. PEACOCK. Attorney at law and conveyancer. tf
SPRING GOODS. JOHN COX, HAS just received an elegant and extensive assortment of fashionable Spring Goods, which he is now selling at very reduced prices. Also, A quantity of Spinning Cotton in bags. George-town, June 1. 6w.
PRINTING INK OF AN EXCELLENT QUALITY, FOR SALE AT TIMOTHY CALDWELL'S Near the West Market, City of Washington, who has to Let on Ground Rent a number of Lots in eligible situations. June 22. 3m.
All persons having claims or demands of any nature against the subscriber, are requested to exhibit their accounts, without delay, to JOHN HEWITT or RICHARD FORREST, Esqrs. of the city of Washington, who are authorised, in my name, to adjust and settle the same; and all persons indebted to me are requested to make payment to either of the gentlemen above named. SAMUEL BLODGET. March 30. tf
The highest price in Cash will be given for a quantity of HOMMONY BEANS and BLACK EYED PEAS. Apply to WM. BRENT. Washington, June 29. cp3w
RAPINE, CONRAD & Co. BOOKSELLERS & STATIONERS, New Jersey Avenue, near the Capitol, HAVE JUST RECEIVED AND FOR SALE, Washington's Reports of cases argued and determined in the court of appeals of Virginia—Price 6 dollars. An address to the government of the United States, on the cession of Louisiana, second edition—Price 25 cents. Monroe's Embassy, in relation to our claims to the navigation of the Mississippi—Price 25 cents. An address on the past, present and eventual relations of the United States to France—Price 18 cents.
Also, A GENERAL ASSORTMENT OF BOOKS in every branch of literature and science; and a constant supply of the Stationery—all which they will sell at their usual moderate prices.