The recorder, or, Lady's and gentleman's miscellany (Richmond, Va.), 1802-05-19 00:00:00

THE RECORDER; OR, LADY'S AND GENTLEMAN'S MISCELLANY;
Printed by HENRY PACE, and JAMES T. CALLENDER, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA; and published every WEDNESDAY Morning. Subscription Two Dollars per annum
WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 1802.
[MANY Persons residing in the country, forwarded their names for this Paper at its commencement, without ever yet sending their subscription money. The paper has been regularly forwarded to them from this office, according to their directions or the Post Masters for them. Such Subscribers will positively receive no more papers after this Number, unless their subscriptions are sent.
Mrs Booth, and Co.
HAVE JUST RECEIVED, By the ship Octavo, from London, an Elegant assortment of MILLENERY. LIKEWISE FASHIONABLE DRESSES, Of all descriptions, now open for Sale at their house, next door to Mr. ROBERT MIT- CHELL's, near the Market. May 14th, 1802. 6 t.
Vauxhall Garden.
THE Ladies and Gentlemen of Richmond, Man- chester, and their Vicinities, are respectfully in- formed, that the Garden, attaining to the City Tavern, formerly occupied by Mr. Raphael, has been elegantly fitted out at a great expence, to ren- der it a pleasing and agreeable
PLEASURE GARDEN,
Which will be splendidly ILLUMINATED With COLOURED LIGHTS, every MONDAY, THURSDAY, & SATURDAY; In case of bad weather, the entertainment will always be on the next succeeding fair even- ing, when the subscribers will be entertained with a
Band of Music,
And will find all sorts of Refreshments On moderate terms. The price of admission on these days only, will be Half a Dollar. Ticket to be had at the Door, and the ticket will en- title the bearer to the same value in any refreshments whatever, left at the bearer's choice. The Garden will be opened every Day, but ad- mittance charged only on the illumination days; and at all times refreshments of every kind will be kept ready. Richmond, May 8, 1802.
10 Dollars Reward
STOLEN, OR STRAYED, From Raphael's Tavern, on Sunday Evening last,
A Bay Horse,
Five Feet four or five Inches high. Has a Lump, or double Joint, on the left hind Leg: a small Star on his Forehead, is between six and seven Years old; and had been just blood- ed.
I will give TEN DOLLARS Reward to any one who will bring this Horse back to the Tavern.
MORDECAI MARKS.
Richmond, May 12th, 1802. tf.
GRAMMAR SCHOOL.
An Assistant wanted,
Who understands the Dead Languages. Enquire of the Printer. April 26, 1802. t f.
WANTED, ON LOAN, Five Hundred Dollars,
For twelve Months, For which will be given very high interest, and in- disputable security in the city of Richmond. Enquire of the printer. April 27, 1802. t f.
Stone Lime,
in Tiersces, LOW FOR CASH, BY WILLIAM DAVIDSON, Near the Market House.
STEPHEN BROWN, GUN MAKER,
From LONDON, Near the OLD CITY TAVERN, Main-Street, RICHMOND.
MAKES all sorts of Guns and Pistols, in the neatest manner, and on the most reasonable Terms. He returns thanks to his friends for their encou- ragement, and informs them he continues to clean and repair old Guns and Pistols.
N. B. Two Apprentices wanted. A small Pre- mium will be expected.
April 2nd. 1802.
THE Subscriber respectfully informs his friends and the public, that he has just received a quantity of
Plaister of Paris,
of the very best quality for manure, which he proposes selling on Reasonable terms, ei- ther ground or in the Stone.
CARSON HOLIDAY.
Richmond April 13th 1802.
The Laws of Virginia,
TO BE PRINTED By SAMUEL PLEASANTS, Jun. And HENRY PACE.
AMONG other numerous and important Im- provements in the proposed Richmond Edi- tion of "The Revised Code of the Laws of Vir- ginia," the following will be particularly at- tended to:—The Act of Assembly, for convoking the Convention of this State, in Order to discuss the Question of the Federal Constitution;—the Act, respecting the Acceptance and Ratification of the Federal System;—the Laws concerning Ca- nals, the Patowomac, the James River, and other Companies.
This edition will also comprehend the Com- pact with the State of Maryland, respecting the River Patowomac; and, that regarding the Bound- ary between Pennsylvania, and Kentucky; with other Additions, too numerous for Insertion in this Place.
It has already been stated to the Public, that this Work will cost only SIX DOLLARS, ele- gantly bound and lettered, in one large octavo Volume.
Imported from London,
And landed this Day, AND FOR SALE,
At Mr. BOWLER's, near the Bridge, Richmond,
WHOLESALE AND RETAIL,
AN elegant assortment of fancy japanned china of a superior kind, with letter to match; a superb painted bedstead, some beautiful prints, mini- ature frames, &c. gentlemen's suspenders, or gallowes likewise London made ladies and gentlemen's dress shoes of every description; a few pair of half boots of the present fashion, and finished by the best workmen in Great Britain; 50 pair of spurs in the New Market style, a few dozen pair of real cordovan English boot legs, very low priced; handsome shawls and muffs for ladies mourning dresses, and gentlemen's shir- ring; plain silk, oiled ditto, and oiled lawn umbrellas, parfols, &c.
The whole will be sold low, for cash, as the pro- prietors must return to Europe in a short time.
April 26, 1802. t f.
Coutts's Ferry,
At the FALLS of JAMES RIVER,
Immediately below Col. May's Toll Bridge,
WILL be constantly supplied with boats and hands, who will be always ready, at any moment, to ferry over the river, any number of men, horses, carriages, or wag- gons and teams,
At one-half the Price of the Toll Bridge.
Carriages, Waggons, and Carts, may be driven into the Lighters, without taking the Horses out.
SAMUEL MURRAY.
Richmond, May 10th, 1802.
SOMETHING ABOUT TIMOTHY PICKERING.
IN the Recorder of the 10th of April, there appeared a piece concerning this person. It was a short, but a guarded vindication of his character, against the charges of pecu- lation. Mr. Jones, or his man, reprinted this piece in the Examiner of the 5th current, with an article from the Aurora, at the end of it. The design of such a fanciful arrangement was to convey an impression to the public that "The Recorder" is a federal newspaper. Mr. Jones has been so successful in his malicious scheme, that, during the Race week, the federal party subscribed by dozens. The number of additional names was either fifty, or very near it; and we verily believe that three dozen of them were federal. We shall endeavour to submit with fortitude to all the reproach that can issue from so woeful a circumstance. We hope that, next week, Mr. Jones will celebrate this paper, as a re- publican one, in order that the round of sub- scription may be completed as fast as possible.
We hear that Mr. Jones has begun to re- fuse federal subscriptions; and that, during the race week, he did actually reject one per- son, who had neglected to bring along with him a certificate of what Mr. Jones would call his inflexible adherence to principle.
And surely after all the impertinence which Mr. Jones has so recently vented upon this head, no federal man, who has as much blood in his heart as would clog the foot of a flea, will ever in future, set down his name, as a subscriber to the Examiner. By the bye, how would that inimitable publication look, if all the federal citizens of Richmond were to withdraw their advertisements from it? Or what men of spirit will promote the circula- tion of a print, which is eternally telling them, totidem verbis, that they are a pack of rascals, and that nobody but an apostate would accept of their subscriptions?
Is such stuff to be borne? Or how long will that party continue to prop and patro- nize an editor that abhors them, and an editor whom they can strip of at least fifteen hundred dollars a year, with as much facility, as they could crush a bug in the corner of an old bedstead.
We advise them, once for all, to strike their names out of Mr. Jones's list, and transfer them to ours. And, we likewise give notice that we shall most generously condescend to publish all those advertisements, which the stiffest aristocrat in Richmond chuses to send and pay for.
The first paper in the following series is the Aurora piece. The second is an answer to it by the author of the small defence of Pickering. The third is an extract from that report of congress, to which both parties ap- peal. We have given every word which concerns Pickering, and it is our decided opinion that our correspondent is victorious. We could wish, however, that our friend had spared some part of the praise with which he has lathered our quondam Connecticut Pre- mier. No man was ever more prompt in promoting calumny than Mr. Pickering.
No. I.
Notwithstanding the complete re- futation of the assertion by the Washing- ton Federalist, that Mr. PICKERING's accounts were settled with credit to him, which appeared in our paper of the 5th instant, and notwithstanding our sub- sequent remarks on the subject, we find the Baltimore Anti-Republican print persisting in the misrepresentations of the Washington Federalist, as if that paper which had the least to say on the subject must certainly be in the right. In almost all the publications of the anti-republi- cans, on Mr. Pickering's accounts, it is allowed that the statements exhibited by the Aurora, of the sums unaccounted for by Mr. Pickering, are true copies from the treasury books, but it is boldly asserted that his accounts have been sub- sequently adjusted, and for this purpose they have extracted a part of the letter of Mr. Gallatin on the subject, but have carefully omitted the sentence which immediately follows that which they have extracted, which in fact is the clue to the
whole, as it goes to prove that 78, 683 dollars, 11 cents yet remain to be ac- counted for by Mr. Pickering, it being unknown how much he has paid for the particular purposes for which the money had been unappropriated by law.
How the anti-republicans can, without blushing, assert that Mr. Pickering's accounts have been adjusted, when they must very well know that Mr. Pick- ering, intimate friend, the comptroller of the treasury, and whom no one can suspect of wishing to injure him, or the federal cause, has refused to accept them as correct, our readers can best judge.
We have received from Washington a copy of the communication from the secretary of the treasury to the chairman of the committee appointed to investi- gate the state of the treasury, which we shall lay before our readers as soon as possible, which places these matters in a clear point of view.
MR. PICKERING.
No. II.
IN the Communication, which was lately made in this Paper, concerning Mr. Timothy Pickering, it was not said that he had settled his accounts finally. Perhaps some time may yet elapse before that event shall be accomp- lished—When we consider that millions of dollars have past through Mr. Pickering's hands, that they have been disbursed on various objects in every quarter of the globe, and that vouchers of great exactitude are required, it is probable that some items may remain open for further time.
But it seems that vouchers have been ad- mitted for all these immense sums except about 70,000 dollars, and there is no charge against Mr. Pickering for embezzlement or defalcation. The delay proceeds from some deficiencies in form. It is therefore reasonable to suppose (and to suppose any thing else would be uncharitable,) that the whole of this account will be closed in a manner highly satisfactory to the public agents, and no less honorable to Mr. Pickering.
Let it be recollected that this worthy man was accused of having embezzled immense sums; that this scandal was circulated with great success while the question depended whether there should be a new president; that a great many people believed it to be true; and that it had a considerable effect on the election. Let it be also recollected that Mr. Pickering has voluntarily given a credit to the United States for 14,000 dollars, which could not have been claimed, and which he might have appropriated to his own use.
People may put what guesses, and emit what scandal they can, as to that part of Mr. Pickering's account, which is yet unsettled; but it is impossible for any candid man to say or think, that Mr. Pickering would volun- tarily give up 14,000 dollars, which he might have made his own, and at the same time de- scend to cheat the public out of a few thou- sands. There are many reputable characters in this city who were officers during the war with Great Britain, who knew Mr. Pickering as quarter master general, who remember his virtue and services in those days which tried men's souls, and though now thrown into differ- ent political scales, who can testify his worth.
If Mr. Gallatin was not satisfied that Mr. Pickering owed nothing, would he dare to conceal the truth? Is he of so much weight, and so all-important in the scale where he is placed, as to be permitted to countenance a fraud of this sort? On the other hand, will not every person believe that he would em- brace, (if not with ardor) at least with cer- tainty, an occasion to pull down and sink to the lowest point of destruction that character which his party found it necessary to calum- niate, before the way could be opened by which Mr. Gallatin himself might become Secretary of the Treasury?
* The partisans of Mr. Gallatin, who accuse and abuse Mr. Pickering for these pre- tended defalcations, surely forget the delicate situation in which they place the character of their own high priest, when it is so evident that, if Mr. Pickering is a defaulter, Mr. Gallatin is so also to an equal extent, for not having arraigned Mr. Pickering, before some tribu- nal competent to enforce justice.

A free, a generous, and a virtuous people, after having been deluded into errors and faults by insidious intriguers, as they discern that they were induced to give their aid to elevate faction, on the ruins of virtue, will not refrain from manifesting their sentiments of disgust towards those who have deceived them, whenever the fact shall appear. Innumerable facts are now bursting from all quarters: it will be impossible to check their course, or the consequences which they will produce. The injured and deceived people will call, nay loudly call, for a change. They will make atonement; and it will not be long before we shall see much stronger proofs of this sentiment than can be concluded from this small tribute to a meritorious public servant, who has been greatly calumniated and injured, but who, like pure gold, will pass and repass through the crucibles of enquiry, without losing a single grain of his intrinsic weight and worth.
No. III.
EXTRACT,
RESPECTING MR. PICKERING,
From the Report of a Committee of Congress.
The monies necessary to defray the expenses incident to the intercourse with foreign nations, have, till lately, been paid to the Secretary of State, who used to disburse the same. The accounts of Messrs. Jefferson, Marshall and Madison, who have, at various periods, filled that appointment, have been settled and no balance is due thereon. A suit not yet decided, has been instituted against Mr. Randolph, formerly Secretary of State, for a balance unaccounted for by him. The accounts of Mr. Pickering are not yet finally settled. He remains charged with a sum of 3,383 dollars and 20 cents, erroneously paid by him for the freight of a vessel supposed to have been employed by the consul at Tripoli, and with another sum of 3,289 dollars and 50 cents, being the balance of an advance made to Samuel Hodgdon, for the purpose of being remitted to Mr. Humphreys, at Madrid, in part of his salary, which Mr. Humphreys did not receive. Both these sums it is believed may, and will be recovered from the persons to whom they were respectfully advanced. But the principal reason which appears to have prevented an ultimate settlement with him, arises from the circumstance of his not having applied the whole of the money drawn by him from the treasury, to the specific objects for which it was appropriated by law. For the extent and result of this misapplication, the committee refer to the statement (marked C.) accompanying the communication of the Secretary of the Treasury, under date of the 2d of March. From this statement it appears, that Mr. Pickering drew from the Treasury under the appropriations made "for defraying the expenses incident to the intercourse with foreign nations, for negotiating treaties with the Barbary powers, and for the contingent expenses of government," the sum of 63,999 dollars and 57 cents more than he applied to those several objects, which, together with the sum of 14,588 dollars and 54 cents, gained by him on the purchase of bills of exchange for the use of the government, form an aggregate of 78,583 dollars and 11 cents. The same statement (C) will show that the whole of this sum was expended by him on objects of a public nature (as far as the committee can ascertain the fact,) but this expenditure having been made from appropriations designed for other objects by law, the misapplication of the money has prevented the controller of the treasury from settling his accounts.
Although the committee will not say there are no cases in which a public officer would be justified in applying monies appropriated to one object, to expenditures on another, yet they are of opinion that in every deviation the necessity for the application ought to be for some obvious benefit to the United States, and in every such case, a disclosure thereof to Congress ought to be made, at the next session which should immediately thereafter ensue.
The monies which have been advanced to the several Secretaries of state, have been remitted by them principally to ministers, consuls and other agents abroad, whose accounts are not yet
rendered, (although many of them are of an old date) and the committee can not say how, or in what manner, the money has been expended.
The Recorder,
RICHMOND
WEDNESDAY, May 18th.
While this paper was going to press, we learn that the DEFINITIVE TREATY between France and England, was signed upon the 27th of March last.
ERRATUM.
IN Mr. Banks's letter, inserted in last Recorder, there was an error. For "I do not acknowledge", read "I do not know."
In our last, it was omitted to mention that congress rose on Monday the 3d instant. Their session lasted four months and twenty seven days. In general, the session of a congress used to last for a month longer.
In last number contained the conclusion of Mr. Hay's pamphlet on the Merchant Tax . In the last sentence of it, at the word denounced the late administration , there seems to be something either wanting, or erroneous. Perhaps Mr. Hay meant to say " denied to the late administration ". The article is reprinted from a copy corrected in the author's hand-writing. We cannot help recommending the whole piece, as a production of considerable merit.
MR. AUGUSTINE DAVIS.
IT has been our study to settle all disputes with other newsprinters, especially in Richmond. When the printer of the Virginia Gazette was discharged from the Richmond post office, the Recorder was at some pains in explaining the means of Granger's conduct towards him. When Mr. Davis and Mr. Jones, about eighteen months ago, fell into a personal quarrel, Mr. Davis, received a message that "Callender" had nothing to do with the Examiner's part of it. In a word, for above two years and an half, every thing has been done, upon our part, which could be done, to keep Mr. Davis in good humour. Now, take notice of what follows: "But instead of cultivating a generous ambition, he has by pardoning the crimes of Callender, and patronizing the vulgar slander of Duane, avowed his obligations to these miscreants for a feeble and temporary authority: a year has elapsed, and no one of the numerous accusations against the probity of the former administration, has been rendered probable."
We are unable to comprehend the provocation for this sudden eruption of hostility. Mr. Jones began his wife and victorious attack, for fear that we should overtake him in the confidence of the Republicans : and Mr. Davis overwhelms us in the vortex of his eloquence, lest we should get the start of him in the favour of the federals . It was foretold in Israel that his hand should be against every man, and every man's hand against him. We hope that C. will not live to become an accomplishment of this prediction.
What were those crimes which Mr. Jefferson is said to have pardoned? Or what kind of pardon was granted? The crimes consisted in the publication of a great deal of truth, or truth part of which was a like offensive to both parties. And wherein did this pardon consist? The imprisonment had been expired. The bail had been found. The fine had been paid. We ask then, in the name of common sense, what pardon Mr. Jefferson had the power of bestowing? At the distance of three months and an half, after the fine had been paid into the federal treasury, Mr. Jefferson made C. a present of two hundred dollars; but this could not be the remission of a fine. You might as well speak about the resurrection of the dead. The fine had been paid; and the transaction closed.
As for slander, Mr. Davis well knows that he has published a great deal; although we do not know that he ever wrote any. The Virginia Gazette was the vehicle through which John Nicholas, clerk of Albermarle county published his account of Jefferson's British bankruptcy ; as well as of his imaginary trepidation , when the British approached Richmond. All these stories have been utterly refuted; but Mr. Davis has never thought proper to acknowledge that they were so.
But what does Mr. Davis mean by keeping up such an eternal racket as to black generals , and black victories , and the difficulty or impossibility that the Republic (forsooth!) of St. Domingo can ever be conquered? See, for example, the Virginia Gazette of last Wednesday; and indeed the whole set of his newspapers runs in the same thoughless style. If all this trash were actually true, the magistrates of Richmond will inform Mr. Davis that not a word of it should be printed. But it is an absolute fact that almost every succeeding extract of a letter about St. Domingo contradicts the one which went before it; while that again is knocked down by some subsequent imposture.
The Aurora of May 7th contains a long extract of a letter, dated Cape Francois, April 15th, and which concludes in these words: "all the island is subjected and in tranquility, except the mountain of the Grand Riviere, Dondon, Marmelade, Limbe, L'Acule, and Ouanaminthe."
We appeal to the good sense of Mr. Davis himself whether it would not have been much better to publish these few satisfactory words, than some of the stuff about those black runaways, which he has lately printed.
We close this answer to a personal attack the most unprovoked, and the least expected, with reminding Mr. Davis that he who builds a house of glass should not throw stones.
The woman who was lately delivered of three children, has received a considerable relief; some hundreds of dollars having been collected for her use by captain Richardson.
Some time ago, we inserted an article concerning an invasion of China by the Tartars. The newsprinters of London have since repelled this invasion. They add that, upon so desirable an event, great rejoicings took place at Pekin, and that a bell was tolled, which requires an hundred men to ring it.
This Chinese bell must have been at least as large as the Capitol . The repercussion of the atmosphere, on its ringing, must have been great enough to knock every one deaf within thirty miles of it!
ON Saturday last, a black fellow, named JIM, was tried before the magistrates for breaking up a trunk. This was the property of a store-keeper, on Shockoe-hill. The theft amounted to forty dollars. Jim was burnt in the hand; and received twenty lashes. He belongs to Dr. Greenhow.
Some time ago, a gentleman in the Brick-row subscribed for this paper. "I have," says he, "just given up Rind's Federalist and Davis's Gazette . The one contains nothing but abuse, and the other contains nothing at all."
We have not this week, found room for the fourth letter to the public. Mr. Jones has submitted to pocket in silence the most explicit and ignominious imputations. The only reason for his silence must be that he did not know how to answer them. In our next number, we shall be very full upon the Gallatin Chapter. As for governor McKean, also, complete satisfaction shall be given.
Meriwether has enlocked his character, such as it was, with that of a being who is universally abhorred, of a being whom nothing but the most flagrant desertion of official duty can preserve from a trial for his life. These things will be laid before the next Assembly.
It is curious enough to hear the Examiner talking, in the first person, about his acquaintance with American topography. It is not six weeks since he could have told us, Ex tempore , upon what side of the river, Louisiana is situated. He affects to father some pieces upon the proposed French colony, and of which pieces he did not write one syllable. The Author is our acquaintance, and before he wrote those articles, he repeated the leading particulars of his argument in this office.
Some time ago, Mr. Davis informed his readers that Madam Buonaparte had bought a Coach in London, and that it had got the length of Dover upon its way to Calais. This interesting and profound piece of intelligence is like a great deal of the contents of that paper. We should be glad if Mr. Davis will inform us how the Lady likes her coach, what the French nation paid for it; whether it is true that one of her Lap Dogs has lately been threatened with a choice, and that her favourite Monkey is subject to the mange. Prithee! tell us, Mr. Davis, whether the Consul himself is fond of rape, or of pickled Oysters; and whether his Marengo charger has not five black hairs in his tail?
We have a Crow to pluck with that paragon of Editors, Mr. Samuel Harrison Smith. Particulars must be postponed till next number.
Why is the Powder Magazine placed in a solitary corner without a guard? What is to hinder a sturdy fellow from breaking up the door, and blowing the whole contents into the air; or from carrying off what powder he may want for his own infernal purposes? We mention these matters without the least hope of ever seeing an amendment, as the executive Council have already been warned, but without effect, of the danger to which they subject the city.
Seven black fellows were hanged last Saturday morning, in Halifax County, for a conspiracy. So much for our wise extracts of letters from St. Domingo, our encomiums on black Republicans, and our publication of black constitutions, and of black victories.
Obediah Williams, the horse-stealer, has broke Frederickburg Jail, and fled to the woods. We expect, before this paper goes to press, to see an advertisement for apprehending him. But this ceremony might be spared, until we shall hear of the apprehension of Skelton Jones, the deputy editor of the Examiner . This hopeful youth was advertised, thirteen months ago, with a reward of two
hundred dollars, for the alledged murder of Amstead Sedon , (a murder of which he is very generally believed to have been guilty) and who, without having had a trial, is now publishing from the Examiner's press defiances and menaces against every one who dares even to think of the duel, or rather of the massacre, for such it is considered to have been.
In last Examiner , Mr. Jones published a long piece concerning British sinecures. Why did he say nothing of that sinecure at home, the office of Public Printer ? Does he conceit that, since his own eternal canting about poverty has provoked people to turn the cat out of the bag, he will be suffered to pocket three thousand dollars per annum, over and above the common payment of a printer? No! No! Sir.
Besides Mr. S. H. Smith, we have a boiance to settle with THE REPUBLICAN WATCH TOWER of New York, and the Anti-Democrat of Baltimore. The latter falls upon citizen Jones also, who has already sung DUMBA! We are extremely willing to grapple with all those champions, singly, or collectively, as fast as we can find room.
Captain Rogers, who lately sailed from St. Domingo to the United States, and back again, has been put into the black hole, by general Le Clerc. The provocation arises from those packets of calumny that were circulated in his name about the French government in St. Domingo, though so many invaluable American newspaper.
LONDON February 12.
In the Court of Exchequer, a cause of considerable curiosity and interest to the trading community was tried before Lord Avenmore and a special Jury. It was an action of 5000l. damages brought by a Mr. Hall, against the Governors of the Company of the bank of Ireland for undue protest of two bills, his acceptance. They both amounted to little more than 52l. and were drawn by the plaintiff's father, who resides in Enniskillen, and made payable at Finlay's Bank. The bills were negotiated at the National Bank, and when payable the amount was in course called for at the Bank of Messrs. Finlay and Co. who, on inspecting the bills, found they were not endorsed by the payer, and alledging that alone as their reason for refusing to discharge them. They were on the next day postponed generally for non payment, on which ground, as a point extremely injurious to his credit, the Plaintiff laid his action. The Jury returned a verdict of 100l. damages, 6d. costs.
A man on horseback lately appeared at Steinbeck, a village of Holstein, 4 miles from Hanburgh, and proceeded to an inn, the proprietor of which was reputed rich; he ordered supper; his hostess divided her's with him, and he desired her to bring him some pepper. While she was absent in search of what he required, a child observed him shake some powder over the plate, its mother was to eat out of, and immediately went and informed the mother of the circumstance. She conceiving it extraordinary procured the absence of the stranger, by telling him his horse had got loose. On his return she presented him the plate intended for herself, and he ate the contents without the least suspicion he soon after fell down lifeless and upon searching him a quantity of arsenic was found in his pockets, and a pistol. The pistol was discharged out of the window, and three robbers approached, who were seized and conducted to Pinneburg.
LONDON, March 19.
GOVERNMENT appears determined to watch the movement of the French expedition with more discretion than they evinced in permitting it to sail: for, in addition to the troops which we have already mentioned to have been sent to Jamaica, a brigade is ordered there from Gibraltar; and several of the regiments recently returned from Egypt to Ireland, and which have been recruited from the militia corps of that country, are also about to be sent to that island. The military establishments of most of our West India settlements are likewise to be augmented, to repress the spirit of revolt which has so strongly manifested itself among the negroes.
The following is the statement of the amount of the French army, as it will be from the beginning of this month.
Consular Guard 6,000 Cavalry and Dragoons 2,000 Chasseurs a Cheval and Hussars 30,000 Artillery (horse and foot) Miners and Pioneers 19,000

surely guiltless of the smallest particle of its corruptions. Or, does it follow that these things ought not to be told , merely because they are, in a small measure, and but in a very small one, imputable to a popular republican character?
The truth is that this act of congress, as to the mint, was not exactly imputable to any single person. And, if the republicans of the third congress had done their duty, its abuses would have been crushed in their cradle. On December 9th, 1794, this subject was taken up in congress. Mr. Boudinot then said that "he had gone to the bank of the United States to enquire for cents. He was told that none were to be had, because the bank could not get them from the mint. He then went to the mint, where he was informed that cents were not coined faster, because the officers of the mint did not know where to get them vented ! He said that this mint cost twenty-four thousand dollars per annum , and every cent coined there cost the public several cents , though he could not exactly tell how many. In New Jersey, far more cents had been coined in a few months than had ever been coined all together, at the mint of the United States, and this had been done for ONE FORTIETH PART of the expence which the mint of the United States has cost . Several other members adverted to the prodigious inconvenience which is felt all over the union for want of copper coin; and it appeared to excite some curiosity, on what foundation the officers of the mint said that they could not get their cents vented . It was remarked by Mr. W. Smith, that, except as to Philadelphia, the mint is of little or no use whatever. The cents given out never go farther than the city. Mr. Boudinot, Mr. Trumbull, and Mr. Hunter, were appointed a committee to examine and report on the state of the mint."
On a subject affording so rich a field for ridicule, we, next day, published a long article in the Philadelphia Gazette. The laugh was universal, and wonders of reformation were expected. A committee of congress was appointed. Their report ended in nothing. There had been, in 1794, three clerks to the mint, with five hundred dollars each. The bill for 1795 had proposed a fourth clerk with five hundred dollars more. The report countenanced this vile imposition. Speaking of this fourth clerk, and of this report, the Annual Register proceeds thus: "the depth of his calculations will not put him in danger of a headache. There was a great deal more told about the duties and exertions of these clerks, and the officers of the mint, but no labyrinth of words could hide the absurdity of paying fourteen thousand dollars, besides the price of copper, for the coining of seven thousand. As to the new additional fourth clerk, this report gives no reason for employing him, and indeed the committee had found sufficient exercise for their ingenuity, in asking out something to do for his three elder brethren. In fact, their report implies that he was useless, for they say, p. 12. that 'the accounts of the mint appear to be fully checked against every avenue of deception.' In the bill of appropriation for 1795, this additional sinecure passed without objection . In this way public money goes, while the nation can hardly pay the interest of its debts, and while hundreds of the brave men who sold their certificates for a shilling per pound, are annually heaping the table of congress with waste paper petitions. No blame can or ought to be attached to the gentlemen accepting these donations. To look behind every desk for an Artificer, or a Sully, is to demand from human nature what neither experience nor candour entitles us to expect. When cash is to be cast away, every bystander has an equal title to pick it up. The committee also gave in a state of the whole expences of the mint, up to the 30th of September, 1794.
   Dolls. Cts.     Lands purchased, 4,266 66   Buildings, apparatus, machines, &c. 22,720 45   Purchase of copper, 15,815 51   Salaries to officers, 15,591 99   58,392 61   Deduct the copper, 15,815 51   42,577 10  
Thus the wages and expences of the mint had cost, at that period, forty two thousand eight hundred and fifteen dollars. At the same time, the country was fully supplied with excellent Spanish silver coin, and as for cents, Mr. Boudinot affirms, that they could have been had in New Jersey, at one fortieth part of the expence incurred by the mint of Philadelphia. The committee farther menace us with the necessity for a Refiner and Melter. This battalion of pension-
ers affords one, among many good reasons, why the public, in sea port towns, have been paying a shilling per dozen for onions half rotten, and half a crown for a couple of chickens, that a hungry cat would pick to the bone, without a risk of a surfeit."
What were Mr. Madison, Mr. Giles, and the rest of our patriots thinking of, when they suffered the public to be so scandalously pigeonned , without the smallest opposition? Why, Sir, they must have been thinking of something else than the execution of their duty . This is only one instance out of three or four thousand of the same stamp. The impartial part of mankind will begin to see the importance of patronizing a paper like "The Recorder," which, in plain English, cares not a single farthing for any man, or for any set of men, beyond the most rigid limits of truth.
If genius and indefatigable industry, directed by the purest patriotism, have any claim to the notice of our readers, an authentic account of this gentleman cannot fail to prove acceptable. When we contemplate the enlarged extent of his views, the wide and rapid circulation of his improvements and discoveries in the most important branches of art, and the numerous and honourable connections he has formed throughout the civilized world, we shall be forced to admit that no man possesses greater claims to the attention and gratitude of his country.
So early we believe, as the year 1745, Mr. Boulton, having lost his father, who left him in flourishing circumstances, distinguished himself by the invention of a new and most ingenious method of inlaying steel. Buckles, watch chains, and a great variety of other articles wrought at his manufactory, were exported in large quantities to France, where they were eagerly purchased by the English, who affected to have no taste for the productions of their own country.
The confinement of a populous town was but ill suited to such an establishment as soon became necessary for Mr. Boulton's farther experiments. Accordingly, in the 1762, he purchased those extensive tracts of common, at that time a barren heath, with only a small house and mill, on which the Soho manufactory now stands. He laid the foundation of his present extensive works, at the expence of nine thousand pounds. To this spot his liberal patronage soon attracted great numbers of ingenious men from all parts, and by their aid he so eminently succeeded in imitating the or molis , that the most splendid apartments in this and in many foreign countries, received their ornaments from Soho. Here, too (a most astonishing proof of enterprize and skill!) the works of the greatest masters in oil colours, were mechanically taken off, with such ease and exactness, that the original could scarcely be distinguished from the copy. This mode of copying was invented, we believe, by Mr. Eggington, whose performances in stained glass have since introduced his name to the public.
The utmost power of the water-mill, which Mr. Boulton had hitherto employed, fell infinitely short, even with the aid of horses, of that immense force which was soon found necessary to the completion of his designs. Recourse was therefore had, about the year 1767, to that chef-d'œuvre of human ingenuity, the steam Engine. In speaking of that wonderful machine, we shall adopt the animated language of a late excellent Review: The steam engine, approaching to the nature of a perpetuum mobile or rather an animal , is incapable of lassitude or sensation, produces coals, works metals, moves, machines, and is certainly the noblest drudge that was ever employed by the hand of art. Thus we "put a hook in the nose of the leviathan;" thus we "play with him as a child, and take him as a servant for ever;" thus "we subdue nature, and derive aid and comfort from the elements of earthquakes."
The first engine, that Mr. Boulton constructed was on Mr. Savary's plan, of which the reader will find one of the most satisfactory accounts in Professor Bradley's "New Improvements of Planting and Gardening," &c. But the machine was yet, as it were, in its in-
fancy, and by no means answered Mr. Boulton's expectations. In the year 1769, Mr. James Watt, of Glasgow, obtained a patent for such a prodigious improvement of it, that Mr. Boulton immediately sought his acquaintance, and induced him to settle at Soho. At this place the facility of application to a variety of concerns, wherein great force was requisite, soon manifested its superior utility and vast advantages to the public; and Parliament, therefore, in 1775, cheerfully granted a prolongation of Mr. Watt's patent, for twenty-five years. A partnership now commenced between Messrs. Boulton and Watt, and a manufactory of steam-engines, on their improved plan, was established at Soho, which still supplies the chief mines and manufactories throughout the kingdom.
Aided by such talents, and commanding such unlimited mechanical power, Mr. Boulton's views soon expanded, and Soho began to exhibit symptoms of the extraordinary advantages it had acquired. The art of coining had long stood in need of simplification and arrangement, and to this art Mr. Boulton had no sooner turned his attention, than about the year 1788, he erected a coining mill on an improved plan, and struck a gold medal of the full weight of a guinea, and of the same form as that of his new copper coinage lately put into circulation. The superior advantages of that form are obvious. The impression is far less liable to friction, and by means of a steel gage of equal diameter, money coined on that principle may be examined by measure as well as by weight, the rim being exactly circular. Moreover, the intrinsic is so nearly equal to the current value of every piece, that, without a steam-engine and adequate apparatus, every attempt to counterfeit the Soho coinage must be made with loss. The fabrication of base money seems likely, by these means, to be speedily checked, and hereafter entirely defeated. The reason why Mr. Boulton has not yet been employed by Government in the coinage of gold and silver, we have not been able to learn.
The mill at Soho works eight machines, each of which receives, stamps, and delivers out by the aid of only a little boy, from seventy to ninety pieces of copper in one minute. Either of them is stopped without the smallest interruption to the motion of the others. In adjoining apartments all the preparatory processes are carried on with equal facility and dispatch; such as rolling the copper into sheets, dividing them into blanks, and shaking them into bags clean and ready for the die. Without any personal communication between the different classes of workmen, &c. the blanks are conveyed to the room where they are shaken, and from thence to the coining room, in boxes moving with immense velocity on an inclined plane, and accompanied by a ticket of their weight.
The Sierra Leone Company have employed Mr. Boulton's mint in the coinage of silver, and the East India Company in that of copper. Two complete mints have lately been sent off to Petersburg.
Since the demise of the late empress Catharine, Mr. Boulton presented her successor, the Emperor Paul I, with some of the most curious articles of his manufactory, and in return received a polite letter of thanks and approbation, together with a splendid collection of medals, minerals from Siberia, and specimens of all the modern money of Russia. Among the medals, which for elegance of design and beauty of execution, have never yet been equalled in this or any other country, is a massy one of gold, impressed with a striking likeness, it is said, of his Imperial Majesty. Our readers will be surprised, when they are told that this unrivaled piece was struck from a die engraved by the present Empress, who has, from her youth, taken great delight in the art of engraving on steel.
With the view of still further improving and facilitating the manufactory of steam-engines, Messrs. Boulton and Watt have lately, in conjunc-
tion with their sons, established a foundery at Smethwick, a short distance from Soho. Here that powerful agent is employed to multiply itself, as it were, and its various parts are fabricated and adapted together with the same regularity, neatness, and expedition, that distinguish all the operations of their manufactory. These engines are afterwards distributed to all parts of the kingdom by the Birmingham canal, which communicates with a wet dock belonging to the foundery.
To such amazing perfection has the steam engine at length been brought, that the consumption of one bushel of Newcastle coals will raise nearly six thousand hogheads of Water ten feet high, and will do the work of ten horses for one hour. This remarkable abridgement of human labour, and proportionate diminution of expence are, in a great measure, the result of trials made under the auspices of Mr. Boulton. For a complete account of these machines, their power, &c. we refer the reader to Dr. Darwin's Botanic Garden.
It could scarcely be expected that envy would view with indifference such singular merit, and such unexampled success. The inventions and improvements of Messrs. Boulton and Watt were first imitated, and then either decried or disputed. Reason laboured in vain to silence the clamours of injustice, and defeat the stratagems of fraud. At length, in the year 1752, a solemn decision of Parliament, and, about the same time, the concurrent opinion of the Court of King's Bench, forbid any further encroachments.
The last discovery for which Mr. Boulton obtained a patent, was the important "Method of raising Water and other Fluids;" an ample description of which our readers will find in the Monthly Magazine, a publication which is in every body's hands. The uses to which this engine may be applied are various: besides the raising of water for the use of brewers, &c. it may be employed in raising water for salt works, in draining marshes, and pumping ships, and supplying with water those canals that are carried over or by the side of rivers. One great excellence of this apparatus is, that it requires no expence of fuel, nor attention from workmen. When once set a going, it will work of itself without any trouble, requiring only to be now and then inspected and kept in repair.
Whoever contemplates the merit and utility of a long life devoted to such important pursuits, as we have here briefly and very imperfectly described; and recollects without emotion, that the spot whereon so much has been done, and is still doing, where hundreds of men, women, and children easily earn a comfortable subsistence,* where population is rapidly increasing, and the means of national prosperity in proportion, was lately a bleak, swampy, and sterile waste, must want understanding to comprehend, or sympathy to appreciate, the happiness of his fellow-creatures.
Mr. Boulton is now in his seventy-third year, and he appears to possess the hilarity of youth. Extraordinary exertions, often both of body and mind, seem not to have impaired a constitution, which must have been naturally robust. He is fond of music, and takes great delight in the company of young people. One son, a young man of considerable accomplishment and great promise in his father's line, and one daughter, both of them unmarried, have survived their mother. Mr. Boulton is fellow of the Royal Societies of London and Edinburgh, and of the Free Economical Society of Petersburg, as well as of many other foreign institutions.
* We have been unable to ascertain the number of hands employed by Mr. Boulton, at this time, which must frequently vary according to the changes that necessarily take place in the demand for different articles. But we know, that when Mr. Boulton junior, came of age, in 1791, seven hundred workmen sat down to an entertainment given by his father.
NOTE.
* American Annual Register for 1796, chap. 34.