The recorder, or, Lady's and gentleman's miscellany (Richmond, Va.), 1802-09-29 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, SEPTEMBER 29, 1802.
TO BE SOLD, FOR READY MONEY.
PURSUANT to a decree of the Federal Circuit Court of the United States, for the District of Virginia, in a suit between the executors of Hanbury's plaintiffs, and the trustees of gen. Nelson, and others, defendants, a tract of land in the county of Prince William, on the waters of Bull Run, containing 220 acres, now in the occupation of Mrs. Gwynn; or so much thereof as will be sufficient to raise the sum of £. 259 with interest thereon from October 1797, and the costs & expenses of this sale, which will take place at Gadsby's tavern, in the town of Alexandria, on Saturday, the sixth of November next. They above tract of land was purchased by Peyton Gwynn, deceased under the said decree, and the purchase money not being wholly paid, is again to be sold for the satisfaction thereof, in conformity to said decree, and terms of original sale.
D. M. RANDOLPH
Late Marshal, v. r.
Richmond, Sept. 18th. 1802. (121.)
A FEW COPIES OF HYMNS, BY THE REV. E. CLAY, TO BE SOLD
At this Office, and at J. Pumphrey's, Stationer Richmond.
"A saving of time, is a saving of money, for time is even more precious than money."
FRANKLIN.
MATO'S TOLL BRIDGE
THE above Bridge, is now completely and permanently finished, is furnished with good, strong, and substantial Hand-Rails; and will, ve. & shortly, be supplied with Lamps, from one end to the other, so that passengers may pass it by Day, or by Night, with the utmost safety, and most unbounded confidence.
When the vast magnitude of this undertaking by a single individual; the chimerical light in which it was originally viewed by the whole community; the immense sum which it has cost; the great length of time (a period of no less than 17 years) which it has taken to bring it to its present state of perfection; but above all, the importance of it to those who travel north or south, and particularly to the whole country south of James River, in bringing their produce to market, and coming to the seat of government, are considered, a confident hope and belief is entertained that it will meet with, and always receive, universal patronage and support; exclusive of these considerations, ECONOMY itself points out this to be the CHEAPEST, (and surely it is the most AGREEABLE) mode of crossing the river; for the very small difference in the expence of going by any other conveyance, bears no proportion to the certainty, safety, and expedition, which this excellent and useful bridge affords.
SAMUEL JONES.
Richmond, Virginia, Sept. 4th. 1802.
THE SUBSCRIBERS TO THE
Revised Code,
Now publishing by Messrs. PLEASANTS and PACE, are respectfully informed, that the printing part of the work will be finished by October. Several professional gentlemen have already sent orders to have their copies interleaved with blank paper, for the purposes of annotation; the charge attending this addition to the book will be moderate, a trifle compared to the convenience. Should any other gentlemen wish to avail themselves of it, a line, post paid, addressed to the subscriber, who is to have the binding of the work, will be thankfully received and punctually attended to.
JOHN PUMFREY
Richmond, August 12, 1802.
N. B. A general assortment of STATI-ONARY and BLANK BOOKS, kept constantly on hand.
*** BOOK-BINDING, in all its various branches, executed in the most approved manner, and with the greatest dispatch.
THE Subscriber has lately removed to the Brick House, opposite to Crouch's Tavern, and near to Proffer and Muncure's Vendue Store.
He proposes to practise the Law in the High Court of Chancery, and District Courts, and in the County and City Courts, which are held in this city.
HENRY BANKS.
Richmond, August 25, 1802. t.f.
CALL'S REPORTS.
SECOND VOLUME.
THIS Book is now ready for delivery, at the Printing Office of THOMAS NICOLSON, in the City of Richmond.
Sept. 19th. 1802.
TO BE RENTED.
THE
TENEMENT
AT present occupied by MRS. HERON, near the CAPITOL. Possession may be had the 15th of next Month.
CHARLES COPLAND.
Richmond, Sept. 11th 1802. (31.)
DAVID LAWRENCE
LATELY from Pennsylvania, has just commenced business on his own account in Manchester, at the entrance of the town, where he carries on all branches of Wheel Wright business, in the cheapest and most approved manner, and is well supplied with excellent seasoned timber.
Waggons and Ploughs he makes or repairs after the genuine construction, and the latest improvements. He also carries on the business in all its various branches (cutlery,) and will thankfully and faithfully serve with dispatch those who will oblige him with their custom. He expects daily a complete master cutler, who will make all kinds of edge tools suitable and commonly in use in this country, and warrant them good.
Manchester, Sept. 6th, 1802.
LOST.
On Saturday evening, the 11th of this Month, between Miles Selden's and Richmond, three
PATENTS FOR LAND,
In Kentucky;
TWO for 1000 acres each, and one for 333 1-3d do. signed by the governor of Kentucky; and TWO DEEDS, one executed by Henry Crogan, to Wilson Bouff, for 666 2-3ds acres, and the other un-executed, together with a list of the same. As the above patents cannot be of service to any one but the owner, they shall be handsomely rewarded, by delivering them to Messrs. Pickett, Pollard, and Johnston, or William Wischam, of Richmond.
Sept. 12th, 1802.
THE SUBSCRIBERS OFFER FOR SALE,
That valuable Tenement in this City, lately occupied by GEORGE NICOLSON, DECEASED.
THE buildings on this tenement are a large convenient two story Dwelling House, 48 by 30 feet. In the lower story are three rooms, one of them 30 by 20 feet, a wide airy passage of 12 feet, and a large convenient Closet.
A two story brick Kitchen and Laundry lately built, 30 by 20 feet, the lower floors are neatly paved with brick, and the upper rooms afford fit accommodation for servants. A Smoke House, Spring House, Stable and Coach House.
The elevated and healthy situation of this tenement; the great variety of beautiful prospects it affords, and its commodious buildings, render it as comfortable and pleasant a situation for a private family as any in this city. And as three fourths of the proceeds of sale of the above tenement will belong to the three youngest children of the subscriber's testator, it enables them to accommodate a purchaser, if desired, with a long credit of four years for three fourths of the purchase money, and for the other fourth, 12 months credit will be allowed; bond and approved security
will be required, to bear interest from the day of sale, if not punctually paid.
T. NICOLSON, } Executors. A. NICOLSON, }
Richmond, Sept. 15th, 1802. (31.)
INTERESTING.
*** To remove Predisposition, is curing the Disease.
AT this season of the year, when crowded cities, and irregular, and various modes of living, constitute an almost universal predisposition to bilious, inflammatory, yellow, and malignant fevers, it would greatly mitigate the prevalence of epidemical or parodic cases of fever, if the citizens would generally attend to their health, by the frequent use of mild bilious purgatives, and avoid all those circumstances which excite a predisposed habit into a general disease, such as intemperate debauch, excessive fatigue, exposure to alternate heats and colds, &c. Accordingly, the best medicines ever yet discovered, to answer the above indications, and to remove the first stages of fevers, as has been experienced for four years past in all the various cities, and towns in the United States, where yellow and other fevers have prevailed, is found to be
DOCTOR LEE'S
PATENT NEW LONDON
Bilious Pills;
Prepared only by SAMUEL H. P. LEE, NEW-LONDON,
MEMBER OF THE CONNECTICUT MEDICAL SOCIETY.
Their good effects and virtues are particularly described in the bill of directions, given with each box, and are too well known to need repetition here. The extensive sale, and increasing demand from all parts of the United States and West Indies, is a sure proof of their superior merits above all others; no family should be a day without them; and if used once in 8 or 10 days (which will occasion no interruption in business) will preserve health, and remove the causes of most complaints which occur.
The above Pills are for Sale By WM. PRICHARD.
P. S. Purchasers must be particular to ask for "Lee's New London Bilious Pills," or they will be liable to be mistaken in procuring the true Genuine Patent Pills.
Also for sale as above,
AROMATIC PASTE FOR TEETH & GUMS. Richmond, August 30th, 1802. (61.)
Patent Medicines.
A FRESH SUPPLY IS LATELY RECEIVED AND FOR SALE AT WM. PRICHARD'S BOOK STORE. DOCTOR SOLOMON'S,
CORDIAL BALM OF GILEAD.
THE celebrity and great efficacy of this Medicine is generally too well known to require a lengthy description of its virtues; it stands unrivalled as a sovereign relief in all delicate, weakly and relaxed constitutions, lowness of spirits, hypochondria, horrors, tremblings, weakness of sight, loss of memory, impaired vigour, nervous consumptions, and the numberless symptoms of impaired and tottering constitutions, whether arising from a life of inactivity, intemperance, or inattention to health; it cheers, braces, and invigorates the whole nervous system, and gives new tone to all the vital functions, of which numberless instances can be vouched.
Doctor Solomon's ANTI-IMPETIGINES.
A most excellent and sure remedy for land and sea scurvy, rheumatic gout, ulcers, sore legs, and all scrofulous eruption. Great and various are the instances of the healing virtues of this specific, in all disorders originating in an impure state of the blood.
Doctor Solomon's GUIDE TO HEALTH. OR ADVICE TO BOTH SEXES.—Price one dollar.
This work, in a concise manner, recommends the most simple and efficacious remedies with a proper mode of treatment for the asthma, loss of appetite, barrenness, bilious complaints, consumption, female diseases, &c. &c.
Doctor Andrew's SPECIFIC LOTION FOR THE FACE.
This Medicine is a safe, certain, and speedy cure for pimples, blotches, freckles, sun-burns, stingles, ring-worms, and all eruptions and humours of the face and skin.
*** A general catalogue of Wm. Prichard's stock of books and stationery to be had gratis at the above store, where the literary articles, &c. therein contained, as well as those that monthly accumulate, shall be offered to his fellow citizens and others on equally moderate terms, the same as can be purchased in any of the northern cities.
Teachers at seminaries of learning, and county store-keepers who buy by wholesale shall have a liberal discount.
Richmond, August 30th, 1802. (61.)
MORE ABOUT
THE
COUNTY OF AMELIA.
AT the last election for electors, to choose the president and vice president of the United States, good republicanism prevailed to such a degree in this county, that every freeholder was compelled to vote for the Jefferson ticket, except one. He chose to exercise his own free will, and voted for the Adams ticket. In consequence of this, some of the good republicans offered personal violence to him. After an act of this sort, it was certainly necessary that Giles, or somebody else, should exercise authority over them. If Giles can contrive to keep them in order at the next election, it is exact that there will be a great many votes. Although the usurpation of Giles cannot be justified in argument, yet it is hoped that he will be able to exterminate the last of the Adamsites, and give his most ardent subjects a full opportunity of judging between democratic (contemptuous, and sovereignty.
WE have been asked whether the Recorder circulates in North Carolina.—Our answer is, that there is little, or no necessity for it. The good sense and independence of Mr. Hodge, the editor of the Halifax paper, answers as well. He makes very copious extracts, which the Carolina people may read, and either applaud or condemn as they please. If however, any person in North Carolina wants the Recorder, he may pay his money to Mr. Hodge, and the paper shall be sent on. We have some few subscribers in North Carolina.
(Answer to the Examiner of Sept. 4, concluded from our last.)
Thus far the writer in Mr. Rind's Federalist. We do not affirm that this is the exact language, in which Mr. Jefferson advanced his defence. But, as to his correspondence with me, the circumstances shall be so distinctly repeated, that they cannot be mistaken, and so correctly, that they cannot be contradicted. The defence ascribed to Mr. Jefferson, is the only one which he could have adopted, with a veiling of plausibility. Dates and circumstances are confounded. When a person is desirous of denying truth, confusion is his only and inevitable resource. If, in the commencement of this newspaper campaign, I had fully, although briefly, related what had passed between the president and myself, his bewitched defenders would have saved themselves and him from the inconvenience of many wretched mistakes, that have filled the pages of the contending parties with misapprehension, with fiction, and scurrility.
Some months after I first came to Virginia, I wrote a letter to Mr. Jefferson. It was therein represented that I was completely tired of political warfare; that, with some exceptions, the conduct of the republican party towards me had been sordid, ungrateful, and perfidious; that I was wearied with contending for honest principles, when I found that the partisans who espoused them were so generally undeserving of trust. I, therefore, signified my earnest wish to have done with the story. I signified, that my relations were, for the present, suitably provided for; that I had nobody to care for but myself; and that a very small matter would satisfy my personal wants. I specified to Mr. Jefferson two different modes of subsistence, in which I could earn my bread, and wherein I expected that he

could afford me help. I was then a stranger to Virginia. A further acquaintance with this state authorises me to affirm, that it would not have cost Mr. Jefferson the shadow of an effort to have gratified my wishes. But this, by the bye.
The letter was dated about the 20th of Sept. 1798. I have not repeated the exact words of it; but this is the exact meaning. His answer was, that he could not serve me in the way that I wanted; that he had desired Mr. George Jefferson to forward fifty dollars, for present contingencies; and that he hoped, next winter, to see me in Philadelphia, "where, above all other places, I could be most serviceable to the cause of freedom."
The money was received. It was acceptable. The denial of assistance excited suspicions, that my personal welfare was the least part of Mr. Jefferson's concern. The hope of seeing me in Philadelphia, excited a sensation still more painful. This is a short but candid statement of that part of our correspondence. There did not occur, upon either part, one syllable about the purchase of paper. I am not sure that, at this time, ten pages of "The Prospect" had been written. I had been but two months in Virginia; and my state of health required relaxation. Some time after the receipt of the vice president's letter, I wrote him an acknowledgement of the receipt of the money. It was mentioned that there was an idea of coming down to Richmond; but not a syllable transpired concerning the purchase of paper for a book, which did not then exist. With Mr. Jefferson I had no farther intercourse, till the month of July, or August, 1799. I had then been, for some time, in Richmond. Soon after I came to this city, I inserted a long specimen of "The Prospect," then in manuscript, in Lyon's National Magazine. It began at chapter 6th. page 89, of the first volume. Within a few pages, it entered into the history of the Proclamation of neutrality. This statement had been signed by Mr. Jefferson, as Secretary of State. The policy of the measure, and the conduct of the president, were frankly condemned. The specimen extended to 32 pages of the Magazine. A copy of the sheets was transmitted by me to Mr. Jefferson. The letter which enclosed them did not contain one syllable about the purchase of paper, and if it contained one word about poverty, Mr. Jefferson will oblige me by sending it to the press. About a fortnight afterwards, a letter was received by him. He therein expressed his approbation of the specimen. He desired me to wait upon Mr. Jefferson for fifty dollars. Soon after, a book went to press. I bought the paper with money of my own. I obtained it from Mrs. Jefferson. About October, 1800, four months after I had been in prison, I sent him a specimen of a second volume. The letter that went along with it contained no solicitation for money. If it did, I should be glad to see it printed. A few weeks after this, Mr. George Jefferson called with a third fifty dollars; and if the president chooses to affirm that all this money was given for the mere sake of charity, the public, if they think fit, are welcome to believe him. This is all which I have to say upon so frivolous a matter.
For Sale
To the highest bidder, on the premises, On SATURDAY the 9th. of OCTOBER next, at 10 o'clock in the forenoon.
A NUMBER of lots of LAND adjoining the City of Richmond, between the Brook and Wessham roads, agreeably to a plan made of the same.
The purchasers will call on John Graham within ten days from the sale, and pay him one fourth of the purchase money, and then complete the bargain, by signing an agreement respecting the remaining three fourths, which are to be discharged in three yearly payments. A copy of the agreement to be exhibited at the sale.
A purchaser failing to pay one fourth of the purchase money, and executing the above-mentioned agreement, within ten days from the sale will be considered as having relinquished his purchase.
Those purchasers who choose to pay in ready money for the whole, shall have a deduction of one third of the three last payments.
Richmond Sept. 24. 1802. (2. w.)
A Tutor Wanted.
A MAN who can teach the English language grammatically; also, writing, arithmetic, and geography.
Liberal wages and other advantages will be given to such a person.
A married man with a small family will be preferred.
HARRY HETH.
Black Hawk Coal Pitts, near Richmond, Sept. 17, 1802.
The RECORDER.
RICHMOND.
SEPTEMBER 29th. 1802.
From the NEW YORK HERALD.
Arts of able Editors. —Mr. Jefferson's editors are fighting most valiantly in his behalf; but they are so excessively eager to engage, that they neither wait for the plan of attack, nor even the word of command; the consequence is such as might be expected; a want of concert, followed by irretrievable confusion in the ranks, and in several instances, even a falling back on their own party, so that dismay and defeat already begin to pervade the whole squadron.
One says, Mr. Jefferson had not read the Prospect , when he rewarded the author; and that if it shall appear that he had, he'll desert. A second says, he never paid him any money at all; he only lent it. A third, that he had no agency whatever in the Prospect , as detailed, and if he had, it indicates an inconsistency of character, a meanness of disposition, that ought never to be found in a Chief Magistrate. A fourth, that, after the money was in the treasury, he had no controul over it; that he did not order it to be repaid; but that if he did, it was a violation of his oath, and he ought to be impeached. A fifth, that all the money ever paid to Callender, both from Mr. Jefferson's own pocket and the national purse, was from unmixed motives of the most charming charity. A sixth says all the foregoing are fools and blockheads; that Mr. Jefferson never paid Callender a doit, in his life. A seventh, and last says, in direct language, that the story of him and SALLY is "a damnable lie," and this last gentleman, who appears in the Citizen of this morning, under the appropriate signature of a "Friend to Good Government," intimates that some "horrible outrage" will be committed on the editor of this paper, and his workmen, if he does not leave off telling such things.—Go on, gentlemen, go on, and when you are all cleverly advanced, the net shall be sprung over you: we shall then see what a pretty figure you will make.
From the GAZETTE OF THE UNITED STATES, of September 1.
IN the Aurora of this morning we find Duane's Letter V. to J. T. Callender. The principal object now attempted, is to make it believed that Mr. Jefferson's sixteen dollars, and the other subscriptions, which have been mentioned, were intended for Duane, and not for Callender. Duane declares that he threatened to leave the city and go to Pittsburgh; upon which, Mr. Jefferson, and about twenty others, raised a subscription and gave him ten dollars a week to stay here. The origin of the subscription, therefore, says Duane, was only personal to myself, calculated to detain me in this city, under the impression that I could render more essential service, than in the western parts of the state.
The whole of this bull-baiting, between Wood, Cheetham, Burr, Callender, Duane and Jefferson is sufficiently entertaining; but the most amusing part of the whole is to see the fine characters which these "able editors" give of themselves. We have lately extracted Duane's at full length, and one would suppose that the impression which it must make upon his readers would not soon be lost. He, however, seems to be apprehensive, that it is already forgotten, and takes care to refresh our memories by again devoting nearly two columns to the same interesting subject. It must be confessed, however, that Duane is more modest in characterising himself than Cheetham. Cheetham boldly lays claim to the character of Cicero; Duane modestly steps at that of Erasmus.
We cannot enough thank Mr. Duane for the interesting sketches which he has this day given us of the character of his wife and children, as well as himself. It is comforting to learn, that among them, there was no misery, even in the midst of incessant toil—that happiness was possessed, even under privations few can conceive. Those who wish for more information on this subject, so important to the public, may obtain it by complying with Duane's public invitation: "LOOK AT MY CHILDREN!" he exclaims.—We say so too. Let those who have nothing better to do look at Duane's children.—The editors of the ministerial prints, struck dumb by the killing proofs which have lately appeared against their Mammoth Chief, may as well drop their pens and look at Duane's children. It has been often asked lately, what is Duane about? Why does he not attempt to say something about the public money paid to Callender, contrary to the law? Why does he not forge something to extenuate the conduct of Mr. Madison, in promoting the circulation of the Prospect Before Us? Why does he not find some excuse for senator Mason keeping Callender in his own house, while he wrote that Prospect , and flattering the author with his approbation of the work? These are subjects which require the exercise of all the Arts of able Editors; the answer is obvious. Duane thinks it will be quite as effectual to look at his children.
MR. M. JONES.
IN my letter of the 15th instant, I proved that you had meanly and ungenerously made an attack upon me, without the least provocation for so doing. I convinced every person of your entire incapacity as an editor. I convicted you of being a man, whose violence for party arose from the mean and avaricious principle of self-interest. I showed that you were void of moral and political principles; and that your conduct commanded detestation. But however despicable you appear in the eyes of the public, I did not then fully see into the extreme wretchedness of your disposition. I did not then see, that you added to your vices a crime which stamps your character with ten-fold infamy. I did not then know that you wished to fetter, and against neighbours, friend against friend, and the father against the son. In a word, I did not then know, that you could aim to become a second Robespierre. But what will not the man attempt, who, prone to every degree of vice and luxury, has ruined his credit, and has nothing left wherewith to support his former extravagance? It is in this deplorable situation, that you are drove to the mean resort of contriving falsehood and mischief. It is from your dependence upon the heads of a party for support, that you now raise the fangs of vulgarity and of violence. The following extract from the Examiner of the 22d inst. will at once develop the pure, and unsatiated appetite of your republican principle. In railing at Mr. Callender and myself, you there speak in these words:—"Is the daily insult which they receive from their neighbours, no warning? Will they pursue their infamous career until they are crushed into atoms? Like other outlaws, in public opinion, they receive a protection from party which they feel to be precarious, and shudder at the awful moment at which the cloud which their eccentric views have collected shall burst in confusion over their heads."
You here assert in the strongest terms, that we meet with daily insults from those neighbours, who should happen to think different from ourselves. This, Sir, is as untrue as another assertion of yours, of the same nature, viz. "that our journeymen insult us in the office." Can any man for a moment suppose, that our journeymen would risk the loss of employment, that they would behave unbecoming to those who support them, merely to please Mr. Jones? The idea is ridiculous. But you, Sir, with it realized; or why, in this public manner, do you artfully found the rostrum for battle? Had such actions been really true, as a good citizen, and republican, you should have endeavoured to smother a flame, whose baneful influence might extend to unheard-of misery. You should have informed such citizens, that it is not by violence, but by moderation that we can ever expect to constitute a just and equitable government. But why do I lose time, in argument with a demagogue who wishes to raise the fury of civil discord? I am sure, after this, every good republican must detest the man, whose principles can teach him to oppose other men's opinions with insult and violence. They must consign to oblivion the creature whose conduct is so inimical to the happiness of civilized society. But your actions speak for themselves, and to be acquainted with the degraded state of your intellect, nothing more is needful, than to read the columns of the Examiner. Whether I consider the lowness of the stile, the meanness of the falsehoods, or the paltry subterfuges, which they contain, I find that they are true copies of their illustrious original. It is no wonder that heaps of the Examiners lie at different post-offices, and that your readers are surfeited with their contents.
NOTE
* The following is a specimen of the beauties of the English language. It is taken in detached parts from only one column of the Examiner's Richmond head. To go through more columns than one, of such stuff, would be irksome and disgusting to our readers. To print a column entire, would be making it still worse. And I have only to beg pardon for thus desiling a corner of this paper with such miserable rubbish.
From the EXAMINER of the 22d. inst.
"To perforate the filth which it contains—to nuzzle through our blasphemy,—your lies and thefts,—and mouth from the sink of pollution, your own infamy. Come forth thou hideous and hateful mortal. Thou clot hearted Scot,—hurries our retreat from a vault of putrid human mortality!—now drawing from your stench,—the food of this pure climate shall not form chyle for the nourishment of a queer lump of flesh—Yes, thou enlightened brute,—thou art a thief. My flesh grow s cold, it lays hold upon my bones when I think of the ghastly tumours!"
Such is the eloquent language which fills the Examiner, with an addition of a "Yes! Callender," and, "You know, Callender," yes you do, introduced between every four or five sentences.
ALSO
In the Examiner of the 25th inst. Besides a plentiful distribution of falsehood and vulgarity, the following is very beautiful.
"What a delicate fidus Achates must Callender's protege be! The old scoundrel is quite goatish."
You have asserted, that I disgraced the piece, addressed to you, with my name, (be it so) & that it was Mr. Callender's production. I know that Mr. Callender would not wish the productions of another fostered upon him; this is therefore to inform you, that Mr. Callender, nor any other person, made a single sentence of what I have addressed to you. But it appears, that, upon every occasion, you split on the rock of error. It proceeds from the sympathy of your constitution. You cannot help it.
In the same column of your paper, underneath the above quoted morsel, you declare that in a conversation with respectable citizens, I said "that there was no respectability; but in wealth, and that adherence to principle was all nonsense." I recollect the conversation you allude to: it was upon Tom Paine's Rights of Man. I said then, what I am ready to say again. I said, that it was impossible, at the present day, to institute a government upon the principles laid down by Paine. That, in all civilized countries, commerce, manufacture and trade, had arrived to the highest splendor; that the luxuries derived from these sources were numerous, and had become necessary by habit. That it was the ardour after gain which fixed the attention upon riches and splendour, more than upon public virtue. That the question is, Is he rich? nor, Is he the most virtuous man? And that, while society look up to riches more than to virtue; that society never can expect a truly virtuous government. That no one could deny that riches and a great appearance, hide a number of faults. I further laid, that if a nation wished for a simple and pure government, no other means were left to attain it, than to return to the habits of the earlier days, when the only trade of the people was to attend their flocks and pastures; and when the greatest and best man was he, who was afraid of asserting a falsehood, or of committing a disgraceful action. But at the present day, amidst pride and jarring interests amidst commerce, trade, and battle, and the mixture of opinions concomitant on the various grades of society, the attainment of a pure government was a thing utterly impracticable. If these were not the exact words, I am sure that they were to this purport. And I will ask any person of common sense, whether an argument upon an indifferent subject, ought, or could be distorted into the meaning of your explanation, or your tell-tale's explanation for you? I merely mention this to shew how ready you are to turn the most frivolous circumstance into your paper. And I really wonder, Sir, that any editor could fill his columns with such foolish insinuations, and known falsehoods as are regularly circulated by you, and which is the only information they contain. If you were again to get some able editor, it will be going a service to the cause you espouse, but at present, you are rendering it every injury of which an imbecile writer is capable.
H. PACE.
Richmond, Sept. 27 1802.
From the Virginia Gazette.
COMMUNICATION.
IT is a fact, no less true than it will be surprising to the people of America, after the repeated and positive assertions to the contrary, that the present chief magistrate of the United States, was not the draftsman of the declaration of American independence. By a recurrence to the journals of congress, for June 1776, it will be found that a committee of five members, viz: Mr. Jefferson, and four others*, was appointed to prepare this declaration, and after an instrument to that effect had been drawn by the committee, not by Mr. Jefferson, the house for several days, went into a committee of the whole on the subject of it, in the course of which most essential alterations in language &c. were made, and the author of the present communication has had it from the mouths of two of the venerable sages and patriots who composed that congress, and who were of opposite political principles, that the elegant form which it at last assumed, and which it now bears, proceeded more from the handsome amendments proposed by a gentleman who has since become the victim of jacobineal slanders, and adopted by the house, than from any brilliancy of talents on the part of Mr. Thomas Jefferson.
That gentleman, it is true, reported to congress what had been prepared by the committee, of which (as first named) he was chairman, but he can no more be said to have been the author of it, than
* The reader is referred to the journals of congress for June 1776, for the names of these four worthies. As the journals are not at hand at present, to avoid any inaccuracy an insertion of their names is omitted.

Little David can be considered as the author of all the proceedings and reports of the late committee of ways and means, of which he was chairman. Yet have we seen this instrument used as a weapon in favor of the election of a man to the first office under our government, who was willing, in order to effect his purpose, to take to himself any merit for it which fanatical partizans, gaping for "the loaves and fishes," were ready to ascribe to him. A little time, however, will divest the daw of his borrowed plumes, and exhibit him to the world, in his original nakedness and turpitude.
A BUCKSKIN.
Sept. 10, 1802.
From the FREDERICK-TOWN HERALD.
Such is the memoir, which Callender told of Mr. Jefferson a fortnight ago. We could not think of opposing any longer the curiosity of our readers to have a peep at what seems licensed by its general re-publication in the federal papers, and by the silent confession of the democratic prints. In Mr. Jefferson's message to the last congress, "The multiplication of the human race" was the burden of his song; and, according to Callender's account, the great man has lived up to his own benevolent precept. Some good sort of folks will be in amazement at this, and perhaps inclined to doubt the truth of the anecdote; and indeed at first sight it does appear somewhat odd, that "the solemn, the grave, and the didactic" Mr. Jefferson, a philosopher and a metaphysician whom the world might take to be
"A man whose blood
Is very slow-blood; one who never feels The wanton flings and motions of the sense; But both rebukes and blunt his natural edge With profits of the mind, study and sail,"
that such a man should have lived in the habitual violation of the seventh commandment with one of his own slaves! But the new lights in philosophy have probably shown to the satisfaction of Mr. Jefferson's conscience, that every restraint on the "exertion of the energies" militates against "general utility."
In stead of a denial of the fact, its commission will rather be justified by his official printer, the punctilious Mr. Smith, the starched and oracular Editor of the National Intelligencer. This being assumed, we have been led by a mischievous freak of fancy to consult a passage in Mr. Jefferson's "Notes on Virginia" upon the subject of negroes; from which, associated with the affair before us, much matter of entertainment may be now collected. From page 141 to 147 of Mr. Jefferson's book, the following quotations are extracted. Treating of the inferiority of the blacks to the whites, and the difference between them, he says:
"The first difference which strikes us is that of colour. Whether the black of the negro resides in the reticular membrane between the skin and the scarf-skin, or the scarf-skin itself, whether it proceeds from the colour of the blood, the colour of the bile, or from that of some other secretion, the difference is fixed in nature, and is as real as if the seat and cause were better known to us. And is not this difference of no importance? Is it not the foundation of a greater or less share of beauty in the two races? Are not the fine mixtures of red and white, the expressions of every passion by greater or less suffusions of colour in the one preferable to that eternal monotony, which reigns in the countenance, that immovable veil of black which covers all the emotions of the other race? Add to these, flowing hair, a more elegant symmetry of form, their own judgment in favour of the whites, declared by their preference of them as uniformly as is the preference of the Oranootan for the black women over those of their own species. They have less hair on the face and body--they secrete less by the kidneys, and more by the glands of the skin, which gives them a very strong and disagreeable odour. They are more ardent after their female: but love seems with them to be more an eager desire than a tender delicate mixture of sentiment,
and sensation. Their love is ardent, but it kindles the senses only, not the imagination. This unfortunate difference of colour, and perhaps of faculty, is a powerful obstacle to the emancipation of those people. Many of their advocates, while they wish to vindicate the liberty of human nature, are anxious also to preserve its beauty. Among the Romans, the slave, when made free, might mix with, without staining the blood of his master; but with us, when freed, he is to be removed beyond the reach of mixture."
Such was Mr. Jefferson's text in the year 1781; which there can be no indecorum in publishing, because it is all in his own words. We recollect however, that in answering a complimentary dedication by negro Bancker, the almanac-maker, he seemed some years ago to contradict all he had advanced against the poor negroes in his "Notes on Virginia." Some people imputed this change to the power of flattery--but perhaps it may now be laid to a more philosophic cause; for notwithstanding all that he has said above, against the negro race, he is careful to observe at the same time, that there should be "many observations to justify a general conclusion, even where the subject may be submitted to the anatomical knife, to optical glasses, to analysis by fire, or by solvents." And perhaps the circumstance, which that sad fellow Callender has related, has been merely a course of practical experiments, by the result of which Mr. Jefferson was afterwards moved to alter his first opinions. At any rate, it must have convinced him from his own case, that he was mistaken in laying such stress on "the preference" of the blacks for the whites, as a proof of the inferiority of the former; because by the same criterion, he might be making himself out to be an "Oranootan." For he seems all at once to have laid aside all his fear about the "beauty" of our race, suffering by a "mixture" with the other, or, of the negro "staining the blood of the master." He either lound out, that
These black masks
Proclaim an onshied beauty ten times louder, Than beauty could displayed."
or else he esteemed his fable Helen an exception to his general rule. Perhaps she is favoured with peculiar charms and graces--Perhaps Mr. Jefferson discovered, that her "love" was something more than an "eager desire." That it was "a tender delicate mixture of sentiment and sensation!" Perhaps she understands "Euclid"--or she may be "a poet," faculties, which he says in his "Notes on Virginia," that none of our Africans had ever then attained. Perhaps too that "disagreeable odour,"--But oh fie! whither are we following Mr. Jefferson? Into what indelicate speculations would he conduct us! Modestly orders us to drop the curtain: For surely "it were to consider too curiously" to probe this matter to the bottom. We therefore assign it over to less scrupulous hands; confessing at the same time, that there is a merit in the subject, which we should be graceless enough to pursue at the President's expence, were it less offensive to serious and decent contemplation.
From the Republican Watch Tower,
FOR THE AMERICAN CITIZEN,
Messrs: Printers,
The situation to which our country is reduced by the most infamous and scandalous publications which daily appear in the Evening Post, has become so alarming, as to call forth every person who would wish to live at a distance from such practices, to set their faces against the danger which may be the consequence to the peace and happiness of the community. What, Messrs. printers, shall we think of a man that can prostitute his press in the manner Mr. Coleman has of late? Will the damnable lie of Callender, concerning a negro slave in the house of the president of the United States, gain the least credit? Can Mr. Coleman even suppose any person will believe this story, told by such an outcast as Callender? No sir, I am bold
to say this palpable falsehood will lose the federalists more ground than all the papers (in your line) from Main to Georgia.
You must understand I am no great friend to either party, as they stile themselves, but I am what is called an American.
Can Mr. Coleman, in his sober senses, think by such means to write Mr. Jefferson from the presidency? No! that must be impossible, as any man that will give himself time to reflect, must own. But I am well aware Coleman must please those who put it in his power to establish the Evening Post.
But, Messrs, does Mr. Coleman know that he is execrated by his own party for publishing that damnable calumny against the first magistrate of the United States? Does he know that the citizens of this place are boiling with indignation at him, and cannot bear this thing to go on much longer? What may be the consequence, if they lose sight of that peaceable conduct they have been always noted for by the world, and commit some outrage on him and his myrmidons? I say, sir, what might be the consequence? Where might it end? This is a horrible thought, and it ought to induce Mr. Coleman to reflect a moment. What will the people of Europe think of us? What must we think of ourselves? when we encourage such conduct against the President of the United States, under our own eyes? But I forbear to go any further with the idea, and hope, and pray, that God will keep the nation at peace, and cause such practices to recoil on the heads of those that are guilty of them.
A Friend to good Government.
REMARKS, SUBMITTED TO THE CONSIDERATION OF THE PEOPLE OF VIRGINIA.
(Originally Printed in 1796.)
(Continued from No. 51.)
IT deserves notice too, that in those counties where there are strong jails, the debtors are not upon a footing with those where there are none. A man in Henrico may lose his land; but in Chesterfield, or Dinwiddie, as well as in many others, he needs not.
It has been observed, that jails will seldom retain a debtor. In truth, they ought not. No honest man, however indiscreet he may have been, ought to be thrown into one, even for a moment. The wretch condemned to death, for the vilest crime ought to breathe, while the law allows him to exist, a purer air than most of our jails afford. Yet to places like these, to imprisonment, to filth, and to dishonor, do the advocates for freedom, the real friends of the people, doom themselves and their fellow-citizens, rather than subject their lands to sale for the fairest considerations.
The fourth objection, though true in fact, proves nothing to the purpose. Those who urge it forget, that though slaves constitute a fund for the payment of debts, they furnish the readiest means of contracting them, and that credit is generally proportioned to the aggregate stock of property which a man may possess, without much regard to the materials of which it is composed.
Thus the objections which have been brought forward under this division of the subject, having been answered, it might appear unnecessary to proceed farther. If it be just that lands should be sold for the payment of debts, the policy and expedience of the measure ought not to be enquired into. But in the present investigation, considerations founded on the supposed welfare of the community, having been brought forward it is necessary to notice them. Perhaps, no case can occur, in which duty and interest are in more exact co-incident.
To shew the expedience of the law, it is observed, that extensive credit has been hurtful to the citizens of this commonwealth; that they are eternally involved in debt, and harassed with lawsuits; and that, therefore, it would be
impolitic to increase this evil, by subjecting lands to sale by execution. On this point may rest their opposition to the law.
The idea that extensive credit is injurious, has within a few years past, generally prevailed in this country. It has been adopted by the legislature, and can be traced in their proceedings, to the year 1779. By the law now in force, actions on store accounts, must be brought within one year, after the delivery of the articles, or the cause of action accrued: a penalty is denounced against those who postpone any item of an account; and verdict is to be given and judgement pronounced, only for such articles as were delivered within twelve months before the commencement of the suit.
Thus the existence of credit, and the reality of the evils resulting from it, are ideas apparently so firmly impressed on the public mind, that it may be difficult to remove them. The ear of the people; however, being always open to the reception of truth, they will listen to the argument, which attempts to prove.
(To be continued.)
AFTER we thought that the public had enough upon the remission business, Mrs. SARAH JEFFERSON was brought forward. After this exhibition shall have thundered from Penobscot, to the Natches, then, as Dr. Morgan says, "you shall per-adventure, behold what you shall, see!" In a word, the political character of Thomas Jefferson has been safely deposited in its grave, and The Recorder shall take the trouble of erecting its tomb-stone. What would Mr. Madison at this moment give that he had behaved to a certain person with a little more of the outside of gratitude? The secretary of state cannot come upon the carpet, at least as we conjecture, till Christmas. The explanation as to the philosopher himself is the first object. To borrow the language of Junius, "that, is at this time, "the pillow, upon which our indignation "reposes." It is only doing justice to the character of Virginia to say that this negro conception has not a single reader, or apologist, in Richmond. Any man, that even looks through a spy-glass at the hope of a decent character, would think himself irretrievably blasted, if he had liped a syllable in defence of the president's mahogany coloured propagation. Mr. Jefferson was a man of fortune! a man, of admitted abilities! a man who stood in the very first rank of political characters! a man, who had been in possession of a virtuous and amiable wife! He was a man, who had daughters to be educated, and who can hardly have forgot the name of their mother! He could almost have commanded whatever his utmost ambition desired, as to the female sex, in the state of Virginia. He plunged at once into a connection, from which, the debauchee, that prowls for prey in the puritus of St. Giles's, would have shrunk with horror.
Put the case, that the sex were to be reversed. We do not know how to get forward with the grossness of the supposition but, putting the case, that the two sexes are to be reversed, and that (we must again beg pardon of our readers) a widow lady had brought a negro gallant into her house, and that, in the presence of her family, she had pressed him to her bosom.-----
We do not believe that such a female character ever existed. When a lady could have selected from whatever was estimable, or attractive in the commonwealth; when it was in her power to have selected a husband, the association of whose name would have added dignity to hers; we say, that the lowest drab of the sex would not have lent to her stable for a black fellow, as Jefferson, before the eyes of his two daughters, sent to his kitchen, or perhaps, to his pig-stye, for this mahogany coloured charmer.
We have already noticed, that we have something to say concerning Mr. James Madison. We shall give you, in the mean time, a few words about him; as the body of our observations must be reserved till Christmas. When Callender was at Washington, he took notice to the secretary of state of a very mean trait in the conduct of Mr. Jefferson.

son. Mr. Madison considered himself as upon strong ground. He answered, with briskness, that he had known Mr. Jefferson for the greater part of his life, and that he knew to much about the excellence of his heart, as to make this allegation incredible. The words were polite; but this was their meaning. Now, as Mr. Madison has been acquainted with Jefferson for at least 30 years, he must have been acquainted with this mulatto business, which, in the course of the present rupture, has burst into history. The name of Sally will walk down to posterity alongside of Mr. Jefferson's own name. The name of Agrippina is as distinctly remembered as that of Nero. Madison must have known all about Sally, and, when he assisted in passing off the president as a prodigy of virtue, he differed from the president himself precisely as much as the man that circulates a copper dollar, differs from the man that forged it.
FROM COBBETT'S WEEKLY POLITICAL REGISTER FOR APRIL 1802.
LETTER FROM WILLIAM COBBETT, TO THE RIGHT HONORABLE LORD HAWKESBURY, His majesty's secretary of state for foreign affairs.
Concluded from our last.
"But," say the sleek-headed sons of Hope, "the Americans, surely, will not so easily be weaned from their British habits, and British connections; the ties of language and blood will not so easily be broken." I will tell you, my lord, what the Americans think on this subject, which they have already discussed, and the substance of which discussion, I will now give you in their own words, taken from the "Baltimore [Richmond] Examiner," of the 8th of last month, "The high-flying friends of monarchy who wish to fill us with gloom, because they themselves have cause to be gloomy, now lament that the French did not remain in Egypt rather than come to settle on the banks of the Mississippi, which according to their predictions, will finally compel us to break our commercial connection with Britain. We also, lament that the friends of liberty have been forced to quit Egypt, because, as well withers of the whole human race, we hoped they would have rescued the people of Africa, as well as those of Asia, from the odious tyranny under which they have labored for so many years; but we see no cause to regret that the troops who have evacuated Egypt, should now come to receive a reward for their valor, on the fruitful banks of the Mississippi. They are men and republicans, and we have no objection to their sharing in the happiness that our Western fellow-citizens enjoy. That they will make our navigation of the Mississippi depend on any part of our commercial regulations, there is good reason to doubt. Suppose otherwise, suppose they should desire us even to shut our ports against Britain, who, except the friends of Britain, the friends of a monarchy, and of a monarch too that tyrannizes over the seas, would for a moment, hesitate to grant the request. Why should we quarrel with France merely for the sake of preserving a market for British manufactures? For some time, the vent of those manufactures might create some inconvenience, but that inconvenience would be productive of good, as it would encourage our own domestic manufactures, and, in the mean time, a supply would be afforded us by other countries, who would gladly take up a branch of trade that the haughtiness and injustice of Britain has thrown away."
Thus you see, my lord, the Americans have made their mind upon the matter; they are resolved not to submit to any sacrifice for our sake; and, indeed, they appear to anticipate, with no small delight, the injury that England may experience from the commercial revolution, to which the cession of Louisiana will give rise: so great is their
eagerness for our ruin, that they totally overlook the danger and disgrace which must thereby be brought upon themselves.
It is true, indeed, that these sentiments are entertained only by the democratic party, the party of Jefferson; but recollect, my lord, this party has now obtained a complete ascendancy. It is the party that rules, and that will rule for many years to come. Your treaty has not only transferred to France our riches and our power, but our friends also, in every part of the world, and particularly in the American States. This is, as it should be; contempt is the just reward of cowardice: they who have deserted their friends must expect to be deserted in return. Whenever your lordship may wish to know why England is now universally detested and despised, ask Portugal, ask the king of Sardinia; and if they should remain silent, conjure up the names of the murdered royalists at La Vendee.
Thirdly, as a military and naval position, Louisiana and the Floridas present themselves to us in a light still more alarming, than either of the other two, under which we have already considered them.
With respect to the United States of America, France will, for a long time at least, make military and naval power subservient to her commercial view. Her new position operates as a constant, though silent menace against the union of those states, which, while she can render them useful in the injuries which she meditates against England, it will never be her interest to divide. Indeed, she sees in the United States the most formidable rival of Great Britain, in matters of commerce and navigation, and for that reason, as well as for the purpose of injuring their aid in future wars against us, she will take special care not to hurry, into any measure against them, that may have the appearance of hostility, that may injure their interest, or wound their pride.
But, towards Canada, she will look with very different eyes. Those who knew any thing of the Northern boundaries of Louisiana, must perceive, that the cession of that country to France, enables her, at any hour she may choose, to enter into our last remaining provinces in that part of the world; where, I am sorry to say it, a vast majority of the natives would receive her with infinite joy. Dr. Becke and Sir Frederick Eden will comfort your lordship by insisting that Canada is not worth preserving. Against such politicians there is no argument to be opposed; and if colonies be really a burden, if the fur trade of Canada, and the market for our manufactures which that country affords, be also a burden, we have the satisfaction to know, that they are a burden from which we shall, probably, very soon be relieved. Sir Alexander Mackenzie has clearly shown, that the principal seat of the fur trade is at the sources of those rivers which fall into the Mississippi, and that those who have the command of that river, and are disposed to employ it for the prosecution of this trade, may easily monopolize it. There wants no new establishments, my lord, to transfer this trade to France. The Indians, who hunt for the furs, and the Canadians who collect them, are already on the spot, and are much more attached to France than to England. When, therefore, the whole country, and the Mississippi which flows through that country to the Gulph of Mexico, are in the hands of the power for whom they already entertain a partiality, it would be folly, in the extreme, to hope that they would seek for a market on the banks of the St. Laurence. Should they, however, contrary to all reason, be disposed to do this, France will have the power of preventing them, by seizing on Canada itself, which I think has been clearly pointed out in the Register, p. 265; and I can assure your lordship, that the correctness of that statement there given, has been fully been fully confirmed by the opinion of several gentlemen, with whom I have since conversed on the subject, and who, to a deep interest in the affairs of Canada, unite a thorough knowledge of its trade, of its internal situation, and
and its means of defence. The expression of a gentleman who stands high in military command in Canada, and who has passed great part of his life in the countries of which I am speaking, was, that "the French, once in possession of Louisiana, might walk into Canada, whenever they pleased."
From the cold regions of the North, my lord, from the haunts of the martin and the beaver, let us now turn to the mines of the South. In ceding Louisiana to France, Spain has not stipulated for boundaries. The dominion that France formerly claimed (and she never recedes), extended on the board towards the south, as far as the Rio Bravo, which your lordship may see marked on the map. The mouth of this river, which affords good anchorage for vessels of almost any size, places the all powerful republic at no more than 60 miles from St Andre, 123 miles from Panuco and 300 miles from the city of Mexico itself, to all which places there is a road from Rio Bravo, much easier to pass than the space between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, which cost the American militia a march of only one and twenty days.
Supposing, therefore, Spain to be independent of France, and supposing La Vera Cruz capable of resisting the attacks of the latter, Mexico is completely exposed to her grasp by the cession, at which your lordship and your colleagues have dared to connive. What the consequences of this exposure may be to England, it is impossible precisely to say; but, those who can contemplate it without anxiety and dread, must have arrived at that happy state of insensibility, which enables men to smile while the ruins of their country are tumbling around on their heads.
But great as are the injuries, which must inevitably arise to us from the command which this cession will give to France over the United States, Canada and Mexico, those to be apprehended with respect to our naval power, and particularly our navigation in the West-India seas, are of a nature and magnitude still more alarming. Whether the Floridas are formally ceded or not along with Louisiana, it is certain they must be under the command of France. She wants not those provinces but as a naval position in which point of view they are extremely important in themselves, and singularly formidable to us. At the same time that they abound in ship-timber of every sort, from the keel to the top-gallant yard; they afford harbours for sheltering the fleets of our enemy, while the Mississippi pours down abundance of provisions for her men. There are two stations, in particular, in these colonies from which, if we should ever see another war, we must expect the most serious annoyance. The first, and most capacious is the Bay of Espiritu Santo, in which the French have already projected a naval establishment, and for an account of which I refer your lordship to the speech of governor Johnstone, on the peace of 1873, which peace put an end to what I greatly fear will prove to have been our first punic war. The situation of this excellent harbour, your lordship
* "Governor Johnstone dwelt particularly, on the value of East Florida, which was ceded to Spain, and stated, that when he was appointed governor of it, two commissioners were obliged to be made out, in consequence of a geographical blunder in the first. He said all writers knew not the value of that province either in point of situation, or of commercial produce; there was a bay in it, called the bay of Espiritu Santo, that was one of the first harbours in the world. Mr. secretary Townsend, looking a little surprised at this, the governor laid, "I see the right hon. secretary of state is ignorant where the bay lies." It lies in the gulph of Mexico, on the north-west side of the province, is called Tampa Bay, or Espiritu Santo, and is one of the best harbors, in the world, infinitely better and more healthy than the Havanna. There, the ships are eaten by the worms, and the men are liable to much sickness; in the bay of Espiritu Santo, neither of those inconveniences are experienced."
will learn from the map. You will see that it is not 250 miles nor 48 hours sail from the Gulph of Florida, which is the passage, and the only passage, by which a convoy can come home from Jamaica. It should moreover be observed, that, in consequence of the course of the gulph stream, our ships are obliged to bear up in the Gulph of Mexico, to within about 130 miles of Espiritu Santo; so that it is next to impossible that a fleet, consisting of 30 or 40 ships should escape the observation of the cruisers from that harbour. Should our trade, however have the good fortune to enter the Gulph of Florida unobserved from Espiritu Santo, or from the Havanna, (which lies on the opposite side of the entrance (how is it to elude observations from the inlet of Hillsborough, the other point at which the French have planned a naval establishment. The Gulph, in this part, is not more than an hundred miles wide, altogether, and the charts will inform your lordship, that even a single vessel of any considerable size, cannot, in a clear day, pass unobserved from the heights in the vicinity of Hillsborough. Thus, in case of another war, if the French act with that sagacity and vigour, which have characterized all their plans and operations, our communication with the West India islands will be completely cut off. In fact, this new distribution of power in the western hemisphere has totally changed the nature of our connection therewith. While the French have the command of the Amazons on one side, and of the Mississippi on the other, while they possess the ports of St. Domingo and Florida, we may talk of West-India territory and trade, but we can enjoy them only as vassals of France.
Having now, my lord, pointed out the mischiefs and dangers to be apprehended from the cession of Louisiana, it is hardly necessary to observe that the cession itself is to be ascribed to the peace, but it is of some moment to prove that its confirmation could not have taken place without a departure from the preliminary articles, and that, therefore, those persons who approved of those articles are by no rule of consistency, bound to approve of the Definitive Treaty.
This cession was not publickly known; it was not officially known to you; and your very worthy fellow labourer in the work of peace, at the time of signing the preliminary articles. Since that day, a day which will stand for ever blasted in the annals of England, this cession, as far at least, as relates to Louisiana has been publickly and officially announced to the world. By the promulgation of a treaty (See Register p. 52), concluded between France and Spain, on the 21st of March 1801, which treaty was never published till January 1802 (more than three months after the conclusion of our preliminary articles with France,) we now know, that Spain has ceded to our enemy the entire possession and sovereignty of Louisiana.
Now, unless your lordship should insist that by agreeing to the Preliminary Articles, this country resigned all pretension to interfere in, or to enquire into the conduct or views of the other nations of the world, unless you should insist, that by that act, she forfeited all her national rights, not excepting even the right of self preservation, you must allow, that the conditions of the Preliminary articles were, by the contracting parties, viewed in connection with the known extent of dominion, respectively possessed by those parties; and as a very great and dangerous addition is now made to that extent, it follows that a definitive treaty, made with the knowledge of that addition, and without any stipulation against it, is, in that respect, a departure from the conditions of the preliminary treaty.
Here, my lord, I close this letter with a promise to lose no time in taking up the remaining points of discussion.
I am, my lord, Your lordship's most humble, And most obedient servant,
W. COBBETT.
Post-Mall, April 21, 1802.