Virginia Argus (Richmond, Va.), 1799-02-19 00:00:00

Gordon
Henry Tucker
The VIRGINIA ARGUS.
[No. 37 of Vol. VI.]
A FREE PRESS MAINTAINS THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE PEOPLE.
[Whole No. 608]
RICHMOND:—PRINTED (ON TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS) BY SAMUEL PLEASANTS, JUN. NEAR THE VESUVIUS OFFICE OF M. VANDEWALL.
(Four Dollars per Annum—Paid in Advance.)
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1799.
(Ten Cents Single.)
H. Wilbar, Master of the Steine House A- cademy, Brighthelmstone, England;
DRS leave respectfully to inform the inhabitants of Richmond, and its vicinity, that his ACADEMY is now open in a Commodious Room, at the house late Miller's Tavern, opposite the Swan.
His Pupils are taught the English Language Gramatically, Writing in all the fashionable hands, Arithmetic in whole numbers, Fractions both Vulgar and Decimal, the Extraction of the Root, &c. and Book-keeping, after the Italian method, at two dollars per month and one dollar entrance.
The methods for the instruction of youth, are considered of the most material consequence, and merit the utmost attention of the teacher. Nothing should be represented to them as difficult, or forced on them as an arduous task, a constant attention should be had to their little difficulties, and they should be aided in getting over them; thus instruction being represented in its most winning form, cannot fail to incite a generous emulation, by which alone the youthful mind is induced to exert itself. Nothing truly valuable can be obtained by a great severity.
To be sold for cash, At Poquoson Court House, on Wednesday the 20th of this month SIX TEEN VALUABLE VIRGINIA BORN SLAVES, consisting of men, women and children. GAMBLE & TRIPLE, Attorneys DANIEL L. HULTON, for Feb. 4. WILLIAM HULTON.
FOR SALE, The Thorough Bred Horse Montezuma, In high perfection, a beautiful dark bay, rising six years old, full fifteen hands one inch high. He was got by the imported horse Shark, his dam by the imported horse Granby, his granddam by Old Jolly Roger one of the imported mare Mary Gray. THOMAS HARRIS, Jr. January 16th, 1799. N. B. If the above horse is not sold by the first of March, he will be let out to a stand.
Just Arrived, French Brandy, Country Wine, Spermaceti Candles, —Also, A few packages of Dry Goods, Consisting of Role and Snipe Blankets Coarse Cloths Durants Iddis Linens Brown Holland Wrapping and wrapping Paper. The above will be sold or bartered very reasonably.—Apply to M HUNT & CO. at Hex L. Wight's. Richmond, February 1, 1799
For Sale at this Printing-Office, The American Museum, or UNIVERSAL MAGAZINE, From its commencement in January, 1787, to its conclusion in December, 1792, in 22 vols. neatly bound and lettered. —Where also may be had,— THE WORLD DISPLAYED or, a CURIOUS COLLECTION of VOYAGES AND TRAVELS, Selected and compiled from the writers of all nations; by SMART, GOLDSMITH, & JOHNSON. 278 vols. elegant edition, with plates. Feb 1799.
LOUIS A. DUPUY'S Dancing School HAVING been suspended on account of the winter season being so unfavorable, will open again on Wednesday the 20th instant. Days of attendance as usual, viz: On Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays of every third week, from 10 to 12 o'clock in the morning, and from 3 to 6 o'clock in the afternoon. Feb. 9, 1799. (3w)
Slaves for sale. A HEALTHY NEGRO WOMAN, About 25 years of age, with 3 as likely Children as any in Virginia, will be sold very low, for Cash.—Enquire of the painter. Feb. 12.
THE subscriber will receive Proposals until Saturday the 23d of February next, for furnishing at the place intended for the Public Manufactory of Arms, at the well end of the city of Richmond, 231,200 Cypress Shingles, of the best quality, 32 inches long, 4 inches wide, and 1/2 of an inch thick. JOHN CLARKE.
FOR SALE, A tract of Land, CONTAINING between eight and nine hundred acres, lying on James river, adjoining the town of Manchester. A bout one hundred and fifty acres of this land is cleared and under good fences, the balance in wood and well timbered—the buildings are new, and fit for the reception of a small genteel family. Any one inclined to purchase, on application will be shown the premises by either Maj. Oquadih Smith or Mr. James Scott, who are empowered in my absence to contract for the same and make title. Approved Bonds will be received in payment, and possession made agreeable to the purchaser. WILLIAM SMITH. Chesterfield county, October 16, 1798.
This day is Published, And for sale at S. Pleasants' Printing-Office Richmond, THE LETTERS of CURTIUS, ADDRESSED TO General Marshall. January 4, 1799.
FOR SALE, The LAND WHEREON I now live, lying in the county of Albemarle, containing 437 acres by an old survey. Well adapted to the culture of Tobacco, Wheat and Corn—Situat. situated by a agreeable neighborhood, within ten miles of the town of Warren—A large proportion of the above is Meadow Land, and but a small portion cleared, which is entirely fresh. There is on the land, a good Dwelling House with two rooms and a passage on a floor; a good Kitchen, and other necessary out houses.—Also, a handsome well finished Garden, and a small orchard of excellent Fruit Trees, beginning to bear.—One half of the purchase money may be executed down, and a credit of twelve months for the balance, on the purchaser giving a well approved security.—Possession will be given the 1st of November next. GEORGE WHARTON. February 7th, 1799. (6w)
PAPERS ACCOMPANYING THE LETTER FROM MR. GERRY TO THE SE- CRETARY OF STATE. (CONTINUED.) [No. 23.]
Ministry of Foreign Relations, Paris, 24 Messidor, 5th year of the French Republic, (July 12, 1798) The Minister of Exterior Relations, to Mr. Gerry, Envoy of the United States. As soon as I could master myself, Sir, with fulling the wish of the Executive Directory, by endeavoring with you to re-establish the good understanding between the French Republic and the United States, I used all my efforts both in our conferences and in my correspondence with you, to smooth the paths, to establish the basis to enter on the business, and to convince you of the utility of your presence at Paris. It is in your character of Envoy of the American government that I used you and wrote to you: it depended on yourself to be publicly received by the Executive Directory. Without partaking in your opinion with respect to the change which the departure of Messrs. Pinckney and Marshall might produce in the full powers, wherein I have read that you have been authorized to treat separately, it appeared to me that on the hypothesis in which you placed yourself, you ought to refer the question to your government, and in the interval fix with me, by a calm and friendly discussion, all the questionable points of our differences.
This proceeding was the more natural, in setting aside the premature knowledge which your government had of the offer to treat with you, after the departure of your colleagues, my note of the 28th Ventose (18th March) which had reached Philadelphia about the end of Floréal, (May 19) left no doubt upon this subject. It comprehends three objects perfectly distinct. It begins by recognizing, with the dignity which becomes the French government, the statement of grievances of the United States, drawn up by the Envoys in the inverted order of lists, on the 28th Nivose proceedings, (17th January.) It next points out the reasons which prevented the negotiation from being carried on with the Envoys collectively. It finally declares solemnly the conciliatory disposition of the Executive Directory, its express desire of renewing between the two countries the ties of their former friendship, and the intention to treat with you. A declaration so explicit was made only to furnish the President of the United States with an infallible means of accommodation. It was a pledge of peace that might be taken up. I presumed you could not be long in receiving analogous instructions, and even no other powers, if they were necessary; or that at least if you had announced to the President a wish to return to America, another Envoy would come to consummate the happy work, which we should have had the satisfaction to prepare.
With such well grounded hopes were mingled considerations upon the inconveniences of your departure. I have given you to understand, that notwithstanding the assurances you have given me, nobody would believe that it was owing solely to your inclination, to a thorough conviction of the invalidity of your powers, or to a wish to see the care of the negotiation confided to other hands. I have conversed with you respecting, the measures which it would give rise to on the means it would furnish the British cabinet, which spares nothing to drive France and the United States to extremities, from which it calculates to derive the sole profit; and on the suspicions even which the French government would be made to conceive. I endeavored to make you see into its possible consequences. The happening of several circumstances has already retarded the reconciliation of the two republics. It may be permitted to him, who sincerely wishes for peace, to fear new ones. These views, for which I shall ever honor myself, induced me to resist, as much as I could, the desire you manifested of quitting France. You decisively insisted upon it in your letter of the 22d of this month (10th July.) The Executive Directory has consequently authorized me to send you the passports which you request, for yourself and the vessel which awaits you at Havre. You will find them enclosed.
May your return to the United States and the communication of what has passed between us, since you have solely represented your government, remove the injudicious opinion of hostile intentions on the part of France; you have often repeated to me, since you pressed your departure that if you could not treat here as an Envoy, your good offices in the United States should not be spared as a citizen. You have it not in your power to render the two countries a more equal service, than by contributing to make their political and commercial relations accord with their inclination and interest. After your departure that the Executive Directory perseveres in the intention of conciliating with sincerity the differences which have arisen between the French Republic and the United States, as soon as an opportunity for that purpose shall be sincerely presented. If it be really true, that the dispositions of your government correspond therewith, let it give a proof of it, and you may assure beforehand for the success.
You cannot dissemble, Sir, that if nothing prevented you from pursuing with me the examining and reconciling of the grievances, which divide the two countries, we should not long stand in need of any thing but the respective ratifications.
Who will doubt the sincerity of the French government, when it shall be known, that for nearly three months every pressing facilitation came from me, and that I adhered to the engagements I have made in my note of the 28th Ventose, (18th March) I have been the first seriously to press the negotiation after the departure of Messrs. Pinckney and Marshall. It will not be said, I hope, that the refusal to treat with them, is a refusal of conciliation, because it is a refusal accompanied with a promise to treat with you, and your full powers presented you as separately authorized.
I shall incessantly appeal to that document, because it is the foundation of the opinion which the government must have formed; and even admitting that you were laid down by secret restrictions, I could not in my mind suppose what I did not know, on account of the credence due to the ostensible power.
Yes, Sir, when sincerely informed of the departure of Messrs. Pinckney and Marshall, I endeavoured in every conference I afterwards had with you, to demonstrate to you the urgency, the propriety, and the possibility of an active negotiation. I collected your ideas; they differed from my own; I endeavored to reconcile them, and I was about to transmit some propositions to you, when a packet from your government arrived at Havre. You then appeared to be preparing to depart. Until then I never supposed you entertained the design of embarking before we had come to an agreement upon the definitive articles to be ratified by your government. A few days afterwards received some dispatches from Philadelphia, the contents of which for a moment gave a new course to my correspondence with you. On the 22d Prairial, (10th June) I notified to you that the dispositions of the Executive Directory were the same, and I prayed you to inform me, whether you were finally in a situation to negotiate. On the 30th Prairial, (18th June) I transmitted to you a complete plan of the negotiation. On the 9th Messidor, (27th June) I sent you my first note for discussion upon one of the points of our treaties, which are unexecuted in the United States. You declined answering it. It is necessary however to be agreed upon the details in order to arrive at the conclusion. On the 11th Messidor, (6th July) I sent you two others. In vain I accompanied these documents with the most cordial invitation rapidly to run over with me this series of indispensable discussions upon all our grievances. You have not even given me an opportunity of proving what liberality the Executive Directory would use on the occasion. You never wrote, in fact, but for your departure. And it is the French Republic which is accused in the United States with not wishing for peace! Perfidious in-figuators will intimate that it never wished it. I will therefore ascend to the period when the first symptoms of discontent manifested themselves, that is to say, to the arrival of the Minister Genet at Philadelphia in Prairial of the 1st year. An universal joy burst forth in the United States at the declarations he was charged to make. He then expressed the friendly and generous intentions of the French government, which, powerful in the rational energy, forbore to claim aid from its allies. Some of his measures soon afterwards gave umbrage. They were the effect of a zeal badly adapted to local circumstances, and unfortunately still worse interpreted. The President caused his complaints concerning them to be made in France at the close of the same year. The committee of public safety immediately rendered satisfaction; and other Agents arrived at Philadelphia in the beginning of Ventose, 2d year; their instructions will bear the utmost publicity; not to interfere in any party matter, to respect the government, to prompt it to maintain its neutrality with vigour, to repress all armaments which might endanger it, to maintain the rights secured to France by its treaties.—Such is the substance of them; such also were the instructions given to the Minister Adet, who succeeded them in the 3d year. Surely nothing can be more pacific.
Nevertheless the rights of France were inalienably forgotten; the most important clauses of its treaties were rendered insignificant; its vessels experience the most discouraging vexations; England sports with impunity with the neutrality of the United States, which to France, who is too confident in it, becomes a source of life. A transaction clandestinely negotiated, ends by conferring, to the detriment of a friendly nation, the precautions of its implacable enemy. After that time nothing has passed between the American government which the representations thwart, and the Ministers plenipotentiary of the Republic, who could not avoid making them, but a correspondence gradually increasing in asperity. The French government never interferes in them; it reposes upon the hope that their own interest would leave the United States to perceive, that England was drawing them within its vortex. Far from taking an hostile attitude, it affects indifference in order to show itself patient with dignity. The crowd of complaints which it receives obliges it finally to change this line of conduct. It causes its grievances to be declared on the 25th of Brumaire, 5th year (Nov. 15, 1796) and in order to produce a negotiation, too long delayed, it draws from the treaties of Paris and of London the most suitable means of hastening it. It is animated by no views of aggression, by no hostile intention. In order to obtain from the United States some degree of justice, it places them in a situation to be obliged to demand an arrangement themselves. Let us now see whether it has rejected any honorable propositions.
Mr. Pinckney had departed before the declaration of the 25th Brumaire (Nov. 15, 1796) which suspended the customary relations. He came to succeed Mr. Monroe, and like him, to explain and palliate the conduct of the United States, without any special power for the negotiation demanded by France. He could not be received, because he was not in a situation to fulfil the conditions required, upon the resumption of political relations.
The President of the United States thought it his duty to call an extraordinary meeting of the Legislature. I shall not review the opening speech, nor the turn which the debates took in that session. But I will say, that the impression which resulted from the debate, at Paris, was unfavorable previous to the arrival of the Envoys, that this circumstance alone raised an obstacle, which ought to have been foreseen at Philadelphia; that the Envoys themselves, unwilling to comprehend the natural effect of this kind of provocation, have contributed to render the impression more durable. It has finally, however, yielded to the primitive desire of a sincere reconciliation. You find a proof of it in the very expedient suggested of treating with you separately; for a government honestly disposed would not have taken the delicate course, which guards its honor and fulfils its pacific intentions.
You have given me to understand, Sir, that it would have been well, had the Executive Directory supported the declarations which I have made to you in its name, by a change in the measures which affect the commerce of the United States.
I might answer you, that our government might have also secured its object by refusing at first the French Republic to the rights which flow from its treaties.—But let us act less rigidly, and more equitably towards each other. Although the measures of France are no more than the consequence of those of the United States, you must have remarked, that in my propositions of the 14th Prairial (18th June) the intention of the Executive Directory is, that the respective pretensions may be collaterally examined and adjusted. It intends to place, in a single act, a durable monument of the future friendship of the two Republics, and the justice which they owe to each other, and no idea of false glory enters its mind. On taking leave of you, Sir, I have supposed that I owed you a testimony of my esteem; it consists altogether in the unreserved disclosure with which I have just spoken to you, and the expression of the regret which your departure, under the present circumstances, gives me.
Receive the assurance of my perfect consideration. CH. MAU. TALLEYRAND.
P. S. of the 27th Messidor, [July 15, 1798.]
A circumstance, Sir, of infinite importance has delayed the dispatching of this letter. I do not know how it happens, that at every step towards a reconciliation, a cause of irritation intervenes, and that the United States always give rise to it. Some days since different advices were successively received by the Executive Directory. It seems that your government, hurried beyond every limit, no longer prefers appearances. A law of the 7th of last month authorizes it to cause every French vessel of war to be attacked, which may have stopped, or intended to stop American vessels. A radicalization of the House of Representatives suspends, from the 13th of this month, all commercial relations with the French Republic and its possessions. Several plans

of a law have been proposed for banishing the French, and seizing French property.
The long suffering of the Executive Directory is about to manifest itself in the most unqualified manner. Perish with us no longer be able to throw a veil over such dispositions which it has never ceased to manifest.
It is at the very moment of this fresh provocation, which would appear to leave no honorable choice but war, that it confirms the assurances which I have given you on its behalf. In the present crisis, it confines itself to a measure of security and self-preservation, by laying a temporary embargo on American vessels, with a reserve of indemnities, if their be occasion for them. It is y ready, it is as much disposed as ever, to terminate by a candid negotiation the differences which subsist between the two countries.
Such is its repugnance to consider the United States as enemies, that notwithstanding their hostile demonstrations, it means to wait until it be irresistibly forced to it by real hostilities.
Since you will depart, Sir, hasten at least to transmit to your government this solemn declaration.
(Signed)
CH. MAU. TALLEYRAND.
[No. 24.]
Paris, 20th July, 1798.
Citizen Minister,
I received, on the 27th Messidor, (15th of July) your letter of the 24th (the 12th July) on which permit me to make some observations.
You allege that, in the United States, the French Republic is accused of not wishing for peace, and to show that it was always desirous thereof, you recur to the arrival of Mr. Genet in America. Far from accusations of any kind, I wish to cultivate harmony between the two governments, as the solid basis of peace. From that epoch, to the departure from the United States of Mr. Adet, the correspondence of the secretaries of state of the United States, with the French Minister in America, and the American minister in France, contains the history to that time, of the unhappy differences between the two republics, and evinces the sincere desire of the government of the United States, to avoid the inevitable embarrasments resulting from the convulsive state of Europe, to preserve harmony and friendship with the French Republic, and to perform with scrupulous attention the duties of neutrality. If, by any unfortunate events, France had sustained injuries during that term, still the manifest disposition of the government of the United States to justice and moderation, was a sure pledge of redress.
When Mr. Monroe was recalled, a minister was sent to supply his place, and you say, "he could not be received, because he was not in a situation to fulfil the conditions necessary for the renewal of the political connections." Had he been received, he could have applied for other powers if necessary; nothing is more usual. The application, which you have so frequently urged on my part, must have been for the renewal of powers annulled by the act of sending away the other envoys; surely then your arguments would have applied with much more force to the case of a minister, whose powers were only supposed inadequate to the objects of his mission. The act of rejecting this minister, accompanied with circumstances of high displeasure on the part of the government of the French Republic, could not fail to wound deeply the government of the United States, and to produce observations on such an important event. Let the cause and effect be buried in oblivion; the remembrance thereof cannot promote harmony. This you will readily concede to when you consider the amicable and attentive conduct immediately adopted by the American government, in sending three Envoys extraordinary, with adequate powers to effect a reconciliation and a renewal of a commercial intercourse between the republics.
From the arrival of the Envoys at Paris to the departure of two of them, the objects of their mission were defeated: y indispensable bars arising from demands of loans, which, violating the neutrality of the United States, would have involved them in immediate war, and of procuring reparations for the observations hinted at. Towards the end of that period, after imposing on me secrecy, you stated the embarrassments and dissatisfaction of the Executive Directory, on account of the opinions and conversations of my colleagues, its determination not to treat with them, and its desire to negotiate with me; and you added that my departure would produce an immediate rupture. — Affirmed as I was at this communication, I informed you that I had no power to treat separately; the measure was impossible; and that had my powers been adequate, a treaty made under such circumstances could never be ratified by my government. You differed from me, we realized on the subject, and each adhered to his opinion. I urged in vain the inalienable right of admitting prejudices against my colleagues, without informing them of the causes thereof; the good effect in removing these, which might result from such information, and the necessity of making known to them all that had now passed between us. You held me to the promise of secrecy, adding, that if I would negotiate, we could soon finish a treaty; for the Executive Directory were not in the habit of spending much time about such matters. You desired another interview, in which, after a discussion of the subject, I confirmed
and adhered to my determination. In this state affairs remained for some time, and I flattered myself with the hope, that failing in the proposition for negotiating with me separately, your next would be to accredit the three Envoys; in fresh an event, the foregoing mentioned would have been proper. This expectation was strengthened by the two subsequent interviews which they had with you, and you may judge of my surprise on the receipt of your letter of the 28th Vendome, [the 18th March] containing a refusal to treat with two of the Envoys, and renewing the proposition to treat with me. Finding that I was the personal object, and that all hopes of our being jointly accredited were at an end, I again refused in the most positive terms, to negotiate separately; another proposition was then made, that, to prevent a rupture, I should remain here till information could be sent to my government of the events. Embarrassing as such a state was, I submitted to it, rather than to bring on a war. You afterwards set your note of the 14th Germinal [3d April] proposing that I should resume our reciprocal communications upon the interests of the French Republic and the United States. To this I replied on the 4th of April, "That I could only confer informally and unaccredited, on any subject respecting our mission, and communicate to the government of the United States the result of such conferences; being in my individual capacity unauthorized to give them an official stamp." The day after the departure from Paris of the last of my colleagues, I again addressed you, and quoting the above paragraph, informed you that the considered as the line of conduct well understood to be observed on my part; to this you made no objection, verbally or by writing, and thus acquiesced in it. Had you not I should immediately have demanded my passport.
At one of our first interviews, after that letter, you stated a difficulty in adopting a plan proposed by my letter of the 20th of April, from your not being informed of the wishes of the government of the United States in regard to a treaty; these were so reasonable that I thought it best to communicate them to you; and according to your own opinion, once expressed, they would require little or no time for discussion: nothing can exceed them for moderation or justice. Believing that you were seriously disposed to bring forward the plan of a treaty, for the consideration of the United States, and being also convinced, that the subject thereof had been so fully discussed, and was so well understood, as not to require much time to accomplish it, I informed you, that I should embark for America in June; and although you objected to it in the first instance, you afterwards appeared to be fully convinced of the necessity of it, promised to digest the plan proposed without delay, and to send it to me for examination. I conferred with you at different times, on the expediency of sending a Minister to Philadelphia to complete the negotiation; and you promised to consider of it. At length the Sophia arrived, and a few days afterwards, you informed me, that I might make myself quite easy, that France did not with a war with the United States, that she had no thoughts of it, that the American affairs were before the Executive Directory, and that every thing would be arranged to my wishes. I again stated the necessity of sending a Minister to America to complete the negotiation. You said you would propose one to the Executive Directory. This I could not suppose was for the purpose you have since stated of reserving it after the ratification of the treaty.
Thus were matters circumstanced until the arrival of the gazettes, containing the dispatches of the Envoys to their government, which gave more than a momentary turn to your correspondence with me. When I informed you that I should embark in the Sophia as soon as the could be fitted for sea, there was still time to finish the plan of the treaty, and to send it by me, if expedient — You desired me to remain here; I told you my return was indispensable, and gave you no other reason. I thought that sufficient. You conceive it depended on me to be publicly received by the Executive Directory; but our opinions are different on this point. A government sends three Envoys to treat with another government; this rejects two of them, and proposes to treat with the third. Candor must admit, I think, that the latter cannot accept the proposal, without transferring in this instance the executive authority of this government, who would only have nominated three Envoys, to the foreign government, who would have appointed one of them.
You say, that if my powers were altered by the departure of my colleagues, yet on my own hypothesis, I ought to have referred the question to my government, and in the interim to have fixed with you, by a calm and amicable discussion, all the contentious points of our differences. If my government as you have repeatedly asserted, was apprized before the 20th March of the proposition to treat with me separately, it is evident, that it was not disposed to send me new powers; for the Sophia failed on the 28th of that month, and knowing this you still urged me to make the application. I have been always ready, and had you come forward with the project of a treaty, would have entered into a calm and amicable conference with you on every part of it; but not into a formal epistolary discussion, which was not proposed till some time after I was ready to embark, was only relative to the Consular Convention, which will soon expire, was contrary to my stipulation relative to conferences, in which you acquiesced, and would have required months to be completed.
You was the first, you assert, to press seriously the negotiation; you will agree with me, that the merit would have been greater had the measure itself been feasible.
You frequently remind me of your exertions, which I am disposed as much as possible to appreciate, regretting at the same time their ineffectual direction. On my part, I think you will be convinced, that every thing has been done which circumstances herein truly detailed would admit.
It is with pleasure I learn, that the Executive Directory is still ready, and is as much disposed as ever to terminate by a liberal negotiation the differences which subsist between the two countries.
This disposition has always existed on the part of the government of the United States. A negotiation then if set on foot free from all propositions of loans and explanation of speeches, to be held, if necessary, in the city of some neutral nation, and providing for a decision by three or five commissioners, of all points which may not be determined by direct negotiation, would still be accompanied, in my opinion, with success: but having no authority, I cannot make the proposition. A preliminary measure appears to be requisite, in which the dignity of this government is as deeply concerned as the interest of the United States. The depredations, outrages, and cruelties committed on our commerce and citizens, in the West Indies and on our coasts, by French privateers, some of which, it is said, have no commissions, are perhaps seldom paralleled amongst civilized nations. It is said, that this government has not been early apprized of these events which have been a great source of irritation in the United States, and a principal cause of the repressive measures adopted by them. A recall of the commissions of the privateers and restraining them by severe penalties to the proper objects of capture, cannot fail to have a happy effect.
You claim a promise of my good offices, as a private citizen of America. These shall not be wanting, to represent truly every measure of this government, and to render successful all such as may be well adapted to effect a reconciliation. This is all that can be expected of me, and the duty which I owe to my country will require it.
And now, Citizen Minister, having given you a testimony of my esteem, such as results from a frank and candid conduct, I bid you adieu, wishing sincerely a speedy renewal of amity and commerce between the two republics.
Accept, Citizen Minister, the assurances of my perfect consideration. (Signed) E. GERRY. To the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the French Republic.
(To be Continued.)
CONGRESS.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Thursday, January 31.
Mr. Hartley presented a number of petitions (copies of each other) from the county of York, signed by upwards of 1800 persons, complaining against several laws passed at the last session, particularly against the law for raising a Provisional Army, the Alien and Sedition laws, the Stamp act and Direct Tax law, and praying for a repeal of them; and also, that such a system of economy may be adopted by the government, as will comport with its dignity, and prove agreeable to the people at large.
Mr. H. hoped, as this petition was couched in decent and proper terms, no objection would be made to its reference. He hoped also that its merits would be duly considered, and, upon a full discussion of the subject, he had no doubt the petitioners would be satisfied with the result. He moved the usual reference, which was agreed to.
Mr. Hanna presented petitions from the county of Dauphin, in the same words with those from York county, signed by 504 persons; and
Mr. Gallatin presented a petition and remonstrance from Washington county, signed by 1544 persons, of a similar nature with the above, which had also the same reference.
The Speaker laid before the house a communication from the treasury department, containing a letter from the comptroller of the treasury, with certain statements prepared under that officer, respecting the mint.
A message was received from the President of the United States, including a report from the director of the mint, with a state of the coinage of the mint for the last year. Both these communications were ordered to be printed.
The President also informed the house, by his secretary, that he had approved and signed the act for the punishment of certain crimes therein specified.
The house again resolved itself into a committee of the whole on the bill to amend the Stamp act; when Mr. Otis proposed a new section to the bill, providing that every certificate of Stock in any bank or insurance company above one hundred and not exceeding four hundred dollars shall pay the sum of 25 cents, and all above 400 dollars, an additional duty of 5 cents for every 100 dollars, in lieu of the present duty. The motion was negatived, 44 to 27.
The committee then rose, and the house took up the amendments. When that was come to which was yesterday introduced by Mr. Otis, for excluding bonds at or within 60 days from the exception in favour of notes of this description, Mr. Cassin hoped it would not be agreed to, Mr. Gordon also spoke against it, and Mr. Bayard in its fa-
vor. It was negatived, 36 votes only being in its favour.
On the other amendment of Mr. Otis, proposing that declared stamps should be allowed for, Mr. Walb said, if it were agreed to, it would open a door for fraud. One of the principal reasons why notes at or under 60 days were made to pay a less duty than others was, because a number of stamps used in this way would be necessarily defaced by merchants drawing notes which never would be discounted. Mr. W. had no doubt that in particular instances individuals might suffer from stamps being accidentally defaced; but he believed if this provision passed, all the 60 day notes not discounted, would be included within it.
Mr. S. Smith was also opposed to it; and the amendment was negatived without a dissenting voice.
On the amendment to fill the blank allowing a compensation to Supervisors for stamping and selling stamps, with four per cent. a considerable debate took place. It was opposed by Mr. Gallatin, on the ground of its being too much in some cases, and too little in others; and supported by Messrs. Otis, Harper and Pinckney. It was at length carried, the yeas and nays being taken, 49 to 40. The bill was then ordered to be engrossed for a third reading to-morrow. Adjourned.
Friday, February 1.
Mr. Josiah Parker, from the Navy committee, reported the following bills, viz.
A bill for augmenting the Navy, and fixing the pay of captains of ships or vessels of war.
A bill authorizing the establishment of docks, and
A bill authorizing the purchase of timber for naval purposes.
These bills were severally twice read and committed.
On motion of Mr. S. Smith, the house went into a committee of the whole on the bill to amend the act to provide for the valuation of lands and dwelling houses, and the enumeration of slaves within the United States. The first clause of this bill authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury, to augment in cases where he may find it necessary, the compensation fixed for principal and assistant assessors by the present law, so that no principal or assistant assessor shall, in any case, receive more than two dollars per day exclusive of an allowance, also made in the second section of this bill, for clerk hire to the principal assessor, of one dollar per day.
On enquiry, it appeared that the principal assessors have, by the law as it now stands, one dollar and a half per day allowed them, and the other assessors one dollar and a half whilst collecting, and one dollar when otherwise employed.
This bill advancing the pay of the assessors, originates from complaints from the State of Maryland, that persons cannot be got to perform the office for the sum allowed, and that, in consequence, in many parts of that state, no steps have been taken to carry this law into execution. This fact was stated by Messrs. S. Smith, Craik, Sprigg and Matthews, representatives from that state.
Mr. S. Smith moved to strike out two dollars, for the purpose of inserting three; but this motion was superseded by one made by Mr. Varnum, to strike out the first section of the bill.
He thought the present allowance quite sufficient, and rather more than enough; that no complaint has been made from any other part of the Union; that he could not agree to allow the Secretary of the Treasury a power to pay the officers in Maryland more than is paid to the same officers in other parts of the Union, and he could not consent to raise the pay of the whole, when they are, except in the cases mentioned, perfectly satisfied with what is now allowed. Mr. V. saw no necessity for clerk hire; if a clerk were to be allowed, the office of principal assessors he said would become a sinecure; that nothing would make the tax unpopular as that to increase the expense of collection and that out of two millions of dollars raised, not more than one million would find its way into the treasury. This opinion was supported generally by Messrs. Venable, McDowell, Shepard, J. Williams, Thatcher, W. Claiborne and Findly.
The necessity of the increase was advocated by Messrs. S. Smith, Gordon, Craik, Pinckney, Harper and Otis as absolutely necessary if the tax was to be collected in Maryland; that it would not be necessary to advance the pay of the officers in any other parts of the union, but that owing to the extent of the districts in Maryland, and from other causes, persons could not be induced to perform this duty without the proposed advance.
After a great deal of conversation on the subject, the motion for striking out the section, was negatived 45 to 41. The committee then rose, and had leave to sit again. The house adjourned to Monday.
Monday, February 4.
A petition was presented by Mr. McClenachan, signed by 1220 freemen of the county of Philadelphia, praying a repeal of the Alien and Sedition laws. Committed to the whole house.
DIRECT TAX.
The House again went into a committee on that bill.
Mr. Thatcher moved to strike out the 2d section, which provides a clerk at one dollar per day, to each principal assessor. This was carried. Ayes 59.
Mr. Harper moved a new section, which he said had been agreed upon in the committee. The present act, he said, stated that the returns should be made in 15 days; the one he moved was to extend it to such time as the commissioners should be necessary. This was carried. Ayes 52.
On motion of Mr. Waln, so much of the act as required the appeal to be made in writing, was rejected. Ayes 35. Noes 26.
Considerable conversation occurred on a proposition of Mr. Waln, to add to a section reported by the committee, for repealing so much of the act as required the numbering and measurement of the windows, the suspension of so much as related to the detail now required of out houses, areas, &c. being returned by the assessors. This was negatived only as rising in favor of it.
Some other amendments were proposed and the committee rose.
When the bill was taken up in the House Mr. Varnum renewed his motion for striking out the first section, which he had made in committee of the whole on Friday. It was taken by yeas and nays. Yeas 48. Nays 45.
Tuesday, February 5.
The Clerk informed the House that he had just received information from the Speaker that he was ill, and unable to attend the House; whereupon a motion was made to adjourn, which was carried.
Wednesday, February 6.
The bill to amend the act providing for the valuation of land and dwelling houses and the
enumeration of slaves within the United States, was read the third time and p.
On motion of Mr. S. Smith, the house resolved itself into a committee of the whole on the bill to regulate the collection of duties on imports and tonnage. This bill is very long, and though only such parts of it as are amended by the present laws, were read, the reading occupied a great part of the sitting. A few amendments were then suggested, and the bill being gone through, the committee rose, but the Speaker having left the house unprovided, no report could be made, and the house was informally adjourned by the Clerk.
A short debate took place in the committee on a motion of Mr. Livingston, to exclude from duty books, maps, prints or charts, imported from duty, College, Academy, or Incorporated Library. It was opposed principally on the ground that the subject had been referred to a select committee, who had not yet made their report. The motion was finally withdrawn.
FROM THE AURORA.
LETTER I.
To the PRESIDENT of the UNITED STATES,
SIR,
THE observations contained in this and the letters which shall succeed it, are solemnly addressed to your conscience and to your judgment. My object is to demonstrate to the people, and to you, that the constitution of the United States, has been violated. The arguments which are used to effect this demonstration, are derived from the first and purest principles of political science, and are exhibited in that plain form, which truth alone can venture to assume. If, Sir, these arguments shall excite in your mind, a doubt concerning the power of Congress, to define and punish libels, my purpose will be accomplished. The virtuous servant, of a free people, will not perform a single act of power, unless he is absolutely sure, that he is authorised to form it, by that charter whose sacredcepts he has pledged himself to God and his Country to observe. If, relying too on the decision of an angry and agitate assembly, he has hastily given his assent a measure, of which his judgment now compels him to question the propriety, differing all considerations, but those of truth and justice, he will come forward with firmness which belongs to virtue, and knowledge to the world, the real fruit of his mind. In doing this, he will exhibit to mankind, an instance of rectitude and candor, which it has been seldom ever their fortune to behold; and by its glorious homage, voluntarily offered to reason and to truth, he will promote the cause of liberty and virtue, and render his own name immortal. He will dispel solicitude and sorrow from the bosoms of thousands, whose patriotism is as pure as his own, and still the tumult that is now rising in the country, and which threatens to overwhelm the union with ruin and confusion.
I will not offend you, Sir, by saying that on this subject, you must entertain some doubts. It is possible that you may be absolutely sure, that the Congress of the United States does possess a power, which certainly is not expressly given, nor can be shown to be necessary to carry any given power into effect. It is possible, that you may be absolutely sure that you are in the right, although forty of the representatives of the people, equal at least in talents and integrity, and almost equal in numbers to their opponents, have told you that you are in the wrong. It is possible that you may retain this absolute conviction, in spite of the solemn decision of the respectable legislatures of Kentucky and Virginia. All this is possible, and if you shall say either by your words or actions, that it is actually the case, I shall not hesitate to believe you; but this belief will be accompanied with wonder, and the most profound regret.
Yet, Sir, however clear your opinion, however decided your conviction may be, on this great constitutional question, there is one point in which we must all agree. It is a truth, which cannot be denied, a truth supported by facts, as notorious as they are alarming, that the sedition bill is in the highest degree dangerous and inexpedient. In this part of the world it is justly regarded as an attack on the liberty of the press, and has roused the attention of the most supine. It has inflamed that spirit of suspicion and discontent, which, unfortunately for the people, has been already too powerfully excited, and has a direct and obvious tendency to produce the very crime which it professes to punish. God forbid that I should say, that such was the object for which the law was made. If I entertained an opinion so dishonorable to my countrymen, so disgraceful to humanity, my soul would sink with horror and despair. But I cannot despair. Truth, liberty, and virtue, must prevail in America, and I therefore, believe, that the servants of the people, will not continue a law, merely because it has passed, when they know, when they see, that the evil which it has already produced, infinitely outweighs all the good, which they expected to obtain.
HORTENSIUS.
Virginia, January 1799.
LETTER II.
TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES.
It is the object of the following address to demonstrate, that so much of the late act of Congress, commonly called the Sedition Bill, as relates to libels, is not warranted by the Constitution of the United States, and that so much thereof as relates to printed libels, is expressly forbidden by it. To these

two points; my observations will be exclusively confined.
The following principles, it is presumed, will be conceded. If the reader denies or doubts their truth, he need not proceed. The whole argument is founded on a supposition that they are true.
I. That all power originally belongs to the people.
II. That the powers of government are powers granted by the people.
III. That the individuals selected from the mass of the people, to administer the government, possess no powers, general or special, but those which are either expressly delegated or necessary to carry a power expressly delegated into effect.
IV. That it has frequently happened in the course of human affairs, and may again happen, that the individuals thus selected may abuse the power entrusted to them and may usurp more power than was meant to be entrusted to them.
V. That one abuse does not justify another, and that the usurpations of Congress cannot be vindicated by the encroachments of the State Legislatures.
VI. That the decision of a constitutional question, ought not, in any manner, to be affected by the conduct of France, or the opinions of Mr. Jefferson, or any other man, or men, in the world, but should rest on the immutable principles of reason and of truth.
It is on the ground of this last postulate, that no answer is given to the arguments, founded on opinions and writings ascribed to Mr. Jefferson, and to others; and on the same ground, the aid which might be obtained from the writings and speeches of Publius and other distinguished federalists, in support of the position now meant to be established, is totally rejected. It is the purpose of the present address, not to ascertain what particular individuals have thought, or what all men ought to think, concerning the powers of government, and the freedom of the press.
I. If all power originally belongs to the people, those who exercise any portion of power, must derive their authority from the people, and can possess no power, that is not given, expressly, or by fair and necessary implication. To ascertain the precise portion of power, which they have granted, we must resort to the instruments or writings by which their intention to grant power is expressed. These instruments are the Constitutions of the several States, formed at a time when they were independent sovereignities, and the Federal Constitution, which unites all the States.
The State Constitutions preceded by several years, the formation of the Federal Compact. By these Constitutions governments were organized, and the Legislatures were intrusted with a general power to do what they might think the public good required. This power had been exercised in all the States, and the regulations, which it was thought the public good required, had been adopted. The rights of persons and things, public and private wrongs, which furnish all the materials for local and municipal law, had been accurately defined & were well understood. Adequate provision was made to secure reputation as well as liberty and life. Still, however, a Federal Government was deemed essential, to the peace and happiness of the people of America; not because the State institutions were defective and required amendment, not because liberty was in danger, or because character was not sufficiently guarded from defamation, but because there were many important subjects on which the State Legislatures could not act with effect. They could not make effectual provision for paying the public debt, nor regulate Commerce, nor borrow money on the credit of the United States, nor establish a system of general defence. These were the great objects which could not be attained, but by means of a Federal Government and for the attainment of these objects a Federal government was instituted. The powers therefore delegated to this government were special and limited, and from the state of things could not have been otherwise.
Nothing can be more obvious, and nothing has been more generally admitted, than the distinction, between the principle which is the basis of the State governments, and that which forms the basis of the Federal Constitution. To the State governments, general powers of legislation are granted, and they may legislate on all subjects, except those on which they are expressly forbidden to act. To the Federal government, specific powers only are given, and Congress can legislate on those subjects only on which they are expressly authorized to act. The State governments possess all powers, belonging to the people, except those expressly withheld; the general government possesses those powers only which are expressly granted, or are necessary to carry a power expressly granted into effect. When therefore a doubt arises concerning the constitutionality of a congressional law, the first question ought regularly to be, is the power to pass this law expressly granted to Congress? If it be not expressly granted in plain words for that purpose, the next question must be—Is this law necessary to carry any power expressly granted into effect? If it be not necessary, there is an end to all doubt or difficulty on the subject, and the law is absolutely void.
Let the Sedition bill be brought to the test of an examination on these principles, and the result will be, that those clauses in it, which punish insurrection or actual opposition to the authorized measures of government, will be found warranted by the terms and meaning of the federal compact; because the best laws would be of no avail, unless Congress possessed a power to punish those who opposed their execution. The power
of punishing acts of opposition to the laws, therefore, being necessary, to carry the laws themselves into due operation, is readily conceded to belong to Congress. But the inquiry pursued farther, on the same principles, will terminate in a conviction, that so much of the Sedition Bill as relates to libels on the government, or the individuals belonging to it, is not within the words or meaning of the Constitution. It will not be said that the power of punishing libels is expressly given. Several offences are enumerated which may be defined by the general government; but libels are not included. If then the power of punishing libels is not expressly given, it cannot be exercised, unless it can be shewn to be necessary to carry some given power into effect. What is the power expressly given, which is carried into effect, or in any shape aided in its operation, by the power of punishing libels. Plain as Gallatin preposed it at the last session to the advocates of the Sedition Bill, with his usual perspicuity; yet neither the eloquence of Otis, nor the ingenuity of Harper could be brought to encounter it.
One case more will completely illustrate the doctrine here inculcated. In 1792 Congress passed a law punishing with death persons concerned in robbing the mail, or stealing letters from the post office. If the enumerated powers of the government be examined, it will be found that the power to pass such a law is not expressly granted—still however it is warranted by the Constitution, because it is necessary to carry into effect the general power expressly granted to Congress, to establish post offices and post roads.
The position, that Congress can exercise no power that is not given expressly, or by necessary implication, the manifest resulting from the nature of a federal compact, and supported by every fair and rational construction of the constitution has, from excess of caution, been expressly recognized by the 12th article of the Amendments, which declares, "that powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
Solid as the foregoing principle is, and solemn as its recognition has been by the people of America, it has been boldly denied by some, and artfully evaded by others. It has been strenuously contended, that Congress had power to adopt all measures which they might think conducive to the general welfare. Mr. S. from South Carolina was the first who openly proclaimed it as his opinion, that constitutionality and expediency were convertible terms.
Those who advocate this doctrine, endeavour to vindicate their conduct by resorting to the preamble, and to the 8th Section of the first Article of the Constitution of the United States. But before the arguments drawn from these sources are noticed, it is proper to observe, that all reasoning on any proposition, may be reduced into the form of a syllogism; and if the first and second terms be true, and the conclusion correctly stated, the demonstration sought for is obtained; and according to all the rules of logic, and the plain dictates of common sense, principles from which a deficient conclusion is deduced, cannot be true.
The proposition here maintained is, that so much of the Sedition Bill as prescribes a punishment for libels is not warranted by the Federal Constitution. To demonstrate this proposition to be true, I have recourse to the following syllogism.
1. Congress possesses no power unless it be expressly given, or necessary to carry a given power into effect. See the 1st, 2d, and 3d postulates. 2. The power of prescribing a punishment for libels is not expressly given, nor necessary to carry a given power into effect. 3. Conclusion. Therefore so much of the Sedition Bill as prescribes a punishment for libels, is not warranted by the Federal Constitution.
Upon principles of fair and logical reasoning, those who advocate the constitutionality of the Sedition Bill, must admit the conclusion here stated, unless they controvert the truth of the first or second terms of the foregoing syllogism.
The truth of the first term is controverted by some on the ground of the preamble to the Constitution—the words are, "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution, for the United States of America."
From the language of this preamble, it has been contended, that Congress has a power, expressly granted, to pass any laws which in their opinion may tend to provide for the common defence, or promote the general welfare.
The same inference has been drawn from the 8th Section of the 1st article of the Constitution, which declares, "that Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, excises, and imposts to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States."
Arguments are sometimes brought forward in defence, the refutation of which requires more patience than skill—of this description is the argument now stated.
As to the Preamble—The special reply to this argument is, that the preamble to a statute, or constitution, which is the supreme statute, is no part of it. This is not mentioned as a principle of common law, but as a principle of common sense; a preamble states the general objects of the law of the constitution, and the articles which follow prescribe the means by which, and by which only, the attainment of these objects is to be pursued; the preamble can neither enlarge nor restrain the body of the act; it is, in fact, nothing more than a declaration of objects; the constitution or law, is a specification of means—the preamble to the Constitution therefore lays, in substance, "We the people of the United States in order to promote the general welfare, do ordain this Constitution," in order to promote the general welfare." Language cannot be more plain. The Constitution is unequivocally announced as the instrument or means by which the general welfare is to be promoted.
As to the 8th Section of the 1st article. The special reply to the argument founded on this section is, that the plain, grammatical meaning of the sentence, even taken by itself, and without any reference to the uniform tenor of the Constitution, forbids the inference before mentioned. The Constitution by the words of this Section, meant to give not a general power to provide for the general welfare, but a special power to lay and collect taxes and duties, for the purpose of paying the debts and providing for the general welfare. According to this construction, a special power is given for a general purpose, in other words for the general good, which is in truth the purpose for which all power is granted; but
See Seward's speech on the Sedition Bill. See Otis and Bayard's Speeches on the Alien Bill.
according to the construction contended for by the advocates of the Sedition Bill, the same sentence which gives a special power, also gives a general power, which renders the special designation of power useless. Which of these two constructions is the most rational, is a question that is not supposed to be in the smallest degree doubtful.
It seems clear then that a fair construction of the preamble, and of the 8th section of that article, considered in themselves, does not warrant the doctrine maintained by the friends of the Sedition Bill, that Congress possesses a general power to provide for the welfare of the Union. This doctrine appears not only not warranted by the particular clauses relied on, but absurd, when these clauses are taken into view with all the other clauses of the Constitution.
HORTENSIUS. Virginia, January 1799.
BALTIMORE, February 12. The officers of the loop of war Baltimore, we learn, have all resigned, except the first lieutenant, the lieutenant of marines, and the surgeons mate, and have generally left the ship; and that the crew, dissatisfied with their situation, have inquired, and refuse to obey the orders of the officers who remain. The vessel was lying, when left by the sailing master, capt. Hodgkins, who arrived yesterday, at Craney Island, from which they are determined not to stir until their grievances are redressed. In the mean time, they permit no boat to come along side with more than two persons in her. Both the officers and crew, it is said, are irritated at the dismissal of their first commander.
CHARLESTON, February 4. On Saturday arrived the fcty Eliza, capt P. Ruff, from Surinam, last from Martinique, having been carried in there by a British privateer, and her cargo, consisting of 170,000 weight of coffee, besides cotton, entirely the property of Messrs G & J Davidson and James Pierson of this city, condemned as Dutch property, without the shadow of a reason, or even cause of suspicion.
It is hoped, if a proper representation of the iniquitous proceedings of the vice-admiralty court at Martinique is made to our government, that it will interest itself with the British court to put a stop to them; for, altho' retribution may, and undoubtedly will ultimately be made, yet, why should our citizens, while in pursuit of a fair and lawful commerce, be interrupted, and their voyages ruined, by the subjects of a nation in enmity with us? And how shall they obtain redress for the delay, vexation and injury, sustained by such hostile and unjust conduct?
RICHMOND: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 19.
TO THE FREEMEN OF THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF VERMONT. Vergeyness Jail, January 12.
FELLOW CITIZENS, WITH a heart truly overflowing with gratitude have I, in this dismal prison received the intelligence that you have again considered me as entitled to your confidence and worthy of your suffrages, as your Representative in the Congress of the United States.
A series of the most unwearied and unprecedented slander, detraction, and persecution that infernal ingenuity could devise, has not, it seems, convinced you of malevolence or corruption in me; nor of my want of discernment or attention to your true interests; neither have you been deterred by the threats or seduced by the flattery of an overbearing minority, from publicly manifesting by your free suffrages, the opinion you entertain on the questions now agitated in the U. States.
This undismembered conduct of yours, when constitutionally called upon for your sentiments, while it corroborates with the truly noble and generous efforts of the patriots of Virginia and Kentucky, in holding up to abhorrence, tyranny and unconstitutional laws, forms a most striking contrast with an address recently presented in your name, by men calling themselves your representatives. Late in October they approve of measures your national representative had strenuously opposed, and in your name they spoke the language of flattery and adulation: early in December you are called to speak for yourselves, and you declare you will have the man to represent you in a future Congress, who has in the most pointed manner announced his aversion to pompous adulation and mean flattery; him who opposed those measures which these men approved.
The story has already been told, in every country where representative government is known, that one of the national representatives of the United States of America, has been imprisoned by the verdict of an American jury, for writing and publishing, that when the Executive are doing right they shall have his support, but whenever they should do wrong he would not be their humble advocate; for reading and suffering (unknown to him) to be printed, a copy of a letter of an American gentleman in France, speaking lightly of the will of his country in provoking a war with that nation: A letter which has been published from many of the presses conducted by the partisans of presidential infallibility, without being in the least noticed.
Let this effulgent truth follow that story, that although two judges and thirty jurymen have been found to declare your representative guilty of evil intentions, more than three thousand five hundred enlightened freemen have declared him NOT GUILTY, and by their re-election have plainly announced that their confidence in him is not abated, and to his care and integrity they chose to confign their national interest for more than two years to come.
Fellow citizens, you have demonstrated how sensible you are, that preened crimes have been made use of, merely to distress me and my family; to restrain me of my liberty, and to prevent my exercising the high trust you have confided to me. While
my real crimes have been, refusing to sacrifice that sacred trust to the views of those who with to see a luxurious court, crowded with flocks of military courtiers, speculators, and stockjobbers, fattening on the labours of the farmer and the poor mechanic. Invariable opposition to the means of encroaching power: and a standing army, by taxing yourself, your paper, and your land; as well as an aversion to every measure which tends to involve this country in the politics and wars of Europe, may also be reckoned among my crimes, in the light of offended power.
Whenever jails and fines shall become the common reward of patriotism and virtue, they will cease to be a terror and a shame to thieves and robbers.
It appears, that I have not offended you my fellow citizens, and it is my consolation and exultation, under this persecution, to know that I enjoy your confidence. This fresh testimony of your favor, under such extraordinary circumstances, adds to my obligations to be more and more your faithful servant.
M. LYON.
Extract of a letter from a gentleman in Philadelphia to his friend in this place.
"A paper is landing about on the floor of Congress, for subscribers to the publication of twenty thousand copies of the address which was offered by the minority in our legislature, and rejected—at three cents each copy. To this paper Wm. Bingham has put down fifty dollars, and the names of Parker, Morgan, Machir and Evans from our state, grace the list."
COMMUNICATION.
It is suggested for the consideration of the Military Gentlemen who attend the Dancing Assembly on the evening of the 22d inst. whether it would not be an additional evidence of respect towards the meritorious character whose birth is contemplated to be celebrated, if they were to attend the Assembly on that evening in full uniform. Richmond, Feb. 18, 1799.
STATE OF DELAWARE. In the House of Representatives Feb. 1, 1799.
"Resolved by the Senate & House of Representatives of the state of Delaware in General Assembly met—That by consider the resolutions from the state of Virginia, as a very unjustifiable interference with the General Government and Constitution authorities of the United States, and of dangerous tendency, and therefore not a fit subject for the further consideration of the General Assembly."
"ISAAC DAVIS, Speaker of the Senate."
"STEPHEN LEWIS, Speaker of the House of Representatives."
"Attest—JOHN FISHER, C. C."
"Attest—JOHN CALDWELL, C. H. R."
"Resolved, That the above resolution be signed by the Speaker of the Senate, and by the Speaker of the House of Representatives; and that the Governor of this state be requested to forward the same to the Governor of the state of Virginia."
"JOHN FISHER, C. S."
"JOHN CALDWELL, C. H. R."
MARRIED—On Thursday the 31st of January last, Mr THOMAS PRIDE, to the amiable Miss REBECCA PRIDE, both of Amelia county.
Richmond Temporary Theatre. CITY HALL.
FOR THE BENEFIT OF Mr. and Mrs. Decker.
To-morrow Evening, Wednesday, February 20th, 1799, WILL BE PERFORMED
The Favourite Historical Play, interspersed with songs (not performed here these five years)—called The Surrender of Calais; Or, Gallic Heroism.
(Written by GEORGE COLEMAN, Esq.) Between the Play and Farce, a Ballet Dance called,—the
French Vauxhall Gardens; Or, Folly of the Times.
A Hornpipe, by Miss GILLESPIE, To which will be added, A Musical Farce, called—the
PADLOCK.
IN COUNCIL, FEB. 9, 1799.
THE Executive of Virginia, will, on or before the first day of April next, be ready to receive Proposals, either for the importation from Europe, or for the manufacturing within this state,
4000 stand of Arms
to be delivered at Richmond, in the course of the present year. Each stand to consist of a Musket, the length of the barrel to be three feet eight inches, and to receive a ball of the size of eighteen to the pound, a double bridled lock, upon the best construction, neat brads or iron mounting, steel ramrod, and to be well stocked with black walnut, and a bayonet one foot five inches in the blade.
By order of the Executive, A. BLAIR, C. C.
The several printers in this state, are requested to insert the above in their respective papers.
Dancing Academy
LOUIS ROUSSELL,
RESPECTFULLY informs that his Dancing Academy will be open (at his house) by the middle of March.
Days of attendance,—Friday afternoon, and Saturday all day, from the hours of nine to twelve in the morning, and from three to six in the evening.
No more than twenty Pupils will be admitted.
Country Produce will be taken in payment, delivered at the Academy.
Richmond, Feb. 19, 1799.
Trumpeter,
BY SHARK.
A FINE chestnut horse, rising five years old, will stand at my stable in Goochland county, to help to rear the ensuing season, at three pounds per foal for the aforesaid term, with the mare to be expected, payable on or before the 20th of August next, at which time the season will expire.
Good and extensive pasture, gratis, but was not be liable for escape or other accidents. The mare's dam was got by Col. Dandridge's Fearnought, his grand dam by Bayler's Fearnought, his great grand dam by the last mentioned horse, his great great grand dam by old Jolly Roger, out of a high bred imported mare. He is full fifteen hands and one inch high, in high perfection, and elegantly formed.
ROBERT PAYNE. White-Hall, Goochland Feb. 1799 (BW +)
N. B. Three fillings will be expected (for each mare) to the groom.
The Full Blooded Horse,
PANTALOON,
Is a beautiful Chestnut, rising six years old, full fifteen hands and a half high, his activity and form, exclusive of his blood bespeak him to be equal to any horse in Virginia,—PANTALOON is thought to be the surest foal getter known of, his Colts are generally large and of great form, and out of mares that have bred before, are generally superior to any they have ever brought! a number of his foals the owners have refused one hundred dollars for,—He will stand the ensuing season at my stable in Buckingham county, within one mile of JOHN HENDRICK'S Store, on the old Buckingham road, and about three miles south of Willis's Mountains, to cover Mares at the moderate price of THREE DOLLARS the Leap, and EIGHT DOLLARS the Season, for which a note will be required payable the first of January next, when may be taken in by the payment of SIX DOLLARS, any time before the 1st of August next, at which time the season will end. If any mare put to Pantaloon last season should not be with foal, I will give them a leap this, if they do not stand they may be put during the season, and if they have no colt no pay, unless the mare be disposed of, as I have always done, and will do as long as I keep the horse. I do not take mares in charge this season, unless the owners live at too great a distance to attend with or lead them every ninth day, as is customary. EDWARD CURD.
January 10, 1799 (7*2)
PEDICREB.
PANTALOON was got by the imported Pantaloon, his dam perhaps equal to any mare to be met with, was got by Randolph, his granddam by Allen's Old Jemmy, his great granddam by Combs—Randolph was one of the best bred sons of Old Celer, his dam was got by Old Partner, his granddam by Old Valicot, his great granddam by Old Trial. N. B. The imported Pantaloon was one of the best bred horses that ever was imported into America, for there has scarce a horse been imported since the war but was of his blood—The imported horse Dare Devil was got by a brother of his, Herod by a brother of his, Diomed by a brother of his, the dam of Traveller was a sister of his, Alderman is son of the same blood.
SEEDS.
Minton Collins,
RESPECTFULLY informs his Friends and the Public, that he has just received by the ship Juno, Captain BARRETT from LONDON, a FRESH assortment of GARDEN SEEDS, and from the Northern States, a FRESH supply of GRASS SEEDS, which are warranted to be of the last year's growth. He has likewise a few cash well assorted for country stores, which he will sell whole sale, on reasonable terms, for CASH ONLY—
Red and white Clover Seed, Green Cucumber, Early and Late York. Timothy & Ryegrass do Cabbage Seed. Sainfoine & Burnet, do Sugar Leaf and Butter- Red-Top-Grass, do tea do Hemp and Flax, do Green and Yellow Sa- Rape and Canary, do voy do Early Frame, } 4s Large white winter and Early Charlton } 4s Scotch do Early and Early Hot- } 4s Do. Russia and Madel- ipur ra do Dwarf Marrowfat, Span- Green Borecole and red nish Morrao and Pickling do Large Egg do Brussels Sprouts do Large Widdow, Early Green and purple bro- Mafagon and white colic do Moffon Beans. White Cauliflower do Early French (or snay) do Early and late Cauli- White Arbour, do flower do White and Brown Mus- White and green Cots tard, do Round and Prickly Spi- Large Cabbage and Row nage, man Lettuce do Early salmon and short Ice Lettuce and Grand top Radish, Admiral do White, Turnip & large White curled Indiv do Winter, do Solid Celery, Thyme, Curled and winter Cress, Savory Pot Marjo- Do Parley and Pepper ram and Marygold, grass, Red, Purple, White and Red and Orange Carrot, Variegated Hyacinth Large Parsnip—Red Rose, Pansy and Beet, Narcissus Root, Red and white Madel- Glax Flower bottles, ra Onion, some flower jars, and Large London Leek. beakers for Chimney Do. Norfolk and some Ornaments. mer turnip, Painted flower Pots and Salsify and India Nat- Red Garden do. 15s. urtun, With a few best twilled Green and white Aspa- flocks from 3 and 4 ragus, Ball to 5 bushes each. Early Frame and Long Feb. 12.