The recorder, or, Lady's and gentleman's miscellany (Richmond, Va.), 1802-05-12 00:00:00

THE RECORDER; Or, LADY'S AND GENTLEMAN'S MISCELLANY;
Printed by HENRY PACE, and JAMES T. CALLENDER, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, and published every WEDNESDAY Morning. Subscription Two Dollars per annum.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 12, 1802.
THE Subscribers to this Paper, who have not yet paid their Subscriptions, agreeably to conditions of Subscribing, are respectfully requested to forward the same to this Office. Numbers have not yet paid any money since their commencement of receiving from the first Number of this Paper, although the terms are one half Year in advance. We can only say, that those Gentlemen must see the propriety of our discontinuing to forward their Papers any longer, if the money is not immediately remitted, which can be done by the means of Bank Notes, by letter. The little Profit arising from this Paper, on account of the quantity of original matter contained in it, renders prompt payment necessary. The Post-Masters, who have Subscriptions on hand, are respectfully requested to forward the same, as above mentioned, or many Subscribers who have paid, will otherwise be in danger of having their papers discontinued.
April 3, 1802.
Coutts's Ferry,
At the FALLS of JAMES RIVER,
Immediately below Col. Mayo's Toll Bridge,
WILL be constantly supplied with boats and hands, who will be always ready, at any moment, to ferry over the river, any number of men, horses, carriages, or wagons and teams,
At one-half the Price of the Toll Bridge.
Carriages, Waggons, and Carts, may be driven into the Lighters, without taking the Horses out.
SAMUEL MURRAY.
Richmond, May 10th, 1802.
STEPHEN BROWN, GUN MAKER,
From LONDON,
[Near the OLD CITY TAVERN, Main-Street, RICHMOND.
MAKES all sorts of Guns and Pistols, in the neatest manner, and on the most reasonable Terms.
He returns thanks to his friends for their encouragement, and informs them he continues to clean and repair old Guns and Pistols.
N.B. Two Apprentices wanted. A small Premium will be expected.
April 22 d , 1802
THE Subscriber respectfully informs his friends and the public, that he has just received a quantity of
Plaister of Paris,
of the very best quality for manure, which he proposes selling on Reasonable terms, either ground or in the Stone.
CARSON HOLIDAY.
Richmond April 13th 1802.
The Laws of Virginia,
TO BE PRINTED
By SAMUEL PLEASANTS, Jun. And HENRY PACE.
AMONG other numerous and important Improvements in the proposed Richmond Edition of "The Revised Code of the Laws of Virginia," the following will be particularly attended to:—The Act of Assembly, for convoking the Convention of this State, in Order to discuss the Question of the Federal Constitution;—the Law, respecting the Acceptance and Ratification of the Federal System;—the Laws concerning Canals, the Patowmac, the James River, and other Companies.
This edition will also comprehend the Compact with the State of Maryland, respecting the River Patowmac; and, that regarding the Boundary between Pennsylvania, and Kentucky; with other Additions, too numerous for Insertion in this Place.
It has already been stated to the Public, that this Work will cost only SIX DOLLARS, elegantly bound and lettered, in one large octavo Volume.
Advertisement.
AS the demand for this paper is fast increasing, it may be considered as an eligible vehicle for advertisements; and more especially in Richmond, and its vicinity. In a paper, also, where but few advertisements appear, they are far more likely to catch the passing eye, than when they are crowded into whole columns, and pages. There were very few persons in Richmond, or Manchester, who read newspapers at all, who did not read last Wednesday's Recorder; and this present number will probably meet with an equal degree of attention.
Imported from London, And landed this Day, AND FOR SALE,
At Mr. BOWLER'S, near the Bridge, Richmond,
WHOLESALE AND RETAIL,
AN elegant assortment of fancy j-panned chairs of a superior kind, with seats to match; a superb painted bedstead, some beautiful prints, miniature frames, &c. gentlemen's suspenders, or gallowses, likewise London made ladies and gentlemen's dress shoes of every description, a few pair of half boots of the present fashion, and finished by the best workmen in Great Britain; 50 pair of spurs in the New Market style, a few dozen pair of real cordovan English boat legs, very low priced; handsome shawls and muffs for ladies mourning dressies, and gentlemen's shirts; plain silk, oiled ditto, and oiled lawn umbrellas, parasols, &c.
The whole will be sold low, for cash, as the proprietors must return to Europe in a short time.
April 26, 1802
Stone Lime,
in Tierses,
LOW FOR CASH,
BY WILLIAM DAVIDSON,
Near the Market House,
GRAMMAR SCHOOL.
An Assistant wanted,
Who understands the Dead Languages.
Enquire of the Printer.
April 26, 1802.
WANTED, ON LOAN, Five Hundred Dollars,
For twelve Months,
For which will be given very high interest, and indisputable security in the city of Richmond.
Enquire of the printer.
April 27, 1802.
TO THE PUBLIC.
LETTER III.
MY last letter closed with a summary of what compensation I had received from Mr. Jones, for attending to his Examiner from May to December, 1799. At the distance of two years and an half, he has forced me to bring forward this explanation. In his paper of the 28th of April, he had the hardness to speak of his promptitude in doing justice to your services and merit. In consequence of this assertion, it has been stated that, besides boarding, in his house, there was received, for that term of service, exactly four dollars in cash!
During this period, the "Scots correspondent" wrote, upon a medium, perhaps five columns per week for the Examiner. The number has not been counted, but the general impression upon his mind is that they could not, in the whole, come to less than ninety or an hundred.
Within that period, also, the circulation of the Examiner mounted upwards from twenty-seven quires to forty-seven. The precise extent of augmentation cannot here be given. Perhaps, there may be a variation of one or two quires. But this is certain that the intermediate increase was unprecedented and
prodigious. The advertisements, likewise, augmented in an amazing proportion. All this cannot, with justice, be ascribed to any single pen. But it must be granted that the "Scots correspondent" afforded always a large proportion of the original matter. In June, 1799, Mr. Jefferson remarked to one of his friends that the Examiner had taken a start! In the course of six months, its annual value must have been augmented by at least fifteen hundred dollars a year; and it was most likely much more. The number of additional subscribers, within that time, could not be less than four hundred. The advertisements multiplied in a proportion at least as great. Yet this gentleman has the hardiness to stamble round about an assertion that my assistance injured the character and circulation of his paper. The passage is curious; here it follows:
"You know the cause of my limited subscription in Richmond and Manchester; many gentlemen declared to me that they had withdrawn their subscriptions because you were connected with the paper; and it was believed you were disposed to push things to greater lengths than they thought I was disposed to proceed. Upon this subject you perfectly recollect the speech of Mr. Callender in the capitol, of the character which he gave the Examiner previous to your connection with it."
From July, 1800, to March following, the Examiner was crowded with pieces dated from Richmond jail. The defence of Mr. Jefferson occupied, of itself, nineteen columns. The whole number of pieces must have filled an hundred, or at least ninety. For this mass of labour, not one single cent was ever received, asked, or expected. Mr. Jones was only told, in general, that he should pay for the stationary articles, which his correspondent might make use of in prison; and these, by the most extravagant calculation, can have amounted but to ten dollars. The oddity of a man's writing from jail in defiance of the authority which put him into it, was sure, of itself, to interest the curiosity of mankind. The circulation of the Examiner did not, in this interval, decline. For, when the nine months were expired, the impression had got up to fifty-two quires, at which it still continues.
In the second letter, there is quoted from Mr. Jones a passage of his libel of the 28th ult. That citation closes with these words: "it is only upon a full demonstration, that I shall yield my assent to your apostasy."
A short time before I came out of jail, there was an attempt made by the federal party in congress to ward off the election of president. An interregnum magistrate was to be chosen by that party. This plan produced a serious alarm. The particulars are in the recollection of every one. At that emergency, a piece, upon this subject, was transmitted from the prison. The project of the federal majority of congress was explained and reprobated with severity and with justice. On receiving this article, Mr. Jones returned a letter. He therein took notice of the supposed danger that Mr. Jefferson would be wronged out of his presidency. In that case, he said that he thought the Southern states should secede from the union. He asked me whether it would not, in the mean time, be advisable for us to make a pause. He remarked that, in the event of a secession by the republicans, there would be full scope for talents. He submitted, therefore, these circumstances to reflection. He added that he would print the piece, if I thought fit. He closed with saying, please if you think proper, to return this letter. This was precisely the substance of his epistle.
The answer was to this effect, that no fear of consequences should divert me from the prosecution of my purpose; that it was a part of my intellectual constitution that the stronger opposition proved to be, I was only the more perfectly determined to strike it in the face; and that I would rather stay in prison for thirty years, than recede from one syllable, which had been wrote. There was more in this lofty style. From that hour forward, Mr. Jones printed whatever was sent him.
The reader will observe, in the foregoing instance, the contrast between the situation of this man, and of me. I was in prison, with the command of perhaps twenty dollars. He was out of it with a revenue of seven thousand. He wanted to stand still. He was thrust forward by me. This is the person that now charges me with apostasy.
The recent attack upon me, from the two brothers, was excited by an article in the Recorder of April 24th. The grand charge against me is apostasy from the Republican cause. This, to be sure, is the most singular kind of apostasy that was ever heard of. By desertion, Mr. Jones does most unquestionably mean an opposition to Mr. Jefferson, and his friends. In the Recorder of April 24th, it is observed that, while Mr. Jefferson was secretary of state, he "discharged the duties of this office to the confusion of his enemies" and the admiration of the world!" It would seem that the Examiner considers this language as an attack upon the character of Mr. Jefferson! The same paragraph closes with remarking that, from the time when Mr. Jefferson left his office, as secretary, "till the day that he became president, the federal government continued to walk regularly downwards upon the ladder of perdition."
Here is a sample of several sheets to the same effect. The profound Examiner declares, however, that he will persuade the world of my having become an apostate. This is the man, that, out of jail, and with seven thousand dollars per annum of income, scrupled to publish what I had wrote within jail; and almost without the command of twenty dollars. By his republicanism, he had contrived to straddle from something very like bankruptcy, up to affluence, and luxury. What have I gained, or what could I hope to gain, but the wonted reward of patriotism, that is, calumny, unthankfulness, and desertion?
Sentence was pronounced against me by Samuel Chase, who is somebody, and by Cyrus Griffin, who is nobody. This sentence required bail for good behaviour for two years from the date of the sentence. It will be observed, therefore, that if I had been to write what was then called sedition, during my confinement, it was to become morally impossible that any sort of bail could bring me out of jail, unless by the special favour of the president. Hence it followed that, if I had been to succeed in a second election, the certainty of imprisonment for life, in the event of a situation so perilous; and then judge if my conduct was that of a man who wanted resolution.
The very first piece that was wrote in prison contained these words, "the NOW BLASTED tyrant of America." Mr. Jones, in publishing, softened the expression; but the whole article was in absolute defiance of that execrable and vindictive despot.
Meriwether says "your sufferings interested me in your welfare beyond what all the federalists, and many even of the moderate republicans thought you merited." It was not in the power of these moderate republicans to think more despicably of me than I thought of them. Here is the file in which I spoke, in the second volume of the Prospect. "I halt upon a kind of isthmus between the two parties. From the aristocrats I can expect nothing but mischief; and I have studied farther to serve the republicans than they will ever study to serve me. But as I had never placed confidence in their gratitude, their friendship, or their justice, I am altogether exempted from the pangs of disappointment." To this rule exceptions have occurred. The name of general Joseph Jones will be long remembered with esteem; and for much better reasons, than his unaffected and unlimited kindness to me.
It was in prison that there was wrote and published the history of the donation of the North Western Frontier. If this piece had been printed last week, Mr. Jones might have squeezed it into an act of apostasy; for it affects the credit of an eminent and estimable member of the present administration. Patience and attention are requested to what follows.
After a violent dispute among themselves, the general assembly of 1783, thought proper, to make a present to congress of FOUR HUNDRED AND ELEVEN THOUSAND SQUARE MILLS of territory. After deducting forty-three millions of acres for lakes, and for some of the most beautiful rivers in the world, there remained to congress two hundred and twenty millions of acres of land. A great part of it is excellent. Congress are, at this moment, selling off this land at TWO DOLLARS per acre. This donation is five times bigger than the whole state of Virginia, or the whole island of Great Britain. This frantic donation is four or six times larger than the Roman Republic was, after the Roman legions had conquered through five cen-

curies of slaughter. It is at least twice as extensive as the late kingdom of France; even after the victories, or rather the robberies of Louis the fourteenth, at the head of four hundred thousand men, had swelled his dominions to their tremendous magnitude. This most absurd and wanton gift had been severely condemned in my hearing by general Mason, and by another person of eminent rank, in the service of this commonwealth. Indeed, at this enlightened time of day, there can be but one opinion about the business. The majority of that assembly behaved like a man, who has a dozen shirts, and who throws eleven of them into the fire. The assembly had no title to give away this land. It had been earned by the valour and the blood of their constituents. In point of legality , they were as much authorised to have made the government a present of the county of Henrico; and the delivery even of such a narrow spot into the hands of an hungry jobbing majority of congress, at the distance of three hundred miles, might perhaps have been regarded as an objectionable measure. By reserving this invaluable mass of territory in her own hands, Virginia might have been able to raise herself to a most enviable pitch of opulence and importance. By selling off a moderate portion of it, yearly, to private purchasers, she must have been able to pay her share of the public debt. The charges of supporting her own government, and her share of the annual expence of supporting the federal system, could, with perfect facility, have been extracted from the same source. Without one shilling of public debt, without one internal tax of any description, this commonwealth must, in course of time, have arisen to be the granary, the work shop, the exchequer of the new world. Emigrants must have thronged from every part of the continent. The farmers and manufacturers, from England, that much wanted, and most desirable class of citizens, must have looked forward to Virginia, as their predestined asylum. In the nineteen years which have elapsed since this most wretched act of folly, the worth of property in Richmond might have mounted to five times its present value. The adjacent high roads, in every direction, might have been transformed into the ramifications of an extensive manufacturing city. Manchester might, by this time, have laid the foundation of a future rivalry with the immensity and the splendour of its British namesake. Esau parted with his birthright for a mess of pottage. Esau was hungry. He received his meal. The general assembly were not hungry. They gave away not only their own birthright, but ours , also. They received, they expected nothing ! Two hundred and twenty millions of acres of good land are not a ducal thing. The successive acts of congress estimated them at the price of four hundred and forty millions of dollars. This sum is, perhaps, very far below their intrinsic worth. Yet even a property worth only FOUR HUNDRED AND FORTY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS is not absolutely undeserving of public attention.
Some years after the close of the British war, congress began to speak of discharging the public debt. They had not, at that time, their present unlimited power of taxation; for as yet, the federal constitution had not even squeaked in its baby clothes. As for ready money , they might very safely have said, with St. Peter, "Silver, or gold, have I none." Their sole resource was in the sale of these North West lands, with which they had been complimented, as a gift , by the bewitched commonwealth of Virginia. Immense sums were offered by wealthy speculators in Europe for tracts of this land. A great part of the public debt could actually have been discharged by this means. But Alexander Hamilton wanted to have a large funded debt. He cast obstacles in the way of the sale. The debt was funded.
These matters are brought forward here to prove that the worth of this Western country is not an invidious, or solitary dream of mine. This beautiful and fertile portion of the globe is wide enough to hold in its lap, the whole German empire, with the kingdom of Bohemia, the two Prussias, and all together!
Between federal and state taxes, this commonwealth pays at present perhaps three millions of dollars per annum. The sum cannot be much less. In a few years, it will most likely be much greater. If you had kept your land to yourselves, as, in common sense, you should have done, there was not occasion to have paid one farthing of taxes of any sort! An annual sale of five hundred thousand, or a million of acres would have cleared off the whole business. Do not censure me for this publication of painful truth; of truth which must pierce and wring your hearts with astonishment, with indignation, and with sorrow.
Congress were not asking for this territory. They never pretended that they had the smallest title to it. Nor does it appear that any single state had ever thought of claiming an inch of this land. Connecticut, however,
NOTE.
* The details are to be found in Sedgwick and Co. Vid. also, Mr. Findley's history of the Western Insurrection.
has contrived, in the session of congress before last one, to get a handsome cut of the loaf .†
I now come back to the point from which this long explanation may seem to have departed.
Mr. Jones charges me with apostasy, because the Recorder has past an oblique censure upon some of the measures of the present ruling party. Upon this ground, I am an apostate of an old standing. The chief promoter of this gift, was Mr. James Madison, our present worthy secretary of state, and who, at the time of making this donation, was a member of the general assembly. The act is here stated upon the authority of gentlemen who voted against this measure. The particulars were printed in the second volume of The Prospect , four months before I left prison.
It is evident that there was nothing to be gained, and that something might be lost, by the publication of a narrative in such direct opposition to the judgment, and the political tenets of Mr. Madison. The publication was regarded as an act of duty, and it was made from no other motive but an inveterate habit of circulating political truth. It was not, at that time, thought an act of apostasy to publish what was regarded as a material and irrecoverable error in the conduct of Mr. Madison. In next Examiner Mr. Jones will no doubt be for converting these remarks into a libel against a gentleman, who deserves to be praised as often as he shall be named. With a private character inaccessible to blame, with a flow of eloquence, which is at once pure and lively, nervous and gentle, perspicuous and persuasive, our present secretary may demand the same kind of rank among the statesmen of America, which Mr. Addison holds among the classic of Britain.
It has been supposed by some people, or, at least by Mr. Jones, that he has been of consequence, as a political disputant. Impossible! He wants those three features which form the basis of such a character. He wants diligence, abilities, and firmness. He wants those habits of industry which are essential for the labour of collecting information; that unrelenting vigilance, which is ever on the wing; that sullen merciless sagacity, that suffers nothing to escape; and that equally scorns to take, or to give quarter. Mr. Jones wants those abilities, without which knowledge is almost useless, and which in some measure, create it. He wants the talent of selecting, of combining, of charging home his information; that talent without which the fiercest assailant re bounds from his mark, like the dart of Priam from the shield of Neoptolemus. Mr. Jones wants that firmness which fights for the last inch of its ground; that firmness, which often fails of success, but which never can be conquered; that firmness, which a superior mind so promptly feels, in a proud consciousness of the wealth and amplitude of its resources.
JAMES T. CALLENDER. Richmond May 11th. 1802. †
† Vid. Recorder of Feb. 13th
The Recorder.
RICHMOND.
WEDNESDAY, May 12th.
LATEST FROM EUROPE.
THE Orlando, captain Eyars, has arrived at Bosten, from Lisbon. He failed on March 22d. A British packet had arrived there in four days from London. This is five or six days later than our last accounts. The grand fleet of thirty sail of the line, failed on May 7th, for the coast of France. It was understood that hostilities would immediately recommence. Fuller accounts will be received in a few days. We think there can be little doubt than war will be renewed.
Some days ago a woman in Richmond was safely delivered of three children. They are said to be remarkably fine infants. Their mother is in want. As men of humanity, we must all be of opinion that she deserves to be relieved. As patriots, we must all be disposed to reward an effort so uncommonly vigorous for the population of Virginia. The smallest sum will be thankfully received by the mayor of the city, Captain Richardson.
Of the three children, two are boys, and the third a girl. She has had other three children, of whom the eldest is at present under four years of age.
MARRIED on Saturday last, Mr. MILLER W. M'CRAW, merchant, to Miss PEGGY TOLER, both of this city.
LONDON, February 25.
GREAT alarm was excited among the merchants of Amsterdam, on the 17th, by the sudden and great fall of the Dutch funds. The subscriptions payable after the peace, fell three per cent. the Reves Provisiones of the loan of 1797, six per cent. and the other funds in
proportion. Some reports respecting the negotiation are stated to have occasioned this fall, which is greater than any that took place at once during the war.
The Moneiteur of the 18th, contains a list of the births, deaths, &c. of the department of Seine, (including Paris) for twelve months. Never was there published a document that gives such an official record of profligacy of manners. The number of legitimate births is 17,566; the number of illegitimate births is 4979. So that the number of bastards is little less than a fourth of the whole! The number of marriages is 4359. The number of divorces 748, or about a fifth. It is needless to comment on such a state of society.
DIVORCE. —Mr. Windham, when he said that French marriages were as loose as the tenure of furnished lodgings, had really too much foundation for what he stated. Mr. Malleville, one of those who drew up the civil code, has published a pamphlet, justifying the author of that work, for having lessened the facilities of divorce. The following extract, from Malleville's book, we think must convince all impartial men of the horrible consequences of relaxing in the prohibition of divorce, and of the unparalleled scandal of making law itself pander to the vices of mankind.
"The fury of divorce, says Malleville, has not ceased for the last ten years. At present it no longer prevails in the case of marriages contracted previously to the nation obtaining this fatal permission. It is, in marriages contracted since, that it rages with the most boundless licence. It is most frequent, in the case of marriages contracted after a divorce . Sometimes divorce takes place when a marriage has existed but for eight days ! A circumstance which ought to excite the most serious reflections is, that the number of marriages in the year 8 (1799, 1800,) was only 3,306, and the number of divorces was 681. In the eleven last months of the year 9 (1800, 1801) the number of marriages was 3,501, and that of divorces 659, so that out of five marriages the chance is, that one will be annulled. Was there ever such a thing heard of amongst nations which have practised divorce since the time when, in the days of fallen, degenerate Rome, the women computed their age, not by the consulship, but by the number of their husbands!"
LONDON, March 8.
A LETTER from Bassora, dated Sept. 4, via Constantinople, says, the Bedowin Arabs, who menaced the followers of Mahomet, in the year 1798, have again appeared in arms on the borders of the desert, where they are joined by immense numbers of Proselytes to their new tenets. Their doctrine is a species of deism, and in decided hostility to the Koran: its first propagator is said to have been assassinated in his camp, and to have been succeeded by his son-in-law, a sanguinary russian, who puts to death all persons within his power, who do not embrace and assist in the establishment of his new religion. Considerable alarm has been excited at Bagdad, and bodies of troops are marching from various quarters in order to oppose the insurgents.
One of the English packets, charged with some important commercial dispatches, has been captured in the Persian Gulph, by a piratical squadron of Dows, commanded by Egwee Ega: The crew of the packet was landed on an uninhabited part of the coast, to the North West of Cambrian, but after great hardships, found their way hither. Egwee is one of the persons concerned in the conspiracy against the life of the emperor, and who, on its discovery, effected his escape. Several armed vessels have been sent in quest of him, and a large reward has been offered for his body, alive or dead.
Zemaun Shaw, according to letters from Surat, dated early in September, was poisoned at a public entertainment;—it is added, that the conspirators had taken refuge in the camp of the insurgents, on the South East frontiers, and who, at the date of these accounts were considerably increased in force. So soon as tranquility is restored in the interior, the India company purpose to send an ambassador to Cabul, with a view, it is stated, of establishing a residency on the frontier of Candahar;—Capt. Malcolm, it is further said, is to be employed on this important occasion.
Extract of a letter from a correspondent to the editor of the Aurora, dated London, February 10.
"Has Buonaparte advanced his reputation or encreased his power? I believe not. In this city, where he had lately thousands of converts, from enemies to admirers, he has shaken opinion from its base, and among those, who have been always candid to acknowledge the greatness of his talents, he has now become an object of aversion. No party here esteems him, and none, I can assure you, dislike him more than those who have been considered by the government as French Jacobins. I derive much consolation and great pleasure here, however, from the sentiments which prevail concerning our own country and government. Mr. Jefferson's conduct, at
which so many inexperienced and viciously disposed men at home have cavilled, has excited here no sentiment but that of admiration yes! unlimited admiration. I have not seen one since my arrival here, (and I have seen many of the old anti-revolutionary Tories,) who did not say that Mr. Jefferson's election had at this time saved America from a war with France. I know not what your opinion is on this particular, but I have more than conjecture to uphold that sentiment.—I have evidence, that pains were taken here to produce that effect."
[IT is certainly a matter of very small concern to the first consul, what the people of London think about him. Their newspapers are constantly teeming with silly splenetic remarks upon his conduct, which, if ever they reach his ears, would be regarded by Buonaparte with ineffable contempt. What has the Corsican done of late to shake opinion from its base ? Does not the whole world know, and has it not long since been known, that he is a bold, able, ambitious man; that he has most eminently promoted the power and prosperity of the republic; and that the domestic peace of France depends, at this time, upon the continuance of his authority? We have already given our idea of his character: "Alike intrepid and cool, enterprising and prudent, silent in his resentment, impenetrable in his designs, superior to every passion but that for the perpetuity of his power, and studious, at once, of his interest and his vengeance."
As for the opinion which is entertained in London about Mr. Jefferson, the admiration, yes! the unlimited admiration, without derogating in the smallest degree from the greatness of his merit, it is certain that the English nation give themselves but very little trouble about it. With a French war hanging over their heads, with a debt of almost six hundred millions sterling, an annual deficit of at least twelve millions sterling, and an insupportable pressure of taxes, their melancholy circumstances afford them but small leisure for thinking of an American president. When Jay's precious treaty was signed at London, the people of Philadelphia were surprised that the king of England, in his next speech to parliament, did not take the least notice of that transaction. We should not like Mr. Jefferson's conduct much the better for its being the object either of French, or British, or Spanish, or of Dutch admiration. We hope that it will deserve the thanks of all those honest men, who put Mr. Jefferson into office, and of all those honest men who attempted to keep him out of it.
The admirer of a mulatto minuet , an apostle of duelling , or an apologist of murder , may perhaps consider this language as apostasy . We feel but very little concern about his opinions.
We have been informed that, on Wednesday morning, the 5th instant, a renowned republican said openly, at the post office, that the writer of this article ought to suffer an ignominious death . If this was really said, we should be glad to hear the gentleman come forward, and assign his reasons for thinking so . We never gave him the smallest offence in thought, word, or deed; but much the contrary.
The same personage remarked, some months ago, that Callender was a rascal ; and that he wished the party well rid of him ! The petulance of a weak or malicious individual shall not drive us from our impartial and independent ground. It is not such men as Callender but of overbearing and arbitrary men, that a political party should rejoice to get rid of.
And what is that enormous, that inextiatic crime, for which one of the editors of this paper ought to suffer an ignominious death ? All Richmond is now convinced that we did not hint, nor with to hint at Skelton Jones, or his duels; for he has been either first or second in two or three. But when he attacked us in the most insolent, the most unprovoked, and the most personal manner, when he called out the writer of this article by name , an answer was drawn up in language at once modest, temperate and firm. He and his brother rejoined with even more than the former impertinence of Skelton Jones. And, by way of bug bear , perhaps, the duel was dragged forward. And because we have presumed to rejoin, the punishment is or ought to be an ignominious death !!
We return to the above extract of a letter . Some time last winter there appeared in one of the Richmond newspapers an article recommending the cultivation of Virginian manufactures. Within a fortnight after, this piece came back upon us, verbatim , in the Aurora , as an extract of a letter from Richmond to a gentleman in Philadelphia !]
NOTE. * Recorder, November 21st.
LIFE BOAT.
The following is the construction of a boat, recommended by the Royal Humane Society, and with great propriety termed a LIFE BOAT . It is used in several parts of England for saving the lives of seamen, &c. in stormy weather.
THE Boat is thirty feet by ten, in form resembling a common Greenland boat, except

the bottom, which is much flatter. She is lined with cork inside and outside of the gunwale, about two feet in breadth, and the seats underneath are filled with cork also. She is rowed by ten men, double backed, and steered by two men with oars, one at each end, both ends being alike. Long poles are provided for the men, to keep the boat from being drove broad side to the shore, either in going off or landing. About six inches from the lower end of the pole, it increases in diameter, so as to form a flat surface against the sand, and be of no use. The weight of the cork used in the boat is 7 cwt. She draws very little water, and when full is able to carry twenty people. The boat is able to contend against the most tremendous sea, and broken water, and never in any one instance has she failed of bringing the crew in distress into safety. The men have no dread of going off with her in the highest sea and broken water. Cork jackets were provided for them, but their confidence in the boat is so great, that they they will not use them.
She has surprised every rational man that has seen her contend with the waves.
The following just and deep observations are copied (from the London Oracle of February 23d.)
There are many reasons for thinking that the first consul wishes to procrastinate, and, in doing so, fatigue his opponents, while he is consolidating and augmenting his own power, and that, when the time is convenient for himself, he will put an end, with a simple word, to all the obstacles, and by concluding the treaty, get Malta, the Cape of Good Hope, and other possessions, put into the situation he desires; after which he will play off a new game, but which, as it is not yet time to begin, he chuses to prepare for by wearying out and exhausting his adversaries. To increase the debt of this country, and hurt her commerce, has long been looked upon as the only means of doing us a real injury; and let the intelligent think and the candid say, whether any more effectual method could be taken than that which is now adopted. It is useless to advert to the usual length of depending negotiations. The present resembles former ones in no circumstance whatever, and let those find excuses for delay who will—we cannot avoid perceiving that that delay was not foreseen nor expected on this side of the water, when the negotiations began. Our enemy is in no haste. We are; he suffers nothing by delay, we do. Peace may be expected under these circumstances, but neither soon, nor precisely on the basis laid down in the preliminaries; for, as Lord Chesterfield observed truly, "the interested and impatient must always "yield something to the cool, indifferent negotiators."
ALEXANDRIA, April 15.
By Capt. Willis, of the Norfolk Packet, we learn, that on Thursday evening last a dispute took place at the theatre in Norfolk, between Mr. Richard Archer, and Mr. Rowse, two young men of that place, in consequence of which a challenge ensued, and they met on Friday morning, when the latter was unfortunately shot dead at the first fire.
FRANKFORT, (Ken.) April 8.
In consequence of the late heavy rain, the water in Kentucky river, has risen upwards of fifty feet above low water mark;—indeed a few days past, the river had been higher than it has ever been known since the first settlement of this place. The great fresh in 1797, did not raise the river to high by twelve or fourteen inches. We fear much damage has been done. The wreck of a flat bottomed boat, surrounded with floating barrels of flour, passed this place last week, and in an attempt to bring it ashore, a man was drowned. On Tuesday last, another wreck passed by, loaded with whiskey, corn, pork, &c. Several barrels of Whiskey and hog's lard were taken up opposite and below the town. A short time before the wreck appeared on Tuesday, a boat passed by, having only a part of the crew on board; and, notwithstanding every exertion was made to bring her to shore, by the hands, assisted by some of our citizens, the rapidity of the current forced her on.
JONESBOROUGH, (State of Tennessee.) Saturday, March 20, 1802.
ON Monday evening last arrived in this town, in custody of the sheriff of Granger, RUSSEL BEAN, on Wednesday he was delivered to the sheriff of this county, and com-
mitted to prison, on Thursday he was admitted to bail, himself in the sum of 5000 dollars, and two sureties in the sum of 2500 each.
About three months since, Mr. Bean upon a supposition of his wife's infidelity resolved on leaving her, and taking with him all his children, except the one then recently born which he contended was not his. His conduct from that period was orderly and becoming a man injured by one he loved, until a few days previous to the time fixed for his departure when he declared, to a couple of gentlemen that, as he was about to take a final leave, he wished to see Mrs. Bean and the child; both the gentlemen accompanied him to the room where it was supposed Mrs. Bean then was. She being out, the child was taken from the cradle and handed to him; after viewing it a few minutes, he declared it was not his. Mrs. Bean, coming in at the instant, declared it was, and burst into tears. Finding his passion rising after a few words, she again quitted the room, upon which he declared, that unless she returned he would cut the child's ears off. One of the gentlemen went to seek her, but before he returned, Mr. Bean in despair of the one who remained, actually put his threats into execution, and cut off both the infant's ears close to its head, affirming at the same time, that no spurious offspring should claim affinity to him without having a mark. A warrant was procured the next day and he was apprehended, but made his escape before they got to town. All after attempts to take him, though detachments of militia were engaged in the search, proved unsuccessful; he embarked down the river, the governor having procured the assistance of the military, at South West Point, whose vigilance prevented all possibility of escape. Mr. Bean determined to return and stand his trial. He surrendered himself to the sheriff of Grainger, who delivered him to the sheriff of this county, &c.
We have been thus minute in this detail to prevent misrepresentations. The child has perfectly recovered, and is now in good health.
(From the same paper.)
MARRIED —On Tuesday last, Mr. John Musgrave of Carter, to Mrs. Sarah Bowman of this county. Of the marriages we have yet recorded, this for novelty is the foremost; it appears that about 27 years since, Mrs. Bowman resided in Mr. Musgrave's family, since when to the wedding day, he never beheld her. He enquired by a friend whether or not she'd marry him. On receiving an affirmative answer, he fixed his cart, set out for her dwelling, married, and moved her home with him.
From the WILMINGTON MIRROR.
It is some time, Sir, since we have seen the zealous Judge, stoop from the bench, to look out for more victims of Judicial Vengeance!
In reply to the foregoing words of Mr. Giles, which evidently allude to the conduct of that pure and immaculate lump of Federalism, yeleped Samuel Chase, Mr. Bayard said—
"The honorable member, has thought himself justified in making a charge of a serious and frightful nature against the Judges. They have been represented, going about searching out victims of the Sedition Law. But no fact has been stated—no proof has been adduced, and the gentleman must excuse me for refusing my belief to the charge, till it is sustained by stronger and better ground, than assertion."
Thus does Mr. Bayard avow his ignorance of a fact which occurred at New Castle in this state, and which is as universally known as the sun-shine, not only in this state, but in most, if not all the states in the union.
Notwithstanding Mr. Bayard's pretended ignorance of this circumstance, we do not believe it possible it should have escaped his ear. In order therefore to refutate the frail memory of our honest mis-Representative, as well as to shew that the charge of Mr. Giles, however 'frightful,' is an incontrovertible fact, which nothing that Mr. Bayard can say, will invalidate, we republish the following questions, put to the Attorney General, and to the Grand Jury, at a Circuit Court held at New Castle, for the district of Delaware, on the 27th June, 1800:—
Have you found no bill, Gentlemen of the Jury!—Mr. Attorney, have you nothing to prefer to the grand Jury?
Att. Gen.—I believe not, Sir. No indictable offence has come under my notice.
J. Ch.—Well, but can't you find something? Have you no person in this state guilty of libelling the government of the United States? I am credibly informed, and report says you have a printer who publishes a very seditious paper in this state; his name is—but stop—perhaps I may commit myself, and do injustice to the man.—Have you not two printers in this state?
Att. Gen.—Yes Sir. J. Ch.—Very well; one of them is said to be a seditious printer, and must be taken notice of. It is part of my duty, and it shall be attended to. It is your business also, Mr. Attorney, to search minutely and constantly into matters of this nature. It is high time, Sir, that the spirit of sedition which prevails among many of our printers should be checked.
Can you not obtain some of this man's papers by to-morrow, and examine, whether he has not libelled the government of the United States? It is your duty, Sir, and it must be done.—If you will enquire, the court will not discharge the Jury.
Att. Gen.—Certainly, Sir, I conceive it my official duty, and will make it my business to enquire.
J. Ch.—What do you say, Sir? Att. Gen.—I will enquire, Sir, by to-morrow.
J. Ch.—Very well. Gentlemen of the Jury, the Court cannot discharge you, I believe, Will it be inconvenient for you to attend here to-morrow?
Foreman.—It will be very inconvenient for many of us, who are farmers—may it please your honor—harvest is at hand, and it is a very busy time.
J. Ch.—It makes no odds, the Court will not discharge you, under the present circumstances. You must be in Court, Gentlemen, to-morrow, at 10 o'clock.—I am determined to have those seditious printers prosecuted to the extremity of the law. The safety and prosperity of the Government depend upon it.
(Such, O Columbia! luckless land, were thy Judges!)
The Jury attended on the 28th; the editor was present; a file of his papers was put into the hands of the Jury, who, in a short time after, returned without finding a bill.
For the truth of the above, we can, and will, if required, produce the testimony, on oath or affirmation, of the most unexceptionable characters. The Republican Printers are requested to give the above a place in their papers; and the Federal Printers would evince a disposition to aid the dissemination of truth, and the correction of error, by giving it likewise.
For the RECORDER
As my name has been introduced in the Examiner, and like wise in the Recorder, relating to subscribers to the latter, and as it appears that there is a misunderstanding, I think myself called on to explain.
About the time when Mr. Callender published his strictures on Mr. Granger, I became a subscriber to the Recorder. I heard many persons, who are considered federalists, express their approbation of those strictures: and I also heard several say that they had, and others that they would subscribe. I told Mr. Callender that these publications would serve him considerably, and from what I heard in different directions, and from individuals I had no doubt that he had or would obtain even more than 12 or 15 federal subscribers, and I now believe that my prediction has been more than verified, though I do not acknowledge that it is so.
This was a subject of conversation between Mr. Skelton Jones and myself, and although I do not recollect the very words in which I expressed myself, yet I have no doubt that they were so clear and strong as to convey the meaning that Mr. Callender had obtained that number of subscribers on that side of the political question.
I never heard Mr. Callender say that he had obtained 12 or 15 federal subscribers, & the explanation which I intended to make to Mr. Callender which is alluded to in the last Recorder was agreeable to the above; and as it appears that I was not understood by him, and the difference between the parties is not of much consequence to either, I hope each will be satisfied with this.
HENRY BANKS.
May 5th 1801. Extract of a letter from a gentleman at Lisbon, dated Feb. 1802.
"A loan has just been negotiated by this government, with the house of Hope and Co. and I. and F. Baring, of London, for one million and a half sterling. This goes to France. The government gave, besides their own security, that of several of the wealthiest individuals in Lisbon."
POSTSCRIPT.
IT has sometimes excited our surprise that the newspapers of the new world, have, in general, taken so little notice of the criminal trials in their courts of justice. In New England, only, the matter has been tolerably attended to.
In the Recorder of the 17th current, there
was inserted a short account of the proceedings of the last district court in Richmond. The editor of the Petersburg Republican has reprinted this article from this paper. He deserves praise for the judgement of this selection.
NEW-YORK, April 15.
To rescue the reputation of a respectable fellow citizen, other matter prepared for this day's paper is set aside to give the earliest insertion from the Evening Post of the following
LAW CASE.
At the General Session of the Peace for the City and County of New-York, on the 10th of April inst. came on to be tried an indictment against Captain Joseph Stark, for grand larceny, in stealing from a Mr. William Sims a passenger on board his vessel, lying at one of the wharfs in this city seventeen hundred dollars, in bank notes.
Mr. Sims deposed that on the 24th of October last, he drew the above sum from one of the Banks, and went from thence directly to the vessel of Captain Stark, on board of which he had taken his passage for Savannah; that on his way to the vessel, he met with a friend with whom he exchanged three hundred dollars of the notes he had taken from the bank, for notes of the Charleston bank one note for a hundred, and four of fifty dollars each. That while in the cabin, the prisoner requested Sims to lend him twenty dollars, which Sims complied with, taking from his pocket a memorandum book which closed with a pencil and took there from a ten dollar note and from his pocket ten more in silver, which he gave to the prisoner that at this time he saw his money. He then desired from the captain a receipt which the witness wrote on one of the leaves of the book on the head of a barrel, and pushed it over to the prisoner to sign, which he did; that the witness then took, shot the pencil in front of it, put it in his pocket and went from the vessel to the house of some person with whom he had business, and there taking out the book for the first time, missed the money, that he returned to the vessel and made enquiries of all the people, but could obtain no information. At the time of the prisoner's signing the receipt, there were two black men present, one by the name of Robert Hall, who were occupied in preparing a store room for some passengers. That he finally believed the captain, and no other person had his money, and that he took it at the time he signed the receipt.
The Attorney General here rested the prosecution. Mr. Washington Morton, of counsel for the prisoner, then offered two witnesses, the first, Robert Hall, who deposed, that he was in the cabin, saw Mr. Sims lend the money to the prisoner, saw the receipt signed, that Mr. Sims never let the book out of his hands, but held fast by one of the covers, between which and the first leaf, Mr. Sims said his money had been, that he saw the prisoner, after signing his name, drop the pen or pencil, he could not determine which and swore positively, that the prisoner had nothing his hand and that if he had then taken the money, he must have seen it; it was impossible he could have taken it, and he not have seen it.
The second witness was Zebulon Houston one of the marshal's of this city who deposed, that he happened to be on board the vessel with a warrant for one of the men, that he was in the cabin at the time of signing the receipt, and though it impossible that the prisoner could have then taken the money, and he not have seen it; that at the time of Mr. Sims taking the book from the head of the barrel, the witness saw some bank notes between the leaf and cover, that the prisoner immediately after the signing of the receipt, left the cabin with the witness. Mr. Morton was then proceeding to call other witnesses, when one of the marshals informed him that he had seen the first witness for the prisoner, a few days before, with

wards of a thousand dollars in Bank notes, and some Charleston paper, corresponding with that, described by Mr. Sims, and that he observed, that the moment Hall had perceived him in court, he had left it with precipitation. Hall was thereupon searched for, but was not to be found, and officers were dispatched in pursuit of him. Further intimations being given that Mr. Roberts, the deputy clerk of the ten pound court, had seen him also, with a large sum of money, Mr. R. was sent for, and deposed, that Hall had been some time before, in his court upon some suit, and displaying a large sum of money, in a very careless way, he advised him to deposit it in some place of safety, to which Hall acceded, and Mr. R. accompanied him to the Manhattan Bank, when he deposited 600 dollars, but the bank refused to take 300 dollars, that he had in Charleston paper, one note of 100 dollars, and four of 50 each.
Upon this evidence the Attorney General declared his firm conviction of the prisoner's innocence, and the court being of that opinion, as well as the jury captain Starks was immediately acquitted.
A few moments after, the officers returned with Hall, who after some coercion confessed the whole affair, that as Sims lifted the book from the head of the cask, the money dropped out, which after the captain and Mr. Sims left the cabin he picked up, and put into his pocket, and then went on shore and concealed it. A bill of indictment was prepared and sent to the grand jury, which happened to be sitting, upon which Hall was arraigned; a plea of Not Guilty, being recorded for him, his trial was proceeded in, and after hearing the testimony, the jury, without retiring from the bar, found him Guilty, and the court sentenced him to five years imprisonment at hard labour in the State Prison.
This statement has been drawn up, in order by making it public, as far as possible to vindicate the reputation of capt. Starks, which suffered from having been brought to answer a charge so criminal in its nature, and of which, as the event has manifested, he was perfectly innocent. And it is requested of every printer who can spare a place in his paper, to have the goodness to insert it, thereby by extending the evidence which was thus providentially interposed, to exonerate a worthy and respectable citizen, not only from punishment, but from the slightest shade of suspicion.
It may be proper to add, that Mr. Riker, the district attorney, has examined the above relation and sanctions its publication.
New York, April 13.
OBSERVATIONS
ON THE TAX ON MERCHANTS,
Respectfully submitted to the consideration of the General Assembly of Virginia.
(Continued from our last.)
Nor ought it to be forgotten, that this tax, in falling more heavily on the poor than on the rich, is, for that reason more oppressive on the native than on the foreigner. The foreign merchants, generally, possess larger capitals, or are connected with merchants beyond seas, who possess larger capitals than the natives of this country. By the former therefore the tax is much less felt than by the latter.
DOES the state of Virginia mean, for ever to pursue a policy, by which men, of small property, by which natives, shall be excluded from the trade of their own country?*
* The delays in the administration of justice, and the exemption of lands from the payment of debts, are supposed, like the present tax to be more injurious to the small trader, than to the rich merchant, and such is the fact. The natives do not generally succeed in trade, as well as their foreign rivals, who either rich, or backed by rich foreign connections, are better able to bear the delays
It has been before stated that this tax operates almost universally as a duty: but there are cases in which it operates, as a poll tax only, and in which retribution, never can be obtained. There are merchants and companies of merchants who seldom import, and who never retail. Their business lies principally, in buying, selling and shipping the produce of the country for themselves, or for others on commission. Occasionally however they receive from their correspondents abroad consignments of a few valuable articles, to dispose of by wholesale. For the privilege of performing a friendly act, perhaps of selling a few pipes of wine, a tax of forty dollars must be paid to the public, altho' the commission may be insufficient to discharge it. Upon a statement like this, a comment is unnecessary.
Perhaps in the business which is done in this country, in selling foreign goods, on commission, the only exceptions will be found, to the general rule, that a tax on merchants is a duty on goods. In sales of this description, as the proceeds, whatever they may be, belong to the consignor, the tax seems to fall entirely on the agent. Perhaps too it may be said that the tax operates in the same way on importers; who sell their goods at a fixed advance, on the invoice price, and cannot distribute the comparatively small sum of forty dollars on £10,000 sterling worth of merchandise, even if they were disposed to do so. This is not believed to be correct. The majority of importers are retailers also, and even where they are not, it might be easily shown, that the gross amount of the tax paid by importers has an effect on the sales, and makes its way in some shape or other to the goods sold. But it is immaterial whether the last suggestion is correct or not, if the tax does fall on the merchandise, it is as before said a duty, and as before proved the Legislature, upon that ground have no right to impose it. If on the other hand it be true, that it falls on the importer only, the injustice of the law is greater than was supposed: while two constitutional objections that have been urged retain all their force. The injustice is greater than was supposed, because if the tax operates as a capitation tax on the importers, but as a duty only, with respect to retailers, the law deserves reprobation; not only for selecting a particular class of society for taxation, but for bearing harder on one part of that class than on the other. Nor will the admission of the doctrine that a tax on importers is not a duty on merchandise, which however is not admitted, impair in any degree, the force of the arguments urged in the first part of this address, with a view to show, that such a tax is prohibited by those clauses of the Constitution, which place the import-revenue of the general Government beyond the control of the state Legislatures, and, give to Congress an exclusive jurisdiction in all matters of a commercial nature.
This law is a direct violation of the first and fundamental principle of taxation, as laid down by the most intelligent writers in political science. "The members of every community ought to contribute to the wants of the state in proportion to their ability." * It will not be said that the tax in question has the least relation to the property, or revenue of the payer, and it must therefore be admitted to be defective in this essential point." † But it has been said, and no doubt was said, when the law in question was passed, that unless merchants are taxed in this way, they do not contribute to the wants of the state, in proportion to their ability. The conclusive answer to this is, that, after this tax is imposed, they will not contribute in proportion to their ability, "and that there is no plan practicable in a free country, or in any country, by which they can be made to do so."
The attempt to proportion the tax
and losses incident in this state to mercantile business.
* Smith, 2. 488. Young 2. 480.
† Young.
* Smith 2. 381. Young 2. 481.
to the ability of the payer, will always prove abortive, and could not succeed, though aided by an inquisition in trade, scarcely less detestable, than an inquisition in matters of religion. ‡ But although merchants do not pay, and never can be made to pay, in the ratio of their income, yet it may be said with truth, that they bear their full share of the public burthens. They actually advance to the general government nearly ten millions a year, and though this money, except where bad debts are made, is finally returned, the pressure of Custom house bonds, from their amount, from their perpetual recurrence, and still more from the necessity of payment at the day, is always sensibly, and sometimes, severely, felt.
The merchants of this country not only advance, for duties to government, nine-tenths of the money received at the Treasury of the United States, for the payment of which great sacrifices are frequently made, but contribute a very considerable sum, in consequence of the stamp law, which operates on them with peculiar force ‡.
When in addition to this, it is remarked that merchants pay, on their visible and taxable property, the same taxes, which are paid by others, surely it must be admitted, that they will not stand on better ground, than the other classes of society, even after they shall be discharged from the requisition, which for four years they have borne, without uttering a murmur, that government could hear. The justice of this observation will appear, by an appeal to actual experience. The industrious farmer or planter in Virginia, has never failed to acquire wealth, and in the midst of his labour, has enjoyed the blessing, the inestimable blessing of independence. On the other hand, the active merchant is devoted to perpetual toil, to ceaseless anxiety, to great and humiliating vicissitudes, and often to bankruptcy, and irremediable ruin.
The foregoing reasoning has always had great influence in countries where any attention is paid to the interests or convenience of the people. Even in Great Britain, involved in wars and oppressed with debt as she has been, a tax like the present has never been imposed until a very late date. About the year 1759, the attempt was made. A period of war was selected for the purpose, and it was urged, that as the war was undertaken, in defence of the trade of the country, the merchants who profited by it, ought to contribute to its support; but the project was abandoned, by government, because it was found that the
‡ Smith 2. 381. Young 2. 481, expresses this opinion in the most decisive language.
|| The duties on stamps for the year 1800, produced the nett sum of 209,853 dollars 32 cents, and according to the estimate of the Secretary of the Treasury will produce from the first of January 1802, to the fourth of March, 1803, 260,000 dollars. (See Gallatin's report to the present Congress.) The act of Congress, passed on the 14th of July 1798, for laying and collecting a direct tax of two millions, fixed the proportion of Virginia at 345,488 dollars 66 cents; that is to say, rather more than one sixth of the whole tax. Now if the people of Virginia paid the same proportion of the stamp tax, though it is by no means asserted that they did, they paid for stamps, exclusive of the charges for collection, which are perhaps 20 per cent. rather more than 34,742 dollars in the year 1800; of this sum it is impossible to ascertain what the merchants paid; but it could have been hardly less than four fifths. If this conjecture (for it is nothing more) is near the truth, the merchants of the state of Virginia paid, in the year 1800, a direct tax of nearly 30,000. Compare this tax with the amount of taxes paid by the whole state, which amounted for the year 1800, to 278,634 dollars, and it cannot be denied, that the mercantile interest, under the pressure of the stamp law alone, sustains its full portion of the weight of the public burthens.
tax if uniform, would be oppressive and unjust, and if proportioned, tyrannical. The means of fixing the proportion would have been insupportable in a free country. † Can the Government of Virginia, at this enlightened period, have recourse to a tax which was avoided forty years ago, on the ground of injustice and oppression by the Monarchy of Great Britain!
After the vast accumulation of the national debt, occasioned by the American war, the attempt to revive the shop tax as it was called, was made by Mr. Pitt, and succeeded. But says the Historian, ‡ for this tax which was singularly obnoxious, the shop keepers received a recompense at the expence of a friendless and unprotected description of men, by a measure inhuman and utterly indefensible. ‡
Can the Legislature of Virginia at this period of tranquillity, after seventeen years of peace, and after the payment of transfer, to the Union of our debts, continue a tax, which seemed to be one of the last resources of a people apparently sinking, under the enormous burthens with which monarchy and war have long threatened to overwhelm them?
In another point of view, the law seems highly exceptionable. In a free country, every man, should be at liberty to pursue, that course of life, which he deems best suited, to his talents, his industry, or his finances. This idea is recognized, if not plainly expressed, in the first section of our bill of rights. The law therefore which prohibits a particular class of men from pursuing the means of gaining a maintenance for themselves and their families, until they have paid for the privilege, is neither just in itself, nor congenial with the spirit of the constitution, nor consistent with the enlarged and liberal principles of the present day.
The preceding observations, from causes, which it is not necessary to mention, are probably deficient both in perspicuity and force; but the purpose of the writer will be answered, if they serve to turn the attention of the Legislature to a subject, which merits, and no doubt will receive their serious consideration. The result is anticipated with some confidence. The Legislature of Virginia, if their character is not greatly misconceived by the writer, will not persevere in error, on the contrary, it is believed that they will without hesitation avail themselves of the opportunity which now presents itself, of manifesting their love of justice, and their respect for the constitution of the United States, of proving to the people of America, that in their construction of the federal compact, they do not allow to themselves a latitude for assuming which, they solemnly, and let it be added most justly, denounced the late administration.
† Belsham: Geo. 3d. 4. 60 and 61.
‡ Hawkers, and pedlars constitute the description of men here alluded to by the benevolent author of the memoirs of George the 3d. These poor people are treated almost as cavalierly in Virginia as in Great Britain. For the privilege of travelling about the country on foot, with an immense burthen on their shoulders, they pay at the commencement of their business 20 dollars and 25 cents. Is not this inhuman? Is it not enough that a licence cannot be obtained until satisfactory proof is given to a court of honesty and good demeanor. Must an honest man, because he is poor pay 20 dollars to the Government, while his neighbour, who can afford to keep a little shop, may be as great a knave as he pleases, behind a counter for fifteen.
The time is not far off, it is to be hoped, when our system of taxation will be thoroughly revised. The poor rates are a great and increasing grievance.
The tax on poor people is a greater grievance. Taxation should cease after it has descended to a certain grade of property. But upon this subject at this time, a hint only can be expressed.
|| The measure here alluded to is the revocation of the licence granted to hawkers and pedlars.
[Concluded, from our last.]