The recorder, or, Lady's and gentleman's miscellany (Richmond, Va.), 1802-03-06 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 SATURDAY Morning. Subscription Two Dollars per annum. SATURDAY, MARCH 5, 1802.
JOHN PUMFREY, BOOK-BINDER & STATIONER, RICHMOND.
BEGS Leave to make this public Acknowledgement of the Obligations he is under to his Friends and the Public, for the Encouragement he has hitherto received in the Line of his Business; and having taken every Measure in his Power to deserve it, hopes to have continued to him an equal Portion of their Favors in future.
He has lately received from London, Philadelphia, and New York, In addition to his former Stock in Trade, a large and general Assortment of
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Account Books ruled to any Pattern. Orders faithfully executed; and Book-Binding of every Description performed with Fidelity and Dispatch. Richmond, Jan. 1, 1802. N. B. It is earnestly requested, that should there be any Claims against the Concern of CURRIE and PUMFREY, they may be brought in for adjustment; and, those indebted thereto, are solicited to some forward, and close their Accounts. JOHN PUMFREY, Surviving Partner
BOOKS:
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At the RECORDER OFFICE: viz.
 1. CAMPAIGN of General Buona-parte, in Italy, 1 vol. boards.  2. Mr. James Roland's Appeal to impartial Posterity, 2 vol.  3. Dilworth's Schoolmaster's Assistant  4. An Impartial History of the Revolution of France, from the Accession of the Constitution of 1791, to the Execution of the Deputies of the Gironde Party, 2 vols.  5. Watt's Miscellanies,  And a Variety of Play-Books.
The Laws of Virginia,
TO BE PRINTED
By SAMUEL PLEASANTS, Jua. 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 Potomac, the James River, and other Companies.
This edition will also comprehend the Compact with the State of Maryland, respecting the River Potomac; 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.
Revised Code.
THE Publishers of the new edition of "The REVISED CODE of the LAWS of VIRGINIA," had advertised that the subscription for this work was to close on the first of March. They have since found it advisable to keep the Subscription open till further notice, as a number of copies of the printed proposals, which had been sent into the country, for the purpose of collecting Subscribers, have not yet been received back; and while the editors are accepting of lists of Subscribers from different parts of the State, they do not consider it as proper to decline the acceptance of Names in Richmond.
It has already been observed, that this edition will be rendered much more valuable than the former, by the addition of the Statutes of a public nature of EIGHT succeeding Sessions. In these, a considerable number of the Laws, inserted in the former edition have been revised, altered, or repealed. The whole will now be comprehended within a single volume, whereas the possessors of the former edition can only have recourse to them, at the expence of purchasing the entire sets of the Laws of all the former Sessions; of which an immense majority are of a private nature. Of course, these are totally uninteresting to magistrates, or lawyers; and besides the expence of the purchase, they are of a very unmanageable bulk.
To Printers.
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A WHITE PRESSMAN,
Who has been regularly brought up to the Press, in the Book Line. None else need apply, as the work he is to be employed upon will require both the dexterity and neatness, of which a good workman only can be capable.
Any person who has this may suit, will meet with constant and certain employment, for five or six months (or perhaps longer) by applying at H. Pace's Printing-Office, City of Richmond.
Letter (post paid) addressed as above, duly answered.
N. B. The Newsprinters of Baltimore will oblige a brother type, by inserting this advertisement. Richmond, Feb. 13.
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To the Printing Business,
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Apply at this Office.
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Next to the SWAN TAVERN, Stock-Hill, RICHMOND,
TAKES this Method of soliciting the Patronage of the Inhabitants of this City, and the Public in general; and assures them, that they may depend on his utmost exertions to secure a continuation of those Favors which his Employers may think proper to confer upon him.
Every Article in the above line performed in the neatest Style, and on the most reasonable Terms.
WM. M'CAY,
CLOCK & WATCH-MAKER, MAIN-STREET, RICHMOND,
RESPECTFULLY informs his Friends, and the Public in general, that he continues to carry on the Clock and Watch-Making Business in Part of the House occupied by JAMES COLLETT, Brooches Maker, where all Orders from the Country will be punctually attended to.
A Variety of Watches, Watch Chains, Keys, Trunks, &c.
CALEB WILLIAMS.
[Continued from our last.]
MRS. Jakeman could not bear the uneasy state of suspense in which this conversation left her mind, and went immediately to the squire to have her doubts resolved. The manner in which she proposed the question sufficiently indicated the judgement she had formed of the match in question.
That is true, said Mr. Tyrrel, I wanted to speak to you about this affair. The girl has got unaccountable notions in her head, that will be the ruin of her. You perhaps can tell where she had them. But, be that as it may, it is high time something should be done. The shortest way is the best, and to keep things well while they are well. In short, I am determined she shall marry this lad; you have a good deal of influence with her, and I desire, do you see! that you will employ it to lead her to her good: you had best, I can tell you. She is a pert vixen! By and by she would be a whore, and at last no better than a common trull, and rot upon a aughill, if I were not at all these pains to save her from destruction. I would make her an honest farmer's wife, and my pretty miss cannot bear the thoughts of it!
In the afternoon Grimes came according to appointment, and was left alone with the young lady. Well, miss, said he, it seems the squire has a mind to make us man and wife. For my part, I cannot say I should have thought of it. But, being as how the squire has broke the ice, if so be as you like of the match, why I am your man. Say the word, a nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse; and then, do you see, why there is no more to be said.
Emily mustered up her spirits, and began, though with hesitation, to thank Mr. Grimes for his good opinion, but to confess that she could never be brought to favor his address. She therefore intreated him to desist from all farther application. This remonstrance on her part would have become more intelligible, had it not been for his boisterous manners and extravagant cheerfulness, which indisposed him to silence, and made him suppose that at half a word he had a sufficient intimation of another's meaning. Mr. Tyrrel in the mean time took care to interrupt the scene before they could have time to proceed far in explanation, and was studious in the sequel to prevent the young folks from being too intimately acquainted with each other's inclination. Grimes of consequence attributed all the reluctance of miss Melville to maiden coyness, and the skittish shyness of an unbroken colt. Indeed had it been otherwise, it is not probable that it would have made any effectual impression upon him; as he was always accustomed to talk of women as made for the recreation of the men, and to exclaim against the ill-judged weakness of people who taught them to imagine that they were entitled to judge for themselves.
As the suit proceeded and miss Melville saw more of her new admirer, her antipathy increased. But, though her character was unspoiled by those false wants which frequently make people of family miserable, while they have every thing that nature requires within their reach, yet she had been little used to opposition, and was really terrified by
the growing sternness of her kinsman. Sometimes she thought of flying from a house which was now become her dungeon: but the habits of her youth, and her ignorance of the world, made her shrink from this project when she contemplated it more nearly. Mrs. Jakeman indeed could not think with patience of young Grimes as a husband for her darling Emily, but her prudence determined her to resist with all her might the idea on the part of the young lady of proceeding to extremities. She could not believe that Mr. Tyrrel would persist in such an unaccountable persecution, and she exhorted miss Melville to forget for a moment the unaffected independence of her character, and pathetically to deprecate Mr. Tyrrel's obstinacy. She had great confidence in the ingenuous eloquence of her ward. Mrs. Jakeman did not know what was passing in the mind of the tyrant.
Miss Melville complied with the suggestion of her mama. One morning immediately after breakfast she went to the harpsichord, and played one after another several of those airs that were most the favorites of Mr. Tyrrel. Mrs. Jakeman was retired; the servants were gone to their respective employments. Mr. Tyrrel would have gone also; his mind was untuned, and he did not take the pleasure he had been accustomed to take in the musical performances of Emily. But her finger was now more skilful than common. Her mind was probably wrought up to a firmer and bolder tone by the recollection of the cause she was going to plead, at the same time that it was exempt from those incapacitating tremors which would have been felt by one that dared not look poverty in the face. Mr. Tyrrel was unable to leave the apartment. Sometimes he traversed it with impatient step; then he hung over the poor innocent whose powers were exerted to please him; at length he threw himself in a chair opposite, with his eyes turned towards Emily. It was easy to trace the progress of his emotions. The furrows into which his countenance was contracted were gradually relaxed; his features were brightened into a smile; the kindness with which he had upon former occasions contemplated Emily seemed to revive in his heart.
Emily watched her opportunity. As soon as she had finished one of the pieces, she rose and went to Mr. Tyrrel.
Now have I not done it nicely! And after all this will not you give me a reward?
A reward! Ay, come here, and I will give you a kiss.
Pooh! no, that is not it. And yet you have not kissed me this many a day. Formerly you said you loved me, and called me your Emily. I am sure you did not love me better than I loved you. You would not make me miserable, would you?
Miserable! how can you ask such a question? But have a care! Do not put me out of humour. Do not come with any of your romantic notions now.
No, no, I had no romantic notions in my head. I want to speak to you about something upon which the happiness of my life depends.
I know what you would be at. Be silent. You know it is to no purpose to plague me with your stubbornness. You will not let me be in good humour with you for a moment. What my mind is determined on about Grimes, all the world shall not move me to give up.
To be continued.

EUROPE.
After a storm comes a calm, says the proverb. After the mountains of military intelligence that Europe has, for the last ten years, heaped upon us, there succeeds an auspicious interval of barren tranquility. An extract, real or fictitious, of a letter from Paris, dated December 7th, affirms that the United States are, by treaty, to receive no compensation for the seizure of their vessels by the republic. What foundation there is for this report, we must leave time to determine. There is another extract of a letter dated Algeziras, December 21st, which says that the United States frigate has captured a Tripolitan brig, with two hundred men. One piece of intelligence very interesting to this country is that the French are about to take possession of Louisiana. There is nothing else in the arrivals, that merits notice.
HOME NEWS.
By a report of the secretary of the treasury, presented to congress, it appears that the exports of the United States amounted, for the year ending on Sept. 30th, 1801, to NINETY THREE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS! More of this hereafter. In our last we mentioned that, on the 19th ult. Mr. Bayard spoke three hours and an half on the Judiciary Bill. On the following day, it is said that he spoke three hours more. This makes six hours and an half. The quantity of words which he must in that time have pronounced, would require at the least, five or six pages of the largest Newspaper. We omit various pieces of small news; and among the rest four duels. See next Saturday's Recorder.
MARRIED
On Saturday last, WILLIAM MUMFORD, esq. of Mecklenburg County, a very distinguished Member in the last General Assembly, to the amiable Miss SARAH RADFORD, daughter of William Radford, esq. of this city.
POST OFFICE.
UPON the 16th of January last, Mr. Gideon Granger, the new postmaster general, addressed a letter to Mr. J. Hobby, postmaster of Augusta, in the state of Georgia. He therein informs Mr. Hobby that he was to dispense in future with his services. For this, Mr. Granger gave two reasons. The first was that Mr. Hobby was a newsprinter; and that newsprinters have often a temptation to suppress news for a time, in order to promote their own interest at the expence of their rivals. On this account, Mr. Granger has determined that, unless in some particular cases, where necessity requires it, no printer of a newspaper shall be accepted, as a postmaster. He has refused a variety of applications of this kind from republican printers.
This letter affords a wide field for observation. Mr. Granger tells Mr. Hobby that there are "two great classes of citizens, who are designated by the terms of FEDERALISTS and REPUBLICANS." There was no great occasion for this remark, which only tends to keep wounds open, which had much better be closed. This language is the more unexpected, because Mr. Jefferson, in his address to congress, upon entering into office, had said "we are all federalists; we are all republicans."
This is not the only passage, in which the postmaster general betrays a disposition to rip up old scars. He says that "most of the officers under him, from their official stations, had been in the habits of allocating and corresponding, as well on politics, as on business, with those lately in authority, from whom the people had withdrawn their confidence; and devoted to office men whose political principles they believed better calculated to preserve the constitution, and public prosperity." He assigns all this as a reason for the removal of Mr. Hobby. And pray, Sir, if Mr. Hobby did, correspond upon politics, with the president, or any other public officer, was he not entitled to do so? Is this to be assigned as a reason for the dismissal of a postmaster? Had you not sense enough to see that Mr. Jefferson, and indeed every prudent man among the republicans, as you exclusively call them, will be extremely concerned at the avowal of such inflammatory sentiments? We are certain, Sir, that, long before this time, you have been informed from more quarters than one that you were not devoted, in order that you might write such letters as this. It does not become you to say that the people have withdrawn their confidence. In the senate, the federal party are still almost as numerous as the republicans. In the other house, they have a minority of about four to six. A very great majority of the citizens have adopted the republican side, and who dares to blame them for exercising their right of choice? But still a numerous
party, a party, every one of whom is as much one of the people as yourself, adhere to what is called the federal party.
We have been the more pointed upon this head, because we are satisfied that the newspapers opposed to the new administration will not fail to make a handle of Mr. Granger's letter, and raise a hue and cry about persecution. Such irritation should, if possible, be checked in the birth; and the indiscretion of an individual ought not to be charged upon the government, or their friends at large.
Mr. Hobby answered this epistle by another, dated Augusta, February 1st. 1802. He therein has many severe observations upon this conceit of preventing a postmaster from corresponding upon politics, with whom he thinks proper. As to himself, he denies the charge. "Yet," says he, "I by no means assent to the opinion you seem to have adopted, that, in our country, it is improper for any free citizens to correspond with the officers of their government on political subjects; and if it is the determination of the present administration to deprive them of this right, I have no hesitation in assuring you I am one among the number of those not disposed to relinquish it."
There is much more to this effect. Mr. Hobby's letter is very well written, and we are persuaded that, in his cooler moments, Mr. Granger will be very sorry for this unguarded burst of official self importance.
NOTES.
§ We have already warned the reader that this word is used merely for the sake of distinction, without the least intention of intermeddling with the relative merit of any party. ¶ We have the best authority for saying that the present government abhors any such thought.
From the LONDON ORACLE, Nov. 10.
The following is the state of the national debt for eight years, ending January 5, 1800:
   Year ending 5th of Jan. 1793 1794 1795 1796 1797 1798 1799 1800     Total amount. L. 238,221,257 244,481,257 260,157,782 285,757,679 327,071,278 397,074,046 431,084,046 463,833,290  
But this does not include the imperial loans of 6,220,000L. for imperial annuities for a term of years, of 280,000L. nor the long and short annuities: Nor the loan for the service of the year 1801, being 28 millions in the 3 per cent. ann. about
50,000,000 L. 529,934,488
There is also the amount of unfunded debt, and demands outstanding on exchequer bills, treasury, army, barracks, ordnance, navy, and civil list advances. But the exact account is not known; it is about thirty millions.
Thus the national debt may be fairly estimated at about 500,000,000L. considerably more than double what it was at the end of the American war. It appears, however, above, that the increase of our trade has more than kept pace with the accumulation of the debt.†
NOTE.
† About four years before the late war, the public debt of England, as stated by Sir John Sinclair, came to somewhat more than two hundred and fifty millions sterling. The British ministry have ever since been paying off, as they pretend, prodigious sums of it annually. In spite of all this, however, the debt has increased, in nine years of war, from two hundred and fifty millions sterling to five hundred and sixty millions. The augmentation amounts to three hundred and ten millions, which is sixty millions more than a duplication of the old debt. The increase of the debt then, when divided equally among each of these nine years, extends to thirty four millions, four hundred and forty four thousand four hundred and forty four pounds eight shillings and ten pence halfpenny, and a fraction sterling, per annum.
The writer of the above paragraph in the Oracle says that the increase of British commerce has more than kept pace with this augmentation of the public debt. If he means to say that the increase of trade has been more than a compensation for this additional debt, his assertion is exceedingly groundless; and if there is one man in England, or elsewhere, who can believe his doctrine, that man has no title to laugh at the negroes of Whidah worshipping a serpent, or the fanatics of ancient Egypt adoring a cat, or a bunch of onions.
We are satisfied, however, that the writer himself does not give the smallest credit to his affirmation. But the great loss in writing is that an author dares not, once in perhaps an hundred times, to tell all which he knows to be true; and be very often finds it necessary to
suppress that part of the story, which, above all others, it most eminently concerns the public to know. Every government, and every political party, contains a certain number of characters, whose interest and business it is to deceive and pillage the people. These beings are as much afraid of truth, as a certain king of Scotland was of a drawn sword. And accordingly, they hunt down every one, as a common enemy, who ventures to publish it.
Thus standing the case, we need not wonder that all wise men are afraid of telling too much truth, and avoid, as far as they can, the violence of popular resentment. This is the reason why our histories, in general, prove to be such romances. David Hume, for example, has, in a great number of instances, distorted, softened, or suppressed, the most notorious facts; and the same is the case with almost all historians of all ages and nations.
The prudence of suspending the publicity of important intelligence cannot be better exemplified, than in the case of Mr. Madison, the present secretary of state. He was a member of the convention that formed the federal constitution. He kept a regular journal of their proceedings and debates. The abilities of the writer, and the immense interest attached to the subject, cannot fail of rendering this journal curious and instructive. The author, however, has thought proper to keep it behind the curtain; and his friends do not expect that it will be published till after his death. By that time, the importance of its contents must, in a great measure, be extinguished. The actors will have passed off the stage, as many of them have done already; and unless, as a matter of curiosity, their characters and principles will be of no concern to the world. But if Mr. Madison had been so rash as to publish this book during his life-time, he must have expected to spend the rest of his days in a state of incessant warfare. On this account, he very wisely chose to keep his ideas to himself.
We have stated, that it is the object of "The Recorder" to be as impartial as possible; although we are previously certain that this impartiality cannot fail of giving frequent offence to many interested, or ignorant people. The editors of this paper have no personal obligations to any party, although they are willing, if necessary, to contend occasionally for political principles.
We had almost forgot the subject with which we set out, that is, the amount of the national debt of England. The profits of all the commerce of Europe would not afford a premium of thirty-four millions and an half sterling per annum. The amount of the whole annual exports of England has risen within the last nine years from about eighteen or twenty millions sterling to perhaps thirty millions, or somewhat more.† Thus, you are to sell a guinea's worth of goods in the Brick Row, and to pay a second guinea for their passage to Rockats. If this be a lucrative pursuit, then it is possible that England may have been a gainer by the present war.
But besides the debt of three hundred and ten millions sterling, you must consider as loss, all that this capital could have produced by its employment in domestic improvements, such as bridges, canals, and high roads, the paving and widening of streets, the draining of marshes, the fertilizing of corn fields, and ten thousand other purposes, on which it might have been expended. All these improvements would have paid a handsome interest for the capital sunk upon them, instead of which the money has been wasted upon armies and navies, and not one penny's worth of the property will come back to the country.
Take in also the expence of collecting the taxes that pay the interest of this enormous debt; and the worth of perhaps two hundred thousand valuable lives that have been lost in the course of the war; besides the lives of many thousands of poor people that have died of hunger, on account of the dearth of provisions. Then comes the capture of some thousands of British merchant vessels, by the enemy's privateers, the immense property seized in those vessels, and the deluge of bankruptcies which have attended them. The Irish revolt must be placed to the same account, with all its legion of calamities, and of horrors.
With these facts before us, let any one judge whether the temporary augmentation of British commerce can be regarded as equalling even one twentieth part of the miseries of the war.
The military transactions of all other countries, defensive wars excepted, are conducted upon principles quite as absurd and destructive, as those of England; so that no peculiar blame is here to be annexed to the politics of that nation.
NOTE.
† It is generally understood that the return of peace will reduce this amount to its former level.
LONDON, December 9.
The British subjects, holders of property in France, dispatched last week to Amiens, Mr. Walter Boyd, jun. a partner in the late Banking House of Boyd, Ker and Co. at Paris, with memorials for Lord Cornwallis, in order to have their claims taken into consideration, and stipulated for in the definitive treaty. The committee of the British claimants have
been informed by the bankers at Paris, that the French government propose to give to such of them as are stockholders an inscription on the great book of the republic for a third of their debt, and that they must submit to the loss of the dividends become due for ten years past, which being equal to 50 per cent. is, in fact, a loss on a supposed capital of 300. of 88 per cent. viz.
   The original capital, £. 300   Interest, or dividends, for ten years, 150   450   Payment offered in inscriptions, one third of the capital, 100, now equal to 55  
Loss to the British subject, £. 395. At the same time, the French holder of British stock has received not only the whole of his stock, but even the dividends accruing upon them; and we know a merchant of the first eminence in Broad-street, whom we forbear to name, who, last week, restored to the house of Vendemyer, of Paris, more than 50,000L. for stock and dividends, in his hands, to their full amount during the war. The same has been done by the Thellussans, and every other great house, which have hastened to procure licenses to pay in full those friends, for whom they hold British stock. This acknowledgement is due to the honor of those houses, and to the public faith of this country.
The French government has at last offered to discharge the debt incurred for the maintenance of French prisoners in England, by six instalments of a month each; and, with certain exceptions, this mode of adjustment has been accepted by our government.†
NOTE.
† The sufferings of Mr. Walter Boyd, and of other stock-jobbers in the French funds, will excite but small sympathy, when we consider that this kind of people were the prime movers of the present war. Neither the harangues of Mr. Pitt, nor the votes of the house of commons, could have supported its expence for eighteen months, if they had not found a resource in those immense loads of paper which this Mr. Boyd, and other agents of the same kind found means to circulate for them. If the French, therefore, clip the wings of their property in the French funds, it is only what the Parliament of England will, perhaps, one day do. David Hume who was not only a violent Monarchist, but even a violent Jacobite, gives a hint of this kind in one of his additional notes to the edition of the History of England, which was published just after his death. He recommends, that the public debt of England should be discharged with a sponge. He says, that this would only purchase the welfare of millions, with the ruin of thousands.
REMARKS
Upon the Speech of Governor Morris.
IT is very difficult for a newsprinter to forbear from taking a party in the political world. In commencing our observations on the JUDICIARY BILL, there was given a short, but comprehensive summary of what was said and felt by each party, at the time of passing the law which is about to be repealed. All impartial persons must agree, that there is considerable weight in the arguments upon both sides of the question. Thirty-one senators assemble. They are, as far as we can tell, gentlemen of equal integrity and abilities. They debate for weeks together. They finally decide, by a majority of sixteen votes against fifteen. Now, it would certainly be the height of presumption, for any person, on the first blush of the business, to say that these fifteen members must be in the wrong, because they are in the minority. It would be just as silly to say, that they must be in the right, because they are truly federal. Neither shall we repeat the old song, about the death of the constitution; because both parties have affirmed, and are in the constant habit of affirming, that their adversaries have given this constitution a thousand blows. And till we know that the young lady, who is now in the fourteenth year of her age, appears to be in perfect health and vigour; and, as far as we can guess, the bids fair to rival the longevity of Methusalem. Several bodies of citizens have addressed congress both in favor of the bill, and against it; and some of its most violent enemies are to be found among the republicans. In such a division what are we to do? Has governor McKean, a lawyer of the first class, forgot the meaning of the constitution? Is Mr. Alexander Dallas, an elegant writer, an impressive orator, and a very amiable man, to be told that he has deserted the republican cause, on account of his opposition to this republican bill? He has just now been made federal attorney general for Pennsylvania; and he is one of the last persons upon earth who can be suspected of a disposition to quarrel with the present reigning party.
"I always thought," says one of our correspondents, "that you had been good republicans at bottom. But behold! you have attacked Mr. Breckenridge, who wrote with so much firmness against the sedition act."—We did not attack the senator of Kentucky till he had attacked himself, and republican principles into the bargain.

We have only been defending the Mr. Breckenridge of ninety-eight , against his antagonist the Mr. Breckenridge of eighteen hundred and two .
"But," says another correspondent, "you promised to be impartial, and yet you are condemning Mr. Morris, whose speech has been celebrated as a most brilliant specimen of eloquence?" Our censure is not indiscriminate. Mr. Morris has one or two very good strokes in the first of his two speeches; and we shall do them justice.
Mr. Breckenridge had stated as an argument against the additional number of judges, that very little business came before them. Mr. Morris sets out with some ironical encomiums upon this mode of argument; and yet nothing can be plainer, or come more exactly to the point. What is the use for establishing a court, if there is no business to come before it? And is not the court which decides a thousand causes per annum ten times more useful than that which decides but an hundred of the same degree of consequence? Mr. Morris then haws in the foolish old story of Alfred the Saxon king of England, hanging up purses of gold in the highway in defiance of thieves. We cannot see the application of this tale, or, at best, it is extremely strained.
Mr. Morris proceeds to remark that the expence of the judiciary amounts to 137,000 dollars; and that the saving of so great a sum has been urged as an argument for the repeal of the law. He goes on with the tone of a person who was making a discovery, to tell the senate that only fifty thousand dollars would be saved. Every member of the senate knew this, as well as Mr. Morris did. Mr. Breckenridge never said that an hundred and thirty-seven thousand dollars were to be saved, but only a part of them. If such an expression fell from any other member, it was a mere slip of the tongue, which may happen occasionally to the best of speakers. To save these fifty thousand dollars, "we are called upon," says he, "to give up all that is valuable to a nation!" This is mere froth.
Mr. Morris next observes that there is very little danger of a foreign war. From this he makes a sudden wheel round to the courts of justice, and expatiates on their utility. We all know their value, as well as he does. But too much of one thing is good for nothing , says the proverb. We are not extirpating courts of justice. The bill only attempts to reduce them to what the friends of the repeal regard as a reasonable number. He asks what danger is to be apprehended from an army of judges? The answer is that, in general, judges have always been the supple agents of faction. Their integrity is as little to be trusted as that of any other class of people. Witness the judges, in the reign of Charles the 1st, who condemned the immortal Hampden to pay twenty shillings of ship-money. They did this in contempt of the laws, and of the universal opinion of the people of England. Clarendon himself says that their sentence did more harm to the king than to Hampden. All history abounds with such instances; and yet Mr. Morris has been silly enough to ask what is to be feared from an army of judges? And as little as the gentleman may think of fifty thousand dollars, they are an object to the people of the United States. The very charge of collecting them will, in many of the taxes, cost thirty thousand dollars more? This is a specimen of that sort of eloquence which operates without the assistance of reason .*
We are next alarmed with the prodigious fatigue attending the circuits of the supreme court. The answer is that if the gentlemen are tired, they have it in their option to resign their places. They knew the nature of their task before they undertook it. The country has men well qualified to succeed them. The old system lasted thirteen years; and if the office of a judge was so wonderfully distressing, what was the reason that, in so long a time, we never once heard of a resignation upon this account? Mr. Morris quaintly says that under the old system, which is now to be restored, "we are less to seek the learning of a judge than the agility of a post boy." An absolute fiction.
Again, he asks, if the newly made judges are disposed, "will it not be a declaration to the remaining judges that they hold their offices subject to your will and pleasure?" No! But if they did so, it would be just so much the better . Nothing could be more completely fallacious than that part of the federal constitution which attempts to secure the rectitude of judges. In New England, it is the custom to elect judge annually; and this is a much better method for ensuring their attention to their duty than that of electing them for life. It has formerly been observed that the condition of holding their offices during good behaviour is a mere misconception. Put the case that a federal judge is to be impeached. His trial will probably take up sixty days. The senate moves on at a charge of four hundred dollars a day.† Here is a waste of twenty four thousand dollars; and after all, the chance is very much in favour of the party accused. But if these judges knew that they were liable to be turned out by a vote of congress, they would be much more attentive
than some of them have occasionally been to the feelings of the people. Whether the sedition act was constitutional or otherwise, has been disputed; but nobody can dispute that it was very unpopular; and that, in acting upon it, the judges contradicted the sentiments of an immense majority of the people. These magistrates, however, shewed that they disregarded the public opinion. If they had held their offices at the discretion of congress, or had they been subject to an annual election, they would have held no such trials; and thus much of the noise and dissatisfaction of the people would have been prevented. Nothing can be a more absolute reversal of common sense than to fancy that a public officer will do his duty the better because he cannot be made accountable for his conduct . This maxim is held with respect to no other class of public servants, besides the judges; and even with regard to them, the constitution attempts to place a check upon them, although it has proved useless. The hacknied phrase about the independence of judges has a very questionable meaning. It has never been alledged that the judges of New England are less able or more corrupted than their neighbours. The annual election of them resolves, for the most part, in a mere piece of form; but still it is extremely proper to keep the rod above their heads.
These remarks do not arise from want of respect for the official situation of judges, and far less are they pointed at an individual. We are quite sensible that, with gentlemen of the law, such observations must be somewhat unpopular. For this we are sorry; but we must beg leave to be indulged in the publication of our sentiments. What is here said concerning the independence of judges has been the result of long and serious meditation upon the subject. All the republican party are of opinion that, in the affair of the sedition act, the supreme and district federal judges conducted themselves with gross illegality. They are likewise of opinion that these gentlemen did so with a view to court the favour of the president; and that they would not, and durst not have done so, unless they had considered themselves as independent of the people . We are not here saying that these judges acted wrong, or that they squinted at presidential patronage. "The Recorder" is barely stating that this was the professed opinion of the republican party, as expressed in as many newspapers as would fill a Dutchman's barn. So far as the case, it is evident that there is something radically wrong in the present system of judiciary independence. The republicans must either grant this, or they must grant that Mr. Chase, and the other gentlemen of the robe, acted properly. They must also grant, what according to their system , is equally hard of belief, that these gentlemen did not insult or despise the feelings of the people. In a word, if these judges behaved wrong, they abused their independence; and of course, they deserved to be stripped of it. If they did not abuse this independence, we wish to know what becomes of all the clamour that was raised against the trials for sedition? If the republicans are to give up this point, they will break the toughest string in their fiddle. We are aware of the pang with which even a man of sense and candour hears the refutation of a favourite opinion. We must again express the concern which is felt, at executing this part of the editorial task. We certainly can have no particular interest in the question. But we must believe that the principle is founded upon a gross mistake, and that this principle has led to many bad consequences, for centuries before the sedition law was heard of. Hence, we cannot avoid expressing our opinion upon the subject. It has not here been said that annual elections of judges ought to take place; or that these public officers should be liable to be discharged by the arbitrary vote of a federal, or a state legislature. But it would be very easy to strike a middle path between the battle of the one and the despotism of the other. After all, a judge of unimpeachable talents, and probity, is, above almost any other man whatever, so eminently useful, so popular, so powerful, so venerable, that he has as much as nothing at all to fear either from the levity of the people, or the factious views of their representatives. We shall add one short objection to the chusing of judges for life. This is that they are often, for a long space of time, before their death, disabled from executing their duty by the feebleness of age. Thus public business meets a check; for it is not every judge who, like Mansfield, or chancellor Wythe, can associate the vigour of youth, with the professional experience of half a century. By the old age of judges public business often suffers, while public money is wasted in the payment of salaries to superannuated persons, who can no longer perform their duty. The Scots court of session consists of fifteen judges; and it is very common for two or three of them, at a time, to be quite incapable of doing business. Others can only perform one half of their share.
† Besides one hundred and ninety two dollars a day, as the payment of the salaries of thirty-two Senators, their clerks, and a variety of other incidents, make about as much more. The wages of the two houses do not constitute one half of the actual expences of a session.
* See "Recorder" of the 27th ult. † "Recorder" of the 20th ult.
Of course, the brunt of the battle presses upon three or four of the youngest and most active judges, without whom the wheel of litigation could hardly turn itself round.
We shall close with one other consideration, that shews the very doubtful nature of judicial independence . The federal president has an immense patronage; and in many of the states, in Pennsylvania, for example, the governor has the same. If you cannot raise the salary of a judge, you can provide for his relations, which comes to the same thing; or, in the case of federal judges, you can send them as ambassadors to France or England. Every man has his price , says the proverb; and this maxim holds in at least a thousand instances to one.
The sum of our observations is that, with respect to the judiciary system, the federal constitution is eminently defective; that the experience of New England strikes an example right in the face of it; and that a federal judge, with his present species of independence, possesses a very dangerous kind of authority. We now return to the senator of New York.
Mr. Morris then goes back to his funeral song upon the poor dying constitution. All this part of his oration we consider as mere flummery. No fact is more certain than that the constitution has been forty times broke already; and yet she rises, like Antæus, with renovated vigour, and proceeds once more in her wonted course.
As one breach of the constitution, we should be glad, for example, to hear what part of it authorises the government to imprison their debtors for life; or during their own discretion? Can any thing be more tyrannical than to keep an honest insolvent bankrupt in prison for five years? This was a case, which Mr. Rutledge lately mentioned in congress. The man is still in jail, and likely to remain there during the rest of his days.
(To be continued)
CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES,
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Jan. 23, 1802.
IN our last paper, there was inserted a part of the SPEECHES of the FEDERAL MEMBERS, on a Resolution called upon the above date, by Mr. BAYARD, and whereon the Republicans declined to speak. This was the second Resolution which had this day been set aside in that manner. Before the House rose, a third resolution shared the same fate. Here follows an account of the proceedings upon it.
MR. RUTLEDGE called up for consideration the resolution which he moved on Friday, on which the previous question was then taken.
"Resolved, That the committee of Ways and Means, be instructed, particularly, to enquire into the expediency of reducing the duties on brown sugar, coffee and bohea teas."
MR. GRISWOLD hoped the resolution would be decided upon.
MR. RUTLEDGE hoped the reference would obtain. These articles paid the highest rate of duties and were of the first necessity. In looking over the rates of duties on import, he saw many articles that were taxed enormously high. Those in the resolution were of the first necessity, the duty high, and laid when they were at war prices; while the people received war prices for their produce, they could with convenience pay for these articles though high. The object of the resolution was merely to enquire, and he did not see how it could interfere with any object gentlemen have in view.
MR. DANA. I beg heartily to tender the homage of my profound respects, for the dignified situation in which gentlemen have now placed themselves, and congratulate them on their silence. There is something peculiarly impressive in this mode of opposing every thing that is urged. "It is seldom that gentlemen have exhibited such a remarkable appearance of a philosophical assembly."
That dumb legislature will immortalize your name—is said to have been the language of a certain distinguished general to a certain nominal Abbe, who has been represented as having pigeon-holes full of constitutions of his own making.
During the memorable night of St. Cloud, when the French council of ancients and council of five hundred were adjourned—to meet no more—it may be recollected, the powers of executive government were provisionally committed to three persons styled consuls, and two of them were the general and the Abbe. From each of the councils, twenty-five members were selected, to commission, and assist the provisional consuls in preparing a constitution for France. Of the numerous projects of constitutions which were presented by the Abbe, it is said, no part was finally adopted, except the plan of a dumb legislature. This the general instantly seized, with apparent enthusiasm, exclaiming to the Abbe, that dumb legislature will immortalize your name. And it was determined to have a
corps legislatif that should vote, but not debate.
It was scarcely to be expected that any thing like this would soon take place in our country. But it is the prerogative of great geniuses, when in familiar circumstances, to arrive at the same great results, although with some difference in the process. Nor can I forbear offering my tribute of admiration for the genius who has projected a mode of proceeding, among us, that so nearly rivals the plan adopted in France. I know not to whom is due the honor of this luminous discovery. After ascribing to him however all merited glory, permit me to examine the force of the argument relied on by gentlemen in opposition to the proposed resolution.
Their argument is silence. I hope to be excused, if I should not discuss the subject in the most satisfactory manner; as silence is a new species of logic, about which no directions have been found in any treatise on logic that I have ever seen. It will be my endeavour to reply to gentlemen by examining some points which may be considered as involved in their dumb arguments.
One of these points is, that certain members of this house have pledged themselves, to their constituents, for repealing all the internal taxes. They have declared their opinions to this effect, before their election; and, being chosen under such circumstances, may now deem themselves bound in honor not to vary. The terms assented to between their constituents and themselves may therefore be viewed, by them as the particular rule for their own conduct. But is this house to be regarded in the same light with the English house of commons, during their early period of their history, when the knights of shires and the representatives from cities and boroughs were instructed on what terms they should bargain with the crown for special privileges, and were limited to the price agreed on by their constituents? The situation of gentlemen, who have thus pledged themselves to vote for repealing the internal taxes, must be irksome indeed, if on mature consideration they should believe it more proper and more beneficial for the country to have other taxes reduced. Those who have entered into a stipulation of this sort so as to feel it as a point of honor are so peculiarly circumstanced that they might think it too alluring in me, were I so much as to express a desire that they would vote for reducing some of the duties on imports, instead of repealing all the internal taxes. It is to be hoped, the number of members who have pledged themselves in this manner, does not exceed twenty-five or thirty.
Another point involved in this argument of silence is, that other gentlemen may have pledged themselves to these, and given them a promise of support on this subject. It must be acknowledged that this is more than was required on a count of their seat in this house. If any gentlemen have absolutely pledged themselves to others who had before pledged themselves to their constituents, it must be indeed difficult to convince them. On this point, their minds must be constituted differently from mine, that there does not seem to be any common principle between us, that can be avowed as the basis of argumentation.
Another point is; the executive has recommended a repeal of all the internal taxes, and not any reduction of the import. And will gentlemen act upon this as a sufficient reason for their conduct? Is it now to become a principle, that the executive is to deliberate, and the legislature to act, and that no measure is to be adopted, unless proposed by the executive? Would it not be better for the country to abolish the house, and to avoid its expenses; if it is to be nothing more than one of the ancient parliaments of France, employed to register the edicts of a master?
The silence of gentlemen may also be considered as having relation to their great desire for the harmony of social intercourse. To prevent its being disturbed in the house by debating, they may have come to a determination, that all the great questions shall be settled by gentlemen of a certain description, when met in nocturnal conclave, and be only voted upon in this place. If such be the fact, it seems but reasonable, that many of the members of this house should be admitted in meetings of the conclave, as delegates from the territorial districts are admitted in congress, with a right to debate, although not to vote. If, however, this is thought too much, gentlemen should at least have galleries provided, so that other members of the legislature might be admitted as spectators, and have some opportunity of knowing the reasons for public measures.
The question was called for; when Dr. Buffis begged the speaker to state it, as in listening to the arguments of the gentleman from Connecticut, he had forgotten it.
MR. RUTLEDGE said he was much pleased by the question of the honorable gentleman from Massachusetts; when gentlemen ask what is the question? 'Tis to be hoped they will respect its merits; but from the scene this day acted, he had learned that the only enquiry with gentlemen would be, from what file does this come?
The question was then taken by yeas and nays, and lost: yeas 35; nays 58.

COOK'S VOYAGE.
Continued from No. 23.
BUT the most active among them being shot at, and wounded, the rest took to their heels and fled; and the fire was extinguished without injury. As they were so ready at firing, it was thought prudent to effect a reconciliation, and a reconciliation, after a skirmish or two, and they had felt the smart of the fire arms, was effected. They very little regarded the presents that were made them; for the cloth they threw away, and the turtle being denied them, every thing else was received with indifference.
On Saturday, the 4th of August, our voyagers weighed anchor, and prepared to depart, naming the river where the ship was repaired Endeavour-River. Their chief refreshment here was turtle and fish, with which, however, the sick recovered their health, and every one grew impatient to be gone. But there was danger in clearing the rocks and shoals, in which they continued entangled till the 13th; when they once more got into deep water, and as they thought an open sea; but, to their unspeakable mortification, they were on the 16th, again involved in the most perilous situation; not a hundred yards from a rock, upon which the same billow which washed the side of the ship, broke to a tremendous height the very next time it rose; so that between them and destruction there was only a dreary valley, no wider than the base of one wave.
In this crisis, Providence again very signally interposed; for, the very moment of their fates, a light breeze springing up, filled their sails just enough with the exertion of their own endeavours, to give the ship an oblique direction from the rock, by which she was prevented from being dashed to pieces. Nor was the danger less imminent, when the breeze dying away, presented the breakers at less than 200 yards distance, and no soundings with 150 fathom of line. The boats laboured hard to tow her off, yet the ship kept driving to shore, when the people observing an opening thro' the reefs, and smooth water within it, they redoubled their vigour to reach it, not doubting to pass it, if they could bring the ship in a suitable direction to attempt it. But in this they were mistaken; for when they came up, they found the tide of ebb had taken place, and that the sea came rushing through with incredible violence. Though they could not pass, yet the stream favored them to get an offing, which, however, would have been of little use, as they were still embayed within the reef, had they not discovered another opening, through which, when they had placed the ship properly, she was shot by the returning tide. In this dangerous navigation they continued all along the coast in continual jeopardy till the 21st, when they discovered an opening in lat. 20° 36 S. long. 218° 24 W. which to their unspeakable joy, proved a passage into the Indian sea. In the bay of a small island in this passage they cast anchor; and having now coasted the eastern side of New-Holland from lat. 38° S. to this place, a course of near 2000 miles, Capt. Cook landed, and took possession of the whole eastern side in right of his Britannic Majesty, by the name of New South-Wales.
It must here be noted, that Dampier, in the year 1699, ranged the western side of New Holland, from lat. 27° to lat. 20° S. and found the navigation exactly such as Capt. Cook has described that on the eastern side. Dampier gives a very unfavorable account of this country and its inhabitants, and thinks, if that part of it which approaches nearest to the Line is unprofitable, the southern extremity is hardly worth searching for.
To this new-discovered strait our voyagers gave the name of Endeavour Straits, and on the 25th of August they
hoisted sail, and pursued their voyage. Nothing of moment happened till the 27th, when they had a skirmish with the inhabitants of the island of St. Bartholomew, on the coast of New Guinea, who let off fires at them, which exactly in appearance resembled the fire and smoke of muskets, but made no report. What these fires were the voyagers could not devise. They also used light darts; but whether thrown with a stick, or shot with a bow, they could not tell. They were now upon well known coasts, and among islands which have been often described, and, therefore, they were determined to lose no more time in discoveries; but to pursue their voyage directly to Batavia, where, the ship being leaky, the Captain determined to heave her down. In their course, however, observing an island on which a number of sheep were seen grazing, the temptation was irresistible, and they determined, if possible, to procure some, in order to refresh the sick, who now began to be very impatient for land. It happened to be the island of Savu, tributary to the Dutch, who there have a resident. This man, a Saxon by birth, proved a mercenary wretch, with whom there was no keeping terms. They procured, however, a considerable supply of fresh provisions, buffaloes, hogs, sheep, poultry, &c. though at a much dearer rate and with more difficulty, than if there had been no Dutch cormorant to enrich with the perquisites. This island lies in lat. 10° 35 S. long. 217° 30 W. The people are rather below the middle stature; the women in particular are remarkably short and squat. They dress decent, and are of a friendly disposition. The island abounds in animals of all the kinds known in Europe, and the inhabitants eat indiscriminately the flesh of them all. Every one worships his own god. They appear to be healthy and long-lived. They are immoderate chewers of betel and areca, and seldom are without it in their mouths from their cradle to their grave, except when they sleep.
On the 21st of September, our voyagers quitted this island, and met with no incident worth relating till they arrived on the third of October at Java, where their first care was to procure some fruit for Tupia, who was very ill, and some grass for the cattle they brought from Savu. On the 9th, they came to an anchor in Batavia road, where having procured leave from the Governor to heave the ship down, upon examination, they found the false keel considerably injured, a great quantity of sheathing torn off, and, under the main channel near the keel, two of the planks for six feet together worn thinner than the sole of a man's shoe, through which the worms had eaten their way into the timbers; in which condition they had probably failed for many hundred leagues, without being sensible of their danger.
It is impossible to express the wonder and delight of Tupia and his youth Tayota, on their entering Batavia, and viewing the buildings, the dresses, the carriages, equipages, furniture, and various decorations of that superb city. Though they were both very ill when they entered, they seemed for a while to have subdued their bodily diseases, and, by the boundless gratification of their ardent curiosity, to think themselves already transported into that happy region which they had heard Christians were to possess as the reward of virtue. But their transports were of short duration; Tupia, after being exceedingly delighted, grew every day more and more languid. Tayota was seized with an inflammatory disorder; and, in short, almost every man on board the ship began to feel the fatal effects of this pernicious climate. Tupia, whom Mr. Banks had persuaded to remain on shore, desired to be removed on board the ship; but on board the ship he could not be sent, because she was laid up to be repaired: he was, however, sent over to a small island, where he might breathe a free air, and receive the benefit of the sea breeze.
(To be continued.)
MARENGO, OR, THE CAMPAIGN OF ITALY;
[Continued from our last]
FINDING themselves exposed to this danger, they thought it prudent to retire; on which our grenadiers pursued them with eagerness into a village, the main street of which was sufficiently large to allow the cavalry to act with good effect. At this precise moment, General Laudon had returned from Genoa; and whether that he was apprised of our weakness, or that he was desirous of learning our strength, he led on, at full gallop, for more than six miles, two cavalry divisions of Bussy's legion, when he fell upon our grenadiers, re-possessioned himself of the village, and made about fifty or sixty prisoners. The remainder rallied without loss of time at the entrance of the marsh, and stopped their further progress. But they went back as speedily as they had come; for by means of a partial disembarkation, and crossing through a hastily-constructed bridge of boats, and by the favour of a dark night, we had already such a force on the other side as the enemy would not venture to withstand.
XIV. Entrance into Milan.
Our entrance into Milan, the 2d of June, was unexpectedly retarded some hours, by the indecision of the enemy. They hesitated whether they should shut themselves up in the citadel, or should have time to receive succours and provisions. Thus they greatly harassed our advanced guard; and in this state of the two parties, several of the inhabitants of the city fell victims to their desire to see and communicate with the French. Besides those who were killed, a good many were wounded by the cannon from the citadel. For our own part, we avoided the shot, by taking a narrow bye-path across the gardens, which led us to the entrance called the Gate of Pavia.
The Consul, and the Chief Staff, were obliged, while all this passed, to take refuge in a farm house near the road, to avoid a tremendous storm of rain which soaked every man to the skin. Besides the inconvenience from the boisterous weather, we were not yet perfectly free from the danger of the enemy, who continued to rove about the country. The advanced guard was not wholly come up, before an order arrived to press forwards the march of the horse grenadiers.
Notwithstanding the mud and dirt with which the officers of the head quarters were covered, they were thought to make a figure sufficiently respectable and even brilliant, not only to be complimented by the Magistracy of Milan, but also by the elegant ladies of the city, who joined in the enthusiastic cry of Vive Buonaparte! Vivez les Francois! The nearer we approached the town, the greater was the crowd which accompanied us. At length we arrived within the gates of this distinguished capital of the Milanese. The windows were lined with beautiful Italian women; the rich shops suffered to remain open testified, in the strongest manner, how great was the confidence of the people in the French army, however much they had suffered under the Russians, commanded by Suwarow.
But the finest coup-d'œil , the moment the most flattering to us as spectators, was when we had reached the Place du Dome , and when the hero who had led us on enjoyed the sublime trait which the gratitude of a numerous people exhibited. This vast space was made to ring with the reiterated shouts of Vive! General! Vive l'Armée Française! These acclamations penetrated our very souls, and inspired us with that modest pride which so well becomes conquerors.
General Murat arrived with his division of cavalry. The infantry of the advanced guard surrounded the citadel, in which four thousand of the enemy were found.
After these precautions, the Consul took himself to the palace of the Archduke, in the great square; which, to our surprise, we found so destitute as not to afford a single faggot of wood to dry his clothes by.
Every where the national cockade had been substituted for the Austrian. We found three thousand sick and wounded in the hospital, among whom were several Frenchmen. A great number of Cisalpine refugees entered with us, who had been told a fortnight before of the certainty of this happy event. But a circumstance which peaceful science out Milan gave liberty to the great Fontana, who had groaned under a weight of chains, for having been guilty of the crime of filling a place in the Republic.
XV. Description of Milan.
Let a soldier be allowed to give a few particulars of Milan, even at the hazard of repetition; as, to a military reader, they may, in a certain degree, possess or excite some new interest.
The chief strength of this celebrated city, built by the Gauls in the three hundred and ninety-fifth year of Rome, is a wall and ramparts, as also a citadel, consisting of six bastions. It has been besieged forty times, taken twenty, and four times almost totally demolished: and, notwithstanding these and other calamities, it survives and flourishes! There is a little hill near the town, called the Bobbecca , which commands every part of the surrounding country, and the greatest part of the interior and exterior works. This place is not commanded on any side; it is well fortified and well kept up. Yet, for all this, it cannot stand above eight days of open trenches, because it is closely shut up, and nothing prevents the trenches from being opened by an enemy so as to batter in breach with advantage. The town is beautiful and large, being nearly ten miles in circumference, and the Italians have a proverb, " Milan the Great ." The streets are wide; its churches, and above all its cathedral, may be said to deserve the highest admiration. The palace, the park, the play-houses, all serve to embellish this capital. The chief theatre is of such magnitude as to admit four hundred performers to appear at once, besides forty horses, who sometimes go through the most surprising evolutions. The immense number of spectators it will contain, may therefore be conceived, by the above facts. The shops are decorated nearly after the manner of the French; nor are the dresses of the inhabitants very different from our own. Every thing we see in Milan, gives us a great idea of its splendor. I imagined that the scourge of war had made much deeper wounds in this place than turned out to be the case. The Milanese, at least those of the city, are very sociable, and even friendly to the French. They have fewer faults than may be charged upon the Italians in general, or even upon the inhabitants of the environs. The free exercise of religion, which we openly professed; the respect we shewed for their customs on that head, astonished them, after the abuse which had been circulated concerning us, as atheists, &c. Among the riches which ornament the cathedral may be seen several lamps of pure gold and silver, as also two pulpits of massy silver. Behind the choir is a statue as large as life, representing the martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew. Strangers never fail to examine this exquisite figure of the Saint, stript of his skin, which he carries on his left arm, and which exposes to view, as in a body after dissection, all the muscles and fibres which compose the human frame. The church, the metropolitan of Milan, is one of the most celebrated in all Italy, after St. Peter's of Rome. This edifice of Gothic architecture astonishes, at once by the vastness of the undertaking and the immensity of labour expended on it. The choir is five hundred French feet long (nearly five hundred and fifty English), and two hundred broad.
To be continued.