The recorder, or, Lady's and gentleman's miscellany (Richmond, Va.), 1802-05-01 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, MAY 1, 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.
STEPHEN BROWN, GUN MAKER, From LONDON, Near the OLD CITY TAVERN, Main-Street, RICHMOND. MAKES all sorts of Guns and Pistols, in the nearest 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 22d. 1802.
CHARLES SMALLWOOD, TAYLOR, RETURNS his respectful Thanks for Favors already conferred on him by a generous Public, and begs Leave to inform them, that he has REMOVED His Business to the Street leading up to Shockoe Hill, next Door to Crouch and Webster's CITY HOTEL , where all Orders committed to his Care will be thankfully received. Every Article in the above Business executed with neatness and dispatch, and on the most reasonable Terms.
A PERSON that is well acquainted with the Branch of Gardening, Wishes to employ a great Part of his Time with two or three Gentlemen, in or near the CITY of RICHMOND, or MANCHESTER, by Way of superintending their Gardens. For further Particulars enquire of the Printer. RICHMOND, Feb. 21, 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.
GRAMMAR SCHOOL. An Assistant wanted, Who understands the Dead Languages. Enquire of the Printer. April 26, 1802. t f.
WANTED, TO 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. t f.
Imported from London, And landed this Day, AND FOR SALE, At Mr. BOWLER's, near the Bridge, Richmond, WHOLESALE AND RETAIL, An elegant assortment of fancy japanned chairs of a superior kind, with Settees to match; a superb painted bedstead, some beautiful prints, music stands, &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; so pair of spurs in the New Market style, a few dozen pair of real cordovan English boot legs, very low priced; handsome shawls and mouselins for ladies mourning dresses, 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. t f.
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.
Stone Lime, in Tierses, LOW FOR CASH, BY WILLIAM DAVIDSON, Near the Market House.
FOR SALE, ON the fourth WEDNESDAY in the present Month (April) the Subscriber will sell, at public auction, his LEASE of Four Years from September last, of the Cross Keys Tavern , two Doors below the Court-House , in the City of Richmond, and give immediate possession.
There is attached to this tenement, a good Stable, and a very large Lot of LAND, newly-enclosed with Posts and Rails, a good Garden, a commodious Yard, and Hen House. The whole subjected to a Rent of 84 Dollars per Annum, to be paid Monthly throughout the whole Term of the Lease, which is Seven Dollars per Month. The Buildings are all in good Order; and all, except the Dwelling-House and Kitchen, put on the Place at the Expence of the Subscriber, which cost him upwards of One Hundred Pounds. He will treat with any Person privately in the Interim.
There can be no better Stand in this City for nearly one-third of each Month in the Year, being two Courts held at the Court-House (which is in Twenty Yards of the Place) in every Month, Eight of which are Quarterly Courts, that hold Six Days each. Should the Person who purchases wish to purchase a Quantity of suitable Furniture, the Subscriber will supply them as it stands in the House. NATHANIEL CHILDERS. Richmond, April 24th, 1802.
CALEB WILLIAMS.
[Continued from our last.] IT was highly improbable she could at all recover.
In the moments of suspended reason she was personally calling on the name of Mr. Falkland. Mr. Falkland, she said, was her first and only love, and he should be her husband. A moment afterwards she exclaimed upon him in a disconsolate, yet reproachful tone, for his unworthy deference to the prejudices of the world. It was very cruel of him to shew himself so proud, and tell her that he would never consent to marry a beggar. But, if he were proud, she was determined to be proud too. He should see that she would not demean herself like a slighted maiden, and that, though he could reject her, it was not in his power to break her heart. At another time she imagined she saw Mr. Tyrrel and his engine Grimes, their hands and garments dropping with blood, and the pathetic reproaches she vented against them might have affected a heart of stone. Then the figure of Falkland presented itself to her distracted fancy, deformed with wounds and of a deadly paleness, and she shrieked with agony, while she exclaimed that such was the general hard-heartedness, that no one would make the smallest exertion for his rescue. In such vicissitudes of pain, perpetually imagining to herself unkindness, insult, conspiracy and murder, she passed a considerable part of two days. On the evening of the second Mr. Falkland arrived, accompanied by doctor Arnold, the physician by whom she had previously been attended. The scene he was called upon to witness was such as to be most exquisitely agonizing to a man of his acute sensibility. The news of the arrest had given him an inexpressible shock; he was transported out of himself at the unexampled malignity of its author. But, when he saw the figure of Miss Melville, haggard, and a warrant of death written in her countenance, a victim to the diabolical passions of her kinsman, the scene seemed too much to be endured. When he entered, she was in the midst of one of her fits of delirium, and immediately mistook her visitors for two assassins. She asked, where they had hid her Falkland, her lord, her life, her husband and demanded that they should restore to her his mangled corpse, that she might embrace him with her dying arms, breathe her last upon his lips, and be buried in the same grave. She reproached them with the sordidness of their conduct in becoming the tools of her vile cousin, who had deprived her of her reason, and would never be contented till he had murdered her. Mr. Falkland tore himself away from this painful scene, and, leaving doctor Arnold with his patient, desired him when he had given the necessary directions, to follow him to his inn.
The perpetual hurry of spirits in which Miss Melville had for several days been kept by the nature of her indisposition was extremely exhausting to her; and in about an hour, from the visit of Mr. Falkland her delirium subsided, and left her in so low a state as to render it difficult to perceive any marks of life. Doctor Arnold, who had before withdrawn, to soothe, if possible, the disturbed and impatient thoughts of Mr. Falkland, was summoned a fresh upon this change of symptoms, and sat by the bed side during the remainder of the night. The situation of his patient was such as to keep him in momentary apprehension of
her decease. While Miss Melville lay in this feeble and exhausted condition, Mrs. Hammond betrayed every token of the tenderest anxiety. Her sensibility was habitually of the acutest sort, and the qualities of Emily were such as powerfully to fix her affection. She loved her like a mother. Upon the present occasion, every sound, every motion made her tremble. Doctor Arnold had introduced another nurse, in consideration of the incessant fatigue Mrs. Hammond had undergone; and he endeavoured by representations and even by authority, to compel her to quit the apartment of the patient. But she was uncontroulable; and he at length found that he should probably do her more injury by the violence that would be necessary to separate her from the suffering innocent, than by allowing her to follow her own inclinations. Her eye was a thousand times turned with the most eager curiosity upon the countenance of doctor Arnold, without her daring to breathe a question respecting his opinion, lest he should answer her by a communication of the most fatal tidings. In the mean time she listened with the deepest attention to every thing that dropped either from the physician or the nurse, hoping as it were to collect from some oblique hint the intelligence which she had not courage expressly to require.
Towards morning the state of the patient seemed to take a favourable turn. She dozed for near two hours, and, when she awoke, appeared perfectly calm and sensible. Understanding that Mr. Falkland had brought the physician to attend her, and was himself in the neighbourhood, she requested to see him. Mr. Falkland had gone in the mean time with one of his tenants to bail the debt, and now entered the prison to enquire whether the young lady might be safely removed from her present miserable residence to a more airy and commodious apartment. When he appeared, the sight of him revived in the mind of Miss Melville an imperfect recollection of the wanderings of her delirium. She covered her face with her hand, and betrayed the most expressive confusion, while she thanked him with her usual unaffected simplicity for all the trouble he had taken. She hoped she should not give him much more; she thought she should get better. It was a shame, she said, if a young and lively girl as she was, could not contrive to outlive the trifling misfortunes to which she had been subjected. But, while she said this, she was still extremely weak. She tried to assume a chearful countenance; but it was a faint effort, which the feeble state of her frame did not seem sufficient to support. Mr. Falkland and the doctor joined to request her to keep herself quiet, and to avoid for the present all occasions of exertion.
Encouraged by these appearances, Mrs. Hammond now ventured to follow the two gentlemen out of the room in order to learn from the physician what hopes he entertained. Doctor Arnold acknowledged that he had found his patient at first in a very unfavourable situation, that the symptoms were changed for the better, and that he was not without some expectation of her recovery. He added however, that he could answer for nothing, that the next twelve hours would be exceedingly critical, but that, if she did not grow worse before morning, he would then undertake to answer for her life. Mrs. Hammond, who had hitherto seen nothing but despair, now became frantic with joy.
To be continued.

The Recorder.
RICHMOND.
SATURDAY, May 14.
WEDNESDAY, the Election for a Delegate to next Assembly was held at the Court House in Richmond.
The votes stood thus.
Table with 2 columns: Name, Votes. Rows: Dr. John Adams (75), Mr. Rind (52), Mr. Hay (48).
The total number of Free-holders that voted proves to be 175
There were about four contested votes between Mr. Hay, and Mr. Rind. So small a matter is not worth farther notice, or explanation.
ON the last page of this day's "Recorder." there is inserted a second extract from Mr. Hay's pamphlet upon the Merchant Tax. The tax, as frequently happens in like matters, has excited discontent among those who pay it. The assembly can have no interest distinct from that of their constituents. The republication of this little piece in a newspaper tends of course to recall their attention to the subject. We insert it with the more particular pleasure, because it has nothing to do with those political brangles, which divide our sentiments, and sometimes disturb our peace. The remainder of the pamphlet will probably be given in next Saturday's "Recorder." But the circumstance of being confined to a single sheet per week, renders us constantly hampered for want of room.
NICKAJACK,
AND THE NORTH WESTERN FRONTIER.
In last week's paper, it had been accidentally observed that the citizens on the other side of the mountains had constantly received atrocious treatment from the federal government; or, at least they did so, till the accession of Mr. Jefferson. A correspondent has since expressed his apprehension that this atrocious treatment consisted in the supposed pressure of taxes. Upon this ground he assured us that the Western States were not oppressed with taxes. He was about to infer that the statement was incorrect, and that he was sorry to see it; &c. &c.
Now, this gentleman totally misapprehended the basis of the foregoing affirmation. We were sensible, as well as he was, that the Western States were but very slightly taxed. For instance, The Prospect has a long passage to shew that the famous alleged tax of 1798 fell with an unequal and oppressive weight upon the New England States, while Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky did not pay any thing like a suitable proportion.
But still it is true that these three states, as well as the four Western counties of Pennsylvania, have had much reason to complain of the general government. The three states first named have remonstrated very loudly to congress. The subjects of disgust have been numerous, and of a nature entirely peculiar to those quarters of the union. The matter is no secret. It has, for many years, produced frequent and violent debates in congress. In almost every particular, the members from Virginia have been unanimous, or next to it, as to pointedly condemning the federal frontier system. The writer of this article considers that he was perfectly correct in affirming that those states have been hardly used by the general government. As to some alleged danger of disturbing the public mind, by telling this circumstance, we answer that, in those three states, it is already as well known as the battle of Bunker's hill. It is no secret any where else; and the proper way to prevent such misconduct in future is, not to conceal past errors, but to make the affair as public as possible in the Atlantic States. The voice of the nation will, by degrees, interpose, and, like the fiat of Omnipotence, will put an end to the negligence, or the caprice of its master-servants.
Under this impression, and as a specimen of volumes, we this day, publish the history of the Nickajack business. We presume that there is not one human being, in the circle of our readers, who will, in this case, approve of the conduct of the late executive. The savages commit a multitude of murders on the Tennessee frontier. The assembly of that state remonstrates in vain to the federal cabinet. To prevent a repetition of this horrid scene, five hundred and fifty militia cross the frontier line. They break up the gang of assassins. They do more real military service in one night than St. Clair, Harmar, and Wayne, with two or three thousand men, could accomplish in the three first years of the late Indian war.
You certainly know that the late North Western war lasted four years and ten months, and that it cost at least a million of dollars of clear money, per annum. At this rate,
NOTE. See page 4th.
three years required three millions of dollars. You know that both Harmar and St. Clair were so far from being victorious that they were most confoundedly beaten. This was what we got for three millions of dollars. The Tennessee militia did their work not in three drowsy campaigns, but with the certainty of fate, and the velocity of a thunderbolt. It is a large computation to say, that their campaign cost twenty thousand dollars. This is the one hundred and fiftieth part of three millions. And yet their payment was, for several years, refused; and these gallant men were treated as culprits. Yet congress past a vote of thanks to general Wayne, for his famous victory on the Miami, where he killed about sixty Indians, or Canadian militia, with the loss of thirty three of his own soldiers. For what reason, then, did the secretary of war postpone the payment of the frontier militia? Were they to stand tamely by, while their horses were stolen, their houses burnt, and their families butchered? It is true that congress have past successive laws, which forbid a man, which forbid a free American citizen, to cross the frontier line in quest of the thief who steals his horses, or the murderer who stabs his father, or his wife! One of these precious acts is dated the thirtieth of March last. This last law is not so bad as its predecessors; but still it is bad enough.
And what is the worth of such laws? What respect do they deserve, or what kind of scenes did congress sometimes exhibit, in the course of their passage through the two houses? The Virginian members of the third congress will, to the last man, tell you that such warmth, such indignation, such hostility of reciprocal reproach, had never, upon any former question, disturbed that assembly! You complain of the abolition of sixteen judges! because it violates the constitution of the United States! But this universal frontier interdiction of pursuit and vengeance, this reprobation of those practical patriots who burnt Nickajack, breaks down the sacred, the eternal CONSTITUTION OF HUMAN NATURE!—
This churlishness on the part of the federal majority of congress was the less to be endured, because their whole domination of the North Western frontier was founded upon a voluntary gift from the assembly of Virginia!
The reader will be tempted to enquire by what authority the assembly acted, or by what motives they were incited to make a gift of such enormous magnitude? He will ask why the commonwealth was making gifts, when she might have found full employment in the discharging of her debts? He will, in particular, wish to learn why she made this present to one of her creditors, without receiving at the same time, a complete and final acquittal of the whole demands, right or wrong, which the old congress could urge against her?
LONDON.
SIERRA LEONE-HOUSE, Feb. 12, 1801.
DISPATCHES have been received from the governor and council of Sierra Leone, dated the 16th December last, which state a sudden and unprovoked attack on the settlement to have been made by some neighbouring natives, on the 18th of November.
The following is the substance of the governor and council's communication:
On the morning of the 18th November, a body of Timmanys (the subjects of king Fumana, and king Tom) made a furious and unexpected assault on the fort. A small but select party of them, said to be headed by two rebel settlers, forced their way into the fort, supported by a number of marksmen, who kept up a very destructive fire on those who advanced to repel them.
In about 15 minutes lieutenant Ludlow and sergeant Blackwood, and one of the American corps, Mr. Cox, Mr. Crankapoor, and several others were killed, and governor Dawes, Messrs. Gray, Car, and some others were wounded. At length a small party of soldiers and settlers collected from different quarters and headed by the governor in person, gallantly pushed forward, and with the bayonet drove the enemy from the fort. The retreat of the assailants soon became general. Their loss appears to have been considerable, and at least equal to that sustained by the defenders of the fort.
The enemy, though baffled in their enterprise, still maintained a threatening position to the westward of the colony, apparently with the hope of recruiting their numbers; successive expeditions (undertaken with this view) were attended with such success, that by the 4th December, they had been completely driven from the district which lies between the settlement and capital, Sierra Leone, with scarcely any loss on the part of the colony. This treacherous and unprovoked aggression is exclusively attributed to the Timmanys, and it appears to have strongly excited the indignation of many of the neighbouring African chiefs, several of whom had repaired with a considerable number of men to the assistance of the settlement, and had joined in the excursions which were undertaken against the enemy.
The governor and council say—"We cannot pass unnoticed the exertions of those brave men, both Europeans and settlers, who defended the fort on the morning of the attack;
some of them are now insensible to human praise, and others lie languishing under the effect of those wounds to which their intrepidity exposed them." Mr. Cox, the store keeper, was shot dead in attempting to save the magazine from the ravages of the enemy. Lieutenant Ludlow, at an early part of the action, met with the same fate.
The conduct of Mr. Crankapoor, a Nova Scotia black, who also fell, is noticed in terms of high praise.
Mr. Wilson, it is said, acted with great spirit, and the services of George Clark, and John Gordon, settlers, were found very useful in driving the enemy out of the fort.
The soldiers in general behaved with the steadiness of men, who have seen service, and through the whole action kept up a very gallant and effective fire on the enemy.
Captain Bullen, of his majesty's sloop the Wasp, was solicitous from the hour of his arrival a few days after the attack, to meet and prevent the wishes of the colony.
When the dispatches came away, some pacific overtures had been made; the conditions of peace proposed by the company being those of having the rebel settlers delivered up, and the district to the westward of Freetown, which had been possessed by king Tom, the principal in the war, ceded to the company.
The governor and council also acknowledge the services rendered to the colony on this occasion by captain Haile, of the Hope, and captain Scott, of Fraternite, two letters of marque then in the river.
Total—killed or since dead, 18; wounded 38 in whole 56.
Subsequent to the 18th, in an attack on one of the enemy's towns, by the explosion of some powder keys, Mr. Wilson, and five natives, allies of the colony, were burnt. Mr. Wilson has since recovered, but three of the natives died. In another attack, one seaman of the Wasp was killed and four wounded.
The following is a translation from a French paper, of the gratitude bestowed by Toussaint on his fellow men, for their assistance in conducting his booty to a remote part of the country and concealing it.
AT the moment when Toussaint Louverture was forced to leave the cape, he took particular care to take with him, all the gold coin then in the national treasury, amounting to about one and a half millions of dollars. This treasure he had first conveyed through some of the white inhabitants nearly 15 miles from the cape, where he generously dismissed the same, and trusted his booty to 15 of his black brethren whom he, himself only, conducted into the mountains; and having found a convenient place, he made them dig a hole, in which he deposited his riches. After this he discharged his carriers, and professing great obligations, ordered them to appear at the camp to be rewarded; and what reward did this black hypocrite give to his workmen?—Every humane heart must shudder to hear; when these poor fellows arrived at the camp, they were ordered to form a small circle, and Toussaint commanded, in cool blood, a parcel of soldiers with loaded muskets to stand in a half moon round them—gave the word fire, and that they must die for high treason, which was executed. (Alis.)
Extract from a letter, dated Port Republican, Feb. 27, 1802, to a respectable Mercantile House in Wilmington (D.)
"The French, after taking possession of St. Marc, and the plain back of it, which were evacuated by the negroes, found a number of the whites, who were murdered; and 7 whose hands were tied, and fire set to their feet, but so lately done, that they were still alive! The officers knew not what had become of the people belonging to the American vessels; but this day a merchant of St. Marc, who made his escape, arrived here, who informs that he left the inhabitants of that place, and the Americans, at a small fort 18 miles from St. Marc. Yesterday a large package of Toussaint's papers were found: among them was a copy of instructions to the commanders of the respective districts, to destroy, on the 1st of March, every person within their limits. Likewise a letter addressed to Toussaint, from the government of England, by which it appears, that the English have been the prompters, behind the scene, to the inhuman massacres and destruction which have taken place! There has also been found a contract for the supply of 4,000,000 livres worth of powder from the United States (during the reign of John Adams) but whether from the government or individuals, I know not. Pierre Lewis, who was commander in chief of Leogane, who burnt that place, and murdered the whites, has been taken. I saw him three days since, go on board the admiral's ship, where he will remain in irons till general Le Clerc arrives." The some letter states, that St. Marc was burnt, and that two brigs, and two schooners, the only vessels in the port, were destroyed."
[This extract of a letter is copied from the Annals of the 29th of March last. It is introduced with a long and solemn preface,
which serves to convince us, that the editor believed its authenticity. Of this piece, however, we have some unlucky suspicions. The practice of forging extracts of letters is as common, as that of breaking up letters, a resource which has been adopted with so much success by both sides. We wish to know the name of the respectable house in Wilmington, by whom this letter was received; as well as the name of the writer. The original letter, with a postmark, should have been deposited with Mr. Duane; and, even after all these precautions, we should have felt an immovable persuasion that the greater part of the extract, or rather that every word of it, is a falsehood. Toussaint is here made to give orders to the commanders &c. to destroy every person within their respective districts. From this universal proscription, the blacks, and even the mulattoes should, at least, have been excepted. It is impossible that Toussaint could have issued such mad orders; and, as to the whites, there is no word of a general massacre.
We are next informed that the English have acted as prompters &c. From what branch of the government of England could this letter have come? What were its contents, or in whose possession is it now? The whole passage we regard as a calumny invented against the British nation, whose history is bad enough already, without such additions of depravity. The contract for four millions of livres worth of gun-powder we hold as the most egregious and impudent of these three fibs. The only part of this extract to which we give credit is that wherein the author says that he does not know whether the contract was made with the government, or individuals. This we agree to; for we presume that it was made with neither the one, nor the other.
The extract from St. Domingo, concerning the shooting of fifteen negroes by orders from Toussaint, presents a second specimen of the same kind of dirt. Either the black fellow himself must have sent an express to the printer of the French newspaper, with an account of the amount of his treasure, and his mode of concealing it, or one of those negroes must have arisen from the dead, in order to tell the story. This bungler has already run through one half of all the wise newspapers on the continent; and people are to be found who can believe such trash.
The tale of finding a package of Toussaint's papers appears to be only the repetition of an old story, which was fathered on general Washington. A package of his papers also was pretended to be found; and out of them, there was printed at Philadelphia, about 1795, the second edition of letters addressed by the general to Lund Washington. The preface to this production alleges that the papers were found in some part of the general's baggage, which the British had taken during the war. On March 4th, 1797, the president published a formal disavowal of this rubbish. We only mention it here to shew the frequency and audacity of such impostures.]
NEW YORK, March 23.
Our readers in the perusal of the following extract, will find a story of such extreme distress, and told in so artless a manner, as to call up the strongest sympathy of the human heart.
Extract from the Log-Book of the Brig Hance, Capt. Ingersoll, of Portland, furnished by the Mate, who kept it, and who arrived here this morning in the Schooner Roebuck, Capt. Dawson, from Gibraltar.
DECEMBER 15, 1801, got under way from Portland harbour, bound to St. Lucia, in company with the ship Numa, bound for Liverpool. At 12 M. Cape Elizabeth bore N. W. distant 5 leagues, from which we took our departure. December 16, fresh gales from the N. W. and the latter part of the 24 hours our vessel began to leak, the wind and sea very high. At 3 A. M. close reefed the fore-top-sail, and all hands went to work in throwing overboard the after part of our deck-load, when the leak abated a little; the pumps continually going; by misfortune heating over our deck-load, lost our ax; had nothing to help ourselves with but a carpenter's adze; the wind increased, and the leak gained upon us, while the weather was so thick we could not take an observation. December 17, the wind increased to a gale from W. N. W. with much rain, the leak gaining fast upon us. Though both pumps going from 5 to 6, could not free her; then handed the top-sail, and hove too under a two reefed main-sail; and in the space of half an hour one pump choked, and the other would not free her. At 7 P. M. the deck-load shifted; the captain then took the adze and cut away the lee lashings, and then the weather ones; the boards then all going to the leeward, the first sea that struck her she upset; by the captain's orders I cut away the weather lanyards; the mast snapt off at the deck; in the space of 15 or 20 minutes she righted, the mainmast tearing up part of the deck, and carrying away the starboard pump; we then being in lat. 42: 6, long. 56: 12; the boom being then lashed in the crosstree I cut the hoops and lashings of the trawl-matt, secured the boom, main-sail, and

gast, and got the trisail mast on board and secured it: then went to secure some water and provisions, but found it very difficult; I got my chest and the captain's out of the cabin, and 14 bags of crackers, when a sea came and washed all overboard. The cabin being full of water, there was no possibility of going below; all went forward; the keg of rum washed up, so that we got it, and carried it forward with us; this, and six pieces of salt beef. Now all our stock of provisions consisted of these 6 pieces of salt beef, and 6 or 7 gallons of new rum. O Heavens! what were our thoughts at this time? So ends the day.
December 18th.—The first part of the 24 hours got the main-mast forward, and made a shelter to keep us from the spray and rain, if possible. This day Elijah Bangs died with cold, and drinking rum. A brisk wind and bad sea; we looked on one another with silent grief.
December 19th.—Nothing remarkable this 24 hours; the weather very rough, and we look on one another as near to death.
December 20th.—Rough blowing weather. I fixed the companion-way so as to sleep there, myself and boy.
December 21st.—Saw a sail, which gives all a pleasant sensation. We had hopes that providence would send some one to our relief; but she was so far off as not to see our hull. It continued rough and cloudy. Nothing remarkable till the 24th, when Lawrence died. The weather very rough all this 24 hours. Oh! for some water! We despaired of life, and wished to die!
25th.—This day began to eat the flesh of our fellow sufferers, but could not keep it down. The weather very rough. This day Harry Thomson departed this life: Water! Oh! for water; I die! this was the cry. Nothing remarkable till the
27th.—This day capt Ingersol departed this life. The weather rough and blowing.
29th.—This day more moderate, and began to rain. I got the tarpaulin fixed over the companion-way, so that I caught about one quart of rain water, which I immediately drank up, and in the morning I got a man's thigh, and made a hearty breakfast!
30th.—This 24 hours moderate, with rain, so that we caught 5 gallons of water, and Joseph Willard drank so much, that in the space of 12 hours he departed this life for a better to come. We still continue to live on our fellow sufferers. The weather continued blowing very heavy, with rain.
January 10th.—At three P. M. saw a sail, and at 5 P. M. she stood for us! but the being to the leeward of us, could not fetch us that tack, but at night she came up with us, and she proved to be the Morgan Ratler, of Danbury, capt Job Sampson, bound to Marseilles, who sent his boat on board, this being in lat. 39: 3, long. 52. We continued on board the Morgan Ratler until the 5th of February, when we spoke the Schooner Roebuck, capt. Dawson, from Gibraltar, bound for New York, in lat. 33: 12, who took us on board, and treated us in the most humane and generous manner. The boy, John Green, whose feet had been badly frozen on board the horrid wreck, was now taken great care of by capt. Dawson, so that he is able to walk about. Thus, after being 24 days and subsisting for 13 on human flesh, without water, were two of us, myself and boy, mercifully preserved; the rest, 5 in number, all died.
From Charleston, March 27.
"LETTERS from Augustine of the 19th of March, contain information.—That Paine, an Indian chief, of Lacheway, distance 70 miles from St. Augustine, being desirous to be on the same friendly footing with the Spanish government, as he and his tanned brethren formerly were, called a meeting of all the indian chiefs in the Creek nation, who duly attended, except the chief of the Maflofak, where the noted Bowles is harboured. At this meeting it was unanimously agreed to deliver up Bowles to his excellency Henry White, governor of St. Augustine, together with all the white prisoners who were taken, and the negroes and property of every description. For this purpose, Paine sent in a flag of truce to the governor, who readily acceded to the terms proposed by the Indians, adding, that in future no Indians would be permitted to come within the settlement with their guns, tomahawks, knives, or any warlike instruments, but to leave the same at the different frontier stations in Florida; that on agreeing to those terms, he would conclude a peace with them, and as soon as the prisoners and property were returned, he would give up the Indian prisoners now in the fort of St. Augustine. It is expected this treaty will be immediately ratified.
Extract of a letter from Tobias Lear, esq. to the Secretary of State, dated Cape Francois, March 29th, 1802.
"The Prefect yesterday gave orders to the custom house, that no American vessel should be admitted to an entry until the captain should have exhibited his papers to me, and received a certificate from my office, that his vessel is American property; and that none should depart without my passport."
"March 30th 1802." "P. S. There was a pretty severe engagement yesterday about ten miles from
hence, between the troops which had arrived the day before, which had been sent out, and the blacks, in which the latter had their camp broken up, and it is said lost upwards of 400, left on the field of battle. Christophe, who commanded, is said to have fled. The troops which arrived yesterday have marched out this morning.
Accounts from the South say, that general Dessalines (a black general) has been obliged to abandon a strong hold, which he held near St. Marc, after losing 800 men. We do not know exactly where Toussaint is.
Two ships, of what is called the Batavian division, arrived yesterday, and the signal is now out for several others."
[SOME time within these two months, or thereby, there occurred a misunderstanding in the college at Williamsburg. We did not wish to take notice of this affair, for the sake of avoiding to give useless offence. An exaggerated account of it appeared in some Eastern newspapers. The following explanation has been copied from a New York paper. "The "Recorder" does not vouch for its accuracy, but it wears the look of candour, and for this reason we have reprinted it.]
THERE is reason to believe, that the riotous and shameful conduct which took place in Williamsburg a few nights after the expulsion of Mr. Yates and Mr. Lee, as above stated, was confined to a very small number of persons, whose names are as yet unknown. Three, only, were seen at judge Tucker's house. A single stone, only, happens to have been thrown at the light over the door; none of his windows were broken, nor was any personal abuse offered to him, or any of the family. Two persons of the family, only, heard, or saw them: they could not identify the persons. Several Students, who from their attachment to the parties expelled, might have been suspected of being concerned in this outrage, waited upon him, and assured him they were not, and expressed their disapprobation and concern on the occasion. Mr. Lee, one of the parties expelled, did the like; as also did Mr. Yates, at a subsequent period; he was then confined to his bed. As the windows of several other persons in town, who had not the remotest connexion with the college, were also broken on the same night, there is reason to believe that this truly reprehensible conduct, was the effect rather of intoxication, than premeditation. None of the professors have resigned their offices, nor were the college exercises suspended for a single day; they are still continued as usual; consequently the college is not as stated, "completely broken up." It is equally untrue, that, "party politics, instead of sciences," have ever been the "objects of instruction in that University."
From the PROVIDENCE GAZETTE.
"If it be true" (said the celebrated Quin , of facetious memory) "that every generation is wiser than the preceding grand-fires!"—Those old-fashioned fellows (peace to their names) differed in judgement so essentially from the present postmaster-general, that they supposed printers, at least, equally qualified with other citizens; else why were so many of that profession (even printers of newspapers) heretofore admitted and invited in the department? Can any moral or physical reason be assigned by Mr. Granger, why printers should be more liable to violation of oaths, breaches of trust &c. than merchants, lawyers, or other citizens? Is rivalry in business confined to printers, and are they more disposed to injure or "destroy" their brethren than men of other professions?—But an ounce of fact being worth a pound of argument, I might adduce many instances of printers (almost all of them printers of newspapers) having sustained the office of postmaster, all of whom executed the trust with accuracy and fidelity.
The late Dr. Franklin (a printer) might with more propriety have been styled the parent of the American post-office. The great and good man nursed it while in its infancy. He was deputy post-master for Philadelphia, and afterwards postmaster-General, both previous and subsequent to the revolution.
Should it be alleged, that printers have depreciated since the time of Franklin, it may be asked, have lawyers become better men since the days of the pious Sir Matthew Hale?—"printers of newspapers," whom Mr. Granger has thought it expedient thus ungraciously to denounce as unworthy of trust and confidence, most certainly had some little merit both before and during the revolution, and it is presumed, "deserved well of their country." Had they been generally attached to the British government (as a few of them were) could the revolution have progressed to well?—Whatever may be the sage opinion of Mr. Granger, common sense, truth, and justice, will say NO. And how have they been remunerated? Their papers have long been taxed, to the discouragement of their business; and Mr. Granger now adds insult to injury. In "the times that tried men's souls," they, through the press, sounded an alarm from one end of this extensive continent to the other, and roused their fellow citizens from the torpor of political death, to a just sense of their rights as free men.—Without this essential aid, well informed men have doubted whether the revolution could have been achieved. Had it failed, these denounced "printers of newspapers"
would have felt the vengeance of a British government; and it is even possible that GIDEON GRANGER himself, (whom the effectiveness of party has elevated to the rank of postmaster-general) might have lived and died in his vocation of a small-rate lawyer, a petty formenter of village vexation."
RETROSPECTION.
TO THE PUBLIC.
LETTER I.
THE uncommon circumstances under which I, at this time, venture to address my fellow citizens will perhaps afford an apology for the freedom which is now to be taken of speaking upon my own private concerns. My farther encouragement for that boldness is that these concerns are, in some measure, interwoven with the personal welfare of every citizen of Virginia, as well as of every one who shall take the trouble to peruse this paper.
The presidential revolution has past. The friends of Mr. Jefferson have seated him in the federal chair. The congressional patrons of the sedition act have been transferred to the ranks of a diminutive opposition. Every reasonable man had hoped that the liberty of the press was now to be established for ever. He had hoped that the days of brotherly associations , and of persecution for pretended sedition were expired; that those who so loudly demanded this typographical liberty would suffer others to enjoy it as well as themselves; in short, that every publisher of a newspaper might print what he thought proper without having any consequences to fear, but from the laws of his country.
But the world abounds with disappointments; and the Examiner of Wednesday last has afforded me one of them. Never, since I can recollect the first period of my reading, did I feel more surprise than at the contents of this performance. Before hazarding an opinion of its nature and tendency, those who chuse to follow the writer will attend to the subsequent explanation.
The Examiner of the 14th ult contained a series of articles upon Mr. James Rind. They were considered as an improper attack. Some reasons for thinking so were stated in the Recorder of the 17th current. But, in doing this, it was not, even in one syllable, forgot that Mr. Jones was not merely entitled to every sort of tenderness consistent with candour, but that, if he should commit an error, I was one of the last persons that ought to treat him with disrespect. Hence, there was a studious guard upon the title of those remarks. One half was not said of what, in point of fact, I should have said of most other people. It was not forgot that I had received obligations from Mr. Jones. Neither was it forgot that he had received credit for obligations which had never existed. It was known that the history of those imaginary obligations had been circulated, although most likely not by him, with a view to the establishment of a future bill of ingratitudes , in case that I should have the hardness to differ in political sentiment, from Mr. Jones, or from his little circle of monitors. I reflected that he was a native of Virginia; that he possessed an income of seven thousand dollars a year; that he was a master of popular address and manners; in a word I reflected that, in a contest with Mr. Jones, I had not even a chance for success. He was a native of America. He was a man of an immense income. In both of these respects, I was as nothing. I was, therefore, aware and certain of having a dead majority against me. All these dangers were foreseen; but a resolution was formed to avert or to resist them.
The attack in question divides into two different sections. The first comes from Mr. Meriwether Jones; the second from Skelton Jones. It is my purpose to give a regular answer to every intelligible part of the publication of the two brothers. But before proceeding to this task, it seems proper to take some notice of a paragraph, which is, in every sense of the word, LITTLE; and which they have fastened, like a cracker, at the posterior of their fraternal production. Here it is.
"Why has (they meant to say here) three numbers of the Recorder been thrust for three successive Saturdays under the door of Mr. John Warden of this City? Mr. Warden is a respectable and well informed Citizen: he is a decided Federalist, and sufficiently acquainted with all the subjects of which the Recorder treats. He will not therefore say for the paper; and as the Editor has obtained this information, he thinks it friendly to make this communication to his coadjutor Mr. Callender. Is this the way the Recorder has shoved itself into circulation?"
I wish to know what concern Mr. Jones has with the subscribers to the Recorder? If we chuse to show this newspaper under the door of every man in Richmond, is it the business of Mr. Jones to take notice of such officiousness? Would not every man have condemned such a paragraph, as ungentlemanly, as invidious, as mean, if it had come from Mr. Pace, or myself. In fact, I do not know the man, this brace of editors excepted, that would stoop to the grossness and vulgarity of interfering with so delicate a topic.
Mr. Jones says that "Mr. Warden is a respectable and well informed Citizen: he is
a "decided federalist." How then can Mr. Warden be respectable? since by the Examiner's lexicon, I am branded as a criminal for even accepting the subscription of a federalist. How does Mr. Jones know with what subjects Mr. Warden is acquainted, or of what subjects the Recorder may chance to treat? I admit the superiority of the Examiner's knowledge, as well as the splendour of his talents. But the personal merit or importance of an author cannot, of itself, make that right, which was originally wrong. A pun does not rise from meanness to dignity, when it occurs in the text of Dr. Swift; nor does bombast, or sophistry ascend to the standard of correct composition, when it chances to be adorned by the periods of Tully, or of Tacitus.
I never spoke to Mr. Warden in my life, and I care but very little, if I never shall. At the late meeting of citizens in the capitol, while Mr. Smith and Mr. Rind were in the very focus of disputation, while every eye was looking, and while every ear was listening to that interesting exhibition of abilities, Mr. Warden, behind the spot where I stood was making an interruptive noise. At last, he repeatedly addressed himself to me; and when I turned round to hear him, he said just these words; PARTICULARS! PARTICULARS! Upon this hint, that Recorder was sent him which contained some minutes as to this meeting; and our lad has carried it twice since. If Mr. Warden has desired Mr. Jones to tell me that he will not pay for the paper, I could not, upon my soul, I could not tell which of the couple I should despise most, the author, or the publisher of such important information.
In the Recorder of last Saturday, I had wrote a paragraph, which, when quoted entire, consists exactly of these words.
"In the Recorder of last Saturday, there was inserted an article entitled 'The Examiner examined.' The Examiner of last Wednesday attacks this piece. Those who will read the two papers, at the same time, are entirely welcome to form an opinion upon the comparison of their contents. [We do not think it would be difficult to prove that the writer of last Wednesday wishes partly to retrace his steps;] but a minute discussion of such a question is not worth while."
The lines between the two [ ] are copied into Wednesday's Examiner, in the piece signed Skelton Jones . This man then proceeds thus:
"The fiend-like malignity of this allusion is well understood. Should I have the misfortune to be engaged in a scene of the kind you mean, it would be a far different subject from the editor of the Recorder, his correspondents, or coadjutors. A horse-whip would honor him; the knout is the adequate punishment for such abject pusillanimity, coupled with such base illiberality."
In reading my paragraph, no mortal but the two brothers will perceive any thing more than an allusion to the piece which I had undertaken to criticise. Skelton Jones finds in it a reference to a duel, which he fought about a year ago with Mr. Armstead Seldon. I take the supreme being to witness that such an allusion never came into my head. I am satisfied that it could not have occurred as such to any human being but the two brothers. This is the firm and broad foundation, upon which they have erected four columns of reproach. After this, let no man say that Swift, in his tale of a tub, has overcharged the character of Peter, picking the shoulder knots out of his father's will. The citation of Peter is not in the least degree, more sophistical or false than that of the Examiner and his deputy.
But as these people speak of delicacy, has any one forgot the behaviour of Meriwether Jones, to his own father in law, Doctor Read of Norfolk? The conduct of the latter, as a magistrate, had excited the attention of the general assembly. A commission was issued for making an inquiry about it. The charge pointed against him was alleged to be of a serious and awful nature. Prepossession against Dr. Read had been fermented into the sternest ferocity of detestation. For some time, the unfortunate and depressed old man durst hardly be seen upon the streets of Norfolk. In the very midst of the storm, did Meriwether Jones, in his own newspaper, attack his own father in law.
JAMES T. CALLENDER.
Richmond April 30th. 1802.
RECREATION.
G. GREEN, M. D.
Respectfully invites the citizens of Richmond (including the Ladies) and its vicinity, to attend the Analysis of a LECTURE on
ELECTRICITY,
WITH EXPERIMENTS to be delivered on MONDAY Evening, May 30, 1802, At FREEMASON'S HALL.
Also, a DEFINITION of the CREATION of the
WORLD,
In seven distinct periods, illustrated with transparent Figures, and particularly calculated to be of useful knowledge in the rising generation. Particulars of which will be expressed in the hand bills.
Tickets only a dollar each; to be had at the Eagle Tavern, at the Hall; and at Mr. Davidson's near the Bridge.
Doors to be opened at seven, and commence precisely at half past.

EXTRACT FROM THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES FOR 1796.
BY land, our interest has been as grossly betrayed as by sea. This appears from the discouragement constantly given to the defence of Indian frontier. On that head, the following narrative will repay a perusal.
On the 19th of November, 1794, President Washington, in his speech to Congress, has these words. "Towards none of the Indian tribes have overtures of friendship been spared. The Creeks, in particular, are covered from encroachment by the interposition of the general government, and that of Georgia." It would have been fortunate for the people of Tennessee, if the general government had covered them from the encroachments of the Creeks. Respecting the behaviour of the Creeks previous to the delivery of that speech, information for the present work has been derived from two sources, the public newspapers, and a private manuscript communicated by Mr. Andrew Jackson, Representative from the state of Tennessee in the fourth Congress. An examination of these details will assist in ascertaining what sort of friendship the Creeks deserved, and to what side the balance of protection ought to have leaned.
The account given in the newspapers amounts in substance to what follows. Continual skirmishes had been taking place for a long time. In one of these, on the 13th of August, 1794, lieutenant M'Clellan, with thirty-seven men, had been attacked on the Cumberland path, eighteen miles from South-West-Point, by above an hundred Creeks. He had four men killed, and four missing. He likewise lost thirty-one horses, with several other articles. A multitude of murders by the Indians are mentioned. Of these, it would be needless here to attempt a catalogue. A letter from Knoxville, dated 22d of September 1794, says, that the general assembly of Tennessee had then been in session for several weeks. They had prepared another memorial to Congress, with a list of the citizens killed, wounded, or taken prisoners by the Creeks and Cherokees, since the 1st of March last; the date of a former statement to Congress. The number was an hundred and twenty-seven, besides which the Indians had stolen four hundred and seventy-four horses. These thefts and murders had been chiefly committed while a party of the Lower Cherokees were at Philadelphia, giving the strongest promises of peace, and while major Seagrove, an agent for Indian affairs, was making assurances of the friendship of the Creeks. The letter concludes with an account of some fresh murders which had, at that moment, been received. They were said to have been committed on the 16th of September current. Nickajack and Running Water were two of the most populous of the Lower Cherokee towns. They were situated close on the south bank of the Tennessee below a place called the Suck. They were principal crossing-places for the Creeks over the Tennessee, when they wanted to make war on Cumberland and Kentucky. They had co-operated with the warriors of Look-out Mountain and Will's towns, for several years past. They boasted of perfect security from their situation. They were surrounded on three sides by mountains, and protected on the north by the south branch of the Tennessee. They were also formidable by their numbers.
On the 7th of September, major Ore marched from Nashville to attack the savages. He had with him five hundred and fifty militia, of whom an hundred and fifty were from Kentucky. They arrived on the bank of the Tennessee, opposite to Nickajack, and undiscovered, in the dusk of the evening. About eleven o'clock at night, a part of them crossed the river on rafts, and surrounded the town, while another party lay in ambush on the opposite side of the river. The attack began about day break. Many of the savages plunged
according to their custom, into the water, and having got almost to the opposite shore, the militia in reserve rose from their covert and discharged a volley at the fugitives in the river. The victory was complete. Nine squaws and children were taken. About forty or forty-five warriors were killed. Accounts differ about their exact numbers. As no particular detail is offered about Running Water, but barely that it was destroyed at the same time with Nickajack, it seems probable that they stood very near each other. In these towns two fresh scalps were found: and several others dry, that had been hung up as trophies. Many articles of property were recovered, which the militia knew to have been taken from their owners when killed by the Indians, in the course of the preceding twelve months. Among these were found a number of letters. They had been carried off when the Kentucky mail was robbed and the post murdered. In Nickajack was found a quantity of powder and lead, that had just been received from the Spanish government, as also a commission to Branth, chief of the town, who was among the slain.
The prisoners confessed that sixty Creek and Cherokee warriors had passed through Nickajack, only nine days before, on their way to make war against the United States. Two nights previous to the destruction of Running Water, a scalp dance was held in it. Among others, John Watts was present; and it was there resolved to carry on the war with additional vigour. This the white people learned from the prisoners. The towns were burnt, and every thing destroyed. Such is the substance of the newspaper account. That received from Mr. Jackson is to the following effect.
Major James Ore was, in the close of August, 1794, ordered by governor Blount to march to the district of Mero, to defend its frontier; and on the 6th of September, he was ordered, by general Robertson to march to the Lower Cherokee towns, and destroy them.
"It is proper for me here to observe," says Mr. Jackson, "that the Indians inhabiting those towns were daily killing our citizens, and our officers, transmitting a Rostrum of the captured, killed, and wounded to the secretary at war; and the answers returned were; not to pursue on any account across the Indian boundary, or carry on any offensive measures against the Indian boundary in the pursuit of depredating parties. "
Major Ore obeyed the orders of general Robertson. He marched to Nickajack and Running Water, swept them with the besom of destruction, and killed about thirty warriors. It is necessary here to state some facts. The night before major Ore made the attack on Nickajack, the Indians held the scalp dance over two fresh scalps, which they had taken on the frontier. Ore had pursued the track of this party. On the very day that he made the attack, twenty-two Indians fell upon the station of the widow Hays, killed one man, and wounded three; and the evening before, they had burnt captain John Donelson's station. At the time that general Robertson issued the order to Ore, he had information of an intended general attack, contemplated on that frontier. This was well substantiated, and the expedition of Ore was the only circumstance which prevented it, and established peace on the frontier.
The pay of these troops hath been suspended, because they crossed the Indian boundary, although they precisely pursued the orders given by general Robertson. The muster and pay rolls were, in the latter end of the year 1794, deposited with colonel David Henly, agent of the war department at Knoxville. Governor Blount, in 1794, transmitted to Mr. Knox general Robertson's order, authorizing and commanding the expedition; and on the 19th of December of that year, this communication was laid before Congress. Yet though frequent applications have been made at the office of the secretary at war for payment, they have constantly
been refused. After a delay of more than two years, Mr. Jackson, in the last session of the fourth Congress, has applied to Mr. Pickering to recover the necessary papers, that he might lay the subject before the House of Representatives. "I am informed by him," says Mr. Jackson, "that he knows nothing of the business." Here the matter stood, on the 22d of February, 1797.
Mr. Jackson further adds that this is not a single instance. In 1794, major Thomas Johnston commanded a party of Tennessee militia, who were ordered to pursue a gang of Indians. The latter had murdered colonel John Montgomery, and the Titworth family. In the pursuit, they crossed into the Kentucky territory. Colonel Henly gave that reason for suspending their pay. These were the only two parties of Tennessee militia, whose arrears have not been paid up, excepting those comprehended in the approbation act for 1797.
OBSERVATIONS
ON THE TAX ON MERCHANTS, Respectfully submitted to the consideration of the General Assembly of Virginia. (Continued from No. 40).
If this reasoning be correct, the law under review is in substance, though indirectly, an infraction of that clause of the Federal Constitution, in which it is declared that "no state shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be for the use of the Treasury of the United States."
The first, or prohibitory part of the clause, is of itself sufficient. Its object is, manifestly, to deprive the states of all revenue, from duties on imported goods; the object of the second part is equally clear, and the plain and indisputable meaning of it is, that the general government shall exclusively possess that revenue. Words cannot be less equivocal. On what principle then, can the state of Virginia pretend to drive a revenue from a source from which the constitution expressly excludes all the states? On what principle will the state of Virginia justify a law, by which she obtains a revenue from a fund, exclusively appropriated to the general government?
The only answer to this argument that has been hitherto attempted, removes the discussion from things to words, from substance to form—It has been said that the tax in question is not a duty on imported goods, but a tax on merchants. It is true that in name it is a tax on merchants, but if it turns out to be in reality a duty on goods, the name is nothing or worse, a deception, and such a tax cannot be constitutionally imposed by the Legislature of Virginia. It is not in words, but in fact, a violation of the Constitution, and cannot be defended, until it shall be determined, in defiance of the established principles of law and common sense, that a measure which would be unconstitutional, if attempted by direct means, is justifiable, if indirectly effected. A mode of reasoning, hitherto so justly opposed, and reprobated by the Legislature of Virginia, will not now be resorted to by them. They will fully and fairly meet the question, which is here laid before them, and will not, by an evasion, descend from that elevation which they have so long maintained.
It has been already stated, and is supposed to be proved, that a tax like this is in fact a duty on foreign goods, and like other duties, is finally paid by the consumer. Supposing then the amount of this tax, to be 20,000 dollars, it is obvious that the people of Virginia, in addition to the duties imposed by Congress, pay 20,000 more than the people of Pennsylvania, or of any other state would pay, for the same quantity of goods, passing through the same number of hands. Those who shall advocate the renewal of the law under review are called on, to reconcile it to that sentence of the constitution, which guarantees to the people an equality of duties throughout the union.*
* 8th Article 1st Section.
There is another point, to which the attention of those who may support the present system, is solicited.
If the Legislature of Virginia can impose a tax of forty dollars, it seems to be a fair, and indeed an inevitable conclusion, that they may raise it to fifty dollars; to one hundred, to one thousand, in short, to a sum which may materially affect the consumption of foreign goods in this state, and of course the amount of duties, received by the Treasury of the United States. But it has been already shown, that it was the design of the Constitution in the recited clauses, to give the revenues arising from duties on imports, exclusively to the general government, and to place those revenues, intirely beyond the reach of the state Legislatures.
Now it is a rule of logic, as well as of common sense, that premises from which an inference false in itself, is correctly deduced, must be false also. In the present instance, the foregoing conclusion which is supposed to be a fair deduction from the law, asserts that the Legislature of Virginia, has indirectly a controul over the revenues of the general government arising from foreign goods; but the Constitution gives these revenues to the general government, exclusively, and moreover prohibits the states from touching them, without the consent of Congress, and even then for the benefit of the Federal Treasury only. The conclusion therefore being repugnant to the Constitution, is false, and consequently the premises from which it is drawn, must be erroneous.
If it shall be said that this is not correct, those who shall advocate the right of the Legislature, to impose this tax, but shall deny their right to carry it to any extent to which they may chuse to carry it, will point out, the exact degrees of latitude within which they must steer their course, and the reason why they are confined within those degrees.
In pursuing the same train of reasoning, we come to a conclusion, still more formidable to the independence of the general government. If the states may constitutionally impose a tax on merchants, so heavy, as to affect the consumption of foreign goods, and thus to impair the revenues of the Federal Treasury, arising from duties on those goods, they may constitutionally augment the tax, until by degrees, the consumption of foreign goods is done away, and the revenue of the general government is totally cut off. This conclusion, though at present apparently improbable in event, is a fair inference from the law, and merits particular notice at this time, because those who now have the management of public affairs, seem disposed to rely, for the support of government, and the performance of its engagements, almost exclusively on that fund, in which the law in question asserts, that the states have a right indirectly to participate.*
Another inference from the law before us presents itself, which, from two points of view, merits very serious attention.
If the states can constitutionally tax the whole body of wholesale and retail dealers, it must be admitted, they may constitutionally tax a part of that body. The burthen may be imposed, on the wholesale dealers only, or they may be exempted from all imposition, as by the law of 1786, and the whole tax thrown on the retailers. If a discrimination can be made, between the several classes of men engaged in trade, it may be made between individuals of the same class. There is no line marked out by the Constitution, by which the Legislature are to be guided, or beyond which they are to go. If under the Constitution, they have power to impose the tax now complained of, its application and extent depend entirely on their discretion. If they have power to tax all dealers in foreign goods, it may become a question of justice or policy, whether a few only shall be selected, but it cannot be a constitutional question. The state Legis-
* See Mr. Jefferson's Message to Congress.
To be continued.