THE ANNUAL REGISTER, AND VIRGINIAN REPOSITORY, FOR THE YEAR 1800.
FROM THE BLANDFORD PRESS. SOLD BY ROSS AND DOUGLAS, PETERSBURG, AND BY ALL THE BOOKSELLERS IN VIRGINIA, ETC.
PREFACE.
THE favourable reception given to the first attempt at something like a REGISTER for the Year 1800, has induced the Editor to lay before the Public a volume more enlarged, and rather more methodical in its arrangement—but he does not expect that to give complete satisfaction to others, when he himself is conscious of its defects. Amongst many inconveniences with which he has had to contend, was much ill health, both in his own person, and in those of his workmen—This, with his distance from any ready help, and the difficulty he found in obtaining the necessary intelligence, have prevented its appearance in the month of January, as he wished and expected.
But as every misfortune is said to bring along with it some alleviating circumstances, the book, in fact, has gained by the accidental delay. The Editor has had an opportunity of inserting several important articles relative to the late Election of a President, which otherwise would have been defered till next volume—indeed he could not with any propriety pass over a transaction which so highly interested the feelings of the new, and attracted the serious attention of the old world—
If small matters may be compared to great, in order to shew our Readers the nature of the work, the English Annual Register for the year 1799 was not published in September last—As a Record of what is past, it is not necessary it should appear exactly on the first day of the new year like an Almanack—And it may easily be imagined, that it takes some time and trouble to arrange and prepare materials even for so small a work as the present.
In the arrangement of the materials which compose this little volume, it was the Editor's object to combine historical instruction, with a collection of the local events and occurrences of the year. His historical extracts [Page ii] are taken from the best authorities, and are inserted with a view, that the people of this country might thereby form a judgement of the nature of the corrupt-and-tottering Governments of Europe, and learn from them, to appreciate the advantages which they enjoy; and taking example from the awful scenes now acting in that part of the world, to cherish and support a form of Government founded on the principles of justice and natural right.
On a review of the materials which he had collected, he perceived that he had as many as would make a very thick Octavo volume, all of them, in his opinion, worthy of preservation, either for use or entertainment—His chief labour, therefore, has been, to reject a great many of these articles, and so to contract and compress others, as to bring them into such a compass as he thought would fit the size of his book, and enable him to sell it at a moderate price.
It is easy to see, that the Editor had in contemplation a publication similar to the English Annual Register, in which should be recorded the principal Acts of both the General and State Governments, the National Accounts, &c.—to insert every article tending to encourage Agriculture, Commerce, and Manufactures, all useful inventions and, discoveries, the most remarkable occurrences of the year, &c. these to be enlivened with choice Poetry, remarks on new Publications, and historical extracts and details.
Such a work, if executed with calmness and impartiality, it is evident, would be both a useful and entertaining publication—Several Gentlemen, who are of this opinion, and who wish such a scheme carried into execution, have suggested to the Editor, either to publish a large volume annually, or a smaller one halfyearly—Either way, for such a work, there would be an abundance of materials, in an age when every week, almost every day, produces something new and wonderful.
Whether this idea will be carried into execution, will depend on certain concurring circumstances, and upon the reception which the present volume shall receive. Late as it is in its appearance, and imperfect as it may [Page iii] seem to those who are accustomed to consult that justly admired work published in London, * the Editor hopes that the unavoidable causes of its delay will plead his excuse; and that the local usefulness of the articles which it contains, will recommend it to the notice of a discerning public.
In the following pages, two leading principles are meant to be openly and decidedly inculcated—namely, the importance of a religious and moral conduct; and, the superior excellence of a Republican form of Government.
The Editor thinks it right at once to display his colours, and avowedly to declare his sentiments—in order, that those who expect to find other principles in this book, by reading these few lines, may save both their time and their money.
In what is now called "the Age of Reason," a Censor Morum is but an unthankful office. The man who only talks of Religion, subjects himself to the charge of hypocrisy; and if he attempts to inculcate it, he is accused of presumption—On this subject, therefore, the Editor will be very concise—In a few words, he would humbly plead the cause of that belief in, and reliance on, the goodness and providence of an all-seeing, all-directing Deity, which gives dignity to the individual, and safety to the community; † which is a balm of comfort to the poor, and is a check and controul on the [Page iv] rich—If the word of one who has seen and felt much of the world could obtain any credit, he would assure his readers, that the man, the family, the community, or the nation, who observes a religious and moral conduct, will, eventually, be found not only the most happy, but also the most prosperous.
But he does not plead for political Religion— that kind of religion which has exalted Kings, and Popes, and Cardinals, and Dignitaries to high places, to riot on the hard earnings of a deluded people, and which, more than all the writings of Ath [...]ests and Infidels, has depressed, and almost annihilated, true religion— that religion, which the Kings and Despots of Europe, at the expence of so much blood and treasure, are still endeavouring to support— that religion, called the Protestant, which the English, in the war of 1756, spent so many millions to protect—nor that religion, the Popish, which the same nation, in the war of 1793, has expended so many more millions to restore! *
In this country, and in these teeming times, it is impossible for any Writer, or Editor, to avoid Politics,—Indeed, that man must have a cold heart, or an empty head, who can look on unmoved by what is now passing in the world. Every man has his bias; and every man who beholds the wonderful changes taking place in opinions, in systems, and in empires, must be affected. Whether the Editor has subjected his bias to the dictates of candour and impartiality, atleast, to the rules of decency and good manners, the Public—the dispassionate Public—will pronounce. †
Religion and Politics are the two great engines by which mankind have been agitated, and deceived, and [Page v] enslaved, from the earliest times.—It is not surprising, that a diversity of opinion should arise on metaphysical subjects—The being and attributes of the Deity, predestination or free will, philosophical necessity or human volition, the beginning of eternity, &c. cannot be brought to mathematical demonstration by all the skill of human learning—But, one should think, that the science of Government, after the experience of five or six thousand years, could not be so very abstruse and mysterious a subject—nor would it, but for the folly and knavery of men. To a plain, unprejudiced, unsophisticated understanding, can there be a doubt whether one man should rule a million by his mere will and pleasure, or, that the million should govern themselves upon the principles of equity and justice?—There would not, but for ignorance on one side, and cunning on the other. * In a word, whether a Kingly or a Republican form of Government is the most eligible, the most rational, and the most conducive to the happiness of the people?
If the question was to come fairly before the bar of Reason, it would not admit of a moment's hesitation—but, unfortunately, pride, ambition, ancient partialities and modern antipathies, and Emolument, often more powerful than all those together, come in "to puzzle the will, and perplex the understanding."—When one man gets a million a year for being a King, another ten thousand a year for being a Bishop, and others thousands a year for being a Lord of the Bed-chamber, a Groom of the Stole, a Master of the Hounds, a Yeoman of the Scullery, &c. &c. † no wonder so many men are [...]ound eager to maintain so lucrative a craft!
[Page vi] But all cannot be of one opinion; diversity is the order of Nature. It is to be acknowledged, that there are good men who adopt the monarchical system merely upon principle; and such men are entitled to our respect, however they may differ from us in sentiment—But the greatest misfortune to the cause of Liberty is, that many men, particularly those of property, take refuge under the wings of Kingly power, disgusted with the tumults and disorders of Democracy. This is a rock which the Americans, in the navigating of their political bark, would do well to avoid—it is the more dangerous, because it is a popular one. Democracy, or the Will of the People, is unquestionably the first principle and ground-work of the American Constitution; but, as soon as the people have fulfilled their grand, inestimable privilege of chusing their Representatives, then it becomes Republicanism, or a system marked and bounded by certain known and definite regulations. The Democracy here deprecated, consists in a confusion of system, of ill-timed interferences of one body with another, and of violent and unnecessary exertions of the people, &c.—It is this Democracy, that is kindled and enflamed by cunning and ambitious men, who first raise themselves on the shoulders of the mob, and then trample on their rights, under the pretext of restoring order and good government—It is this Democracy, that, sooner than any other, will become a prime engine in the hands of foreign emissaries, first to divide the people, and then reduce them to foreign obedience.
One would think that the geographical situation of the American States would keep them clear of that destructive and all-devouring vortex, European politics, and that an ocean 3000 miles broad, would protect them from insult and danger. Of what import, it may be asked, is it to the nations of Europe, whether John Adams or Thomas Jefferson presides at the head of the American government?—The Connecticut pretensious can neither open nor shut the Scheldt; nor can the Georgia claims either obstruct or facilitate the navigation of the Baltic—But it is the baneful nature of the Kingly system ever to intermeddle with the affairs of other nations—The history of Europe is full of it—Amongst innumerable instances suffice it to mention, that [Page vii] both the profligate Charles and the bigotted James of England were pensioners of France, which country, till lately, held Sweden in her pay—At present, Russia either pays or overawes both Sweden and Denmark—the infamous partition of Poland is still fresh in our minds—and England, amidst all her incumbrances and difficulties, is grasping either at conquest or influence in every country in the world!
It is the pervading, prevailing ambition of the two rival nations, FRANCE and ENGLAND, that will long be endeavouring to exert itself over and in the councils of this country—They are the Sylla and Charibdis of AMERICA—But it is from the last-mentioned of these Powers that the American Union is in most danger, and has most to fear. The bitter recollections of the American Revolution, the rooted hatred which she holds for Republican principles, and her insatiable thirst after commercial dominion, will, for a long time, render her a dangerous enemy.—Against an enemy so powerful and enterprising, possessed of innumerable means either of Corruption or Conquest, the people of these States cannot be too much on their guard—Let them remember, that their best guard is UNION; and that whilst they act towards England agreeably to the rules of justice, they should ever be vigilantly and jealously on the watch to counteract her machinations, or check her ambition. *
Unshackled by a Monarchy, a Nobility, and an Hierarchy, America, at present, is divided between two great interests, the Agricultural and Commercial.—Agriculture and Commerce are said to be intimately allied, and to depend on the mutual assistance of each other—We believe they do—but the latter should always be subordinate to the former. In that country where agriculture predominates, the people will have the best chance of maintaining their independence—where the latter prevails, they will sink, by rapid steps, into a state of luxury, venality, and subjection.
[Page viii] It is with nations as with individuals; they must first be in a state of probation, and acquire wisdom by experience—But no people ever began the business of Government with so much advantage as the Americans With the whole history of the world before them, and the awful example of perturbed Europe present to their view, they have in their hands, be it for good or for evil, the important experiment of REPRESENTATIVE REPUBLICANISM—with them it is to be proven, whether it be a real, substantial good, or only an idle dream, a fanciful theory.
Shall it be said, that what the power of Great Britain could not achieve in a fierce and bloody war, was, in a few years, effected by petty, personal broils, pecuniary interests, and provincial antipathies?—Shall the Federal chain so soon be broken, and Republicanism become the theme of Aristocratical derision?—Shall it be said with Monarchical scorn, that the virtue of the Americans depended on the existence of ONE MAN, and that when Washington ceased to direct, they would sink into discord, anarchy, and disunion?—
What the Greeks, and Romans, and other nations have tried in vain, should be a lesson to the people of these countries, to examine with caution, and to decide with prudence, neither adopting rashly, nor expunging precipitately—Absolute perfection is not to be found in this world; we must deal with human nature as it is, not as we wish it to be, and what it never will be—The lesser evil must give way to the greater good; the wish of the minority most yield to the voice of the majority—The effervescences of Zeal have often been as fatal as the machinations of Malignity—On one side they have "the turbulent Ocean of Democracy," on the other "the calm sea of Despotism"—Republicanism is a goodly, regular fabric, standing half way between the lawless rage of the Mob and the arbitrary will of the Sovereign—If after a fair experiment, they perceive that their labour is in vain, and that the great Political Panacea is not to be found, they know the alternative—if they cannot be freemen, let them be slaves—they can get a King at any time.
AN EXPLANATORY AND APOLOGETICAL PREFACE TO THE ALMANACK.
PRINTERS and PRINCES have long been in the habit of speaking and writing in the imperative style plural, as, WE do this, WE order that, and so forth. If any of our Federal readers should be offended at the Printer preceding the Prince, let them recollect, that this is, as yet, a Republican country, and that both of them are often, very often, mischievous characters. It is true, they don't much like fighting in their own proper persons, but often, too often, they are the cause of much blood being shed by others.
Be it known then to all the good people of this Commonwealth, that the Printer hereof will descend from his imperative chair, and, for a little while, condescend to talk like a common Citizen, in the first person singular.
When URBAN'S Almanack made its first appearance, it naturally attracted the attention of all the Critics in that line of literature, and two grand faults were found with it; namely, that it had too much religion, and too little weather.—To do the Sovereign People * justice, there was some truth in the first remark; the book was rather dull for a winter evening's amusement; and however good the thing may be in itself, it is not right to cram religion down a man's throat whether he will [Page x] or not—besides, there is no law for such doings in this country; now, in England, a man must swallow the Trinity, the Athanasian [...]reed, the 39 Articles, &c. at one gulp, or woe be to both his temporal and spiritual concerns. *
To remedy the first complaint, there was no great difficulty—with one dash of my pen, I swept the whole pack of Saints, Martyrs, and Virgins out of the Calendar!—"Ladies and Gentlemen, said I to them very civilly—putting the Virgins foremost) you see there is no business for you here; here there are neither images, nor shrines, nor cathedrals, nor votaries—Heaven knows it was not worth your whiles to leave your snug births at home, to cross the Atlantic ocean for all the profit, or honour either, you have got in this country.—God help you, poor emigrants, I don't know where you can now sojourn, unless it be among the Chickisaws and Catabaws, who live, or rather wander, some hundreds of miles beyond the Ohio.—Now, as I gave you a decent welcome to my table—and would have kept you there, if my masters had been so pleased—the only request I have to make of you is, that you will be so kind as take this vile Ague and Fever along with you, and drop it in one of the lakes on to'ther side of the mountains—If you do, I shall pray for you, and to you, all the days of my life."—
On the subject of Religion, I have only to add, that I have retained a few of the capital Saints, just to shew that there were such a people once upon a time, and to put some folks in mind when they may expect a merry day—By the bye, I never could learn the reason, why these holy men are placed, as one may say, at the very head of our drinking parties.—It is said, indeed (but I don't pretend to vouch for the truth of the report, as it has too much the appearance of scandal) that both St. Andrew and St. Patrick were fond of a little whiskey in the morning; and Mr. Gibbon has given us to understand, that St. George was not so holy a man as John Bull imagined him to be.—Be this as it may, I can't conceive how the two Johns, who were said to have been remarkably sober Saints, happened to be of the Fraternity.—The only way I can account for so curious a connection is, that with all their outward sanctity, like some of our modern Parsons—in the old country—they liked, "under the rose", good eating and drinking as well as their neighbours.
To remove the second complaint, I soon found a much more serious undertaking—it was the more difficult, because unexpected [Page xi] It never entered into my head, that "the most enlightened nation in the world" would have ask'd ME to foretell all the gusts and storms of the ensuing year!—I could not help thinking the request, or rather command, a little unreasonable—but there is no accounting for the whims of your very sensible people; and so, right or wrong, I must obey; I must be a Conjuror, nolens volens, as the saying is.—Well, what was to be done?—Isaac briggs, a plain honest Quaker, declared he never made a gust or a storm in all his life; and the other Stargazers said, that as I was no customer of theirs, they would have nothing to do with it—I ran from one end of the town to the other, in a hot day, popping my head into every open door, and begging of every one I saw, to foretell me next year's weather—Nobody knew any thing of the matter—Even the Mayor, who, by virtue of his office, is by much the wisest man in the community, could tell nothing about it—In short, I was completely pos'd—as the man in the play says, "I faith it was a puzzler."
In this dilemma, I luckily cast my thoughts on the capital, the city on the hill—Surely, said I, striking the palm of my right hand on my forehead, if there are any weather-wise men in the nation, there they must be, and thither wilt I go—No sooner said than done—I stuff'd myself into the stage-waggon for Richmond, and, in little more than 48 hours, was furnished with "as pretty an assortment of weather," as any Almanack-maker in the 16 United States of America, with the western Territory into the bargain—Not satisfied with this expedition, I sent off a special messenger (as I could not go myself) to Raleigh, the capital city of North Carolina, and got from thence another parcel; by which means I have become possessed of a "well assorted stock" both from the North and from the South.—And having now got into the right track, next year, I am determined, for the satisfaction of my customers, to have weather from the East and from the west, and every point of the compass.—
It is not very decent for a man to blow his own trumpet—yet, methinks, I do deserve well of the Country.
Now, other Printers would have done all this in silence, slily pretending it be their own cleverness *—whereas I freely own my obligations to other heads—I let every man have his due—I would "give the Devil his due"—Besides, it answers two good purposes—In the first place, it shews the [...] of my candor—In the next place, IF it should happen, that some of [Page xii] the frosts and snows do not fall exactly in their right places, remember, Citizens, it is none of my fault—let the wise-acres of Richmond and Raleigh answer for their mistakes—it is enough for me to be at the trouble of printing them.
But, notwithstanding the putting out of the Saints, and the putting in of the weather, I am not vain enough to suppose, particularly in these combustuous times, that all the world will be pleased with my work—A French writer has somewhere said,
Which, in plain English, is as much as to say, "he's a great fool who thinks he can please every body"—And a celebrated Poet, who well knew the imperfections of human nature, has said,
I can only say, that I will do the best in my power to please the Public, by giving them much good advice, a collection [...] of comical stories and anecdotes, a number of wise sayings and useful tables, and the very best weather that can be had on the continent—Over and above all these good things, I will introduce them to the heathen Gentry, to Jupiter and Juno, Mercury and Venus, &c. * who were very great folks in their time, and with whom, if they should happen again to come into power, it would prudent to be acquainted †—Stranger things have come to pass; as one system goes out, another comes in its place—The Whale must have have a tub before it of some fashion or other—Even Mr. Harper's tubs amused for a while!
Now, all this and a great deal more, may be had for a very small price indeed—for nine pence, a man will get what may be of service to him all the days of his life; whilst that sum will scarcely get me as much bread as will serve my breakfast.
Much good may this cheap book do the Sovereign People—and if there be any efficacy in a Printer's blessing, I give them that into the bargain—sincerely praying, that peace, and plenty, and liberty, may be the portion of us [...] th [...]s year, and every year during the century—at the end of that period; methinks, the youngest and the stoutest of us now, will then be far beyond the reach of either hunger or thirst, of sickness or sorrow.
HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS.
FROM THE LIFE OF VOLTAIRE.
TIRED of the lazy and sycophantic life which I was obliged to lead at Paris, and meeting with a young lady who happened to think nearly as I did, in the year 1733, we took the resolution to go and spend some years in the country, there, far from the tumult and corruption of Courts, to cultivate her understanding, and increase her knowledge.
This lady was the Marchioness de Chatelet, who, of all the women in France, had a mind the most capable of all the branches of Science. Her father, the Baron de Breteuil, had taught her Latin, which she understood perfectly; she knew, by ro [...]e, the most beautiful passages in Virgil, Horace, and Lucr [...]tius, and all the writings of Cicero were familiar to her. Seldom has there been united in the same person, so much justness of discernment and elegance of taste, joined to so ardent a desire for information.
At Cirey, on the borders of Champagne, we sought only instruction, and troubled not ourselves with the follies of the world—but, after having spent six years in our retreat, we were obliged to go to Brussels, where the family of the Chatelets had long been embroiled in a law-suit with the family of the Honbrooks. I had the pleasure of terminating the law-suit, by which the two families had been ruining each other with law expences for sixty years, and, by an amicable accommodation, I [Page 2] gained 226,000 livres in ready money to the Marquis du Ch [...]l [...]t.
While at Brussels, in the year 1740, the ironhearted Frederick William, the unpolished King of Prussia, died at Berlin. His son, who has since gained so singular a reputation, had held a regular correspondence with me several years. The world never, perhaps, beheld a father and son who less resembled each other than these two Monarchs.
The father was an absolute Goth, a Vandal [...] who thought of no other thing, during his whole reign, than amassing money, and maintaining, at the least possible expence, the finest army in Europe. Never were subjects poorer, or King more rich. He bought up, at a low price, the estates of a great part of his Nobility, who soon devoured the little money they got for them, most of which returned to the Royal coffers by means of heavy taxes. All the King's lands were farmed out to tax-gatherers, who held the double office of Judge and Exciseman; insomuch, that if a tenant did not pay on the very day appointed, he put on his Judge's robe, and condemned the poor delinquent to pay double the sum. It must also be observed, that if this same Exciseman did not pay by the last day of the month, the day following he was himself obliged to pay treble to the King!
Did a man kill a hare, or lop a tree, or any other trifling offence, he was instantly condemned to pay a fine to the King—Money! Money!—Was a poor, deluded girl found guilty of making a child, the father, or the mother, or some other relation, was obliged to pay a sum of money to his Majesty! *
The Haroness of Kniphausen, who at that time, was the richest widow in Berlin, that is to say, she had between 3 and 400l. a year, was accused of having [Page 3] made a child clandestinely in the second year of her widowhood. His Majesty was graciously pleased to write her a letter with his own Royal hand, informing her, that it was necessary, if she mount to preserve her character, to send him 30,000 livres, (1250l.)—She was obliged to borrow the sum, and was ruined!
His Majesty had an Ambassador at the Hague, whose name was Lusius; and certainly of all the Ambassadors that ever appertained to Royalty, he was paid the worst. This poor man, that he might be able to keep a fire, had cut down some bushes in the Royal domain. His next dispatches brought him word, that the King, his gracious Sovereign, had mulcted him a year's salary; and Lusius, in a [...]it of despair, cut his throat with the only razor he had!—An old valet unhappily saved his life—I afterwards met his Excellency at the Hague, and gave him alms at the gate of the Palace, where this wretched Ambassador had formerly lived.
It was by such means that he acquired 120 millions of crowns (15 millions sterling) all casked up in barrels, hoop'd with iron, end deposited in double vaulted cellars.
This Monarch used to walk from his palace clothed in an old blue coat, with large copper buttons half way down his thighs, and when he bought a new one, which was but seldom, these buttons were made to serve again. It was in this dress, with a large rusty hat and patch'd boots, and armed with a huge cane, that his Majesty sallied forth every day to review his regiment of giants. These giants were his greatest delight, and for whom he went to the heaviest expence. The men who stood in the front rank were none of them less than 7 feet high, and he sent to purchase them from every part of Europe. They were after wards made Heiduques by the new King to attend the Queen's coach. As they walked on each side of an old ill shapen coach, in order to keep it from falling, these Heiduques could shake hands with each other over the roof.
[Page 4] After his Majesty had been graciously pleased to review his giants, he used to walk thro' the town, when every body fled from before him. If he happened to meet a woman, he sternly demanded, why she staid idling her time in the streets—"Get home, ye lazy b—h! an honest woman has no business over the threshold of her own door"—which words he would accompany with a box on the [...]ar, a kick on the b—side, or some strokes on the shoulders with his huge cane!—Nor did this gracious Monarch treat the holy Ministers of Religion in a more gentle stile, if ever he caught them wandering near to his parade.—The bare sight of his cane was more terrifying to them, than the sound of the Inquisition is to an unprotected heretic!
In short, Turkey is a Republic when compared to the despotism exercised by Frederick William of Prussia!
We may easily imagine, what would be the wrath of a Vandal like this, to find he had a son endowed with wit, sense, and good breeding; who was eager in the acquisition of knowledge, who made verses, and afterwards set them to music. If his Majesty caught his son with a book in his hand, he rudely took it from him, and threw it into the fire; or playing on the flute, he broke it into pieces; and he often treated the Prince as he did the unfortunate women and preachers when he caught them near to his parade.
The Prince, at length weary of the attentions of so kind a father, determined to elope, without well knowing whether to fly, to France or to England—His father's economy deprived him of the power of travelling even in the stile of an English tradesman, and he was obliged to borrow a small sum of money.—Two young gentlemen, both very amiable, were to accompany him. One named Kat, the only son of a brave Officer; the other Keit, who had married the daughter of the Baroness Kniphausen, who had to pay 30,000 livres for making a child without his Majesty's permission, as before mentioned. The [Page 5] day and hour were appointed; but the jealous Monarch getting intelligence of the affair, the Prince and his two companions were arrested, and sent to prison.
At first, the King believed that the Princess Wilhelmina, his daughter, was concerned in the plot [...] and as he was remarkable for dispatch in the executive branch of justice, he instantly proceeded to kick her out of a large window, which reached from the floor to the cieling. The Queen Mother, who happened to be present at this kingly exploit, with great difficulty saved her daughter, by catching hold of her petticoats at the moment she was going out of the window. The Princess received a violent confusion on her breast, the mark of which remained with her during life, and which she did [...] the honour of shewing some years afterwards.
The Prince had a sort of mistress, the daughter of a school-master. This girl played tolerably well on the harpsichord, and the Prince accompanied her with his flute; he thought he he was in love, but he was mistaken—However, the King extended his Royal authority over this misguided girl, by causing her to be paraded by the public hangman, and afterwards whip'd in the Prince's presence!—His Majesty then sent his son to the citadel of Custrin, situated in the midst of an unwholesome marsh; here he was closely confined for six months, in a sort of dungeon; at the end of which time, his Royal father was graciously pleased to allow him a soldier as an attendant.
This soldier, who was young, handsome, and played upon the flute, had more ways than one of arousing the Prince—So many fine qualities made his fortune; and I since knew him, at once Valet de Chambre and Prime Minister, with all the p [...]tness and insolence which two such prime posts may be supposed to inspire.
Whilst the Prince was in the citadel of Custrin, one morning an Officer entered his apartment weeping, accompanied by four grenadiers. Frederick had no [Page 6] doubt he was going to be made a head shorter—the Officer, still in tears, ordered the grenadiers to take the Prince to the widow, and hold his head out of it by force, that he might behold the execution of his friend Kat upon a scaffold built for the purpose.—The tender-hearted Monarch stood present at this exhibition, as he had been at the poor girl's whipping bout!
Keit, the other confidant, had fled into Holland, whether the King dispatched his military messengers to seize him. Luckily he escaped by a minute, embarked for Portugal, and there remained till the death of the most tender-hearted Frederick William, King of Prussia.
But it was not his Majesty's intention to have stopped here; it was his design to have beheaded the Prince also. He considered, that he had three other sons, not one of whom wrote verses, or played on the flute, and that they were sufficient to maintain the grandeur of the Prussian throne. Measures were accordingly concerted to make him suffer, as the Czarowitz, eldest son of Peter I. had before suffered *.
It is not very clear, from any regular laws, either human or divine, that a man should have his head struck off because he had a wish to travel. But this tender-hearted King had sound judges in Prussia equally as learned and equitable as the Russian expounders of law—Besides, his own paternal authority, in case of need, would, at any time, suffice.
The Count Sekendorf, whom I since knew in Saxony, declared to me, that it was with great difficulty indeed, that he could prevail with the King not to behead his son!—This is the same Sekendorf who commanded the arm [...] of Bavaria, and of whom the [Page 7] Prince, when he became a King, drew a hideous portrait in his History of Brandenburgh—Who would not, after this, serve Princes, and prevent Tyrants from cutting off their heads!
After 18 months close imprisonment, the solicitations of the Emperor, and the tears of the Queen, obtained the Prince his liberty.—As the King did not suffer him to have any connection with the affairs of government (the affairs of which only consisted in reviewing troops, and oppressing the people for money) the Prince employed his time in writing to men of letters in France—He flattered me as something divine, and I him as a perfect Solomon!—Epithets cost us nothing—I took the liberty to send him a beautiful ink-stand, and he had the goodness to send me a few gew-gaws in amber—but they came from a Prince, and all France envied my good fortune!—Certainly, if I had been inclined * to indulge personal hopes, I had great reason so to do; for the Prince, in his letters, always called me "his dear friend," and frequently mentioned the solid marks of friendship which he intended to confer on me when he should ascend the throne.
Well, at length Providence was pleased to take the iron-hearted Monarch to another world, and the Prince succeeded to the throne. He began his reign with a piece of wit. He sent [...] [...]mas, who had lost an arm, as his Ambassador to [...]; he said, as there was a Minister from Paris at Berlin who had only one hand, it was right to send his Most Christian Majesty an Ambassador with only one arm!
My kingly Solomon came to Strasburgh—a whim had brought him, incognito, to view the frontiers and troops of France. From Strasburgh he went to visit his territories in Lower Germany, and signified [Page 8] his wish to see me at Brussels—Apartments were prepared for him in Chateau de Meuse, where I went to wait upon his Majesty. One soldier was the only guard I found—the Minister of State, Rambonet, was walking in the court-yard, blowing his fingers; he had on a dirty shirt with long dirty ruffles, an old hat all in holes, and an old judge's wig, one wing of which hung into his pocket, whilst the other scarcely touched his shoulder.
I was conducted into his Majesty's apartment, in which I saw nothing but four bare walls. By the light of a bougie, I perceived a small truckle-bed, in a sort of closet, upon which lay a little thin man wrapped in a morning gown of blue cloth—It was his Prussian Majesty, who lay shaking with a [...]it of the ague under a beggarly coverlet. I made my bow, and began my acquaintance by feeling his pulse as if I had been his first physician.—The ague left him, he arose, dressed himself, and sat down to table with Algarotti, Maupertius, the Ambassador, and myself, where, at supper, we treated most profoundly on the immortality of the soul, of natural liberty, and the Androgynes of Plato.
Whilst we were thus philosophizing upon liberty, the Minister Rambonet, mounted upon a post-horse, in his judge's wig, was riding all night towards Liege, at the gates of which, next day, he proclaimed, with sound of trumpet, the name of the King his master, whilst 2000 soldiers laid the city under contribution!—The pretext for this fine exploit was, certain rights which his Majesty pretended to have over a part of the suburbs. The drawing up of the manifesto was committed to me, which I performed as well as the nature of the case would let me—not suspecting that a King, with whom I had the honour of supping, who called me his dear friend, and who talked so beautifully of natural justice and the immortality of the soul, could possibly be in the wrong. The affair was soon brought to a conclusion; the innocent people of Liege were obliged to pay a million of livres in hard cash, which more [Page 9] than defrayed his Majesty's expences caused by his journey to see Strasburgh, &c
I soon felt an attachment for him, as he had wit and an agreeable manner, and, moreover, he was a King, which is a seduction seldom vanquished by human weakness. Generally, authors flatter Kings; but, in this instance, I was praised by a King from the crown of my head to the sole of my foot.
Some time before the death of his father, the Prince had written against the detestable principles of Machiavel—but this was before he became a King, and whilst his father gave him no great reason to admire despotic power. This manuscript he had sent to me at Brussels, to have it corrected and printed. With all my admiration for my kingly friend, I could not help feeling some remorse at being concerned in printing this Anti-machiavelian book, at the very moment the Royal author, who had a hundred millions in his cellars, was robbing the poor inhabitants of Liege of a million of livres!
I began to perceive, that my kingly friend would not stop here. His father had left him 70,000 well-disciplined troops; he was busily augmenting them, and appeared to have a vast inclination to give them employment the very first opportunity.
In the month of October 1740, the Emperor Charles VI. died of an indigestion caused by eating champignons, which brought on an apoplexy—and this plate of champignons occasioned the death of many thousands of brave men, and changed the order of things in Europe. It was soon very evident, that the King of Prussia was not so great an enemy to Machiavelism as the Prince Royal!
He had already assembled his troops, yet none of his Ministers or Generals knew his designs. I had some reason to suppose, that he meant to quarrel with France; as, three months before, he had sent to me a political dissertation, written in his manner, wherein he considered France as the natural enemy of Germany—But it was constitutional in Frederick to do the very reverse of what he said or wrote.
[Page 10] He departed, on the 15th of December, for the conquest of Silesia, at the head of 50,000 well disciplined combatants. As the Queen of Bohemia was illy prepared to repel him, he soon effected his purpose. He wrote a history of that conquest, which he shewed to me—Here follows one of the paragraphs, which I carefully transcribed, as a thing worthy of recording:—
"Ambition, interest, and a desire to make the world speak of me, determined me to go to war!—Add to these considerations, I had a fine army and a full treasury; these, with the vivacity of my nature, urged me to make war on Maria Theresa, the Queen of Bohemia and Hungary!"
It is much to be regretted, that I prevailed upon him to omit these passages, when I afterwards corrected his works. A confession so uncommon should have passed to posterity, in order to shew upon what principles Kings make war, and shed the blood of their deluded subjects.
I now returned to Cirey, and afterwards passed the winter in Paris, where I had a multitude of enemies; for, having written the History of Charles XII. presented several successful pieces to the theatre, and composed an epic poem, I had, of course, all those who write either in bad verse or prose as my enemies—and, as I wrote likewise on philosophic subjects, of necessity, according to ancient custom, I was treated as an Athiest by all Church bigots and devotees.
I was the first who dared to develope to the people of France, in an intelligible style, the discoveries of the great Newton. I was likewise an admirer of Locke; I considered him as the only reasonable metaphysician. I praised that moderation so new, so prudent, where he says, we have not sufficient knowledge to determine, by the light of reason, that God could not grant the gifts of thought and sensation to a being which we call material.—The poor creatures who were the most forward and the hottest in this dispute, knew very little of either matter or spirit.
[Page 11] The fact is, that none of us know what or how we are, except that we are convinced we have life, motion, and thought, but without the least conception of how we came by them. The very elements of matter are as much hidden from us as the rest—We are blind creatures, groping in the dark—and Locke was right when he asserted, that it was not for us to determine what the Almighty could or could not do.
Whilst the literary grubs of Paris were making war upon me, the King of France began to make war upon the Queen of Hungary upon principles equally iniquitous as those of the King of Prussia.—After having solemnly guaranteed and sworn to the Pragmatic Sanction, and the succession of Maria Theresa to the inheritance of her father, and after having received Lorraine as the purchase of these promises, it does not appear to be consistent with the rights of nations, or the ideas of common justice, to break such sacred engagements.
The King of France was in alliance with the King of Prussia, at the very time he was seizing upon Silesia!—Two armies were sent into Germany at a time when the Queen of Hungary had none—The King of Prussia having gained his prize, he made a separate peace, and left his brother King to get out of the scrape as well as he could!—The French Generals being left to fight their own battles, made many blunders, and, with difficulty, regained their own country, after losing half of their army. *
The King of Prussia now turned his attention to the embellishment of the city of Berlin, where he built several beautiful edifices, and whether he invited [Page 12] artists of all denominations—His Majesty wished to acquire glory of every kind, but, like his father, he wished to obtain it in the cheapest manner possible.
His father had resided at Potsdam in a vile old house; he turned it into a palace; and Potsdam became a pleasant town. Berlin grew daily more extensive, and the Prussians began to taste the comforts of life. Some people began to have furniture in their houses, and some even to wear shirts; formerly, like their iron-hearted Monarch, they only wore sleeves and sore-bodies, tied on with packthread—
FROM THE LIFE OF CATHERINE II.
A Book has lately appeared, which has excited very general attention—it is entitled, "The Life of Catherine II. Empress of Russia." It not only developes much of the secret history of that extraordinary woman, in her private life and amours, but also discovers a great deal of the political manoeuvres both of the Russian and other European Courts.—The importance of this publication may be judged of, by the uncommon demand for it in every country in Europe, and the extreme solicitude which the Emperor Paul shews to have it suppressed wherever his power, or influence, or authority, can reach. Besides the general history of the times, which were sufficiently eventful and interesting, the book contains many curious anecdotes, not only of the Empress herself, but of many public characters which the ignorant and uniformed world were wont to reverence or esteem—It exhibits, in bold and legible characters, the deep designs of Courts, and the treacherous venality of Courtiers—from a view of which, every honest American will be thankful to Providence for placing his country at so great a distance from that busy, perturbed scene, where a combination of Kings, and Politicians, and Generals, by their intrigues and their ambition, are daily misleading and oppressing mankind.—In short, after a careful perusal of these entertaining and instructive volumes, we are at a loss which most to abhor the artful and cruel means by which Catherine ascended and then kept possession of the Imperial throne, or to wonder at the surprising address with which she ruled her vast Empire, whilst she guided, or agitated, or convulsed, the politics of almost all Europe.
[Page 13] THE book opens with a succinct account of occurrences in the Court of Petersburgh previous to the Revolution of 1762, when the unfortunate Peter III. (husband of Catherine II.) was dethroned and put to death—As this part of the history is too lengthy for our present purpose, we select for the attention of our Readers, the melancholy story of the Princess Tarrakanoff, daughter of the Empress Elizabeth, who became a victim, by the basest means, to the jealous and unrelenting policy of Catherine—Let it be remembered, that the treacherous agent in this insiduous business, Alexius Orloff, was the principal murderer of the Emperor Peter—But we must first give some account of the Empress Elizabeth—
Elizabeth Petrovna was the daughter of Peter the Great, and the first Catherine, who was obliged, at her death, to leave the throne to the young Peter II. (in 1727) son of the unfortunate Tzarovitch Alexius, beheaded by order of his father.—Peter II, reigned only three years, and was followed by the Empress Anne, daughter of the Tzar Ivan, elder brother of the first Peter.
To Anne, in 1740, succeeded her nephew Ivan the Third, yet in his cradle, and who, by a conspiracy headed by a German surgeon named Lestock, was dethroned, 13 months afterwards, in order to raise Elizabeth to the throne.
Elizabeth, it is said, had a resemblance to her mother, the handsome Catherine. But, if she equalled her in those advantages which render the society of women so agreeable, she surpassed her in the immoderate love of vicious pleasure. Instead of having the art of commanding, like her mother, Elizabeth submitted herself to the guidance of others; and this weakness was the primary cause of the misfortunes of Peter III.
That she might maintain her independence, Elizabeth refused to take a husband, with whom she must have shared the empire; but she did not the more [Page 14] abstain from voluptuous gratifications; and as, with her other infirmities, she had that of being a bigot, the Field Marshal Razumousky, her Grand Veneur, had the art to persuade her to give him her hand in a private manner. The two Counts Tarrakanoff and their sister, were the fruit of this clandestine union. Elizabeth, however, did not content herself with one lover; she had frequent changes; but Razumousky permitted none to approach her, except such as he thought to have too little understanding, or ambition, to attempt a competition with him.
To her violent propensity to voluptuousness, Elizabeth added first the love of good eating, and then the pleasures of wine. Banquets, feasts, balls, masquerades, and the most frivolous amusements, were preferred to business—By degrees, she proceeded from moderate enjoyments to the extravagance of sensuality; and her taste for devotion augmented her voluptuousness, and added to the absurdity of her character. She continued whole hours on her knees before the picture of her favourite Saint *, to which she spoke, and which she even consulted—She passed alternately from acts of bigotry to the intemperance of just, and from scenes of extreme lasciviousness to the quieting opiates of prayer—To describe her unblushing excesses, would stain the page of History, and shock the ear of Modesty.
Such was the woman destined to rule a mighty Empire, and who had it in her power, at any time, to inflame all Europe, and sacrifice the lives of thousands of men!
[Page 15] At length, on Christmas-day 1761, after an inglorious reign of 21 years, Elizabeth expired in the [...]ad year of her age.—The indolence of her character subjected her to the selfish and wicked designs of her Favourites, who made a bad use of her authority.—Her devotion rendered her impious, and her clemency cruel. At the commencement of her reign, she made a vow, never to punish a malefactor with death; the Judges, therefore, who could not decapitate criminals, deprived them of life by the barbarous punishment of the knout; and never were more tongues cut out, or miserable wretches sent to Siberia, than under the clement reign of the Empress Elizabeth!—In dungeons not far from her own palace, were languishing in misery, a dethroned Emperor, several Princes and Dukes, besides many Courtiers, Statesmen, Generals, Officers, and even women!
It is computed, that her conduct cost the Empire every year at least a thousand lives, either by imprisonment or banishment. Nothing was more easy than to obtain a secret order for these cruel purposes, by the base flatterers that always surrounded her person *, It was sufficient for one of the Maids of Honour to think herself slighted, to obtain an order to have a person taken out of bed in the night, carried away gagged and blindfolded, and immured underground, there to drag out the remainder of a miserable life in a loathsome dungeon, without ever being charged with any crime!—Many of these unfortunate persons were known to be still existing under the bastions and towers of different fortresses so late as the year 1780, besides the many hundreds that were sent to famish in the frozen regions of Siberia.
[Upon the death of Elizabeth, the ill-fated Peter III. succeeded to the throne, whose deposition and murder are ably and circumstantially narrated in these volumes.]
[Page 16] It has already been mentioned, that the Empress Elizabeth had three children by her clandestine marriage with the Grand Veneur, Alexey Gregorievitch Razumoffsky. The youngest of these children was a girl, brought up under the name of Princess Tarrakanoff. Prince Radzivil, informed of this secret, and irritated at Catherine's trampling under foot the rights of the Poles *, conceived that the daughter of Elizabeth would furnish him with a signal means of revenge. He thought that it would not be in vain if he opposed to the Sovereign, whose armies were spreading desolation over his unhappy country, a rival whose mother's name should render dear to the Russians. Perhaps his ambition might suggest to him yet more lofty hopes—Perhaps he might flatter himself with being one day enabled to mount the throne on which he intended to place the young Tarrakanoff. However this be, he gained over the persons to whom the education of this Princess was committed, carried her off, and conveyed her to Rome.
Catherine, having intelligence of this transaction, took immediate steps to frustrate the designs of Prince Radzivil. Taking advantage of the circumstance of his being the chief of the confederacy of the Malcontents, she caused all his estates to be seized, and reduced him to the necessity of living on the produce of the diamonds and other valuable effects he had carried with him to Italy. These supplies were soon exhausted. Radzivil set out in order to pick up what intelligence he could concerning affairs in Poland, leaving the young Tarrakanoff at Rome, [Page 17] under the care of a single Gouvernante, and in circumstances extremely confined. Scarcely had he reached his own country, when an offer was made to restore him his possessions, on condition that he would take his young ward to Russia. He refused to submit to so disgraceful a proposal; but he had the weakness to promise that he would give himself no farther concern about the daughter of Elizabeth.—This was the price of his pardon!
Alexey Orloff, charged with the execution of the will of the Empress, siezed the first moment on his arrival at Leghorn, of laying a snare for the Princess Tarrakanoff. One of those intriguers who are so common in Italy, repaired immediately to Rome; and, after having discovered the lodgings of the young Russian, he introduced himself to her in a military dress, and under the name of an officer. He told her that he had been brought thither by the sole desire of paying homage to a Princess whose fate and fortunes were highly interesting to all her countrymen. He seemed very much affected at the state of destitution in which he found her; he offered her some assistance, which necessity forced her to accept; and the traitor appeared to this unfortunate lady, as well as to the woman that waited on her, in the light of a saviour, whom Heaven had sent [...]o her deliverance!
When this treacherous emissary thought he had sufficiently gained their confidence, he declared that he was commissioned by Count Alexius Orloff to offer to the daughter of Elizabeth the throne that had been filled by her mother. He said, that the Ruffians were discontented with Catherine; that Orloff especially could never forgive her for her ingratitude and her tyranny; and that, i [...] the young Princess would accept of the services of that General, and recompence him by the grant of her hand, it would not be long ere she saw the breaking out of that revolution which he had prepared.
Proposals so brilliant ought naturally to have opened the eyes of the Princess Tarrakanoff, and shewn [Page 18] her the treachery of him that made them. But her inexperience and her candour permitted her not to suspect any guilt. Besides, the language of the emissary of Alexius Orloff seemed analogous with the notions she had imbibed from Prince Radzivil. She imagined herself destined to the throne; and all the airy dreams that any way related to that opinion could not but encourage the deceit. She accordingly gave herself up to these flattering hopes, and with a grateful heart, concurred in the designs of her treacherous adviser, who "flatter'd but to destroy."
Some time after Alexius Orloff came to Rome. His emissary had already announced him.—He was received as a benefactor.—However, some persons to whom the Princess and her gouvernante communicated the good fortune that was promised them, advised them to be on their guard against the [...] designs of a man whose character for wickedness had been long established, and who doubtless had too much reason to remain faithful to the Empress to think of conspiring against her. Far from profiting by this good council, the Princess was so imprudently frank as to speak of it to Alexius Orloff, who with great ease delivered his justification, and thenceforth threw a deeper shade of dissimulation and address into his speeches and behaviour. Not satisfied with fanning the ambition of the young Russian, he put on the semblance of a passion for her, and succeeded so far as to inspire her with a true one. So soon as he was assured of it, he conjured her to enter into a union with him by the most sacred ties. She unhappily consented; and it was even with joy that the poor unfortunate Lady promised to solemnize a marriage which must consummate her ruin. She thought that the title of spouse of Count Alexius Orloff would shelter her invincibly from those treacheries which she was taught to apprehend. She entertained not the least suspicion that a man could make religion and the most sacred titles subservient to the destruction of an innocent victim. But, [Page 19] alas! was any religion, was any title sacred to the barbarian into whose snares she had fallen?—He who could strangle the unfortunate Peter III. could he dread to dishonour the daughter of Elizabeth?
Feigning a desire that the marriage ceremony should be performed according to the ritual of the Greek Church, he suborned subaltern villains to disguise themselves as priests and lawyers. Thus profanation was combined with imposture against the innocent and unprotected Tarrakanoff!
When Alexius Orloff was become the husband, or rather the ravisher of this unhappy Princess, he represented to her, that their stay at Rome exposed her to too close observation, and that it would be adviseable for her to go to some other city of Italy, to wait for the breaking out of the conspiracy that was to call her to the throne. Believing this advice to be dictated by love and prudence, she answered that she would follow him wherever he chose to conduct her. He brought her immediately to Pisa, where he had previously hired a magnificent palace. There he continued to treat her with marks of tenderness and respect; but he permitted none to come near her, except persons who were entirely at his devotion; and when she went to the play or to the public promenade, he accompanied her always himself.
The division of the Russian squadron under the command of Admiral Greig, had just entered the port of Leghorn. On relating this news to the Princess, Orloff told her, that his presence was necessary at Leghorn for the purpose of giving some orders, and offered to take her with him. To this she readily consented, as she had heard much talk of the beauty of the port of Leghorn and the magnificence of the Russian ships.—Imprudent Lady! the nearer she approached the catastrophe of the plot, the more she trusted to the tenderness and the sincerity of her faithless betrayer!
She departed from Pisa with her customay attendants. On arriving at Leghorn, she landed at the [Page 20] house of the English Consul, who had prepared for her a suitable apartment, and who received her with marks of the profoundest respect. Several ladies were early in making their visits, and sedulously attended her on all occasions. She saw herself presently surrounded by a numerous court, eager to be beforehand with all her desires, and seeming to make it their only study incessantly to procure her some new entertainment. Whenever she went out, the people ran in her way. At the theatre all eyes were directed to her box. All circumstances conspired to lull her into a fatal security. All tended to dispel the idea of any danger at hand.
It is doubtless impossible to believe that an English Consul *, an English Admiral, and ladies of their family or acquaintance, could be so base, so inhuman, as to draw into the snare, by deceitful respect and caresses, a victim, whose youth, whose beauty, whose innocence, was capable of affecting the most insensible heart. It is not to be imagined that t [...]ey were in any degree privy to the plot contrived against her, or that they studiously inspired her with a confidence, only the more infallibly to betray her.
The young Tarrakanoff was so far from suspecting her dangerous situation, that, after having passed several days in a round of amusements and dissipation, she asked of herself to be shewn the Russian fleet.—The idea was applauded.—The necessary orders were immediately given; and the next day, on rising from table, every thing was ready at the water-side for receiving the Princess. On her coming down, she was handed into a boat with magnificent awnings. The Consul, and several ladies, seated themselves with her—A second boat conveyed Vice-Admiral Greig and Count Alexius Orloff; and a third, filled with Russian and English officers, closed [Page 21] the procession. The boats put off from shore in sight of an immense multitude of people, and were received by the fleet with a band of music, salutes of artillery and repeated huzzas!—As the Princess came alongside the ship of which she was to go on board, a splendid chair was let down from the yard, in which being seated, she was hoisted upon deck; and it was observed to her, that these were particular honours paid to her rank.
But no sooner was she on board than she was handcuffed—In vain she implored for pity of the cruel betrayer, whom she still called her husband—In vain she threw herself at his feet, and watered them with her tears—No answer was even vouchsafed to her lamentations—She was carried down into the hold, and the next day the fleet set sail for Russia!
On arriving at Petersburgh, the young victim was shut up in a fortress; and what became of her afterwards was never certainly known—Some thought that she was drowned in the waters of the Neva; others, with more probability, that she was poisoned in prison. *
The inhabitants of Leghorn, who had seen the Princess embark, heard shortly after, with horror, that, instead of a grand entertainment, which she was led to expect on board the fleet, she was put in irons. The Grand Duke of Tuscany, whose territory was so shamefully insulted, wrote immediately to Vienna and to Petersburgh to complain of the outrage; but the iron-hearted Orloff insolently braved both the complaints of Leopold and the public indignation.
[We have seen, by the extract here given, that the system of Favouritism had been introduced into the Russian Court by the Empress Elizabeth, in a manner not very refined or decorous—Catherine pursued the same system, but in rather a more orderly and methodical manner, altho' not less open and avowed [Page 22] —Catherine's passions were as ardent as Elizabeth's, but she conducted all her affairs, whether of business or pleasure, with vastly more skill and address—The gratification of her desires, however, was not obtained but at a great price; the Reader is astonished at the sums of money, jewels, and palaces, given to these Paramours, particularly to Potemkin, who had the art to obtain from his imperial mistress a left-handed marriage. *—With a short account of Catherine's method of conducting her system of Favouritism, we shall conclude these extracts.]
The post of Favourite being peculiar to Russia, it will naturally be expected that it should here be treated of somewhat more at large.—Ever since the year 1730, this Empire has been governed by women, the reign of Peter III. having been too short to form any striking exception, or for giving the Russians a notion of any other government. It is a trite remark, that when Kings reign Women rule, and when Women reign Men govern; but there seems nothing more in this pretended axiom than an antithesis consecrated by custom, and repeated from one to the other, like many more, without reflection or foundation. Henry IV. Gustavus III. Catherine II. are invincible proofs that both men and women are capable of grand undertakings, without the aid of the other sex, not to mention more examples in confirmation of the fact. For a series of seventy years the Monarchs of Russia have always had Favourites officially: it is no wonder then that the custom, thus sanctioned for so long a period, and scrupulously observed by four Empresses, should be almost deemed a fundamental law of the Empire, and an appendage to imperial grandeur!—As the reign of Catharine was of a longer duration than any of the Empresses her predecessors, it is highly natural that the number of her Favourites should be more considerable.
[Page 23] It is necessary then to shew what were the duties and distinctions of the Favourites of Catherine.—When her Majesty had fixed her choice on a new Favourite, she created him her General Aid-de-camp, in order that he might accompany her every where without attracting reproach or inviting observation. Thenceforward the Favourite occupied in the palace an apartment beneath that of the Empress, to which it communicated by a private staircase. The first day of his installment he received a present of 100,000 rubles, and every month he found 12,000 on his dressing-table. The Marshal of the Court was commissioned to provide him a table of 24 covers, and to defray all the expences of his household. The Favourite attended the Empress on all parties of amusement, at the opera, at balls, promenades, excursions of pleasure, and the like, and was not allowed to leave the palace without express permission. He was given to understand, that it would not be taken well if he conversed familiarly with other women; and if he went to dine with any of his friends, the mistress of the house was always absent!
Whenever the Empress cast her eyes on one of her subjects, in the design of raising him to the post of Favourite, she caused him to be invited to dinner by some lady in her confidence, on whom she dropped in as if by chance—There she would enter into discourse with the new comer, with a view to discover whether or not he was worthy of the honour she designed to vouchsafe him. When the judgement she formed was favourable, the confidant was informed of it by a significant look, who took care to notify it to him who had the happiness to please. The day following he received a visit from one of the physicians of the Court, who came to inquire into the state of his health; and the same evening he accompanied the Empress to the hermitage, and took possession of the apartment that had been prepared for him. It was on the selection of Potemkin that these formalities began; and since that time they have been constantly observed.
[Page 24] When a Favourite had lost the power of making himself agreeable, there was also a particular manner of giving him his dismission. He received orders to travel; and from that moment he was debarred all access to her Majesty. But he was sure of finding at the place of his destination recompences worthy of the munificent Catherine.
HORACE WALPOLE, LORD ORFORD.
Mr. Walpole was the youngest son of the famous Sir Rob. Walpole, many years prime Minister to George I. and II.—Horace was born in the year 17 [...]5, and received a complete education at Eton school, at Cambridge, and by his travels in Italy, &c. He was many years a Member of Parliament, latterly he ascended to the Peerage, was acquainted with the first wits of the age, was disencumbered of either wife or children, and was possessed of an independent fortune—in short, he had every opportunity that a man could have, to improve his mind and increase his knowledge. He died in the [...]0th year of his age, leaving a fortune of 95,000l. in the 3 per cent. Stock.—He bequeathed 10,000l. to the Duchess of Gloucester, 5000l. to Lady Waldegrave, 5000l. to each of the Miss Berrys, and 500l. to each of his nephews.—When he was above 70 years of age, he offer'd to marry either of the Miss Berrys, but, strange to tell, both of them had the courage to refuse a Lord and 95,000l. yet he generously remembered them in his will.—To Mrs. Damer (celebrated for her uncommon taste as a statuary) he left 2000l. and the beautiful seat of Strawberry Hill, situated on the bank of the Thames, near to London.
After Mr. Walpole had retired from Parliament, he dedicated himself entirely to the fine arts and literary pursuits. He published a Catalogue of Royal and Noble Authors, which displays much industry and judicious criticism. His historic doubts respecting the life and true character of Richard III. are replete with great ingenuity and sound argument. The only dramatic work he ever produced was, The Mysterious Mother, a tragedy, printed at his own press (for he was both a Poet and a Printer, kindred Arts) at Strawberry Hill; the story is worthy of perusal in the closet, but too horrid, perhaps too indelicate, for public representation. The Castle of Otranto, a romance [Page 25] is an unique of its Kind, was favourably received, and was the prolific parent of a number of incoherent compositions that daily load and disgrace the press. * He also published entertaining Anecdotes of Painting, with some interesting particulars of the celebrated Hogarth.—He was one of the combination of Wits who supported Moore in his periodical paper entitled The World.—Mr. Walpole's works, particularly his letters, are characterised by a playfulness of imagination, and a delicacy of wit, a talent seldom acquired by Writers in general. He was uncommonly agreeable in his manners, shone greatly in company, and was thought to possess a greater stock of literary and political anecdotes, than any gentleman in England; indeed it may be said, that, with his genius, no man had ever better opportunities of acquiring knowledge, having it in his power, for 60 years, to associate with every man in Great Britain and France, from the Prince to the lowest grade in society.
MR. Walpole's works are handsomely printed in 5 volumes 4 [...]o. adorned with a number of well-engraved copper-plates—These volumes, however, with an American reader, cannot have very much interest; they are almost entirely adapted to an English reader, one too acquainted with the times they describe, and the characters that then figured on the public stage. Mr. W. aware of this, acknowledges, "that his books are only calculated for the idle and the curious"—but the curious reader will find many articles worthy of his attention, as Mr. W. had a very general connection with both the fashionable and political world, and an intimate knowledge of all the leading men, and women too, of the times in which he lived.
Mr. Walpole was a staunch Whig, and, in some instances, borders even on Republicanism. He delineates characters with much wit and ridicule, and withdraws the veil which had hidden several great [Page 26] men "from the world's ken." *—At present, we select from his works some parts of what he calls his Reminiscences, which contain interesting anecdotes relative to the two first Georges, who, with all their Gothic clumsiness and German stateliness, had their Favourites and th [...]r Mistresses, for whom the English nation, as usual, had to provide both in titles and pensions!
George I. while Electoral Prince, had married his cousin the Princess Dorothea, only child of the Duke of Zell; a match of convenience to reuntie the dominions of the family. Though she was very handsome, the Prince, was extremely amorous, and had several Mistresses; which provocation, and his absence in the army of the Confederates, probably disposed the Princess to indulge some degree of coquetry. At that moment arrived at Hanover the famous and beautiful Count Konismark † the charms of whose person ought not to have obliterated the memory of his vile assassination of Mr. Thyone. His vanity, the beauty of the electoral Princess, and the neglect under which he found her, encouraged his presumption to make his addresses to her, and that not very secretly; and she received them rather too indiscreetly. The old Elector flamed at the insolence of so stigmatized a pretender, and ordered him to quit his dominions the next day. The Princess, surrounded by women closely connected with her husband, and consequently enemies of the lady they injured, was persuaded by them to suffer the Count to kiss her hand before his abrupt departure; and he was actually [Page 27] introduced by them into her bed-chamber the next morning before she rose. From that moment he disappeared; nor was it known what became of him, till on the death of George I. on his son the new King's first journey to Hanover, some alterations in the palace being ordered by him, the body of Konismark was discovered under the floor of the electoral Princess's dressing room, the Count having probably been strangled there the instant he left her, and his body secreted.—The disappearance of the Count made his murder suspected, and various reports of the discovery of his body have of late years been spread, but not with the authentic circumstances.
Of the circumstances that ensued on Konismark's disappearance I am ignorant; nor am I acquainted with the laws of Germany relative to divorce or separation: nor do I know or suppose that Despotism and Pride allow the law to insist on much formality when a Sovereign has reason or a mind to get rid of his wife. Perhaps too much difficulty of untying the Gordian knot of Matrimony thrown in the way of an absolute Prince would be no kindness to the ladies, but might prompt him to use a sharper weapon, like that butchering husband our Henry VIII. Sovereigns, who narrow or let out the law of God according to their prejudices and passions, mould their own laws no doubt to the standard of their convenience. Genealogic purity of blood is the predominant folly of Germany: and the code of Malta seems to have more force in the empire than the ten Commandments. Thence was introduced that most absurd evasion of the indissolubility of marriage, espousals with the left hand; as if the Almighty had restrained his ordinance to one half of a man's person, and allowed a greater latitude to his left side than to his right, or pronounced the former more ignoble than the latter!—The consciences both of princely and noble persons in Germany are quieted, if the more plebeian side is married to one who would degrade the more illustrious moiety—but, as if the laws of Matrimony had no reference to the children [Page 28] to be thence propagated, the children of a lefthanded alliance are not entitled to inherit.—Shocking consequence of a senseless equivocation, that only satisfies Pride, not Justice; and calculated for an acquital at the Herald's Office, not at the last Tribunal.
The Duchess of Kendal, of whom I have said so much, was when Mademoiselle Schulemberg, maid of honour to the Electress Sophia, mother of King George I. and destined by King William and the act of settlement to succeed Queen Anne. George fell in love with Mademoiselle Schulemberg, though by no means an inviting object—so little, that one evening when she was in waiting behind the Electress's chair at a ball, the Princess Sophia, who had made herself mistress of the language of her future subjects, said in English to Mrs. Howard (afterwards Countess of Suffolk), then at her court, "Look at that [...], and think of her being my son's passion!"
The Duchess, under whatever denomination, had attained and preserved to the last her ascendant over the King: but notwithstanding that influence he was not more constant to her than he had been to his avowed wife: for another acknowledged mistress, whom he also brought over, was Madame Kilmansegge, Countess of Platen, who was created Countess of Darlington, and by whom he was indisputably father of Charlotte married to Lord Viscount Howe, and mother of the present Earl. Lady Howe was never publicly acknowledged as the King's daughter; but Princess Amelia treated her daughter Mrs. Howe, upon that foot; and one evening, when I was present, gave her a ring with a small portrait of George I. with a crown of diamonds.
Lady Darlington, whom I saw at my mother's in my infancy, and whom I remember being terrified at her enormous figure, was as corpulent and ample, as the Duchess was long and emaciated. Two fierce black eyes, large and rolling beneath two lofty arched eye-brows, two acres of cheeks spread with crimson, an ocean of neck that overflowed and was not [Page 29] distinguished from the lower part of her body, and no part restrained by stays—no wonder that a child dreaded such an Ogress, and that the mob of London were highly diverted at the importation of so uncommon a Seraglio!—They were food for all the venom of the Jacobites; and indeed nothing could be grosser than the ribaldry that was vomited out in lampoons, libels, and every channel of abuse, against the Sovereign and the new Court, and chanted even in their hearing about the public streets. *
It was not till the last year or two of his reign that their foreign Sovereign paid the nation the compliment of taking openly an English mistress. That personage was Anne Brett, eldest daughter by her second husband of the repudiated wife of the Earl of Macelesfield, the unnatural mother of Savage the poet. † Miss Brett was very handsome, but dark enough by her eyes, complexion, and hair, for a Spanish beauty. Abishag was lodged in the palace under the eyes of Bathsheba, who seemed to maintain her power, as other favourite sultanas have done, by suffering partners in the Sovereign's affections. When his Majesty should return to England, a Countess's coronet was to have rewarded the young lady's compliance, and marked her secondary rank.—She might, however, have proved a troublesome rival, as she seemed so confident of the power of her charms, that, whatever predominant ascendant the Duchess might retain, her own authority in the palace she thought was to yield to no one else. George I. when his son the Prince of Wales and the Princess [Page 30] had quitted St James's on their quarrel with him, had kept back their three eldest daughters who lived with him to his death, even after there had outwardly been a reconciliation between the King and Prince. Miss Brett, when the King set out, ordered a door to be broken out of her apartment into the royal garden. Anne, the eldest of the Princesses offended at the freedom, and not choosing such a companion in her walks, ordered the door to be walled up again—Miss Brett as imperiously reversed that command. The King died suddenly, and the empire of the new mistress and her promised coronet vanished. She afterwards married Sir William Leman, and was forgotten before her reign [...]ad transpired beyond the confines of Westminster.
Miss Henrietta Hobart was daughter of Sir Henry and sister of Sir John Hobart, since created Earl of Bucking hamshire. She was married to Mr. Howard, afterwards Earl of Suffolk. Mr. Howard was not opulent, the King was amorous in the German manner, and the lady was inconstant, or ambitious. The intrigue would not have attracted much public notice, but for the indiscretion of the husband, who, far from ceding his wife quietly to the Royal couch, when heated with wine, went one night into the quadrangle of St. James's, and vociferously demanded her to be restored to him before the soldiers, &c. Being thrust out, he sent a letter to her by the Archbishop of Canterbury, who gave the letter to the Queen, who had the malicious pleasure of delivering it to her.—During the summer, a negociation was commenced with the obstreperous husband, who sold his own honour and his wife's chastity for a pension of 1200l. a year!
After the death of the Queen, Lady Yarmouth came over, who was the King's mistress at Hanover. She was created a Countess, and had much weight with him.—The King's last years passed as regularly as a clock. At 9 at night, he had cards in the apartment of the Princesses Amelia and Caroline, with Lady Yarmouth, two or three of the late [Page 31] Queen's ladies, and as many of the favoured Officers of his own houshold. Every Saturday he carried this party to dine at Richmond; they went in state coaches about the middle of the day, with the heavy horse-guards kicking up the dust before them. They dined, walked an hour in the garden, and then returned in the same dusty parade to St. James's—and so his Majesty fancied himself the most gallant and lively Prince in Europe!
WALPOLIANA.
The expensive system of Favouritism (on this occasion, we mean female Favouritism) to say nothing of its immorality, seems to be an almost inseparable accompanyment of Monarchyism. Both religious and profane History is full of it. We shall say nothing, at present, of the Jewish authorities, but point entirely to English chronicles.—William the Conqueror, himself a bastard, is the legal founder of the English system—Passing over several ages of Favouritism, we have only time to remark, that some of the first Nobles in England are the offspring of Charles II's titled concubines—James II with all his gloomy superstition, had his Mistresses *—and even William III. with all his Dutch taciturnity, had likewise his Favourites—all of whom, together with those of [Page 32] the two first Georges, * were pensioned and ennobled at John Bull's expence!
Lord Harvey had dedicated himself to the Queen, and stood well with Sir Robert Walpole; and he contrived to make a deep impression on the heart of the Princess Caroline. A change of Ministry afterwards displaced him; rage, disappointment, and a distempered constitution carried him off, and overwhelmed his Princess with grief, who never after appeared in public †
The celebrated Dr. Johnson, who was a Jacobite both in politics and religion, held the whole Hanoverian race in utter contempt, and was pretty free in his expressions of dislike, until (by means of Lord Bute) he obtained a pension of 200l, a year, when the Doctor found it necessary to be more circumspect—See Boswell's endeavour to white-wash his bearish friend.
The notoriously reprobate Lord Ross being on his death-bed, was desired by his Chaplain, "to call on God."—"If I go that way (said the dying Peer), but I don't believe I shall."
A Vicar and Curate of a village where there was to be a burial, were at variance. The Vicar not coming in time, the Curate began the service, and was reading the words "I am the resurrection," when the Vicar arrived, almost out of breath, and snatching the book out of the Curate's hand, cry'd, in a passion, " You the resurrection—you lie—'tis I who am the resurrection!"—
[Page 33] Mr. Walpole, speaking of the late Lord Clive has the following just and noble sentiments, of th [...] truth of which, the people of England, we believe, has this day the fullest experience:—"Lord Clive * was qualified, like Cesar, either to write or to conquer. Still, however, one who neither reverences Roman usurpations, nor Spanish massacres, will never allow his pen to applaud the invasions and depredations of the English in India. Suffered to traffic as merchants, we have starved †, plundered, enslaved, and butchered the innocent inhabitants of foreign countries. All the imported diamonds of the East cannot out-blaze the crimson that ought to stain our cheeks, or the indignation that ought to fire them, when more recent Machiavels have called for applause on these shocking devastations ‡—But, as Cesar's conquests lifted the yoke on the neck of Roman liberty, Indian gold has already undermined the English constitution—For when Heaven inflicts Heroes on mankind, it generally accompanies them with their consequences, the loss of liberty—to the vanquished, certainly—to the victorious, often.
[Page 34] A Clergyman at Oxford, who was remarkably absent and nervous, going to read prayers at St. Mary's, heard a show-man in the same street, who had an exhibition of wild beasts, often repeat, "Walk in and see the show; all alive, all alive, ho!"—The sounds struck the absent man, and ran in his had so much, that when he began to read the Service, and came to the words "doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive," he cried out with a louder voice, "he shall save his soul alive; "all alive, all alive, ho!"—to the astonishment of the congregation.
ANECDOTE.—Sampson Gideon, a Jew, having accumulated a great fortune in England, had a mind to make his son a Christian, and conform to the established religion of the country. Accordingly, he received Episcopal baptism, and was put under the care of a clerical tutor, in order to learn the formularies of that branch of the Christian faith. After some time, Sampson had a curiosity to know what progress his son had made in the new religion; and having heard the Tutor examine him in the Catechism, he thought he would proceed in the same manner—"Who made you?" said the old Jew to the young Christian? "God," answered the boy—"Who redeemed you?"—"Jesus Christ"—Here, unluckily, old Sampson forgot the next question, and stood foolishly twirling his fingers, striving to recollect himself; at length, determined to say something or other like the third question, "And who gave you that hat?"—"The Holy Ghost," answered the youth!
This same youth was afterwards admitted to all the rights and franchises of an English subject—was first created a Baronet—then a Lord—and is now, by virtue of his patent, a well-beloved cousin of the King himself, and an hereditary Legislator of the Imperial Kingdom of Great Britain—greater honours, in the estimation of this world, than all that the Maccabees received!
MODERN ROME, Immediately previous to the French Revolution.
ON coming out of the Pantheon, I went to the Caiptol.—This is the place which gave law to the universe; where Jupiter had his temple, and Rome her senate; from whence the Roman eagles were continually flying to every quarter of the globe, and from every quarter of the globe continually winging their way back with victories; and from whence a single word from the mouth of Scipio, of Pompey, or of Cesar, quickly reached the most distant nations, menacing their liberty, or dooming their Kings to death!—Alas, where is now all its greatness?—Its Senate, its Citizens, its Liberty?—Rome retains only her name; she is now only known by her ruins; by the pusillanimous superstition of her Nobles, and by the bigotted ignorance of her degraded inhabitants!
At Rome there is now only three classes; the Pope, the Clergy, and the People.
The number of inhabitants is estimated at 170,000—Fully 10,000 of these are beggars; menial servants are more numerous; and the Clergy may be reckoned a sixth part of the whole.
Such is the state of professed celibacy, that upwards of five women are reckoned to one man.—This will enable us to form an idea of the libertinism of popish Rome—The best education a girl here can get, is to get none—The multitude have some wit, a great deal of imagination, and no reason!
The Ecclesiastical State, without troops, without money, surrounded by States casting a longing eye on its possessions, should seem an easy prey to the first ambitious invader.—Observe, that the jealousy of these States with holds them from the attack; the political interest of the Catholic Princes watches over a Despotism upon which every other depends, that Kingly maxim, more powerful than armies, viz. That all authority is derived from God.
[Page 36] It is incontestible, that it is the crown of the Monarch that supports the tiara of the Pontiff—To separate them, would be to destroy both.
The temporal authority of the Pope will, probably, never be lost, till no religion shall exist, but one free from superstition. *
What a duration does this promise?—For it is impossible for Reason or Philosphy ever to purge the Catholic religion of all superstition. †
The natural weakness of the human mind, the ignorance of the lower classes, the power of habit, and the interest of various passions, prevent the Christian religion from attaining a state of perfect purity; from elevating itself to Heaven, from whence it descended, and from returning to those simple and sublime ideas, to which vulgar minds can never rise. ‡
It is easy to explain the tranquility which reigns at Rome.—Tho' the Pope is in possession of absolute power, he is not much in the way of abusing it—he is not born a Prince—the crown is to him the gift of Fortune—and he is an old man before he gets it.
The despotism of the Popes, therefore, consists more in not exerting their power, than in abusing it.
With respect to the people, an infinity of moral causes bends their obedience, like their faith, under the Pontifical yoke. They have an absolute master, but they have only one, and they believe his authority is derived from God!
[Page 37] If the people of Rome live in peace, tho' neither kept in order by a good police, nor restrained by regular justice, it is because the absence of the causes of disorder there supplies the place of the usual means of preserving order.—Robberies and housebreakings are rare, but assassinations are frequent—These, however, occasion neither disturbance or horror; the inhabitants of Rome coolly see them committed, and relate them with indifference; the murderer is not looked upon either as dangerous or infamous; "No doubt (say they) he has had provocation!"
Thus, the dagger is the duel of the populace—and thus, revenge constitutes the police of Rome!
In short, in Rome, there is neither military spirit, nor municipal justice—Besides, there are near seven hundred Places of Refuge in Rome, and every house on which a Cardinal has placed his arms, is a place of refuge for creditors!—Some Cardinals make a gainful traffic of their asylums!
Mendicity, that degeneration of poverty, the precarious state of which in other countries is the ordinary source of robberies, has not that inconvenience at Rome; here it is a certain profession. A man, a woman, or a child, has only to hang out a few rags, or expose a sore, and they procure victuals. The pity of the Romans never reasons—and what does a mendicant want?—Degraded by misery, or disease, or idleness, animal life is enough for him; give him something to eat, and he is as happy—as his dog!
There are more beggars at Rome than any other City. They swarm on all sides; and the pilgrimages add to their number. Every place is open to them; they are permitted to seek every where for charity. Delicacy suffers and murmurs at this; but Humanity bids us to consider that they are men.
At Rome, therefore, misery, indolence, ambition, or the desire of women, do not excite to robbery—I say, the desire of the sex; for the climate and the manners of the country, furnish women even to satiety—Private debauchery is so great, that public debauchery is not perceived!
[Page 38] In the history of civilized nations, the Chapter of Women is divided into three sections; Beauty, Gallantry, and Dress. The Roman women, like the Italian women in general, are still in a state of ignorance in an art so extensive and important as that of Dress; in the art of adapting ornament to dress, and both to the shape, features, complexion, age, and the different hours of the morning or evening; in the art of softening by gradations, of adjusting by shades, of availing themselves of contrasts—in short, in that art, so costly and scientific, of completely equipping a woman for vanity, coquetry, or fashion.
Shall I tell it?—Will it be believed!—All the women in Rome wear WIGS!—It is a sacrifice made to indolence by their coquetry. Accustomed to lye down every day, after dinner, till six in the evening, to place a second night in the middle of the day, they have found it too troublesome to build up the edifice of a head-dress twice in the same day, and therefore indolently resign their locks to the scissors.
The Roman ladies are in the habit of putting on white paint when in full dress. The Italian lady wishes to be a lilly; the French lady, a rose What, has not beneficent Nature made them women?—Why will they thus disfigure themselves?—They must have gauzes, feathers, flowers, and artificial heads; has not Nature given them beautiful hair?—Rouge; has she not adorned them with the blush of modesty?—White; altho' she has given them the most delicate complexion?
It is a fact, that the superfluity of existence, if I may use the expression, never fails to produce that uneasy sensation, which the French call ennui, and the English, listlissness, sometimes, nothing to doishness.—But this superfluity of time, after the gratification of their most pressing appetites, the modern Romans expend in sleep, in love, in frivolities, or in religious processions.
From dinner they pass to sleep, which lasts till six in the evening; they then do nothing, or in trifles which amount to nothing. Night arrives; all business [Page 39] is suspended, and all the shops are shut up; men and women, boys and girls, every body takes flight till three or four in the morning. They hasten to the public walks, to the Corfo, to coteries, and to taverns—In short, every night is a public festival, at which love, or rather lust presides. The senses speak to the senses, and they soon make themselves understood.—Intrigues are so numerous in Rome, that nothing can be called an intrigue—In modern Rome, the morally beautiful is absolutely lost and unknown.
The modern Romans have a wonderful facility of changing faces; they are perpetually masked.—In their dealings with each other, they never give credit to countenances, to language, or even professions—they believe only in the event!
Throughout all the intercourse of the great with the great, and of the great with the little, in Rome, there reigns a certain ease, politeness, and universal flattery. This proceeds from the opportunities Fortune here enjoys of exercising all her caprices, and this, generally, in secret and in silence, by means of valets, monks, secretaries, and intriguing women.—Nobody, therefore, is acquainted with whom he has to do,—To-morrow, perhaps, that Priest may be a Pope, that Monk may be a Cardinal, or that valet a man in power.—In this state of doubt, every body is civil to every body; and, in this state of uncertainty, every body lavishes good wishes, smiles, and squeezes of the hand!
Would you wish to know the behaviour of a Cardinal when he visits another Cardinal, especially when the latter is in place?—On entering the first anti-chamber, where the servants are, his Eminence makes a profound bow; in the second, where sit the valets de chambre, he smiles; in the third, where the Cardinal's gentlemen stay, he takes them by the hand; in the fourth, where he finds the introductor, he again bows, and smiles, and takes him by the hand, and even chats with him; at length, he arrives at the great man's chamber. In appearance, [Page 40] you see two friends cordially embracing each other—no such thing; they are two rivals, ready to cut each other's throat!
Life, here, knows only child-hood and age—The other seasons are wanting—Yet the people here appear to be satisfied. Their hunger is not violent; one daily repast satisfies them. Their thirst consumes little wine, but great quantities of ice and lemons. And us for clothing, the climate reduces this to a mere covering; every body not naked, is clothed.—The wants of the sexes find aliment in Cicisbeism, the manners of the country, and in religion!
The Romish religion, by its absolutions, throws a convenient veil over the past, and, by its promises, gives a favourable colouring to the future. The common people are those who fear the least, and hope the most. They possess a most commodious religion. Let them be present at their religions ceremonies, that is to say, their sacred theatrical exhibitions, to make certain signs, and pronounce cerbain words, and they are sure of Heaven!
Religious ceremonies are very frequent in Rome; indeed they are necessary to amuse, and to deceive, this worthless people; but I thought them uninteresting, without dignity or propriety—The procession of the Fete Dieu owes its splendor to the presence of the Pope.
All the Monks, all the Priests, all the Prelates, all the Cardinals, &c. are now in St. Peter's, and the procession is arranging—Whilst this is ordering, I walk in the church, and am hurried about by the crowd—What noise, what confusion! occasioned by the floods of people perpetually pouring in, and the floods rushing out!—By devotees, who, pressing around the feet of St. Peter, are contending for the happiness of kissing them; by persons of every description, every sex and age, kneeling before Confessionals filled with crafty Monks, and receiving absolution dispensed at the end of a long switch, which the Monks shake over their heads; by young men and girls, wandering from tomb to tomb, wantoning [Page 41] with each other, and talking of love!—Here I see Englishmen gravely taking the dimensions of the pillars; Frenchmen, skipping about and jesting; Germans, astonished to perceive on the gates of the finest church in the world, the most lascivious pictures!—On the other side, I observe a row of Abbes bending their bodies to the earth, and flattering the Cardinals, who, as they pass, assume great stateliness; and a number of mendicants, who, to impose on pity, or fatigue delicacy, shock every eye with sores and nudities!
At length, the order of march is given—Behold a numerous train of dirty penitents, who file off, and make room for a multitude of dirty monks, dirty curates, and a thousand dirty wretches, clad in dirty surplices, bearing each of them a flambeau, and exciting, every where as they pass, by their grotesque appearance, an universal laugh. Now come the Prelates, the Cardinals, and the Pope himself!—His military attendants receive him, and the holy Sacrament that is waiting for him. The union of the two powers takes place, to the sound of trumpets; the Pope and the Sovereign are intermingled, and the Crown and the Tiara united on the same head!—The Pontiff King then mounts on a throne, and seats himself with the Host before him, yet it is so managed, that he appears as if on his knees, whilst a dozen robust men bear him along. It is in this manner that the chief of the Christian Bishops advances among the people, holding the Sacrament in his hands, and his eyes lifted towards Heaven, whilst a general murmur runs thro' the crowd, whispering How handsome the Pope is!—The procession returns to the Church; a thousand torches are ranged along the whole extent of the immense building, and round the High Altar. The Pope descends from his moving throne, crosses the church, mounts the steps of the altar, and, depositing the Host, falls upon his knees—rises up again—gives his benediction—and the business is concluded.
[Page 42] Is this the religion of Christ [...]—Are these the ceremonies of the meek and lowly Jesus?—Truly has it been said, that if Peter and Paul, and the whole Twelve, were to return on earth, they would not believe that this was the religion for which they bled and suffered, but that these whimsical ceremonies were the fantastic and unhallowed rites of a Pagan people! *
What a contrast between the religious festivals of modern Rome, compared with those of the ancient Romans—in which, priests crowned with laurel, priestesses with myrtle, young virgins decked with flowers, augurs, flamens, vestals, a band of venerable men, the flower of the Roman youth, and the conquerors of the world in flowing robes, glittering with gold and purple, followed the sacred statues, in ivory or gold, of Apollo, June, or Jupiter, which, surrounded by the spoils and trophies of Asia, and borne on triumphal cars drawn by lions and leopards, descended majestically from the Capitol, and followed by the Roman people, the sovereigns of the world, amongst whom Kings themselves are confounded, advanced, to the sound of cymbals and clarions, thro' the streets of the capital of the universe, under triumphal arches, and before the statues of their great men, either to the Forum, the Pantheon, or the field of Mars—and thus advancing, amidst all the splendor, all the magnificence, all the religion, and all the Republican virtue of Rome, seemed to be the Gods themselves, of whom they were the images, descending from Olympus, and alighting amongst men!
[Page 43] [Some of our Readers, no doubt, have seen St. Paul's Church in London, and admired that noble pile, worthy of so great a city, and of so opulent a people—How much will they be surprized to hear, that that building is as nothing when compared to St. Peter's Church in Rome!—With the Author's account of that celebrated structure, we shall conclude these extracts.]
If I have not yet said any thing of the famous Church of St. Peter, it is, because no language can furnish expressions to speak of it as it deserves.
The square which is before this superb building, is one of the handsomest in Europe.—In the middle of an immense inclosure, surrounded by a vast portico, which supports, on 400 majestic columns, 200 colossal statues; between two superb basons, blackened with bronze and time, whose waters, perpetually in motion, spout up, sparkle, fall down again, and murmur night and day, a magnificent Obelisk pompously rears its head.
This Obelisk is of the finest granite, and was hewn in Egypt—It was erected by Sextus V.
But it is not very astonishing that St Peter's should become so prodigious an edifice. It was projected by the vanity of Julius II. who desired that his tomb should be a temple. It was undertaken by the genius of Leo X. * who was ambitious of forming one perfect work from the masterly productions of all the Fine Arts. At length, at the end of several [Page 44] centuries, it was finished by Sextus V. * who wished to finish every thing.
This is one of the most extensive edifices the world has seen. It divides the Vatican Mount into two parts; it covers the circus of Nero; and closes up, between Rome and the world, the Triumphal Way.
It is impossible to give an idea of the sensations which fill the soul on entering, for the first time, St. Peter's Church—at finding ourselves on that extensive pavement, amidst enormous pillars, and before these columns of bronze; at the sight of all those paintings, of all those statues, of all those tombs, of all those altars, and under that vast dome—in a word where the pride of the most powerful Pontiffs, and the ambition of all the Fine Arts, have, for centuturies, been adding to it ornaments of gold, granite, marble, bronze, and canvas, increasing its grandeur and magnificence, and insuring its beauty and duration! †
It is possible, no doubt, to pile up to a greater height, and on a more ample superficies, a greater number of stones. But, from so many colossal parts to compose one edifice which shall appear wholly grand; from so many rich and brilliant materials, to erect a building which shall appear wholly magnificent; and, from so many parts, to form one single [Page 45] whole, must be acknowledged to be a master-piece of human art and perseverance.
And this master-piece, in part, is the work of Michael Angelo—It contains the labour of 28 years of the great Michael Angelo!
But, says the nice Critic, there are faults—None to my mind; not even to the eye. If there are any, they must be found by the compass.
And would you take a rule to measure the grandeur of this Temple?—No—All the time I was in it, I thought only of GOD—of Eternity!—By inspiring such ideas, consists its true grandeur.
It is impossible, in this noble edifice, to entertain ordinary sentiments or vulgar ideas.
What a theatre is here for the eloquence of Religion, for the demonstration of Virtue!—I could wish, amidst all the splendor of Romish pomp, that the voice of St. Paul himself might thunder on a sudden, rolling from tomb to tomb, re-echoed by all these vaulted roofs, and denouncing to an audience of Kings, in the awful voice of the KING of KINGS, demanding an account from the awakened consciences of those pale and trembling Monarchs, for all the blood shed, and all the tears flowing, at this very moment, by their command, in every quarter of the world!
[We are sorry we have not room for this Author's account of Naples; perhaps we may find room for it on another occasion—In some respects, however, it is only a repetition of the sad corruption of modern Italy, the same sloth, ignorance, and superstition, mixed with the same effeminancy, profligacy, and abominable debauchery!]
P. S.—Our Readers know, that after the late Pope Pius VI. had been driven out of Rome by the French army, and attempting to obtain several asylums, he at length took refuge in France, where he died; when a sham election was held at Venice, and a creature of the House of Austria was advanced to the dangerous and degraded honour of the Popedom.— [Page 46] He took upon him the name of Pius VII. and when the French were, in their turn, in the absence of Bunoparte in Egypt, obliged to relinquish their conquests in Italy, the new Pope took possession of the Pontifical chair, when one of his first acts was, to restore the Inquisition, that powerful but most abominable instrument of slavery and despotism!—From which act we cannot be at a loss to guess the views and intentions of the combined Monarchs, and justifying the sentiment of the Writer from whom we have made our extracts: "That it is the crown of the Monarch which supports the tiara of the Pontiff, and that both conspire to keep the people in subjection."
On this occasion, it cannot be improper to relate the following Anecdote of the amiable Ganganelli, Clement XIV. commonly called the Protestant Pope.
An English gentleman, on his travels, taking leave of Voltaire, said to him in a jocular manner, that as he was going to Rome, he wished to know if he had any commands to the Pope?—"Present my humble respects to the Holy Father (answered the Philosopher) and tell him, I would be much obliged to him, if he would send me the eyes and ears of the Inquisitor General." The Englishman, on his arrival at Rome, being presented to the Pope, was so charmed with his affability and condescension, that he thought he might, without offence, venture to execute the Philosopher's commission—"When you return to Ferney (said the good old man) make my compliments to M. Voltaire, and assure him, that the Inquisitor General has neither eyes nor ears since Ganganelli became Pontiff." *
MODERN PARIS, In the sixth Year of the Revolution.
IF the morning, in Paris, is devoted to business, the evening at least belongs to Pleasure. Over those hours she holds an undivided empire, but is worshipped at innumerable altars, and hailed by ever var [...]ying rituals.
During the last winter the amusements of 24 theatres, which were opened every night, were every night succeeded by public and private balls, in such numbers, that there were no less than 2000 ball rooms inscribed on the registers of the Police, which keeps its wakeful vigils over every sort of amusement, in all their gradations, from the bright blaze of waxen tapers which displays the charms of nymphs dressed a la Sauvage, or a la Grec, who grace the splendid ball de Richlieu; to the oily lamp which lights up the seventh story, or the vaulted cellar, where the blind fi [...]ler's animating scrape calls the Sovereign people to the cotillion of wooden shoes.
These 2000 ball rooms of the capital afford ample proof that no revolution has taken place in the manners of the French, and that they are still a dancing nation. They have indeed of late fully demonstrated to the world that they are capable of greater things; and that when the energies of their souls are called forth, they can follow Buonaparte across the bridge of Lodi; but when their minds return to its natural position, every barrack has a room approriated for dancing, and the Heroes of Arcole, as well as the Muscadins of Paris,
The fetes of the Court, it is asserted by the few persons remaining in France, by whom they were frequented, were but tawdry splendour compared with the classical elegance which prevails at the fetes of our republican Contractors. As a specimen of these private balls, I shall trace a short sketch of [Page 48] a dance lately given by one of the furnishers of stores for fleets and armies, in his spacious Hotel, where all the furniture, in compliance with the present fashion at Paris, is antique; where all that is not Greek is Roman; where stately silken beds, massy sophas, worked tapestry, and gilt ornaments, are thrown aside as rude gothic magnificence, and every couch resembles that of Pericles, every chair those of Cicero; where every wall is finished in arabesque, like the baths of Titus, and every table, upheld by Castors and Polluxes, is covered with Athenian busts and Etruscan vases; where that modern piece of furniture a clock is concealed beneath the classic bar of Phoebus, and the dancing hours; and every chimney-iron is supported by a Sphinx, or a Griffin.
The dress of his female visitors was in perfect harmony with the furniture of his hotel; for although the Parisian ladies are not suspected of any obstinate attachment to Grecian modes of government, they are most rigid partizans of Grecian modes of dress, adorned like the cotemporaries of Aspasia—the loose light drapery, the naked arm, the bare bosom, the sandaled feet, the circling zone, the golden chains, the twisling tresses, all display the most inflexible conformity to the laws of republican costume. The most fashionable hair-dresser of Paris, in order to accommodate himself to the classical taste of his fair customers, is provided with a variety of antique busts as models; and when he waits on a lady, enquires if she chuses to be drest that day a la Cleopatre, la Dianne, or la Psyche?—Sometimes the changeful nymph is a vestal, sometimes a Venus; but the last rage has been the Niobe; of late fat and lean, gay and grave, old and young, have been all a la Niobe; and the many-curled periwig, thrown aside by the fashionable class, now decorates the heads of petty shopkeepers.
The fair Grecians being determined not to injure the contour of fine forms by superfluous incumbrances, no fashionable lady at Paris wears any pockets, [Page 49] and the inconvenience of being without is obviated by sticking her fan in her belt, sliding in a flat purse of Morocco leather, only large enough to contain a few louis, at the side of her neck, and giving her snuff-box and her pocket-handkerchief to the care of the gentleman who attends her, and to whom she applies for them whenever she has occasion.
For a short time during the winter, in defiance of frost and snow, the costume of a few reigning belles was not a la grec, but a la sauvage. To be dressed a la sauvage, was to have all that part of the frame which was not left uncovered clad in a light drapery of flesh colour. The boddice under which no lin [...]n was worn (shifts being an article of dress long since rejected at Paris, both by the Greeks and the Savages) the boddice was made of knitted silk, clinging exactly to the shape, which is perfectly displayed; the petticoat was on one side twisted up by a light festoon; and the feet, which were either bare or covered with a silk stocking of flesh colour, so woven as to draw upon the toes like a glove upon the fingers, were decorated with diamonds. These gentle savages, however, found themselves so rudely treated whenever they appeared by the sovereign multitude, that at length the fashions of Otaheite were thrown aside, and Greece remains the standing order of the day.
But to return to the Contractor, and his ball—After several hours had past in dancing cotillions, which the young women of Paris perform with a degree of perfection—a light nymphish grace unseen elsewhere—and after the walse, which is now never forgotten at a Paris ball, had proved that the steady heads of Niobes were not to be made giddy, the company were led to a supper furnished with Eastern magnificence, and decorated with attic taste. After supper the folding doors of the saloon were thrown open to a garden of considerable extent, beautifully illuminated with coloured lamps, and its trees bending with lavish clusters of fruits of every season, and every climate, formed of ice, while fountains poured forth streams of orgeat, lemonade, and liqueurs!
[Page 50] But while these imitators of Greece and Rome are revelling in Asiatic luxury, you hear them lamenting most pathetically the subversion of the ancient Regime; that Regime, which would at least have had thus much of justice, that it would have retained these personages in the anti-chambers of the saloons they now occupy; to which anti-chambers they would with a counter-revolution most probably return. One is obliged to offer up an invocation to Patience, when condemned to listen to their declamations against that new order of things to which solely they owe their elevation.
There is indeed one class of persons, before whose complaints of the Revolution, however bitter, the mind humbles itself in sympathetic sorrow. The poor Noble, while he sips his Spartan black-broth, which he is forced to procure by parting, in sad gradation, with all the relicks of his former splendour, with watches, rings, furniture and clothes; he indeed, if he complains, is to be pitied, and if he forbears complaint, it is to be revered! But alas, there is so much of tragical detail in the pages of the Great Book, a thing which has long since been called a great evil, that we must give it at least a whole chapter to itself.
At present I shall only observe, that the reign of Terror has acted upon this country like some mighty pestilence, which not only sweeps away devoted millions in its fury, but leaves an obnoxious taint upon every object where it has passed. The reign of terror has given a fatal wound to the energies of public spirit; ordinary minds have mistaken the execrable abuses of Liberty for an effect of the generous principle itself the victims of revolutionary government have lifted up their complaining voice; all emotions of sympathy, and all the feelings of indignation have been called forth; and the partizans of the ancient Regime have left no art unpractised, no seduction untried, to take advantage of these dispositions in favour of their own system.
[Page 51] Those who have been too rapidly enriched by the Revolution, have endeavoured to hide the obscurity of their origin, by mimicking the tones of those who have titles and honours to regret, till Aristocracy has descended so low, that it will soon perhaps be exploded, like any other fashion, when taken up by the vulgar. These very ladies, who have taught their new-made Liege Lords to ape their counter-revolutionary follies, will at length be ashamed of their Aristocracy, when they find how successfully they are rivalled in those sentiments by their milliners and mantua-makers. A writer of a late political pamphlet has given an admirable reason why our Parisian belles will soon lay aside the tone of eternal lamentations for the overthrow of despotism. "Seven years," says he, "have already elapsed since the epocha of the Revolution: seven years is a period of some length in the history of a youthful beauty, and a lady will not regret the Monarchy under the penalty of passing for old." I believe every person who has studied the female heart, will agree with this writer, that the Republic has a tolerable chance upon this principle of obtaining ere long many fair proselytes.
Public balls, as well as concerts, were held last winter at the Theatre Francais, which, after having been long shut up, was repaired, embellished, and baptized by the Greek name of the Odeon; and that no jealousy might exist between the balls and concerts, on account of this classical nomenclature, the balls immediately received the appellation of Thiases.
But the most singular species of amusement which the last winter produced, were subscription-balls, entitled as des bals a la Victime. Such, and so powerful was the rage for pleasure, that a certain number of its votaries who during the tyranny of Robespierre, had lost their nearest relations on the scaffold, instituted, not days of such solemn, sad commemoration, as is dear to the superstition of tenderness, when, in melancholy procession, clad in sable, and [Page 52] wreathed in cypress, they might have knelt, a mourning multitude, around the spot where the mutilated bodies of their murdered parents had been thrown by the executioner; and bathed the sod with those bitter tears which filial affection, or organized love, shed over the broken ties of nature, or of passion—no!—the commemorative rites which these mourners offered to the manes of their massacred relations, were festive balls! To these strange, unhallowed orgies, no one could be admitted who had not lost a father, a mother, a husband, a wife, a brother, or a sister, on the guillotine; but any person with a certificate of their execution in his pocket book, not only obtained admission, but might dance as long, and as heart could wish. Had Holbein been present at such a spectacle, no doubt he would have enriched his death-dance with new images, and led forward each gay nymph by an attendant headless spectre. The indignant cry of public opinion, however, was at length heard above the music of the walse and the cotillion; and the bal a la victime exists no longer to bear its powerful testimony to a depravation, not merely of manners, but of the heart.
If in the winter, conformibly to our Grecian ideas at Paris, concert rooms became Odeons, and the Niobes and the Titus's danced in a thiase, summer can boast of more than equal honours; since then we never tread but once the attic ground, and never suffer ourselves to be pleased but when pleasure presents herself with a classical appellation. Witness ye gardens of Tivoli, ye bowers of Idalia, ye winding walks of Elysium, ye grotos of Venus, ye vales of Tempe, ye groves of Thessaly! witness with what fond alacrity the lovers of antiquity fly in multitudes to your enchanting recesses, where the arching trees are hung with innumerable lamps of varying colours, where the ear is exhilerated with the sounds of music, and the eye is cheated with the movements of the dance; and where every evening the hour of ten serves as a general signal, at which the whole city of Paris seems one vast theatre for the [Page 53] display of fireworks. A stranger who should enter this city at night by the bridge of Neuilly, might suppose he had reached this scene of great events at some important epocha, which had occasioned a general rejoicing. On his right he would discern the lights of Bagatelle, beaming through the Bois de Boulogne, and would pass close to the brilliant entrance of Idalia; on his left he would be dazzled by the illumination of the Elysium; while, as he advanced, he would discern, above every quarter of the town, the tall sky rockets darting their vivid flash, and would hear, in all directions, the light explosions of enchanted palaces, with bright arcades and fairy columns:
Bagatells alone, the once gay retreat of the Comte d'Artois, is suffered, by our Grecian amateurs, to retain its old appellation in favour of the regal images which it brings to memory. What food for the ramblings of the mind along the paths of history, when it contrasts the light French modern graces of Bagatelle, with the massy, Gothic gloom of Holyrood-house! *—It may be observed that, the persons [Page 54] who are forever lamenting the subversion of the ancient Regime, are not prevented by their regrets from giving all the encouragement in their power to those who convert one palace after another into scenes of public amusement; and that they eagerly purchase for half a crown, the privilege of treading gaily every evening with the plebeian multitude, those magnificent gardens and sumptuous hotels, of which the possessors have, for the most part, as in former proscriptions, paid for their beautiful retreats at Alba, with their lives. But while these lovers of despotism forget their regrets in their pleasures, the philosophic mind wonders often in musing mood along these festive haunts, where the most singular combinations croud upon reflection; and, amidst the glowing enthusiasm of liberty, mourns those partial evils that have clouded its brightness, and abhors those cruel abuses that have sullied its cause!
When the multiplied engagements of the evening do not offer leisure for an excursion to Tivoli, or a trip to Idalia, the gay would at least find sufficient time in the interval between the play and the petit sou [...]er, to lounge for half an hour at one of the fashionable Glaciers. A glacier is a sort of coffee-house, established in the fine hotels of emigrants, splendidly illuminated, open to persons of both sexes, and where you pay for your admission by eating ices, for which there is now so extraordinary a demand in Paris, that if the following winter should prove mild, the ice-purveyors perhaps will be forced to send to the department of Mont Blanc, in order to furnish themselves with means of supplying the enormous wants of their customers.
[As the foregoing picture is drawn by a friend of Liberty, the friends of Liberty will have strong fears, that so frivolous and fantastic a people are unfit to [Page 55] enjoy or unable to practice the principes of Freedom.—The various events of the Revolution, however, have gone beyond all human calculation or conjecture, and we have seen the wonders that this volatile, but truly brave people have performed.—Surrounded by all the Despots of Europe, and not yet entirely divested of religious prejudices and superstition, they are liable to the innumerable snares and machinations of their former Priests and Nobles; and it is long before ancient habits and opinions can be eradicated even in a state of tranquility.—But as they they shook off the bloody fetters of Robespierre, let us cherish a hope, that they will at length overcome all their difficulties, that they will escape the bold and deep designs of Buonaparte, if he is insincere, and finally enjoy the blessings of true and well-regulated Liberty.]
MODERN LONDON, At the Close of the 18th Century.
LONDON, the metropolis of Great Britain, one of the largest and most opulent cities in the world, is mentioned by Tacitus as a place of considerable note in the time of Nero. London is nearly 8 miles long on the banks of the Thames, above 3 miles wide, and 24 miles in circumference, containing 8000 streets, lanes, and alleys, and 65 squares in which are above 162,000 houses, besides warehouses and public buildings; the inhabitants are reckoned 1,250,000, being fully 400,000 more than what are estimated in the city of Paris. Taking a compass of ten miles round St. Paul's church, which would include nearly 100 towns and villages, the number of inhabitants would then be 1,500,000, a fourth part of the whole of the people in the United States estimated at their greatest number, and more than all the inhabitants of Virginia, both black and white!
[Page 56] London, with all its opulence, is not remarkable for its elegance. The streets are crooked, narrow, and irregular; nor are its public buildings appropriately magnificent. St. Paul's Church is the most remarkable modern fabric; indeed it is a noble pile, and only inferior to St. Peter's in Rome. It is 2292 feet in circumference, and 365 feet in height (see Note p. 44)—As a Gothic building, Westminster Abbey is a grand specimen of that kind of architecture; it was founded by the East Saxons in the year 610; it is 365 feet in length, and 195 broad. It contains a greater number and variety of monuments than any church in the world; and Henry the VIII's Chapel has been called one of the Wonders of the World. The bridges over the Thames are a great ornament to London. The most ancient is London bridge, finished about the year 1200; it has 19 arches, and is 950 feet long. Westminster bridge is one of the finest in the world; it was built by Labelle, a native of Switzerland, and was finished in the year 1750; it has 15 arches, and is 1225 long. Blackfriar's bridge, built by Mylne, a Scotchman, was completed in the year 1768; it is 995 feet long, and consists of 9 elliptical arches, the centre one 100 feet wide, and all of them wider than the famous Rialto at [...].
But as we have not room to particularise all the public buildings, we must mention in the gross.—London contains 240 churches and chapels of the established Religion; 207 Meeting-houses for Dissentters of different denominations; 45 Chapels for Foreigners; and 6 Synagogues for Jews. It has 4050 seminaries of Education, 170 Alms-houses, and 750 Institutions for charitable uses, &c. &c. &c.
The broad stream of the river Thames flowing between London and Southwark, continually agitated by a brisk current, or a rapid tide, brings constant supplies of fresh and wholesome air into this vast city, which is remarkably healthy, considering its size. The cleanliness of London is greatly aided by its situation on the Thames; and the New River further [Page 57] contributes to the abundance of that very necessary element. The situation also is fortunate with regard to navigation; had it been placed lower on the Thames, it would have been annoyed by unwholesome marshes, and more liable to the attacks of foreign enemies; had it been higher, it would not have been accessible to vessels of burthen. It now possesses every advantage that can be derived from a sea-port, without its dangers; and, at the same time, by means of its noble river, enjoys an extensive communication with the internal parts of the country. London, therefore, unites in itself all the benefits arising from navigation and commerce, with those of a metropolis at which all the public business of a great commercial nation is transacted. In the port of London alone, 13,500 vessels, and 50,000 waggons (including their repeated voyages and journies) annually bring and carry away property to the amount of 120 millions!—Add to this sum, the merchandize, provisions, bank-notes, cash, jewels, &c. deposited, and in constant circulation within the metropolis, in the course of the year, the whole may fairly be estimated at 170 millions sterling! *
[Page 58] Paris is called the Seat of Pleasure; London, the Seat of Commerce. We have seen, that Paris, with much fewer inhabitants, has 20 or 24 theatres; whilst London has only two in winter, and one in summer.—It is therefore not only a commercial, but also a manufacturing city; some manufactures are peculiar to itself, as ministering to the demands of studied splendor and refined luxury, such as the richest silks, gold and silver works, jewelery, &c. The porter brewery is of vast consequence to London, both as to home and foreign consumption; and several important branches of commerce are entirely confined to its port, such as, the Turkey, Hudson's Bay, and the East India trade, that great source of wealth, and luxury, and corruption!
Where there is much good, it too often happens that there is also much evil.—If London contains a great portion of the most useful and the most meritorious of mankind, it also contains an astonishing number of the vilest and most corrupt of both sexes, who resort to this great emporium of wealth and luxury, and either individually, or in conjunction, pillage and defraud the community by a thousand different schemes!—It cannot be unentertaining, and it may be instructing, to take a short view of the various classes of unfortunate persons who live by stealth, or fraud, or violence, in the city of London.—Whilst it demonstrates the vast riches and population of that immense metropolis, it will shew the corruption of great cities, and prove the necessity of just and vigorous laws.
| Coiners, colourers, utterers of base money, &c. | 3,500 |
| Thieves, pilferers, embezzlers of goods, &c. | 10,000 |
| River pilferers, lumpers, scuffle-hunters, mud-larks, &c. | 2,500 |
| Itinerant Jews, wandering from street to street, holding out temptations to pilfer and steal, and Jew-boys crying bad shillings, &c. and who receive and purchase stolen articles from unfaithful servants, &c. | 2,500 |
| Professed thieves, burglars, highway robbers, pickpockets, and river pirates, &c.—Note, There will be a considerable increase to this squad on the return of peace * | 8500 |
| Professed and known receivers of stolen goods, several of whom are very opulent, | 100 |
| Receivers of stolen goods from petty pilferers at store shops, rag and thrum shops, &c. | 4000 |
| Chimney-sweepers, costard-mongers, ass-drivers, dustmen, rabbit-sellers, bear-baiters, dog-keepers, &c. | 1500 |
| Warehouse porters, journeymen, apprentices, and under clerks, who defraud in a little way, | 3500 |
| A class of swindlers, cheats, and low gamblers, composed of idle and dissolute characters, who have abandoned every honest pursuit, such as Moroccomen, Russians, Bludgeon-men, &c. who, at times, assume the trade of duffers, hawkers, pedlars, horse-dealers, gamblers with E O tables at fairs, races, &c. | 7500 |
| Various other classes not included in the above, | 1000 |
| Idle, dissolute, and fraudulent Publicans and Tavern-keepers, who harbour or are connected with idle and criminal characters, who allow their houses to be rendezvous for gamblers, swindlers, thieves, &c. | 1000 |
| A class of inferior Officers in the Revenue, who connive at pillage and thefts, and share the plunder, | 1000 |
| A class of persons who keep Chandler's Shops; the total number is said to be 10,000 in the metropolis, many of whom cheat their customers by false wts. | 3500 |
| Strangers out of work who have wandered up to London in search of employment, &c. above | 1000 |
| Servants, male and female, porters, hostlers, stable-boys, &c. out of place, principally from ill behaviour and loss of character, | 10000 |
| Persons called Black Legs, and others proselyted to the vice of gaming, who are in the habit of frequenting houses opened for play, of which there are at least fifty in Westminster, where Pharo Banks, &c. are kept. Of these five are kept by Ladies of Fashion, who receive 50l. each rout, besides 1-8th of the profits!—Seven are subscription houses, 5 have particular customers, and 13 admit foreigners and every idle and dissolute character, | 2500 |
| Spendthrifts, rakes, giddy young men inexperienced and in the pursuit of false pleasure; profligate, loose, and dissolute characters, vitiated in themselves, and in the practice of seducing others to drunkenness, lewdness, debauchery, gambling, &c. | 5000 |
| Foreigners, who live chiefly by gambling, | 500 |
| Common beggars and vagrants asking alms, supposing one to every two streets, | 4000 |
| Strolling minstrels, ballad-fingers, show-men, &c. | 1500 |
| Grubbers, Gin-drinking idle women, destitute boys and girls, wandering and prowling about the streets picking up nails, chips, old metals, &c. and who are constantly on the watch to pilfer or steal, | 2000 |
| Bawds, who keep houses of ill fame, brothels, &c. | 2000 |
| Unfortunate Females of all descriptions, who support themselves partly or wholly by prostitution! | 50000 |
| Annual loss by Small Thefts | 710,000 |
| Thefts upon the river and quays | 500,000 |
| Thefts in the dock-yards, &c. | 300,000 |
| Burglaries, highway robberies, &c. | 250,000 |
| Coining base money | 200,000 |
| Forging bills, swindling, &c. | 200,000 |
| Total Annual Loss | L. 2,150,000 |
This sum will astonish the Reader at first view; but when the vast extent of the trade and commerce of London is considered, and that in the exports and imports of the Capital alone, there is an annual movement of about 70 millions of property laden and unladen in the river Thames, independent of the great quantity of stationary or fixed property, all which cannot amount to less than 100 millions—it will cease to be a matter of surprize, that under a defective system of Police, the depredations are estimated so high.
[Page 61] In contemplating this shocking catalogue of human depravity, which, however, does not include every description of fraud or dishonesty practised, before the mind shall imbibe unfavourable impressions, it may be necessary to remind the reader, that in order justly to appreciate the moral turpitude which attaches to such a corrupt community, in many respects deluded and misled by the numerous temptations which assail them in a rich and luxuriant city, it must be measured by a scale proportioned to the unparalleled extent and opulence of the metropolis.—London is not only the grand magazine of the British empire, but also the general receptacle for the idle and the depraved of almost every country in the world—where, temptations for criminal pleasures, gambling, fraud, and depredations, almost exceed imagination—besides, being the seat of Government, and the centre of fashion, amusements, dissipation, folly and extravagance, it is a great manufacturing town, and the first commercial city in the universe.
Under these circumstances, whilst immorality, licentiousness, and crimes are known to advance in proportion to riches, it is much to be lamented, that in the rapid increase of the latter, sufficient attention has not been bestowed to remedy the defects, by a better system of police, and a more effective code of laws.
[From the foregoing account, our Readers will naturally draw a comparison between the police of Paris and that of London. But besides that Paris is less than London by 3 or 400,000 [...]inhabitants, they will recollect, that the police of the former is the work of a long series of despotism under the kingly Regime; and, as a system of police, it was wonderfully complete and effective, but subversive of every principle of Liberty; it is said, the Court of Versailles had a spy in almost every house in Paris!—Since the Revolution, the same system has been continued by the different leaders, or usurpers, of the French government—It was exercised by Robespiere [Page 62] in order to perpetrate his horrible butcheries; and it is now exercised by Buonaparte, to maintain the kingly powers of his Consulate!—Happily the people of England have not yet been subjected to such despotic rules; and, whatever may be the faults of their Ministers, or the ambitions projects of their Kings, we hope in God they never will.]
CRITICISM.
HUME'S HISTORY. For the VIRGINIAN REPOSITORY.
THE Editor of the Collection, entitled WASHINGTONIANA, has taken upon him to recommend Hume's History of England for "the purity of its style." I know it is a common opinion, that Mr. Hume is a very elegant historian; a powerful set of men, who find it their interest to support a conjunction of Church and State, have said so—but a popular opinion is not always a just one; the voice of the People is not always the voice of God, in literary disquisitions; and, in the present case, I am inclined to think, that the public has been led to believe what will not bear the test of a critical examination—I am one of those who think, that the style of Hume's History does not deserve such high recommendations as it has received; on the contrary, it appears to me to be often clumsy, frequently incorrect, and never elevated beyond mediocrity.
As the subject is worthy of consideration, I am in hopes you will give the following observations a place in your Repository.—I freely confess, however, that they are not altogether original; but they will not, I presume, be considered the less curious and important, because they happen to accord with the judgement of an able Critic in London. And I think it [Page 63] a duty. I owe to my fellow citizens of the United States, not only to guard them against Toryism and Infidelity, * but also from being led believe, that there are purity and elegance of style where they are not.
As Mr. Hume's character of Queen Elizabeth has been particularly admired, I shall select that portion of his History, and try it by the touchstone of grammatical correctness and classical purity.
"There are few personages in History, who have been more exposed to the calumny of enemies, and the adulation of friends, than Queen Elizabeth; and yet there scarcely is any whose reputation has been more certainly determined by the unanimous consent of posterity."—
Now, the writer did not mean what is here asserted. Elizabeth's character is no more exposed to calumny and adulation, than the character of any other personage, because Calumny and Adulation make no rational distinctions. Her character may, indeed, have incurred more calumny and adulation, or have been the object of them, than that of most other people; and this is what the Writer would have expressed, had he known how to write English.
"The unusual length of her administration, and the strong features of her character, were able to overcome all difficulties; and obliging her detractors to abate much of their invectives, and her admirers somewhat of their panegyrics, have, at last, in spite of political factions, and, what is more, of religious [Page 64] animosities, produced a uniform judgement with regard to her conduct."—
No judge of the English language will venture to say, that there is either purity or elegance in this passage. A correct writer would have put reign instead of administration. The fancy too of a feature as able to overcome a prejudice, will have but few admirers amongst readers of taste and discernment.—Instead of a uniform, it should be written an uniform judgement, &c. And how insipid is the conclusion?—"a uniform judgement with regard to her conduct!"—The poorest scribbler for a News-paper could not have clothed his sentiment in more beggarly language.
"Her vigour, her constancy, her magnanimity, her penetration, vigilance, address, are allowed to merit the highest praises, and appear not to have been surpassed by any person that ever filled a throne."—
Where is the elegance of this passage?—Besides, constancy, in its general sense, is well represented by the constantia of the Romans, but English readers apply the word to love or friendship. Perseverance, or firmness, or some equivalent expression, would much better have represented the writer's intention in this place. And the last clause of the passage is particularly cold and undignified.
"A conduct less rigorous, less imperious, more sincere, more indulgent to her people, would have been requisite to form a perfect character."—
How, would have been?—It should be " is requisite" in addition to her excellencies.
"By the force of her mind, she controlled all her more active and stronger qualities, * and prevented them from running into excess."—
[Page 65] This passage is a flat contradiction to the former. If she were free from excess in her stronger qualities, why should we wish her to have been less imperious, or less rigorous than she was?—The Writer appears to be actuated by a strong desire to exhibit a striking antithesis, without possessing a clearness of conception or a dexterity of language, sufficient for his purpose. It is this superficial glitter that imposes upon the negligent or unskilful reader, but will not impose upon the calm and judicious Critic.—The whole of this sentence is insipid, and does not shew a single stroke of a master artist.
"Her heroism was exempt from temerity, her frugality from avarice, her friendship from partiality, her active temper from turbulence and a vain ambition."—
The wording of this passage may be well enough put together, but the positions are very disputable, and will be acceded to by very few who have carefully and impartially studied this Queen's character.
"She guarded not herself with equal care, or equal success, from lesser infirmities; the rivalship of beauty, the desire of admiration, and the sallies of anger." *—
"The desire of admiration" wants vigour, and the "sallies of anger" make a most unmusical conclusion. A well-tun'd ear will perceive the superiority of a different arrangement; "the sallies of anger, and the jealousies of love."
[Page] "Few Sovereigns of England succeeded to the throne in more difficult circumstances; and none ever conducted the government with such uniform success and felicity."—
The specific term succeeded has no propriety in this place; he should have said, ascended the throne. And what a tame redundancy in the two last words of the sentence—they should be expunged.
"Tho' her enemies were the most powerful Princes in Europe, the most active, the most enterprising, the least scrupulous, she was able, by her vigour, to make deep impressions on their states; her own greatness, meanwhile, remained untouched and unimpaired."—
"The least scrupulous"—in what?—Some addition is necessary to a clear perception of the Writer's meaning; and we may readily conclude, that what has been untouched is unimpaired. The whole paragraph wants consecution, cohesion, and correspondence.
"The same of this Princess, tho' it has surmounted the prejudices both of Faction and Bigotry, yet lies still exposed to another prejudice, which is more durable, because more natural; and which, according to the different views in which we survey her, is capable either of exalting beyond measure, or diminishing the lustre of her character."—
As nothing was said above of any thing but religious factions, the words "both of Faction and Bigotry" are inaccurate and indistinct. The character of the passage, instead of the disparaging term another prejudice, evidently required a word of middle [Page 67] power, as it is made susceptible of two opposite applications. More natural is foolish; no comparison is necessary, and none, in reality, was intended.—Whether "to survey according to a view" be either English or sense, I much question; and, "to exalt a lustre," will command no admiration from readers of taste; besides, regularity demands this collocation: "either of exalting, or diminishing, beyond measure, the lustre—". Measure, too, as applied to lustre!—It is like a peck of moonshine!
"The true method of estimating her merit, is to lay aside all these considerations, and consider her merely as a rational being, placed in authority, and intrusted with the government of mankind,"—
Has this passage any claim to purity or elegance?—None.
"We may find it difficult to reconcile our fancy to her as a wife or a mistress; but her qualities as a Sovereign, tho' with some considerable exceptions, are the object of undisputed applause and approbation"—
The latter part of this period is every way illaudable. What is meant by the words "tho' with some considerable exceptions," is not clear from their position in the context. Instead of object, he should have put subject; and applause, according to the rules of propriety, should have followed approbation.
In short, Mr. Editor, I feel no difficulty in stating it as my opinion, that the style of Hume's History is replete with harshness, coarseness, clumsiness, and impropriety; that correctness and elegance are very rarely found, and true dignity of composition never. There is no instance on record, I think, of so great a reputation that rests on so flimsy a foundation. If any of his admirers, after seeing what Hume is, should be inclined to view what he is not, let them turn to Johnson's preface to his edition of Shakespear, and their conviction will be complete. They will pass from the contemplation of a puny bantling, to the achievements of a mighty giant, "piling Ossa on Olympus, and Pelium on Ossa, till he reach the skies!"
MEMOIRS of the Author of "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman." By W M. GODWIN.
VULGAR tears fall and evaporate without leaving any trace behind them: but the tears of affection is often chrystialised by the power of genius, and converted into a permanent literary brilliant. Mr. Godwin, whose abilities are indisputable, endeavours thus to dignify and render illustrious his sorrows for the loss of his wife; we therefore regret the necessity of observing that not only the general reader, but the most judicious and reflecting part of mankind, will arraign the prudence and the utility of these memoirs, though he himself commences them with this sentence of high expectation:—'there are not many individuals with whose charcter the public welfare and improvement are more ultimately connected, than the author of "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman."
After an exordium so splendid, we could not expect to find such a narrative;—a narrative which we must indeed read with pity and concern, but which we should have advised the author to bury in oblivion. Blushes would suffuse the checks of most husbands if they were forced to relate those anecdotes of their wives which Mr. Godwin voluntarily proclaims to the world. The extreme exentricity of Mr. G.'s sentiments will account for this conduct. Virtue and Vice are weighed by him in a balance of his own. He neither looks to marriage with respect, nor to suicide with horror. He relates with complacency of Mary Wollstonecaft, afterwards his wife, that she cultivated a platonic affection for Mr. Fuseli the painter:—that she cohabited with Mr. Imaly as his wife, took his name and had a child by him, without being married; and that she even lived with Mr. G. himself, and was pregnant by him; and that it was only her pregnancy which induced them to think of marriage; fearing that, otherwise she might be excluded from society. He gravely records, also, (what was mentioned at the time in [Page 69] the Newspapers, and was considered by some persons as calumny,) her attempt to drown herself in the Thames, in consequence of the ill-treatment which she experienced from Mr. Imlay.
How the public welfare and improvement are connected with or can be advanced by the studied and uniform eulogium of such conduct will not be easily perceived; nor will any reader of discernment who appreciates the merits of this unfortunate female, even on the evidence of her own husband, be able to say with him that 'there are no circumstances in her life that, in the judgment of honour and reason, could brand her with disgrace!'—Peace to her manes! She was the child of Genius, but she was also the child of Error!
Most of the incidents which composed her short life are neither very singular nor very striking. Where she was born her husband does not know. She commenced the career of fame, like Milton, Sir Richard Blackmore, Dr. Johnson, and others, by keeping a school;—she then became a writer for a bookseller, and an occasional critic. She attracted notice by entering the lists against Mr. Burke, and particularly by her "Vindication of the Rights of Woman;" by the publication of which, in the opinion of her biographer, 'she will perhaps be found to have performed more substantial service for the cause of her sex, than all the other writers, male or female, that ever felt themselves animated in the behalf of oppressed and injured beauty.' Though this must be deemed exaggerated praise, it may be forgiven from a husband, who, no doubt, most sincerely mourns her loss; and our other female authors must not take it amiss that he should wish to have it believed, that 'no female writer ever obtained so great a degree of celebrity throughout Europe.'
Mr. and Mrs. Godwin possessed congenial mi [...], and perhaps no two people better suited each other; though, (a [...] this memoir relates) at the first time of their meeting, they did not reciprocally excite any [Page 70] very prepossessing impressions. At last, however, a strong and mutual affection took place, and ripened into love.
'There was (Mr. G. says) no period of throes and resolute explanation attendant on the tale. It was friendship melting into love. Previously to our [...] declaration, each felt assured, yet each felt a [...] trembling anxiety to have assurance compleat!'—
To this account of the sincerity and ardour of their mutual passion, it is concisely added, ' We did not [...],'—and then follows this poor, turgid attempt at a justification:—
'It is difficult to recommend any thing to indiscriminate adoption, contrary to the established rules and prejudices of mankind; but certainly nothing can be so ridiculous upon the face of it, or so contrary to the general march of sentiment, as to require the overflowing of the soul to wait upon a ceremony, and that which, whereever delicacy and imagination exist, is of all things most sacredly private, to blow a trumpet before it, and to record the moment when it has arrived at its climax.'
Apprehending that this very refined and sentimental logic would not be sufficient to convince the public of the propriety of their conduct in this respect, Mr. G. adds—'There were other reasons why we did not immediately marry—Mary felt an entire conviction of the propriety of her conduct.'—We question this. Her experience, with Mr. Imlay, of the miserable consequences to which a woman exposes herself by an unmarried connection, must have taught her the imprudence at least of disregarding the law of society respecting marriage. No evil may result from recording the Vow of Love; but many evils must result from a neglect, or a contempt of the Law of Marriage. It is one of the most important institutions of civil society.
On this subject, Mr. Godwin rather gives his own opinions than those of his wife; or, he exhibits her's with the colouring of his theoretical system thrown [Page 71] over them,—But let us listen to his account of her religion?—
'Her religion was little allied to any system of forms; it was founded rather in taste, than in the niceties of polemical discussion. Her mind constitutionally attached itself to the sublime and the amiable. She found an inexpressible delight in the beauties of Nature, and in the splendid reveries of the imagination!—When she walked amidst the wonders of Nature, she was accustomed to converse with God. To her mind, He was pictured as not less amiable, kind and generous, than great, wise, and exalted. In fact, she had received few lessons of religion in her youth, and her religion was almost entirely of her own creation. * She could not recollect the time when she had believed the doctrine of future punishments.—The tenets of her system were the growth of her own moral taste, and her religion was a gratification not a terror to her. She sometimes listened to the sermons of Dr. Price, but more frequently attended public worship according to the forms of the Church of England. Latterly her attendance on Divine Service became less constant, and at length was wholly discontinued.—I believe (continues Mr. G.) that no person of a well furnished mind, that has shaken off the implicit subjection of youth, and i [...] not the zealous partizan of a Sect, can bring himself to conform to the regular routine of sermons and prayers!'
The matrimonial happiness of Mr. and Mrs. Godwin was but of short contiuance. Their marriage was declared in April 1797, and she died the September following, in child-bed, aged 38.
[Page 72] In the posthumous works of Mrs. Godwin, we perceive a series of letters to Mr. I. who lived with her at Paris for a short time in matrimonial intimacy, but without the forms of marriage; he forsook her when she was pregnant, a prey to despair, and took up with another woman.—Almost any other husband than Mr. Godwin would have suppressed these letters; yet he not only publishes them, but introduce them with a preface, in which he declares them to 'contain the finest examples of the language of sentiment and passion ever presented to the world!'—We think such language little short of insanity; especially when it appears, that her sentiments not being guided by prudence, she was left to shame, misery and despair!
The following extract from one of her letters to her unfaithful lover, will give our readers an idea of her glowing imagination:—
"I obey an emotion of the heart, which made me think of wishing thee, my love, a good night, before I go to rest, with more tenderness than I can tomorrow, when writing a hasty line under Colonel—'s eye. You can scarcely imagine with what pleasure I anticipate the day, when we are to begin to live together; and you will smile to hear how many plans of employment I have in my head, now that I am confident my heart has found peace in your bosom—[ deluded, mistaken woman!]—Cherish me with that dignified tenderness, which I have only found in you; and your own dear girl will try to keep under a quickness of feeling, that has sometimes given you pain!—Yes, I will be good, that I may deserve to be happy; and, whilst you love me, I cannot again fall into the miserable state which rendered life a burthen almost too heavy to be borne.
"But, good night—God bless you!—Sterne says, that is equal to a kiss; yet I would rather give you the kiss into the bargain!
" P. S, I will be at the Barrier a little after ten o'clock to-morrow"—
[Page 73] The consequence of this barrier assignation was a child. It was called the Barrier Girl, from a belief that she owed her existence to this willing interview on the Lady's side—The man who could resist such an invitation, must be more than a Joseph!
Altho' Miss W. went, of her own accord, without form or solicitation, on this occasion, to make a child, yet she frequently lamented the evils to which Nature had subjected her sex in the article of children; a subject which she never could discuss with patience, it being an evil to which man was not subjected.
"What signifies (cried she) all the freedom of our souls, all the exaltation of our intellects, if we are to be confined for months to carry a burthen which we have no means to lay down; and when the little wretch appears to the world, what a dreadful idea!—With intellects that soar beyond the firmament, are we to be confined to swaddle and dandle an animal that has no ideas, and would at every moment destroy itself, if we did not preserve it?—O horrid! that Nature did not provide some middle, some stupid, lumpish being, to rear and take care of the human progeny—Why not make man an oviparous animal?—Then we might have hatched the eggs in stoves, as they do chickens in Egypt!"
Is this a woman to be held up as a pattern for the sex?—Are her writings fit to be put into the hands of our wives and daughters?—We may pity her misfortunes, but we must blame her conduct, and detest her sentiments.
If Mr. I. was soon cloyed with the excessive fondness of this willing dame, it must be confessed, that Godwin and her were "congenial souls," both of them disregarding the ceremonies of the Law, and the respect of the Community. Indeed the whole of Godwin's doctrines tend to destroy all law * and all decency, under the flimsy, but deceiving pretext of what he calls "the perfectability of human nature." [Page 74] —But, let him speak for himself, and let every good citizen think of the consequences:—
"If genuine liberty were established, all the female sex would be within our choice.—What business has one man to monopolize a woman to himself?—Love and affection are as various as any other passion.—What are the names of Mother, and Wife, and Daughter, and Sister?—In a state of nature, men pursue their own inclinations, and do not each grasp a female to himself, the slave of his caprice—Over this imaginary prize, men watch with perpetual jealousy, and one man will find his desires to circumvent as much excited, as the other is excited to traverse him.—As long as this state of society continues, philanthrophy [what a perversion of the word!] will be crossed and checked in a thousand ways."—
"When the distinctions of society shall be confounded, and men shall cease to appropriate a whole female to themselves, two men might easily enjoy one woman!—because it would be her company they desired, and the sensual gratification would be considered as a trifle, Reasonable men will propagate their species, not because a certain pleasure is annexed to the action, but because it is right the species should be propagated, and the manner in which they exercise this function, will be regulated by the dictates of duty and reason!—It is true, in such a state, it will not be ascertained who is the father of this or that child—What matter—it is of no consequence!—I ought to prefer no human being to another, because that being is my father, my wife, or my son!"
Again—"The institution of marriage is a system of fraud!—It is true, marriage is law, but it is the worst of all laws!—Whatever our understandings may tell us of the person from whose connection we should derive the greatest improvement, of the worth of one woman, and the demerits of another, we are obliged to consider what is law, and not what is justice. So long as I seek to engross one woman to myself, and prohibit my neighbour from proving his superior deserts, and reaping the fruits of them, I am guilty of the most odious of all monopolies."
[Page 75] These extracts are taken from Godwin's Political Justice, an imposing title to very pernicious doctrines.
The last work we have seen of Godwin's is one entitled St. Leon. It is written in his usual style, o [...] strong and nervous language, and contains a well drawn picture of the fatal effects of g [...]ming, which, when they meet with the book, we recommend that part of it to our gambling readers—But never was book written, since the days of witchcraft and credulity, on so absurd and improbable a principle, viz. the supposed existence of the Philosopher's Stone, and of a Panacea to preserve life perpetually!—The a [...]surdity of the plan, however, is perfectly innocent when compared with its immoral tendency.—As a proof, we select from St. Leon the following passage:—
"It must be confessed, that this offence (Gallantry—the hero of the work is then supposed to be at Paris) has a thousand advantages over Gaming. Few women of regular and reputable lives, have the ease of manners, that flow of fancy, and that graceful intrepidity of thinking and expressing themselves, that is to be found among those who have discharged themselves from the tyranny of custom. There is something irresistibly captivating in that voluptuousness, which, while it assumes a certain air of freedom, conforms itself to the dictates of unsophisticated delicacy!—A judicious [...]oluptuousness is necessary to the cultivation of the mind, to the polishing of the manners, to the refining of sentiment, and the developement of the understanding: and a woman deficient in this respect, may be of use in the management of our families, but can neither add to the enjoyments, nor fix the partiality of a man of taste or animation!"
Such is the Writer, whose works are put into the hands of our young men, to prepare their minds for a general system of immorality and licentiousness—to free our young women from the tyranny of custom, to disengage them from the dictates of sophisticated delicacy, and to give them a captivating voluptuousness!
BIOGRAPHY.
BUONAPARTE.
IT requires but a very superficial examination into the history of mankind to discover, that great events are productive of great characters. They excite the passions; invigorate individual talents; rescue merit from undeserved obscurity; and setting aside the fictitious distinctions founded on the follies, rather than the conventions of society, give full play to exertion, and ample scope to genius. But this fact is never more satisfactorily illustrated, than in the contests connected with, and founded on, the love of Freedom, a principle intimately blended with our existence and our happiness, and which, being founded in nature, is latent in the basest and most selfish hearts.
The hemisphere of Greece exhibited a galaxy of [...], during her struggle for Liberty, against the domestic tyrants who oppressed, and the foreign kings who endeavoured to enslave her. The names and actions of Pelopidas and Epaminondas; of Leonidas and Agis; of Harmodius and Aristogiton; are familiar to every classical scholar, and have been long dear to mankind. In Rome, we behold one Brutus arise to expel Tarquin, and another to punish Caesar. The burning hand of Scaev [...]la appalled the heart of the king of Etruria; and a single citizen, in the person of Horatius Cocles, defending a bridge against a little army, struck an astonished enemy with terror and dismay.
Similar causes in France have produced nearly similar effects, and the triumphs of the Monarchy have been already obliterated by the glories of the Republic. Disorganised, undisciplined, dissatisfied, her armies, at the beginning of the contest, exhibited numbers without valour, and enterprise without success. It can have been no common principle [...] [Page 77] then, that has forced the veteran troops of Europe to turn pale before her fresh levies, and the Brunswicks, the Clersayes, the Warmsers, to bend their silver locks to men, new to the science of war, and unknown to history. At one time we have seen [...] opposing the allies, and actually deprecating their efforts; at another time, invading their possessions, and, soon after, flying to them for succour and protection. Jourdan, by the exertion of soldierly bravery alone, taught the enemy to respect his countrymen; Pich [...]gr [...] displayed all the resources of a great tactician, and directed every movement by the rules of art. Moreau, in imitation of Xenophon, acquired more glory by retreat, than others have achieved by victory; and Buonaparte, by uniting the warrior and the statesman in his own person, has consummated the glory of his adopted country.
This extraordinary man, BUONAPARTE, was born in the town of Ajaccio, in Corsica, in 1767, is the son of Char. Buonaparte and Laetitia Raniolmi. His father, who was also a native Ajaccio, was bred to the law, at Rome, and took part with the celebrated Paoli, in the memorable struggle made by a handful of brave islanders, against the tyrannical efforts of Louis XV, and the Machiavelian schemes of his minister, Choiseul.
I am assured, by a near relation of the family, that he not only laid aside the gown upon this occasion, but actually carried a musket as a private continel.
On the conquest of the island, he wished to retire, with the gallant chieftain who had so nobly struggled for its independence; but he was prevented by his uncle, a Canon, who exercised a parental authority over him.
In 1773, a deputation from the three estates was sent to wait on the king of France; and, on this occasion, Charles Buonaparte was selected to represent the Nobles. He was soon after promoted to the office of Procurotore Reale of Ajaccio, where his [Page 78] ancestors, supposed to have been originally from Tuscany, had been settled nearly two hundred years.
The family of the elder Buonaparte was numerous, for he had seven children: four sons, and three daughters. It was his good fortune, however, to be cherished by the French; and both he and his family lived in the greatest intimacy with M. de Marboeuf, the Governor, who received a revenue of 60,000 livres a year, on condition of doing nothing! An Intendant was paid nearly as much, and a swarm of hungry leeches, engendered in the corruption of the court of Versailles, at one and the same time sucked the blood of the Corficans, and drained the treasure of the mother country; in short, like the conquests of more recent times, the subjugation of that island seems to have been achieved for no other purpose, than to gratify avarice, and satiate rapacity.
On the death of his friend, Charles Buonaparte, M. de Marhoeuf continued to patronize his family, and placed his second son, Napoleone, the subject of these memoirs, at the E [...]le Militaire, or Military Academy. The advantage resulting from this seminary, which has produced more great men than any other in Europe, were not lost in young Buonaparte; he there applied himself with equal assiduity and address to mathematics, and studied the art of war as a regular science. Born in the midst of a republican struggle, in his native land, it was his good fortune to burst into manhood, at the moment when the country of his choice sho [...]k off the chains with which she had been manacled for centuries. There was also something in his manners and habits that announced him equal to the situation for which he seems to have been destined; instead of imitating the frivolity of the age, his mind was continually occupied by useful studies; and from the Lives of Plutarch, a volume of which he always carried in his pocket, he learned, at an early age, to copy the manners, and emulate the actions, of antiquity.
[Page 79] With this disposition, it is but little wonder that he should have dedicated his life to the profession of arms. We accordingly find him, while yet a boy, presenting himself as a candidate for a commission in the artillery; and his success equalled the expectations of his friends, for he was the 12th on the list, out of the 36, who proved victorious in the contest. In consequence of this event, he became a lieutenant in the French army, and served as such during two or three years, in the regiment of La Fe e.
On the second expedition fitted out against Sardinia, he embarked with his countrymen, and landed in the little island of Maddalena, which he took possession of, for the French Republic; but finding the troops that had been got together for this expedition neither possessed organization, nor discipline, he returned to the port of Ajaccio, whence he had set out.
In the mean time, a scheme was forming for the annexation of Co [...]si [...]a to the crown of England; and the cabinet, in an evil hour, acceded to a proposition which while it diminished the wealth, has contributed but little either to the honour or advantage of that country.
Buonaparte had a difficult part to act upon this occasion; he was personally attached to Pasquale Paoli; he resented the treatment he experienced during the reign of the Terrorists, and had actually drawn up, with his own hand, the remonstrance transmitted by the Municipality of Ajaccio against the decree declaring the General an enemy to the Commonwealth. Indeed, he was supposed to be so intimately connected with him, that a warrant was actually issued by Lacombe de St. Michel, and the two other commissioners of the Convention, to arrest young Buonaparte!—Notwithstanding this, he was determined to remain faithful to his engagements, and learning that the English fleet, in the Mediterranean, had failed for the purpose of seizing his native island, he embarked, along with his family, for the continent, and settled within eighteen leagues of Toulon.
[Page 80] That town, the second sea-port in France, was at this moment in the possession of the English, having been just seized upon by Admiral Lord Hood, who had substituted the British cross in the place of the three-coloured flag. The military talents of the young Corsican were well known to Salicetti, who introduced him to Barras, to whom he afforded indubitable proof of the sincerity of his professions, at a period when suspicion was justified by the most serious and frequent defections. He was accordingly advanced from the rank of Chief de Brigade, to that of General of Artillery, and directed, under General Dugommier, the attacks of the various redoubts that surrounded and strengthened this important port, in which Collot de Herbois soon after declared, "that he had found the galley-slaves alone, faithful to the Republic!"—It is almost needless to add, that the energy of the French troops, added to the scientific arrangements of the engineer, overcame the zeal and the resistance of the motely garrison, and restored the key of the Mediterranean to France.
The conquest of Toulon contributed not a little to raise the credit of Buonaparte; and it proved equally advantageous to his friend Barras. That deputy had been also bred a military man, and was employed by his colleagues on all great energies. One of these soon occurred; this was the commotion among the sections of Paris, known by the name of the Insurrection of Vendemaire. On this occasion, he took care to be surrounded by able men, among them was General Buonaparte, whom he had invested with the command of the artillery, at the siege of Toulon. It was to another Corsican, however, that he confined the superintendance of the army; this was Gentili who had just acquired a great reputation, by his gallant defence of Ba [...]ia. On trial, however, it was immediately discovered, that the deafness of Gentili was an invincible bar to success, as he could neither hear nor attend to the multiplied and complicated reports of the Aids du Camp, who [Page 81] were continually bringing him messages, or addressing him relative to the situation of the enemy. Luckily for the Convention, Napoleone Buonaparte was, at this critical and decisive moment, appointed h [...]s successor, and it is to be the masterly dispositions made by him, that the triumph of the representative body is to be principally ascribed▪ It is but justice to add, that the moderation displayed on this occasion is perhaps unequalled in the history of the civ [...]l wa [...]s of modern times!
A nobler field now opened for the exertions of Buonaparte, for he was soon after invested with the chief command of the French army in Italy, which, under his direction, prepared to open the campaign of 1796. In the spring of that year, we find the Austro-Sardinian army defeated within forty miles of Turin; 15.000 were either killed or taken prisoners on this occasion, and the cannon and camp equipage siezed on by the victors. The army of Lombardy was also doomed to experience a most humiliating defeat, although led on by a cautious veteran, Beaulieu, in person; t [...]is was attributed solely to the manoeuvres of the commander in chief, seconded by the active exertions of Generals Laharpe, Massena, and Cervona. The Austrian General Provera was taken in a third engagement; in consequence of which, forty field-pieces, with the horses, mules, and artillery waggons, &c. were captured by the French; 2500 of the allies killed, and 8,000 made prisoners. In short, the battles of Millesimo Deg [...], Mondovi, Monte Lerino, and Montenotte, were de [...]sive of the fate of Sardinia; and the aged and superstitious Monarch then seated on the throne, found himself reduced to the humiliating situation of relinquishing Savov and Nice, and subscribing to [...] terms as were granted by a generous conqueror, who could have driven [...] from his throne, and obliged him to spend the short remainder of a wretched life in [...], and perhaps in poverty!
The battle of Lodi, fought on the 21st Florea [...] (May 10th) nearly completed the overthrow of the [Page 82] Austrian power in Italy, and added greatly to the reputation of the French arms. On this occasion, a battalion of grenadiers bore down all before them, and reached the bridge of Lodi, shouting, "Long live the Republic!" but the dreadful fire kept up by the enemy having stopt their progress, Generals Berthier, Massena, Cervoni, &c. rushed forward; even their presence would have proved ineffectual, had it not been for intrepidity of Buonaparte, who snatching a standard from the hand of a subaltern, like Caesar, on a similar occasion, placed himself in front, and antimating his soldiers by his actions and gesticulations (for his voice was drowned in the noise of the cannon and musketry) victory once more arranged herself under the Gallic banners.
In consequence of this signal defeat, or rather series of victories, Beaulieu was obliged to yield the palm to a younger rival, for he felt himself reduced to the necessity of retreating among the mountains of Tyrol, on which the French took possession of the greater part of Lombardy, and acquired astonishing resources, and immense magazines.
After crossing the Mincio, in the face of the Austrians, the republican army entered Verona, which so lately had afforded an asylum to one of the titular kings of France, and siezed on Pavia. Here a new and a more dreadful enemy attempted to stop the progress of the conquerers. It was Superstition, clothed in cowls and surplices, brandishing a poniard in one hand, and a crucifix in the other; but the speedy punishment of the priests and other adherents put an end to the insurrection, and thus saved Buonaparte and his army from a more eminent danger than they had as yet experienced, and from which no French army that has hitherto crossed the Alps, has been exempt.
At length, Mantua, alone, remained in possession of the Austrians, and this also was soon invested by the victors, who, at the same time, made inroads into Tyrol, and, by the battle of Reveredo, and the possession of Trent, became masters of the passes that led to Vienna.
[Page 83] In the mean time, the gallant Wurmser determined to shut himself up, with the remainder of his dispirited troops, in Mantua; and the Austrians made one more grand effort, by means of General Alvinzy, to rescue his besieged army, and regain their ancient preponderance in Italy. But the battle of Arcola completely disappointed their expectations, and the capture of Mantua at one and the same time concluded the campaign and their humiliation.
In the winter of 1796, General Buonaparte was united to Madame Beauharnois, a beautiful Frenchwoman, who had experienced a variety of persecutions during the time of Robespierre. Her former husband had attained the rank of General in the service of the Republic, and had always conducted himself as a friend of liberty. On that memorable day, when Louis XVI, and his family, repaired to Paris, M. de Beauharnois fat as president of the National Assembly, exhibited great dignity of demeanor; notwithstanding this, he fell a victim to the Terrorists, who, joining the narrow ideas of sectarists to the ferocious character peculiar to themselves, persecuted all whose opinions were not exactly conformable to their own standard. M. Bar [...]as, at length, luckily for her, extended his protection to the widow, who is now the wife of his friend.
The campaign of 1797 opened under the most auspicious circumstances for France, as well as Spain, who was now in alliance with her; Sardinia acted a subordinate part under her control; Tuscany obeyed her requisitions; Naples had concluded a separate peace, and Rome was at her mercy. In this situation, the eyes of the Court of Vienna, and indeed of all Europe, were turned to the Archduke Charles, who was said to inherit the military talents of the House of Lorraine. It was accordingly determined that this young Prince should be appointed Commander in Chief, and that the hero of Kehl should oppose the hero of Italy. The contest, however, was not long between Birth and Genius—between a young man of Royal extraction, educated in [Page 84] the corrupting circle of a Court, and surrounded by flatterers; and a [...] Corsican, brought up an [...] perils, accustomed to danger, and breathing the spirit of republicanism; acquainted with all the machinery of war, and boldly and skilfully directing every movement under his own eye—whose mistress was the Commonwealth, and whose companion was Plutarch!
The war was then thought to be at an end—An Emperor and a Pope humbled; the Imperial Crown reduced to almost an empty name, and the Pontifical one [...] at the will of the Conqueror—two Kings subjected; one to humiliation, the other to unconditional submission—Corsica restored to France—and a new and formidable Republic erected in I [...]a [...]y, which beheld the overthrow of five armies belonging to its late master!—Such is the summary of the political and martial achievements of a General before he had attained the 30th year of his age!
As to his person, Buonaparte is of small stature, but well proportioned; he is of a spare habit of body, yet robust, and calculated to undergo the greatest fatigues. His complexion, like that of all the males of southren climates, is olive; his eyes blue, his chin prominent, the lower part of his face thin, and his forehead square and projecting—The whole-length Italian print, published in London by Sestolini, exhibits a good likeness; but the best portrait ever taken of him was at Verona, in consequence of the solicitations of an English artist, who applied to him for this purpose by means of a letter from London.
In respect to his mind, he possesses great and uncommon talents, He converses freely, and without pedantry, on almost all subjects, and writes and speaks with fluency and eloquence. Above all, he has attempted, and obtained, a mastery over his passions; he is abstemious at his meals, and was never seen intoxicated. He has many friends, but no minions; and he preserves an inviolable secrecy, by means of a [...] silence, far better than some other men do by a hypocritical loquacity.
[Page 85] [☞An account of the treaty of Campo Formio, in which the French most unjustly ceded Venice to the Emperor, and which treaty the Emperor afterwards shamefully violated—Buonaparte's expedition to Egypt—his sudden return to France: his new modelling the Constitution, and his assuming the Chief Consulship—his unparallel'd six weeks campaign in Piedmont, where, in the ever memorable battle of Mariago, this most extraordinary man, again prostrated the Imperial Eagle at the feet of the Gallic Cock—these, with other of his surprising transactions, must be deferred until our [...] Register]
MASSENA.
NO nation in Europe has experienced a greater degree o [...] degeneracy than the inhabitance of modern Italy [see our account of modern Rome]. Does this proceed from Superstition that degrades, Tyranny that debases, or a womanish corruption that bursts into childish ecstacies at the esseminate warblings of a Castra [...]o, that unmans the sex in order to deceive the ear, that cuts off population to gratify the momentary longings of a debauched appetite?
It has been asserted by a respectable Traveller, that the descendants of a nation (the Greeks) which once enriched the world with the Arts and Sciences, and afforded the noblest monuments of human virtue and of human skill, notwithstanding the cruel, degrading yoke of the Musselmans, shall call to mind the greatness of their ancestors. We are assured, that they frequently boast that they are sprung from those Greeks who are no less memorable in arts than arms, and that they not only recapitulate the fears of their progenitors, but actually point out the scenes of their glory.
Notwithstanding very unfavourable appearances, this is also the case with some of the modern Romans. Among them, too, it must be remembered, first arose the independent little Republics of Europe; and the seeds of early liberty have not been entirely choked by the triple servitude of civil, religious, and foreign [Page 86] domination. And the foundations of a new Republic have lately been laid in a classic soil, and the names of Buonaparte, Massena, Cervoni, &c. may serve to remind them, in some degree, of the Brutuses, the Catos, and the Scipios of antiquity.
General Massena is now about 40 years of age.—He was born in Nice, at a period when it appertained to the House of Savoy into whose service he entered early in life. The reproach is not peculiar to the Court of Turin, that, without courtly protection, merit makes but flow progress. How many Officers of talents have we beheld in obscurity, whilst the son of a King, or the bastard son of a Lord, has been lifted to high command and rich emoluments?—It was well observed by an English subaltern, that, "in order to attain a rapid promotion in the English army, he would rather be backed by a rotten borough than possess the talents of a Turenne!"
Massena became an Ensign in the Sardinian army, and an Ensign he might have remained to this day, had he continued in that service. But another destiny awaited him; he threw up his commission, and entering into a French legion, his talents soon began to be distinguished.—It was at the capture of Sospello that he first developed his military talents, and it was entirely owing to him, that Saorgio, in the campaign of 1794, yielded to the French arms. For this important service he was made a General of Division.
When Buonaparte was appointed Commander in Chief in Italy, the local knowledge, the intrepidity, and military experience of Massena, pointed him out as an Officer every way capable of adding success to his plans. Accordingly, we find him, in the spring of 1796, acting a brilliant part under the command of that wonderful General, at the battles of Monte Lezina and Monte Not [...]a, against the Sardinian army, in which he had formerly served as an obscure individual.—He was also present at the battles of Dego, Millesimo, Mondovi, and Cassaria, in which he distinguished himself by the skilful and impetuous [Page 87] valour with which he attacked the armies under Proveyra and Beaulieu. He was no less successful against the aged and experienced Count Worm [...]er, and contributed not a little to the capture of the almost impregnable fortress of Mantua.
When the war recommenced at the infraction of the treaty of Campo Formio by the Emperor, Massena was again called to the field; but, in the absence of Baonaparte to command, and of Carnet to direct, the French armies, disorganized and undisciplined, were no longer successful, and they lost Italy as rapidly as they had gained it. But when Baonaparte returned from Egypt, and when Carnet again directed the great and complicated machine of war, so powerful were their genius and their influence, that the republican arms again appeared in triumph!—Massena was the first and only General that gave a blow to the warlike [...]ame of Suwarrow; he baffled his designs and checked his progress in Swisterland; and the hoary Barbarian * returned in chagrin and disappointment, to die in disgrace almost in the presence of the capricious tyrant his master!—Masses [...]a's defence of Genoa, which he surrendered just a day too soon, and the surprizing effects of the decisive battle of Maringo, are events too recent to require here a repetition.
It has been lately said, that Massena has tarnished his laurels by an excessive fondness of money, and it has been hinted, that he suffered, if not shared, in peculation and unjust contributions—Whatever may be the cause, he has been removed, by the Chief Consul, from the command in Italy; nor does he, at present, appear in any active capacity in the armies of the French Republic.
MR. JEFFERSON.
THOMAS JEFFERSON was born in the year 174 [...] * in the county [...] in Virginia; his fa [...]her was a reputable landholder, and gave this, his eldest son, a college education at the University of William and Mary. After passing his degrees, being designed for the Ra [...], Mr. Jefferson commenced a student at law under the guidance of Mr. Wythe, he venerable Judge and Chancellor of Virginia.
In 1766, Mr. Jefferson came to the bar of the Supreme Court, and continued to practice with success and reputation until the commencement of the Revolution in 1774, and the consequent conclusion of the Courts of Justice. During the period of his practice, his industrious mind sound time to digest a volume of Reports of adjudged Cases in the Supreme Courts of Virginia—a book that is admitted now to be a good authority, as it is an honourable evidence of his early labours and useful talents.
In the year 1774, when all America was roused into action by the unconstitutional claims of the British Government, Mr. Jefferson stepped forward a bold and able champion of his country's rights, and published his much admired pamphlet, entitled, "A summary View of the Rights of British America, addressed to the King," which brought against the writer threats of prosecution by Lord Dunmore, then Governor of Virginia—threats which produced no other effect on the independent mind of Mr. Jefferson, than publicly to avow himself the author, prepared to meet every consequence.
About this time, Mr. Jefferson married the daughter of Mr. Wayles, an eminent lawyer, and he enjoyed much domestic felicity in the society of one of the most amiable of women, till the year 1780, when by her death he became the mourner of her virtues, [Page 89] and the guardian of two daughters and only surviving issue, to whose education and settlement in life, he has ever since faithfully devoted himself, still remaining a widower.
In the year 1775, Mr. J. was elected a member of the Virginian Convention; and, on the 4th of August in the same year, one of the members to represent the state (then colony) of Virginia.
In the memorable year 1776, the natal year of American freedom and independence, Mr. Jefferson was one of a Committee of Five, viz. Tho. Jefferson, John Adams, Benj. Franklin, Roger Sherman, and R. Livingston, appointed by Congress to draft the Declaration of Independence; and it was from the able pen and enlightened mind of Mr. Jefferson, first named of the Committee, that ever-memorable instrument proceeded, which was reported by the Committee, and unanimously adopted by Congress.
In the same year, the ardent mind of Mr. Jefferson, eagerly pursuing the glorious principles of the Revolution, and foreseeing that so long as the corruptions of British systems existed, we were independent in name, but not in fact, produced for the adoption of the Legislature, the following Acts, viz.
1. An Act to establish religious Freedom.
2. An Act to regulate descents, to prevent estates entail and the rights of primogeniture.
3. An Act for the apportionment of crimes and punishments.
4. An Act to establish public Schools.
The influence of these Acts upon the relative principles they embrace, will be seen and felt by all those who prize Civil Liberty as a primary blessing—whilst systems of universal toleration in matters of religion; for an equal distribution of property, and a subversion of the unjust, aristocratical principle of of entail and primogeniture right; for ameliorating the sanguinary code of criminal law; and for extending to the poorest of citizens the benefits of education; must be viewed as the emanations of a great and good mind, zealously endeavouring to promote the happiness of his fellow men.
[Page 90] Equally evincive of a watchful regard for the rights of his countrymen, was his suggestion for the formation and adoption of the Constitution of Virginia, in the same year, and for prefixing thereto "A Bill of Rights, declaratory of the natural and unalienable Rights of Man"—which was accordingly done.
In the year 1778, Mr. Jefferson being then a member of the Virginia Legislature, presented to that body "An Act to prevent the importation of Slaves" which was enacted into a law, and was shortly after followed by another humane Act "to authorize Manumissions," being the commencement of a system of gradual emancipation, also proposed by him.
In the year 1779, at the age of 36, Mr. Jefferson was chosen Governor of Virginia, and continued in that office until June 1781, during which the State suffered by three invasions, and was also brought into a critical condition respecting its boundary lines with Pennsylvania and North Carolina. His conduct in that station, amidst the jarring conflicts and trying difficulties of both foreign invasion and domestic feuds, was such, as secured to him, six months after he left the office, and upon the fullest enquiry, the unanimous thanks of the Legislature, then consisting of 180 members, for "his attentive administration of the powers of the Executive while in office."
During the year 1781, amidst the cares of government and scenes of private affliction, Mr. Jefferson prepared his celebrated work, which he modestly styled Notes on Virginia, * In this work, so [Page 91] justly admired for its philosophical research, ingenious theory, and able disquisition, the author, in a superior strain of eloquence, boldly attacks and fully refutes the fallacious theories of Buffon and Raynal, which tended to disparage both the man and the beast of America, and reduce them to an inferior scale with those of Europe; and vindicating the equal distribution of Nature's blessings to this continent both in the animal and vegetable creation.
In the year 1783, Mr. Jefferson was again appointed to a seat in Congress from his native state, and the the following year, on the 7th of May was nominated by that hon. body Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States to the Court of France, as the successor of our illustrious Franklin, whither he embarked early in the same year, and remained absent from the United Sates, in the execution of the duties of that important trust, until the month of October, 1789, when he returned home by permission of the then President, Washington, who, upon being elected to the chief magistracy of the Federal Government, immediately destined Mr. Jefferson the next most honourable and confidential station in the executive government, near his own person.
During his mission to France, Mr. Jefferson, with that peculiar address, intelligence and attention to promote the essential interests of the United States, which directs all his actions, obtained from the French King, an arrette, highly beneficial to the American commerce, for the free admission, exempt from the customary foreign duties, of oil, fish and whalebone, the product of the American fisheries, into certain ports, and for the sale of American built ships in all the ports of France—benefits, which our Eastern brethren continued to reap the peculiar advantage of, until the commencement of the revolutionary convulsions which have, unhappily, too long agitated that country.
[Page 92] About the same period Mr. Jefferson, in conjunction with our immortal Franklin, negotiated with a Minister from the court of Prussia, then at Hague, that celebrated treaty known by the name of "The Prussian Treaty," in which an astonished world has, for the first time, seen a public avowal and positive provision by treaty, between two sovereign and independent nations, for the establishment of those two great and glorious principles, promotive of universal peace, and happiness, to wit, 1st. "That free ships make free goods;" and, 2d. "That privateering in the time of war be abolished;" principles which it were to be wished could be rendered universal and eternal. Mr. Adams now President of the United States, was one of the commission to negotiate this treaty, and on its completion, it was sent over to London, where Mr. Adams then resided as minister of the United States, for his signature. It is greatly to be regretted that Mr. Adams could not be content to retain to himself a share of the glory which reflects on the authors of this celebrated treaty. But, unhappily for our country, since he became President of the United States we have seen him nominate his son John Quincy Adams, as minister to the court of Prussia, for the express purpose, as declared, of renewing the treaty with that nation, which having been limited to continue in force for ten years only, had expired. Accordingly another treaty has been made by his son with Prussia, which has been approved by a majority of the Senate and ratified by the President, but which, instead of renewing and continuing the old treaty, is in itself a new one, expressly abandoning and renouncing the two inestimable principles, 1st. "That free ships make free goods," and 2d. "That privateering in time of war be abolished;" principles which, it appears, from the correspondence accompanying the negotiation, laid before the Senate of the United States by the President, the wife and enlightened ministers of the Prussian Monarch were brought, with great difficulty and reluctance, to abandon, on [Page 93] the earnest solicitation and reiterated demand of the American negotiator, under the suggestion that the maritime powers, particularly Great Britain, would never sanction or permit them. *
In the year 1789, Mr. Jefferson being returned to the United States, and appointed by President Washington, Secretary to the department of State, immediately entered on the arduous duties of that important station, having previously stipulated with the President, that, on consideration of the many years absence from his family and estate, he might be permitted at the expiration of the constitutional term for which the President was elected, to retire from the public service.
The first result of the labours of Mr. Jefferson in the department of state, were exhibited to Congress in the following reports,—to wit,
1. A report on the fisheries of the United States.
2. A report on coins, weights and measures.
3. A report on the waste and unappropriated land of the United States.
4. A report on privileges and restrictions on the commerce of the United States in foreign countries.
Each of these reports displayed the usual accuracy, information, and intelligence of the writer.
But it was reserved for a more critical and delicate period in the affairs of the United States, that the pre-eminent talents of the American Secretary should become most conspicuous, and interestingly useful to his country. The non-execution of the [Page 94] treaty of peace with the United States, on the part of Great-Britain, her detention of our Western posts, and the attendant spoliations on our commerce, both by Great-Britain and France, then at war with each other, added to the intrigues of the Minister of the latter, Genet, all conduced to a situation difficult and perplexing. Besides which, Spain continued to withhold from us the free navigation of the Mississippi, so essential to all Western America. In this state of things, the just confidence, which the discriminating mind of Washington, had reposed in Mr. Jefferson, was amply repaid, by the promptness, zeal and ability, with which the American Secretary, contributed, by his labours, to relieve the executive from embarrassment. Through a service of masterly and unequalled diplomatique correspondence, which he maintained, at the same time, with the respective ministers of Great-Britain and France, namely Hammond and Genet, he traversed and rebutted their respective causes of charge and complaint against the United States, and having fully proved the various aggressions and infractions of treaty on the part of their respective governments, pointed to the means of preserving the honour and maintaining the rights of his own country, whilst, alike superior to the intrigues of Great Britain or of France, he fully manifested that he held no particular attachment to any foreign nation, but was equally prepared, with the decision, firmness and intelligence of a true American, to oppose and resist the aggressions of all. The recal of Genet; and appointment of his successor, with the subsequent proceedings between the United States and France, the appointment of Mr. Jay, his treaty with Great Britain, and the recal of Mr. Hummond, the appointment of Mr. Liston, and the subsequent proceeding with Great Britain, are all well known.
In respect to Spain, the labours of Mr. Jefferson were more immediately effective and complete. Having possessed the Commissioners of the United States then at Madrid, negotiatng a treaty with the [Page 95] Court of Spain, with the most ample and pointed instructions, and also of the form and provisions of a treaty, predicated on the basis of the free navigation of the Mississippi, it remained only for Mr. Thomas Pinckney, then Minister of the United States at London, under special instruction from the President, and appointed Envoy for that purpose, to repair to Madrid, and seizing the favourable moment for effecting it, to accomplish this desirable work. This was accordingly done, with equal promptness and decision on his part, and jointly to that, and the labours of the American Secretary in the Cabinet, are the United States indebted for the most liberal, honourable, and beneficial treaty, they have ever yet entered into with a foreign nation.
About this time, having, at the pressing entreaty of the then President, Washington, remained one year longer at the head of the department of state, than he had before stipulated to do, he resigned his office, and retired with the warmest thanks and regret of the President, Washington, to his estate at Monticello, in Albemarle county, Virginia, where he continued for upwards of two years uninterruptedly to enjoy the sweets of domestic ease, and a respite from the fatigues of public life, following with avidity his favourite pursuits of philosophical research and agricultural improvement, until the voice of his Country again summoned him to the more active scenes of public duty, and placed him in nomination for the presidential chair, as the successor of Washington. The issue of that election is well known, and but for a false return in one state, and the suppression of a return in another, Mr Jefferson would have been declared President; as the returns however stood before Congress, it appears that he had 68 votes, and Mr. Adams 71, consequently the latter was declared President, and the former Vice President of the United States.
The tongue of Party malice, which is never at rest, and gives to every subject a malignant hue, perceiving Mr. Jefferson's rising popularity, in order [Page 96] to prejudice the public mind, and to disappoint his future election, brought forward a charge, that he was indebted to the British, and took measures to disappoint his creditors. This charge has been refuted in a manner highly honourable to Mr. Jefferson's character, by certain gentlemen in Philadelphia, who took particular pains to investigate the subject. Immediately after Mr. Jefferson's arrival in Virginia, in the fall of 1789, he procured a meeting with the Agent and the gentlemen interested, and an amicable settlement was made in writing on the principles of his letter. * Mr. Jefferson AGAIN † sold property to the amount of the debt, and, in the course of the first and second years, delivered over the obligations received for it to the Agent, who took on himself the collection of the money—so that it is now seven or eight years since he paid the debt.
But there was another claim made by the Agent of the house of Farrel and Jones against the executors of Mr. Wayles, and another for a cargo of about 4000l value, to be sold on commission, on account of the consignees. Mr. Wayles assisted in the sale, but died soon after, when the whole collection survived to the other consignee, who received it, wasted it, and died a bankrupt. The Agent thought he would try the chance of recovering the money from the executors of Mr. Wayles, altho' he knew they had not received it; on the trial, 11 of the jury determined against the liability of the executors, but the 12th dissenting, the case was laid over to the next Federal Court, when a second jury unanimously [Page 97] concurred with the eleven of the first, and gave a verdict for the executors, agreeably to the opinions of Judge Iredell who presided at one hearing, and of Judge Patterson who presided at the other.
Perhaps there is no man in America better calculated to fill the chair of state than Mr. Jefferson.—Few men who have travelled at all, have travelled with more advantage, and had a greater capacity of receiving improvement from this mode of it, than him. The genius of each nation, its particular customs and manners, and the great relative interests which regulated the policy of Courts, were subjects with which he was acquainted; and eminently fitted him, to fill a department, the peculiar organ of their communications. Controversy, which so frequently betrays the fallibility of the understanding, because it begets intemperance, never makes him a victim to the designs of his opponent. He listens to his argument with scrupulous attention; draws new sources of information from conflicting principles; and, if he is animated at all, it is with the discovery of a new truth. There are, perhaps, few men better calculated always to triumph, and always to leave upon the other's mind, at least, the most favourable impressions, if not the most decisive conviction. This is not difficult to account for, when applied to Mr. Jefferson; because few men, like him, deserves the application. He never hazards an opinion without the authority of experience, and the conviction of reason. Travel and observation have matured the one, and extensive application and reflection, have invigorated the other. His principles, therefore, convey the strongest impressions, which he inforces by logical deduction and mathematical precision, drawing from an expanded intellect, that separates, with infinite facility, the purity of Truth from the grosser materials of Error.
Disdaining the character of the Courtier, where pusillanimity and flattery are the steps by which the obsequious arise to distinction, Mr. Jefferson has filled the highest offices of government, by his own [Page 98] intrinsic merit. The simplicity of his manners, and the reservedness of his temper, are the characteristics of a vigorous mind, which grasps at higher objects than the mere arts of pleasing. Yet there is no man in private life, more amiable, none more dignified, and none whose manners, possess, in a higher degree, the incomparable felicity of inspiring the combined emotions of attachment and respect. He has contemplated men and things in the different lights in which they are, and in which they should be. His reflections on this subject, are the sources of his humanity and forbearance; qualifications which travel, business, and books, have matured into practice, and given to his mind a degree of philosophical tranquility—But let not this placidity of temper, be mistaken for coldness of apprehension. He possesses an understanding, capable of being inspired with intrepidity, when great objects demand its energy. The American Declaration of Independence, his negotiations in several of the most subtle cabinets of Europe, and his communications with the intriguing Ministers of France and England, while Secretary of Sate, will remain the durable memorials of a great mind, at once capable of combining the various qualifications of energy, penetration, and deliberate coolness.
It has been sneeringly said, "O, Mr. Jefferson is a Philosopher,"—meaning, that from the habits of his life, he is unfit to be the Chief Magistrate of an active, mixed, extended community.—If Mr. J. had all his days been secluded in a closet or a cloyster, the insinuation might not be improper—We have shewn the contrary; that, to the attainments of a Scholar, and the accomplishments of a Gentleman, he adds the necessary qualifications of a Statesman, "one well acquainted with the world and its ways"—But we do not believe that Mr. J. himself ever said he was a Philosopher; he knows too well the vast dignity of the character; he is too modest and too sensible a man, to take upon himself a title which requires a rare assemblage of all the exalted qualities [Page 99] of the human mind, united to all the possible attainments of human learning.—We believe Mr. J. is not of the NEW Philosophy, the jargon of the day, that vague, undefined jumble of words, which pulls down every system, whether moral or religions, and sets up nothing in their place, leaving the poor wanderer in a wilderness, and depriving society itself of a guide!—Nor of that old, cold-blooded, machiavelian Philosophy, which, under the semblance of "political system," connects immorality, fraud, ambition, and tyranny, sacrificing, on the altar of Despotism, the liberty of nations, and the felicity of millions! *
Our readers know the issue of the late election; that a decided majority of the people of America has given their voice for Mr. Jefferson to be President of the Federal Government of the 16 States.—At the moment that this sheet is going to press, the people of America are waiting in anxious, awful suspense, to see whether the present Congress will coincide with or oppose their choice.
[...] a Meeting of the American Philosophical Society, the following Members were duly elected Officers for the ensuing Year agreeable to Charter.
President, THOMAS JEFFERSON, Esq.
Vice-Presidents, Casper Wistar,R. Patterson,A. Ellicot: Secretaries,John R. [...]oxe,A. Seybert,J. Clay,B. Alison; Counsellors for three years,Jon. B. Smith,William Currie,Sam. Wheeler,P. S. Duponceau;Curators, C. W. Peele,J. R. Smith,Rob. Leslie;Treasurer, John Vaughan.
[Page 100] [At the request of a Correspondent, we insert the following extract from Mr. Jefferson's "Notes on Virginia." It is that part of them which has been the subject of so much cavil and criticism; which has given so much offence to tender consciences, and which has been so greedily snatched at by the disciples of the new Philosophy—We therefore deem it a necessary accompanyment to an account of that Gentleman's life and character.
Whilst we believe that many of the remarks made upon this portion of Mr. Jefferson's Notes have come from pious and well-meaning men, we must at the same time observe, that the grossest and most illiberal strictures have been made by others from political and selfish motives, as was fully evidenced pending the late election.—It is thus that true Religion is dishonoured; the spiritual affairs of the other world are dragged into the temporary concerns of this—it is thus that Religion is thrown out as a tub to the whale, in order to deceive and mislead the unthinking multitude!
To that part of the extract which appears most objectionable, our Correspondent has subjoined a note of observation, which we insert verbatim.]
EXTRACT from Mr. JEFFERSON'S Notes.
In answer to the question, What religion is in the state of Virginia?—Mr. Jefferson proceeds thus:
"The present state of our laws on the subject of Religion is this. The Convention of May 1776, in their Declaration of Rights, declared it to be a truth, and a natural right, that the exercise of Religion should be free; but when they proceeded to form on that declaration the ordinance of government, instead of taking up every principle declared in the Bill of Rights, and guarding it by legislative sanction, they passed over that which asserted our religious rights, leaving them as they found them. The same Convention, however, when they met as a member of the general assembly in October 1776, repealed all Acts of Parliment which had rendered criminal [Page 101] the maintaining any opinions in matters of religion, the forbearing to repair to church, and the exercising any mode of worship; and suspended the laws giving salaries to the Clergy, which suspension was made perpetual in October 1779. Statutory oppressions in religion being thus wiped away, we remain at present under those only imposed by the common law, or by our own Acts of Assembly. At the common law, Heresy was a capital offence, punishable by burning. Its definition was left to the ecclesiastical judges, before whom the conviction was, till the statute of the 1 Eliz. c. 1. circumscribed it, by declaring, "That nothing should be deemed Heresy, but what had been so determined by authority of the Canonical Scriptures, or by one of the four first General Councils, or by some other Council having for the grounds of their declaration the express and plain words of the Scriptures." Heresy, thus circumscribed, being an offence at the common law, our act of assembly of 1777, c. 17, gives cognizance of it to the General Court, by declaring, that the jurisdiction of that Court, shall be general in all matters at the common law. The execution is by the writ De Hoeretico comburendo. By our own act of Assembly of 1705, c. 30, if a person brought up in the Christian religion denies the being of a God, or the Trinity, or asserts there are more Gods than one, or denies the Christian religion to be true, or the Scriptures to be of divine authority, he is punishable on the first offence by incapacity to hold any office or employment ecclesiastical, civil, or military; on the second by disability to sue, to take any gift or legacy, to be guardian, executor, or administrator, and by three years imprisonment, without bail. A father's right to the custody of his own children being founded in law on his right of guardianship, this being taken away, they may of course be severed from him, and put, by the authority of a court, into more orthodox hands.
"This is a summary view of that Religious Slavery, under which a people have been willing to remain [Page 102] who have lavished their lives and fortunes for the establishment of their civil freedom. The error seems not sufficiently eradicated, that the operations of the mind, as well as the acts of the body, are subject to the coercion of the laws. But our rulers can have authority over such natural rights only as we have submitted to them. The rights of conscience we never submitted, we could not submit. We are answerable for them to our God. The legitimate powers of Government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say, there are twenty Gods, or no God; * it neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg. If it be said, his testimony in a [Page 103] Court of Justice cannot be relied on, reject it then, and be the stigma on him. Constraint may make him worse by making him a hypocrite, but it will never make him a truer man. It may fix him obstinately in his errors, but will not cure them. Reason and free enquiry are the only effectual agents against error. Give a loose to them, they will support the true religion, by bringing every false one to their tribunal, to the test of their investigation. They are the natural enemies of error, and of error only. Had not the Roman government permitted free enquiry, Christianity could never have been introduced. Had not free enquiry been indulged, at the aera of the Reformation, the corruptions of Christianity could not have been purged away. If it be restrained now, the present corruptions will be protected, and new ones encouraged. Was the government to prescribe to us our medicine and diet, our bodies would be in such keeping as our souls are now. Thus in France the emetic was once forbidden as an article of medicine, and the potatoe as an article of food. Government is just as infallible too when it fixes systems in physics. Galileo was sent to the Inquisition for affirming that the earth was a sphere: the government had declared it to be as flat as a trencher, and Galileo was obliged to abjure his error. This error however at length prevailed, the earth became a globe, and Descartes declared it was whirled round on its axis by a vortex. The government in which he lived was wise enough to see that this was no question of civil jurisdiction, or we should all have been involved by authority in vortices. In fact, the vortices have been exploded, and the Newtonian principle of gravitation is now more firmly established, on the basis of Reason, than it would be were the government to step in, and to make it an article of necessary faith. Reason and [Page 104] Experiment have been indulged, and Error has fled before them—It is Error alone which needs the support of Government— Truth can stand by itself."—London edition, page 262.
COPY of a LETTER from Mr. JEFFERSON to a Gentleman in Berkley County, dated Monticello, 4th Sept. 1800.
"SIR,—Your favour of August 26th, has been duly received, and is entitled to my thankfulness for the personal considerations you are pleased to express in it. How far the measure proposed might have the expected effect, you can best judge; however, in the great exercise of right in which the Citizens of America are about to act, I have on mature consideration, seen, that it is my duty to be passive. The interests which they have at slake are entitled to their whole attention, unbiassed by personal esteem or local considerations; and I am far from the presumption of considering myself equal to the awful duties of the first magistracy of this country. That there should be differences of opinion among our fellow-citizens, is to be expected always. Men who think freely, and have the right of expressing their thoughts, will differ, It is true that these differences have of late been artificially increased; but they are now again subsiding to their natural level, and all will soon come right if no acts of violence intervene. The great question which divides our citizens is, whether it is safest that a preponderance of power should be lodged with the monarchical, or the republican branch of our Government?—Temporary panics may produce advocates for the former opinion, even in this country; but the opinion will be as short-lived as the panic with the great mass of our fellow-citizens. There is one circumstance which will always bring them to rights: a preponderance of the executive over the legislative branch cannot be maintained but by immense patronage, by multiplying offices, making them very lucrative, by armies, navies, &c. which may enlist on the side of [Page 105] the patron all those whom he can interest, and all their families and connexions; but these expences must be paid by the labouring citizen; he cannot long continue, therefore, the advocate of opinions, which, to say only the least of them, doom the labouring Citizen to toil and sweat for useless pageants.
"I should be unfaithful to my own feelings were I not to lay, that it has been the greatest of all human consolations to me, to be considered by the republican portion of my fellow-citizens as the safe depositary of their rights. The first wish of my heart is, to see them so guarded as to be safe in any hands, and not to depend on the personal disposition of the depositary: and I hope this to be practicable as long as the people retain the spirit of freedom. When that is lost, all experience has shewn, that no forms can keep them free against their own will. But that corrupt state of mind must be very distant in a country where, for ages to come, unoccupied soil will still offer itself to those who wish to reap for themselves what themselves have sown.
"Our chief object at present should be, to reconcile the divisions which have been artificially excited, and to restore Society to its wonted harmony. Whenever this shall be done, it will be found, that there are few real opponents to a Government elective at short intervals. Accept assurances of the respect of,
Mr. BURR.
AARON BURR was born at Fairfield; he was educated at Princeton College, New Jersey, of which seminary his father was President. In the year 1775, when he was at the age of 25, he was made Aid de Camp to General Putnam, and distinguished himself in so eminent a manner as an able Officer, that he was selected by General Washington to be Lieu. [...]Col. of one of the 12 additional Regiments. Through the whole of the war, he was distinguished by the same ardent devotion to the principles of Liberty, the same courage and judgement, which mark his character at this day.
[Page 106] At the restoration of peace, having exhausted an ample patrimony in the service of his Country, Mr. Burr found himself compelled to the profession of the Law as the means of subsistence. Here, notwithstanding the competition of Mr. Hamilton and other gentlemen of great talents in New York, he soon obtained an high reputation; and the rapid fortune he acquired from an extensive practice, declared the favourable opinion of his fellow citizens. Possessed once more of an independent fortune, he forsook the troublesome occupation of an Advocate, for one more suited to his inclination, and better adapted to the display of his talents. He entered the Legislature of New York, then became a Senator of the U. States, and in both places he was equally respectable and always patriotic.
Endowed with a mind firm, liberal, and comprehensive, America can claim but few citizens as fit as Mr. Burr to be placed as a second in the government of the country. With an energy and decision of character peculiar to himself, while other men are debating, he resolves; while they think, he acts.—His manners are amiable, his reputation unblemished. He has overthrown the dangerous influence of Foreigners in the state of New York; and, in conjunction with his highly respectable compeer Mr. Jefferson, it is hoped, that they will banish it from the national councils altogether, leaving America to be governed by its own Citizens.—In short, Mr. Burr is an uniform, consistent, tried Republican.
We conclude this short account of Mr. Burr, with giving a place to the following extract of a letter written by him to a Member of Congress, when he learned that it was probable the votes would be equal for Mr. Jefferson and himself, in order to convince Congress in particular, and America in general, that he disclaimed all idea of contesting the post of honour with that Gentleman.—The letter reflects much credit on Mr. Burr, and must raise him still higher in the estimation of his fellow citizens.
Extract of a Letter from Colonel Burr to General Smith, dated New York, Dec. 16, 1800.
—"I think it not probable that I shall have an equal number of votes with Mr. Jefferson; but if such should be the result, every man who knows me ought to know, that I should utterly disclaim all competition. Be assured, that the Federal Party can entertain no wish for such an exchange. As to my friends, they would dishonour my views, and insult my feelings, by a suspicion that I could submit to be instrumental in counteracting the wishes and expectations of the people of the United States. And I now constitute you my proxy, to declare these sentiments if the occasion shall require."—
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION.
The political storm, which lately raged with so much violence, has at length happily subsided.—The two Parties have tried their strength, and success has crowned the efforts of the Republicans in the election of THOMAS JEFFERSON.
To Republicans it must be a cause of sincere felicitation, that their Country has surmounted, without any other agitation than that of public sentiment, the choice of their First Magistrate—The example is auspicious to the destinies of the world—Whilst other nations, the victims of Monarchical power, or Aristocratical ambition, on similar occasions, appeal to the sword, America presents the august spectacle of a great people resorting only to argument, and to republican principles.
On such a result as this, every friend to his country, every true American, will reflect with high satisfaction—Beholding in the system of Representation, founded on the right of general suffrage, the source and strength of his political freedom, he will rejoice to behold the confirmations of experience imparting new stability to the republican structure.—And while he mourns over the tottering ruins of European systems and states, and over the miseries of the nations of the old world, he will, with proud [Page 108] philanthrophy, present his own system to them as a cure for all their evils.
On this great occasion, it is the duty of every friend to republican Liberty, to support the cause with gentleness and equanimity—Having the general welfare at heart, and superior to the gratification of personal motives, whilst his joy is animated, let it be rational and unalloyed with party resentment—Let him hold out the hand of friendship to his neighbour, of whatever opinion or country, and say, ‘I respect virtue and talent wherever they are found; come, let us live in fellowship; let every man strive to deserve well of the Country, always remembering the important maxim, United we stand, divided we fall.—’
| Jeffer. | Burr | Adams. | Pinch. | ||
| New Hampshire | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| Massachussets | 0 | 0 | 16 | 16 | 0 |
| Rhode Island | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Connecticut | 0 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| Vermont | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| New York | 12 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| New Jersey | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Pensylvania | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| Delaware | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Maryland | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Virginia | 21 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| North Carolina | 8 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| South Carolina | 8 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Georgia | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kentucky | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tennessee | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 73 | 73 | 65 | 64 | 1 |
PEACE BETWEEN FRANCE AND AMERICA.
FRANCE.
PARIS, Oct. 2, 1800. Yesterday a treaty of Amity and Commerce between the French Republic and the United States of America, was signed by the three French Ministers on one side, and by three American Commissioners on the other—restoring, we hope, a system of Concord between the two countries, which, as Republics, ought never to be at variance.
Oct. 6.—Citizen Joseph Buonaparte, President of the Committee of Ministers Plenipotentiary charged to negociate with the Ministers Plenipotentiary of the Un. States of America, gave a most splendid entertainment to these Ministers, on the 3d inst. at Morfontaine, to celebrate the return of an amicable understanding between the two Republics. There were present the three Consuls, all the Ministers and members of the Corps Diplomatique, the Counsellors of State. &c. and several gentlemen friends to America, among whom we observed General La Fayette.
At 6 o'clock, the Minister for foreign affairs delivered to the First Consul, a copy of the Convention, which was announced by a discharge of cannon. The dinner consisted of 180 covers, served on three tables in three halls communicating with each other. The first was the Hall of Union; the second and third bore the names of Franklin and Washington, and were ornamented with the busts of these illustrious characters. The first hall, however, was the most brilliantly decorated, presenting emblamatic devices of all the most remarkable events of the American Revolution.
After dinner, several toasts were drank. The First Consul gave, "To the manes of the French and Americans who died in battle for the independence of the new world."
The Consul Cambaceres gave, "To the successor of Washington."
The Consul Lebrun gave, "To the union of America with the Powers of the North, to enforce respect to the Liberty of the Seas."
After dinner were fire-works emblematic of the occasion, which were succeeded by a concert, and that was followed by a spectacle, which closed the business of the night.
On the 12th, about mid-day, the American Ministers took leave of the Chief Consul, to whom they were presented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Mr. Elsworth, in the name of his colleagues said, "that he hoped the Convention would prove the basis of a lasting friendship between France and America;" and Mr. Murray added, "that the American Ministers would neglect nothing to promote this desirable [Page 110] object." The Chief Consul answered, "that the differences between the two nations being adjusted, there should no longer remain any trace of them; that the liberal principles, with regard to navigation, considered in the Convention, ought to be the basis of a growing intimacy; and that, in the present circumstances, it was more than ever the interest of the two nations closely to adhere to them."
The Minister of war to the Maritime Prefects.
"I make haste to inform you, Citizens, that the Convention of Amity and Commerce between the French and American Republics, has just been signed by the Ministers Plenipotentiary of France and the American Commissioners.—I pray you to communicate this news immediately to the military Officers of the Administration, as well as to the Commerce of your City.
AMERICA.
NORFOLK, Dec. 5. Arrived, the Portsmouth ship of war, direct from France, on board of which is Governor Davie, one of our Ambassadors to France, with the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the French Republic.
WASHINGTON (Federal City), Dec. 15. Mr. Davie, one of our Envoys to France, has arrived in this city. He is the Messenger of Peace, being the bearer of the Treaty with the French Reublic.—Mr. Davie left Mess. Elsworth and Murray in France.
OFFICIAL COPY. CONVENTION between the FRENCH REPUBLIC and the UNITED STATES of AMERICA.
THE Premier Consul of the French Republic in the name of the People of France, and the President of the United States of America, equally desirous to terminate the differences which have arisen between the two States, have respectively appointed their Plenipotentiaries, and given them full powers to treat upon those differences, and to terminate the same; that is to say, the Premier Consul of the French Republic, in the name of the people of France, has appointed for the Plenipotentiaries of the said Republic, the Citizens Joseph Buonaparte, ex-Ambassador at Rome and Counsellor of State; C. P. Fleurieu, member of the National Institute, &c. and Pierre L. Roederor, member of the same, &c.—and the President of the United States of America, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate of the said States, has appointed for their Plenipotentiaries, Oliver Elsworth, Chief Justice of the United States, Wm. R. Davie, late Governor of North Carolina, and Wm. Vans Murray, resident Minister of the U. States at the Hague—who, after having exchanged their powers, and after full and mature discussion of the respective interests, have agreed on the following articles:—
[Page 111] ARTICLE I. There shall be a firm, inviolable, and universal peace, and a true and sincere friendship between the French Republic and the United States of America, and between their respective countries, territories, cities, towns, and people, without exception of places and persons.
II. The Ministers Plenipotentiary of the two parties not being able to agree at present respecting the Treaty of Alliance of Feb. 1778, the Treaty of Amity and Commerce of the same date, and the Convention of Nov. 1788, nor upon the indemnities mutually due or claimed; the parties will negociate further on these subjects at a convenient time; and, until they may have agreed upon these points, the said Treaties and Conventions shall have no operation, and the relations of the two countries shall be regulated as follows:
III. The public ships which have been taken on one part and the other, or which may be taken before the exchange of ratifications, shall be restored.
VI. Property captured, and not yet definitively condemned, or which may be captured before the exchange of ratifications (contraband goods destined to an enemy's port excepted) shall be mutually restored on the following proofs of ownership, viz. the proof on both sides with respect to merchant ships, whether armed or unarmed, shall be a Passport in the following form:—
"To all who shall see these Presents, Greeting:
"It is hereby made known, that leave and permission has been given to [...] master and commander of the ship called [...] of the town of [...] burthen [...] tons, or thereabouts, lying at present in the part or haven of [...] and laden with [...] after that his ship has been visited, and before sailing, he shall make oath before the Officers who have the jurisdiction of maritime affairs, that the said ship belongs to one or more of the subjects of [...] the act whereof shall be put at the end of these presents, as likewise that he will keep, and cause to be kept by his crew on board, the marine ordinances and regulations, and enter in the proper office a list, signed and witnessed, containing the names and surnames, the places of birth and abode of the crew of his ship, and of all who shall embark on board her, whom he shall not take on board without the knowledge and permission of the officers of the marine, and in every port or haven where he shall enter with his ship, he shall shew this present leave to the officers and judges of the marine, and shall give a faithful account to them of what passed and was done during his voyage; and he shall carry the colours, arms, and ensigns of the French Republic, or the United States, during his voyage.—In witness whereof, we have signed these presents, and put the seal of our arms thereunto, and caused the same to be countersigned by [...] at [...] on the [...] day of [...] Anno Domini."
[Page 112] And this passport will be sufficient without any other paper, and ordinance to the contrary notwithstanding; which passport shall not be deemed requisite to have been renewed or recalled, whatever number of voyages the said ship may have made, unless she shall have returned home within the space of a year. Proof with respect to the cargo shall be certificates, containing the several particulars of the cargo, the place whence the ship sailed and whither she is bound, so that the forbidden and contraband goods may be distinguished by the certificates; which certificates shall have been made out by the officers of the place whence the ship set sail, in the accustomed form of the country. And if such passport or certificates, or both, shall have been destroyed by accident, or taken away by force, their deficiency may be supplied by such other proofs of ownership, as are admissible by the general usage of nations. Proof with respect to other than merchant ships, shall be the commission they bear.
This article shall take effect from the date of the signature of the present Convention. And if, from the date of the said signature, any property shall be condemned contrary to the intent of the said Convention, before the knowledge of this stipulation shall be obtained, the property so condemned shall without delay be restored or paid for.
V. The debts contracted by one of the two nations with individuals of the other, or by the individuals of one with the individuals of the other, shall be paid, or the payment may be prosecuted in the same manner as if there had been no misunderstanding between the two States. But this clause shall not extend to indemnities claimed on account of captures or confiscations.
VI. Commerce between the parties shall be free. The vessels of the two nations and their privateers, as well as their prizes, shall be treated in the respective ports as those of the nation the most favoured; and, in general, the two parties shall enjoy in the ports of each other, in regard to commerce and navigation, the privileges of the most favoured nation.
VII. The citizens and inhabitants of the United States shall be at liberty to dispose, by testament, donation or otherwise, of their goods, movable and immovable, holden in the territory of the French Republic in Europe, and the citizens of the French Republic shall have the same liberty with regard to goods, moveable and immovable, holden in the territory of the United States, in favour of such persons as they shall think proper. The citizens and inhabitants of either of the two countries, who shall be heirs of goods, moveable or immovable, in the other, shall be able to succeed ab intesttao, without being obliged to obtain letters of [Page 113] naturalization, and without having the effect of this provision contested or impeded, under any pretext whatever; and the said heirs, whether such by particular title, or ab intestato, shall be exempt from every duty whatever in both countries. It is agreed that this article shall in no manner derogate from the laws which either state may now have in force, or may hereafter enact, to prevent emigration; and also that in case of the laws of either of the two states should restrain strangers from the exercise of the rights of property with respect to real estate, such real estate may be sold, or otherwise disposed of, to citizens or inhabitants of the country where it may be, and the other nation shall be at liberty to enact similar laws.
VIII. To favour commerce on both sides, it is agreed, that, in case a war should break out between the two nations, which God forbid, the term of six months after the declaration of war shall be allowed to the merchants and other citizens and inhabitants, respectively, on one side and the other, during which time they shall be at liberty to withdraw themselves with their effects and moveables, which they shall be at liberty to carry, send away or sell, as they please, without the least obstruction; nor shall their effects, much less their persons, be seized during such term of six months, on the contrary passports which shall be valid for a time necessary for their return, shall be given to them for their vessels, and the effects which they shall be willing to send away, or carry with them; and such passports shall be a safe conduct against all insults and prizes which privateers may attempt against their persons and effects. And if any thing be taken from them, or any injury done to them or their effects, by one of the parties, their citizens or inhabitants, within the term above prescribed, full satisfaction shall be made to them on that account.
IX. Neither the debts due from individuals of the one nation to individuals of the other, nor shares. nor monies, which they may have in public funds, or in the public or private banks, shall ever, in any event of war, or of national difference, be sequestered or confiscated.
X. It shall be free for the two contracting parties to appoint commercial agents for the protection of trade, to reside in France and the United States. Either party may except such place as may be thought proper, from the residents of these agents. Before any agent shall exercise his function, he shall be accepted in the usual forms by the party to whom he is sent; and when he shall have been accepted and furnished with his exequatur, he shall enjoy the rights and prerogatives of the similar agents of the most favoured nations.
[Page 114] XI. The citizens of the French Republic shall pay in the ports, havens, roads, countries, islands, cities and towns of the United States, no other, or greater duties or imposts, of what nature soever they may be, or by what name soever called than those which the nations most favoued are, or shall be obliged to pay; and they shall enjoy all the rights, liberties, privileges, immunities and exemptions in trade, navigation and commerce, whether, in passing from one port in the said states to another, or in going to and from the same from and to any part of the world, which the said nations do or shall enjoy. And the citizens of the United States shall reciprocally enjoy in the territory of French Republic in Europe, the same privileges and immunities, as well for their property and persons, as for what concerns trade, navigation and commerce.
XII. It shall be lawful for the citizens of either country to sail with their ships and merchandize (contraband goods always excepted) from any port whatever to any port of the enemy of the other, and to sail and trade with their ships and merchandize, with perfect security and liberty, from the countries and ports, and places of those who are enemies of both, or of either party, without any opposition or disturbance whatsoever, and to pass not only directly from the places and ports of the enemy aforementioned, to neutral ports and places, but also from one place belonging to an enemy, whether they be under the jurisdiction of the same power, or under several; unless such ports or places shall be actually blockaded, besieged, or invested.
And whereas it frequently happens, that vessels sail for a port or place bel [...]nging to an enemy, without knowing that the same is either besieged, blockaded, or invested, it is agreed that every vessel, so circumstanced, may be turned away from such port or place, but shall not be detained, nor any part of her cargo, if not contraband, be confiscated, unless, after notice of such blockade or investment, she shall again attempt to enter: but she shall be permitted to go to any other port or place she shall think proper. Nor shall any vessel of either, that may have entered into such port or place before the same was actually besieged, blockaded, or invested by the other, be restrained from quitting such place with her cargo, nor if found therein after the reduction and surrender of such place, shall such vessel or her cargo be liable to confiscation, but they shall be restored to the owners thereof.
XIII. In order to regulate what shall be deemed contraband of war, there shall be comprised under that denomination gunpowder, saltpetre, petards; match, ball, bombs, grenades, carcasses, pikes, swords, belts, pistols, holtsters, cavalry saddles and furniture, cannon, mortars, their carriages [Page 115] and beds, and generally all kinds of arms, ammunition of war, and instruments sit for the use of troops; all the above articles, whenever they are destined to the port of an enemy, are hereby declared to be contraband, and just objects of confiscation; but the vessels in which they are laden, and the residue of the cargo shall be considered free, and not in any manner infected by the prohibited goods, whether belonging to the same, or a different owner.
XIV. It is hereby stipulated, that free ships shall give a freedom to goods, and that every thing shall be deemed to be free and exempt, which shall be found on board the ships belonging to the citizens of either of the contracting parties, although the whole lading, or any part thereof, should appertain to the enemies of either, contraband goods being always excepted. It is also agreed, in like manner, that the same liberty be extended to persons who are on board a free ship, with this effect, that although they be enemies to either party, they are not to be taken out of that free ship, unless they are soldiers and in actual service of the enemy.
XV. On the contrary, it is agreed, that whatever shall be found to be laden by the citizens of either party on any ship belonging to the enemies of the other, or their citizens, shall be confiscated without distinction of goods, contraband or not contraband, in the same manner as if it belonged to the enemy, except such goods and merchandize as were put on board such ship before the declaration of war, or even after such declaration, if so be it were done without knowledge of such declaration; so that the goods of the citizens of either party whether they be of the nature of such as are prohibited, or otherwise, as is aforesaid, were put on board any ship belonging to an enemy before the war, or after the declaration without delay to the proprietors demanding the same, but so as that if the said merchandizes be contraband, it shall not be any ways lawful to carry them afterwards to any ports belonging to the enemy.
The two contracting parties agree, that the term of two months being passed after the declaration of war, their respective citizens, from whatever part of the world they come, shall not plead the ignorance mentioned in this article.
XVI. The merchant ships belonging to the citizens of either of the contracting parties, which shall be bound to a port of the enemy of one of the parties, and concerning whose voyage, and the articles of their cargo, there shall be just grounds of suspicion, shall be obliged to exhibit, as well upon the high seas as in the ports or roads, not only their passports, but likewise their certificates, shewing that their goods are not of the quality of those which are specified to be contrband in the thirteenth article of the present Convention.
[Page 116] XVII. And that captures on light suspicions may be avoided aud injuries thence arising prevented, it is agreed that when one party shall be engaged in war, and the other, party be neuter, the ships of the neutral party shall be furnished with passports similar to that described in the fourth Article, that it may appear thereby that the ships really belong to the citizens of the neutral party; they shall be valid for any number of voyages, but shall be renewed every year, that is, if the ship happens to return home in the space of a year. If the ships are laden, they shall be provided not only with the passports above mentioned, but also with certificates similar to those described in the same article, so that it may be known whether they carry any contraband goods. No other paper shall be required, any usage or ordinance to the contrary notwithstanding. And if it shall appear from the said certificates that there are contraband goods on board, the ships shall be permitted to proceed on their voyage. If it shall appear from the certificates, that there are contraband goods on board any such ship, and the commander of the same shall offer to deliver them up, the offer shall be accepted, and the ship shall be at liberty to pursue its voyage, unless the quantity of the contraband goods be greater than can conveniently be received on board the ship of war or privateer, in which case the ship may be carried into port for the delivery of the same.
If any ship shall not be furnished with such passport or certificates as above required for the same, such case may be examined by a proper judge or tribunal, and if it shall appear from other documents or proofs, admissible by the usage of nations, that the ship belongs to the citizens of the neutral party, it shall not be confiscated, but shall be released with her cargo (contraband goods excepted) and be permitted to proceed on her voyage.
If the master of a ship, named in the passport, should happen to die or be removed by any other cause, and another put in his place, the ship and cargo shall nevertheless be equally secure, and the passport remain in full force.
XVIII. If the ships of the citizens of either of the parties shall be met with, either failing along the coasts, or on the high seas, by any ship of war or privateer of the other; for the avoiding of any disorder, the said ships of war or privateers shall remain out of cannon shot, and may send their boats on board the ship which they shall so meet with, and may enter her to the number of two or three men only, to whom the master or commander of such ship shall exhibit his passport concerning the property of the ship, made out according to the form prescribed in the fourth article. And it is expressly agreed that the neutral party shall in no case be required to go on board the examining [Page 117] vessel for the purpose of exhibiting his papers, or for any other examination whatever.
XIX. It is expressly agreed by the two contracting parties, that the stipulations above mentioned, relative to the conduct to be observed on the sea by the cruisers of the belligerent party towards the ships of the neutral party, shall be applied only to ships sailing without convoy, and when the said ships shall be convoyed, it being the intention of the parties to observe all the regard due to the protection of the flag displayed by public ships, it shall not be lawful to visit them, but the verbal declaration of the commander of the convoy, that the ships he convoys belong to the nation whose flag he carries, and that they have no contraband goods on board, shall be considered by the respective cruisers as fully sufficient: the two parties reciprocally engaging not to admit under the protection of their convoys, ships which shall carry contraband goods destined to an enemy.
XX. In all cases where vessels shall be captured or detained under pretence of carrying to the enemy contraband goods, the captor shall give a receipt for such of the papers of the vessel as he shall retain, which receipt shall be annexed to a descriptive list of the said papers: and it shall be unlawful to break up or open the hatches, chests, trunks, casks, bales, or vessels found on board, or remove the smallest part of the goods, unless the lading be brought on shore in presence of the competent officers, and an inventory made by them of the said goods. Nor shall it be lawful to sell, exchange or alienate the same in any manner, unless there have been lawful process, and the competent judge or judges shall have pronounced against such goods sentence of confiscation, saving always the ship and the other goods which it contains.
XXI. And that proper care may be taken of the vessel and cargo, and embezzlement prevented, it is agreed, that it shall not be lawful to remove the master, commander or supercargo of any captured ship from on board thereof, either during the time the ship may be at sea after her capture, or pending the proceedings against her, or her cargo, or any thing relative thereto. And in all cases where a vessel of the citizens of either party shall be captured, or seized, and held for adjudication, her officers, passengers and crew shall be hospitably treated. They shall not be imprisoned or deprived of any part of their wearing apparel, nor of the possession and use of their money, not exceeding for the captain, supercargo and mate five hundred dollars each, and for the sailors and passengers, one hundred dollars each.
XXII. It is further agreed, that in all cases, the established courts for prize causes, in the country to which the prizes may be conducted, shall alone take cognizance of them. [Page 118] And whenever such tribunal of either of the parties shall pronounce judgement against any vessel or goods, or property claimed by the citizens of the other party, the sentence or decree shall mention the reasons or motives on which the same shall have been founded, and an authenticated copy of the sentence or decree, and of all the proceedings in the case, shall, if demanded, be delivered to the commander or agent of the said vessel, without any delay, he paying the legal fees for the same.
XXIII. And that more abundant care may be taken for the security of the respective citizens of the contracting parties, and to prevent their suffering injuries by the men of war or privateers of either party, all commanders of ships of war and privateers, and all others the said citizens, shall forbear doing any damage to those of the other party, or committing any outrage against them, and if they act to the contrary they shall be punished, and shall also be bound in persons and estates to make satisfaction and reparation for all damages and the interest thereof, of whatever nature the said damages may be.
For this cause all commanders of privateers before they receive their commissions, shall hereafter be obliged to give, before a competent judge, sufficient security by at least two responsible sureties, who have no interest in the said privateer, each of whom, together with the said commander, shall be jointly and severally bound in the sum of 7000 dollars, or 36,820 francs, or if such ships be provided with above 150 seamen or soldiers, in the sum of 14000 dollars, or 73,640 f. to satisfy all damages and injuries which the said privateer, or her officers or men, or any of them may do or commit during their cruise, contrary to the tenor of this Convention or to the laws and instructions for regulating their conduct; and further, that in all cases of aggressions, the said commission shall be revoked and annulled.
XXIV. When the ships of war of the two contracting parties, or those belonging to their citizens which are armed in war, shall be admitted to enter with their prizes the ports of either of the two parties, the said public or private ships, as well as their prizes, shall not be obliged to pay any duty either to the officers of the place, the judges, or any others; nor shall such prizes, when they come to and enter the ports of either party, be arrested or seized, nor shall the officers of the place make examination concerning the lawfulness of such prizes, but they may hoist sail at any time, and depart and carry their prizes to the places expressed in their commissions, which the commanders of such ships of war shall be obliged to shew. It is always understood, that the stipulations of this Article shall not extend beyond the privileges of the most favoured nation.
[Page 119] XXV. It shall not be lawful for any foreign privateers who have commissions from any Prince or State in enmity with either nation, to fit their ships in the ports of either nation, to sell their prizes, or in any manner to exchange them; neither shall they be allowed to purchase provisions, except such as shall be necessary for their going to the next port of that Prince or State from which they have received their commissions.
XXVI. It is further agreed, that both the said contracting parties shall not only refuse to receive any pirates into any of their ports, havens, or towns, or permit any of their inhabitants to receive, protect, harbour, conceal, or assist them in any manner, but will bring to condign punishment all such inhabitants as shall be guilty of such offences.
And all their ships, with the goods or merchandizes taken by them and brought into the port of either of the said parties, shall be seized as far as they can be discovered, and shall be restored to the owners, or their factors or agents duly authorized by them (proper evidence being first given before competent judges for proving the property), even in case such effects should have passed into other hands by sale, if it be proved that the buyers knew, or had good reason to believe, or suspect, that they had been piratically taken.
XXVII. Neither party will intermeddle in the fisheries of the other on its coasts, nor disturb the other in the exercise of the rights which it now holds, or may acquire, on the coast of Newfoundland, in the Gulph of St. Lawrence, or elsewhere on the American coast northward of the United States. But the whale and seal fisheries shall be free to both in every quarter of the world.
This Convention shall be ratified on both sides in due form, and the Ratifications exchanged in the space of six months, or sooner, if possible.
In faith whereof, the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the above Articles both in the French and English languages, and they have thereto affixed their seals; declaring nevertheless that the signing in the two languages shall not be brought into precedent, nor in any way operate to the prejudice of either party.
Done at Paris the 8th day of Vendemaire of the 9th year of the French Republic—the 13th day of Sept. 1800.
- L.S. JO. BUONAPRTE,
- L.S. C. P. C. FLEUREIU,
- L.S. P. L. ROEDERER,
- L.S. O [...]. ELSWORTH,
- L.S. W. R. DAVIE,
- L.S. WM. V. MURRAY.
CITY OF WASHINGTON.
THE close of the 18th Century will be a remarkable, and, we hope, an auspicious period in the history of the New World—In the month of November 1800, the Representatives of the People of the United States commenced their deliberations for the public good in the CITY OF WASHINGTON, destined to be the Capital of the confederated Republics of America.—It has been said, that the founding of this City was a symptom of vanity in the illustrious personage whose name it bears—May it be asked, is there neither envy nor peevishness in the remark?—We are inclined to ascribe its rise to a laudable motive; it was the suggestion of a great and comprehensive mind, looking forward to the prosperity and happiness of future generations; an honourable wish to perpetuate his name to posterity by a useful, a durable, and a noble monument, a great and flourishing City.—The man who is the means of raising but one blade of grass, is said to be praise-worthy—the building of but one house adds to the comfort of the community—how much more praise-worthy is that man, who is the founder of a City intended to be the elegant depositary of the Arts and Sciences, the emporium of a Free People, and the capital of a great Republic?—Other great men, as they have been erroneously called, have rendered their names famous by the destruction of Cities, and by the misery of Nations—Washington's fame rests on other principles; in having fought for the liberties of his countrymen; in assisting to frame for them a free Constitution; and in devising means for their future happiness and prosperity.
Let us consult both ancient and modern history—The city of Alexandria long stood a monument of propitiation for the destructive wars and mad ambition of Alexander—The new city of Petersburgh makes us forget, and almost forgive, the coarse manners and cruel deeds of the first Peter—What a superior character is OUR Washington to these men?—The even tenor of his conduct subjects his fame to no such unpleasant drawbacks—Shall we then attempt to weigh all the circumstances of his life in the nice scales of scrupulosity, or with a microscopic eye search for blemishes, and peevishly magnify defects from which no human being is exempted?—Is Republicanism of that harsh, ungracious, uncharitable temper, as slightly to pass over the beauties, and dwell with malicious pleasure on the imperfections of the picture?—Forbid it Generosity, forbid it Gratitude, forbid it Patriotism!
May the City of Washington, therefore, fulfill the intentions of its illustrious founder—May it be the seat of justice, learning, and science; the fountain of good laws; and the rallying point of all the republican virtues.
CONGRSSIONAL AFFAIRS.
The Legislature of the United States of America meet this day. As they are the grand depository of national confidence, to whom are entrusted powers, on the correct exercise of which the public felicity greatly depends, it is natural that a general solicitude should accompany their deliberations. Possessing the power of preserving peace or declaring war, of increasing or diminishing taxes, the welfare of the community, on points of the deepest and most extensive interest, cannot fail to be as much promoted by an enlightened, as it would be injured by a contracted policy.
There is one circumstance which leads us to hope, that Congress commences its proceedings in the new Capital at an auspicious period.—The unfortunate differences which have too long subsisted between the French and American Republics, are, we trust, nearly terminated; and that the two countries, fitted by their forms of government, to be on amicable terms, will henceforth be on terms of concord and harmony.—With respect to the nature of the Treaty, no one will imagine, that the American Envoys, either from partiality or prejudice, will have conferred any advantages on France, nor dictated by a scrupulous adherence to the principles of a just reciprocity. The sentiments they are known to possess, and their high respectability and integrity, are sufficient pledges of their upright conduct.
The preservation of peace is so plainly and unequivocally the policy of Republics, and so peculiarly the policy of this Country, that every true friend to its prosperity will rejoice in an honourable termination of disputes, that hazarded its tranquility at home, and disturbed its relations abroad.
The American people are not averse to war, because they fear to try their strength with any foe that menaces their rights—but they deprecate war as one of the greatest curses inflicted upon mankind. Knowing that it renders nations depraved, and governments despotic, they view it as the instrument of Tyranny and Oppression—as such, they do well to be jealous of their Rulers, and by an unsleeping vigilance, to restrain that spirit of encroachment and domination which Ambition is perpetually prompting—Nothing can be in is clearly expressed by the late elections, from one end of the Union to the other, than the marked hostility of the public mind to war with any nation, unless forced upon the country by dire necessity.
Among the immediate benefits which may be expected to flow from the altered state of our affairs, is a repeal of certain laws, whose only apology was looked for in "the warlike attitude of the country."—And may we not entertain a sincere wish for the revocation of the Alien Law, whose existence has, in all probability, with-held from our country [Page 122] many wealthy merchants, ingenious mechanics, and industrious farmers, * while it has proved no restraint upon idle and disorderly characters.
[Page 123] Taxes, under most governments, are a necessary evil; but, in a Republic, where the Rulers are wise and honest, they cease to be a grievance. Imposed on principles of justice and equality, and devoted only to objects of national importance, they are not thought oppressive, and seldom become the objects of popular discontent. And to the honour of the American people, the just wants of their government have always been supplied with readiness and liberality.
It should, however, ever be impressed upon the minds of the Representatives of the People, that the public impositions should never rise above the real wants of the government—For the same spirit that gives with cheerfulness whatever is needed for national purposes, will resist every imposition that is unjust and unnecessary.
The present crisis of human affairs is deeply awful and momentous. The European world presents the almost uniform spectacle, of governments oppressing their subjects, or of subjects rising in arms against their governments—War, destructive War, rages with all its calamities—Human life, for the protection of which governments were instituted, is there sacrificed to lawless ambition, to the rod of power, or to the sword of the conqueror!
What an awful, what an instructive lesson is here for the American people and governments!
Rising into national importance on the principles of Republicanism, our Governors need only to be guided by those principles, to be beloved by their country, and applauded by the world. Pursuing the plain path of justice with respect to foreign nations, and diffusing among their Citizens the blessings of equal rights and impartial laws, the spirit of candour, of harmony, and conciliation will be diffused, calculated to heal the cancarous wounds made by party violence, personal animosity, and political discord.
The following Resolutions were agreed to in the Senate of the United States:
Dec. 22, 1800.—Resolved, That all confidential communitions, made by the President of the United States to the Senate, shall be by the members thereof kept inviolably secret; and that all treaties, which may hereafter be laid before the Senate, shall also be kept secret, until the Senate shall, by their resolution, take off the injunction of secrecy.
Jan. 6, 1801.—Resolved, as a standing Rule, That whenever a Treaty shall be laid before the Senate for ratification, it shall be read a first time for information only; when no motion to reject, ratify, or modify, the whole or any part shall be received
That its second reading shall be for consideration, and on a subsequent day, when it shall be taken up as in a [Page 124] Committee of the whole, and every one shall be free to move a question on any particular article in this form, "Will the Senate advise and consent to the ratification of this article?" or to proposed amendments thereto, either by inserting or by leaving out words, in which last case the question shall be, "Shall the words stand part of the article?" And in every of the said cases, the concurrence of two-thirds of the Senators present shall be requisite to decide affirmatively. And when through the whole, the proceedings shall be stated to the house, and questions be again severally put thereon for confirmation, or new ones proposed, requiring in like manner a concurrence of two-thirds for whatever is retained or inserted.
That the votes so confirmed shall, by the House, or a Committe thereof, be reduced into the form of a ratification with or without modifications, as may have been decided, and shall be proposed on a subsequent day, when every one shall be free to move amendments, either by inserting or leaving out words; in which last case the question shall be, "Shall the words stand part of the resolution?" And in both cases the concurrence of two-thirds shall be requisite to carry the affirmative; as well as on the final question to advise and consent to the ratification in the form agreeed to.
The Committee of Ways and Means, who were instructed to enquire into the expedincy of repealing the "Act to provide for the Valuation of Lands and dwelling Houses, and the Enumeration of Slaves within the United States,"
Report, That the valuation of lands and dwelling houses has not yet been completed in all the States; and to repeal the law before that object is accomplished, would, in its effect, defeat the direct tax in those States where the valuation remains incompleat.
That one great object contemplated at the time of passing the law, and which it is presumed still exists, was to organize a system for laying direct taxes, to which the legislature might resort if the exigencies of government should require more revenue than could conveniently be drawn from indirect taxes; and to relinquish this object, after the expence of accomplishing it has been incurred, might be a proof of instability, but not of wisdom.
That the expence of procuring the distribution and transfer of real estates to be recorded in the surveyor's office, incurred by individuals, is, in the opinion of the Committee, an object of little importance when opposed to the advantages arising from a public record of titles, and the more important advantages which the government will derive from the system, if any event should render a direct tax necessary.
Although it is to be hoped that no further direct taxes will become necessary, yet, as it is impossible to pronounce, with [Page 125] certainty, that this will not be the case, the Committee believe that it is highly expedient to pursue a system, which, in cases of emergency, may be used to draw into the Treasury, with certainty and expedition, any reasonable sums which the public necessities may require
The Committee are therefore of opinion, that it is not expedient to repeal the act providing for the valuation of lands and dwelling houses, and the enumeration of slaves within the United States.
The following are the AMENDMENTS to the Constitution as proposed by Mr. NICHOLAS.
Previously to reading them, Mr. Nicholas noticed the propositions submitted by him during the last session, and the extraordinary provisions made in a bill received from the Senate, and stated the improbability of his voting for his own prepositions, in case they had been called up by the House.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the U. States, two thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following Articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the U. States, as Amendments to the Constitution of the United States:—
I. That after the 3d day of March, in the year 1801, the choice of Electors of President and Vice-President, shall be made by dividing each state into a number of districts, equal to the number of Electors, to be chosen in such state, and by the persons in each of those districts who shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the legislature of such state ch [...]sing one elector in the manner which the legislature thereof shall prescribe.
II. That the election of representatives to serve after the 3d day of March in the year 1803, shall be by dividing each state into a number of districts equal to the number of representatives to which such state shall be entitled, and by the people in each of those districts who shall have the qualifications requisite for the electors of the most numerous branch of the legislatue of such state chusing one representative in the manner which the legislature thereof shall prescribe.
REPORT of the Select Committee, to whom were referred Mr. NICHOLAS'S proposed Amendment to the Constitution in relation to the made of electing a President and Vice President, and Members of the House of Representatives.
The Committee to whom were referred the foregoing Resolutions, have had the same under their consideration, and as the result of that consideration, beg leave to make the following Report:
[Page 126] It is conceived that it may be assumed as one of the most indisputable maxims of American policy, that no charge in the Constitution of the United States be admitted, without a well grounded assurance of the attainment of some greater good under the proposed change, than under the existing provisions of the Constitution
In relation to the object of the first of the aforesaid Resolutions, the existing provisions of the Constitution of the United States are in the following terms:—(The Committee here quote the Constitution, and then go on to argue against the Resolution.)
A mode of electing the President and Vice-President of the United States, which might at once combine the expression of the public sentiments of the people of the respective states, with a due appointment of the electors for that important purpose, is a discovery greatly to be desired; that such mode may be found, under the present provisions of the constitution of the United States, and will be discovered by the good sense of the American people, when aided by further experience, is confidently hoped▪ Under such circumstances, to adopt exclusively the mode proposed by the first resolution referred to your committee, might not only preclude the advantages of further experience and the adoption of a more eligible made, but might tend to perpetuate, as well as to render more frequent the occurrence of those exceptionable incidents which have been before suggested, and for which it is difficult, if not impracticable, to find adequate and convenient means of prevention or remedy.
These Considerations induce your Committee to prefer the existing provisions of the Constitution of the United States, to the change proposed by the first of the resolution, referred to them.
In relation to the second Resolution referred to your Committee, they report that the objects directly contemplated therein, are already within the limits of the legislative authority of the government of the United States. To convert a constitutional provision for the exercise of legislative authority, to which recurrence may be had at all times, and under which such modifications may be introduced, from time to time, as the public good and convenience may require in the ordinary forms of legislation, into a specific constitutional prescription, seems to be both superfluous and inconvenient.
The adoption of the plan proposed in the second Resolution, would also, in the opinion of your committee, indirectly tend to withdraw from the government of the United States, its existing controul over the appointment of one of its most essential branches, and to vest that authority exclusively in the state Governments. Such arrangement might [Page 127] produce consequences not contemplated, and too unpleasant to be anticipated. Your Committee therefore conceive it to be inexpedient to adopt the proposed change on this subject, and submit the following resolutions to the consideration of the House
Resolved, That it is inexpedient to change the Constitution of the United States, in the manner proposed by the first of the aforesaid resolutions, in relation to the election of the President [...]nd Vice-President of the United States.
Resolved, That it is inexpedient to change the Constitution of the United States, in the manner proposed by the second of the aforesaid resolutions, in relation to the election of members of the House of Representatives of the United States.
The following Resolutions were laid before Congress by Mr. Harper, and ordered to be printed:—
Resolved, That for compleating the public buildings already commenced at the City of Washington, the sum of dollars to be paid in annual installments of 100,000 dollars each, ought to be advanced by the United States by way of Loan; and that the public property in the said city, after discharging the incumbrances incurred for former advances for the said city and buildings, ought to be pledged and applied under the direction of Congress, as a fund for the remibursment of the said loan.
Resolved, That the said sum and all other sums applicable to the same objects, and hereafter to be received, or now on hand, ought to be applied under the direction of the Secretaries of the State, Treasury, Navy and War departments, with the approbation of the President of the United States; and that the said Secretaries, [...]r any three of them, ought to be empowered to employ a proper clerk or clerks for keeping the accounts of the said expenditures, and all suitable architects, agents and workmen, for carrying on and compleating said buildings.
Resolved, That a suitable apartment or apartments in that part of the Capitol already finished, ought to be fitted up for the temporary accommodation of the Courts of the United States, appointed, or hereafter to be appointed, to be held in the said city, and of such Courts as may hereafter be appointed to be held therein for the Territory of Columbia; and that in compleating the Capitol, permanent accommodations for the said Courts ought to be provided therein.
Resolved, That the sum of [...] dollars annually ought to be appropriated towards the establishment of a National Library, to be applied under the direction of the Secretary of State, and that a suitable apartment in that part of the Capitol which is now finished, ought to be fitted up for the reception [Page 128] of the said Library; and that when the Capitol shall be compleated, suitable apartments for the reception and use of the said Library ought to be provided therein.
Resolved, That the sum of [...] dollars ought to be appropriated for the suitable furnishing of the President's house, to be applied under the direction of the Secretaries of State, Treasury, War and Navy departments, with the approbation of the President of the United States; and that the said Secretaries, or any three of them, ought to be empowered to employ a suitable agent for that purpose.
Resolved, That the board of commissioners for the City of Washington, ought to be discontinued, and the public property in the said city to be placed under the direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, with authority to appoint such clerk or clerks for the particular management thereof, as he may judge necessary, and that all powers, rights, duties, and trusts, now vested in, or belonging to said board, ought to be transferred to the said Secretary.
| Drs. | Cts. | |
| Nominal Amount of the National Debt on the 1st of January 1790, | 72,237,301 | 97 |
| True Amount of Debt 1st Jan. 1791 | 74,185,596 | 82 |
| Nominal Amount of Debt 1st Jan. 1800 | 80,291,820 | 30 |
| True Amount of Debt 1st Jan. 1800 | 70,212,718 | 16 |
"From whence it results (say the Committee) that if the amount of Debt in Jan. 1800 is compared with that 1791, the debt has diminished 3,972,878 [...]drs, and 66 cents.
"The Committee [...] it important to add, that the extraordinary expence which has arisen within a few years, has swallowed up large sums of the public wealth, and diverted the application of those monies which might otherwise have gone to the extinguishment of the public debt, to objects connected with the honour, and, in some cases, with the immediate existence of the Government
"In this class of expence will be included a large sum occasioned by the Indian war—one million two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, expended in quelling two insurrections in the state of Pennsylvania—more than one million and an half expended in our transactions with Algiers and the other Mediterranean powers, together with a much larger expence occasioned by the unprovoked aggressions of France upon this country. Had it been possible, steadily to have applied those various sums to the purchase of debt, it is easily to conceive how rapidly the same might have been extinguished—The committee have likewise, noticed the large sums which have been necessarily expended in the erection of lighthouses, repairing [Page 129] fortifications, in purchases for replenishing our military and naval arsenals, and in the building, purchase, and equipment of more than forty sail of ships and armed vessels, together with a considerable loan of money to the commissioners of the City of Washington. The money expended on th [...]se objects, it is well known, arises to a very large amount, and the property thus acquired by the government, and which is now on hand, cannot be estimated, on the most moderate calculations, at a sum less than four millions of dollars. The value of this property might be considered as composing another item in the credit of the general account of debt, but the Committee have not thought it necessary to include it, and have noticed it particularly at this time, for the purpose of exhibiting a more general view of the extraordinary expence incurred by the government, and for the purpose presenting all that information, in relation to the debt, which will enable the House accurately to appreciate the great and increasing resources of the country; and on this point the committee cannot forbear to remark, that the progress of the government, in its financial operations, must afford the most flattering presages of its future success, if the same system is pursued which has hitherto proved so successful.
"It cannot certainly be unworthy of remark that ten years have not at this time elapsed since the government fairly commenced its operations; that during that period it has been necessary to liquidate, to fund and to provide for a large capital of floating debt which has grown out of the disorders of the Confederation; that during the same short period the government has been compelled to contend with one expensive war on the frontier, with two insurrections in the centre of our country, and with depredation and hostility from the nations of Europe; that these embarrassments have nevertheless been faced by the government; most of the difficulties have been surmounted; the debt has been liquidated and diminished, and the nation has still continued to increase in wealth and population beyond all former example; and although the contest in which we are now engaged, may, for a short period, retard the further extinguishment of debt, or perhaps produce a small addition to that which already exists, yet it cannot be doubted, that whilst we retain order at home, no exterior circumstances can exhaust or greatly diminish the increasing resources of the nation."
We have thus impartially stated, as far as our limits will allow, the different sums at the different periods, as represented by the Committee. It is probable some of our readers may be puzzled between the nominal and true amounts; indeed the Report says, that "there was a difference of opinion in the Committee,"* therefore the debt is stated both ways—"When Doctors differ, who shall decide?"
[Page 130] On this important subject, let us hear what Mr. Gallatin says—His abilities in Financial matters few men will venture to dispute—If he has intentionally misrepresented the subject in the face of the world, he must be both a bold and a bad man.—Those who wish to come at the truth, would do well to take Mr. G's pamphlet in one hand, and the Committee's Report in the other, and judge for themselves.
"The Secretary of the Treasury (says Mr. G.) in a letter to the Committee of Ways and Means, dated Jan. 1800, gave it as his opinion, "that the principal of the public debt had increased, since the establishment of the present Government, in the sum of 1,516,338 dollars." A Committee of the House of Representatives, * appointed in March, to examine the Accounts of the United States, reported, on the 8th of May, a number of statements, and, as the result drawn from them, that the Public Debt; instead of having increased, as stated by the Secretary, had, on the 1st of Jan. 1800, diminished by a sum of 1,092,841 dollars, if contrasted with the debt of Jan. 1790, and 3,972,878 dollars if compared with the debt of 1791.—The Report was printed by order of the House, but never acted upon, nor any occasion offered to investigate its principles.
"The different results exhibited by the Secretary in January, and by the Committee in May, shew that the subject may be considered in different ways, embracing not only matters of fact, but questions of opinion. Whether the view taken by the Committee is correct or not, is to be decided by reasoning; and their Report, not being confined, as seems to have been intended by the House, to matters of fact, must be considered only as the opinion of a few individuals.—It is intended, in this Essay, to examine some of the facts contained in the Treasury statements, to discuss the grounds of the opinion of the Committee, and to add some observations on the financial operations of the government of the United States."—(Mr. G. then proceeds to examine the facts in a variety of calculations, which are too lengthy for our book, but which we recommend to the serious perusal of those who are desirous of being acquainted with the financial affairs of the United States—We therefore select from a variety of tables what we think are his conclusive statements.)
"From those considerations it appears, that the Public Debt may, according to the two different views of which the subject is susceptible, be correctly stated as follows:
| I. Nominal Amount of Public Debt in January 1790. | ||||||||
| Amount stated by the Sec. of the Treasury | 72,237,301 | 97 | ||||||
| Add, difference for interest on domestic debt | 17,670 | 40 | ||||||
| 72,254,972 | 43 | |||||||
| Deduct, difference on the French debt | 1,216 | 73 | ||||||
| Premiums on Dutch debt | 263,000 | 0 | ||||||
| Difference on interest to for. officers | 11,616 | 53 | ||||||
| Grant to Gen. Green's estate | 71,453 | 36 | ||||||
| Debts discharged before 1790 | 15,927 | 13 | ||||||
| By lands sold to Pennsylvania | 151,392 | 41 | ||||||
| Debt assumed for debtor estates beyond their proportion | 2,000,000 | 0 | ||||||
| 2,514,606 | 16 | |||||||
| Amount of Debt 1st Jan. 1790 | 69,740,366 | 27 | ||||||
| On the 1st of January 1800. | ||||||||
| Amount stated by the Sec of the Treasury | 79,403,820 | 30 | ||||||
| Add, Outstanding debt due to foreign officers | 100,184 | 18 | ||||||
| 79,504,004 | 48 | |||||||
| Deduct, Six per cent. stock returned from Holland | 20,373 | 33 | ||||||
| Premiums on Dutch debt | 59,000 | 0 | ||||||
| Advance on Bank stock | 222,000 | 0 | ||||||
| 301,373 | 33 | |||||||
| Amount of Debt 1st Jan. 1800, | 79,202,631 | 15 | ||||||
| 1st Jan. 1790, | 69,740,366 | 27 | ||||||
| Nominal increase of Debt from 1790 to 1800 | 9,462,264 | 88 | ||||||
| II. Comparative View formed by deducting, from the nominal Amount of Debt, the funds actually acquired by Government. | ||||||||
| Jan. 1790—Nominal amount as above | 69,740,366 | 27 | ||||||
| Deduct, debts due under former government the U. States in cash | 62,586 | 74 | ||||||
| Do. received in stock | 24,091 | 31 | ||||||
| Cash in Holland, the Treasury, &c. | 351,447 | 83 | ||||||
| 438,125 | 88 | |||||||
| 69,302,240 | 39 | |||||||
| Jan. 1800—Nominal amount as above | 79,202,631 | 15 | ||||||
| Deduct, Cash in Treasury, &c. | 2,694,115 | 48 | ||||||
| Remittances said to be made to Holland beyond the payments due in 1799, | 548,955 | 84 | ||||||
| 3,243,071 | 32 | |||||||
| Amount of Debt 1st Jan. 1800, | 75,959,559 | 83 | ||||||
| 1st Jan. 1790, | 69,302,240 | 39 | ||||||
| Leaves for increase of debt for those ten years, after deducting all the funds actually acquired by Government, and which may possibly be applied towards a reduction of the debt, | 6,657,319 | 44 | ||||||
"And here it is proper to observe, that the amount of Custom-house bonds, credited by the Committee, and excluded from the above statement, is, for Jan 1790, 590,468 dollars, and for Jan. 1800, 5,826,214 dollars; difference 5,235,745 dollars; which deducted from 6,657,319, still leave, even on the inadmissible supposition that those bonds ought to be deducted, an increase of debt, during those ten years, of 1,421, 574 dollars."
| The Secretary of the Treasury reported to the House of Representatives, that the following Appropriations are necessary for the Year 1801. | ||
| For the Civil List, or, the support of Government, including the contingent expences of the several Departments and Offices, the sum of | 594,701 | 37 |
| For the payment of Annuities and Grants | 1,753 | 33 |
| For the support of the Mint Establishment | 13,300 | |
| For the expences of intercourse with formations | 85,000 | |
| For expences incident to the treaties with England, Spain, and the Mediterranean Powers | 361,364 | |
| For the expences of supporting the claims of our Citizens to property captured in foreign countries | 64,000 | |
| For aid to distressed American seamen in f. countries | 30,000 | |
| For defraying the expences incident to the valuation of dwelling-houses, lands, &c. | 40,000 | |
| For the Military Department, including the pay of the Army, rations, clothing, ordnance, &c. | 1,400,000 | |
| For the payment of military pensions | 93,000 | |
| For the Navy Department, including the pay and subsistence of the Officers, &c. marines; completing docks, navy-yards, &c. and for building six 74 gun ships, agreeably to estimate, | 2,342,352 | 95 |
| For the fabrication of cannon and small arms for the Army, Navy, Militia, &c. | 400,000 | |
| For the support of light-houses, beacons, &c. | 38,622 | 70 |
| For the 2d enumeration of the people | 60,000 | |
| For satisfying miscellaneous Claims, including the expences of returning votes for President, &c. | 5,600 | |
| Amounting to | 5,529,695 | 35 |
The Funds out of which Appropriations may be made for the purposes before-mentioned, are
[Page 133] 1. The sum of 600,000 dollars of the proceeds of duties on imports and tonnage which accrue in the year 1801, which sum is by law annually reserved for Government.
2. The surplus of the income of the United States which may accrue to the end of the year 1801, after satisfying the objects for which appropriations have been made.
After this general Statement, the Secretary descends to a more particular specification, the principal of which are the following:—
| To the President and Vice-President | 30,000 |
| Senate and House of Representatives | 200,470 |
| Judiciary | 78,900 |
| Treasury Department | 92,713 |
| Loan Officers and Clerks | 28,250 |
| Department of State | 24,800 |
| Mint | 23,600 |
| War Department | 36,766 |
| Navy Department | 24,489 |
| General Post-Office | 12,112 |
| Surveyor General's Department | 28,000 |
| Territory North-west of the Ohio | 5,500 |
| —Mississippi and Indiana | 11,000 |
| Annuities and Grants | 1,753 |
| Demands unprovided for | 20,000 |
| Indian Department | 72,000 |
| Ministers to England, Prussia, Spain, and Portugal, 9000 each, | 36,000 |
| Minister resident at the Batavian Republic | 4,500 |
| Consuls at Algiers, Tripoli, Morocco, deficiencies, contingencies, &c. in all | 85,000 |
| Carrying into effect the treaty with Great Britain, salaries to Commissioners, &c. in all | 361,364 |
| Prosecuting the claims of American Citizens for property captured by the British, &c. | 64,000 |
| Relief of American seamen in foreign countries | 30,000 |
| Expences incident to the valuation of Lands, &c. | 40,000 |
| Pay of the Army, consisting of 1400 officers, artificers, musicians, and 4040 privates, &c. | 1,167,091 |
| Ordnance Department | 100,000 |
| Defensive protection of frontiers, &c. | 30,000 |
| Military pensions | 90,300 |
| Naval Establishment | 2,447,352 |
| The Secretary of the Navy further estimates, For progressing with six 74 gun ships, and for completing navy yards, docks, wharves, &c. | 500,000 |
| For erecting Marine barracks | 20,000 |
| For the maintenance of French prisoners | 30,000 |
| Total Naval Estimate | 3,042,352 |
| But the appropriations heretofore made for the different objects relating to the Navy will not be exhausted at the end of the present year by a sum equal to 700,000 dollars, so that it may not be necessary to appropriate for the year 1801 for all the Navy purposes, exclusive of providing timber to be laid up in store, more than | 700,000 |
| To the President, Senate, House of Representatives, Judges, Government Officers, &c. | 727,253 | 23 |
| Military Department | 2,654,281 | 59 |
| Naval Department | 3,143,047 | 98 |
| Diplomatic Department, &c. the whole making a total sum of | 15,262,161 | 75 |
| By a Statement of Balances (signed John Nourse, Register) of certain Appropriations, there were unexpended on the 30th Sept. last, the sum of | 8,370,766 |
| 1791 | 4,772,200 | 26 |
| 1792 | 8,771,600 | 93 |
| 1793 | 9,450,195 | 15 |
| 1794 | 9,439,855 | 65 |
| 1795 | 9,515,758 | 59 |
| 1796 | 8,740,329 | 65 |
| 1797 | 8,758,780 | 99 |
| 1798 | 8,179,179 | 80 |
| 1799 | 12,549,381 | 98 |
| Ships | Guns | Men | Commanders. |
| United States | 44 | 400 | Com. Barry |
| Constitution | 44 | 400 | Capt. Talbot |
| President | 44 | 400 | Capt. Truxton |
| Chesapeak | 44 | 400 | Capt. Barron |
| Philadelphia | 44 | 400 | Capt. Decatur |
| Constellation | 36 | 340 | Capt. Murray |
| Congress | 36 | 340 | Capt. Sever |
| New-York | 36 | 340 | Capt. Morris |
| Insurgent | 36 | 340 | Capt. Fletcher |
| Boston | 32 | 260 | Capt. Little |
| Essex | 32 | 260 | Capt. Preble |
| G. Washington | 32 | 120 | |
| Gen. Green | 32 | 220 | Capt. Perry |
| John Adams | 32 | 220 | Capt. Cross |
| Adams | 32 | 220 | Capt. Robinson |
| Ganges | 26 | 180 | Capt. Mullowny |
| Connecticut | 24 | 180 | Capt. Tryon |
| Maryland | 20 | 180 | Capt. Rogers |
| Portsmouth | 24 | 180 | Capt. M'Neil |
| Merrimack | 24 | 180 | Capt. Brown |
| Petapsco | 20 | 180 | Capt. Geddes. |
| Delaware | 20 | 180 | |
| Baltimore | 20 | 180 | Capt. Cowper |
| Herald | 18 | 140 | Capt. Russel |
| Trumbull | 18 | 140 | Capt. Jewet |
| Warren | 18 | 140 | |
| Richmond | 16 | 100 | |
| Augusta | 16 | 100 | Capt. M'Ilroy |
| Eagle | 14 | 70 | Capt. Campbell |
| Pickering | 14 | 70 | Capt. Hiller |
| Scammel | 14 | 70 | Capt. Furnel |
| Experiment | 12 | 70 | Capt. Maley |
| Enterprize | 12 | 70 | Capt. Shaw |
RECAPITULATION—5 Frigates of 44 guns—4 of 36—2 of 32—4 of 24 guns on gun-deck, and 8 on the quarterdeck—8 of 20 to 24 guns—3 of 18—2 of 16—5 of 12—Total 33—and 7 gallies.
[The above List is taken from an authenticated Copy—except the names of the Captains, which we cannot vouch as being perfectly correct.]
| Vessels of 44 guns and 400 men | 115,945 | |
| 36 guns and 340 men | 98,347 | |
| 32 guns and 260 men | 74,999 | |
| 24 on gun-deck and 8 on qr. deck, 220 men, | 66,785 | |
| 20 to 26 guns, and 180 men | 57,269 | |
| 18 guns and 140 men | 45,780 | |
| 16 to 18 guns and 100 men | 35,737 | |
| 12 to 14 guns and 70 men | 24,213 | |
| Galley, 28 men | 9,200 | |
| Marine Corps, 1143 men, including Officers, | 166,903 | |
| 5 Frigates of 44 guns | 579,728 | |
| 4 Do. 36 | 393,391 | |
| 2 Do. 32 | 149,999 | |
| 4 Do. 32 (smaller) | 267,035 | |
| 8 Ships of 20 to 26 guns | 458,158 | |
| 3 Sloops of 18 guns | 137,341 | |
| 2 Brigs of 16 to 18 guns | 71,474 | |
| 5 Brigs and Schooners 12 to 14 guns | 121,069 | |
| 7 Gallies | 64,400 | |
| Contingent Expences | 37,850 | |
| Making a Total of | Dolls. 2,447,352 |
| 5 Frigates of | 44 guns, and | 400 men, | 2,000 |
| 4 Do. | 36 | 340 | 1,360 |
| 2 Do. | 32 | 260 | 520 |
| 4 Do. smaller, | 32 | 220 | 880 |
| 8 Ships of | 20 to 26 | 180 | 1,440 |
| 3 Sloops of War | 18 | 140 | 420 |
| 2 Brigs | 16 to 18 | 100 | 200 |
| 5 Do. and Schooners. | 12 to 14 | 70 | 350 |
| 7 Gallies | — | 28 | 196 |
| Total, including Marines, | 7.366 | ||
Ships and Vessels taken from the French by the American Navy since the Commencement of Sea hostilities:
[...]'Insurgent 44 guns, Le Berceau 26, Deux Anges 20, Sans Pareil 16, Le Croyable 14, La Jaloux 14, Magicienne 14, Jennesse 12, Italian Conquest 12, L'Active 12, Marsain 10 La Voltigeuse 10—then follow the names of a number of smaller vessels carrying so low as 2 guns, amounting in all to 74 Captures—besides 80 Re-captures.
REPORT of the Secretary of the Treasury to the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund.
THAT no purchases of the Debt of the United States have been made since the date of the last report to Congress of the 11th day of December, 1799; and that the sums of the Capitol Stock heretofore purchased and transferred, prior to the present year, in trust for the United States the interest whereon is appropriated by law towards the reduction of the public debt amount to 4,704,219 dollars 60 cents, as will more particularly appear from documents hereto annexed, marked A.
That the following sums have been applied towards the discharge of the principal debt of the United States since the date of the last report to Congress of the 11th of December, 1799.
| 1. To the 5th instalment of the six per cent. stock, bearing a present interest, which pursuant to the act, entitled "An act, making further provision for the support of the public credit and for redemption of the public debt" passed on the 3d of March, 1795, and the act in addition thereto passed on the 28th day of April 1796, became payable on the first day of January, 1800, the sum of | 716,894 | 36 |
| 2. To the payment of the eighth instalment of the subscription loan for Bank Stock, due on the last day of December, 1799, | 200,000 | |
| 3. To the payment of the third instalment of a loan of one million of Guilders obtained in Holland, which fell due the present year, pursuant to a contract dated first of June 1787, estimated at 40 cents per Guilder. | 80,000 | |
| 4. To the payment of the second instalment of loan of 1000,000 of Guilders obtained in Holland, and which fell due in the present year, pursuant to a contract dated the 13th of March, 1788, estimated at 40 cents per Guilder, | 80,000 | |
| 5. To the payment of the first instalment of a loan of 3000,000 of Guilders obtained in Holland, and which fell due in the present year pursuant to a contract dated the first of January, 1790, estimated at 40 cents per Guilder, | 240,000 | |
| Amounting in the whole to | Dollars 1,316,894 | 36. |
The payments before enumerated have been made out of the following funds:
| 1. The interest fund, or the sums which accrued upon the stock purchased and transferred to the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, in trust for the United States, as particularly stated in the document, marked B. | 522,323 | 11 |
| 2. The fund arising from the payment of debts which originated prior to the present constitution of the United States as particularly stated in the document marked C. | 2,943 | 39 |
| 3. The fund arising from dividends on the capital stock belonging to the United States, in the bank of the United States, from the 1st of July, 1798, to the 30th of June, 1799, after deducting the interest on the subscription loan for the same period, as particularly stated in the document hereto annexed, marked D. | 29,040 | |
| 4. The proceeds of the duties on goods, wares and merchandize imported; on the tonnage of ships or vessels, and on spirits distilled within the United States, and stills appropriated by the 8th section of the act of March 3d, 1795, intitled "An act making further provisions for the support of public credit, and for the redemption of the public debt," being for the period and in the reference to the objects mentioned in this Report, | 762,587 | 85 |
| 1,316,894 | 30 |
Making in the whole an equal amount to the reimbursements before mentioned.
[Page 138] There remained in the hands of the Treasurer of the United States, as agent of the Board of Commissioners, off the 25th day of the present month, 169,087 dollars 4 cents, which with the growing produce of other appropriated funds, will be sufficient for the reimbursement, at the close of the present year, of the 6th instalment of the 6 per cent stock, bearing a present interest, and the 9th instalment for the bank of the United States; which reimbursements are required to be made by the 11th section of the act of Congress, passed on the 3d of March, 1795, herein before mentioned.
By the National Accounts lately published, from Oct. 1799 to Sept. 1800, it appears, that the total expenditure for that year amounts to 15,262,161 dollars 75 cents—The receipts amount to exactly the same sum.—In this account, however, are included "the unexpended appropriations," as stated by Mr. [...]ourse, amounting to 8,370,766 dollars.—See p. 134.
On the 14th of January last, a message was delivered from the President to Congress, transmitting to that Hon. Body his annual account of "the application of grants for contingent charges for the year 1800," by which it appears, that out of the 20,000 dollars intrusted to his care, he had only granted 50 dollars to a W [...]mith Shaw "for his expences on a mission from Philadelphia to Mount Vernon on public business."—Of course, 19,950 dollars revert to the public purse.
In justice to Mr. Adams, with pleasure we give a place to this article.—The First Magistrate of a Republic, if ever entitled to the applause of the People for discharging his duty, is on no occasion more entitled to their thanks, than for a rigid devotion of the public monies to national uses.
JUDICIARY BILL.
"The Bill to provide for the more convenient organization of the Courts of the United States," as passed in the House of Representatives, directs,
1. That after the next session of the Supreme Court of U. S. the said Court shall be held twice a year in the city of Washington, viz. On the first Monday of June and December.
2. That after the next vacancy the court shall consist of five justices.
3. That the several states shall be divided into 22 districts.
4. That the said 22 districts shall be classed into six circuits, viz. 1. Consisting of districts of Maine, New-Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode-Island; 2. Consisting of Connecticut and Vermont; 3. Consisting of districts of Jersey, [Page 139] East and West Pennsylvania and Delaware; 4. Consisting of districts of Maryland, and East and West Virginia; 5. Consisting of districts of North-Carolina, South-Carolina and Georgia; 6. Consisting of districts of East Tennessee, West Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio.
5. That in each of these circuits there shall be three judges, two of whom shall form a quorum, to hold two sessions annually at certain specified places, and one of whom shall be commissioned as chief justice.
6. That the circuit courts shall have all the powers heretofore vested in the courts of the United States.
7. That the said circuit courts respectively, shall have cognizance of all crimes and offences cognizable under the authority of the United States, and committed within their respective districts, or upon the high seas; and also of all cases in law or equity, arising under the constitution and laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made under their authority; and also of all actions, or suits of a civil nature, at common law, or in equity, where the United States shall be plaintiffs or complainants; and also of all actions, or suits, matters or things cognizable by the judicial authority of the United States, under and by virtue of the constitution thereof, where the matter in dispute shall amount to four hundred dollars, and where original jurisdiction is not given by the constitution of the United States to the supreme court thereof or exclusive jurisdiction by law to the district courts of the United States: Provided always, that in all cases where the title or bounds of land shall come into question, the jurisdiction of the said circuit courts shall not be restrained by reason of the value of the land in dispute.
8. "That all actions, suits, process, pleasings, and other proceedings of what nature or kind soever, depending or existing in any of the present circuit courts of the United States, or in any of the present district courts of the U. States acting as circuit courts, shall be, and hereby are, continued over to the circuit courts established by this act."
9. That each of the circuit judges shall be allowed 2,000 dollars per annum; except the judges of the 6th circuit who shall be allowed 1,500 dollars.
10. In the 6th circuit there is to be an additional judge appointed, who, with the two present district judges, are to compose the circuit court for that circuit.
11. All the present powers with which the district courts are vested are transferred to the circuit courts, excepting admiralty powers.
Mr. Elseworth having resigned the office of Chief Justice of the United States, and Mr. Jay being nominated, he declined the office—Mr. Marshall was then nominated, and unanimously approved of by the Senate.
FEATURES of a BILL for the Government of the District of COLUMBIA.
1. A Legislature is to be established, to consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
2. The district shall be divided into two precincts, one on the west, the other on the east side of the Potomak.
5. The House of Representatives shall consist of fourteen members, seven resident in the Eastern, and seven in the Western precinct, chosen for two years, by citizens of U. S. resident 12 months in the district and 1 month in the precinct of the United States, who are freeholders.
The qualifications of a member of the House of Representatives are, being 25 years of age, being a citizen of the United States, resident in the district for 12 months, and in the precinct for 1 month, and being a freeholder therein
4. The Senate shall consist of six members, three resident in the Eastern, and three in the Western precinct, chosen for six years.
The qualifications of a Senator are, being thirty years of age, being a citizen of the United States, resident in the district for twelve months, and in the precinct for one month and being a freeholder therein.
The Senators are to be chosen by eight electors, four whereof to be elected by the citizens of the Eastern, and four by the citizens of the Western precinct, which electors shall have the same qualifications as members of the House of Representatives, and who shall be elected by the same citizens who vote for members of the House of Representatives.
The Senate to be divided, at the organization, into three classes, one of which is to be replaced every second year.
5. The members of the legislature to be compensated by the district.
6. A Governor shall be appointed by the President of the United States for three years, unless sooner removed.
The Governor shall be a citizen, and 35 years of age.
He shall appoint all officers erected by the legislature of the district.
He shall have a veto upon the passage of all laws; and if after his disapproving a law it shall be repassed by two thirds of each house, he shall lay the law before Congress to be acted upon by them.
7. The Governor, Members of the Legislature, and Electors shall be prohibited from holding any office under the United States, or any state.
8. Taxes, excepting excises, imposts and tonnage duties, may be layed by the legislature; but no law shall be passed for taxing the district for opening, paving, repairing, improving, lighting or regulating the streets, in any town or city within the district.
[Page 141] 9. Two sheriffs shall be appointed annually by the Governor, one for the Eastern, and one for the Western precinct, who besides the ordinary duties of sheriffs, shall hold and be judges of all elections.
10. The judicial power of the district shall be vested in two superior and two inferior Courts; the judges to be appointed by the President, to be paid by the United States, and to hold their offices during good behaviour.
11. The laws of Virginia and Maryland, as they now exist, shall remain in force, so far as the same may be consistent with the motives of the cession by said states.
12. The legislature may pass all laws needful for the government and police of the district, repealable or alterable by Congress, who may make any law which shall be supreme.
13. A governor shall be immediately appointed.
14. The election of the members of the legislature shall be held on the 1st Monday of April, and the legislature shall convene at Washington on the 1st Monday in June.
When Mr. S. Smith, the respectable and impartial Editor of The National Intelligences, by a memorial, asked leave of the House of Representatives to have a place within the the bar to note the debates, he was refused!—The following are the Yeas and Nays on the subject of his request, which are supposed to describe, pretty clearly, the political sentiments of the two Parties—observe, that the Yeas are against the prayer of the Printer, the Nays for him.
Yeas—Baer, Bartlet, Bird, J. Brown, Champlin, Cooper, Craik, Dana, J Davenport, F Davenport, Dennis, Edmond, Evans, Foster, Freeman, Glon, C. Goodrich, E. Goodrich, Griswold, Grove, [...]enderson, Huger, Imlay, Kittera, Lee, S. Lee, Lynn, [...]orris, Otis, Page, Parker, Platt, Powell, J. Reed, N Reed, Rutledge, Smith, Tenney, Thatcher, J. C. Thomas, R. Thomas, Wadsworth, Waln, Williams, Woods—45.
Nays—Alston, Bailey, Bishop, R. Brown, Christic, Claiborne, Clay, Condit, Davis, Dawson, Dent, Dickson, Eggleston, Elmondorf, Goode, Gray, Gregg, Hanna, Heister, Hill, Holmes, Jackson, Jones, Kitchell, Leib, Macon, Muhlenburg, New, Nicholas, Nicholson, Randolph, Smilie, Sam, Smith, J Smith, Spaight, Stanford, Stone, Sumpter, Talioferro, Thompson, A. Trigg, J. Trigg, Tazewell, Van Cortlandt, Varnum—15.
The Speaker, Mr. Theodore Sedgewick, having given his casting vote against the Memorial, the Printer, was of course, not permitted to come within the bar, as had been the custom in Philadelphia—The Speaker was pleased not to stop here for he would not only not permit Mr. Smith to take notes outside of the bar, but had him turned out of the gallery by the Serjeant at Arms!
[Page 142] IN the month of November 1800, the following, it is said, was the political complexion of the different members of the then Congress—As a change of men is about to take place (Heaven grant that their measures may be good), will it be Tempora mutantur, &c.?
New Hampshire—Senators, John Langdon r. S. Livermore f.—Representatives, Foster, Freeman, Sheaf, Tinney f.
Massachusets—Senators, Mason, Foster f.—Representatives, Sedgewick (speaker), Otis, Lyman, N Reed, J. Reed, Lee, Bartlet, Shepard, Thatcher, Wadsworth, Williams f. Bishop, Lincoln, Varnum r.
Rhode Island—Senators, Foster, Green f.—Representatives, Champlin, J. Brown f.
Connecticut—Senators, Hillhouse. Tracey f.—Representatives, Dana, Edmond, C. and E. Goodrich, Griswold, Davenport, J. C. Smith f.
Vermont—Senators, Chipman, Payne f.—Representatives, Morris f. Lyon r.
New York—Senators, Morris f. Armstrong r.—Representatives, Bird, Cooper, Glen, Platt f. Bailey, Elmendorf, Livingston, Thompson, Cortlandt, J. Smith r.
New Jersey—Senators, Dayton, Schureman f.—Representatives, Imlay, F. Davenport f. Condit, Kitchell r. Linn d.
Pennsylvania—Senators, Bingham, Ross f.—Representatives, Hartley, Kittera, Thomas, Waln, Woods f. Gallatin, Brown, Greg, Hana, Heister, Leib, Muhlenburg, Smilie r.
Delaware—Senators, Latimer, Wells f.—Representative, J. A. Bayard f.
Maryland—Senators, Howard, Loyd f.—Representatives, Baer, Craik, Dennis, Thomas f. Christie, Nicholson, S. Smith r. G. Dent d.
Virginia—Senators, Mason, Nicholas r.—Representatives, Evans, Lee, Good, Gray, Powell, Page, Parker f. Cabel, Dawson, Clay, Eggleston, New, Nicholas, Jackson, Randolph, A. and J. Trigg, Tazewell r.
North Carolina—Senators, Bloodworth, Franklin r.—Representatives, Grove, Henderson, Hill, Dickson, Spaight f. Macon, Stanford, Stone, Williams r. Alston d.
South Carolina—Senators, Read f. Pinkney r.—Representatives, Harper, Huger, Nott, T. Pinkney f. Sumpter r.
Georgia—Senators, Gunn f. Baldwin r—Representatives, Jones, Talioferro r.
Kentucky—Senators, Brown r. Marshal d.—Representatives, Davis, Fowler r.
Tennessee—Senators, Anderson, Cocke r.—Representative, Claiborne r.
f. For Federalist— r for Republican— d for doubtful.
WASHINGTON'S MAUSOLEUM.
OUR readers, no doubt, have heard, that last session, a Bill passed the House of Representatives, granting 70,000 dollars to erect a monument to Gen. Washington, and that the Bill was rejected by the Senate—This session, the scheme was renewed upon a much more expensive plan, which, as might be expected, occasioned much debate and difference of opinion—Some of the members were for no other memorial of the departed General's virtues, than what could be fix'd in the hearts of his fellow citizens *—others were for such a monument of him as was voted by the old Congress—others again, and these the majority, 44 to 40, gave their voice for a Mausoleum, on a grand and extensive scale—On this subject, we think it necessary to insert the following
Copy of a Letter from Mr. WEST, the celebrated American Artist in London, to Mr. King the American Minister at the British Court, on the subject of a Monument to be erected to the Memory of General Washington.
OBSERVING the Resolutions passed by the United States of America, for removing the body of GEORGE WASHINGTON from the family vault to the city bearing his name, and their intention to raise an appropriate monument to his memory in that city, I thought the following observations, with the plan for a monument from me as an American and one not altogether obscure in the elegant ar [...], might be acceptable to those in that country, who are desirous of paying the last tribute to his memory, by a monumental record, placed in the Federal City.
The raising of monuments to departed virtue, has ever been an object of the first attention in all civilized countries, and no people ever had so proud an instance in doing this as the Americans, by raising one to true virtue and real worth, as that which presents itself to them in the character of General Washington, and that the placing of such records in public situations has ever been considered true policy, by all wise governments, for which the highways, squares and circuses for such records have been preferred, we have the highest authority from the Egyptians, Grecians, and Romans.—That the raising of a monument to the memory of General Washington, I believe, is the wish of all the civilized world. I do therefore recommend, that the most durable form for such a monument be adopted, which is, that of the Triangle or Pyramid, and that its situation be the most conspicuous in the Federal City; its height one hundred and fifty feet, and its basis the same. The place or square, where it is erected, to be planted with trees to give inviting shade, and to be opened to the public: this will afford the parent or tutor an opportunity to inculcate the virtues of that great man, in the juvenile mind of the rising offspring. The inside of the pyramid has a conic cavity to save the expence in building, and at the same time gives as much strength as though solid; within that is built a rotundo, lighted from the top, in which is placed the pedestrian statue of the General in bronze, to be in height not less than seven feet, and round the rotundo eight basso-relievos in the same metal, four containing military, and four civil subjects. In place of the frize and dado round the rotundo, a grove to be cut, to a considerable depth, and in the same manner round the eight basso-relievos. This will give a monumental simplicity, which belongs to its character, and the whole of the apartment to be the natural colour of the stone with which it is built; one of the four entrances into the rotundo to be closed, [Page 145] for the place where the remains of that great man should be deposited in a stone coffin, which should be elevated, and under it a proper inscription. The three entrances which lead into the rotundo, to have iron gates, to be opened on fixed days, for seeing the sepulchre. Such a monument would be an appropriate one to the exalted character of George Washington, and worthy the United States of America to raise to his memory. It should stand pre-eminent in magnitude, as the character it records stood pre-eminent in virtue, as well as to give a taste to any monuments that may in future be erected—it will both adorn the City, and inspire the people with virtue from generation to generation, for thousands of years.
The better to elucidate the construction of such a monument, I send you the plan, section, and elevation; they are goemetrical, and laid down to a scale▪ The estimate of such a monument in erecting, the workmen in America will be able to ascertain, as the whole is to be of stone. The works of art, such as the statue and basso-relievos, their expence will be ascertained in Europe, agreeable to similar works.
The following are the Yeas and Nays on the engrossing of Washington's Mausoleum Bill:—
Yeas—Messrs. Baer, Bartlet, Brown, Champlain, Cooper, Craik, Davenport, Dennis, Dent, Dickson, Edmond, Evans, Foster, Freeman, Glen, Good; Goodrich, E. Goodrich, Griswold, Grove, Harper, Henderson, Hill, Huger, Imlay, Kittera, H. Lee, Morris, Nott, Otis, Pinkney, Plat, Powell, Reed, N. Reed, Rutledge, Smith, Tenney, Thatcher Thomas, R. Thomas, Wadsworth, Williams, Woods—44.
Nays—Messrs, Alston, Bailey, Bird, Bishop, R. Brown, Clay, Christie, Claiborne, Condit, J. Davenport, Davis, Dawson Eggleston, Elmondorf, Gray, Gregg, Hanna, Heister, Lei [...] Holmes, Jackson, Kitchell, Lyon, Linn, Macon, Muldenberg, Randolph, Shepard, Smilie, S. Smith, Spaight, Stanford, Sumpter, Talioferro, Thompson, A. Trigg, J. Trigg; Tazewell, Van Cortlandt, Varnum—40.
This Bill, which granted 200,000 dollars to begin the work, was altered, in the Senate, to 50,000 dollars to erect an equestrian statue, under the direction of J. Marshal, Bush. Washington, [...]. oward, and T. Lear.
SEDITION LAW.
The following are the Yeas and Nays on agreeing to the Report of the Committee of revisal and unfinished business, recommending a continuance of the Sedition Law.
Yeas—Messrs Bartlet, Bayard, Bird, J. Brown, Champlin, Cooper, Craik, Dana, F. Davenport, J. Davenport, Dennis, Dickson, Edmond, Evans, Foster, Freeman, Goodrich, E. Goodrich, Glen, Grove, Griswold, Harper, Hill, Henderson, Imlay, Kittera, H. Lee, S. Lee, Morris, Otis, Page, Pinkney, Plat, Powell, J. Read, N. Read, Rutledge, Shepard, J. C. Smith, Sheaff, Tenney, Thatcher, J C. Thomas, R. Thomas, Wadsworth, Waln, Williams, Woods—48.
Nays—Messrs. Alston, Bailey, Bishop, R. Brown, Clay, Christie. Claiborne, Condit, Davis, Dawson, Dent, Eggleston, Elmondorf, Gallatin, Good, Gray, Gregg, Hanna, Heister, Holmes, Huger, Jackson, Kitchell, Leib, Lyon, Linn, Macon, Muhlenburg, New, Nicholas, Nott, Parker, Randolph Smilie, J. Smith, S. Smith, Spaight, Stanford, Stone, Sumter, Talioferro, Thompson, A. Trigg, J. Trigg, Van Cortlandt, Varnum, R. Williams—48.
The numbers being thus equal, the Hon. Speaker, Mr. T. Sedgewick, after having turned the Printer out of the House, very consistently gave his vote for a continuance of the law.
We have read, with some attention, the debates on this contested point, which, like many other questions, admits of strong arguments either way—for, with all our partiality to the Liberty of the Press, we must acknowledge, that a slanderous, soul-mouth'd Printer should be as amenable to the rules of Truth and Justice as any other member of the community.—Mr. Bayard for the law, and Mr. [...]uger against it, appeared to take the lead as to force of reasoning. The latter gentleman acknowledged the right of Congress to enact such a law, but shewed, by very cogent and conclusive arguments, its present unfitness and inexpediency.
NATIONAL DEBT.
Altho' every one knows what a dollar is, yet, few, very few, comprehend the sum of 80 millions of dollars, and therefore form very imperfect ideas of the weight and magnitude of the National Debt.—A dollar weighs 17 dwts one 3-4 grs. Troy weight; and 80 millions of dollars would weight 2090 tons 1125 lbs. aver-du-poise weight. Now if waggons were employed to carry 80 millions of dollars, at a ton a load, and the waggons four rods asunder, they would occupy the space of 26 miles and 1-8th.
Pretty well for a Government not yet 21 years of age!
The National Debt of England is fully 500 millions [...], about 2000 millions of dollars, but this debt began in King William's time.
AMERICAN COMMERCE.
| In 1797. | In 1798. | In 1799. | |
| New Hampshire | 275,840 | 361,453 | 361,789 |
| Massachussets | 7,502,047 | 8,639,252 | 11,421,591 |
| Rhode Island | 975,530 | 947,827 | 1,055,273 |
| Connecticut | 814,506 | 763,128 | 1,143,618 |
| Vermont | — | — | 20,480 |
| New York | 13,308,064 | 14,300,892 | 18,719,527 |
| New Jersey | 18,161 | 61,877 | 9,722 |
| Pennsylvania | 11,446,291 | 8,915,463 | 12,431,967 |
| Delaware | 98,929 | 183,729 | 297,065 |
| Maryland | 9,811,799 | 12,746,190 | 16,299,600 |
| Virginia | 4,908,713 | 6,113,451 | 6,292,986 |
| North Carolina | 540,900 | 338,124 | 485,921 |
| South Carolina | 949,622 | 6,994,179 | 8,729,615 |
| Georgia | 644,307 | 961,848 | 1,396,759 |
| Total | 51,294,710 | 61,327,411 | 78,665,521 |
| In 1797. | In 1798. | In 1799. | |
| To Russia | 3,450 | 60,732 | 46,230 |
| Prussia | — | — | 617,046 |
| Sweden | 898,315 | 733,462 | 617,046 |
| Denmark & Norw. | 2,533,224 | 2,900,511 | 951,577 |
| Danish W. Indies | — | — | 3,397,262 |
| Netherlands | 8,845,225 | 7,420,660 | 696,968 |
| Dutch W. Indies | — | — | 5,154,535 |
| Great Britain, &c. | 8,569,748 | 17,086,189 | 20,263,733 |
| British W. Indies | — | — | 6,285,254 |
| Imperial ports | — | 70,730 | 105,647 |
| Hamburgh, &c. | 9,589,858 | 14,4 [...]2,613 | 17,144,400 |
| France, &c. | 11,664,090 | 6,941,485 | — |
| French W. Indies | — | — | 2,776,604 |
| French African ports | — | — | 3,900 |
| Spain, &c. | 5,596,253 | 8,740,553 | 7,400,009 |
| Spanish W Indies | — | — | 10,497,493 |
| Portugal. &c. | 463,320 | 729,089 | 857,731 |
| Barbary States | 15,000 | 19,188 | 48,000 |
| Italian ports | 767,064 | 1,334,036 | 1,157,212 |
| E. Indies generally | 387,310 | 261,595 | 595,249 |
| W. Indies generally | 1,508,044 | 248,181 | 92,200 |
| Africa generally | 230,873 | 132,883 | 234,596 |
| Europe generally | 207,077 | 74,858 | 18,118 |
| N. W. Coast Amer. | 15,607 | 79,545 | 72,941 |
| Total | 51,294,710 | 61,327,411 | 78,665,521 |
MINISTERIAL and CONSULAR Appointments.
- Rufus King, Minister Plenipo. at the Court of London;
- Christ, Gore and Wm. Pinkney, Commissioners under the 7th Article of the Treaty of Amity, &c.
- Sam. Williams and Sam. Cobet, Agents to Do.
- Tho Fitsimons and Sam. Sitgreaves, Commissioners under the 5th Article of the Treaty of Amity, &c.
- John Read, American Agent attached thereto;
- David Lenox, Agent for the relief of Seamen in London;
- Sam. Williams, Consul, in Do.—E. Vanderhorst, Do. Bristol;
- Rob. W. Fox, Do. Falmouth;—James Maury, Do. Liverpool;
- Tho, Aldjo, Vice Do. Poole;—Geo knox, Consul, Hull;
- Jos. Wilson, Consul, Dublin;—Jas Holmes, Do. Belfast:
- John Church, Do. Cork;—Henry Grant, Do. Leith;
- John Gavino, Do. Gibraltar;—Turil Tufts, Do. Surrinam;
- Nicholas Rousselet, Do. Demarara and Essequibo;
- John Elmslie, jun▪ Do. Cape of Good Hope;
- —O [...] Elsworth, Wm. R. Davie, and Wm. V. Murray, Envoys Extraordinary to France:
- Isaac C. Barnet, Agent, Bourdeaux;—P. Debree, Agent. Nantz;
- Etienne Cathalan, jun. Do. Marseilles;
- Edw. Stevens, Consul General for St Domingo;
- Rob. Ritchie, Consul at Port a [...] Prince;
- H. Hammond at Cape Francois; Jacob Lewis, Isle of France
- —D. Humphreys, Minister Plenipo at the Court of Madrid;
- Moses Young, Consul at Madrid;—L. O.'Brien, at St. Ander [...];
- Jos. M. Yzardi, at Cadiz;—Wm. Kirkpatrick, at Malaga;
- Rob. Montgomery, at Alicant;—Wm. Ellis, at Barcelona;
- Evan Jones, New Orleans;—W. Hulings, Vice Consul at Do.
- James Blake, at St. Domingo;—J. Blakely, at St. Jago de Cuba.
- —Wm. Smith, Minister Plenipo. At the Court of Portugal;
- Tho. Bulkely, Consul at Lisbon;—John Street, at Fayall.
- —W. V. Murray, Minister to the Batavian Republic;
- Sylvanus Bourne, Consul General at Amsterdam;
- Ez. Furman, Consul at Rotterdam;—B. Williams, at Curracoa.
- —HansSabye, Consul at Copenhagen;—H. Cooper at St. Croix.
- —John Q. Adams, Minister Plenipo. at the Court of Berlin;
- Fred. W. Lutee, Consul at Stettin.
- — [...], Pitcairn, Consul at Hamburgh;— [...]. Wikelhausen, at Brem.
- Eli. Backman, at Gottenburgh;—Job Wall, at St. Bartholomews
- Tho. Appleton, at Leghorn;—John Mathieu, at Naples;
- John B. Sartori, at Rome;—F. G. Walloston, at Genoa.
- —James Simpson, Consul to the Empire of Morocco;
- Rich O'Brian, Consul General at Algiers.
- Wm. Eaton, Consul at Tunis;—J. L. Cathcart, at Tripoli
- Samuel Snow, Consul at Canton in China.
( We cannot say, that these lists are perfect; the present very unsettled state of Europe makes it difficult to obtain a correct list.—But any information on this or any other subject, will be thankfully received and duly attended to.)
- Rob. Liston, Esq. Minister Plenipo. from the Court of London;
- Tho. Barclay, Consul General to the Eastern States
- Phineas Bond (Philadelphia), Do. middle and southern Do.
- Tho. M'Donagh, (Philadelphia), Do. to New Hampshire, Massachusets, &c.
- John Breese, Vice-Consul to Rhode Island;
- John Hamilton (Norfolk) Virginia;—Gao. Wood, Baltimore;
- Ben. Moodie, to North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia;
- John Wallace, Vice-Consul to Georgia.
- —The Chevalier de Yruj [...], Minister Plenipo. from Spain;
- Joseph Ignatius de Viar, Consul General;
- Antonio A. Villalobus, Consul to Virginia;
- Don Manuel Rengil, Vice-Consul for Georgia;
- Diego Murphy, Consul to North and South Carolina.
- —The Chevalier Friere, Minister from Portugal;
- Ignatius Polyart, Consul General;
- J. Abram, Vice-C. to New York;—J. Vernock, to S. Carolina.
- —R. G. Van Polan [...]n, Minister from the Batavian Republic;
- Adrian Valk, Consul to Maryland and Virginia;
- Jan C. Graves Consul for South Carolina and Georgia.
- —Charles G. Paleski, Consul General from Prussia;
- Jan Ernest C. Schultz, Consul for Baltimore.
- —Rich. Soderstrom, Consul General from Sweden;
- Simon Lynch, Vice-Consul for Virginia;
- Jon. Swift, Vice-Consul for the Ports on the Potomak;
- John Boritz, Vice-Consul for North Carolina.
ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES.
- CAVALRY.
- Captains, James Taylor, James V. Ball—Lieutenants, John Webb, Stephen G. Simmons, Wm. Tharp, Arch. Lee.
- First Regiment of ARTILLERISTS and ENGINEERS.
- Henry Burbeck, Lieut. Col. Commandant—Majors John Jac. W. Rivardi, C. Freeman, Jun. Mah. Ford, Moses Porter.
- Second Regiment of ARTILLERISTS and ENGINEERS.
- Lewis Tousard, Lieut. Col. Commandant—Majors Daniel Jackson, Decius Wadsworth, Wm. M'Rea.
- First Regiment of INFANTRY.
- John F. Hamtramck, Lieut. Col. Commandant—Majors, Tho. Hunt, Tho. H. Cushing, Tho. Martin.
- Second Regiment of INFANTRY.
- David Strong, Lieut. Col. Commandant—Majors John H. Buell, Jacob Kinsbury.
- Third Regiment of INFANTRY.
- Henry Gaither, Lieut. Col. Commandant—Majors Jon. Cass, Zeb. Pike.
- Fourth Regiment of INFANTRY.
- Tho. Butler, Lieut. Col. Commandant—Majors Wm. Peters, Dan. Bradley.
[For a List of the Officers, Courts, &c. of the State of Virginia, see page 26 of the Almanack.]
SENATE.
RICHARD KENNON, Speaker;
| DISTRICT. | MEMBERS. |
| Amelia, Chesterfield, Nottaway, Cumberl. | Creed Taylor; |
| Brunswick, Lunenburg, Mecklenb. Greensv. | Rich. Kennon; |
| Charles City, James City, New Kent, | Bur. Bassett; |
| Henrico, Goochland, Louisa, | Tho. Royster; |
| Augusta, Rockingham, Rockbridge, Shenando, Pendleton, Bath, | And. Moore; |
| Lancaster, Richmond, Northumberland, | John Tayloe. |
| Isle of Wight, Surry, Prince George, | Nich. Faulcon; |
| Charlotte, Halifax, Prince Edward, | Gid. Spencer; |
| Gloucester, Middlesex, Mathews | Hould. Hudgins; |
| Spotsylvania, Orange, Culpepper, Madison, | Fr. Strother; |
| Lo [...]don, Fauquier, | Fra, Peyton; |
| Frederick, Berkley, Hampshire, Hardy, | Cha. Magill. |
| Dinwiddie, Southampton, Sussex, | Benj. Wyche; |
| Botetourt, Washington, Montgomery, Russel, Greenb. Kenhawa, Wythe, Lee, Grayson, | James Preston; |
| Hanover, Caroline, | John Homes; |
| Essex, K. William, King & Queen, | Tho. Roane; |
| Prince William, Fairfax, | Thomp. Mason; |
| Monongahela, Ohio, Harrison, Randolph, | Tho. Wilson. |
| P. Anne, Norfolk, Nanesemond, | Tho. Newton; |
| Buckingham, Albemarle, Amherst, Fluvan. | Nich. Cabell; |
| Bedf Camp. Henry, Pitts. Patrick, Frankl. | Geo. Penn; |
| Elizabeth City, Warwick, York, | Rob. Saunders; |
| Westmoreland, Stafford, K. George, | Dan. M'Carty; |
| Accomack, Northampton, | John Eyre. |
Hum. Brooke, Clerk;—Arch. Denholm, Serjt. at Arms;
HOUSE of DELEGATES.
| COUNTIES. | MEMBERS. |
| Accomack, | Tho. M. Bailey, John Wise; |
| Albemarle, | Fra. Walker, Edw. Garland; |
| Amelia, | Joshua Chaffin, Edm. Harrison; |
| Amherst, | David S. Garland, Wm. B. Hare; |
| Augusta, | And. Anderson, Rob. Doak; |
| Bath, | Sam. Vance, Sam. Blackburn; |
| Bedford, | Sam. Hancock, Isaac Otey; |
| Berkely, | Alex. White, James Stephenson; |
| Botetourt, | James Brackenridge, Wm. M'Clenahan; |
| Brooke, | John G. Young, Fra. M'Guire; |
| Brunswick, | James Fletcher, Wm. Ruffin; |
| Buckingham, | Cha. Yancy, Wm. Perkins; |
| Campbell, | Tho. West, Achilles [...]oorman; |
| Caroline, | Dan. Coleman, Rob. G. Robb; |
| Charlotte, | Wm. Price, Tho. Pettus; |
| Charles City, | Sam. Tyler, Edw. Warren; |
| Chesterfield, | Matt. Cheatham, Tho. A. Taylor; |
| Culpepper, | Moses Green, John Roberts; |
| Cumberland, | Wm. Daniel, jun. James Deane; |
| Dinwiddie, | Peter. Goodwyn, John Pegram; |
| Elizabeth City, | Geo. Booker, Worlich Westwood; |
| Essex, | John Daingerfield, Js. M. Garnet; |
| Fairfax, | Tho. Swan, Nich, Fitzburgh; |
| Fauquier, | Gust. B. Horner, Aug [...]ennings; |
| Fluvanna, | James Payne, Jof. Haden; |
| Frederick, | Arch. Magill, Geo. Eskridge; |
| Franklin, | Benj. Cook, Moses Greer; |
| Gloucester, | John Page, Wm. Hall; |
| Goochland, | Jas Pleasants, jun. Jas. Carter; |
| Grayson, | Philip Gains, Minitree Jones; |
| Greenbrier, | John Mathews, Jof. Hanna; |
| Greensville, | Per. Williamson, Nath. Rives; |
| Halifax, | John B. Scott, Wm. Terry; |
| Hampshire, | Osburn Sprig, John [...]iggins; |
| Hanover, | Tho. Starke, Tho. White; |
| Harrison, | John G. Jackson, John [...]runty; |
| Hardy, | Jacob Fisher, Christ. Simon; |
| Henry, | Jo. Martin, Geo. Waller; |
| Henrico, | Wm. Price, Gervas Stoors; |
| Isle of Wight, | James Johnston, Miles Eley, |
| James City, | L. W. Tazewell, Wm. Lightroot; |
| King & Queen, | Benj. Dabney, Larkin Smith; |
| Kenawha, | Tho. Lewis, Wm. Morris; |
| King George, | John Taliofero, Jun. St. [...]ansford; |
| King William, | Rob. Pollard, Nath. Burwell; |
| Lancaster, | Benj C. Spiller, Wm Eustace; |
| Lee, | Peter Fulkerson, Sam. Ewing; |
| Loudon, | Jo. Lewis, jun. Wm. Noland; |
| Louisa, | Rob. Yancy, Gar. Anderson; |
| Lunenburg, | Luw. Jones, W. Taylor; |
| Mecklenburg, | Wm. Munford, Wm. Stone; |
| Madison, | Henry Hill, Paschar Early; |
| Mathews, | Zadock Litchfield, Jo. Billups; |
| Middlesex, | Wm. Segar, [...]h. Blakey; |
| Monongalia, | Benj. Reeder, Wm. John; |
| Monroe, | Wm. Haynes, John Gray; |
| Montgomery, | Dan. Howe, James Craig; |
| Nansemond, | Willis Riddick, Josiah Riddick; |
| New Kent, | John D. Watkins, Jas. Taylor; |
| Norfolk, | James Callis, Tho. Shepard; |
| Northampton, | Nath. Darby, Major S. Pitts; |
| Northumberland, | Hieram L. Opey, Wm. Ball; |
| Nottoway, | Free. Eppes, Tho. Eppes; |
| Ohio, | Wm M'Kinley, Henry Smith; |
| Orange | Isaac Davis, Jas. Barbor, jun. |
| Patrick | Cha. Foster, John [...]ughes; |
| Pendleton, | Wm. M'koy. Jacob [...]ull; |
| Pittsylvania, | Tho. H. Wooding, Rob. Devin; |
| Powhatan, | Wm. Mosely, Fred, Woodson; |
| Pri. Anne, | James Robinson, Wm. [...]; |
| Prince Edward, | Peter Johnston, A. B. Venable; |
| Pr George, | James Cureton, Benj [...] [...]arrison; |
| Pr. William, | Tho. Mason, Math. [...]arrison; |
| Randolph | Wm. Wilson, Adam [...]ee; |
| Richmond, | Rich. Barnes, Wm. M'Carty; |
| Rockbridge, | John Bowyer, And. Alexander; |
| Rockingham, | Benj. Harrison, Geo. [...]uston; |
| Russel, | James M'Farlane, Rich, Price; |
| Shenando, | James Allen, John Gatewood; |
| Southampton, | Wm. Blow, Wm. Bailey; |
| Spottsylvania, | John Mercer, Lar. Stannard; |
| Stafford, | Dan. C Brent, Nat, Fox; |
| Surry, | Nich. Sebrell, Sam. Bailey; |
| Sussex, | Benj Peete, John R. Mason; |
| Tazewell, | — |
| Warwick, | Rich, Cary, John Burnham; |
| Washington, | Sam. Meek, Rob, Craig, jun. |
| Westmoreland, | Geo. Garner, John P. Hungerford; |
| Wood, | [...]ugh Phelps, John G. [...]enders [...]n; |
| Wythe, | Daniel Sheffey, John Evans; |
| York, | Samuel Shield, John Waller; |
| City of Richmond, | Charles Copeland; |
| Borough of Norfolk, | Robert B. Taylor; |
| City Williamsburg, | Benjamin C. Waller. |
| Wm. Wirt, Clerk;— | —Moss, Serjeant at Arms. |
At the opening of the Assembly, the Governor sent a letter (along with other communications) dated 1st Dec. 1800, of which the following is the substance:—His Excllency notices the state of the Penitentiary House, which he thinks ought to be strengthened and surrounded with an external wall, &c.—Mentions the Marine Hospital at Norfolk, to be ceded to the United States on certain conditions; also, a certain tract of land called Gosport, "as soon as he should be satisfied the United States were willing to pay the amount, at which the said tract should be valued by agents appointed by each party."—He takes notice of the contagious disease which lately afflicted Norfolk and Baltimore, and the measures he took to enforce quarantine, &c.—He recites the proceedings [Page 153] taken in regard to the Act for appointing Electors to chuse a President and Vice-President of the United States, and "the chearfulness with which said Law was received and executed by the patriotic Citizens of this State."—The paragraphs concerning the Alien and Sedition Laws, and that touching the conduct of a certain Magistrate in Norfolk, we shall insert verbatim, for the information of our Readers:—
"As soon as the requisite number of copies of the Report of the Select Committee of the last session on the Answers of several of the states to the Resolutions of the General Assembly, which passed at the preceding Session, relative to the Alien and Sedition Laws of the United States, and the Instructions to the Senators of this State in the Congress of the United States were printed, the Executive hastened to distribute them among the several Counties of the Commonwealth, in compliance with the Resolution of the 20th of January last. It is believed, that no public documents illustrative of public transactions, however interesting, were ever more generally read or thoroughly approved, than these were; nor can it be doubted that the light which they communicated on the very important subject to which they referred, tended to increase in a high degree, the confidence of the good people of this Commonwealth, in the wisdom and rectitude of the policy which governed the General Assembly. In connection with that subject it is proper to add, that since your last Session, the Sedition Law, one of the Acts complained of, has been carried into effect in this Commonwealth, by the decision of a Federal Court.—I notice this event, not with a view of censuring, or even criticising it. The transaction has gone to the world, and the impartial, will judge of it, as it deserves. I notice it for the purpose of remarking, that the decision was executed with the same order and tranquil submission on the part of the people, as could have been shewn by them on a similar occasion to any the most necessary, constitutional, and popular Acts of the Government. The constitutional authorities and the good people of this Commonwealth, are attached to the Union, and cherish it with their fondest wishes. The colonization of their ancestors in this Western world, was generally from the same country, at the same time, and produced by the same cause; they alike groaned under an oppression which repressed their growth and checked their prosperity:—they fought and bled in the same battles, in defence of the same rights, and have since experienced, with unexampled harmony and unanimity, a variety of new and interesting occurrences which admonish them, they still are and ought to remain forever united. The General Assembly, and the good people of this Commonwealth, have acquitted themselves [Page 154] to their own consciences, and to their brethren in America, in support of a cause, which they deemed a national one, by the stand they made, and the sentiments they expressed of those acts of the General Government; but they have looked for a change in that respect, to a change in the public opinion which ought to be free, not to measures of violence, discord and disunion, which they abhor."—
"Some time in April last I was advised by a respectable citizen in Norfolk, that a Magistrate of that Borough had received from the Captain of the Constellation, a frigate of the United States, a person said to be one of the mutineers on board his Britannic Majesty's ship the Hermione; that he committed the said person to jail [...] with an order to the jailor to surrender him to the British Consul, on his application; that he was surrendered accordingly to the said consul, who sent him to a British Island where he was executed. A conduct so extraordinary as that alledged, could not otherwise than excite the astonishment of the Executive. Every man within the jurisdiction of the state, is under certain exceptions, amenable to its laws and entitled to its protection. If he commits an offence against the sovereignty, or other rights of the United States; he is amenable to their government and laws for the infraction. But the act which was denounced did not appear to proceed from, or to be sanctioned by the authority of that government. To designate a man within the jurisdiction of a state, as one not entitled to its protection, or that of the United States, to divest him of such protection, and surrender him to a foreign power, to be sent abroad, tried, condemned, and executed, by the sentence of a foreign tribunal, are important acts of sovereignty, in which the character and agency of the chief public functionaries should be seen and for which they are highly responsible. But nothing of the kind appeared in the present instance. No respectful, though strict analysis, by the competent authority, of the respective claims to jurisdiction, between the state and the United States, with respect to the fugitive, who sought an asylum here; no circumspect examination of treaties between the United States and a foreign power, which ought to precede an act derogating in some respects from the national sovereignty, were heard of. The magistrate who acted was not even an officer of the federal government, but of this state, in which light, he was in a peculiar degree responsable to its authority. The act was stated to be summary and peremptory, and strictly that of the magistrate himself. As however this communication compromitted the character of a consul of a foreign power, and an officer of the United States, as well as that of a magistrate of this Commonwealth, the Executive was careful to observe in the part it took, the utmost deference to the rights [Page 155] of those who were to be affected by it. The information was given in writing by a respectable citizen, but yet that did not seem to be an evidence sufficiently formal and authentic, to justify a prompt proceeding under it. It was deemed more consistent with the principles of justice, and becoming the character of a free State, to cause the verity of these charges to be ascertained by affidavit, with due notice to the parties before any step was taken. And as the Attorney General was necessarily engaged in public business in one of the superior courts at the time, that trust was committed to George Hay, a citizen of merit and talents, by whom it was executed, with that degree of judgement and propriety its delicacy and importance required. I am sorry to add that the result of the enquiry did not diminish the presumption that the charges alledged were true. It was deemed of sufficient force to impose on the Executive an obligation, to refer the subject to the Attorney General, with a request that he would take such measures in reference to the transaction as in his judgement might be suitable. I submit a copy of all the papers necessary to give a full view of this interesting occurrence to the General Assembly; with whose wisdom it will remain to determine, whether any further provision ought to be made by law for similar offences in future."
Copy of Mr. LEE'S Letter, referred to in Governor Monroe's Address to the Legislature:
SIR,—Without apology for my not being personally known to you, I take the liberty of addressing to you as chief magistrate of the Commonwealth of Virginia, on a subject in my judgement highly interesting to the liberty and happiness of my fellow-citizens.
Some time in the spring of last year, Captain Truxton, of the Constellation frigate, sent to Doctor J. K. Read, one of the aldermen of the borough of Norfolk, a man who HE said had acknowledged himself one of the mutineers on board the Hermione frigate; the man was committed to jail, subject to the order of the British consul, by him taken out, sent to Jamaica, and there executed. This information is from Dr. Read himself, in the presence of Seth Foster, J. Nivison, Otway Byrd, Dr. Barraud, the British Consul and several others; for on being asked by capt. Traxton on Sunday last, what had become of the man he had sent as one of the mutineers on board of the Hermione frigate, he replied that he had delivered him to the British consul. Mr Hamilton, who was present, observed, HE had sent him to Jamaica, where he was hanged. Although this confession was made in the presence of staunch federalists and men of order, yet the principle was alarming, and of course made some [Page 156] noise. As soon as I heard of it I applied to the jailor. The result of my enquiry is, that there was such a person committed by Doctor Read, subject to the order of the British Consul; that he was taken out of jail, and put on board of a British vessel—but what his fate was, he knows not.—The mittimus he says is either lost or mislaid. The jailor also informed me, that previous to this another man was committed by Doctor Read for the same offence, but that he died in jail before there was an opportunity to send him away; a copy of this mittimus I herewith send you.
I shall forbear to remark on the dreadful consequences that may arise from a conduct of this sort, and shall only observe, that if men cloathed with authority can be made instruments of oppression to gratify the views of a British Consul, we may bid adieu to the liberty and happiness of our country, and every thing dear and valuable to us in it. From conviction in my mind, that doctor Read's conduct has been improper, I have thought it incumbent on me to give you this information. I am very respectfully, your's &c.
THE subjoined letter was written by me to Governor Monroe, and went to the hope, that his Excellency, sensible of the injury he must have done me, in his letter of communication to the legislature, would have thought it right, to request a suspension of the public opinion, until the event of that prosecution which he has ordered against me, and which is depending and undetermined, should be known. But, his Excellency has neither deigned to notice my letter, or to take any measures for softening the severity of his denunciation.
Is it not novelty in the new philosophy? Is it not a phenomenon in the Executive Department of any free country, to appoint an Inquisitor, for the express purpose of inviting, soliciting, and culling such testimony exparte, as shall suit the dark purposes of a malicious informer? Is it not new, that the unguarded openness of private conversation, in domestic circles (like the domiciliary visits of Robespierre) shall be betrayed, and tortured into matter of information and impeachment? and that from such evidence, and the hypothetical opinion of an Attorney General founded thereon, a Chief Magistrate, shall think himself authorised to prejudge a case—denounce an individual, and consign him to the resentment and execution of his fellow citizens—untried, unheard?
Conscious that I have never have been governed by improper motives, in any act of my official duty. I feel little apprehension for the consequences of this prosecution—the [Page 157] errors of judment may be imputed to me (for 'tis the portion of human nature to err,) but the honours which surrounded his Excellency, with a much better salary superadded, would be considerations insufficient to induce me to commit an act, which the dictates of my own heart did not fully justify.
For these, and many other reasons, I think it necessary, through the medium of your paper, to request a suspension of the public opinion, until the event of the prosecution now depending, shall be known.
As to the illiberal, unjustifiable, unexampled and violent language, which has been used by many members of Assembly, both within and without the house, proceeding from the impressions which were made by the communications, I shall forbear to make any other remark, than to leave the persons who are implicated, to the unavoidable accusations of their own consciences, or to be more and more exposed by their own obstinate stupidity.
LETTER to the GOVERNOR.
SIR,—I shall be pardoned for asserting an inherent right of complaining when an injury is done me, however elevated the station of him, by whom such injury is meditated.
I complain, Sir, of an unjustifiable and wanton exercise of your powers, as Chief Magistrate of this Commonwealth, in the exposition of documents, taken exparte, and which you knew were not testimony, even in that Court, from whose archives you have taken them, and in which the prosecution, by your order instituted against me, is depending and undetermined, to the Legislature of Virginia, in your letter of communication to that honorable body. I say unjustifiable, because, I am at this moment a subject of legal prosecution before another tribunal, and the law which made you a Governor, forbade your prejudging a cause, or fixing a guilt of offence, on a man thus circumstanced, ere that guilt had been proved by a legal and impartial trial!
The procedure complained of, was wanton, because, as no legislative interference could possibly affect me, for a supposed offence heretofore committed, and as you have honoured me with executive, I can by no means become the object of legislative attention; therefore, no valuable purpose, could result, from consigning me, to the execration and resentment of my fellow-citizens at large, by a communication thus highly sanctioned, unless indeed, it was calculated to poison and influence the public mind, to the dereliction of that impartiality, which should be the first feature in the event of every legal process.
I forbear entering fully into this novel and extraordinary precedure, left under the pressure of the injury you have done me, I should be tempted to lose sight of that respect, which I [Page 158] have ever considered as due to the constituted authorities of my country. I shall only take occasion further to ask your Excellency, if in the event of this cause (doubtful, notwithstanding the respectability of your Citizen informer, or the talents of your missionary) a verdict should be given in my favour, what method will you adopt to eradicate the poison, you have so successfully instilled into the minds of my fellow citizens, to restore me to their confidence and esteem?
In the House of Delegates, Jan. 14, Mr. Edm. Harrison reported from the committee appointed to investigate and report upon the conduct of John Hamilton, the consul resident at Norfolk, in the transaction alluded to in the Governor's communication relative to the alledged delivery of Hugh Jones, by John K. Read, and at the request of the said consul, that the committee had, according to order, had the said subject under their consideration, and are of opinion, that John Hamilton, as consul, was not authorised under the laws of the United States, or any existing treaties, between his Britannic Majesty and the United States to demand the surrender of any person whatsoever, as he is represented to have done.
They are also of opinion, that the delivery of the said Hugh Jones, if made as represented, was done without any authority under the existing laws of this state or of the United States, and that such delivery if so unlawfully made, does in no degree extenuate or diminish the offence of the said John Hamilton.
And Whereas it is provided by the Constitution of the United States, that the judicial power of the United States shall extend to all cases affecting Ambassadors, or other public Ministers or Consuls.
Resolved, That the Governor be requested to transmit to the President of the United States, a copy of the beforementioned communication, together with the documents accompanying the same, with a request that he will cause the transaction to be enquired into by the competent authority; and that such redress may be given, as the laws of nations and the United States will warrant.
Resolved, That provision ought to be made by law, for punishing any like offences that may happen in future.
Then the first Resolution being twice read, was on the question being put thereupon, agreed to by house.
The second Resolution being twice read, a motion was made to amend the same by striking out the words "happen in future" at the end thereof, and inserting the words "in future be committed by any person subject to the jurisdiction of this State."
[Page 159] And the question being put, it passed in the affirmative.
And the question being put on the Resolution as amended, it passed in the affirmative.
Ordered, That a Bill be brought in pursuant to the second Resolution, and that the Committee who reported it do prepare and bring in a bill accordingly.
In the House of Delegates, Dec. 31, Mr. Edm. Harrison reported from the Committee to whom was referred the Governor's letter on the subject of the late conspiracy of slaves, and a petition of sundry citizens of this Commonwealth, complaining of various grievances arising from the law for freeing negroes, and praying a repeal thereof, that the committee had according to order, had the same under their consideration, and had agreed upon the following resolutions:
1. Resolved, as the opinion of this committee, that the Executive be requested to distribute arms to the citizens of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Petersburg, Manchester, Richmond, Fredericksburg and Alexandria, under such regulations and restraints as will insure the safe keeping of said arms
2 Resolved, as the opinion of this committee, that a law ought to pass, authorising magistrates to call out patroles, and subjecting the military in certain cases to the orders of the civil authority.
3. Resolved as the opinion of this committee, that a law ought to pass, to prevent free negroes or mulattoes from residing within the limits of the towns of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Petersburg, Manchester, Richmond, Fredericksburg or Alexandria, unless authorised by the court of the town, or by the county court in which such town may be where the town itself has no court, nor shall any free negro or mulatto reside nearer than [...] miles from the said towns, unless authorised by the court of the county in which such negro or mulatto resides.
4. Resolved, as the opinion of this commitee, that the Governor be requested to correspond with the President of the United States, on the subject of purchasing lands without the limits of this state, whither persons obnoxious to the laws, or dangerous to the peace of society may be removed.
5. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee that a law ought to pass, authorising the raising of men to be stationed in Richmond.
6. Resolved, That it is the opinion of this committee, that a law ought to pass, empowering the Governor to purchase and set free, in behalf of the Commonwealth, Pharoah a slave, the property of Philip Sheppard, and Tom a save, the property of Elizabeth Sheppard, and that the said Pharoah and Tom be allowed a pension of [...] dollars each per annum.
[Page 160] 7. Resolved, as the opinion of this committee, that a law ought to pass, authorising the Executive to transport certain slaves, now under sentence of death, for conspiracy, to be fold for the benefit of this Commonwealth.
The 1st, 2d, 3d, 4th, 6th and 7th resolutions being twice read, were on the question put thereupon, agreed to by the house. The 5th resolution being read, a motion was made to amend the same, by adding at the end thereof the following words, "in addition to the present guard and artificers at the Point of Fork, who, with the arms and ammunition there, shall be removed to the city of Richmond."
And the question being put thereupon, it passed in the affirmative.
And then the question being put on the resolutions as amended, it passed in the affirmative.
Ordered, That a bill or bills be brought in pursuant to the 1st, 2d, 3d, 5th, 6th and 7th resolutions, and that the Committee who reported the resolutions do prepare and bring in the same.
Ordered, That the Clerk do carry the 4th resolution to the Senate for their concurrence.
In the House of Delegates, Dec. 23, Mr. Booker reported from the Committee appointed to meet a Committee from the Senate, and jointly with them to examine the Treasurer's accounts, that the committee had, according to order, met a Committee from the Senate, and jointly with them proceeded to examine the said accounts, and had agreed upon a report as follows:
Your Committee find, that at the last annual settlement of the Treasurer's accounts, viz. on the 30th of September, 1799, there remained a balance in the treasury of 109,778 dollars and 1 cent, in specie. In crop to [...]bacco received from Thomas Lee, Esq. agent for the state for the rents of its lands in Prince William, formerly the property of—Bristoe, a British subject, 32,162 pounds nett. Indents to the amount of 279 dollars and 94 cents.
Your Committee find that since the said settlement, there hath been received by William Berkeley, treasurer, on public accounts, the sums following, viz:
| 3347 | 13 | |
| 1784 | 4294 | 96 |
| 1786 | 2677 | 44 |
| 1787 | 206 | 99 |
| 1788 | 1469 | 66 |
| 1789 | 481 | 12 |
| 1791 | 156 | 93 |
| 1792 | 624 | [...] |
| 1794 | 971 | 78 |
| 1795 | 1199 | 43 |
| 1796 | 2554 | 58 |
| 1797 | 9227 | 53 |
| 1798 | 88,875 | 16 |
| 1799 | 142,131 | 19 |
[Page 161] Your Committee find also that the sum of 1527 dollars and 72 cents hath been received by him on account of the purchase of unappropriated land, 9230 dollars and 77 cents from clerks, 19.517 dollars and 22 cents, from inspectors of tobacco, and on account of tobacco saved at the burning of Robert Bolling's warehouse, 255 dollars and 33 cents, for composition on surveys, 668 dollars and 44 cents, from sundry persons for the redemption of their lands returned for the non-payment of their taxes due thereon, 8765 dollars and 94 cents, from sheriffs on account of militia fines, 1684. dollars and 6 cents, on account of the arrearages of the certificate taxes, amounting in the whole (including the balance [...] which remained due at the last settlement) to 416,958 dollars and 36 cents.
Your Committee find further, that the said Treasurer hath disbursed and admitted in discount agreeably to law to the amount of 216,247 dollars and 52 cents, as appears by the receipts to them produced; the corresponding warrants after having been carefully examined and compared with the receipts, were burnt.
Your Committee find further, that the said Treasurer hath admitted in discount as the law directs for the arrearages of the certificate taxes, certificates to the amount of 1669 dollars and 82 cents.
Your Committee find further, that the said Treasurer hath admitted in discount as the law directs for the arrearages of the revenue taxes, tobacco which at the rates at which it was received in the treasury, amounts to 2543 dollars.
The credits being duly stated, there remained a balance in the treasury on the 30th of September, 1800, of 279 dollars and 94 cent in indents, and 96,218 dollars and 8 cents in specie, and 32,162 pounds nett tobacco: as will appear by the general account hereto annexed.—That the said balance and the said tobacco were duly accounted for, the annexed certificate, signed by the members of council duly authorised to examine the Treasurer's office, will shew: to which certificate and the account hereto annexed, your Committee beg leave to refer
And the said Certificate of the Council is as follows:
THE Treasurer being enjoined to close the accounts of his office on the 30th of September annually: We the undersigned (thereto appointed by the Executive at the request of the Treasurer) repaired to the treasury on the morning of the 1st of October, in order to ascertain the amount of money, tobacco and other facilities actually in the treasury received on public account, and constituting the balance due therefrom the 30th of September, 1800.
Having examined and carefully counted and weighed the money, we find it amount to 96,300 dollars.
[Page 162] We find also tobacco notes now in the treasury, received on public account, viz. for 55 hogsheads, quantity, 56,815 lb. of crop tobacco, and 2491 lb. transfer, which at the rates received by law, amounts to 2543 dollars.
We find also notes for thirty hogsheads of tobacco, quantity, 32,162 lb nett, which was received by Thomas Lee, agent for the state for rents in the county of Prince William: and indents to amount of 279 dollars and 94 cents
- J. PENDLETON.
- JOHN GUERRANT.
| For the General Assembly | — | 41,000 |
| Officers of Government | — | 60,000 |
| Do. Militia | — | 4,500 |
| Contingent expences | — | 12,000 |
| Criminal charges | — | 18,000 |
| Slaves executed | — | 6,000 |
| Expences of guards | — | 6,000 |
| Representation to Congress | — | 300 |
| [...]unatic Hospital | — | 4,000 |
| Commissioners of Revenue | — | 15,000 |
| Pensioners | — | 7,000 |
| Dismal Swamp Canal Company | — | 1,500 |
| The Guard to be kept at Richmond | — | 12,000 |
| Arsenal and manufactory of arms | — | 33,000 |
| Penitentiary | — | 30,000 |
| Public Buildings | — | 1,000 |
| Public Ware houses | — | 5,000 |
| Public services of Clerks of District Courts | — | 1,800 |
| Interest on paper money funde [...] | 360 | |
| Do. on military certificates | 3,200 | |
| Do. on loans, including interest on certificates issued for re-payment of money paid into the Treasury for British debts | 29,721 | 33,281 |
| Amount of warrants issued more than the revenue of last year produced | — | 10,963 |
| Amount of warrants drawn on the contingent fund since Oct. last on account of the late insurrections | — | 9,139 |
| Monies before appropriated for arms | 199,000 | |
| Expended | 39,085 | |
| Now subject to the disposition of the Executive | 159,314 | |
| For building store-houses for tobacco on James River and Appomatox Canals as provided by law | — | 8,000 |
| 478,798 | ||
| Balance in favour of resources to meet this Estimate | 90,086 | |
| Dollars | 568,884 |
| Nett amount of tax according to taxation for 1799 on lands, lots, and other property | 257,780 |
| Surplus on tobacco exported | 18,000 |
| Tax on law process, &c. | 7,500 |
| Do. on Registers' fees | 3,000 |
| Cash in the Treasury 1st Oct. 1800 | 96,290 |
| Arrears of taxes for the year 1799 | 138,649 |
| Do. 1798 | 30,147 |
| Sale of Gosport to the United States | 12,300 |
| Amount due from James River Canal Company | 5,517 |
| Dollars | 568,884 |
On comparing the Estimate of Expences and Debts payable from Sept. 1800 to Oct. 1801, with the statement of the amount of annual revenue, cash in the Treasury, &c. and presuming that the present General Assembly will think it just to continue the appropriation of the arrearages of taxes prior to 1796, to the redemption of certificates of the debts of this State, it appears to the Committee, that the sum of 90,086 dollars, which is found in favour of the resources of the Commonwealth, gives ample security against any probable deficit in the receipt of the revenue, and justifies the policy of making appropriations according to the foregoing estimates.
Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee, that taxes ought to be continued the same as heretofore.
N. B. By amendments made to the foregoing Estimate in the House of Delegates, 15,000 dollars were stricken from the appropriations for the Arsenal and Penitentiary.
| On lands, for every 100 dollars value, agreeably to the equalizing law. | 0 | 48 |
| For every slave above the age of 12 years, except such as have been or shall be exempted by reason of age or infirmity by the respective county or corporation courts, | 0 | 44 |
| For every stud-horse or jack-ass, twice the price at which such horse or ass covers a mare for the season. | ||
| For all other horses, mules, mares, and colts, each | 0 | 12 |
| For every ordinary license | 12 | 50 |
| For every 4-wheel riding carriage, except phaetons and stage-waggons, per wheel | 1 | 20 |
| For all phaetons and stage-waggons, per wheel | 0 | 84 |
| For every other riding carriage with two wheels, each | 0 | 43 |
| And for all lots and houses in towns 1 dollar 56 cents on every 100 dollars of the rent thereof, to be ascertained by the rent paid by the tenant, and where such house or lot is in the occupation of the proprietor, the yearly rent or value shall be ascertained by the Commissioners of the Revenue, or either of them, by a comparison of its value with other houses and lots actually rented. | ||
| On merchants selling by wholesale | 40 | |
| On do. selling by retail | [...]5 |
The following Bill was presented in the House of Delegates of this state, by Mr. Munford, and read the first time; and the farther consideration thereof was postponed till the 23d of April next.
As the inconveniences attending the present system of Courts of Chancery, from the delays attending the mode of proceeding and the vast accumulation of business, have occasioned much complaint, several plans have been proposed as remedies for the evil. A bill which was warmly advocated by many members, to change the system of the High Court of Chancery, by dividing the State into 5 districts, underwent a long and elaborate discussion at this session. That bill was printed at the public expence, and is now submitted to the consideration of the people.
Actuated by a conviction that the best mode of obtaining the object desired, is to enable the Courts of common law to give relief in all cases, to which their powers can be extended, others were of opinion that the following bill ought to be preferred.—It is therefore here inserted, that the people may give it due examination, and may, if they think proper, express their opinion on the subject, by instructions to their Representatives, or petitions to the next General Assembly.
A BILL to enable the Courts of Common Law to give Relief in certain Cases.
WHEREAS the delays incident to the present system of the High Court of Chancery, and other Courts of similar jurisdiction are so great as often to amount to a denial of justice, which delays arise from the number of cases in which the Courts of Common Law are at present unable to give relief; for remedy thereof, be it enacted by the General Assembly, that the defendant in any action in a Court of Common Law, may plead in his defence all such matters of the things as may be just and equitable; the plaintiff when required by the defendant, shall reply on oath, and no demurrer to any plea shall be sustained, unless such plea be had, not only in law, but in equity.
[Page 165] 2. Whenever any legal or equitable cause of defence shall arise, or come to the knowledge of the defendant after the trial or judgement, on affidavit thereof by the defendant, the Court may on motion award a new trial, or permit a new plea or pleas to be filed, and farther proceedings to be had in the cause according to the justice and right of the case: Provided, that unnecessary delay shall not have been practised by the defendant after the ground of the said application shall have arisen or come to his knowledge.
3. No objection shall hereafter be taken in point of form to the declaration or pleadings in any action whatever, but objections to the substance only shall be admitted.
4. Any person entitled to a legacy may recover the same in an action on the case against the executor or administrator of the decedent, and in cases where at present friendly bills and answers in chancery are resorted to for the division of estates, the same shall and may be done on motion to the Court of the District, county or corporation in which the estates to be divided exist.—And where the said estates are not all in one District, but in different Districts, on motion to the General Court or High Court of Chancery, at the discretion of the party applying for the same. The Court to which the said motion shall be made shall appoint commissioners to make such division, and report to the said Court for their final decision; Provided that all parties interested shall be lawfully consenting to the said motion.
5. And be it further enacted, that special actions on the case may be instituted for the foreclosure of mortgages to compel the rendition and settlement of accounts, the specific performance of contracts, the perpetuation of evidence, the discovery of facts within the private knowlege of defendants, and relief against all kinds of fraud, in which action the pleas shall be on oath, where the plaintiff in his declaration demands it, all facts controverted between the parties shall be tried by jury, and the Courts shall enter such interlocutory or final judgements as the nature of each may require, may appoint commissioners to examine, state, and settle accounts, or to make sale of mortgage property, and [...] issue any writ of execution, attachment or distringas which may be necessary to carry the said judgements into effect.—The writs in the said actions on the case shall and may be executed and returned in the same manner as subpoenas in chancery, and if any of the defendants are out of the commonwealth, the same proceedings shall be had against the said absent defendants as are had in the Courts of equity in similar cases.
6. Writs of ne exeat shall and may be granted and dissolved by any county or corporation court in the same manner, and under the same regulations as the same are granted and dissolved by the High Court of Chancery.
[Page 166] 7. The High Court of Chancery and other Courts of Equity shall in no case have jurisdiction when an adequate remedy can be had in the courts of common law, but in other cases the powers of the said courts shall remain as heretofore.
8. All acts and parts of acts, which are contrary to this act, are hereby repealed.
9. This act shall commence in force from the 1st day of March next.
An Act to empower the Governor of this Commonwealth to transport Slaves condemned when it shall be deemed expedient.—(Passed Jan. 6, 1801.)
BE it enacted by the General Assembly, That the Governor, with the advice of Council, be, and he is hereby authorized, when it shall be deemed expedient, to contract and agree with any person, or persons, for the sale and purchase of all the slaves who now are, or hereafter may be, under sentence of death, for conspiracy, insurrection, or any other crime. The person or persons, at the time of making such purchase, shall enter into bond with sufficient security, under the penalty of 500 dollars for each slave, payable to the Governor, or his successors, for the use of the Commonwealth, with condition that he or they will carry out of the United States all the slaves by him or them purchased who are now, or may hereafter be under sentence of death; and the sale and disposal of every such slave shall amount to a reprieve of him or them from such sentence of death; and the sale of every such slave shall amount to a reprieve: Provided always, That if any slave so sold pursuant to this act, shall return into this State, he shall be apprehended and executed under the sentence of the Court, as if no reprieve had taken place. And in all cases where any slave or slaves shall be tried and convicted for any crime which may affect life, the Court, before whom such trials shall be had, shall cause the testimony for and against every such slave to be entered on record, and a copy of the whole proceedings to be transmitted forthwith to the Executive. The owners of all slaves so sold or transported, shall be paid in the same manner as for slaves executed.
This Act shall commence and be in force from its passing.
An Act to amend the Act entitled "an Act to reduce into one the several Acts concerning Slaves, free Negroes, and Mulattoes."
BE it enacted by the General Assembly, That if any person shall permit his or her slave, or any slave hired by him or her, to go a [...] large or hire him or herself out, it shall be lawful for any person, and it shall be the duty of every sheriff, deputy sheriff, coroner and serjeant of a corporation, to apprehend and carry such slave before a magistrate of the [Page 167] county or corporation where apprehended, and if it shall appear to the magistrate that such slave comes within the purview of this act, he shall order him or her to the jail of the county or corporation, there to be safely kept until the next court, when if it shall appear to the court that the slave so ordered to jail hath been permitted or suffered to hire him or herself out contrary to the meaning of this Act, it shall be lawful for said court, and they are hereby required to order the sheriff or other officer, to sell every such slave for ready money at the next court held for the said county or corporation, notice being given at the court-house door at least twenty days before such sale. Provided always, that no sale pursuant to this act shall convey a greater interest in such slave than the person himself or herself had who commits a breach of this law, unless it shall appear to the court that the owner of such slave was privy to or connived at such breach.
Any person who shall suffer a slave held by him or her as trustee, guardian, executor or executrix, administrator or administratrix, to hire him or herself out contrary to the meaning of this act, shall forfeit and pay forty dollars, to be recovered by any person who will sue for the same, by action of debt or information, in any court of record within this commonwealth.
One third of the amount of the sale of every such slave shall be applied by the court ordering such sale towards lessening the county or corporation levy, and the residue shall be paid by the sheriff or other officer, and deducting six per centum on the whole amount for his trouble, and the jailor's fees, to the person who shall inform thereof, and cause the fast to be established. And where there shall be no informer, then the whole proceeds of the sale, after deducting the commission of the sheriff and other officers, the jailor's fees, as aforesaid, shall be applied towards lessening the county or corporation levy.
Any negro or mulatto bond or free shall be a good witness in pleas of the commonwealth for or against negroes or mulattoes bond or free, or in civil pleas where free negroes or mulattoes shall alone be parties. And whereas experience has evinced that the fourth section of the act entitled an act to prevent the migration of free negroes and mulattoes into this Commonwealth, is detective—for remedy whereof, Be it enacted, that if any slave shall hereafter be brought or come into this state from any place without the limits of the same, it shall be the duty of any magistrate of the county or corporation where such slave shall be found, upon information to him given, to cause such slave to be immediately apprehended and brought before him or some other magistrate of the county or corporation, who upon satisfactory evidence had shall commit such slave to the jail of his county or corporation; and the magistrate so committing shall forthwith give [Page 168] notice to the Governor of his proceedings, who with the advice of Council, shall take such steps for the removal and transportation out of this Commonwealth, of the slave or slaves so committed at the public expence, as they in their discretion may think proper. And the expences so incurred shall be paid by the person importing or holding such slave so removed, and shall be recoverable against any such person as aforesaid, his or her executors or administrators in the name of the Governor of the Commonwealth for the time being, by motion or suit, in which every such person may be held to bail in any court of record of this Commonwealth, provided ten days previous notice be given of such motion to the persons to be affected thereby; provided also that the Governor shall have power to order such slave to be sold and transported without the limits of this Commonwealth, if the person holding or importing said slave be unable to reimburse the Commonwealth, the expence of commitment, removal and transportation—Provided also, that nothing herein contained shall be construed to repeal the fourth section of the act entitled an Act to reduce into one the several acts concerning slaves, free negroes and mulattoes.
And be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of every Commissioner of the Revenue annually to return to the court of his county, or corporation, at the time of returning other lists of taxable property, a complete list of all free negroes and mulattoes within his district, together with their names, sex, places of abode, and particular trades, occupation, or calling; a copy of which list shall be fixed by the Clerk of said county or corporation at the Court-house door, and the original be deposited for safe keeping in his office. Every Commissioner of the Revenue, or Clerk of a Court, [...]ailing in said duty, shall forfeit and pay the sum of 20 dollars, to be recovered by motion or information, one half to the use of the county or corporation, and the residue to any person who shall [...]ue for the same.
If any free negro or mulatto so registered shall remove into another county, it shall and may be lawful for any magistrate of the county or corporation in which he or she may reside, to issue a warrant to apprehend said free negro or mulatto and if upon examination it be found that he or she has to honest employment by which to maintain him or herself, such free negro or mulatto shall be deemed and treated as a vagrant.
All the courts of law within this Commonwealth shall constantly give this act in charge to the grand juries of their courts at the times when such grand juries shall be sworn.
All acts and parts of acts contrary to this act, shall be, and the same are hereby repealed.
This act shall commence in force from the 1st day of June next.
[Page 169] Jan. 23. 1801.—This day both branches of the General Assembly of this Commonwealth adjourned.—During the Session, the following Bills were passed:
1. To amend the act, entitled, "An act to amend an act, entitled, an act for appointing Electors, to choose a President and Vice-President of the United States."
2. Concerning the Dismal Swamp Canal Company.
3. To amend an act, entitled, "An act to reduce into one the several acts, concerning mills, mill-dams, and other obstructions of water courses."
4. To amend the act, for incorporating the trustees of the Leesburg Academy, in the county of London.
5. For establishing the town of Fairfield, in the county of Rockbridge.
6. To prevent obstructions to the navigation of the Little Kenawha.
7. To establish an inspection of flour at Mead Anderson's mill in the county of Halifax.
8. To increase the salary of the inspectors of tobacco at Dixon's Ware-house.
9. To authorise the commissioners of the revenue to re-assess lands in certain cases
10. For increasing the power of the trustees of the town of Franklin, in the county of Pendleton.
11. To establish an inspection of tobacco on the land of John Brook, in the county of Campbell.
12. To amend the act, to authorise the opening a turnpike road, over the south mountain.
13. To regulate costs in certain cases.
14. Concerning the town of Watson, in the county of Hampshire.
15. To incorporate the Trustees of Jefferson College, in the county of Amelia.
16. To establish an inspection of flour on the lands of Thomas M. Randolph.
17. For adding part of the county of Kenawha, to the county of Wood.
18. Concerning the town of Lexington, in the county of Rockbridge.
19. To establish an inspection of tobacco on the lands of Thomas M. Randolph, in the county of Albemarle.
20. To incorporate a company, for establishing a turnpike road, from the mouth of Savage river, or George's creek, on the Potowmak, to the nearest Western navigation.
21. To authorise Robert Watkins to build a toll bridge over Appamattox river.
22. To establish an Academy on the glebe land of Martin Brandon's parish, in the county of Prince George.
23. For erecting warehouses on the James river and Appomattox canals.
[Page 170] 24. To establish several new ferries.
25. To increase the salaries of the inspectors at Deane's and Spring Ware-houses.
26. To revive the inspection of tobacco at Totusky warehouses, in the county of Richmond.
27. For altering the court days and quarterly sessions in certain counties.
28. Authorising the trustees of the Charity School of Fredericksburg, to sell and convey certain property therein mentioned.
29. To authorise William Calley, to build a toll bridge over Smith's creek, near the Borough of Norfolk.
30. For dividing the county of Berkeley.
31. To establish several towns.
32. Giving further time to the owners of lots, in the town of Jonesville, in the county of Lee, to build thereon.
33. To purchase Pharoah and Tom.
34. To amend an act, entitled, "An act to authorise a lottery for the purpose of opening and repairing certain roads."
35. To increase the rates of ferriage at certain places.
36. To empower the courts of certain counties to appoint persons to solemnize marriages.
37. To empower the Governor to transport slaves when it shall be deemed convenient.
38. Establishing an inspection of flour at Aylett's warehouse, in the county of King William.
39. To extend the jurisdiction of justices of peace.
40. Releasing to Ambrose Cramer the right of the Commonwealth to a certain tract or tracts of land.
41. Concerning patroles.
42. To prevent the killing of deer within certain periods annually.
43. Concerning the town of Charlottesville.
44. Concerning certain taxes in the county of Botetourt.
45. Appointing Commissioners to view and mark out a way for a road through the counties of Culpeper, Fauquier, Prince William and Fairfax, to the turnpike road leading to Alexandria.
46. Concerning the docks and wharves in the Borough of Norfolk.
47. To arm the militia of certain towns.
48. To enlarge the town of Woodville in Culpepper co.
49. Concerning the manufacture of tobacco.
50. Concerning the Bank of Alexandria.
51. Concerning the several acts of Assembly, respecting the turnpike roads from Snigger's, Vestel's, and Ashby's gaps, on the Blue Ridge, to Alexandria.
52. To amend the act, entitled, an act to reduce into one the several acts, concerning slaves, free negroes and mulattoes.
[Page 171] 53. In addition to the act, entitled, "An act to amend the penal laws of this commonwealth."
54. For paying the expence of removing criminals from the district jails, to the penitentiary house, and for other purposes.
55. To encrease the rates of pilotage at certain places.
56. Directing the allowance of witnesses in certain cases
57. To revive and amend an act, for opening a road through the counties of Berkeley and Hampshire.
58. Laying taxes for the support of government.
59. To dispose of part of the ground whereon the court-h. stands, in the town of Charlottsville and co. Albemarle.
60. To authorise the court of Cumberland county, to appoint a principal surveyor over Wills' river
61. For paying the officers of the General Assembly for their services the present session.
62. To amend the act, entitled, "An act to revive and amend the act, entitled, an act for improving the navigation of Appomattox river, from Broadway to Pocohonta's bridge."
63. To appropriate the public revenue.
64. To establish a guard at the city of Richmond.
65. Enabling Thomas Mountjoy, to discharge by instalments, certain public claims against him.
66. Paying Joseph Jones, William Cole, and William Clark, for their services under the act, entitled, "An act making compensation for the tobacco destroyed by the burning of Robert Bolling's ware-house, and for other purposes."
67. For appropriating a further sum of money for completing a waggon road from the state road to the mouth of Little Kenawha.
68. To amend the act, entitled, "An act directing what prisoners shall be left to bail."
69. To prevent the Executive from remiting fines on amercements.
70. To explain in part an act, entitled, "An act to impose certain taxes on law process, and for other purposes."
In the House of Delegates, Jan. 2, Mr. Venable reported from the Committee for Courts of Justice, that the Committee had according to order, had under their consideration a letter from the Governor with its enclosure, relative to the preservation of the ancient records of this Commonwealth, to the said Committee referred, and had come to the following resolutions thereupon:
Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee, that the preservation of the ancient records of this country, is an object which highly merits the attention of the Legislature, since on them the rights of property, the interests of society, and the means of historical information essentially depend.
[Page 172] Resolved therefore, That an edition of all the laws passed by the Legislature of this country, prior to the year 1782, which can now be found, be printed at the public expence—that the Governor and George Wythe, Esq. be requested to superintend the collection and printing thereof; and that they be authorised to employ a proper person or persons to aid in the completion of the work.
And the said resolutions being twice read, were, on the question put thereupon, agreed to by the House.
Ordered, That a bill be brought in pursuant to the said Resolutions, and that the Committee for Courts of Justice do prepare and bring in the same.
A Bill has passed the Legislature of Virginia, to incorporate a Company, for establishing a turnpike road from the mouth of Savage river or George's creek on the Potomack, to the nearest western navigation. It is proposed that this turnpike should commence at the mouth of Savage river, which is 21 miles above Fort Cumberland, and about 200 from Georgetown. A subscription is to be opened for 50,000 dollars, in shares of 50 dollars each. The important benefits to be derived from carrying this plan into effect, will more fully appear from the following preamble to the bill:
Whereas it is conceived that great advantages would accrue to the trade of Potomack and to this Commonwealth generally, by making easy the communication between the head navigation of that river and the nearest western navigation, which would cause the produce of a large extent of the western country to take its course into this channel, instead of going 2,500 miles partly through the dominion of a foreign nation to a market at New-Orleans. And whereas it is represented to this General Assembly, that these navigations may be made to communicate by a road of about 40 miles, and that an association of citizens will be willing to undertake to make the road if proper legislative encouragement be given by the states of Virginia and Maryland, through both of which the road will have to pass about an equal distance, &c."
A work has been published at Berlin, professing to give secret anecdotes relative to Russia:—Among other things it is said, that "Madame Lebrun, no less celebrated for her affairs of gallantry with Vandreuil and Calonne than for her talents, intended to draw a Portrait of Catherine II. after her death. The following advice was given her upon this occasion—let the map of Russia be your canvas, the darkness of ignorance your back-ground, the spoils of Poland your drapery, human blood your colouring, your outline the monuments of her reign, and your shade the first six months of the reign of her son."—(See p. 12 of this book.)
RICHMOND, Dec. 5. The following gentlemen, Electors of a President and Vice President of the United States, met at the Capitol, in this city, on Wednesday last, and gave a unanimous vote for Tho. Jefferson and Aaron Burr— viz.
- George Wythe, city of Richmond;
- Wm. Newsum, of Princess Anne;
- Dan. Coleman, Caroline—for Edm. Pendleton, absent:
- Wm. H. Cabell, Amherst;
- James Madison, jun. Orange;
- John Page, Gloucester;
- Tho Newton, jun. Norfolk;
- Dr. Shore, Petersburg—for C B. Harrison, absent;
- General Joseph Jones, Dinwiddie;
- Wm. B. Giles, Amelia;
- Creed Taylor, Cumberland;
- Tho. Read, sen. Charlotte;
- Geo. Penn, Patrick;
- Walter Jones, Northumberland;
- Rich. Brent, Prince William;
- Wm. Elzey, Loudon;
- John Bowyer, Rockbridge—for And. Moore, absent;
- General John Brown, Hardy;
- General John Preston, Montgomery;
- Hugh Holmes, Frederick;
- Arch. Stewart, August [...].
- John Blair, of the city of Williamsburg;
- John Wise, Accomack;
- Cha. Dabney, Hanover;
- Wm. Cabell, Amherst;
- John Jamison, Culpepper;
- Car Braxton, K. William;
- John Nevison, Norfolk;
- Geo. K. Taylor, Pr. George;
- Sterl. Edmunds, Brunswick;
- Ber. Markham, Chesterfield;
- James Morton, of P. Edward;
- Wm. Morton, Charlotte;
- Joel Leftwich, Campbell;
- Burdet As [...]ton, K. George;
- Bail. Washington, Fairfax;
- John Blackwell, Fauquier;
- J. Brackenridge, Botecourt;
- Isaac Vanmeter, Hardy;
- Rob. Crocket, Wythe;
- Jof. Swearingen, Berkely;
- Alex. St. Clair, Augusta.
STRAW PAPER.
In England a mode has been discovered of manufacturing paper from straw It is of strong consistence, and though it retains the colour of the material from which it is made, will serve for packing parcels, printing hand-bills, and such other ordinary purposes. It is hoped thorefore, that this invention will reduce the present advanced price of rags and paper, and destroy a monopoly.
| Ad. | Jef. | |
| Accomack | 284 | 22 |
| Albemarle | 38 | 561 |
| Amelia | — | 243 |
| Amherst | 19 | 303 |
| Augusta | 463 | 237 |
| Bath | 5 [...] | 112 |
| Bedford | 164 | 269 |
| Berkely | 371 | 417 |
| Botetourt | 96 | 144 |
| Buckingham | — | 501 |
| Brunswick | 25 | 385 |
| Brooke | 32 | 220 |
| Campbell | 69 | 211 |
| Caroline | 6 | 369 |
| Charlote | 26 | 342 |
| Charles City | 51 | 111 |
| Chesterfield | 6 | 460 |
| Cumberland | 11 | 289 |
| Culpepper | 100 | 372 |
| Dinwiddie | 10 | 318 |
| Elizabeth City | 20 | 82 |
| Essex | 46 | 209 |
| Fairfax | 218 | 240 |
| Fauquier | 131 | 308 |
| Fluvanna | 9 | 246 |
| Franklin | 29 | 531 |
| Frederick | 211 | 527 |
| Gloucester | 54 | 203 |
| Goochland | 8 | 298 |
| Greenbrier | 280 | 28 |
| Greensville | 6 | 194 |
| Grayson | — | 117 |
| Halifax | 15 | 764 |
| Hampshire | 200 | 180 |
| Hardy | 140 | 90 |
| Hanover | 45 | 201 |
| Henry | 31 | 184 |
| Harrison | 65 | 163 |
| Henrico | 43 | 217 |
| Isle of Wight | 26 | 254 |
| James City | 35 | 72 |
| King & Queen | 47 | 237 |
| King George | 48 | 91 |
| King William | 86 | 128 |
| Kenawha | — | — |
| Lancaster | 54 | 139 |
| Loudon | 205 | 132 |
| Lee | 2 | 33 |
| Louisa | 27 | 440 |
| Lunenburg | 26 | 243 |
| Mecklenburg | 109 | 292 |
| Middlesex | 32 | 118 |
| Monongalia | 185 | 254 |
| Montgomery | 17 | 212 |
| Mathews | 29 | 171 |
| Madison | 25 | 238 |
| Monroe | 42 | 155 |
| Nansemond | 26 | 181 |
| New Kent | 87 | 105 |
| Norfolk County | 30 | 241 |
| Nottoway | — | 190 |
| Northampton | 143 | 28 |
| Northumberland | 27 | 2 [...]0 |
| Ohio | 61 | 164 |
| Orange | 7 | 337 |
| Pittsylvania | 46 | 584 |
| Patrick | — | 130 |
| Powhatan | 22 | 183 |
| Pr. Edward | 3 | 344 |
| Pr. George | 9 | 197 |
| Pr. William | 42 | 168 |
| Princess Anne | 176 | 204 |
| Pendleton | 106 | 111 |
| Richmond | 28 | 123 |
| Rockbridge | 164 | 219 |
| Rockingham | 78 | 584 |
| Russel | — | 51 |
| Randolph | 21 | 31 |
| Shenando | 41 | 710 |
| Southampton | 94 | 214 |
| Spotsylvania | 13 | 277 |
| Stafford | 91 | 151 |
| Surry | 6 | 184 |
| Sussex | 5 | 379 |
| Warwick | 6 | 53 |
| Wythe | 13 | 113 |
| Westmoreland | 89 | 73 |
| Wood | — | — |
| Washington | 6 | 290 |
| York | 24 | 77 |
| Williamsburg | 24 | 25 |
| Norfolk Borough | 118 | 111 |
| Richmond City | 72 | 79 |
| Total | 6,024 | 21,311 |
AMOUNT of Warrants issued for Expences incurred in carrying into Effect the Acts of Assembly concerning the two last Elections of President and Vice-President of the United States.
| Ds. | Cs. | |
| Amount of Expences for comparing the Poll in the year 1796 | 399 | 63 |
| Amount of Expence of Electors travelling, &c. | 299 | 90 |
| Amount of Expence of Clerk 16, Door-keeper 4, | 20 | 0 |
| 719 | 53 | |
| Amount of Expences for printing circular letters to Commissioners, &c. to superintend the election of Electors to chuse a President and Vice-President in the year 1800 | 8 | |
| Do. for printing commissions for do. | 8 | |
| Do. for printing the Act concerning the Electors | 20 | |
| Do. for printing proclamation to meet in Richmond | 2 | 50 |
| Do. for conveying Commissions to Commissioners | 433 | 66 |
| Do. for conveying the returns, &c. | 717 | 62 |
| Do. for notifying the Electors, &c. | 179 | 98 |
| Do. for attendance and travelling of Electors | 274 | 31 |
| Do. incurred in Gloucester conducting the election | 8 | 50 |
| Do. incurred in Fairfax conducting the election | 19 | 75 |
| Do. incurred in Monongalia conducting the election | 6 | 34 |
| Do. incurred in Norfolk Borough conducting the election | 5 | 58 |
| Do. incurred in Monroe conducting the election | 6 | |
| Do. incurred in Henrico conducting the election | 5 | 39 |
| Do. incurred in Rockbridge conducting the election | 8 | 25 |
| Do. Lynchburg news-paper for publishing the Names of the Electors | 3 | 75 |
| 1707 | 63 | |
| 1790—Number of inhabitants in Fredericksburg | — | 1,485 |
By the late Census of the State of Pennsylvania we learn, that the city of Philadelphia has decreased about 500 Taxables since the year 1793. Total Taxables in the whole state 111,612, being an increase in 7 years of 20,462.—New Counties erected in that time 14.
M. Achard, the Prussian chemist, has at length brought his discoveries, in the article of sugar from vegetables, to such perfection, that he is enabled to vend it at six sous per lb.
The largest Ox ever seen in America was raised in Morris county, New Jersey, and was lately exhibited as a show in Philadelphia. It measured 17 feet 3 inches from the nose to the tail, exclusive of the brush; 6 feet 3 inches high, and the girth 9 feet 4 inches. It weighed 2996 lbs. being larger than the famous Blackwell Ox, at Dartmouth, the largest Ox ever seen in England.
CITY OF RICHMOND.
James M'Clurg, Mayor—Geo. Nicholson, Recorder—John Burnet, Wm. Richardson, John Foster, Rob. Pollard, Geo. Picket, Sam. Myers, Aldermen—Rob. Mitchell, Geo. W. Smith, Wm. Marshall, Jacob Cohen, David Halloway, Js. Brown, John D. Blair, Edw. Carrington, Common Councilmen—Adam Craig, Clerk—Js. Whillelaw, Serjeant—Kier, High Constable.
| Census of the Year 1790, | — | 3,761 | |
| 1800—White Males under 10 years | 351 | ||
| —of 10 and under 16 | 174 | ||
| —of 16 and under 26 | 512 | ||
| —of 26 and under 45 | 440 | ||
| —of 45 and upwards | 150 | 1627 | |
| White Females under 10 | 337 | ||
| —of 10 and under 16 | 154 | ||
| —of 16 and under 26 | 337 | ||
| —of 26 and under 45 | 279 | ||
| —of 45 and upwards | 103 | 1210 | |
| Total of White People of both Sexes | 2837 | ||
| —of Free People of Colour | 607 | ||
| —of Slaves | 2293 | 2900 | |
| Total Inhabitants, except a few Indians, | 5,737 | ||
| Increase | 1,971 |
| TOBACCO inspected at Richmond in the Year ending 1st Oct. 1799, | 10,278 | |||
| Do. in the Year ending Oct. 1800, At Byrd's | 1543 | |||
| Do. received from upper Inspects. | 1175 | |||
| Do. ship'd | 1460 | 4178 | ||
| At Shockoe | 368 | |||
| Do. received from upper Insps. | 5000 | |||
| Do. ship'd | 5600 | 10968 | ||
| At Rockets | 1414 | |||
| Do. received from upper Insps. | 744 | |||
| Do. ship'd | 1172 | 3330 | ||
| Total Hhds. | 18,476 | |||
| FLOUR inspected for the Year ending 31st Aug. 1799, Total Bls. | 76,754 | |||
| Do. for the Year ending 31st Aug. 1800 | 63,672 | |||
| Amount of TOLL received in the Year 1800 at James River Canal, | L. 3781 | 11 | 4 | |
| Do. in the Year 1799, | 4262 | 4 | 10 |
Canal Company:—Dr. Foushee, President; Geo. Pickett, Edw. Carrington, Rob. Gamble, jas. Brown, Directors—Rob. Pollard, Secretary, Treasurer, and Clerk.
[Page 177]
| At Manchester Ware-house | 1929 | |
| Johnson's | 1816 | |
| Trent's | 1202 | 4,947 |
| FLOUR inspected at Manchester in 1799, | Bls. 8,278 | |
| Do. Do. 1800, | 9,599 |
- Philip Narbone Nicholas, Esq. Attorney General.
- Edm. Randolph,
- John Marshall,
- John Warden,
- Wm. Duval,
- Thomas Nelson,
- Charles Copeland,
- Wm. C. Williams,
- John Wickham,
- Dan. Call,
- Sam. M'Craw,
- George Hay,
- Henry Banks,
- Wm. Pope,
- W. W. Henning,
- Tho. R. Rootes,
- Geo. W. Smith,
- Alex. M'Rae,
- Arch. Campbell,
- James Rind,
- Fra. T. Brooke,
- Austin D. Leake,
- Nath. Pope,
- John Heath,
- Bennet Taylor,
- Geo. K. Taylor,
- David Robertson,
- John Minor,
- James Pleasants,
- Cha. F. Bates,
- Hugh Holmes,
- Rich. Gregory,
- John Hevenham,
- Edm. Jen. Lee,
- Benj. Botts,
- Wm. Wirt.
- Edm. Randolph,
- John Taylor o
- Bart. Williams o
- John Marshall,
- John F. Mercer o
- Cha. Lee o
- Wm. Short o
- Wm. Duval,
- Tho Nelson, jun,
- James Monroe o
- John Wickham,
- Dan. Call,
- Wm C. Williams,
- Cha. Copeland,
- Henry Banks,
- W. W. Henning,
- Geo. W. Smith,
- John Heath,
- Sam. M'Craw,
- Ben. Taylor,
- Benj Botts,
- P N. Nicholas,
- Philip Dodridge o
- Geo. K. Taylor,
- Geo. Hay,
- Alex. Stewart o
- David Robinson,
- Edm J. Lee,
- Fra. T Brooke,
- Cha. F. Bates,
- Nath. Pope, jun.
- Wm. Wirt.
Th [...]se marked thus o do not at present practice in either the Court of Appeals or the High Court of Chancery.
| Expence of the Manufactory of Arms from its commencement to Dec. 1800, Dols. | 58,300 |
| Do. Penitentiary House, | 92,000 |
DOLLARS AND CENTS.
The Merchants and Brokers of Philadelphia have very properly declared, that they know no money in these States but Dollars and Cents; there are no such coins here as pounds shillings, and pence; and that in future they will buy and sell only in the legal money of the country—Indeed it is very strange, that the people long before have not unanimously adopted the calculation of American monies by a mode so very clear, simple, and demonstrative.
[Page 178]
| Year. |
Kegs
The Kegs weigh on an average 150 wt.
Md. Tob. |
Bushels Wheat | Hhds. Tobacco | Bls. Flour | Bushels Coal |
| 1798 | 2313 | 21280 | 610 | 38816 | 248142 |
| 1799 | 2188 | 7226 | 3467 | 27698 | 264733 |
| 1800 | 4110 | 8795 | 6798 | 27433 | 311989 |
This statement does not include all the produce that has been shipped from Richmond during the last three years, as before the division of the District of Bermuda Hundred and City Point, vessels frequently cleared at City Point with articles taken on board at Richmond; and as the laws do not compel vessels with articles of the above description and destined for Norfolk, to clear at Richmond, consequently many vessels have landed such articles at Norfolk, from whence they have been afterwards shipped to the Northern ports.
- Custom-house
-
- James Gibbon, Esq. Collector.
- James Rowland, Surveyor.
| Census of the Year 1790, | 2,748 | ||
| 1800—White Males under 10 years | 590 | ||
| —of 10 and under 16 | 246 | ||
| —of 16 and under 26 | 415 | ||
| —of 26 and under 45 | 489 | ||
| —of 45 and upwards | 192 | 1932 | |
| White Females under 10 | 551 | ||
| —of 10 and under 16 | 255 | ||
| —of 16 and under 26 | 406 | ||
| —of 26 and under 45 | 424 | ||
| —of 45 and upwards | 162 | 1798 | |
| Total of White People of both Sexes | 3730 | ||
| —of free Mulattoes and Negroes | 365 | ||
| —of Slaves | 905 | 1270 | |
| Total Inhabitants | 5,000 | ||
| Increase | 2,252 |
A late Paris Paper informs us, "That the Chief Consul has ordered the Minister of the Interior Department to erect, in the great gallery of the Thuilleries, the statues of Demosthenes, Alexander, Hannibal, Scipio, Caesar, Cicero, Brutus, Cato, Alfred, Gustavus Adolphus, Turenne, Conde, Marlborough, Eugene, Frederick, Franklin, Washington, Jubert, Deffaix, &c."—We wish to know where is the similarity of character between Alexander and Caesar, and Franklin and Washington?—
- The Most Worshipful Wm. Austin, Grand Master;
- Right Worshipful Alex. M'Rae, Dep. Grand Master;
- Worshipful Philip R. Thompson, Sen. G. Warden;
- Worshipful James Byrne, Jun. G. Warden;
- W. H. Fitzwhyl [...]onn, G. Secretary;
- Jos. Darmstadt, G. Treasurer;
- Rich. B. Goode, Sen. G. Deacon;
- Eldridge Harris, Jun. G. Deacon;
- Matth. Moody, G. Stewards,
- Wm. Davidson, G. Stewards,
- And. Smith, G. Pursuivant;
- Wm. Mann, G. Tyler.
The Grand Lodge meets on the 2d Monday in December in every year, at the Mason's Hall in the City of Richmond.
| No. | Name | Where held. | Time of Meeting. |
| 1 | Norfolk, | Borough of Norfolk, | 1st Thursday. |
| 2 | Kilwinning Cross, | P. Royal, Caroline Co. | |
| 3 | Blandford, | Blandford, near Pg. | 3d Wednesday gen. |
| 4 | Fredericksburg, | Fredericksburg, | 1st Friday. |
| 5 | St. Taminy, | (SUSPENDED) | |
| 6 | Williamsburg, | City of Williamsb. | |
| 7 | Botetourt, | Gloucester County, | 3d Saturday. |
| 8 | Cabin Point, | (SUSP.) | |
| 9 | York, | (SUSP.) | |
| 10 | Richmond, | City of Richmond, | 2d Tuesday. |
| 11 | Northampton, | Northampton Co. | |
| 12 | Hempsville, | Princess Anne Co. | 1st Friday. |
| 13 | Staunton, | Augusta Co. | Last Thursday. |
| 14 | Manchester, | Chesterfield Co. | 3d Tuesday. |
| 15 | Petersburg, | Petersburg. | 4th Thursday. |
| 16 | Wisdom, | Portsmouth, | 1st Monday. |
| 17 | Charlotte, | Charlotte Co. | 4th Friday. |
| 18 | Smithfield Union, | Isle of Wight Co. | 1st Thursday. |
| 19 | Richmond Rand. | City of Richmond, | 1st Wednesday. |
| 20 | Scotsville, | (EXTINCT) | |
| 21 | Baltimore, | (SUSP.) | |
| 22 | Alexandria, | Alexandria, | Thursday after 3d Monday. |
| 23 | Dinwiddie, | Dinwiddie Co. | |
| 24 | Pittsylvania, | Pittsylvania Co. | 2d Friday. |
| 25 | Lexington, | Kentucky, | 2d Monday. |
| 26 | Washington, | Botetourt Co. | |
| 27 | Rockingham Un. | Rockingham Co. | 2d Thursday. |
| 28 | Cumberland, | (SUSP.) | |
| 29 | |||
| 30 | Solomon's | Nansemond Co. | |
| 31 | Columbia | Fluvanna Co. | 2d Saturday. |
| 32 | George, | Amherst Co. | 4th Saturday. |
| 33 | Warren, | Albemarle Co. | 1st Saturday. |
| 34 | Benevolent, | Southampton Co. | 3d Monday. |
| 35 | Paris, | Bourbon Co. Kentucky. | |
| 36 | St John's, | City of Richmond, | 1st Saturday. |
| 37 | Hicks's Ford, | Greensville Co. | Wed. before 4th Th. |
| 38 | Buckingham Un. | Buckingham Co. | Sat. before 2d Mon. |
| 39 | Marshall, | Lynchburg Town, | Wed. before 1st Th. |
| 40 | Stephensburg, | Culpepper Co. | 3d Saturday. |
| 41 | Lebanon, | Goochland Co. | 2d Thursday. |
| 42 | Bath Union, | Bath Springs, | 2d Thursday. |
| 43 | Fairfax, | Culpepper Co. | 1st Friday. |
| 44 | Door to Virtue, | Charlottesville, | Last Saturday. |
| 45 | Aberdeen, | Campbell Co. | 2d Monday. |
| 46 | Georgetown, | Scot Co. Kentucky, | Tues. after 4th Mon. |
| 47 | Brooke, | Alexandria, | 1st Thursday. |
| 48 | Abingdon, | Washington Co. | 3d Tuesday. |
| 49 | Greenbrier, | Greenbrier Co. | Mon. before 1st. Tues. |
| 50 | Dumfries, | Pr. William Co. | Wed. after 1st Mon. |
| 51 | Painesville | Amelia Co. | 2d Friday. |
| 52 | Brunswick, | Brunswick Co. | 2d Friday. |
| 53 | Chuckat [...]ck, | Nansemond Co. | 2d Thursday. |
| 54 | Jerusalem, | City of Richmond, | 3d Tuesday. |
| 55 | Fraternal, | Wythe County, | 2d Tuesday generally |
| 56 | Naphtali, | Norfolk Town, | 1st Tuesday. |
| 57 | Frankfort Hiram, | Frankfort, Kentucky. | |
| 58 | Day, | Louisa Co. | |
| 59 | Hiram, | Westmoreland Co. | 4th Monday. |
| 60 | Widow Sons, | Milton, Albem. Co. | 2d Saturday. |
| 61 | Chester, | Front Royal, Fred. Co. | 2d Friday. |
A person who is in the habit of taking notice of Newspaper accounts, says, that in the last six months there have been 21 duels, in which six have been killed, and eleven wounded.
NORFOLK.
CORPORATION of NORFOLK.
Seth Foster, Esq. Mayor—Tho. Newton, Recorder—8 Aldermen—16 Common Councilmen—Wm. Sharp, Clerk.
CUSTOM-HOUSE, NORFOLK.
Wm. Davis, Esq. Collector—Phil. Gatewood, Naval Officer—Cope. Parker, Surveyor—Edw. Archer, Weigher and Guager—Bay. Hill, Measurer—Hill. Mosely, J. George,—Saunders, J. T. Smith, C. de Klauman, Inspectors—J. Leffingwell, Do. at Portsmouth—J. Rogers, Do. at Gosport.
DIRECTORS of the BRANCH BANK, NORFOLK.
Rob. Taylor, Esq. President; Moses Myers, Wm. Pennock, John Granbery, John Cowper, Luke Wheeler, W. Ashley, Conway Whittle, Alex. M'Clure of Norfolk; Rich. Blow of Portsmouth; James Young of Gosport; John Hopkins and Rob. Pollard of Richmond, Directors—Cha. Renshaw, Cashier—Wm. Finnie, out-door Clerk.
Notaries Public, John Morrison, Rob. B. Taylor, and Tho. Newton, jun.
Norfolk, in the year 1790, contained only 2959 inhabitants; at present, we are assured, its population is above 8000; a very rapid increase indeed, but not more than might be expected from a place so advantageously situated for both foreign and domestic commerce.—On this occasion, we must resort to a late publication, the Duke de Liancourt's Travels in America in the years 1795, 96, and 97, wherein his Grace gives an account of the town and trade of Norfolk.
The Duke gives the following partial statement of the exports of Norfolk, which we copy verbatim:—
| 1791 | 1792 | 1793 | 1794 | 1795 | |
| Bals. Flour | 35,071 | 45,909 | 52,836 | 78,981 | 66,527 |
| Bls. In. Corn | 341,984 | 286,834 | 258,735 | 211,313 | 442,075 |
| Cs. N. Stores | 29,376 | 44,665 | 26,753 | 23,286 | 14,704 |
| Flour, dols. | 191,639 | 242,357 | 296,415 | 436,352 | 629,384 |
| Indian Corn | 120,733 | 104,977 | 154,264 | 105,661 | 172,499 |
| Naval Stores | 52,333 | 62,631 | 45,014 | 45,504 | 33,111 |
| 1798 | Vessels from foreign Ports enter'd at Norfolk* | 262 |
| 1799 | Do. Do. Do. | 326 |
| 1800 | Do. Do. Do. | 356 |
| Coasters cleared out at Norfolk in 1800 | 738 |
(The article mark'd thus * we received from a very obliging Correspondent, from whom, on another occasion, we shall be glad to receive a regular account of the trade of Norfolk from the commencement of the Federal Government.)
[Page 182] "Thus we see (says the Duke) that a barrel of flour, whose medium value in 1791 was 5 dollars 55 cents—in 1792, 5 drs. 3 cts.—in 1793, 5 drs. 15 cts.—in 1794, 5 drs. 56 cts. rose, in 1795, to 9 drs. 35 cts.—and that Indian Corn, an article but of secondary demand, was at 37 cents the bushel in 1791, at 54 in 1792, at 61 in 1793, at 51 in 1794, and at 66 in 1795.
"The exportations from Norfolk amounted, in the year 1791, to 1,028,789 dollars—in 1792, to 1,147,414—in 1793, to 1,045,525—in 1794, to 1,687,194—in 1795, to 1,934,827—and already to 1,088,105 dollars for the first quarter of 1796—When we consider the increase of the exports for some years back, we must recollect that the difference is much more considerable in the value than in the quantity. The necessities of Europe have more than doubled the price; and altho' it be certainly a fact that the clearing of new grounds augments the quantity of produce, that augmentation bears no proporation to the difference of value presented by the tables for three years back sent in from the different Customhouses."
The Duke, after giving a curious account of his unpleasant voyage from Charlestown in a small, encumber'd vessel, proceeds to describe Norfolk, &c.—
"Norfolk is built on Elizabeth-River, at nine miles from the spot where it discharges its waters into the bay. In the intervening space there are few houses, and those few almost all present a wretched appearance. An almost uninterrupted succession of pines are the only object which meets the voyagers eye. Craney Island lies nearly in the middle of the river at a short distance above its mouth. Two points of land, which approach within a quarter of a mile of each other in front of Norfolk, are strengthened with forts which are capable of successfully defending the entrance. That on the Norfolk side is in better condition than the other, which, however, might be speedily repaired, at no great expence.
"Portsmouth, a small assemblage of houses on the opposite side of the river, did not share in the conflagration of Norfolk. From its situation it seemed entitled to expect all the commerce of Elizabeth-River: at its quays the greatest depth of water is found: at the highest tides, it is there 12 feet deep, whereas it is only 6 at Norfolk; the pump-water at the former place is not brackish, as at the latter; the soil on which the town is built is more dry, and the air more salubrious. But, at the conclusion of the peace, the inhabitants incensed against the English, refused to admit any merchant of that nation, or any new-comer whose political principles were liable to suspicion. To this rancorous disposition was attributed a political motive of a less generous kind—an apprehension on the part of the American merchants [Page 183] who had remained at Portsmouth, left the new traders who came to settle among them, should, by the advantage of bringing in greater capitals than they themselves possessed, be enabled to outdo them in the line of commerce.
"However this may be, the consequences has been, that the inhabitants have removed to the opposite side; that Norfolk has been rebuilt, and that its trade is twenty times more considerable than that of Portsmouth; nay, the few merchants who still reside in the latter town, purchase at Norfolk almost all the articles that constitute their cargoes, and some of them even have their compting-houses there.
"At the close of the year 1783, there were not 12 houses rebuilt in Norfolk; at present (1796) there are between 7 and 800. It is one of the ugliest, most irregular, and most filthy towns that can any where be found. The houses are low and unsightly, almost all constructed of wood, and erected without any attention to regularity; not 20 of them are built with brick [...]. The streets are unpaved; the town is surrounded by swamps; the hastiness and stench which prevail are excessive, and add to the natural insalubrity of the situation, and of the climate, which is extremely hot.
"From these concurrent sources of unhealthiness, it results, that diseases are habitual at Norfolk in summer and autumn, and that malignant epidemics are frequent. Last year the Yellow Fever is said to have carried off 500 persons from a population of 4000; 300 died at the time the distemper prevailed, the others fell victims to its consequences.—The inhabitants of Norfolk, even those among them who are the most opulent, fancy that the use of wine and strong liquors furnishes them with a preservative against the insalubrity of the climate, and they make a liberal use of the remedy.—Previous to the war, Norfolk is said to have contained 8000 inhabitants.
"Norfolk carries on a considerable trade with Europe, the Antilles, and the northern States. Her exports are flour, wheat, Indian corn, timber of every kind, particularly planks, staves, and shingles, salt meat and fish, iron, lead, flax-seed, tobacco, tar, turpentine, and hemp. All these articles are the produce of Virginia, or of North Carolina, which latter State, having no sea-ports, or none that are good, makes her exportations chiefly thro' those of Virginia.
"Norfolk is the only port for the southern part of this extensive State; for, as no vessels above 120 tons can go up [...]o Petersburg or Richmond *, the produce of the back country, which is brought to those places by land, is for the most part [Page 184] sent down in lighters to Norfolk, from whence it is exported. Thus, this port almost singly carries on all the commerce of that part of Virginia which lies south of the Rappahannock, and of North Carolina far beyond the Roanoke.
"Ten years ago, Norfolk could not reckon ten large vessels of her own; whereas at present she possesses fifty of that description, exclusive of fifty others of smaller size employed in the West India trade. Under the name Norfolk, are to be understood Norfolk and Portsmouth, as they constitute but one port of entry, and are both subject to the same Custom-house.—The present tonnage of Norfolk is 15,567 tons, exclusive of the vessels employed in the coasting trade.
"The exportation of Tobacco from Norfolk has, by the diminution of the culture of that article in Virginia, been reduced above one third within the last five years. In 1793, it amounted to 15,000 hhds.—in 1794, to 11,054—and, in 1795, to 9,968 hhds. I have not been able to procure an accurate statement of the quantities in 1791 and 92."—
(At present we must conclude our extracts from this work.—It is not written in that lively, vivacious style which generally distinguish French authors, but this may be owing to the Translator; and, as may expected, the Duke sometimes writes with the partiality of a Frenchman, particularly when he speaks of England or English men.—Upon the whole, however, we recommend this Book to the perusal of all Americans, and among them the good people of Virginia; it contains many articles worthy of their most serious attention.—Do we wish to know ourselves, will we consult only those who are partial to us?—If we desire to have a right knowledge of our own characters, and to know what really are our faults and imperfections, let us consult strangers and those who are not partial to us—it is sometimes even necessary to listen to the remarks of our enemies.—We do not mean to intimate, that the Due de Liancourt is an enemy to America; on the contrary, he speaks with esteem and gratitude of the hospitable reception which he received in almost every part of the Union.)
THE PERPETUAL MOTION.
In the gaol of Goshen, in N. York, two men are confined on suspicion of counterfeiting hard dollars. During their imprisonment, without any other instrument than a pen-knife, they have fabricated a machine of cedar wood which discovers the Perpetual Motion. The machine consists of about 30 cog and spur wheels, of various dimensions, and is set in motion by weights. It can be adapted to a clock, saw-mill, grist-mill, or any other piece of machinery that moves by weights, water, or wind; and will continue them in motion so long as the machinery will last.
NORTH CAROLINA.
- Governor, his Excellency Benjamin Williams;
- Secretary of State, Wm. White;
- Private Secretary to the Governor, J. W. Grison;
- Treasurer, John Haywood;—Comptroller, John Craven,
- Councilors to the Governor, John [...]inton, Bryan Whitfield, Reu. Wood, Jas. Gillespie, Law. Smith, Joseph J. Alston, Rob. Burton.
- Judges of the Superior Courts, John L. Taylor, Spr. Macay, Sam. Johnston, John Hall.
- Attorney General Blake Baker—Solicitor Gen. Ed. Jones. Officers of the United States for North Carolina.
- John Sitgreaves, Judge—Benj. Woods, Attorney—J. S. West, Marshal—Wm. Polk, Surveyor of the Revenue—Sherwood Haywood, Commissioner of Loans.
- Officers for the Collection of the internal Revenue.
- Wm. Polk, Supervisor—Tho. Averton, Inspector of Survey, No. 1.—Hardy Murfree, do. No. 2.—Wm. Polk, No. 3.—John Whitaker, No. 4.—Dan. M. Kissack, No. 5.
- Officers for the Collection of the external Revenue.
- Grif. John M'Ree, Collector of the District of Wilmington—Fra. Hawkes, do. Newbern—Wm. Keas, do, Washington—Sam [...]redwell, do. Edenton—En. Sawyer, do. Camden.
- Senators, Jesse Franklin, David Stone.
- Representatives, Arch. Henderson, Wm. B. Grove, N. Macon, Rob. Williams, Wm. H. [...]ill, John W. Stanley,—Stanford, Willis Alston, Janu [...] Holland, David Stone—(elected Senator, no election since.)
- Major Generals of Militia, Tho Bracon, Wm. Lenoir, Rob. Smith, Stephen W. Carney, Reading Blount.
- Brigadiers, James Miller, Rob Irwin, Joseph [...]'Dowel, John [...]amilton, Benj, Smith, John Willis, Sam. Beaton, Joseph Reddick, Wm. Williams.
A Court of Conference is held at the city of Raleigh by the Judges of the Superior Courts, in order to settle questions of Law or Equity which have occurred in the Circuit, on the 10th of January and 10th of June in every year.—Dun. Cameron, Billsborough, Clerk.
There two new Counties erected in North Carolina, viz. Ashe and Washington.
(For further particulars relative to the State of North Carolina, see page 27 of the Almanack.)
The Legislature of the territory North-West of the Ohio, convened at Chillicothe, and on the 6th chose two Delegates to represent the Territory in the U. States, viz. W. M'Millon in the room of W. H. Harrison, to serve till 4th of March; and Paul Fearin to serve for two years from that day.
- William Polk,
- Grand Master;
- John Lewis Taylor,
- Deputy Grand Master;
- Montfort Stokes,
- Grand Senior Warden;
- John Winslow,
- Grand Junior Warden;
- Wm. Duffy,
- Grand Senior Deacon;
- Cargill Massenburg,
- Grand Junior Deacon;
- Stephen W. Carney,
- Grand Marshall;
- Nath. Alexander,
- Grand Pursuivant;
- Peter Casso,
- Grand Steward;
- Tho. Pound,
- Grand Tyler.
| 1 | St. John, | Wilmington. |
| 2 | Royal White Hart, | Halifax. |
| 3 | St. John, | Newbern, |
| 4 | St. John, | Kingston, |
| 5 | Royal Edwin, | Windsor. |
| 6 | (DISSOLVED) | |
| 7 | [...] | |
| 8 | Phoenix, | Fayetteville. |
| 9 | Old Cone, | Salisbury. |
| 10 | Johnston Caswell, | Warrenton. |
| 11 | (DIS.) | |
| 12 | (Do.) | |
| 13 | St. John, | Duplin County. |
| 14 | (DIS.) | |
| 15 | Washington, | Beaufort Co. |
| 16 | St. Taminy, | Martin Co. |
| 17 | American George, | Murfreesborough. |
| 18 | King Solomon, | Jones Co. |
| 19 | (DIS.) | |
| 20 | (Do.) | |
| 21 | (Do.) | |
| 22 | (Do.) | |
| 23 | (Do.) | |
| 24 | Hiram, | Williamsburg. |
| 25 | Pansophia, | Moore Co. |
| 26 | Davie Glasgow, | Green Co. |
| 27 | Mount Maria, | Iredell Co. |
| 28 | Columbian, | Wayne Co. |
| 29 | Harmony, | Nashville, Tenessee [...] |
| 30 | St. Taminy, | Wilmington. |
| 31 | Phalanx, | Charlotte. |
| 32 | Stokes, | Cabarras Co. |
| 33 | Free-land, | Rowan Co. |
| 34 | Unanimity, | Rockford. |
| 35 | Jerusalem, | Carteret Co. |
| 36 | Friendship, | Fort Barnwell. |
| 37 | Wm. R. Davie, | Lexington. |
| 38 | Rising Sun, | Moyanton. |
| 39 | Davie, | Bertie Co. |
| 40 | Hiram, | Raleigh. |
| 41 | Tenessee, | Knoxville. |
| 42 | Lincoln, | Lincolnton. |
MEDICAL SOCIETY.
RALEIGH, Dec. 9, 1800. The Medical Society of North-Carolina met in this city on Monday last, and closed their meeting on Wednesday.
Doctors Osborn, Mitchel, Sibley, Armstead and French, were admitted members. An Essay on the causes, symptoms and treatment of Gout and Rheumatism, was presented by Doctor J. Webb, of Hillsborough, which merited the warm commendation of the Society.—Doctor Webb also appeared as a writer on the dysentery (the subject given at the last annual meeting for competition) with conspicuous merit. The thanks of the Society were awarded him for the zeal and talents displayed in his exertion for the advancement of the objects of the institution.
Mr. Charles Smith presented himself as a candidate for admission, was examined by the Censors in the presence of the Society, and admitted a member.
It was resolved, that the Medical Gentlemen of each district within this State, be invited to form themselves into Associations, to meet at such time and place in their respective districts, as they may think proper, to confer on the means of promoting the objects of this society.
The following premiums are offered for the culture of the following Medicinal Articles in this State; For the largest quantity not less than ten pounds, of Foxglove, ten dollars; for the largest quantity, not less than five pounds, of Opium, twenty-five dollars (to be exhibited at the next meeting of the Society) for the largest quantity, not less than ten pounds, of Rhubarb, exhibited to the Society in four years, thirty dollars; for the largest quantity of Castor Oil, not less than five gallons, to be obtained without heat, ten dollars; and for the largest quantity, not less than fifty pounds, of Senna, ten dollars. Each of which is to be of as good quality as those articles usually are when imported, and they must be exhibited to the Society accompanied with certificates on oath, that it is the product of this State, and except Rhubarb, the product of one year, and cultivated by one person. The premium will be paid in money, and the articles will be purchased at twelve and a half per centum advance of the usual selling prices in New-York and Philadelphia.
[Page 188] The Society propose the Cholera Infantum as a subject for competition in the ensuing year, and invite Medical Gentlemen to a communication of remarks on that disease, at their meeting on the first day of December next. The dissertation may be conveyed to the Corresponding Secretary, at any period previous to the meeting of the Society, accompanied by a sealed letter, containing the name and place of residence of the author, inscribed with a motto, which shall be the same with that perfixed to the essay. The letter of the successful candidate will be opened in the presence of the Society, and those of the unsuccessful ones destroyed.
Doctors Pasteur, Wheaton, Loomis, and Hand, were appointed to deliver Essays on some medical subject at the next annual meeting of the Society.
The following Gentlemen were elected Officers for the ensuing year:
- John C. Osborn, President;
- Thomas Mitchell and Richard Fenner, Vice-Presidents;
- James Webb and John Sibley, Censors;
- Sterling Wheaton, Rec. Secretary;
- Calvin Jones, Corresponding Sec;
- C. Massenburg, Treasurer.
PREMIUMS.
| For the largest Quantity, not less than five pounds of Opium, | 25 |
| For the largest Quantity, not less than ten pounds, of Fox-glove, | 10 |
| For the largest Quantity, not less than five Gallons (to be prepared without Heat) of Castor Oil, | 10 |
| For the largest Quantity, not less than fifty pounds, of Senna, | 10 |
| To be exhibited at the next annual meeting of the Society, which will be on the first Monday in December next. For the largest Quantity of Rhubarb, not less than ten pounds, | 30 |
To be exhibited to the Society in four years.
The Articles are to be of as good quality as those usually are when imported, and to be accompanied with sufficient proof that they are the product of this State, and cultivated by one person, and (except the Rhubarb) are the product of one year.
The Premiums will be paid in cash, and the articles purchased at twelve and a half per cent. advance on the usual selling prices in Philadelphia and New York.
[☞ A Correspondent takes this opportunity of expressing his hearty approbation of the foregoing Institution; it reflects credit on the Gentlemen who have set it on foot, and he has no doubt it will be productive of salutary advantages—At the same time, he cannot help expressing his surprize and regret, that no similar institution exists in Virginia—Are our Professors of Medicine so very skilful, that they require no further knowledge, or are th [...] lives of the Citizens of this State less valuable than those of N. Carolina?—As it has long been regretted, that there is no regular School of Medicine established on the Continent, even the semblance of such institutions would shew, that our Doctors were willing to augment their knowledge; and, by frequent associations of the kind, a School might at length be formed, conducive, as in other countries, to the dignity of the Professors, and the health of the People.] *
RALEIGH, Nov. 18. Yesterday the General Assembly of this State commenced its session.
In the Senate, there were two candidates for the chair, viz. Mr. Reddick and Mr. Carney. On a ballot, there appeared for the first gentleman 32, for the second 17.—Mess. Stokes and Williams were elected Clerks, and N. Murphy and John Wison, door-keepers.
In the House of Commons there were three candidates for the chair, viz. Mess. Cabarras, Moore, and Benton. On the second ballot the votes stood thus: For Mr. Cabarras 64, for Mr. Moore 32, for Mr. Benton 13.—Mess. John Hunt and P. [...]enderson were chosen Clerks, and Tho. Pound and John Lumsden door-keepers.
Dec. 23.—On Saturday evening, the General Assembly closed their session, during which they passed 98 Bills.
Agreeably to the vote of the Senate, Duncan M'Farland, the member from Richmond county, whose seat had been contested (on a charge of having sided with the enemies of the Revolution) appeared with his witnesses; but the session being so near a close, a motion was made by Mr. Caller, that the report of the Committee on the memorial of Rob. Webb be said over till next Assembly, which was carried.
SICILY WHEAT.
Two barrels of Sicily Wheat have lately been imported by Messrs. Rosier and Rowlet, and by them presented to the Albany Society of Agriculture, &c. felicitating themselves that it may one day be productive of advantages to the United States. One of the species is very hard, transparent, and large; it is called in that country, Granti dur di Termini; Termini is the name of the town near which it grows in abandance;—the other is called Ricelli di Termini, which is a softer grain.
The following Gentlemen were chosen Electors for North Carolina for President and Vice-President of the U. States:
| For Edenton District, | John Hamilton; |
| Newbern | Bryan Whitfield |
| Northampton, | Thomas Wynne; |
| Halifax, | Gideon Alston |
| Raleigh, | Joseph Taylor; |
| Hillsborough, | Absalom Tatem; |
| Rockingham, | Joseph Winston |
| Morgan, | William Tate |
| Edgecumbe, | Nathan Mayo; |
| Wilmington, | Thomas Brown; |
| Fayetteville, | William Martin; |
| Salisbury, | Spruce Macay. |
N. B. The first-named eight voted for Mr. Jefferson—the last four for Mr. Adams.—See page 108.
PETERSBURG.
Sept. 1, 1800.—This day the annual election for this Corporation took place at the Court-house. Upon the close of the poll, the following Gentlemen had the greatest number of votes, viz..
- John Wilder,
- David Maitland,
- Wm. Prentis,
- Joseph Harding,
- Geo Pegram, jun.
- Wm. Durell,
- Dan. Dodson,
- Wm. Corling,
- Robert Moore,
- Eben Stott,
- Dan. Mackinzie,
- Alex. Brown,
- Edw. Jeffers,
- John Morrison,
- James Knox,
- Greg. Johnson.
From them the following Officers were chosen:—
David Maitland, Esq. Mayor—Wm. Prentis, Recorder—Rob. Moore, D. Mackinzie, Dan Dodson, Wm. Durell, John Morrison, and Geo. Pegram, Aldermen—Edward Jeffers, Chamberlain—Rob. Lanier, Serjeant.
APPOMATTOX CANAL.
Trustees, Joseph Eggleston, Edm. Harrison, Edw. Mumford, Rich. W. Venable, John Epperson, Nel. Patterson, John Wiley, John Royal, Peter F. Archer, John Archer, Wm. Murray, Fra. Eppes, and Rob. Bolling—Engineer, Wm. Booker; Tho. Mumford, Clerk and Treasurer.
The five Gentlemen first named are Managers chosen to superintend the works.
Since the navigation was opened, about a year since, the following quantities of produce have been brought down the river:—
| Tobacco, | 500 hds. |
| Flour | 1,500 bls. |
| Wheat | 4,000 bushs. |
It is expected that the Canal will be finished in four years—Half toll commenced the 1st of October last.
[Page 191] Aggregate Statement of the corporation Accounts as they stood on the 14th of July 1800, when Mr. C. Stimpson resigned the Chamberlainship to Mr. Edw. Jeffers.
| Corporation Fund | 629 12 8 | |
| Court Do. | 32 5 5 | |
| Watch Do. | 311 19 9 | |
| 973 17 10 | ||
| Cash | 171 15 6 | 1145 13 4 |
| Advances of Cash to Watch and C [...]. Funds | 138 12 0 | |
| 1284 5 4 | ||
| Due from the Town | 122 11 8 | |
| Balance | L. 1161 13 8 |
Messrs. Moore and Maitland examined these Accounts, and reported. "that they found the same perfectly correct, leaving a balance to be transferred to the new Chamberlain of 171l. [...]5s. 6d." which was handed over to Mr. Jeffers accordingly.
CENSUS of the TOWN of PETERSBURG.
| Census of the Year 1790, | 2,734 | ||
| 1800—White Males under 10 years | 180 | ||
| —of 10 and under 16 | 83 | ||
| —of 16 and under 26 | 286 | ||
| —of 26 and under 45 | 304 | ||
| —of 45 and upwards | 71 | ||
| White Females under 10 years | 188 | ||
| —of 10 and under 16 | 66 | ||
| —of 16 and under 26 | 173 | ||
| —of 26 and under 45 | 184 | ||
| —of 45 and upwards | 66 | ||
| Total White People of both Sexes | 1501 | ||
| Free Persons of Colour | 428 | ||
| Slaves | 1491 | ||
| Total Inhabitants | 3,520 |
COURTS.
A District Court is held in Petersburg for the Counties of Dinwiddie, Amelia, Nottoway, Prince George, and Sussex; it sits twice a year, the 15th April and 15th Sept. and may continue 12 or 14 days. The Court is composed of two judges from the General Court, who take their tour of duty by lot.— Walker C [...]utchfield, Clerk.
A [...]ustings Court for the Town is held monthly, and by quarterly Sessions; same jurisdiction as the county Courts between residents of the town. The Court composed of the Mayor, Recorder, and six Aldermen, or any four of them.— John Gram [...]ar, Clerk.
TOBACCO inspected at the Petersburg Warehouses in the two last Years ending Sept. 1800
| Boyd's Warehouse, in 1799, | 2309 in 1800, | 1414 hhds. |
| Davis's | 2363 | 1591 |
| Blandford | 2130 | 1798 |
| B [...]llingbrook | 1979 | 1408 |
| Westbrook | 2126 | 1478 |
| Westhill | 2599 | 2500 |
| Cedar Point | 1779 | 1526 |
| Barksdale | 2601 | 1478 |
| High-street | 2415 | 1803 |
| Petersburg | 2152 | 2146 |
| J. Bolling's | 1507 | 1065 |
| R. Bolling's | 1920 | Burnt |
| Total | 25,880 | 18,207 |
| FLOUR inspected by D. Moore from Sept. 1799 to Sept. 1800, | Bls. 35,102 | |
| Different other Inspections, | about 10,000 | 45,102 |
| Inspected the preceding Year | 49,633 |
- Custom-house
-
- Wm. Heath, Esq. Collector
- And. Torborn, Surveyor City Point.
E. B. Holloway, Edwin Fort, and Rob. Hines, Commissioners of Bankrupt in the district included between James River and the North Carolina boundary, except Norfolk, Portsmouth, and their adjacent counties.
Conrad Webb, Attorney at Law, Solicitor to said Commissioners.—Sam. Davies, Notary Public.
OBSERVATIONS.—Our observations cannot differ much from those we had occasion to make last year. We then said "that the town of Petersburg stood in need of many improvements"—it now stands in nearly the same condition; a laudable exertion was indeed made last summer towards mending the main street; it certainly is the better of it, and the side-paths, here and there, are rather more passable. We then advised and do again advise, that the side paths be completed, both for the convenience of social intercourse and the benefit of trade; and let there be, on both sides of the street, a row of Poplars, not only to cover houses not very handsome, but for the sake of shade and of health, as the trees would act as powerful conductors to carry off disagreeable vapours and impure air: The inhabitants would do well to attend to this circumstance, of having more trees about their dwellings.—An Act of Assembly was obtained to bring water into the streets and houses, that most necessary of all elements, particularly in a warm climate, and in a wooden town; but no steps have yet been taken to carry this salutary law into effect.
[Page 193] On the subject of improvements, we have only to add, that there is nothing about the town of Petersburg that so much requires to be improved, i. e. new built, as Pocohunta bridge.—Of all the bad bridges in the country, this seems to be the wors [...]—Leading into a place of considerable commercial consequence, and placed on the great southern road, its present condition is both scandalous and dangerous.—If the Princess could raise her head, her Highness would be ashamed of the present possessors of her property, for the very little respect paid to her memory, and the very little regard held for the public convenience and prosperity.
It is said, we do not know upon what grounds, that the owners of property in and about Petersburg, by a churlish, impolitic disposition, are very far from being encouragers of improvement—We can scarcely believe this report—Besides the with of seeing a respectable and flourishing community rising around them, the idea of being considered the promoters of public prosperity and happiness, and the supreme pleasure of being esteemed and beloved by all their fellow citizens—they must know, that every improvement made by others, augments the value of their property, and that they themselves, ultimately, will be the greatest gainers.
There is one other observation which we think it not unfit to make—Altho' the inhabitants of Petersburg are made up from various nations, Americans, English, Scotch, Irish, French, &c. and entertain very different opinions, yet there is less political asperity displayed among them, than perhaps in any town on the continent; "peace and good neighbourhood" seems to be their favourite maxim. Without attempting to search for the causes of this pleasing effect, we, at once, ascribe it to the good sense of this people.—Long may this amiable suavity continue to be the distinguishing characteristic of the town of Petersburg—God knows we have enough of the real troubles of life, without creating artificial ones—let us not embitter the blessings we enjoy, by unnecessary discussions, nor disturb the public harmony with foolish quarrels about "the colour of beards, or the length of noses."
THREE SUNS.
On the 12th of January last, about 8 in the morning, several persons in Southern Prussia saw three Suns appear on a sudden. They rose majestically from the horizon. At seven o'clock the sky was clear and serene; a few minutes after it was covered with clouds; and at half past eight, there were seen in the East three columns of fire, the middle one of which rose to the height of 45 degrees. The two others, formed by the other two suns, were only a third as big as the middle one; they seemed to burn like a blazing fire, and as they rose produced a very majestic and awful effect.
ABSTRACT of the DEGREES of the THERMOMETER for the Year 1800.
Not having room for the Monthly Tables at length, we are under the necessity of only giving the following Abstract of the Year's Observations as taken at Blandford.—The first part contains the days of each month when the Mercury was at the lowest; the second, when it was the highest.
| Thermometer lowest. | Ther. highest | ||||||
| Month. | Mo. | Af. | Wind. | Mo. | Af. | Wind. | |
| Jan. | 29—22 | 32 | N. Easterly | — | 14—50 | 65 | Southl. |
| Feb. | 1—28 | 40 | Easterly | — | 24—55 | 67 | S. W. |
| Mar. | 7—28 | 38 | E. | — | 17—62 | 80 | S. |
| April | 22—45 | 63 | E. | — | 26—72 | 75 | S. W. * |
| May | 10—52 | 55 | E. | — | 15—72 | 87 | S. |
| June | 20—62 | 77 | Westerly | — | 15—80 | 89 | S. |
| July | 2—68 | 77 | Northerly | — | 26—82 | 91 | S. W. |
| Aug. | 7—68 | 80 | N. | — | 28—78 | 88 | S. |
| Sept. | 12—62 | 77 | N. W. | — | 14—75 | 80 | S. W. |
| Oct. | 25—45 | 63 | W. | — | 13—70 | 83 | S. |
| Nov. | 24—30 | 39 | W. | — | 2—60 | 66 | S. W. |
| Dec. | 2—28 | 44 | N. W. | — | 27—65 | 67 | S. |
It need scarcely be mentioned, that there was much more rain this year than usual, that it injured the wheat crop, and that the fall season was very unhealthy.
[If there is any scientific Gentleman in the neighbourhood furnished with the proper instruments, who keeps a regular account of the weather, &c. we shall be glad to profit by his remarks, being willing, as far as it may be in our power, to encourage a spirit of investigation into whatever may tend to elucidate the physical (as well as the moral) state of the country, and of producing correct meteorological tables and observations.]
Before we conclude the articles relative to Virginia, we must mention, but very briefly, that a conspiracy of the Negroes was discovered in the month of August last. The discovery was first made at Petersburg, where little credit was given to it—it was shortly after more fully disclosed at Richmond, where 20 or 30 of these unfortunate wretches were tried, condemned, and executed.
This is one of those subjects in which "more must be meant than meets the eye."—We shall therefore only say, that a great evil exists in the southern States, deeply affecting their character, their safety, and their prosperity—The Virginians are men too sensible and too quick-sighted not to know, that the transactions which have lately taken place in the West Indies, and what is daily doing in the northern States, cannot be hidden from the people alluded to.—It is impossible to remove the evil all at once, but it is very possible to do it by gradual measures—Look to it in time, ye Law-makers and Proprietors, or the storm will one day burst upon ye in thunder.—[Consult Liancourt and other Travellers.]
LOMBARDY POPLAR.
A gentleman from Italy, who lately travelled through the United States, gives the following account of this Tree:—
1. It moderates the heat of the summer sun in meadows, and protects and encreases the quantity of hay and pasture.
2. The body of the tree, when full grown, after its bark is taken off and it is thoroughly dried, makes good rails.
3. Its branches, when cut down and dried, afford excellent fire-wood, particularly for cooking in summer.
4. The leaves and small twigs of the tree, when plucked or out in the fall of the year, and dried, make a wholesome fodder for cattle and sheep during the winter.
It is hoped our Gentlemen farmers, where their native forest trees have become scarce and dear, will attend to these facts, and hereafter cultivate the Lombardy tree with more assiduity.
(Mr. Walpole says, a gentleman brought the first L. poplar to England in his chaise—but whether it came to America from England or Italy, we do not know.)
BRITISH NAVAL FORCE.
| In port and fitting | 73 | 7 | 94 | 132 | 306 |
| Guard Ships | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| In the English & Irish Channels | 0 | 0 | 23 | 41 | 64 |
| In the Downs and North Sea | 2 | 0 | 11 | 31 | 44 |
| West India Islands, &c. | 3 | 0 | 18 | 16 | 37 |
| At Jamaica | 7 | 1 | 17 | 17 | 42 |
| America and Newfoundland | 2 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 16 |
| Cape of Good Hope, E. Indies, | 8 | 6 | 10 | 16 | 40 |
| Coast of Africa | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Gibraltar, Portugal, Mediter. | 12 | 2 | 27 | 7 | 68 |
| Hospital and Prison Ships | 30 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 33 |
| Receiving Ships | 7 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 14 |
| Serviceable and repairing | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| In Ordinary | 20 | 2 | 20 | 41 | 83 |
| Building | 21 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 32 |
| Total | 194 | 25 | 245 | 331 | 795 |
| Ships taken from France | 51 | 1 | 131 | 125 | 308 |
| Spain | 8 | 0 | 12 | 19 | 39 |
| Dutch | 17 | 7 | 32 | 32 | 88 |
| Total | 76 | 8 | 175 | 176 | 435 |
| Privateers of all Nations | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 757 |
| Total British Naval Force | 1192 |
Along with this astonishing naval force, England maintains above 300,000 men in arms (besides her foreign subsidies); so that her Navy and Army alone cost her 25 millions sterling—Her expenditure for the year 1800, as stated by [...] r. Tierney, and acceded to by Mr. Pitt with not much difference, was 64 millions and a half!—Her peace establishment, supposing peace to take place this winter, will be at least 36 millions and a half!—These few lines will shew the amazing power and resources of this wonderful nation!
Mr. Tierney says, that the odious and oppressive Income Tax must continue ten years after peace is concluded—Unfortunately, the latest accounts from Europe state, that instead of peace taking place, as we had fondly hoped, the war had been renewed with fresh vigour, and on a broader scale—and, that the Emperor of Russia, besides detaining all the English ships in his ports, had entered into what is called an Armed Neutrality with the Northern Powers, in order to check the exorbitant insolence of the British Navy.
From the first day of the present year, the King of England was to drop the vain title of King of France, and is to be henceforth called King of the British—Is there any thing ominous in the change?—Louis XVI. changed his title, and then how short and unfortunate was his reign!
CONGRESSIONAL AFFAIRS.
FRENCH TREATY.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 24.—Yesterday the Senate proceeded to consider the form of ratification of the Treaty reported by a select Committee, which was substantially that the Treaty be ratified with the exception of the 2nd, and 3rd Articles, and with the addition of two new Articles, one declaring that the Treaty should not be construed in any of its proposions to affect any pre-existing treaties formed with other nations, and the other limiting its duration to eight years.
A division of the distinct questions contained in the form of ratification was called for, when the following questions were taken:—
1st. Shall the 2nd article of the treaty be excepted?—Two thirds of the members not concurring, the question was lost, and of consequence the 2d article was not excepted.
2. Shall the 3d article of the treaty be excepted?—Two thirds of the members not concurring the question was lost, and of consequence the 3d article was not excepted.
3. Shall the article declaring that this Treaty shall not affect any pre-existing Treaties be agreed to?—Two thirds of the members not concurring, the question was lost, and of consequence the new article was not agreed to.
4. Shall the article, limiting the Treaty to eight years be agreed to?—This question was agreed to by nearly an unanimous vote.
The first three members of the form of Ratification being virtually disagreed to, the Ratification remained unconditional, except as to the limitation of the Treaty to eight years.
On agreeing to this form of ratification there were 16 Yeas, 14 Nays.—The ratification was therefore lost, there not being two thirds of the members in favour of it.
The Yeas and Nays were as follow:—
Yeas—Messrs. Langdon, Livermore, T. Foster, Green, Paine, Chipman, Armstrong, S. T. Mason, Nicholas, Bloodworth, Franklin, Marshall, Brown, Baldwin, Cocke, Anderson,—16.
Nays—Messrs. J. Mason, D. Foster, Tracy, Hillhouse, Morris, Dayton, Schureman, Bingham, Ross, Latimer, Wells, Hindman, Howard, Read—14.
Feb. 3—This day was brought on in the Senate the reconsideration of the treaty with the French Republic. The form of Ratification proposed an exception of the 2d article, and a clause of limitation in point of time, to eight years' and in this shape it was assented to, 22 for it, 10 against it'—(See p. III)
On Tuesday, Feb. 10, Mr. S. Smith, chairman of the Committee of Commerce and Manufactures, reported, according to order, "A bill to continue in force an act further to suspend the commercial intercourse between the United States and France and the dependances thereof."
[Page 198] The existing act is limited to continue in force till the 3d day of March next, the bill now reported, re-enacts to continue it till the 3d day of March, 1802. It was once read, and on the question whether it should be read a second time, a motion was made by Mr. Davis to reject the bill.
Yeas—Messrs. Alston, Baer, Bird, Bishop, I. Brown, R. Brown, Cabell, Christie, Clay, Claiborne, Condit, Craik, Davis, Dawson, Dennis, Dennis, Dickson, Eggleston, Elmendorf, Fowler, Gallatin, Goode, Gray, Gregg, Grove, Hanna, Heister, Holmes, Hill, Jackson, Kitchell, H. Lee, Leib, Lincoln, Lyon, Livingston, Macon, Muhlenburg, New, Nicholas, Page, Powell, Randolph, Smilie, J. Smith, S. Smith, Spaight, Stanford, Stone, Stewart, Taliaferro, J. C. Thomas, Thompson, A. Trigg, J. Trigg, Van Cortlandt, Tazewell, Varnum, R. Williams—59.
Nays—Messrs. Bartlett, Bayard, Champlin, Cooper, J. Davenport, F. Davenport, Edmond, Evans, Foster, Freeman, Glen, C. Goodrich, E. Coodrich, Griswold, Harper, Henderson, Huger, Mattoon, Morris, Nott, Otis, Parker, Pinckney, Platt, Read, N. Read, Rutledge, Sheppard, J. C. Smith, Sheafe, Tenney, Thatcher, R Thomas, Wadsworth, Waln, L. Williams, Woods—37.
SEDITION BILL.
Feb. 21.—The House went into Committee of the whole, Mr. Morris in the chair, on the Sedition Bill.
The Committee reported the Bill without amendment, and on the question of engrossment for a third reading, it was decided in the negative, and of course the bill was lost—The yeas and nays were as follow:
Yeas—Messrs. Baer, Bartlett, Bayard, J. Brown, Champlin, Cooper, Craik, Dana, J. Davenport, Dennis, Dickson, Edmond, Evans, Foster, Freeman, Glen, C. Goodrich, E. Goodrich, Griswold, Grove, Harper, Henderson, Hill, Imlay, Kittera, H. Lee, S. Lee, Mattoon, Morris, Otis, Page, Pinckney, Platt, Powel, J Read, N. Read, Rutledge, Sheppard, J. C. Smith, Sheaf, Tenney, Thatcher, J. Thomas, R. Thomas, Wadsworth, Waln, L. Williams, Woods—49.
Nays—Messrs. Alston, Bailey, Bishop, R. Brown, Cabell, Christie, Clay, Claiborne, Condit, Davis, Dawson, Dent, Eggleston, Elmendorf, Fowler, Gallatin, Goode, Gray, Gregg, Hanna, Heister, Holmes, Huger, Jackson, Kitchell, Leib, Lincoln, Lyon, Linn, Livingston, Macon, Muhlenburg, New, Nicholas, Nicholson, Parker, Randolph, Smilie, J. Smith, S. Smith, Spaight, Stanford, Stone, Sumpter, Stewart, Taliaferro, Thompson, A. Trigg, J. Trigg, Tazewell, Van Cortlandt, Varnum, R. Williams—53.
[Page 199] After which, Mr. Bayard made the following motion, and ordered to lie on the table:—
Resolved, That a Committee be appointed to prepare and bring in a bill to amend the Common Law, so as to define and limit the punishment upon prosecutions for libels, and to enable a defendant, upon such prosecution, to give the truth of the matter charged as a libel, in evidence, in his defence.
Thus, a Law has at length been got rid of, which never ought to have been enacted, if, as its advocates alledge, the Common Law was fully competent to the evil complained of.—As to Mr. Bayard's explanation, it has the appearance of fairness, viz. to enable the Defendant to plead the truth of the alledged libel.—Mr. Cooper says, he was not permitted to prove the truth of his assertions, as Judge Chase would not allow him to summon, Mr Adams as a witness.
ELECTION of PRESIDENT.
This day at 11 o'clock, the House of Representatives repaired to the Senate chamber, where the votes for President and Vice-President were counted, when it appeared, that Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr had an equal number of votes—(See page 108.)—The House then returned to its own chamber, and, with closed doors, proceeded to ballot.
Upon the ballots being counted, they stood thus:—
| For Mr. Jefferson | 8 | States. |
| Mr. Burr | 6 | |
| Divided | 2 | Maryl. & Vermont. |
There being no election, the House immediately proceeded to a second ballot, when the result was the same—and thus they continued balloting till Thursday morning at 9 o'clock; after the 27th ballots, the exhausted members agreed to postpone business till 12 o'clock.
At 12, the 28th ballot was taken, and the result was the same—After which, all further balloting was suspended till next day, Friday.
At 12 o'clock on Friday, the 29th ballot, and at 1, the 30th ballot were taken, and the result the same. It was then determined to adjourn till next day.
On Saturday, at 12 o'clock, the House went into the 31st ballot, and the result, was the same.
After the 32d ballot, Mr. Dickson of North Carolina declared, that it was high time to put an end to the contest, and that henceforth he should vote for Mr. Jefferson.
At 2 o'clock, the 33d ballot was taken, and the result the same—It was then resolved, to postpone further balloting till Tuesday.
[Page 200] This day, Tuesday the 18th, at 1 o'clock, after an awful suspense which had excited the fears of all America, and the malicious hopes of her enemies, Republicanism was triumphant—on the 36th ballot, it appeared, that Mr. Jefferson had 10 States for him, 4 for Mr. Burr, and two were blank.
For Mr. Jefferson, Vermont, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
For Mr. Burr, Rhode Island, Massachusets, New Hampshire, and Connecticut.— Blank States, Delaware and S. Carolina.
For Vermont, Mr. Morris absented himself—For South Carolina, Mr. Huger, who had always voted for Mr. Jefferson, from a spirit of accommodation, also withdrew, which enabled South Carolina to give a blank vote—For Maryland, there were four blank votes, and four for Mr. Jefferson.
That the People of the United States may know how their Representatives voted upon this important occasion, we give the following statement:—
New Hampshire—4 for Mr. Burr, viz.. Messrs. Foster, Sheafe, Tenney, and Freeman.
Massachusetts—11 for Burr viz. Messrs. S. Lee, Otis, N. Read, M. Shepard, Thatcher, Wadsworth, L. Williams, Bartlett, Mattoon, J. Read, Sedgewick.—3 for Mr. Jefferson, viz. Messrs, Bishop, Varnum, Lincoln.
Rhode-Island—2 for Burr, viz. Messrs, Champlin and Brown.
Connecticut—7 for Burr, viz. Messrs, Goodrich, E. Goodrich, Griswold, Dana, J. Davenport, Edmond, J. C. Smith.
Vermont—1 for Jefferson, viz. Mr. Lyon—1 for Burr, viz. Mr. Morris.
New-York—6 for Mr. Jefferson, viz. Messrs Bailey, Thompson, Livingston, Elmendorf, Van Cortland, J. Smith—4 for Mr. Burr, viz. Messrs. Bird, Glen, Cooper, Platt.
New-Jersey—3 for Mr. Jefferson, viz. Messrs. Kitchell, Condit, Linn—2 for Burr, viz. Messrs. Davenport, Imlay.
Pennsylvania—9 for Mr. Jefferson, viz. Messrs Gallatin, Gregg, Hanna, Leib, Smilie, Muhlenberg, Heister, Stewart, R. Brown—4 for Burr, viz. Messrs. Waln, Kittera, Thomas, Woods.
Delaware—1 for Mr. Burr, viz. Mr. Bayard.
Maryland—4 for Mr. Jefferson, viz. Messrs. S. Smith, Dent, Nicholson, Christie—4 for Mr. Burr, viz. Messrs. J. C. Thomas, Craik, Dennis, and Baer.
Virginia—14 invariably for Mr. Jefferson, viz. Messrs. Nicholas, Clay, Cabell, Dawson, Eggleston, Goode, Gray, Holmes. Jackson, New, Randolph, A. Trigg, J. Trigg, Tazewell—5 for Mr. Burr on some ballots, 2 of whom on the first ballot voted for Mr. Jefferson,) viz. Messrs, Evans, [...] Lee, Page, Parker, Powel.
[Page 201] North-Carolina—6 invariably for Mr. Jefferson, viz. Messrs. Alston, Macon, Stanford, Stone, R. Williams, Spaight—4 for Mr. Burr on some ballots, 3 of whom on the first ballot voted for Mr. Jefferson, viz. Messrs Hill, Henderson, Dickson, Grove.
So [...]th-Carolina—Mr. Sumpter being sick has not attended, but will attend, at every hazard, the moment his vote can be of any avail▪ The individual votes of the representatives of this state are not accurately known, but it is generally believed that Mr. Huger votes for Mr. Jefferson, and Mr. Rutledge Mr. Pinckney, and Mr. Harper vote for Mr. Burr. Mr. Nott's vote is doubtful▪ He has gone home.
Georgia—1 for Mr. Jefferson, viz. Mr. Taliaferro—Mr. Jones, who is dead, would have voted the same way.
Kentucky—2 for Mr. Jefferson, viz. Messrs. Davis and Fowler.
Tennessee—1 for Mr. Jefferson, viz. Mr. Claiborne.
On the first ballot, the individual votes were, 55 for Mr. Jefferson, and 49 for Mr. Burr.—Mr. Jones dead—Mr. Sumter sick—Mr. Nicholson was also very sick, but he had himself carried on his bed and laid upon the floor of the Hall, where he constantly ballotted for Mr. Jefferson.
Thus happily, terminated a contest which had excited so much alarm among the people of these States—May the great Disposer of all human actions, inspire the person chosen to fulfill his important office with such purity, dignity, and strength of understanding, as may insure to these countries peace, liberty, and happiness—The eyes of the oppressed of every nation in the world, are anxiously cast upon the people of America—if THEY are incapable of realizing the blessings of a Republican Government, it is a vain pursuit, and there is no political redemption for the human race!
Before we conclude this subject, we just remark, that, on this occasion, the Federal party lost a noble opportunity of shewing their magnanimity, by unanimously voting, after the first or second ballot, for Mr. Jefferson—Instead of which, they pertinaciously withstood the wish of the majority, and peevishly continued to vote for a man they disliked, and whom, they well knew, was only second in the public choice—It had been well for their character, if they had copied from the laudable example of Mr. Jay of New York, who submitted at once to the general will, proving himself to be a good Citizen, a Republican in the true sense of the word.—(See his very sensible answer to the address of the Federal party in New York.)
At the same time, however blameable the ill-timed obstinacy of the Federalists in Congress have been in the opinion of many people, it is right to say, that the most respectable of that party out of Congress decidedly disapproved of their conduct, and quietly acceded to the general will.
[Page 202] The Committee (Messrs Pinkney, Tazewell, and Bayard) instructed to wait on the President Elect, and notify him of his Election,—Report, That they have, according to order, performed that service, and addressed the President Elect in the following words, to wit:
"The Committee beg leave to express their wishes for the prosperity of your administration; and their sincere desire that it may promote your own happiness and the welfare of your country."
To which the President Elect was pleased to make the following reply:
"I receive, gentlemen, with profound thankfulness, this testimony of confidence from the great representative council of our nation. It fills up the measure of that grateful satisfaction, which had already been derived from the suffrages of my fellow-citizens themselves, designating me as one of those to whom they were willing to commit this charge, the most important of all others to them. In deciding between the candidates, whom their equal vote presented to your choice, I am sensible that age has been respected, rather than more active and useful qualifications. I know the difficulties of the station to which I am called, and feel and acknowledge my incompetence to them. But whatsoever of understanding, whatsoever of diligence, whatsoever of justice, or of affectionate concern for the happiness of man, it has pleased Providence to place within the compass of my faculties, shall be called forth for the discharge of the duties confided to me; and for procuring to my fellow-citizens all the benefits which our Constitution has placed under the guardianship of the general Government. Guided by the wisdom and patriotism of those to whom it belongs to express the legislative will of the nation, I will give to that will a faithful execution. I pray you to convey to the honourable body from which you are deputed the homage of my humble acknowledgements, and the sentiments of zeal and fidelity, by which I shall endeavor to merit these proofs of confidence from the nation and its representatives.
"Accept yourselves, gentlemen, my particular thanks for the obliging terms in which you have been pleased to communicate their will.
BRITISH SPOILATIONS.
Congress has passed a Resolution to the following effect:—"That the President of the United States be directed to have laid before this House, an account of the depredations committed on the commerce of these States by British ships of war, of which complaint has been made to Government"—We are sorry to hear, that these depredations are becoming more extensive and more grievous every day.
EXPORTS, &c.
As our work was nearly brought to a close, the following Statement made its appearance, and we thought it too important to be deferred till next volume.—Our Readers will turn to page 147, and see the amount of American Exports for the years 1797, 98, and 99.
| From N. Hampshire | 431,836 |
| Vermont | 57,041 |
| Massachusets | 11,326,876 |
| Rhode Island | 1,322,945 |
| Connecticut | 1,114,743 |
| New York | 14,045,079 |
| New Jersey | 2,289 |
| Pennsylvania | 11,949,679 |
| From Delaware | 418,695 |
| Maryland | 12,264,331 |
| Virginia | 4,430,689 |
| North Carolina | 769,799 |
| South Carolina | 10,663,510 |
| Georgia | 2,174,268 |
| Total, Drs. | 70,971,780 |
| To England and her Dependencies | 27,310,289 |
| France (see the year 1797) | 40,000 |
| French West Indies | 5,123,433 |
| Spain and her Dependencies | 15,660,606 |
| Portugal and her Dependencies | 1,265,844 |
| The Italian Ports | 2,689,968 |
| Netherlands and Dutch West I. Islands | 5,669,016 |
| Hamburgh, Bremen, &c. | 8,012,846 |
| Sweden and her Dependencies | 562,685 |
| China and the East Indies generally | 1,047,385 |
| North-west Coast of America | 946,153 |
STATE BALANCES.
The Committee appointed to inquire into the expediency of extinguishing certain State balances,
Report, That the Commissioners reported there were yet due certain balances, that is to say, from
| New York Dols. | 2,074,846 |
| Pennsylvania | 76,709 |
| Delaware | 612,428 |
| Maryland | 151,640 |
| Virginia | 100,879 |
| North Carolina | 501,082 |
MINT.
The Report on the Mint states, that its expenditures for the year 1800 amount to [...]0,686 dols. 29 cents; and, during that period, the following Coins have been struck, viz.
| Value. | Ds. | Cs |
| 25,965 Eagles, and 11,622 half do. | 317,760 | |
| 220,920 Dollars, 21,760 Dimes, 24,000 half do. | 224,296 | |
| 2,822,175 Cents, 211,580 half do. | 29,279 | 40 |
| Total | Dols. 571,335 | 40 |
During the same period, a gain has been made by the Mint on copper coined, of 5,050 dollars 68 cents 5 mills.
AMERICAN NAVY
A very important State Paper has just made its appearance, signed by the Secretary of the Navy Department, which are the first fruits of our accommodation with France, and gives a prospect of a reduction of our war expences in the naval line.—Mr. Stoddart proposes to fell all the vessels of war now belonging to the United States, except the following 13 frigates, viz. the U. States, President, Constitution, Chesapeak, Philadelphia, New York, Constellation, Congress, Essex, [...]oston, Adams, John Adams, and Gen. Green.
He then recommends the building a number of 74 gun men of war, and the erection of dock-yards at the following places, viz. at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, and Norfolk—"and measures have been taken to procure ground at New York for capacious dock-yards, &c. contracts have been made for cannon, &c.
"When the United States (says Mr. Stoddart) shall own a number of 74 gun ships, and a sufficient number of strong frigates, and that it is known they have the means of encreasing, with facility, their naval force, it is hoped we may then avoid those wars in which we have no interest, and not suffer ourselves to be plundered or insulted. An annual sum of only 117,387 dollars, would, in a few years, raise us to this desirable state of security."
We are sorry we have not room for this letter, as it contains much information. We recommend it to the perusal of the public, as in it will be seen the dawnings of a Naval force, which is one day to lift the States of America up to a dangerous and expensive, yet, perhaps, unavoidable rivalship with the great Naval powers of Europe.
[ ⁂ We have at length brought our Work to a close, not without omitting very many articles which we thought either useful or entertaining—amongst others, a Description of the Public Buildings, &c. at Richmond— This omission was occasioned by a very unforeseen and unpleasant accident (and which was one of the causes of retarding an earlier publication), the loss of the whole impression of a Copper [...] Representation of the Capital which had been engraved at Philadelphia, and sent by we know not what conveyance, as they have not [...] come to bund—Perhaps they may come in time for this year's Register.]]