x — =_ '
\ FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE,
By the ship Faiw, captain Harris, arrived at New-
York, in 34 days from London.
15RUSSELLS, September 27.
Aft«r the paflage of the Lahn by the ArcKduke
'-General Jourdan efftfted his retreat to Neuwied,
Bonn, and the Sieg. Hit right wing pasTed the
Rhine, to take a position in the Hundfruck ; the
right retreated with precipitation towards theSieg,
and the ccntre towards Bonn. To cover this retro
grade motion, General Marceau was left at Alten
kirchen, with a large body of troops. On the
20th September atday break, the Auftrians ap
proached this post, and while another column ad
vanced upon the front of the army, a third turned
the left.
Theit attack was made with the greatell impetu
osity, and they were received with incredible brave
ry by the French ; the action being for a long
time-supported with inconceivable fury and obstina
cy ; the field was covered every where with the
dead and dying ; but at length the Republisans,
forced at all points, were obliged to make a preci
pitate retreat. The accounts of their loss have, no
doubt, been exaggerated and represented as enor
mous. However, it is a fad, that the brave Gen.
Marceau was mortally wounded, and has fallen into
the hands of the enemy.
After such an important check, nothing but the
best retreat wy to be thought of. The Republi
cans seemed determined to maintain their position
at the head of the bridge of Neuwied. . The head
quarters are transferred to Cologne. Gen. Poncet's
division has crofTed the Rhiae at Bonn, where the
bridge is chained to the left shore, because the Ger
man peafantß on the other fide attempted to set it
on fire, which obliged the French to difeharge their
mnfquets against them ; in the mean while a strong
corps of the army has taken a position at Ports, and
Elbach, the Sieg, where it is not imagined
they caj)jrtiaintain themselves ; Bournonville has ta- '
taken the command : Couricils-of war are frequent;
but what is moil general is the affis&ing want of I 1
discipline. When the last intelligence came away, 1
tfce Auftrians (hewed, thenjfelves in the plains of . \
Neuwied, to make a frefh attack, their cavalry li- ,
lied the whole shore between Cologne and Bonn, ]
aad we have reason ro expect moie events of the
highest importance : reinforcements continue arriv- •
ing, 8,000 of the north have passed the Rhine to 1
Dufleldorf. On the other hand, a body of Auftri- j
ans from Mcntz, are approaching the Nahe ; but it
not true, as reported, that the Auftiians are at
"Treves.
PARIS, September 28.
' X.etttrs from Naples assure ue, that the French
republic has required from his Sicilian tnajefty a
contribution of fifty millions of livres, which re
quisition has been rrfufed.—L'Eclair.
One of eur Journals pretends, that Jourdan was
wounded near Wurtzbourg. The fame Journal
adds, that the duke of Wirtemburg has not ratified
the peace with France, and has even lecalled his
minister from Paris. Such an imprudence appears
*, 1 ' j i,i , "' T *-— —-—* ———
From Florence we learn, there is to be held a
congress there, in order to terminate the peacc with
the Pope and Naples Courier dt Paris.
The military council*concluded yesterday its de
bates relative to the 25 insurgents of Grenelle tried
jbefore them. The conclufiuns of the »eporter tend
ed to fend General Fion and another accused person
to the high court of justice, because they were im
plicated in the affair of Baboeuf. Four were con
demned to death, fix to banilhment, three to im
prisonment, and the reft were set at liberty.
. Tbefe conclusions were adopted.
From Milan we learn, that on the sth of Sep- 1
tember, General Buonaparte granted a generalarr- ]
nefty to all who had taken part in the rebellion of ]
the ift, 2d, and $d of August. He has betides j
given back to the poor the effects of which tbey have ,
been deprived, in order to pay their part of a con
tribution of one million, to which the inhabitants
were fubjefted. Those only who were condemned
far contumacy are to have their effects sequestered
and confiscated to the Republic.
September 30.
The Jpurnal des Hommes Libres fays, rhat in
Envoy from Prussia is arrived at Paris to enter into
a treaty tefpefling the inteteds of the ci-devant
Stadtholder, and the indemnity to be granted him.
It is, in lad, fufficiently probable, that the King '
of Prussia will profit of his credit with the Direc- '
tory to endeavour to obtain fomethiiig for his bro- '
ther in-law ; but it is only at the general peace that '
this can be treated of. Some EcclcGaftical Eleflo- !
rate may probably be demanded f-r hfm.
( L'Eclair.) '
The piflures and statues colkaed at Milan, Bo
logna, and other places in Italy, are on the road to
1 France. They are supposed to be at present on
French ground. ]
—s, October 1.
four eonfpirators, condemned to death by ]
the Military Commission, were (hot yelifrday in the \
• plain e? Grenelle.
Odtober 1.
General r Jourdan is here, and has dined with fe- '
»eral members of the Dire&ory. We are allured '
he will deptrt withoat feeing Benezech, to take the '
'command of the army of the North. »
General Bournonville's address to the army of the
Samhre and Meufc.
44 Brave Comrades !
" General Jourdan, who has so often conducted
-you to vi&ory, is compelled to retire, and to submit
to a separation from you ; his health, impaired by
a scries of labour and fatigue, does not permit him}
to continue to exercise his accultomed care of you, '
sud the executive diredtory charges me to replace
I'm. I do not liiflemble brave comrades, the diffi.
— culty of the task a Signed roe, and I ipuft depend
upon your good will to second ray endeavours upon
accepting a command which is so much the more •
arduous that the two banks of the F.hinc are fdp
fli«d with but weak rcfourccs Th« Grft virtue
! which I fit all aik of you re patience ;as for valour,
you are Frenchmen, and the brave army of the Sam
> bre and Meufc has proved itfelf to be worthy of
the char after.
" Citizen Alexandre* the commissary of govern
ment, who will replace citizen Joubert, is employ
ed in providing the means of subsistence and other
neceflaries that you may require ; he is aftivs in «-
e very thing, he is bofy day and night, his anxiety is
» as great as my own, and you must be convinced
c that we (hall spare no pains to procure for you at
e least what is necefiary, as much as circumstances will
» permit.
" You must be sensible, my dear companions,
" that plunder leads to want, that want of food leads
e to want of fubardinatiort, and want of iubordiiiati
' on to defeat. Will the brave army of the Sambre
and Meufe fuffer the armies of the Rhine and Mo
" felle, and of Italy, to be covered with glory, while
want of discipline renders it incapable of conquer.
' ing an enemy who has nothing to oppofeto it but
" unavailing effrontery.
! " Brave comrades, refpeft tlie inhabitants of the
" country beyoad the Rhine, and their properties, o
c bey your officers and your generals ; we have a de
> fert to pass through till we reach the Mein ; let us
cut through it and fly to vittory, and in a littli
' time we (hall be in want of nothing. But leave to
' your generals the care of providing for your fubfif
■ tence ; and far be from yc«j the horrors committed
' by those who have fotfaken your standard and aban
doned you.
: " Your brethren of the army of the North are
arrived ; they burn with zeal to (ght with yoa on
1 all fides, and to fliarc your warlike toils ; let the
' mod intimate union reign between you j let there
5 be no other rivalfhip than that of glory, no other
: emulation than that of honour ; let your redoub
led blows beat down your enemies ; they are ene
c mies whom you have often beu, continue ft'ill to
r vanquith them, and a glorious peace will soon fix
• your success, and afTure you of its reward.
' " I have seen the brave army of the Sambre and
1 Meufe—l have seen it with that bold and snartial count
tenance which charaflerifes the lovt of one's country,
and the ambition ol conquest. I am convinced, that
p there is not left one plunderer under arms, and that
the army is purified. Let us prepare for new fuccefles;
[. and depend upon it, you will find in me the fame care,
1 the fame folicitudc, and the fame tenderuefs, that you
• experienced in general Jourdan, with whom I would
, have wished only to ftiare the fatigue and the command.
> But my entreaties have been vain—l have not been
. able to preserve him with you—His health obliges him
( to retire. Believe me, his good qualities are deeply
imprinted on my heart, antfthat I ihall do every thisg
in my power, to leflcn the regret you must feel for his
absence.
i " The general in chief gives notice, that he will
not accept of any resignation ; and that he will consi
der as deserters, all those who retire without his p«r
rr.iflion ; and that he will denounce them as such to
the country. (Signed) ✓
' » BOURNONVILLE, general in chief."
1
LONDON, Oftobern.
* J
Eail Fitzwillum's Amendment.
1 The following is a corrcft copy of the amendment
1 on the address of thanks for the king's speech,
I moved in the house of lords on Thursday last, by
earl Fitzwilliam.
_ " That rhiy ftrpnrrlir rh+-
jultice and neceluty of the present war. carried on
for the maintenance of civil and moral order in the
world, and for securing the balance ef power in Eu
rope, and the independence of all ftatei, will con
tinue to give his majesty a vigorous support in assert
ing the general cause of his majesty aild his allies,
and for preserving the good faith, dignity and ho
nour of the crown, in full afTurance that no steps
will be taken inconsistent with those principles, or
with the future fafety and prosperity of these king,
doms ; and should the apparently hostile dispositions
of the court of Madrid, infligated by the intrigues
and menaces of the common enemy, put his majef
• ty under the necessity of repelling force by force,
' his majesty may rely on the determination of this
F house, to give his majesty the most ample support
1 in defending, against every aggression, the dignity,
rights, ind intcrefts of the Britidi empire."
The documents collected at Vcndome, for the
' trial of the accomplices of Drouet, amount to
I 6000. There are 42 persons to be tried. Each
document is to be copied two and forty times, be
cause the penal code expressly fays, that each of
the accused (hall, after the usual interrogatoriet, I
receive a copy of each proceeding. Thus there J
must be 252,000 copies in all, which, allowing one '
half hour for each, will take up 126,000 .hours '
; A clerk employed ten hours a day will finiffi 20 '
copies, and the 20 clerks attached to t.ie High 1
Court of Justice can furnifh only 400 in the course '
of a day. Thus all the copies will take up more
than a year to be completed. We may confcquent- 1
ly form an idea of the long delay to which the pro- '
ceedings of the Court must neceffitrily be fubjed. 1
HARWICH, October 2. '
Captain Kerkaldy spoke a neutral vefTel on his '
way over, who informed him, that 3000 of the '
Dutch pccple at Amsterdam pataded the streets 1
with the orange cockades in their bats. Imracdi- *
ately on the express arriving, which announced the
aichduke's success over Jourdan, 60 of the crew, '
belonging to the Dutch admiral's (hip mutinied | '
and it is said that the diQentions are so general a- '
mong the crews, that they are fearful of fending 1
the fleet to sea, left they (hou'.d compel their com- I
mandsrs ro strike to the British force." i
THIS BAY IS PUBLISHED, x i
Price 37 1-2 Cents. t
The Pretensions of Thomas JefFer- |
foa to the Presidency,
examined, f
And the Charges against John Adams f
REFUTED.
Addrefled to the Citizens of America in general, ;
and, particularly,
Tt the Electors of the Preftdent.
Sold by .
W. YOUNG, MILLS & SON, Corner of Second
IscTcmoer j, ttt J
FOR THE GAZETTE OF THE UNITED STATES,
f _
PHOCION—No. XXV.
AN examination of Mr. Jefferfon'# report on
- weights and MEASURES will close our ftri£tures.
r Tlii« report, like the reft of his works, has been
• highly extolled by his votaries, few of whom, it is
3 presumed, hive read it, and fewer ft ill have been
J able to understand it. The unprejudiced who have
' read it, and who are able to understand it, cannot
1 hesitate to pronounce that it abounds with plagia
risms, absurdities and erroneous principles.
» This we (hall demonstrate. There is a circum
-3 ftancc however to be previously noticed, which will
- place in a very ridiculous point of view Mr. Jeffer*
: lon's affectation of a wonderful depth of fcienee in
- mathematics. In his letter to the speaker of the
: house of representatives, accompanying the report,
• he tells us, " that the resolution calling for the re-
I port was dated the 15th January, 1790, that by ab
sence from New-York, he did not receive the resolu
tion till the 15th of April, that an illntfs added
■ fame -weeks to the delay, and that the report was
finifhed about the 10th of May." Now, supposing
' hit illness to have been only of two weeks, he coyld
not, according to his own account, have begun the
• report till about the firfl; of May ; yet on or about
• the 20th, he fays, the report was finifhed ; here he '
' wished to impress a belief that, notwithstanding all
■ his other avocations, which mull have been consi
derably multiplied by his recent arrival at the feat
! of government, he was able to accompliih, In about
1 three weeks, a work, the very calculations alone of
which would employ the bed mathematician, several
weeks ; these circumftauces prove beyond a doubt,
either that Mr. Jefferfon was prepared to report by
previous ftady, aad attempted to impose on the house
an opinion of extraordinary intuition, or that he
received very aonfiderable aid in the execution of
the report.* This is certain, that no one man could,
in the space of three weeks, compose such a work,
imperfect as it it, with all the calculations it con
tains, even were his whole attention devoted to it ;
much less could it have been accomplifiied, within
that period, by the secretary of state, whose other
numerous avocations must have divided his time, and
who afterwards required twelve weeks for his memo
rial against Great-Britain, and near three years for
his commercial report. But he further tells us, that
after this report wasfinifhed, on the 20th May, he
kept it back It lejfen its imperfeSions ;it seems then
it was finifhed imperfedly : Why make a boa ft of
its being fini/hed in two or three weeks, when it was
necefTary to keep it back to leffea its imperfe&ions ?
He goes on to fay, that ob the he re
ceived the Bishop of /luiuti'i proposition on the sams
fubje£t in the National AJfembly, that he, Mr. Jef
fcrlon, had affunaed by which to fix our stan
dard, but, " finding that the Nationalsljfcmbly had
chofcn 45 ®, he did not hejitate one moment to prefer
45° ,0 3®° i" that it then became necessary to re- ■
form ail his calculations, an operation, which was re
tarded by his other occupations ; all was however
completed by the 4th of July. Now the whole fe
, cret of this was molt probably, that Mr. Jefferfon,
aided by bookt and the New-York prefeffor, had
prepared a fketeh of a report, which he would not
which was known to be in agitation, in order to
conform our's to that, and that not being bold e
nough to tell the house the true cause of his delay,
he refoited to the above ineonfiftent and cxtrava- *
gant story. 8
Having disposed of the mtroduftory letter, we c
now come to the report. Mr. Jefferfon was requi- c
red, " to report to the house a proper plan, for ]
establishing uniformity in the currency, weights and
meafutes of the United States."
The object of a plain, sensible man, more anxi- r
ous to render solid services to the country than to ?
acquire reputation by a pedantic display of science, 1
would naturally have been, to ascertain tjie exifling a
currency, weights andmeafures in the Unitfcd States,
and to eltablifh such a flandard as would be most c
conformable to the general use, and attended with *
the least innovation aßd distress. Jn refpea to uni- f
formity in meafure9, nothing more would have been 2
requisite tnan to have proposed that some determi-
oed rtandard Ihould be made, and lodged in forae a
publia depofitoiiy, to whieh access might be had, '
when necessary. .Instead of this, Mr. Jefferfon
a fyrtem, which profeffes extreme minuUnefs, ■
preciftan and accuracy, and yet, when examined, is t
found to leave every thing to thefli/1 and accuracy of •
a watch-maker a fyttem, depending on criteria,
which heconfidered as important, and yet whkh are u
not defined in such manner, as to admit of an appli- ~
caiion of them. '
He begins the report with observing " that there
ex.fts not in nature a fioglc fubjeft, or species cf r '
fubjeft, acceflible to man, which presents one con- P
ftant and uniform dimevfion." The caufcs of this
variation of dimension are stated to be exbanfwn
and contraction, occaiioned by change cf tempera•
lure. Iron is stated to be the leafl expantdl of me- J
tals, and the degree of expansion of a pendulum
of 7 inches is said to be from 200 to 300 parts
of an inch. , p
Mr. Jefferfon, however, fays that the globe of I al
the earth might b« considered as invariable in all its w
dmevfions, and that its circumference would furnifh tl
an invariable measure. But if a small portion of the t[
lead e-xpanfible metal, iron, is so affected by tern- ~
perature, how can it be true, that the globe would
r h aa invariable measure? Is not the whole
* In f th ' Minerva of New-York, of July last, the
editor of which is a gentleman of great literary talents,
» the fallowing remark : Mr. Jefferfon has the reputa- T
tion of many things not bis own. Hi. famous report 1
on weights and meaftires was founded on ideas taken p
iZI 77 °f th f S ° Cie,y ° f Arts °" d C
pubhflied in England many years i gß) and now in pof- E
session of the writer. The idea of making the vifira- ° f
tions of the pendulum the basis of weights and rnea- "
fures, was borrowed from that book, and the flusioaal
calculations in that report are the work ,f a pnfeffir *
°" r c ° li 'g e > »nd procured at the /fecial requeji of ?
Mr. Secretary Jeffi-rfon. q J b'
fRf port, p. B.—« «rder to avoid the uncertain- ja
M ° f ofcillation > " been hi
propoled by Mr. Ltptc, an ingenious artiftof Phiiadel-
WcaVrod. Jfth/uE" tu
* earth, composed as it is of various element;, r 'l
more expanse than iron, liable to be afftdtcd bv
changes of temperature ? Are not different fide, „r
the earth prefetlted to the fun, at different feafoiij
Jn of the year ? Is not the whole globe nearer tu the
, s fun in some parts of its orbit, than a: others? I 3
it not of course more susceptible of heat, and more
"j s affc.'&ed by attraction, both of which opeiate to „f.
, n fed the dimefions of our globe ?Is it likely that
earth, water and other elements are so equally di
ut ftributed throughout our globe, as that the
a of expanfion,and contradion, oeeafioned by chsi : i CJ
of feafans, cxa&ly counterbalance each other ? \V tJ
n it not knovrn to Mr. Jefferfon, that no two of the
•]| great circles of our globe are of equal circumfe r .
enee, and that this rendered his pufition, at lead
; n doubtful ? '"*
Mr. Jefferfon fays, " that no one circle of the
r globe is accessible to admeasurement in all its parts,
and that the trials to measure portions have been of
fueh various refolt, as to (hew that there i 9 no de.
i peadance on that operation for certainty," If thia
j be true, what were the data, upon which it was
a.Terted, that the whole circumference would furniih
an invariable meafurc ? The French philofopheri
® now fay the contrary, and they have lately actual*
e ly taken a fe&ion of the earth for their ltandard.
it Who is to decide between these do&ors,ot are they
alii aiming to puzzle plain people, by an affedatioa
II of accuracy, which is unattainable ?
Mr. Jefferfon's Jlandard, is " an uniform cylin
t diical rod of iron, of such length, as in latitude
.t +s°' in the level of the ocean, and in a cellar or o
£ ther place, the temperature of which does not vary
throughout the year, (hall perform
in froall and equal arcs, in one second ofjpcan time."
' The degree of 45 °is assumed, because it was
■ g propped by France, and because it was the north
e ern boundary of the United States He fays,
r " Let the completion of the 45 0 then give the
1 llandard for ear union, with the nope, he Jacetiouf
ly adds, that it may become a line of uhion with the
!' reft of the worldy' » pleasant conceit! It was
t kind in this profound philosopher to emerge from
the depth of his experimental ccllar.te enliven this
feientilic and abltrufe [abje£t with a fun. Our
philosophers " hope of a line of union with the reft
of the world" is already defeated; the Fiencf*
have, fiace his report, taken a fe&ion of a meridi
t onal line for their standard J. Their pendulum sot
' 45 0 is to vibrate 100,000 seconds, while Mr. Jcf
ferfon's is vibrating 86,400.
:• The French have outdone even Mr. Jefferfon in
( innovation : thus illusory has the expe&ation prov-
P ed that the hobbyhtrft of one phiUiopher will be
refpefted by another.
But why this attempt at absolute accuracy ? He
: admits that the pendulum of 45 0 differs from the
pendulum of 31 only 1-679 P art ot ' u whole
length, and that this difference is so minute tha: it
r might be neg!(Cfed, as insensible for (he common pur
pojes of life. There was lome reason for the at
tempt, beyond a display of learning, or there was
not ; if " pcrfed exaflneft" was desirable, why
were the following causes of uncertainty aad eiri/r
unnoticed ?
I ft. The experiment, he fays, mud be made is
the level of the ocean, to prevent that increnfent to
i-f .tic- nrr-th, azui ~ Cl~T.7?r.:TiQh cf~
B the length of the pendulum, which a higher fiiuation
would produee.—What is th e level of the ocean?
The tide rises in 45 about fifteen feet, and there are
' levels of the ocean, at high-water, low water, and
at all points between these extremes. " Perfect ex
e adnefs" requiiei that the exprcrffion, level of the
ocean, Should have been defined; this emission has
since been rectified in the bill, which paifed the
j houfeof reprefentativeslaft feflion ||.
idly- The expetiment, fays the report, mud be
made in * cellar or other place, the temperature < f
which does not vary thioughout the year.—Th;s
is important, or it is not : if important, why not
T define the temperature, that it might be ascertained
by a thermometer ? There are few or no natural.
caves or cellars, io which the temperature doe« not
) vary : various causes may affect the temperature ;
Mr. Jeffeifon himfelf admits this, in his Notes, p.
1 21, where he allows that " cbymical agents may
produee in fubterraneoos cavities, a factitious heat
. and these may, more or less, affect the tempera
ture in molt caves or cellars.
[The remainder of this Number To-Aforro<w.]
' % Notwithstanding this friendly hope, the French
® have treated our pbilofopher very cavalierly; for
1 in their late fyftera, they have altogether overlook
'| ed his learned labors. Even citizen Fauchet, in
his letter to the secretary of state, cemmunicatiag
the French standard of weights and measures, ap
pears not to have even heard of Mr. Jefferfon's
' report ; for he fays,- I think I have heard that the
' present government were engaging in the fam*
changes, and even 'waited the rtfuii of the opera
' tron made in France on this fubje<3, for the pur
-1 pose of commencing their reform." i his was several
' years after Mr. Jefferfon's report 1
|| That bill diredh, that " the experiment (hall
' be made in the latitude of Philadelphia, at any
', place between the rivers Delaware and Schuylkill,
: at a known height above the level of common high
water in the Delaware, and in a known tempera
ture of the atmosphere, according to Farenheit's
thermometer."
James Mufgrave,
GOLDSMITH S? JEWELLER,
No. 42. south Sccnnd Dff • "
HAS just received an aflertment qf Flated V/ar«
and Jewellery, Plated Tea and Coffee tlrns, "
, Pots, Tea ditto, Caflors from sto 8 bottles, Sugar and
Cream Batons, Bottle Stands, Baflcets, high CandJtfties,
' Brackets and Chamber ditto, Branches, Sconce;, a variety
of Silver and Plated Shoe La'chets, Spurs, &'• W V»
rantetl .of the bell plate and Gentlemen? Gold
Watch Chains, Seals and Keys ; .Necklaces, Neck Chain.,
' Eear Rirgs, Finger Rings, Lockets, Breast Pint, Stone
. Knee-Buckles, with many other a,ticlc3 jn the above
branches. " ' ~ii
He haa likewise received an extensive s! ortmentot
japann'd tea and coffee JJnis, pcr&aii, blue, brown,
black and gold.
All kinds of work inthe gold and silver line; minia
tures fct, and hair work executed as usual.
Js'i-vejnber 9. tu (