ileirly the Mote that is in thy brothers
eye." We search the works of authors,
(Vattel, Blackttone, Puffendorf,) who
have laid down the law of nations,
»r.d make Urge quotations from therti,
profefling to govern our conduct f in all
cases by them, where treaty does not in
terfere, and we are the firft to givt to the
world an example of a violation of aH
national law, in one of it: not effcntiol
articles, " ll\ have (to life the Secreta
ry's own words) done •what it unjtipulated
in cur atvn treaties, an J unfounded in the
praSiice oj France, »r in that of any other
tirticn," and this we call n-.-ither "aiding
nor a (lilting any."
f Far be it from me to detract from
t!ic merit of Mr. JeSTerfon's they
would do honor to any man in any age or
c luntry—bat these contradictions are ad
ditional evidence how liable to err, the
moil knowing of us are.
The was omitted yellerday for
want of room.
For tie Caaettee of the United States.
M:. Fexno,
In this alarming crisis when war is so
much talked of that it is almost become
familiar to our ears, it is the duty of eve
fy good citizen to weigh well the causes of
the present uneafincfg in the public mind,
and the confequcnccs of an improper direc
tion being given to it. The injuries and
a.rgreftions of the Britifli government,
which have excited the mod lively sensa
tions among us are, ill. Tile detention of
the We Hern Polls—2d. The truce between
Putugal and Algiers—3d. The seizure of
veflels carrying provilions to the ports of
Fra:h:e—4th. The piratical conduct of
Britifli cruizers in the Well Indies—jth.
The inllnidlions of 6th Nov. and the con
fcquent seizure and condemnation of our
velfels in the Welt-Indies.
1 ft. The detentionof the Pollr. This
io deemed by us a violation of the treaty
of peace; Great Britain attempts a jufti
fication. by al'edging that the United
S'ates have also violated it by laws of the
* ates, and decisions as the state courts,
rctt raining the recovery of Britilh debts ;
it is answered on the jrart of the United
States, that even admitting this to have
been the cafe, yet the detention of the
polls was an' iafra£lion of the treaty, an
tecedent to any luch laws or decisions. It
mud in candor be admitted, that the con
duct of some of the dates, with refpeft to
debts, may be viewed in some measure as
1 departure from the rigid conftruAion of
the treaty ; &t the fame time, candor ought
to make allowances for the situation of
this country, ami to fugged many causes
of jullification. The date laws were in
general favorable to the mass of Britilh
creditors, for had the courts been thrown
open immediately after the peace, not a
bove one in a hundred of those creditors
would have' been paid, and the debtors
would all have.been ruined : no difcrirai
nation was made in any state against Bri
tifli creditors, but they were always placed
on the fame footing as American credit
ors. Still however, there may exist some
doubt on the subject, and it may not be so
clear a cafe as ta judify a war. It is true
the courts are all open at present to the
recovery ofdebts, but if there has been an
infra&ion of the treaty on our part at any
time lince the peace, it may furnifli a pre
text ou the other part for not immediately
fulfilling it. The fur trade is not an ob
jeS in itfelf of fufficient magnitude to in
demnify Us for a war ; the bravery of our
frontier people and our western anpy,
which has lately been fuccefsful, will keep
the Indians quiet, notwithdanding the
Britifli may continue for a few years to
hold those pods: it is not in the nature of
things that they ftiould be able to hold
them much longer : The extension of our
settlements, in their vicinity, the bold and
enterp riling disposition of the fcttlers, and
the frequent desertions of the troops which
garrison the pods, will soon induce the
Britifli government to abandon them.
2dly. The truce between Portugal and
Algiers—ln moments of paflion when our
sympathy is justly excited, for the dreadful
fufferings of our unhappy countrymen, it
is natural for us to execrate and fwearven.
geance against those who have in any ref
pe£l been accefiary to their misfortunes.
But we Ihould view the fubjcdl, as between
tHc United States and Great Britain. To
f<y that Great Britain has let loose the Al
gerine pirates upon us, is a figure of speech
which is incorrect. Had Britain felt a
very friendly disposition towards this coun
try, it is probable she would not have mads
that truce for Portugal without stipulating
a fecurity-fer uj; but are there any ties
vfhich connect Us With Britain ? Are
there any existing causes of obligation on
her pan ? Has our conduct been fueh for
some years past, as to authorise us to ex
pett on the part of Britain, partiality, pre
ference and favor ? Let us examine our
public prints ; the inceflaut torrents of a
buse again It Britain, the accounts of toasts,
processions, and rejoicings for the defeat
of her armies, will immediately fatisfy us
that we had'no to expect that Great
Britain fhofild digiefs from the It lift line
of her owh polity to accommodate herfelf
to our's : our partiality sot France, how
ever natural it may be, has led to ftich o
pen and. avowed an imolity against. the Bri
ti(h nation, that it would have been folly
to have expeftedin return from Great Bri
tain, proofs of kindness and friend/hip.
Our government indeed, with one ex
ception, has been neutral: Mr. Jefferfon
in his correfpondance with Mr. Genet,
makes a merit of deviating from our neu
trality in allowing the sale of prizes not
warranted by treaty; and boalts of our
exertions to pay our debt to France.
These deviations ihight excite umbrage
in the other belligerent powers ; but up
on the whole, the federal government,
considering the biafs of the people, has
been highly meritorious, and their conduct
Ihould have a due effect on the Britilh
cabinet. A law has palled one branch of
the federal legitlatuie, to prevent the sale
of prizes ; if it pafi'es the other, then the
decided neutrality of the government will
be an offset againd the decided partiality
of a considerable part of the people.
How then does this question (land as
between the United States and Great Bri
tain ; the latter makes a truce in behalf of
an old friend and close ally with a formi
dable adverfarv, without llipulating a se
curity or a participation in that truce for
a nation, the inhabitants of which
manifelled the moil decided partiality for
her most bitter enemies, and the govern
ment of which has not required luch a:
security or even her mediation. Where
then is the cause of hostility!
3. "The seizure of veflela laden with
provisions forFraiVjev This measure was
adopted in pursuance of a ilipulatiori en
tered into between Great Britain, RilfEa,
Spain, &c. All those powers are anfwer--
able for it, St war ttgamil one on that score,
would be war againd all. The Britifiv
Minider attempts a juftification of it from
-the authority of writers 011 the. law of
nations, particularly 2 Vattel, 72, 73, and
urges, that by the dodlnne, there laid
down, they have not gone so far as they
would have been juftified in proceeding,
considering. the profpeft they have of re
ducing their enemy by such means, the
iaftruttions not extending to all kind of
provifious, rice being excepted, nor to
confifcations ;> that the exilling circum
flances jullify them in considering grain
as among contraband articles, and there
fore coming within the President's pro
clamation, that the Freneh government
(and not individuals) are the only impor
ters of grain into that country, that the
measure was so guarded by directing the
property to be paid for, together with the
freight, that the owners could fuffer no
loss, a liberal price being always allowed
in the cases.
Whether this explanation be or be not
confident with the law of nations, it is
not perhaps necelfary to explore ; these
remarks, however occur:
I ft. That it is not probable any ast of
our government would produce a departure
from a system eftabliftied by all the com
bined powers as one deemed by them indif
pcnfable for their own fafety.
zd. That it is a« little probable, any
further inconvenience will result to us,
from this system, as the conduct of the
French government, by payments in afiig
nats, embargoes, and other acts of vio
lence, will be a fufficient restraint on our
merchants, from fending provisions to
Francc in American bottoms: It is more
probable, that the French government, a
ware of this, will continue to pursue the
wife policy they have adopted of fending
their specie, (hips and convoys to our ports
for grain.
3d. The piratical conduct of the com
manders of British cruizers in the Weft-
Indies. A complaint having been made
on this head to the British Government,
Lord Grenville requested our Minister Mr.
Pinckney, to feled some instances where
the evidence was clear, in order to rnfti
tute criminal prosecutions against the of
fenders and promised the failed support of
the law-officers of th« crown. Mr. P.
informs our executive, that he was endea
vouring to fix upon some strong cases where
the evidence might be fufficient to ensure
conviction: He adds in. the fame letter
that he believes it to be the desire both of
the Briciih government and the people in
general, to be upon good terms with us;
this being the cafe, no jufl caufc of war
can arifc until it be known, that the pro
mise has not been observed.
4th. The inftru6tion« of the 6th of
November, signed H. Dundas, and the
consequent Tenures.
The true import of these inftru&ions must
be firft confijiered, independent of the pro
ceedings in the Welt-Indies. The instruc
tions direct that our veflels under certain cir
cumstances (hall be carried into the Britilh
Islands "for certain adjudication" What
is the meaning of the words " legal adjudi
cation ?" Civilians lay they imply nothing
more than an adjudication by law whether a
veflel or cargo is or is not liable to condem
nation ; lawyers of eminence in this city have
given the lame opinion, the law officer of
the crown in Jamaica, gives the fame opini
on ; he fays that to guard against the irregu
lar conduct of commanders of cruizers, they
are dire£ed to carry neutral veflels fulpe&ed
of having enemy's property or contraband
goods on board into port for trial, and that
the inftru&ions mean nothing more; Lord
Grenville, who probably drew up the instruc
tions, in a note to Mr. Pinckney, speaking of
some American veflels in London, which
had been libelled in the Admiralty Court,
fays they were in a ccurfe of legal adjudica
tion, meaning only that they were under trial.
So far then it is clear that the inflruftions, in
themselves, do not breathe hostility.
As to the proceedings in the vice-admiral
ty courts in the Weft-Indies, information
varies ; by some accounts it is said, that there
have been no condemnations, except in Mont
ferrat, by others we are informed, that they
have taken place in some other Islands.
The Judges of these Courts may have
proceeded to condemnation from ignorance
or corruption ; it is well known that the
persons lent out # to the British colonies as
Judges, are not generally the heft lawyers or
the best men ; they are frequently diflipated
extravagant, debauched, and ignorant per
sons of influential connexions, who have in
iereft enough to get these appointments. This
was generally the cafe with us while colonies,
and was one of the curses we got rid of by
our independence; it is among the curses
which the remaining colonies groan under.
No on'* will deny that the conduct of some
•of these Judge-lings has been infamous and
abominable, and that the British government
ought upon information of their proceedings,
"to dismiss and punish them. But is their con
du& a cause cjf war ? We are precluded from
faying that it is. When the British govern
ment complained that some of our inferior
Courts had established decrees which were an
infraction o£ the treaty of peace, N\liat was
the answer of our Executive ? " No nation,
fays Mr. JefferSon, in his letter to Mr. Ham
mond, page 56, answer. for perfect exac
titude of proceedings in all their inferior
Courts : It fuffices to provide a Jupreme ju
dicature, where all error and partiality will
be ultimately corre&ed." We cannot then
complain of a refufal to do justice on the
part of the British Cabinet, until an appeal
has been made from the Vice-Admiralty
Courts in the Weft-Indies, which are inferior
Courts, to the Admiralty Courts in England.
This is certainly a grievance of no inconsi
derable magnitude to the parties, and many
of them will probably be induced by the
trouble and expence to abandon their vessels
to the captors. But, in a cafe like the pre
sent, our government should interpose its aid
and affifl the fufferers. The Executive would
be fully authorized, under such circumstan
ces, to advance money to the Captains or
owners of the condemned vessels for the pur
pose of prosecuting appeals : If the Supreme
Court of Admiralty, as Mr. J. fays, corrects
the error of partiality of the inferior Courts
and awards restitution and damages, we are
bound by our own do<Strines, to be content :
If the iniquitous sentences be confirmed, and
the Cabinet of St. James's, on a demand,
refufe full compensation for the vessels and
cargoes which have been unjustly seized, then
hostility and retaliation against that nation
will be juftifiable, and all parties will be uni
ted in the most vigorous efforts to obtain re
dress for our violated rights.
These are the measures which ought- im
mediately to be pursued, and while the ifiue
of them remains uncertain, the country
ought to be put in a condition to defend it
felf again!! invalion, and to afiert its dignity.
A Moderate Man.
CONGRESS.
House of Representatives.
Wednesday, January 29.
The SPEECH of Mr. Smith, of South'
Carolina, in reply to Mr. on
the fubjcd of the Commercial Regulations.
[continued]
The gentleman had been much diipleaf
ed at his having commented on the omifli
on of the Secretary of State to mention
that while the ttbaen of the United State*
paid iii Great Britain a duty of i/j» ' all
other foreign tobacco paid $/5. As an
apology for that omission, (which Mr.
Smith could not but deem material, espe
cially as the Secretary laid great ftrefa on
other duties,) the gentlemau had ailedg«d
that the circumltance was perfc&ly imma
terial, inafmnch as the duty of l/j was
itfelf so high as to diminish the conlump
tion, and inafmueh as there was no otlier
country which could be our competitor in
that article. To this he answered, firlt,.
that tobacco being an artiele not of necef-
Cty but of caprice, and being consumed
in Wiall quantity by each individual a
high duty, could not be felt ; secondly,
that tobacco was obtainable from other
countries ; it appeared from documents of
authority, that in the years 1744, 5, 6,
the imports of tobacco into Great Bri
tain had been annually kbont 62,000
hogsheads, of wheh only 44,000 were
• from the American colonies', the refiduc,
18,000 being from other countries. From
the fame documents it further appeared
that in 1774 Great Britain imported
from the American colonies 96,000 hogs
lieads which was nearly the whole of the
tobacco (lie imported that year: The in
ference resulting from this circumstance
was, that the difference of duty in favor of
American tobacco had then destroyed a
competition which did before exiji. He
admitted that this discrimination of duties
in our favor was a reliA of her colony sy
stem, but it's object was to encourage the
growth of tobacco in this country, by
giving to it a monopoly of the Britilh
market, and it appeared that this object
was obtained ; and it was to be inferred,
that a continuance of Ae effect was pro
cured by a continuance of the system. If
we have not much competition now, it
does not follow that it might not arise.
What was there to hinder it's being raised
on equally good terms in any quantity in
any of the southern ports of this conti
nent in poflcflion of the different powers
of Europe, Spain, Portugal, Holland ?
Portugal, it had been said, could not
be our competitor, tor (lie received our
tobacco ; the report fays that it is prohi
bited ; he tlridcrftood some small quantity
had been smuggled to that country ; it
was certain that only 62 hoglheads had
been exported thither the year before last,
and only 5 the lalt year. In comparing
the footing on which our conirhercc stood
with Fiance and Great Britain, the geni
tlemao had dwelt on particular circtimftan
ces; that was not a fair mode of compa
rison, the queftton ought to be an aggre
gate one ; are we as well upon the tiihoh
with this or that country! If we are; we
ought not to deal out a W9rfe measure to
one tlian to another. The indireS com
merce which Great Britain denies us, and
which France till lately granted us, is not
at present very material to ui, at we could
not multiply our navigation enough to de
rive great benefit from it, without injury;
to divert our capital from more profitable
branches to the mere sarrying trade would
be unwise ; 'tis defireable only to a coun
try, like Holland, of little production
and great capital j but even France now
excludes us from the indirect commerce
with her by her late navigation ast : The
systems of the two countries, then, in ref
peft to the navigation in Europe, (land
precisely on the fame footing ; and in ref
pedl to their Weft-Indies, the war has
let our veflels into the British as well a*
the Frencn Islands, and there can be little
doubt that our right to fend our vessels to
the French I Hands will terminate with the
war.
(Speech to he continued.)
Foreign Intelligence.
NATIONAL CONVENTION.
December 27,
Carnot, in the name of the committee
0 f Public fafety, read the following letter,
Salicerti, Richard, Ferron, Robefpiere and
Ban-as, to their colleagues, composing
the committee of Public Safety.
Head-Quarters, Toulon, Dec. 20.
Second year of the Republic,
One and indivisible.
" The army of the Republic, dear col
leagues, entered T*ulon yesterday, at 7 in
the morning, after 5 days and 5 nightt"
fighting and fatigue ; it burnt with impa
tience to give the a (Vault; 4,000 (believer*
ready ; but the cowardice of ths enemy,
who had evacuated the place after hiving
spiked all their cannon on the ramjferts,
rendered the scaling ufclefi. •
•' When the enemy- knew the cipture