i ' - Fcr the Gazette of the-United States. Wf. Ff.nno, I 03SERVED fomefhameful mif-ftatem'ents of the •.vriterin your Gazette under thefignatureof Phocion, refpeftir ; the-conduil ofMr. Jefferfon \vhile gover nor of Virginia in the year 1781, and having been jjerfotlally prEsent, in dftuaFfervice, throHgh all the scents of that year, from its commencement, jiid before, until after the termination of the siege of York, I can state what that conduit real ly was, with more trurband certainty than eitber'Phbcion or his friend Charles Simms, neither of whom appear to lenow much about what they have written, and .vere' certainly neither of ihciTi in "Virginia at t-heperiod referred to. First then, it is not ;rue that " Mr- Jef icrfon abandoned his trust at the mrmtnt of ittvafjon I*—Armold's1* —Ar- mold's tni vAtir. r or»k plSce in'January,l7Bl, Mr Jef ferfon remainid in his ftarion through the whole pe riod of that inva'lion. Cornwallis's invasion took v'ace in-May,T7Bf, and hecontimiert'toadvairceinto •he country ua til the be gi nn ng of June, when he com menced his retreat before rite Marquis-Fayette into 'he lower country, on the fea-bord,.the Marquis hav -13 rakrn the onsroand about two months before. Mr. Jefferfon did not religjjpt all, orabandou Mstta tioh, he remained in j ofiice until after Cornwallis's retreat, and until the time for which he was confti ' utionallv elected, had expired, to-'wit, the 12th of June, 1781. -Before he left the office, however, Mr. 4 jefferfon demanded of the legislature, a full enquiry into the conduct of the executive for the last twelve months, which'was accordingly granted by the refo tian of the 12th of June, 1761, and the 26th of No vember following appointed for the enquiry, being a period of near fix months allowed to bring forward any charges or proofs again ft Mr. Jefferfon. On the s6th of December, 1781, the aifembly proceeded to Take up the enquiry at lafge, on the report of a com mittee of their own bo'dy, and having firft voted that no charge or aceufation whatever, appeared against Mr. JefFerfon, and " that there never -was any cause for the hut fame vague and groundltfs rumours, 1 " 1 they unanimously paired the resolution of the rath De, eember, 1781, already published in your gazette, Mr. Fenno, and which if Phocion's candour will permit him again to read, he will find not merely an ac knowledgment of Mr. JefFerfon's ability and inte grity, and altogether fi/ent on the want of firmnefs, but con taining express lhanksfor " his attentive adr,ation of the polurrs of the executive tukih- in oj/ice." Secondly, Mr. Fenno, It is not true that Mr Tef firfon at any time fied before a few light-horsemen and fhamcfully abandoned his trust, or, as suggested' fey Charles Simms,contributed by his conduit to the loss and distress which accrued to the state in the de ftruaion of the public records, and vohchersfor gene ral expenditure—Letfafts speak. In a few days after the arrival of Arnold's fI.H, the enemy proceeded 150 miles up James's river, and land-d his tr»ops within 24 m les of Richmond, the night before his march to that place. All the militia of the state which could be armed being then out, under the' command ofGeneial Nelfon,.about fixtv miles dif tant, in the neighbourhood of Williamfburih and no defence at hand for the seCurity ofßichmond, but about 200 half-armed militia, under the commrnd of Baron Steuben who could do nothing more than cover the reraovrf! of the records and military stores across James River, from Richmond to Manrhefter 1 and secure the boats and bat(eaus on the Manchester fide to prevent the enemy's passing ; the writer of : this remained 1a Richmond with the-laft detach ment of militia that palled the river with re cords and stores, "and until the enemy (about o o clock in the morning) had entered the lower part 1 of the town, and began to fiank it with their light . horse, he few-Mr. JefFerfon as active as man coSld be, as well the night before, as that morning, Hie ing his orders, ami using every exertion to remove ' the records ana stores. He afterwards saw him at 1 Weffhim,'five miles above Richmond, where Ar- 1 roid puflied a dctachment to destroy the stores at 1 that place, and which thro' Mr. Jefferfon's exertions • were almost entirely saved. -The next day when 1 the enemy evacuated Richmond, the firft man the 1 writer of this saw, as he entered the town, was Mr t JefFerfon. Let a candid public then determine whe ther condnft lihe this, to which the writer hereof was an eye-witness, manifested want 0 f firmnefs or an abandonment'of trust. TV'lituatum of the' ! State was at that time peculiarly distressing the { whole of its Continental quota of troops were then J acting in Soul,h Carolina; manv thousand stand of t arms had been fnppliedfor the defence of North Ca roHna, and Arnold's invasion found the State al- ' most totally defencelefs. The state of things' was I (little better in a fsw months afterwards whenCorr- f wallis' invasion happened, and the Marquis Fayette 1 took the commard, since it is wellknown, that thro' the whole Of that campaign, the Marquis thro' want 1 of arms never had more than three or four thousand 1 nnhtia badly armed, in aid of the few continental t troops that were detached from the Northern army to Virginia, such was the deplorable situation both ' of the State ano Continent, -for want of arms In 11 refpeft to Tarleton's sudden march to a during that campaign, in order to Turprife the Go- t vernor and A.Tembly, it will be remembered tJiat the Marquis' army was inferior to Cornwall!.' and had few or nb cavalry attached to it that at Char- * lotfville there was not evena linglecompany of mi- a litia, and that Tarleton made a rapid march of C about 60 miles thro' the country at the head of about I 1 500 cavalry. The writer of this was alfb present i at Charlottfville at the time, and saw Mr. Jefferfon V and his Executive Council attending their dutv at' ! C tHit place With theAflcmbly;]t will not be pretend ' 1 ed then, under the crcuutftanees stated, that Mr. c A j J 1' a "dJhamefulty ' abandoned hr. truj}, as isfalfcly alFerted by Phocion But, Mr. Fcnno, why do the enemies of Mr Fes- l~ ■ f f r '°; n ' ca , v , il 3 ' h '' honourable acquittal alone by f( tl)c Aflemfcly of V rgima, from grouudlefs and un- ti founded charges } they well know that at the end of that-very yexr, his brave and galUrrt successor in of- 0 £ce, General Nelson was fubjerted to publicaccufa w tioa and impeachment before the Aflembly for sup- n posed mifcondudl in office, and honorably acquitted ft by ihe fame body, in the fame manner precifelv l and with .an unanimous vote of thanks, as in the' ease of Mr. Jefferfon. N» proof- appeared against cither, the aecufation in each cafe was declared to « and the honorable reputation of both il stand or fall by the verdict of the fame body I leave it with a candid public u> form their own re fieftious. a( l u r\jc u A stJ BSCRISER. o' 36th October, 1796. "" it Tor the Gaz«tte of the Unitfd States. PHOCION—No. XI. WE li ► seen that the firft advice given bv Mr 'H Jefferfon to the people of Virginia, relative to the ' it, ci/fiHitution, was not to adopt, but to try a-fecond no convention ; his fulfequcnt advice was, to adopt or ! pa not, on a tmtitifency, mat is, to adopt if nine gates de had net p.ev.oufiy adopted, to reject, if that num. -»L bcr of slates had previously adopted, in other words, St to rJlque an ultimate di/mcmberrnent of the ftatea in i doi - n experiment, to obtain the altetatioos which ht deemedneceffary. On examination thit advice will i.e found as pregnant with milchief to the United ing wft absurd and whimsicaL . the four hft deliberating Hates (particul.rly fZ liacJ happened to be ftatei in geo-raphital the contiguity, wLich was trerypoCble) had refufeti to' ratify the cotilHtutioo, what might not liave been the consequence ? Would the ajfinting dates have tamely luffered themlelres to be ceerced into the a ''ie meHdmcnts, which the diffenttng states might have '® n J di3a/ed? Could *ny thing but objections to the een conliitution of the mod have'juilified the the hazarding an eveathal schism in the union, in so ;nr , great a degiee as would have attended the advive ; °h given by Mr. Jefferfon ? Can it be denied thai the his person who entertained these objeSions was llrong-, to ly oppdfed to the confutation ? ere' The opponents of the conliitution '-(or the anli federalijh as they were called') acknowledged, like r _ Mr. JefFerfon, the necessity and utility of union-, ef- and generally fpea-ktni?, that the conltitution con pe- tained many valuable Matures ; like him, they only contended that it wa-ited ftittte eflential alteiations to render it a fafeatid good government ; like him, nto they only wanted a fecund convention, to alter the iv- conftitutiori, fp as to temove alt the objtdh'ons iv+iich had been made, by what they called the people, but ls , s in truth, by a few faftiotis diforganizers or vifiopa ti_ ry theorifti in the several Hates. of If Mr. JefFerfon's advice was not danger 6at, it ? r - certaiuly was ridicultfus in the extreme. 'According ve t 0 iat a d vlce » 'he queltion before a state conventi o- OI ? would not have been on the merits or demerits o- ol the constitution, but the only question would be, I a in ivhat numerical trder theJldteJlood :if she wetc '^ e ninth state, then it was ufl«aceflary'to discuss the t0 merits of the instrument •; it mull be adopted n_ evtnts ; but if she happened to be the tenth, it must at then be rejected at all events, without any difcufTi kr * n ' wou ' l ' ave heeß ftmply neccffary to hare ascertained, haw many flateis had adopted, which being known, the adoption or rejeSionfollowed [r. of course ; and tho' in other cases, it flioald seem that the more states had adopted a measure, the stronger would be the recommendation, as an evi dence as the approbation of the people, yet in this on cafe, the ingenious Jefferfon reversed the rule, and the more Aates had adopted, the less credit ought it } j- to have with the temainder. ] , d ' But when this very sage advice was given, it hap ie pened never to occur to its author, that two con- ' -~ veutions might be in session at the fame time, and ' that either of them, by its adoption, would make ' C d ! hc " •' what was to be done is this dilemma ? , >s I" s sdvice was proper for Virginia, it was proper < is ior all the other llates, how would they fettle the t e, etiquette, which was to adopt without amendments, c 5 and which was to reject, to obtain them ?it would d haveiequired conferences and negotiations, in which e it not a fyliable would have been said, refpe&ing the ' d merits ot the constitution, but the whole discussion a would have turned on, which ought to adopt, to j, : y complete the Hiagical number, nine. r t I' the contest had occurred between a large and c >f a small state, Virginia and Delaware, for inffance, ? the dispute indeed might easily have been fettled : 1 Virginia would lay, do you adopt, and we'll drive |! t them into amendmentsi little Delaware would not p t contend with the antient dominion : But a serious a a difficulty would have arisen, had the contest beea a e' between Virginia and Pennsylvania, and both were n t determined to adopt or rejedl: if noeompaH could have been concluded between them, I cannot fe< * t how Mr. Jeffei son's scheme could hare operated: 1 if both refufed to adopt, there would not have been c e the magic number ;if both determined to adopt, b . then ten states would have adopted, and no amend- n - menu obtained. p And all this, thought Mr. JefFerfon, might be 0 e ' aecompltfhed with ease, and without schism ! Sup e fokj-he four largefl flatei, Virginia, Pennfylvanii, 1 |i Maffachufet .s and New-York, had rejeßed the con- A - TT,' ■ u P on all the amendments t) - "'"■ c" 'heir several conventions required :is it 'pro- g s bable that the other nine states would, without a T - struggle, have i elinquifhed their opinions, and been (l , brow beat-into a firing of amendments, which they, f t m accepting the eonftitution, had deemed frivolous, a ' 1 unnecessary or dangerous ?or on the other hand, n had the four small slates withheld their consent, ci t I . H . or , d " l to coerce the nine others into amendments, i 11 tlTe latter would have been swayed, by j any apprehensions, to after a constitution, on which ft - they had retted their hopes of future happinels > " 1 "vewing the sentiments of Mr. JefFerfon, Z tefpedfing- the constitution, we are compelled to h; alcribe the contradiiSions and absurdities they dif f | cover, to a natural UNlleadinefs of principle, on V t i th , c . '" b J ea of govc/nment, and t« a disposition, , i whlch '« v< r y manifeft, to p i ea f c both parties un- , 1 ItT i- • 3 time ' which wook} P'eponderate. ?! ■ i likefome w — <*** f r ; e advised the M w'L f a, and as such, received a Jalary oftiuo hundred undfjty , lc dollars a year. Ie id. That he, became so antecedently to the eftabJifh- j C ill ment of his Gazette, having adtually received j n ft ry from the 17th August, 1791, and not havingpub- j v j. lifned the firfl number of his paper till the 31ft Oaober I n following. I tj 3d. That at the time he became so, there was ano-I si " ther character, a clerk in the lame department, -who 0 d underflood the French language ; asd that the editor of j n the National Gazette was a tranjlator oj that language e only. I.tl 4th. That the appointment was not made under any a ' s _$«*W,provi(ion, marking out a particular clerk, Tup of I « , the kind, its duties, or its emoluments ; but under a tl general authority to, -appoint clerks, and allow them fa- e ' la nes, Bot exceeding the average of five hundred dol- ; r lars eaeh. | jth. '4'hat the editor of the National Gazette, imme- °' , diately preceding the eftabliflunent of'that-paper, Was P' the fuperintendant or condu&or of a paper belonging j in e to Childs and Swaine, printed at New-York. m ? These are theJaHs : the conclujon is irrejfjiahle : the ar • Jecret intentions of men being in the repositories of their m r own breasts, it rarely happens, and is therefore not to t be expe&ed, that -4iredt and pefitive proof of them , can be adduced. Iy« j Preemptive fatfs and e&cumftances biuft afford the P r evidence, and when these are Efficiently ftrone, they « ought to decide. j [j. We find the head if a department taking the editor Lur of a Gazette into his-employment, as a clerk, with a co » Jtated Jalary, not for any Jpecial purpose, which could not have bftn accomplilhed otherwise; for besides bis I own competency to translate from the French, and his ? ( general pradhce, he tad, at the time, in his depart . ment, a clerk, who was eapabk of performing the . ycry Jervice required, and cofild, without difficulty, ; have procured others Gmilarly qualified: nor, from any • particular necessity arising from a too limited allow -1 ance, or any other cause ; for he had it in his power to 1 allow an adequate compensation to a character who r t might have been regularly attached to the department. I Ihe very txtjknce of Jucb a conn,a.»n, then, is alone ' • f h " „' ent foßndatlon f° r believing, that the delign of the arrangement wa> to fecurc an t,ij!u c ncc over Tfie pa- | per, the editor of which Was so employed. But the ear ' circumstances which attend it, explain the nature of it 95 , beyond a doubt. That which has been just mentioned, die namely, there having been firevioujly a ilerk in the de- on partment, qualified to render the Jenvice, is a weighty me : ° nc - Tlre com '"S oj « new printer from another state, to institute a: ncw paper-his having been appointed a c erk in the department prior to his removal to this city I faKW"? COm P eßfated be f° r < was even prl | p lent to fetisfy the appearance of rendering service — . theft circumstances give a point and cnerpy to the lan- tra " /aah "' w hich render it unequivocal. . ' Perhaps, never was a more JlimJy co-v.-riu? for th epenjomng of a printer. Some ojlenjible for ' fZ'ed Th th 'P u bltc money, was necessary to be con ss 1 ot w . The medium of negotiation between his friend, the J secretary oj J?«te, and Mr. Freneau, in order to the in- 1 iTXffed whVh 9r f " wc ". know »' documents J are pouelled which afcertam the perfo* • but Vld withheld, from parricular considerations. Theft are J the more readily y,elded to, because the fafls which BIC an il A " t R ° N t^3e National Gazette. I ord d r and c rt, 111 Un . ne ce fl ary to add what is equally well known A ""•JSSSS"* «"»»»«> »r«ni A piti.™ of P.nr,r,l„„i. bc «.»« b, ,ht tic,,™,.,® Club „ r C t ' was laid in the publications of that club. Mar Previous to it, breaking out—the agent, oft Vat Mar club dominated thrs'the interior country thtir '° r < inflammatory addresses. y new They stuck them up on trees—feattered ther, f ° r 1 ' and other conveyance,. Lies and flanders Torn! " e SAME AGENTS OF MISCH lev o of the Federal Government. 1 ' thcfc Ca Pl Ler us remember that tKc - \V some persons, have „ ° f these be and many lives. >C m 'lhon of dollats, I (h '.ufi s'? rr k " bi »- ••> -w 1 r™. 05 b r ,1, of o ,t"j u h b "™ b «" .be, .h^ lt r Wml ,iek « ««»»2S ibc Democratic Ciub. 0 f L< ■ulent FOR THE G AZETTE OF THE UNITED st* /.the — tuST ATES. Lents, Mr. Fenn«, rfclf;' Th, re.jre.nent of George Washington from DU U o the 11 5. 11fe vvlll lead t0 a crifisof a magnitude f 0 i , : held demand the feriou. attention of" >lytbe fr,end 10 h " country : for on his fuccefTor wi n T r this ■.«"« ™ afure depend the future peace aod T* d ob- P"!f f ' of America, if i n s e as ons 0 f f°j V patri- q t y' the dutles of the important office of P T P dent of the United States call f er m „ ch ! l how much more neccffary will it be t 0 fiv ' „ be- raan ° f virtu*, and firmnefa at this f the P f »°d, When Europe i, ravaged with the fW " >eja- war > a " d "hen the peculiar features that mark, t ji conouft of parties leaves not a doubt of tlu- • • the . V ° rS Wb ,' ch a hav<: bee " by intereiling ,h e °S" ?ern . 'ngs and inflaming the rcicntmeut our an "' the to l»duce a conduct on our part which aiuft y ' cad us ln, ° a war > ruir.ous in the extreme v cipal th " a, ' e " dc p d with or defeat. lt ; 5 ' u ' ot £ fe of " ,(h ' Pume \» to-enter ,nto a companion of 0 (he the merits of .ndmdu.l candidate, ; events are! very day anfing of an important nature and J>i t . and may between the day allotted for chufing EletW, Jol- and their meeting, have a great a»d leading infll' ence on their deliberation, ; i only wifli to call ' as a •"ent.on of my fellow citizens to the importance of ««, a right choice of Eieftors, and the necessity 0 £ fiJ'J their giving thejr rote, on this occasion. Th« Jifh- COM Kk th ;r°. parlic ' in Con « rcfß becj f . marfced by a diftina.o* too strong to ifcape obfer pub- vatlf >"' One of them has umfoimly opposed the ober mealures of the present Executive Government— the other has with equal firmnefs.and more f ucceh ano- supported those meaiures. If the oppofi.ie,, of "of one I,ad bcen f "«efsfull, it, effea«mu(t be left to mgt "Bjeaurc ; but the beneficial effeds resulting from .the mcafurea adopted by the Executive, a,e felt br *ny aIL .{5 theicfo 'e reft, with u, to determine whether pof we will chufe for Eledar,, men who are fenfibkof % 3 f e n r'" gs wc en j°y' and who the choice > a- er i resident fix oq a man who accords with them aoi ' in fent.ment, and who, following the path pointed me- illuftriou* President, will consider the ' was P re ' erT *tion cf rhe peac« of our country as his molt ■ing important duty, and our greatest blefling—Or on men whofeconduft has been uniformly marked by the ai) opposition to the meafureiof oirr pretpnt govern ment, and who will naturally chufe for President, em 3 P erfoß °f opinion with themfeUes. In a woid, you aie to djfermine whether, fatisfied with the* the P re f fnt Situation of your country, you wi(h the go key vernment to purfuethejr present line of condud; or by a charge hazard the confeqiiences of a fyflem of 'tor untried politics, which may be the iuin ofyoo# uld countr y» ' >ut w hicb cannot increase it, prosperity. bis A. Z. , hi* "" ——————a the Philadelphia, ty, — ny SATURDAY EVENING, OCTOBER i 9; ij 9 i. ho t F /'i ay ' the ljft inftant ' w »"ti Minto, U ; Fro ' e " or °f Mathematics and Natural Philof*- ne »n the College of Princeton, New-Jcrfcy. of — 11 55=" " "VTLlltve-iLiLliidk iuiupk.iem«f »(! the Ameti he can prisoners lately redeemed from Slavery at Aleieri V / it 95 in number; including alfb the names of those wiio ;d, died at Algiers after the conclulion of the treaty, mi I le- on the paflage to Marseilles. This interefling docu- ' ity meat will be published in Monday's Gazette, te, 1 a ELECTION RETURNS. "y ' _ Counties of Washington, Allegheny, Wcftraorelaad, a*d Fayette. / Walhington and Allegheyy diftrift. Jr ' Governor—Thomas Mifflin. < Congress—Albert Gallatin, t\n n . John Woods, 10) 1 79^-. 1 Copy of a letter from commodore fir John Borlafe Warren, K. B. te Evan Nepean, 'esq. dated on ' board his majefty 1 , ihip La Pomone, Falmouth, (he io'h instant.' SJK, v* _ . ; I I requett you will inform their lordfliipl, that ot» the 22d of August, at ten A. M. a fail was disco» vered in the s. s. w. quarter. 1 immediately oii patched the Galatea after her, who made the fig n3 ' of her being an enemy's frigate. I therefore sal-