P O E ,T R V. BRITISH DIAMOXDS. Through the mines cf fndoftan abound With brilliants efteem'd by the fair, Yet in Alhion'» rich bosom are found G'jins brighter than ever grew there. Those treafurcs divine to explore, And their beauties fjper'ative prove, I view ihe lair nymph I for her eyes are.the briiUant»' of love, firitifh Diamonds all others surpass \nd more exquisite iU.Ore impart; With the Foreign we (cribble on gl.rfs, hile the Native infe-ibr f>n tlie heart. WASHINGTON LOTTERr. No. 11. List cf Prizes and Blan'ks. pay's Drawing-—May 22, No. Dels. A'o. Dots'. No. Dols. No. Dots. 978 xo 10796"" 24692 Jo 4.11*5 10 iftcf 11077 15941 10 399 10 917 3*B 417 54t V >»3J7 **6Bs 959 6ij. 805 49 513 41094 3119 1 .H&s 30078 116 4J 7* 664 10 114 10 849 616 ro 146'? >3i 44218 675 10 I*3*o »8o 5454 10 575 10 34456 10 750 19 t)j(> 10 666 521 10 813 6510 16488 667 45221 557 19641 35 j 4B 591 80 J 651 702 10 813 70y3 10 839 10 976 10 854 10 686 10 871 10 36385 937 'O 817 912 10 37433 2 S 46802 10 883 959 828 10 921 8C73 20199 38282 10 47336 10 734 21377 469' 373 967 439 39 1 77 405 is 9588 734 • 40312 10 48287 779 21383 791 10 49178 10 looji 23150 876 631 717 10 24403 41069 728 10 Valuable Books. Anew importation, from London, ufl reccivec? and now opening and felling by J. ORMROD, No. 41, Chefnut-ftreet. iVTarch 29. eo^p F° r Sale or Charter, V? 7he Schooner Fair American, Virginia built—burthen about 709 barrels flour— two years old—and can be sent to sea immediately. 7 bomas Jq/hua Fijhcr, No. 5, Dock ftrtct. May 19. diw Southwark Printing-Office, No. 294, South Sccond-Jlrett. IF encouraged, Timothy Mcuntford, will pub lish from this office, a newspaper, entitled, The ' SsMifj-ivcri-Cczdta, a:id Philadelphia Regijter; the u- X .t y ol whi:h, no one can doubt of who considers tie uiftunce between this and other offices. He will ftnd papers on the morning of every Thurfday'and Saturday, to such places as his sub scribers snail direct. The price of this Gazette will be Four Dollars, prr ye-r, payable as follows: One dollar when called' for—one dollar at the expiration of fix months—and onfe dollar at the aid of every fubfe qu«it t«rm of thr<fe months. Literary elfays vriil be gladly received and in ieried gratis—Advef tifements at the usual rates. Apply to William Robinson,jun. Esquire, at his house ia front of the office, who will receive iubferiptien*. Subfcciptions will alfobe received by the follow ing centlemen, viz. Mess. Young, Mills iff Son, I'bomas Dobfon, 'John OrmroJ, IVitHam IV IVW tttardy and Samuel Richardet, Merchants* Coffee houfc. ( May 29. 3peo. Dutch Gunpowder. A quantity of the bed Dutch Gunpowder for sale by Samuel Brcek, jun. Ne. 89, south Third- Prcct. Kay 17. co6t JIZC kiei Hall HAS removed his Compting Room to Jones's Wharf*, where lie ha* -for sale 24 hogsheads Cod Fish. A Jlon to let, .Xr Water-street, between Market and Arch-streets. May 20 6p For Sale, JSySzmucl Ereck, jun,at s Compiing-houfe,N», 89 South 1 hird-ftreet, A quantity of the beji Bolon mess Beef in whole aid half barrels. fit for (hip's use Do. Pork do. A quantity of Sherry Wine A few Pipes Oil Proot Brandy, just landed from Bordeaux Chocolate in Boxe> Rice, Cotton, Castile Soao, and Four or five Bales large Orauge Peels, &c. May 27. «o6t For I'ale, or to be let, A new three Jlory brick house. AT the Merchants' CofFee-houfe, ou Friday next, the ad of June, at 8 o'clock ia the evening, will be lold by public vendue, a genteel "three ttcry house. It io pieafantly situated on the south fide of Arch-street, the fouith house above fourth-fireet. It may be viewed any time before liie sale. Terms are one fourth in approved notes at 60 days, and the remainder in seven years on fecurky and interest annually. If not fold it will be put up to be let on a Icafc of seven years. Im mediate poffeflion may be given. Further parti culars will be made known at the time of sale, by Richard Footman Co. yJuSion'ert. Mav 19. dst Doctor Perkins INFORMS the citizens of Philadelphia, that ke has taken lodgings for a few days at the sign of the Indian Queen, south Fourth-ftrcct. He will be happy t» wait on those who wifli to faiisfy thcmlclves of the efficacy of bis Patent Metallic Points ; And win operate gratis for the relief of the prjor at his lodpings, where he lia> for sale the inltru tncntt, with the necessary milrusions for ufijig th»m. May 29. dtf For Sale, TWO LOTS OF GROUND 4n Kcnfinp ton, on the ibuth fide of Hanovcr-flrcci, containing thirty-fix feet in breadth and ore kondred and frxty-feven and a half feet in depth to a twenty feet alley For further in formation enquire at No. 37, Arch-street. March 18. cadtf litre***— >r "-w <mWO CONGRESS'. ; 1 HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES, Wednefibry, Afiy 24. ( !flr. Swan wick's S/i.'«4 concluded.) Ai to the fpoliatiwns, they rioubtleft ire alf:> causes of jult tompkriut' from America ; l> .t while they are equally continued to thisdsy, by England, Spain, Holland and France,"we ought to go to war with all these powers ; if we mean lo attack any on tfcis score—tor lurety, the groans of Our teamen, fa emphatically heard by a gentleman up before me, from Maflachuletts, are heard as dillinilly from Cape Nichola Mole, as fivmi Cipe Francois, and ought to rouze e qual indignation, uajei's we have ears to hear for injuries from one quarter only. He thought, ; :udeed, it would evince our spirit to go to <war jjitb them nl! and by that means retaliate up on each the mjsries we have recci»ed from each. But nothing was laid aoout the spoliations of die Britiftt. The UntiQi take property bound to France in p'iri'uance of the treaty ; and the French taking advantage of the stipulation made in the liritdh treaty, that " free (hips do not make free goods," take our property lkjund to Englifii ports. So that this is the ground upon which all our difficulties reft. Upon the ad mission to take, lies the evil; for, a French pri vateer meeting an American merchantman, fays to him, " Yon have Englilh goods on board." He answers " no," but the veflel is taken into a French port, to undergo a tiial, and in the mean time the engagements of the merchant becomes due, which being unable to meet from this failure in the arrival of his veflels, hs is ru ined. l'he fadV is, that while the war lasts, so will the fpoliationt in spite of every thing we can do to the contrary ; not because the nations at war are just, but because they are powerful and use that power only as suits their own inte rest without reference to our grievances or com plaints. For this there is no remedy but an embargo—fini e nothing fliort of this can pre vent the captures coisplained of, and this remedy has bee# thought worse than the disease, since it puts a flop to all commerce, and must tend to lower the prices of all our produce ; we must therefore, he prefumcd, leave trade to regulate itfclf in this refpefl. Although it may be incidentally ohfeived, that our European and China, and East India trade have been hith erto preftrved pretty free from violation. We hive iuffei ed inoft in the WcA Indies —but here it is to be remarked, the French republic have no decided power, their islands arc governed by a provisional agency, who are obliged to keep the blacks and mulattoes in good humor in or der to preserve those poflefiions, and who are so little under the controul of France, that they have frequently (hipped back to them the gene rals and commifiioners, they have sent out to them. In the Weft Indies, in faft, all is plun der, the age of the fluccaniers is revived, and even exceeded, and those who go thither mufl trust for fafety only to their heels ; for as to arming them, I doubt much whether we could prevent this being made a pretext of for fitting out more privateers and from among ourselves, who perhaps, according to their different inter ests, w6u!H, under pretext of defending com merce, only be committing spoliations on each other at sea—War might increase the quantity of depredations, but I doubt, if by this men fare, we could lately repress or controul them— foor.er or later it must lead u? to the calamity we all wife so ardently to avoid, the pcfitive e vils-afid misfortunes ®f war. But it is stated Franca wanted to divide the people from the government, and to it unduly ; and this has been compared to divid ing us from ourselves ; as if Ihe wanted to tear the arms from the (houlders, the legs from the thighs, or the head trom the trunk ; this is sure ly too absurd for any government to have inten ded, and could never be expected to l'ucceed, unless indeed measures were to be taken by the government, oppressive and injurious to the peo ple j in which cafe we have often seen this ef fect produced in other countries, not so much however from foreign faflion or influence, as iromdomeftic oppression or difcontect. A ge neral clamor was indeed raised against France, in Europe, as if she were the enemy of all fociai order and government j but the fa<ft is, their go vernments would never have been affefled, but in proportion as they were intrinCcallj bad and oppressive. In this country, the people love the governmemt becaufe'they arc happy—keep them so, keep them as free as possible from tax es, embark them in no unnecessary wars or troubles, and you need never fejr the effects of any foreign influence on them. Alarms of this kind may do well for huHgry pamphleteers and greedy scribblers, whole writings, it is to be la mented, art so greedily purchifed and read >- mong us ; but never ought to be admitted with in the limits of these walls; all thenoileof Bri tilli and French parties in this country being merely terms of abuse bandied about,and at belt but empty nonsense. But it isfaid, our independence is menaced and we must make a Cecsnd edition ef it. By whom is it invaded ? Does France want to gov ern us ? She would have but poor encourage ment in this, from the fate of her predecessor. Can Englahd desire it ? She makes more by us in the silent, but preclusive operations of trade. Let us not then deceive ourselves by this empty declamation. If France finds fault, it is not at our laws or coaftitutions, as they relate to us at home ; surely if by any cffccls of them a bioid, they operate to her disadvantage, lhe has a right to complain, and we ought to euquire into the complaint, and if well founded, to re dress it as far u is in omt power. But a gentleman from Massachusetts appre hends the Atlantic will not be able to restrain the tide of French vi&ciies they will land'and revolutionize the southern states, and free the negroes j I eonfefs, said Mr. S. I have no appre hensions of this kind—but if we really have such ideas, so much the more careful ought we to be, to avoid a war, which has been so def lating t» other nations, and efpeeially now when they are getting fa tired of it, ahd anx ious to put an end to it, fer it is plain, their ex hausted resources must soon compel to do this, and it would be an unlucky moment for us to get into the scrape, as others were getting out of it. It h:.i been often observed, that the people and the governmenfare one ; but if the reprc fenutivei were compelled to divide, even tocar ry an answer, by a majority ofoneort wo votes, will this carry an ide* of unanimity ? Had we not better modify the answer is such a way » may produce a more genera! acquiescence in it ? This will give more true dignity to our proceed ings, and give a proof that we are govcrncd-by rcafjn more than by passion, by the love of our country. rather than by any other eonfideratlon. Mr. Livingfton having liftencd to the fe vtrral gentlemen who had preceded him, with the molt refpeftful attention, and heard their ardent exprefiions of patriotism, and the lively sense which they eutertained of the true dignity of our government, he (hould not attempt to follow them into a field which they had exhaufled, but would leave it to the confider?.t:on of the committee and his country to determine upon his sentiments cadtf and the measures which he should fuggcfl, -—whether he was or not, equjllp difponid with others 40 promote the peace and honor, the happiness and the security of»hi3 coun try and government ; he would leave it for his measures to speak for him, he would not fce led away by arty idle Or extranious vanity from objefts so solemn and important, he should speak. freely as became an American at a crilis so very prelliiig. First, then, lie (hould notice the address that was before the committee and the amendment proposed to be made to it. He w » fori y-to observe the manner in which they had been dilcufTed; it had been conjidered on one fide that to a dopt any language in reply to the address but that which has been laid before the com mittee in the report, would amouna to a surrender of all our rights, privileges and independence as a nation, to France ; on the other it had been held that the differences between us and France are distorted, and that we should at least not (hut up evsry av enue to negociation, by an obflinate and blind affcrtion of our own infallibility : if he believed with those of the former opini on that we should in any shape incur the fligma of degrading ourselves, or if he fuf peclcd even that we should facrifice one right of our country or government by an adoption of the amendment proposed, or he thought we should not endanger our na tional charafter and fafety by the adoption of the report, he should most certainly re jeft the amendment and adopt the report ; or if he believed with the gentleman from Maffachpfetts (Mr. Otis) that the demands of France now were any-wise analogous to those of Great-Britain on a former occasion, sooner than consent to a dereliction of our independence and national character, he would not flop short of the language of that report ; but as he could not force his judg ment to so outrageous a mifconftruftion, as he saw on the contrary numerous reasons to entertain a very different opinion, he would not consent to incur the perils and the errors in which the report may involve us ; he could not consent to so hasty, so precipitate and inconsiderate a step: The question properly before the house at this time, is, whether we shall continue to express so perfeft a reliance on all the afts of our own government, whether we shall fay obstinately to France that there is no possi ble cafe in which our judgment could have been milled or miflaken in our conduft to wards her, and by determining to adhere to our former conduft, preclude every possibi lity of an amicable adjuflment ; or leave a reasonable opportunity open for an effectual discussion and adjustment of differences, wherever they may fubfifl. The scope of the speech of the President to both houses, it must be confeffed, goes to bind us to the former conduft, and it is too evident that the report, in ftrift coincid ence with the sentiments of several, but not all its fupforters, bears that fame dangerous tendency ; from which line of conduft are we to expeft the most beneficent ifTue, to treat with a complaining power by a determi nation to {hew that its complaints are ground less, or by examining the complaints and the evidence in amicable negociation and de ciding afterwards; let us examine all the com plaints of France and then determine wheth er they are all so frivolous as to excite irrita , tion at the mere mention of them ; unless we are thoroughly fatisfied that they are so, we cannot vote the answer as it is reported ; should we discover in such an examination that some of our measures have been founded at least in mistake, would it then be proper to adopt the language of the address ; but should we persist under such a possibility of mistake, what do we risk, an evil much more fatal than the worst that could follow the most sober resolution we ean now adopt; we risk the alternative of abandoning it af ter a war in which we may be fuiTerers, and after we may' have retarded the increasing 1 prosperity of oUr country, half an age : we have an example before us in a nation that was eager- to snatch at a remote pretext for an assumed interference in her government, we have seen that nation among the most powerful and haughty in Europe, the most vain of her dignity (real or unreal) the most apt to interfere in the government of others, we have seen her enter into a war, and we have seen her driven to the lowest state of humiliation, we have seen her obliged to pursue the most abjeft means of solicitation to obtain a peace from that very nation whom (he had irritated to a war—and we saw her more humiliated flill by the rejeftion of those propositions which she had made to obtain peace. Have we a better profpeft than that nation ? Are our means equal to hers ? are we indeed ready to embark in a war, with France too, and present such a lesson to the world as America at war with France, after France has defeated the efforts of all the world ! He again aflced, have we the means ? Let gentlemen who are willing to plunge us into that dilemma make the reply : but let not gentlemen indulge in so hateful a pifture ; but although we have no he was flill against surrendering the honor of our country. Fortunately no such facrifice is demanded, no such measure is necessary ; and were we ten times more des titute even than we are, he should never submit to our national degradation, were there a power so insolent as to expeft it. But let us examine whether we have not been fubjeft to the common lot of human fallibility in our measures ; let us to whom peace is so desirable, from experience, from principle, and from our natural love of hap piness, and to whom the rifles of war would be attended with such incalculable disasters, enquire before we rush wantonly upon them, whether it is raally clear that we have been uniformly right—whether we have not been sometimes wrong ? Suppose it (hould be found that France has had some cause of complaint, that some of her claims are foun ded in reason, or even suppose that she only earncftly thought so, and that she would prove her sincerity ; are we to (hut our c-yes and ears against an examination of these complaints, are we -to leave no room for a. fair and candid dlfcuflioß, such as may con vince whichever may be the milta'>efl party ? It wis he knew a very ungrjKSbw, and often an unpopular tsfk, to difpl.iy tne er rors of our own government : there was a national vanity, a vain and unmeaning pride which fought to be be bolstered up by frip pery of word-i, and afts of diffimuiation, he knew that this empty and pernicious vanity often alfutlled the poll and place of the true dignity of a"country, and blinked contume ly on him that was rtifpoliwt to prefer the plain, frank, open path of integrity .and truth. He would chufe between these op poiite paflions of a nation, and preferring his duty to the appreheniion of unmerited reproach, he would neither repress the fen tirren's of his mind, nor fofter those which he coneeived to be pregnant with ruin : he would glory more in promoting the juftipe of his country, than in condafting her to the moll brilliant triumphs in an unjust cause. He would therefore calmly examine whether* France had just cause of complaint ; and whether (he had or not a just he would aflert that Frante might without exciting indignatioir, think herfelf injured ; that (he might, was a fufficient reason with him for preferring the amendment, as it left an o pening for rather amicable discussion and ac commodation, than the report, which had an opposite character. In enumerating the complaints, it was very true, that France had preferred many which were not in themselves reasonable or well founded ; but there were circumstances in which France was liable to mistake as well as ourselves ; the objefts presented themselves in a delusive or adverse form, and it was a fubjeft rather of regret, which we should use as a warning to our own judgments than a crime in her, if (he afted in the fame way that (he (hould do when under the con viftion and certainty of her rectitude ; when (he was unconscious of her error. The firft object of her complaint was the interference of our courts in prize causes. Was there no color of complaint on this fubjeft ? He did not mean to enter into any particulars of the cases that came before, or the decisions in our courts, he only alluded to the 17 th article of our treaty with France, upon which she grounded this fubjeft of complaint, " that it (hall be lawful for the ships of war of either party, and privateers, freely to carry whithersoever they please, the (hips and goods taken from their ene mies, without being obliged to pay any du ty to the officers of the admiralty, or any other judges; nor (hall prizes be arrested or seized, when they come and enter the port of each party ; nor (hall the searchers or o ther officers of those places, search the fame or make examination concerning the lawful nefs of such prizes ; but they may hoist fail, at any time, and depart, and carry their prizes tn the places expressed in their com missions, which the commanders of such ships (hall be obliged to (hew ; on the con trary, no (helter or refuge (hall be given in their ports to such as (hall have made prizes of the fubjefts, people, or property of ei ther of the parties ; but if such shall come in, being forced by stress of weather, or the dangers of the sea, all proper means (hall be vigorously used, that they go "out and return from thence as soon as possible." Every gentleman must fee, that the latitude of this article was indeed very wide, so wide that not even a searcher was permitted to go on board, nor an officer of our admiralty enti tled to a fee or duty nor any other of our jud ges ; ought we to be surprized, that a nation imperfeftly acquainted with the detail of our municipal regulations and official duties, (honld differ with us in the conflruftion of this article, after our detention of their pri zes, in the discussions that have taken place already on this article ; the difference of in terpolation is not at all surprising ; they have said to,your courts, we allow their due jorifdiftion, tout as treaties are fuprcme laws, osr prizes not have.been fuffered to enter your courts ; according to this article, you fubjeft us to tedious delays, nor involve us in litigious fuitl, but your Executive (hould have decided in a summary way, and not kept our armed (hips idle and expenGve to us; he would not fay that in this con tlrudion France was right, or that our courts were wrong, far from it ; all .he wifiied the Committee to consider, was whether France might not without great violation of rea soning toneeive herfelf tight, and accor dingly ilaim of us such an explanation an might place us clear of any suspicion of designed wrong, tewardi her in violation of that treaty. The second complaint was our admiflion of veffils hostile to France, and that made pri zes, into our ports, contrary to the last part of the fame article ; and France had also conilrued this one way a,nd our Executive another—but was a mistake a cause of hosti lity ? (hould the mistake be oursj would France be juftifiable in hostility marely on account of the mistake ; and (hould we be any more juftifiable to rifle hostility, rather than enter upon discussion. Another cause of complaint was the con veifion of our neutrality into an injurious hostility, by out indifferent fufferance of the impressment of our fesraen by Great Britain, by which her enemy became-poffirfled of our force and employed them against her, while we were on terms of the molt intimate and friendly alliance, and they were embarked in a cause common with our own ; they com plain of this indifference very ftrorgly, and it must be acknowledged that no open inter ference took place 011 cur part upon that fe riou9 ftiljtft to ourfelves,and important to us as a nruuai nstios, until the latter end of 1796, except a few lines (rom our minister, Thomas Pinckney, in a letter to lord Greti viJle in the summer of that year ; from so long a filenec on fuaii a fubjeft, was it fur rifing that Fiance (hould entertain doubts of our disposition to prcfetveour neutrality, was it surprising that die fliould consider Tome hidden but unaccountable change hav ing taken place in the attachment of the U. States ; was it surprising, or a matter cillipg fcrhofii'itv oe cu* p»rr, tba: f„e (hculdcon fijet -cKis c.ir.JuH Coquetted tvith tin- hitt. l'ponJin£ airangemsnts made with. Great. Britain, in a time of war, as pernicious to her. Under the m3irt object of the British trea ty, which is o::e of the complaints of France, there are f-veral Jubordinate parts ; the fiift jj that of the abandonment of that principle ~f tl>e law of nations which secures the free d. m t,f trade by efiablidiing the neutrality tif goods carrjed io free (hips j he would not Jne.l lar'i(£/ on the immei.fc advantages whiuh neutral nations, but above all others our wwn, would derive from the complete and universal recogniiioh of that jull princi ple ; but he would recommend it to the con fident ion of every candid and unfcuaflld msn, whether France had not fume groundto con sider out ptoCefdiflgs-in rhrtt as alarm tag to hctfrjf;—when she bad negotiated upon that valuable principle with bs, when we had faleranly recognised it, and had car ried the fame principle repeatedly into i>e gociation with other powers; could France Testis factifice the fapreme advantages which our commerce would derive from its mainte nance, and that too in the moment of her 'apparent adversity, could (lie fee this and still be criminal for fufpecling a cefTation of that affe&ion in our government towards her which she was so indisputably entitled to ex pedt ; so contrary to tha interells and the ties of treaties, an<J. still be deemed l.ollile when (he demands justice, equ;.l juftiee at our hands. But he fhotild be told that the prin ciple was not an univcrlal out, that its recog nition in the treaty of 1778, did not bi«:d the United States rtlinquifhing it in any treaty with another nation ; he would by and by examine the principle ; now he would ■fuf fer it to be argued the contiaiy principle)— that the right us seizure of enerry's properly on neutral (nips, was the universal and re ceived law ; was it the'aftuaily received law ? Then if it was, how came it to be made a part of that formal negotiation, jnd to con llitute an article of the Briiiih treaty ,'Wliy introduce it so unguardedly there if it wss al ready the universal and indisputable law ? But we had even exceeded that law, for we hai admitted the right to carry our (hips into their por!3 merely on suspicion, a concession which was not even presumed to be authori zed by any law or ufageof civilized nations ; aconceffion wlich neither went to profit our felvea, nor to ameliorate our condition ss * neutral nation—if the principles were even fixed htfore, was it an evidence of out ami ty, of our tenacious regaid or our own dig nity, or of a seriously ncntral difpobiien to conclude these novel moderations, which went to fetter our commerce with the most perplexing (hackles. But let us enquire whether it is ferioully the law of nations ? and in making this enquiry it is not from patched-ideas, halt quotations, or l'craps of learned opinions parcelled out and bot ched or fubterfuge, that we must dcciije , if upon this examination we (hovid find realiil e ven to fufpefl our error, and that we have conceded any llifng to Great Britain rojitrary to that law, it will b? surely a fubflantiii feafou forjour ruforting to temperate and Jiberadnego tiation—bur on this he wo?W not now-dwell , the law of nations is fdnndei 0."? certain usages of nations at various periods, and upen the fti- ' pulations of treaties of nations with eacs ether j these laws were either partial or geneifl, and the latter have hern the fubjeft of temmsn claim among ualions ; now in ll! that has been written oirthofe laws he knew of none, which had received ihe common ajfoutofall nations, or of nearly all, authorizing the fei zuie cf enemy's property on free (hips; the principle had been repeatedly af though ialiad been often tvaiJed, it had never been difpvoved, that a (hip of a neutral nation fliould be asfacred as its territory; wherever the flag of a r.eutral nation waves that fnould be sacred, and goods seized on board a feutral (hip is as much a violation of the universal law as the seizure on the neutral land cculd be ; why is it that belligerent nations are precluded from the (eizurc of the goods of an enemy in a neutral port, betaufe it would be a violation of the neutral right! ; do thei'e rights depart from the citizens'ol free dated upon their departure from their o-wn ports ? It is too abfurdto'ex pe&any oiherbut the plain reply. B:;'. if we cannot find the decision in the tomes of the civ.l -ian, Ictus lfcok elsewhere ; let us lo k into the treaties : and here we may obtain si me fatisfac tory ted upon which w? may reft the quel*ion; prior to the war of our revolution, the treaties of European nations were a ferics of cpntradic tory aflertions and denials of known principles ; the fame principles were afFerted in one treaty of the fame nation, which were faci oieed to partial inter:fts in another ; the spirit of mo nopoly of trade corrupted-the current of univer sal law ; and local situation, a temporary ftra tsgem, or an ambitious project sealed what the other had negotiated ; but i<» the midftof war, Europe saw irife a eomtvnation of neutral pow ers who were resolved to restore the laws of na tions to their primitive principles from the in tolerable atfkife into which they had fallen ; and they declared that principle which no nation ought to deny ; Ruflia finding that the depre dations which the belligerent powers were torn raitting on her commerce, furpafled all bounds of juftite, notifitd to the other r.eutral powers in herfirft declaration her purpofc to ascertain and fix the principles which neutral nations ought to cbferve toward those at war and reci procally, and expreflcj herfelf thus—" pbe " does this with the greater confidence, as (he " finds those principles founded on the ii i»ii " tivelawof nations, which everyone may hive " recourse to, and which the bell gtrcin powpa. " cannot invalidate wUhout violating the laws " of neutrality, and disavowing maxims which " they themlelves have expressly adopted ir» " diflerent treaties and public enga 'emtnis:"hc did not quote this ih itlelf conclrfive autnort jty, hlthough thtfaiSs are' irrefragable, but be casfe every power in great and weak and powerful—excepting onlyoNR~»-recog* nized & acknowledged it; but he (hould lie tolA this is a private compail, and that the agreeing nations did not declaie this ought te be ihe u* ryveriil law of.jiations ; —Let those gentlemen, ■aufwer me, is the principle inconsistent with i;ea fori and justice, is it cnnatural, is it not thel.nr ot nations,'is it not binding upon evtry natioii who fubfcrilred to or adopted it; —until gentle men deny this, I (hall fairly conclude that it is the tiue and genuine law of nations ; but it will b< Ciid, there is one power which did not agree to that convention, ami therefore the agreement of all the reft is invalidated—will this indeed be infixed upon, is it because one haughty, c» verhtarisg and eppiefiive nation wifting to mo nopolize the trade and the power of the whole world,denie« that law whi<"h slcoeeculdrcttrain I *r encr mous avarice ard,'yrancy, thai tUsone
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