v ~ ■■ - | . onl " ' the PHILADELPHIA, ■ tht 7HVSSDAr EPf.NIXG, JUNE 8, \nJ. *." I'l ' ' 1 tie ■tor tbe Gazette of the United States. \ did t.'.r-Tcnno, att m< The apologifU for the unprovoVtd a?grcf be lians of tht I'rtnch government, both in au\ t el cut of Congrtfs, Tuve'rcpellcd the chugs of m( krencbinfiuence in this coumry, by loudly cal- an ling for proofi. Jf th* cxiltence of the farts _ was tohe tilted by tht kind of evidence r. quired ' ir. otircoaits of law, it might be difficult to sub- o 1 ftaatiate th<; chargt ; but ?• the worhl has not yet bteonic so incredulous 19 to rcjciS prelump- mi tive evidence however ftrongj I trult it wn! be tr j tafy to lhcw, tnat these rao:!elt apotogille, have t£ for o?ce reckoned without their holt. w To tfftrt my purpose, it is effent\al'in the fir 11 ' place, tbat the numeroui ad\s of injulticeon the part of Frane* towards .this country, should be te faithfully and impartially brought into view— :n they ire as follow. to She has endeavored hy appealing to our pal- f 0 Sons to obtain our afliltance in pronioting litr plans of aggramlifement —she lias armed our v itizens againlt nations .with whom we were at peace —she has ere<fte_d tribunals within aur ter ritory to decide on caufcj only cogi.iffble by our courts —she hasVepeatedly violated oor neu trality-she has refufed to pay for supplies fur- £ nifhed by our merchants in pursuance oi solemn contrails made with her agents—she has con verted her Weft-India islands into ifylums for pirates, more to be dreaded thin the Barbary q rovers —she has endangered the very exiftenc* j of the fouihem states, by arming the slaves in those islands against their mailers—she has let loose tjiofe slaves now become robbers, on cur v < heipleft commerce—she has attempted to influ- f, ence our eleflions andfeparate the people from uj their government—she has by her miniflers in- fjlted and calumniated the constituted author.- ties of the United States-she hi» permitted the » Ihips or vcfleU belonging to certain charaAers tt N»1io prefer her interest to the iatereft of their oi own country, to pafi unmolested—whilst the t( property of persons of a contrary description has a j been captured and condemned without the for- a) malitv «f a trill—she has impiil'onod our. sea- , men, and fubje£ked them to the pains of death for afls over which they could hive no ceniroul —she has left no means untried short of force, a to induce other nations to accede to her fyflem o ef diflreffing us—she hit evinced her hostile dif- it •ofltion to this country by reporting to un- t ] founded and ridiculous complaints—and that the measure of her ityuftice might be full to , the brim, she has difmifTed our wortliy minis ter with every poflible mark of indigniiy, and declared that she will receive none until the Uni- c ' ted States have redrefTed their grievanees ! r. Kr.idrr ! it you are no British Debtor ; if y you enjoy no pen/ion under the French govern ment; —if your vefTels fail without certiorates j, f'i vour fubtniflion to French mandates ;r-ifyou arc not interefle'd in the immoral contrails for supplying their islands with provisions an ! re- ° ceiving the stolen property of your injured fel-. h low citizens in payment if you are .no fugi- c tive from juftid# *"if you are neither bankrupt p in fame or id fortune;—if you have never f cheated your creditors by fraudulent conveyan- ces j —if you have never willingly overdrawn . your bankers or correspondents ; —if you have never embezzled the public mouies ; —but, if 11 on the contrary, ypw are just acd an American by birth andln feutimeot, telime, if the can- li li'ufl ef those peifons who are daily palliating, c liiT juflifjing the long catalogue of insults as r before reiited, does not produce full eonviihon £ in yourmind; that they afl under FRENCH . You will fay perhaps that you J' art Unacquainted with such hecaufe I you flo not afTociate with the enemies of your t ecuntry, and that your avocations prevent you 1 from attending to the debates in Congress—is ( so, permit me to call your attention to the sol- , lowing extract from a lengthy and turgid libel ( '«n the judiciary of the United States pub'iifhed tn Mr. Bache's paper of the jth instant, and signed SAM. I. in which, speaking ( of the French nation he fays—" 1 look <witb a "1 friendly eye on their faults,, but 1 admire their < beroift/i and military prcvsefs—fiiU if that na- • tion or any other on earth fball invade the inde- - pendence und freedom of my country, I shall view the utte/npt as an independent American Reader 1 mark well tht candor and patriotism «f this tmftjlsnt and patriotic American, the un juHifia'ole and wicked condndl of the French towards our nation is !>y him foftered down to mere faults— which faults he regards with a friendly eye they are direift attacks up»n our dearefl rights. But left you might under a wrong inpreflion, be led to suppose, that there is but one man in the United States, who regards the wrongs done t» his country with indiffer ence or nther fatisfa&ion— I recommend to yourperufal, the fpeethes of those members of Congress, who in order to facrifice at the shrine of the Directory, the claims of their plundered fellow citizens to compensation, attempted to jet rid of Mr. Kittera's proposition by means of the previous question. JUSTICE. ' COMMUNICATION. )>tr. Fenno, I confuler myfelf bound in jnftice to Mr. Smith of South Carolina tocontradift the falfe ftat.ement, in Bache's paper of ycf terday, of hi 3 observations concerning the of Foreign Miniftcrs in Congress. prefent through the whole of the de mote and can therefore attest the following to bf & true account of the matter : Mr. Dayton, the Speaker, had cenfu redMr. Harper, (Mr. Smith's colleague) for making certain observations refpe&ing Foreign nations in the prejcnce of their Repre sentatives. Mr. Smith in answer animad verted on Mr. Dayton for exprefiions which tended to reftrik the privileges of the mem bers -He.did not juftify or condemn any thing his colleague had said, " but wished merely to vindicate the rights of the house, which }ie thought attacked by Mr. -Dayton's cen sure. Mr. Smith faidthat no member Ought to fed himfelf restrained from express ng his opinions freely and difclofingfuch sentiments as he thought pertinent to the debate, on account t>f the presence of any foreign minis ter, that while the member was in order, and so allowed to be by the Chair, the pre sence of a-foreign minister ought to hav; no influence -whaUver on him, and that a con trury idea would be repugnant to the pro t«£li«n afforded the members by the con'ii tut-on, v.-hich declared «• that they should not be <ju<ftio.ncd in an* other pl-.c: for ;.cy fpcieh or debate io the house." Mr. Smith ( La-. I avtr did cot employ eoarfe language : lin ascribed tp him by Bach:'t correspondent; he enc only said, in polite terms, that, " While cos the membars were solemnly deliberating on ' her the great affairs of the nation they should fan confidcr themfclws as entjiJy among them- to selves,' and rfot as addressing their obferva • tie tiojl3 to the bystanders, that the house lot did -not.ftivite the audience nor foreign mi- he nifters to hear their debates, and th:' if they wt attended and heard unpleasant things, the m; members .were surely not tq blame ;he should an be sorry for his part that any foreign minis- afl tera (hould be in that disagreeable predica- ( wt ment,but it nevertheless ought not to check ty any member frcvrtS freely delivering those bi sentiments, which, in his opinion the good m of his country required." b< As I was, along with many others near if me, much pleased with tli»fe manly and pa- pi triotic sentiments, so proper to be inculca- w ted at this critical period, and could not fefc w without disgust, the impertinent reflections pi of some meddling Foreigner ( the evidentwwrit) terof the piece in question) I have pleaiurc in in paying my tribute of gratitude and juflice fa to an independent member whose exertions w for the good of his country were sure to be I* rewarded with the execrations of its Ene- bi mies. A Fx.it:tin to TuvtH. e( O] CONGRESS. « tc HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. v< _ Oi Thußsdjt, May 24. k le Conclusion of Air. Gallatin's Speech on a{ the Amendment proposed by Mr. Nicholas. t( Gentlemen in this discussion have taken a g very wide scope indeed, and the gentleman t( from South Carolina in particular, who' is a] usually very cool, had indulged himfelf in ti a poetical flight ; he had indeed forgot him- ft felf and launched into aflertions for which tl therewas not the lead; foundation—fpeaking of the conduct of the several French minis- vt ters, he had described Genet as making an « appeal to the people, Fauchet as fomenting t< an infurre&ion, and Adet as insulting the a; secretary ; the particular point he meant to « notice was the fomenting an insurrection : b he was willing to allow that his constituents tl on that occasion had not behaved well ; but si it must be in the recolleftion of many gen- a tlemen in that house, that the common cry a and charge againft-them at the time was, w that they were going to join the British, i; and even the letter of Fauchet himfelf de- ti . clares it to be the cafe ; it is true he would a r.ot place much reliance 011 that man - : who could write on a fubje& pne day and n ■ sign a certificate to the contrary another ; p 1 but he believed he was right in faying it was li ; a poetical flight just made to round a peri- b od, he had found poetical occupations for t .. his firft and last personage, and it was ne- d • ceffary to find some business for this middle h • person : indeed this was rendered certain, ii " for he had never heard of but one other au- v " thority for the flight, for it was never be- ii ! foreafierted but by one Phocion and Wil- a f liam Wjlcocks. a 1 The gentleman has with the spirit of a j ■ legislator almost as sublime as his poetical j » chara&er, told us that he should prefer car- * 5 rying the question with only a majority of \ } one or a casting vote, than .not at all ; a ma- s j jority of what, of the representatives of the e people ; thus then it appears that this gen- t r tleman who i* at turns recommending una- t a nimity, and the union of the people, is in- 1 f different about an equal division ; content j t • with the unanimity of the government —so i ! the Senate and Executive agree with a majo- 1 rity carried -only by one, the gentleman 1 g cares not-if the remaining half of the rep-. 1 a refentatives, and their constituents differ up-.; 1 r on the question to be dicided—w<* fee then j ' who it is that reaily wishes to divide the go ~ vernmer.t from the people. ~ But he hoped that such adverse opinions would not prevail in that house, they were ™ baleful to the very happiness of the country h and the due credit of the government, he :o hoped that a great majority would be found a unanimous in refilling the ralhnefs that ln would drive us to a war ; he hoped that a there would not be found one man, unless J,' IT WAS THOSE WHO WERE EAGER AFTER power or monev, who anticipated in the to deflations of war, the realization of rich of es by plunder, either as agents, contractors, :>e or one or other of'thofe train of wretches, E< * that hover like vultures in rear of battles— to then none but such as these would be found eager to involve us in calamities which were too grievous to be yet forgotten among us, and too terrible to be encountered but in the last extremity. Whatever may be our determination, he fr. said rafli or weak men should not divert us I£l from our sober purposes, in the pursuit of ;f- measures calculated for accommodation and he peace :—We could not be. too speedy in our fs. decisions ; the events on the other fide of the [e- Atlantic, are so rapid, as not to be within to our reach or control, we do not know the e vents which have already taken place ; he [u- would not rely on the generosity of any na e) tion, in particular circumstances ; and there ng is 110 knowing the extent to which success re- might lead men, under a mistaken impreflion id- of injury ; we ought to lo£e no time ; the ch haughtinefb of France has overwhelmed m- nearly all Europe on land.—What she may ng do next we know not ; whether she is jult ely orunjuft, we should at least not lose time in ich negotiation—and we ought the more readily en- to do this, because there i 6 no man in Ame rht rica, of what party he may be, who will Lis not resist, if resistance is required ; there - nts fore while the conflict is doubtful, we should on determine our affairs, and as the amend rtif. ment appears to furnifh the only grounds ler, upon which negotiation is at all likely tp be ire- attended with the necessary effedl of feenring no peace and independence, that ought to be on- preferred. iro- The amendment had been opposed on va i&i- rious other grounds, and among the molt tild curious was that of the gentlemap from S. '.oy Carolina ( W. Smith)—he fays, either we i , Lave or we have not granted a favor to Eug- He : lind ip the provilion article ; and his infer- gei ; ' ences are, if wc have net, France cannot at : j complain ; but if we have, finfce (he has £y his 1 her decree of tile 2d r larch tad taken the 1 fame advantages to herfeif, (he has no right vai - to ooir,plain; thus, according to that gen- lie • tlemati's logic, we have done France the as e kindest favors, whether we meant it or not ; th - he would just obfervc, and the committee y would not forget it, that this fort of argu- m e ment did not belong to the fuppoiters of the dc d amendment, —we fay France lias no right to f- a flume those immunities, we do not allow it; tl< i- we fay of the 2(1 article' of our trea- to k' ty with France (he cannot insist on it ; 01 fe ; but fuppefing we (hould agree in the gentle d man's style, and fay either we are resolved to t' be attached to Great-Britain or we are not, 01 ar if we were such arguments might be very tl a- properly used to cement that union, but if (h a- we are not, in the name of common sens hi efc why objeft to the amendment. We who oi 11s propose the amendment fay the British trea- W ri- ty exilts, it is the law of the land, and we rc insist upon keeping it ; we confefs we have h: ce said it was a bad one, and so we fay (till, but rt ns we will not therefore go beyond it with you 1 n be France, we (hall agree to make you equal, ; w 1e- but no more. The gentleman appeared to jo coincide in one particular, that was in their tl opinion of the British treaty ; they felt so ti sensibly aliv>_ to it that they dreaded even to o touch it, and yet they infilled that it was uni- e S. verfally popular, and that Its popularity en- tl creased in proportion as it became more 11 known ;he would leave gentlemen unmo- a lefted in the solacing indulgence of that idea I ort as long as they could persuade themselves in- v to. such a phantasy ; but he would just fsg a geft to gentlemen, that there did not appear t an to him a likelihoed of its gaining a consider- t: is abla (hare of popularity on the western fron in tier when the memorial of the Spani(h mini- t ti- Iter (hall have found its way into that part of n ch the United States. 1 ig It has been several times asserted, that all r if- we can fay or do on the afTr irs with Franee t an will be now perfectly useless, for (lie is de- t ig termined to go to war with us at all events, 1 he and various reasons are assigned for this, a- y to mong others that (lie is resolved to make us 1 - break the British treaty, and to overturn c its the British. trade ; —gentlemen might have t ut fufficient authority for these reasonings q n- and they might not ; —indeed he would not f ; ry argue it with thert on this occasion j he c is, would suppose it possible that France would t fh, facrifice her interests with us to injure that le- trade which is the vital support of Britain, c ild and commence a war with us on that account u an —but if such is really the .opinion of gentle- t nd men, ought it not to"" be the firft and most t r ; pressing motive with us to adopt measures ( 'as likely to extricate us from such difficulties j 1 ri- but do gentlemen believe the faft ? Do for -they, who give the Preiident even more ere- j ■ le- dit than he asks on so many occasions, doubt | « lie him on this—or have they better means of , ( in, information on this fubjeft—if they nave, t tu- why has he not been made acquainted with '< 3e- it ? But he still thinks we may negociate, t r il- and consequently eiitertains no immediate i apprehension of a war ; this sentiment is ex- j 1 " a pressed in his speech, and it even makes a j 1 cal part of the report, and consequently those | ' ar- who support that part of the answer, cannot j i of with propriety oppose the fame thing in the j ' na- amendment. :he It is also charged against the amendment , 1 en- that it Concedes every thing and a Herts no- ' 1 na- thing ; now the impression which the amend- i in- ' ment made on him was, that if any thing, it j ent j took higher ground ; we all agree as to an -so ; insult being given in the dismissal of our mi ijo- : nifter, and in the amendment, while we leave nan : open the ground for negociation proposed ep-1 by the President, we declare that a repeti up-.j tion of insult will put an end to every friend hen I ly relation—and after all, this firm language • go- is said to be degrading. Mr. W. Smith begged leave to offer a j ons (hort reply, he had been accused of indulg- j rere ing a poetical flight, but the gentleman who | itry accused him appeared himfelf in that parti, i he cular to have been indulging a poetic li- j und cense j he had talked of concession as if j that France had not spoliated ; v> T e are not about that to conclude a treaty of concession, but to i ess enter 011 negotiation for a treaty of ftipula- , ter tions for equivalents ; if we are to ufurpthe . the treatymaking power in this house, he hoped ' ich- would not forget to do something for A :ors, merica— as to the poetical flight, he appeal hes, ed to the recclleftion of gentlemen who-had :s— read Fauchet's letter wherein he pathetical- . >und ly deplores the failure of the Weltern'infur- , vere reftion by a too early explosion. The gen- , us, tleman fays he is not disposed to make any ithe concession, but is it not evident that force s exists ; does this not invitelloftility, if we , he fay we must concede : do we not admit by ; t us this what France seeks, and if (lie' obtains S t of one article of the Briti(h treaty by threats, 1 and may we ndt expeft to hear her demand all j 1 our the other articles by fmiilar means—and ! f the the repeal of the law of 1794, and all her ithin other insulting demands. The gentleman tie e- had made another extraordinary discovery, j ; he that the Preiident seeks our advice, he deni- J y na- ed it ; he gives us a narrative of the state of here the Union, and he tells us he means to pur- , :cels sue negotiation, he calls you to defend your ( ffion country against external attacks, and to be ; the prepared to repel them ; but here we work Imed whole days in discussing business that does ' may not belong to us ; and perhaps in this great juit revolutionary change cf constitution while ne in we are thus employed the Senate may be adily doing our duty and debating the means of V.me- defence. • will -j here- Conclusion of the Debate on Mr, Km era's lould Amendment lend- Friday,-June 2. mnds [Mr. Harper was not surprised that the to be gentleman last up (hould have so far -wander nring ed from the fubjeft; nobody who knew him to be would be surprised. From what he had said, he (liould have thought the motion before n va- the house had been a call upon the secretary most of state for papers. The rcafon why the >m S. papers the gentleman mentioned were not be :r we fore them was, they had not been allied for. Ke looked vvitWanM-spt upon whattV- !i gentle man had said about thJ practice ot j country courts ; he thought it indicative ot .1 his want of sense va&Tiod mimers. t Mr. IvUtiedge wiflied to ma't: an Odfer- t vation, which though not ftriftly la older, h lie triifted he (houldbe permitted to make, t as it was in reference to what had (alien from the gentleman last up. The Sptakt.r said he could not be pw- y mitted to pivceed with remarks, not in or-, a der. - ' f Mr. W. Smith supposed that -as the gen- ji tleman Irom Maryland-had bfeen permitted e to make his observations, a reply to them .a ought to be allowed. ■ *" S The Speaker said the remark of th: gen- J tleman from S. Carolina was equally out of r order. (He read the rule. ) The gentle- 1 tleman having set out with faying what he t (hould offer Would not be in order, it was 'I his duty to flop him. He (hould ash leave t of the house for hrm to proceed. Leave was a(ked and given. Mr. "Rutledge observed, the gentleman r had frequently called for documents with 1 refpeft to spoliations. The gentleman could 1 I not have Yead the documents on the table, 1 ! without feeing major Mountflorence's papers ! jon that subject, which not only confirmed ( the taking of vessels, but also the refufc.ta- 1 tion of an* old law requiring the proteft'.on of seamen to be countersigned by tfye offic- 1 erSjof government. —He (hould vote against 1 the previous question ; but he was for leflcn ing the evil a» much as he could, which was t a common course taken in passing of bills. 1 If the amendment was adopted, he (hould ' vote for the whole. Mr. S. Smith answered that he had no- j ticed the documents which had been men- ' tioned, when he was up the other day. Mr. Craik thought there was no neceffi- 1 ty for farther proof of the spoliations com- ' mitted upon our commerce by the French than they had before them. He thought it right that the stipulation in favor of our ci- 1 tizens (hould be added, and that the attempt ] to get rid of it by the previous question was unfair, as a refufal to consider the subject would amount to a juftification of the spo liations, and to a denial to the right of our citizeni to fatisfa£lion. He denied that there was any danger of a war in conse quence of the French refuflng to make the fatisfaftiori here mentioned ; nor -could he corfceive gentlemen need to be alarmed for the loss of the amendment proposed. Mv. Nicholas said, it was his wi(h to offer France the concession already agreed upon, for the fake of peace, and at the fame time to convince them that they had nothing to expeft from any party in this country (which it appears they had been led to..be lieve) in support of any unjultifiable -claim. The amendment which had Seen agreed to, . ! he thought well calculated to produce this as it declared what these Frenchmen' 7 , (as they had been stigmatized) were willing to do ; but now gentlemen came forward and wi(hed to tack another proposition to. this, viz. that compensation (hall be made . for spoliations committed upon our citizens. . . It was not doubted that this was a proper 1 i fubjeft of negotiation ; but when they saw ; j the zeal which was (hewn by the executive : ; in favor of our own claims, they did not ; i suppose these would be forgotten ; but they i did think it possible frotn the complexion of t ; the speech of the President, and the report . | ed answer to it, that it was possible the con . cessions which they had introduced might t ' not be attended to. They wiflied, there -1 fore, as they believed the. peace of the coun . try depended upon it, to express their wilh e es on that subject ; but if the fubjeft of fpo i liations was introduced in the way proposed, . it would be to fay, "we will have fatisfac _ tion for spoliations, or we will not treat 5" e i for said he, it is either a fine qua non, or it is j not ; if it were, he apprehended war would a j be the consequence ; if it were not, it could •_ : not be ps any use, but would destroy the 0 claims of the merchants. He denied that i. ! gentlemen averse to this proposition were a j verse to obtaining redress for the merchants ; ;f ■ their objeft was peace, and they did "not lt ' wi(h to clog the negotiation with any thing 0 j which might prevent a continuance of bleff j. - ings to our country.—Mr. N. defended him ie felf and those who voted with him from the j i charge of btmg friends of France. He be- L _ : lieved they could challenge gentlemen on j. the other fide to. (hew that they had more d reason to be attached to this country than 1_ , they, he thought their 'fortunes were as fa r_ Lie and their domeflic comforts as great as were thofe of other gentlemen, y ! . Mr. N. was proceeding on this fubjeft, e but was called to order.] re, ■ rThepart included iv bracket> Jhcvld have followed , y 1 ately after the ohfervatumi of hir. Smith, nj Uirylir.d,' t in ycjlcrduy's paper ] s j Mr. Dana said he was perfeftly fatisfi j ed with the vote whicK" he had given on the 1( j ; proposition for placing France on the fame cr footing with other nations ; he notwith ln ! Handing acknowledged the obligation he j was under to those gentlemen who seemed j to express solicitude at the dilemma in which 0 f they supposed those who voted for that r _ question were now placed, However the ur ' solicitude of gentlemen on this account was be ' misapplied as to himfelf, as he did not wi(h r k 'to evade a vote upon the main question. He , es j (hould therefore vote against the previous rt ' question. ile j It had been said that if the proposition be now proposed to be introduced was carried, of it would be either pledging the house to go 'to war, or amount to a relinquilhment of the claims of our merchants. If he thought t's it would pledge them to go to war, if net acceded to, he (hould be against it. The question having been brought up, if 110 de he cifion had upon it, it might be fuppof er- edthat the house did not consider that any im injury bad been done to o» neutral rights, id, t In cafe we were disposed to go to war, —if ire I this hope was not complied with, wc (licnild iry ! go on to state, wcihould proceed to aft ac he j cordingly against France. To suppose the be- [ expressing of the hope in the way proposed or. ■ would be cifenfive to Fratrc?, was pevf-.ftly htiniiiiitiiif*. France, said lie, hai violat- d our neutral rights, and lie hoped flte would at lead pay our merchants tli»" amount of their lolfcs ; and he woutd have exprefFed this hope, if the former amendment had not been agreed to ; it was faying no more than that he hoped the Flench vrould be Lore/}. Mr., W.. SmiYH thought it his -duty, a# representing a largr commerdal'tetty,- to cx ;>rcf? his featimrnts on thfs ocgalfett. He denied ttyat the conftru<P.ioii "Oflfc upon- the prepokd amendment by rvfivGiMwie was a just one ; it meant no more', be to exprcfs'.a 4»opc that the French *.v<m:!d have a difpofitiqh to "itiafcc the injuries done to our neutral rights a filbjeiS of Htgociation. They had often been told of the juflice and magnanimity of the French tiatioft (hebe lieved by thjij;.gentleman) ; and truited they would not be so unjufi, so atrVcious, as, •because we exgrefsa hope that they will da this, to .make, war upon us. Mr. Gallatis interrupted Mr. S. to fay that he had never made use Of'ilich senti ments ; he had never, spoke afThi French making war upon us. fie r.Sver' said the exprefling a hope would be an ultimatum. He made two proportions of the question (which he explained as before.)- He never said any thing either about the'jufticc or magnanimity of the French nation. Mr. W. Smith said he would not inter rupt the gentleman, because he expected he would confirm what he had aflerted. Mr. -S. said he was firft endeavoring to (hew how far it would operate with refpeft to France ; because, Jf that natiou was so great and jtot as file was teported to be, thei\t would brtio danger of war on her part ; and he was going to (hew how far war was likely to take place on our part.— In order to support his argument, the gen tleman must (hew that we pledged ourselves ' to go to war. There was no such thing, and he denied that any such idea existed. No .gentleman objected to negociate; nay, it was known that a nomination had taken' plaee abdve Hairs of negociators. They were now, Mr. S. said, doing the bufmefs of the other departments of govern ment ; but, as it had been' so determined, /' they must confiderthemfelvesas in their situ ation. He therefore supposed that House as forming a council to the Prcfident. He supposed that the President might be in the chair, and they .were -advising him how to a£t. He alked their opinion'. In the full place, said he, we anfsver, you must con cede to France the article refpedting free (hips, '&c. Other gentlemen fay, that is not all, you must fpeakof spoliations. They fit .down, and begin to draw the articles of inftrudtion for the' negociator,. They firft mention the concefficm withrefpect to the Britilh treaty ; but "fay other gentlemen, you mull add a hope that payment will be made for spoliations ; but they answer, no ; you must not aftc France for this, that would be an ultimatum.—This, said Mr. S. would be our fituationV' He denied however that such a proportion was any-more than exprefling a hope that the spoliations would become a feature in the negociation. Gentlemen alked why triumph id their dilemma. There was no doubt, they were in one ; they confeffed it. And why ? Be cause they did not v. i.'h to make this claim. Why did not they wife it ? It was difficult to fay ; but they might conjecture, and he believed it was, that to agree to fuchapro • position, would be to fay that there had been injuries done to this country by France.— ■ Do they wifti te hold up an idea that France ■ is jullified in their ipqjiaticr.s ? Do they • think the conduft of . our Executive ■ has been such as to provoke them ? He i hoped not ; though the conduit of some ■ gentlemen feemc-d to imply it. It would be easy to (hew that this was not the cafe ; and ! he had to doubt that when our commifiion ' ers.came to make a candid explanation of ' that conduft to the French'government, there ■ would be a disposition on the part of France t to make reparation. But the gentleman from Maryland, said ; there was not many regular captures ; that t tbe veflels taken were mostly going to rebel > porie ; if so, they would be the easier com - penfated. Gentlemen allowed that the firft part of : the proposition was what it ought to be ; but -it -was improper to-fay any thing about fpo • liations. By this it appeared as if that house e intented to entrap the Executive.—Gentle -1 men fay if you demand compensation for • spoliations, it will involve a war ; yet they e expeft the Executive to, make a demand on this head. Did not this hold out an idea > that the House was for peace, and the Ex ecutive for war ? He believed, though this was not expressly said, it had all along been '■< insinuated. We will usurp the right of making a peace-proposition ; but we will " throw the obloquy of the war proposition c upon the Executive. We will hold out the e olive branch ; but the Executive (hall bran r di(h the sword ! e Mr. S. referred to themeafures of fequef- tration and a prohibition of commercial in k tercourfe which, were propof«Lwhen Britilh 1 fpoliatione were complained of ; but now 4 e . he said, they were not to express a hope for ls redress. h With refpeft so. the fear of >var, Mr. S, e afl;ed if, France were to fend an ag*:it ta 18 make a rtquifition upen then!, if the fame arguments as were now u'fed would not ap n ply ! Suppose, for iiiftarice, they fliould 1, want five millions cT dollare, and if ndt paid ;o within a certain tipt-' war would be made le upon us. It might be said, why (hall we go it to war about this ? One campaign would ;t cost more than all this. Would not such le language as this, encourage them to make e- a requisition upon us ?If they discovered our f- utter want of spirit to Tcfcfit wrongs, they :y might carry on a mockery of a negociation, s. and in the mean time,let loose their cruifero ■if upon our commerce. In countries where Id the French have armies, said Mr. S. they c- can do all this and more. They fay you be must raise us so many millions of money, and ed such a quantity of fr.pplies by such a day ; ly yciir.ruU do'tfcii-, or ;,;kc the cenfequence.
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