Ms. Ellicott j and .beiag defiroai at tkli
time to avoid all equivocation, a$ to the Cub- E
ilance of those letters, I have determined
tq communicate it tp you in writing* f-
By the 2d article of the treaty with
Spain it is ttipulated that thtgarrifms which
firefoundabove the line ofdernarcaVon agreed fe
x>n,ihall be'withdravvn. Settingout then with ri
this principle, it appears that the sfft ope
ration ought to be t6 draw this line, in or- p
der to know which were 4he garrKorts which I
were to withdraw according to the article n,
cited; and although the Natchez and some • a
other Spani{h polls. are probably fttuated a- *j
bove the said line of demarcation, the for- it
rnality and delicacy which one government a
owes to another, required that Mr. Ellicott c,
"should not pretend to take, pofleflion of the 1
territory until the said demarcation (hould C
be spade, and the njore .so, as he had been f
infoiWd officially that the Spuniih engineer, b
M. Guillemard, was already on his way to j
faifil this part of liis com million. e
Mr. Ellicott not attending to these jufl
obfervayons, immediately began to wound I
tjie feelings of the Spanish Commander by 1
ho&ling the American flag on the territory J
which would not belong to the United
Slates, till after having jointly made the as- <
rranoLiiical observations for afeertaining the >
fcOurfe*eif the.line. Not content with this,
he began to exereffe an authority, to wit,
that of for the United States in a
place whiih was .then u l nder the juvifdidlion
of the Spiu. iih govern men t.
These imprudences, which can admit of
no txcufe, give rife to a personal resentment, i
from which there is little to hope with res- '
peit to harmony between those Commiflion- '
ers'in fixture. \ !
In tnefe clrcumftances, the Governor 1
General cf the province, the Baron de Car
ondelet, made known thejull dodbts which <
he had about the deliveVy of the polls, ft nee
in the 2d article, it is not flipulated that they
were to Up> .and it i'ety"s jt
could never have been the intention of his
Catholi* Majblty to deliver up any fort?fi
cations on he had expended gr&t
fumaof money, which through political
viciflitudes might perhaps be one day preju
dicial to his subjects. In this situation,
prudence required that the defcifion of this
doubtful point (hould be left to the two go
vernments ; but Mr. Ellicott adding impru
dence to imprudence, and with a pretext
which a quarrel between some drunken
Chickafaws and the people of his company,
afforded him, not only violated a territory
then Spanish, by deuring to excite the
inhabitants by all imaginable means, but al
so carried his zeal so far as to attempt to get
pofleflionofthefort ofthe Natchezby surprise.
Govenqr Gayofo fays he has in his power
douaments which prove evidently the inten
tion of this attempt: Such conduft was lit
tle calculated to produce the spirit of harmo
nyin such circumftaqces, and obliged Go
vernor Gayofo when he difcovercd such
hostile intentions, to take on his part, mea
fure3 necessary for his defence.
This is the true Hate of things, by which
it clearly appears th?t the inconsiderate con
"dust of Mr. Ellicott is the only cause of the
disagreement at the Natchez; the more so,
as the Spanish commanders declared to him
that while the two governments were deci
ding on the doubt which occurred to the Ba
j»n de Carondelet, about the delivery of the
posts, the drawing of the line of demarcation
might be begun, when Mr. de Guillemard,
who had already departed from New Orleans
for the Natchez, should arrive.
If in this situation of the business, the
commanders changed their ideas, or their
measures, it could only proceed from the
imprudent conduct of Mr. Ellicott. Ihe
Baron de Carondelet, desirous of observing
rcligioufly the treaty,- so far as was not in
consistent with his duty, feeing the personal
resentment which exists between Mr- Elli
cott and Governor Gayofo, desires that there
jnay be ifent to command the detachment
of American troops on that frontier, a man
of judgment and prudence, who in such de
licate circumflances shall aft with modera
tion, which is of so much importance to- tbe.
two governments.
This is what I had the honour of com
municating verbally to you fir, in my lafl
conference and 1 repeat it now; recommend
ing moCe particularly that there should be"
sent on the part of the United States to that
frontier, a p'erfon of prudence and found
judgment; leaving to Mr. Ellicott the tech
nical part only; for while he atts as princi
pal, it is to be feared that we shall not fee
the agents of the two governments, which
are interested, proceed with that union pnd
harmony which is ever important to us.
I repeat, fir; my wishes of obliging you,
and that our Lord may preserve your life
many years.
Philadelphia, 24th June, 1797-
1 -Your mofl obedient servant,
CARLOS MARTINEZ DE YRUJO.
Timothy Pickering, Esq.
&c. Sec.
[No. X///.]
ATyva Orleans, 1° Marzo, 1797*
Mui Senor mi* :
BE recibido con mucha fatisfaccion la apre
ciable de V. S. <fe 27 Febreropafado enquefe
serve parhciparme fu arrivo a efa plaza con el
■arafter de Comifario por lis Eflados UniJos
de America para la demarcation de limites cntre
los territprios de S. M. C. y los.de las dichos
EJlados.
Me cauja igualmente la mayor complacencta
clteflmoniv que V. S. me da de la urbanidad y
' atenciones que ha recivido de los comandanles de
las fuertes, quienes ban correfpondido a las in
lenciorief detgfbierno, a mis ordenes, y a los
principles generctles de la nation ; y no dudo que
en qualquier'a epportunidad enrwilraran los Ef
pmoles iycly rcciproca correffcndencia de parte
de los ciuidadanos de los Ef.ad'rs Unidcs.
Dios, (3V. B. L. M.de V. S.
Su mas at°. Sr.
EL BAKOS DE CARONJSOLET. ■
t
Sr. Don Andrew Ellicott.
cM. XlV:\ ) ci
E.<i"a3 oj a letter frim Wiaiurop Sargent,
Esq. Secretary of ihi of the
North Weflern Territory, to the Secretary
vf State, dated Cin^ihtiati,
General Willinfon Jipding off I
feizt the occr.pon to tra/ifitfbe jar 01/ fane *ta* w
ragraphs (tf a weflern biter. _ jt
" The Spaniards are reinforcing tWSrupper ' '
pojls on the Mflftppi confidir'ably—General p
Howard, an Iri/imarr, in-itti quality of Com- oJ
mander in Chief, tviih, upwards of 3JO men, jc
arrived at St. fouls and empliyed ii erecting w
very forntidabli moris. It like%::p appears U
through various channels that' they are inviting 1
a great number of Indians of the territory to
crcfs the Miffjippi and for this exprvfs furpofe ' |
Mr. Larromie an officer in [he pay of the c ;
crown made a tour through all this country lajl
fall.; Jihce which time several Indians have r(
keek"sent on the fame errand—and generally "
furriifhed with plenty of cajh to defray their (
expenses " „
" A large party of Delawares puffed down <(
White River about the 6th of May on their •<
way to the'Spanifh fide bearing the national "
flag of Spain sent them from St. Louis." "
" They (the Spaniards) Lave above the
mouth of the Ohio, on the Mtfjifippi, several
row-gctllies with can^jn."
[No. XVII.-\ C
Department of State,
Philadelphia, April 21th, 1797.
Sir, l
THIS week I received your letter express
ing your acceptance of the office of Diflriß At
torney for Georgia. I was .gratified by the (
information ; and hope your health may be re- f
cflabliHed and enable you to continue to hold \
aml rxercife it. |
IVitbin a few days, the Spanish minifler, the <
chevalier de Trujo, has written me as follows. (
. " I know to a certainty that the English '
" have made propositions to genera! Clark of 1
Georgia in order to obtain his powerful influ- "j
" ence in that slate, in conjunction with some
persons ivho might make a diver/ion «r fcri
" ous attack, aga 'uf l Florida ; and I doubt not
" that in confcqvence of this my advice, the Ex
" ecutive government will take suitable Jleps
" for effectually preventing the rights of neu
" trality bting infringed by Georgia, to. the
" prejudice of the possessions of the king my
" mafler" , ,
His letter has been laid before the President
of the United States, by whose direßion I have
now to de/ire'you immediately to enquire into
the faS affcrted by the Spanish minifler ; and
if any discovery shall be made cf designs to vi
ofate our neutral duties, and efpedaily of form
ing (in expedition againfl the territories of his
Catholic maj/fly, from the territory of the U
nited States, in defiance of thfir laws, and
particularly of the aci.qf Congress for the pu
nishment of crimes agq\nfl li*e United States,
passed on the sth June l 7.94 —that vou will
take the mofl proper and effectual measures for
fru/lrating such designs ; and if the fame shall
be manifejlcd by any overt aits, to cause the of
fenders to be arrefled and fetured, that they
may be brought to condign punifhntent. Inde
pendently" of the aid, which if necessary you
. will reqeirt of the Governor of Georgia, the
commanding officer of the federal troops in that
slate, will be dire Red by the Secretary of IVar
. to afford you all the effiflance in his power.
I shaH be obliged by your acknowledging
the receipt of this letter ; and by a commu
, nication of the result of your enquiries into
( the fubjeft of it.
I am Sir, with great refpeft,
Your mofl obedient Servant,
TIMOTHY PICKERING.
r Charles Jackson, Esq^
. Diftrift Attorney for the > .
, State of Georgia, J
[ [No. 18.]
1 Extraft of a leter trom Charles Jatkfon, Esq.
Diflriil Attorney of Georgia, to the Secre
tary of State, dated Savannah, aid May,
e : «W- '
t Sin,
1 Your letter of the ultimo* I had the
honof to receive some few daya past. It has
re'naaiaed unanswered nntil tbe present moment,,
that I might enable myfelf to ascertain whether
e jr not the f*fpicion» entertained by the Spanish
minister, Gen Clark, as exprefled
- in-your Utter, were well founded. I have made
I diligent enquiry, and cannot find any person
. hercthat k,nows any thing ofthe butineft,-..0r
e that entertains a beliaf the- kind. Clark wa»
concerned in a forn\er expedition against the
Floiidas in conjunction with tke French, and it
is pofltble from this circutiitlance that he is a
" gain fufpeited- tie is a man of flrong passions,
- of warm partialities for the French, and violent
e antipathies to the English. jFrom these cif
h cumftances, and from the matter beingunknown
to the fitiizem here, .I am led to doubt the
truth of the report altogether. It might not be
tmprpper to add, that he jt far from being the
[> man of influence fuggelied by the Spanilh min
e ifter. But Ihbuld it happen contrary to my
expedition that C.'artlShould be daring eneugh
to attempt a violation of tbe la-* s of the Union,
by accepting a commifFion, as has been njen-
I tioned, nc exertions (hall be wanting 011 my
part to bring him to punishment, and should it
be necessary, I shall direfll the marshal to call to
his aid the Federal troops. But I have no
doubt on my own part, but the civil authority
has fufficient strength in this ftite, to carry into
effect the laws ofthe Union. 1
[No- 19.J
Kotterdam, May 9th, 1797.
f Dear Sir,
. Altho' in the poftfeript to the original quad
ruplicate of No 15, forwarded to-day,. I have
,s mentioned the latefl intelligence, yet as I find
'e that the schooner Mary, of Boftim, Capt. Hall,
is is to fail from this port to-morrow, 1 beg leave
to mention again, that a fumrnary of some ®f
; j the articles of the preliminaries of the treaty of
peaee, between France and the emperor, arri
•J ved here this morning, " The emperor cedes
" " Belginm to tlif French republic ;he recog
'- << nizes the independence of the republic of
is " Lombard)-. He admits {he extension of the
le " Frenrh boundaries, to the limits already
f. " frefcribed by • their cenftitution and laws..'
t Therefore the Meofe, and not the Rhine :S to
be theVoundary. Bu<jnap>rte's flanks and rear
were threatened w.ben the pi ellminariea Were
agreed upon. Th£ Auflriaps had rcfovertd.the
jfylrcrl, 'Friuli and T-nf'fte.
J received accoantj! to-day, tliat the Juliana,
from Norfolk in Virginia, is taken andcarried
into Haw, and xhat tile Juna, Rajnb»w:and
"lirhitllf, three fro n C!i#i .fi'joil, .aiiti. (tie i ■
lebe from Savannah, ire captured and carried J o f,
nto Nyitz, and in all probability will Jjr con- i j- j
leraned for want of a *' Role d'Lquifrtge" cer- I
•Bed by a public officer, ngreeabl'y to the re- !
julation prefcribtd by France. t
I enclosed you ill No. t.;, ('be original of
.vhich I sent t>y Caot. Simpfoin of the Kcpuhli- fai
••an, via B.iUiinrirt, the {duplicate by Captain c it
Goodrich of tbf Ly.dta, via New-York ; the
:riplicate by Capt. Harrington of the Eliza to y
Philadelphia, and the quad ■iifjeate tothecare
-)1 Air. liny )'c6picß of citizeh Merlin's letter ~
10 Mr. Stijjwith». coilful 'general at Paris, in
which lie fays, that when \.ve becpnis.juft and '
g r ateful, and bitak . • •«r iiu i edible ti-eaty with Ft
Englandt l'rjj.ce .will dc-fift from ber preleiit V e
with refpeft to ti*. I refer you to the !
copies tranfmitUtVas above,, for tljt particiihrs | (
of this curiou" letur, it is now pulilifncd'ai otli- ,
uial in the " Kedaileur."
Major Motintdoreniieinfotms irte by the letter
received (ottAiy.lt' that he bad dra\vti 1 reply to pe
" it; bu£ that it luJ been, judged aot proper th
" t»be sent, but in lieu thereof it had been m
" prppofed to inform the minister hy a fbort '
" nate, that pgroftirig in t.be former reclama
tions and not authorized by the government
"ef the United States to enter into a formal di- ]
" plomatic diftvffliun, on the fubjeift therein
" mentioned, a copy of his letter of the 4th Flo
" real, should be transmitted to our fecrstatv
" of flatc."
I remain with real refpeft and tfteem, * tl
y.iurnaolt obedient hnmb'e servant, a!
CHAkl.t SGOTESWOR i'H | J INCKNEY. tc
Coi. Pickering, Svtretary
of*the United States.
[Nn's XV and XVI are papers which 31
have already leen^ullijhtd.~\
NEW-YORK, July A. k
The Utter of Merlin minifttr of justice, to the
Consuls of America in Fraace, is one of those ci
extraor.duary things which charafterize the fc
French nation in the present revolution. If ex- ft
prefsly enjoins on the United States a violation j
of the treaty with Great Britain, at the conditi
on of obtaining the favor of the French govern- c
ment. Thitis, wc must be faitbl&fs, perfidious
rascals, aiid then we may expgft the returning tl
favor and affeflion of France. This is precisely fl
the the mini/ler of jujlics. ti
It a a remarkihle faft that a high cfcari&er, , Q
at thPhead of dppof.tiou, said a few weeks ago t
in public c»mpa»y," That one of the sppdiiions
of preserving peace with France wouhfbe, a
breath of the treaty <wit£ Great Britain■" So
perfeftly well do the French in France and their f
partizans inthis country utidciftand each other. \
—• 5
Traullatcd for the Diary, from the Gazette s
■ .Francoisy■
The fftllowing extraft trom a Paris paper
may serve as a key for poftenty to the rapid and 1
prodigiom fortunes accumulated by fpecu'.ation 1
during the revolution. • (
Methid oj making a for.une in three hours by I
means if manJats, ajfignutandfpecie. ]
FIRST HOUR. ;
Operation t. A man han a refcription, or pro
visional inandat for topo livres. ,He lells it at 1
70 per cent difcouut, and receives 300 livres- '
He buys ajjignats at 6oe» livres per louis, arid 1
receives fur his jo crowns 7.5,000 livrci in afjig• 1
nats. 1
With these affignata he goes to the treasury, ,
and according to the law allowing 1 for 30, he
receives in refcriptioas aj.ooo livres,-
cent profit upon his capital.
Operation a. The fame proccfs repeated pro- 1
duces 6,ajo livres.
Operation 3. The refcription is fold for 1,875
this sum.buys 478,7.50 livres in af
fignats, which brings in a refcription for 13,6aj
Operation 4. i l.r. refcription fellsfor46B,7io
specie, equal to in afiignats, and these
to »refcription of 39,06a1. 10s.
SECOND HOUR.
The refcription, by the fame operations re
peated, produces 1,515,895 livres.
THIRD HOUR.
These 1,525,895 in the fame .planner, accu
mulate by 4 operations to 59,605.3371
The speculator, tirtd at length of this day's
work, fells out at 80 per cent - discount, and re
ceives 11,911,040 livres in gold, the produce of
50Cr»wnsin thiee hours and 12 operations.
CHARLESTON, June 23,
FrOm'a COrrefpotident.
The Citizeh JLe Cohte, an offi. J er of the
marine of the French Republic, arrived a few
day* finee inthis ciy, from Porto Rico,
afiures that the goverhor of that island, to re
• ward the zeal and bravery which the French
citizens shewed in defending it against the
th e invasion of the English, has granted to
these brave warriors an unlimited liberty of
commerce to Portt>-'Rico, for the space of
two years.
The citizen Le Conte also informs, that
he saw at St. Martin's, about fix weeks ago,
a vuffcl belonging to the French Republic,
furnifhed with passports from all the powers
of Europe, deftincd to make a voyage round
the world ; she had on board a number of
fcientific gentlemen ; foeral of these the citi
zen Le Conte co'nverfed with.
NORFOLK, July 1. •
Extraft of a letter from Ca£t. Henry
Ditkfon, of tb« ship Bowman, of this
port.
Guadaloilpe, Point pctte, May 2 3
" this is my fifth* since captured and
1 brought in here I hope some of them will
reach you before long. This letter I fend
. you by my mate, who goes passenger in a
, panilh sloop to St. Thomas's.
> " 1 mentioaed in ftiy former letters that 1
' was put on board the prison ship immediately,
' after the Bowman was at an anchor—in
which place I Hill remain confined—not al
lowed to go on shore—nor on board of any
of the America*s that are iu the harbour—
The ship and cargp has been condemned a
- fortnight ago
f lam not at liberty (neither should 1 thi.-ik
* it fafe) to express ffly thoughts on the pro
' ceedings herts;
L ( " I can give you no information refpefting
j markets, or any thing else ftom tlie fhote. I
. am not allowed t« go.there, Bor do 1 know
s when I shall.—l am here cooped up from al
- molt every,body." '
1 *bloneof these have been received.
> Extraft of a letter from Mr. Thomas
3 Woodhotifr, mate of the ship Bowman.
r St. Thomas's, June 15
6 "The letters Captain Dickfon gave me,
e when 1 feft him in Point Petre t n the 23d
of May, on board the prison ship, I have
\ forwarded irrthe brig Abigail, Capt. Ar.der
;l j lon, who rcfuftd re a paffagehome
'* The aiul tnyuli ari on. hoard tin
>f a fiyop bfli n to Newbury, and will pc;
ail for Norfolk in three days." of
Yesterday arrived here the schooner Eliza, Sc
«tain Moffatt,. 19 days from Jacquegael. <>'
0 informs that four days previous to his U.i
failing, a schooner arrived there from the Ri
:ity of Saint D ova in go, who related that a fp l
feet of ihips, under convoy of i 5 fail of the eg
iine (French and Spanish) had arrived there fh;
—captain Moffatt cannot inform whether tw
they had any troops on board. a^l
Captain Moffatt, also informs, that two tic
French .generals had returned from the in
veilment of .Port-au. Prince in confluence of <h<
disturbance among the Brigands, and had fh'
resumed their command in the neighbour- oS
hood of Jacquemel. , • f |r
The Spaniards are withdrawing their pro- <jf
perty from the island and fending it., and ed
their negroes to Cuba. ar
fo
CONGRESS. •
HOUSE or REPRESENTATIVES, j".
Thursday, July 6. hi
(Concluded from our last.)
Mr. Sitgreates said, it was observable e {
that no gentleman had ventured to do w
any more than exprvfs his doubts, both as b<
to the faft and the law on this occasion. t e
With refpeft to the faft, he did not expect
ahydoubt. He believed that any gentleman t (
at all conversant with tic branch of law w
learning, which relatesto impeachment,muft t c
know that impeachments have always been , r
founded on official documents, or upon cir- 0
cumftances of notoriety, and not upon facts n
found as oefore a Grand Jury. In this in- []
stance they had conceived the letter of Mr. t ]
Blount fufficiently authenticated, in the
communication of the President.
He was sorry that the measures which 0
the Executive had taken in this business, t ]
should "have been censured, even by infinua- b
tion. Mr. Si said,. he had read the opinio* p
•of high law authority, which had been ob- ti
tained by the Executive. When he> did t,
this, he thought lie was giving proof of the c
honourable motives of the Executive. In- t
formation had been given to the Executive,
which, on the firft blush, shewed designs c
against the peace of the United States. It
was the duty of the President' to preserve f
the peace of the" United States. It was g
natural and right for him, therefore, to take f
the opinion of those peifons who were best r
qualified to direst him what course would c
be be ft to be pursued. Thei'e gentlemen t
had given it as their opinion that the proper {
way of proceeding would be by impeach
ment, and, in effeft, that the President had ,
no more to do with it, but that it should be ,
turned over to the proper branches of Gov- ,
ernment. In corifequence the President had
communicated more to them, than he had ,
done to the Senate, as the original fetter of •
William Blount was sent to them, as evi
dence upon which they were to found their
charge. The President did not direst them
to impeach ; but had laid before them
the fads, with the opinion of the law offi
cers.
Mr. S. conceived that the conduit of the
President had been ftriftly proper. He
would pass on to the constitutional doubts
which had been expressed. It waS acknow
ledged that there, was no reftriftion upon
the right of impeachment ; but his col
league thought that something like a rfftric
tibu flight be gathered from the 4th clause
of the 2d article of the Constitution, which
! he had quoted. It was to be observed, that
■ this article was found in that part of the
Couftitution wlrich related Only to the Ex
ecutive department of government. This,
he took it, was a good reason why this rule
should not be taken as a rule in the present
■ cafe ; but there was another clause which
' spoke of disqualifying persons from ever
, filling any office in future, which was a
■ greater power than that under the Execu
-1 tive department. If the conftruftion which
: his colleague had put upon the Constitution
) with refpeft to impeachment, was the true
f one, an officer of Government would not be
t brought to trial after he had resigned, as he
could not then be removed from office,
t His colleague had produced another arti
, cle of the Constitution, which confined the
, ' punishment under an impeachment. This,
b Mr. S. said, was meant to guard against any
1 difgraceful excefsof governmental venge
f ance, or party venom ; because it went on
- to fay, that if the offence was/within ordi
nary crimes, it might be prosecuted and
punished in the fame way as if an impeach
ment had not taken place.
Impeachment was then to be ccinfidered
9 as for the purposes Of the State, distinguish
ed from the general purposes of society.
5 If it had been intended that the power of
J impeachment should he limited in the man
-1 ner supposed by his colleague and the gen
ii tleman from Virginia, it would have been
a so exprefled, as in the Constitution of Penn
sylvania ; they had spoken on this fubjeft
1 in a way not to be mistaken, as they ex
f prefsly said who were liable to impeachment,
» and what offences should be impeachable.—
- And if it had been the intention of the
y Constitution of the United States, that of
- ficers of Government only should be im
a peached, it would doubtless have been so ex
pressed. But was not the present cafe, that
k of an officer charged with an offence direftly
>• connected with his office, with the official
confidence entrusted to him ? When it was
g particularly his duty to appoint to office, it
I was surely a peculiarly aggravated offence
a to seduce an officer, or to turn friends into
1- enerrtws. What was a Senator, if he was
not an officer of Government ? The Pre
sident, who was liimfelf a branch of the
Government, was allowed to be an officer
58 of the Government, and surely a member
of one of the blanches must also be an of
ficer.
e, As to the form of proceeding necessary
I'd to be taken 011 this occasion, he would state
what the opinion of the Committee was as
r- to this matter. They supposed it would
be firft proper for that House to determine
that the gentleman in question fho'jld helm
peached. This being done, that a mem-Wr, „
of that House should go to the bar cf the
Senate, and impeach the person, in the name
of the House, and of the people the
United States, an;} Hate that the House of
Rejarefeniatives will proceed to draw out
ipeci'iic articles of charge against him. Ac
cording to the cafe, they require that he
(hall be fequeftred from "his feat, be 'com
mitted, or held to bail. When this is done,.
a*Committe.G will be appointed to draw ar
ticles of impeachinfnt.
. The reason, Isn S. said, why forne steps
should be taken at prefeht was, that means
should be taken to secure lhp;pei)'on of the
offender, either by confinement or by baiL
since it was tfie op in La of the law ofli;*ert.
of Government that' he could not be arrest
ed by ordinary proceis. He could not be;'
arretted by the Senate ; they could fend
for him (as he imderftocd they had done)
by the Sergeant at Arms, to take his feat
in the House but when the House ad- „
journcd, they had no further power over
him, until an impeachment was made against '
him.
Gentlemen said there was no danger cf
escape. If it were not improper to ft ate
what hpd taken place out of doors, it might
be said, tkat there had already been an at
tempt at an escape. Besides, if no investi
gation were now to take place, how were
they to come to a knowledge of the plot
which gentlemen seemed so desirous to come
to a knowledge of. When they had deter
mined to make the impeachment, and an
oral declaration was made of it to the Se
nate, when they were reacjy to go home, —
they might go, and exhibit the charges, a,t
the next session, when they should have had
leisure fully to consider the fubjecL
Mr. Rutledge had no dpubt in his'mind
on the fybjeft ; but he thought it necessary
that the hand writing of Mr. Blount ihould
be proved.He had himielf attendi-fl the
tnfU.oF ail Impeachment which had excited"
th{£attention of the world (he alluded to the
trial of Mr. Hastings) and the order of pro
ceeding was as has been stated. He moved
that evidence betaken of the hand-writing..
The Chairman suggested tht; propriety
of having the bufmefs done in the house.
Mr. Brookes fa;d, Jie should not have
fpokenon the occasion, if he had not heard
gentlemen express wishes to the prefect
fubjeft postponed. For his part, he could
npt tell how gentlemen would be able to ac
quit thetnfelves to their own conferences and
to their conflituents, if they, should refufe to
stay a-day or two to do this business..
Mr. Venable said, that as this was a new
cafe, and, would'be referred to as a prece
dent, they should attend to the form of
their proceedings. He thought the firft
ftep should be to prove the letter. If the
[ committee could not do it, he should wish
the Committee to rife, that it might.be done
' in the house. He did riot think tfodr de
r termination should be postponed ; byt, that
1 if an impeachment was to be entered upon,- 1
1 that it should now be done. lie hid po
" doubt of the truth of the letter ; tut lie
wished it to be duly as hereafter' a
e cafe might occur, in which such a letter
; might be a forgery.
s Mr; Nicholas said, that fo'me gentlemen
'" had spoken upon this question, as if there ■
1 were persons upon the committee who w.'fh
•" ed to exfulpate the perfoa charged [Mr
" Sitgreaves declared, if he was alluded to,
2 tliat he had no such intentjofc,} Mr. N.
h thought he intimated something of the ki id
when he said gentlemen ventured to fay r &c.
lC No member of that committee, he trufled,,
* would wish to screen the offender, and he
') believed no person less than he who_ was.
' c nearly connected with him (meaning,' we
11 suppose, his brother Thomas Blpimt). Mr.
h N. thought it was not fufficieni that the
r President had sent them a letter, which he
a believed to be the hand-writing of William
Blount. If they were to take- this for
h granted, they gave their power gf judging
n over to the President.
16 Mr. N. said he had merely enquired what
ie * would be the confequSnces of a poftppne
ie ment to the next session. He did not think
it could produce any bad effett, qs if the
*" offender were to escape, the final punifhmant
ie did not require the preface, of the man.-
3 > Mr. N. again exprefled his doubt, about the
y constitutionality of the proceeding.
Mr. Dayton (the Speaker) said he Held
n in his" hand a letter, which he had received
l " from the President of the United-States, la-,
d scribed as an original letter of William
Blount, to be preserved with care; If aay .
member of the committee will fay that lie
d believes the writing to be 'the writipg of
William Blount, it might the save the trou
~ ble of the committee's riling for the pur
pose of having the fact ascertained in the
1_ house.
Mr. Harper thought the committee
11 were as well fatisned as to the fad now, as
they could be when the hand-writing was
proved ; but he denied that the committee
x " had the power of taking evidence of this*
kind. He moved for the committee to rife,
either to examine evidence, or to adjourn.
Mr. Gai.latin wished the-committee to
1 " rife ; but, before it rose, he wished to men
n~ tion two or three ideas, upon which he
x " should wish to have fatisfaction when the
committee Jat again.
: a j So far as relates to the conflitutional que'f
,as tion,' the gentleman frcm Connecticut fMr.
j t Dana) -had" removed a part of his doubts ;
cc therefore, what he fltould mention would
to not relate to that point.
as If he rightly understood his colleague,
re- when speaking of the opinion of gentlemen
he of the law, he said that their opinion was,
:er not only that William Blount was liable to
>er an impeachment, but that the proper mode
of prosecuting him was by impeachmefit.
He had since looked at the opinion, and did
try not find it so ; but that he was liable to im
ste peachment. In jtie -next place, he uiider
as itood him to fay, that Mr. Blount was not
aid amenable to orderly process. He wished to
ine know whether this id& was well-founded,