X|e jj Thursday £VP.ning, S?pti mheh rt. f cv ~—~ " ' nal To the Seti.iTF atid HoOse of Re-pr'Sei/- ju TAftl'Ri of the Commonwealth of Penn sylvania. mv Gesi\leMeN, / a j I HAVE considered, with great atten- tli< tioo, the bill, entitled, " An aft to fegu- mc late the general eleftions held within this by Commonwealth and I now return it (hav- fw ing been prevented from returning it at the rat last ftffiioh, by an adjournment of the ge- re< neral assembly, on the day when it was pre- an fented to me) with a declaration, that Ido m; not appr6ve thereof; and with the follow- mc ing obje&ions, as the groutjd of my difap- fir probation. ' • or I. Because the bill not only operates, in foi some of its provisions, expo/1 facto, enafting rej a species of evidence to pro?e the eleftlve bu rights of a certain class of citizens, which fu! was not Contemplated at the time when re< thofc rights were acquired ; but from the mi extraordinary, and, in many instanCes, im- fh; practicable, nature of the evidence itfelf, cv such citizens may often be deprived of their to constitutional privileges, though they have op never incurred a forfeiture, and are not fu chargeable with any negligence. tai Thus, it is provided in the firft feftion he of the bill, " That no person, who accord- an ing to the laws of the United States, is deemed an alien, shall be admitted to vote di at any eleftion within this commonwealth, re unless he ha* been previously naturalized ac- ra cording to the direftion of a law of the U- pi nited States, passed the twenty-ninth day of to January one thousand seven hundred and cc ninety-five; or (hall have been othcrwife an naturalized previous to that time, and shall p( produce a certification thereof, under the ve seal of the court, wherein he has been na- bl tnralized, or if othcrwife naturalized before pi that time, then such certification, or so OTHER WRITTEN EVIDENCE THEREOF, as fe from the nature of such naturalization, such di person may reafSnabh be required to produce by d< any judge, or infp> or, or by any two eh Bars ar qualified to vote at any such eledion 11" Now hi in order to shew that the objeftion, which tl; 1 have stated, is well founded, it willb? b< proper to take a retrofpeftive view of the C 1 evidence of naturalization, which was ori- ui ginally established, for those cases that oc- fr curredj before the fubjeft had been regulat- h: *d by any exercise of the federal authority, a- The 42d feftion r.f the Frame of Go- it vernment, established in the year one thou- tl farid seven hundred and seventy-six, declared el « that every foreigner of good charafter y who comes to fettle in this state, having al firft taken an oath or affirmation of allegi- fc ance to the fame, may purchase, or by o ther just means acquire, hold and transfer u lands or other real estate; and after one ri year's residence, shall be deemed a free citi- tl zen thereof, and entitled to all the rights e of a natural born fubjeft of this state, ex cept that he shall not be capable of being i« eleftcd a representative until after two years si residence." On the thirteenth of January one thou- n sand seven hundred and seventy-seven, an p aft paflcd obliging the male white inha- e bitants of this state to give assurances of o allegiance; the form of an oath or affirma- d tini"was prescribed ; and the justices were e direfted to keep registers of the persons so « sworn or affirmed, and to transmit the fame c to the recorders of .deeds of the counties i: refpeftively, who were direfted to record a them. 1 In the years one thousand seven hundred { and seventy-eight, and one thousand seven t hundred and seventy-nine, other afts of a c similar import were passed ; but effefting j no material alteration in the point of view t iu which the fubjeft now offers for confide- t ration. ' But, on the thirteenth of March one thou- 1 sand seven hundred and eighty-nine, an aft i was passed to repeal all the laws of the com- 1 monwealth, requiring an oath o.r affirmation i of allegiance from the inhabitants ; and by ; the fourth feftion it was provided, that noth ing in this aft contained shall be deemed to , extend to, alter, or affeft, the forty-fecond feftion of the frame of government of this commonwealth, but that every fueh foreign er as in the said feftion mentioned, who shall come to fettle in this state, shall, after t one ( years residence therein, be entitled to the full enjoyment of the right* and privileges therein fpecified, upon taking and fubferik ing an oath, or affirmation, such as in the aft is set forth. The mayor, recorder, each and every alderman and justice of the peace, before whom fueh oath or affirmation (hould be taken or fubferibed, was direfted by the aft to keep a fair register of the names and addition of the persons so sworn or affirmed, and to transmit to the recorders of deeds of. the counties refpeftively, lifts of the names of the persons so sworn and affirmed, which lifts were threupon to be re corded." It appears then, that from the seventeenth of June one thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven, to the twenty-sixth of March one thousand seven hundred and ninety, (when congress exercised the power of natu ralization granted by the eighth feftion of the firft article of the constitution of the United States) the rights of cicizenfhip were to be acquired, and the fact of natural ization was to be recorded, in the mode thus designated by the forty-fecond feftion of the frame of government and the laws to which I-iave referred ; but neither the frame of government, nor any of those laws will be found to contain a positive provision, as to the mode of establishing the faft of naturali zation, in cafe the register of the magistrates and the records of the recorders should be loft. By t^e till under cor.fideration, it is indeed, contemplated, that every naturalized freeman aftually resident within the limits of the United States, on the third of Septem be one thousand fevea hundred aud eighty tiiree,jhould (land 6n the fame footing \Vitk ( rai natives, in the exercise of the elective right ; ' ex but between the third of September one fei thousand fevjn hundred and eighty-three, va and the twenty-sixth of March one thoufrfnd tic seven hundred and ninety, many alicn6 were l>e naturalized, according to the laws in force in during that period. m ' Under thtfe circtfm (lances, a recurrence de must be had to general principles ; and it is to a general principle, that if a record is loft, be the fafts, of which it was intended to be the tic memorial, may be proved by oral as well as of by written evidence. No citizen can an- ce fwer for the care and fidelity of the magift- w rate or recorder ; nor can, the magistrate or la recorder guard against acts of Providence ar and the various casualties by which all hu- tli man precaution may be defeated, and every th monument of human art is liable \o be d"- lii flfoyed. If exemplifications of the register fr or record are not produced, proef might rea- ' p< fonably, perhaps, be demanded, that the ,le register or record is itfelf loft or decayed ; tc but still it is a great rule of law upon this pi fubjeft, that the best evidence only shall be b; required, which the nature of the cafe ad- re mits ; or, in other words, that no evidence pi (hall he received which supposes that higher ci , evidence remains in the power of the party ; i vc to extend the rule further would tead, in my c< opinion, to create endless perplexity, and to ■ in subvert jullice, when nothing could be at- j in tained but the gratification of a speculative ol i hope, to guard against a possibility cf deceit di ■ and imposition. m i As, therefore, the only mode prescribed, ei : during the period to which I immediately ift i refer, for perpetuating the evidence of natu- jn< ■ ralization, was the register or record of the a< • public officers ; as the individual who seeks h f to exercise the rights of naturalization, tl I could have no controul fiver those officers ; tl : and as the officers themselves cannot be ref -1 ponfible for accidents or outrages ; t have : ventured to question, whether it is reasona ble or confident w f ith the principles of juris- 1 r prudence, that at the distance possibly of . t fourteen years, certainly at the distance of f seven years, -written evidence, and 'written evi- e b dince exclusively, (hould for the firft time be a c demanded (and that too, at the iuftance of r f any two eleftors) from the citizens who * ' have derived their title of citizenship, under j 1 the very different circumstances which have f ? been dated, ? This rigor would at once ex- s e elude all evidence arising from the previous c - uniform exercise of the right of voting : 1 - from the oath or affirmation of the paity J - himfelf; and from the oral testimony of , any number of the most credible witnefles ; t - it would disfraochife some citizens, without t - the flighted imputation of blame ; and, in * i effeft, it would reduce many who have for J r years performed all the duties, and enjoyed , y all the advantages of citizenship, to the ab- , - solute condition of aliens. < >• 11. Because the bill will, in its,operation, 1 r unnecessarily embarrass the exercise of the ' e rights of fuffrage ; and may deprive some of , - the most meritorious citizens of th« privileg- 1 s es of eleftion. 1 :- Thus, by the ninth feftion of the bill it • g is declared, that the alphabetical lift to be ' ■s furiiifhed by the cotmty commissioners to , the infpeftors of eleftion, shall contain " the i i- names and surnames of all the male taxable 1 n persons, inhabiting within the refpeftive j i- counties, who have been affefTed for a state >f or county tax at least fix months before that i- day, and not exonerated And by the elev -e enth feftion of the bill it 1 is declared that "o <« no person of more than twenty-two years ie of age fliall be admitted to vote, whose name -s is not inserted in the lift of taxable inhabit d ants, furnifhed by the commissioners, unless two reputable eleftors well known to be in d fpeftors, shall depose that from his possessing n taxable property, keepingta house, or other a circumstances, they firmly believe the said ig person hath paid a state or county tax affeff w ed agreeably to the provisions in the confti e- tution, and this aft, and that he resides and hath resided at least feven|months in thetown u- ship, ward or diftrift, in which he offers to ft vote ; and the said person shall also depose to n- the truth of tie fame, or produce a receipt jn from the proper collcftor of the payment of >y a state or county tax, assessed as aforefaid. h- N«w, the effeft* of these regulations are to objeftionable in a two-fold point of view:— id i ft. Inafmuchas the accidental, or negli iis gent omission, to insert »ny citisen'-s name n- in the commissioners alphabetical lift (a cir all cumftance that has too often occurred) will ne condemn such citizen to the necessity of he making proof of his right to vote, at the ve ;es ry moment when he tenders hts vote, by two W- reputable tleSors ; though in every other cafe, he except treason, one reputable witness is com er, petent to afcertaiu a fadl, and tho' the fact he may be known only to women, to persons on who are not eleftors, or to citizens who are :ed exonerated from the payment of taxes, he These witnesses, moreover, must be well irn known io the infpeftors, must know from er» the state of the party's property, or other of eiicumftances, his capacity to pay a tax .nd (tho' in addition to this, his own oath, or re- the produftion of a collector's receipt is im posed) and must attest his previous residence ith for fevea months within the diftrift, in which md he offers to vote, though aftual residence at rch the time of voting would alone be required, ty, if his name had not been omitted in the com tu- miffioners alphabetical lift, iof 2d. Aud, m the second place, inasmuch the as it excludes from enjoying the rights of hip fuffrage, all persons, who shall be exonera ral- ted, for any cause, from the payment of tax hus es. It is true, that the eonftitntion of the the j state contains a declaratory article, that, lich ! " in eleftions by the citizens, every free :of man of the age of twenty-one years, having Ibe resided in the state two years next before the to eleftion, and within that time said ajlate or "ali- county tax, which Jhall have been ajfejfed, at ates least fix months before the elediofi, Jhall enjoy Ibe the rights of an electorßut this is mani it is feftly an affirmative, and not a negative pro ized vision ; —lt restrains the legislature from de ts of nying to a person, so qualified, the right of ;em- voting ; but it does not preclude the legifla thty tnre from exercising the power an an cxonc- ration ; nor does it *(fent,or imply, that the j 1 exoneration from taxes, shall work a for- in feiture of the rights of fuffrage, the mod E; ' valuable rights of citizenship. An exonera- |im tion, by the party entitled to receive, must ;co be in this cases (as in many cafe that occur wl in private tranfaftions) tantamount to a pay- > fill ment, by the party liable to pay. If, in- ' deed, a difftrent interpretation were given 1 th to the constitution how could ele&ions have been held, qr the advantages of reprefenta- 'an tion have been enjoyed, by the inhabitants an of those town{hips (forming in some inftan- va ces a considerable portion of a county)— of which have occasionally been exonerated; by yc law, from any pecuniary contribution tow- ti< ards sustaining the public burthens ? Since, therefore, the constitution does not render N the payment of taxes an indispensable pre- A liminary to the exercise of the rights of fuf frage, the principles of public gratitude and fe political justice, seem to require, that, at fil , lead, some discrimination (hould be made, as as to the objefts, whose exoneration from a tl pecuniary duty, (hall be thus accompanied | th by the deprivation of a civil franchife. The J yi remembrance of those scenes, in which the y< patriotism of many of the original public tl creditors, and the heroism of many of the k ; veterans in our revolutionary war, were the fc causes of such penury, or infirmity,'as'muft ] incapacitate them, at this momfln, for yield- h; ! iifg a pecuniary aid to the state, can never be a obliterated : nor will it, I am confident, be ' deemed politic, or just, upon refleAion, that tl men, whose ferviceaand affliftions honorably F entitle them totheexoneration contemplated, tl i (hould, merely from that reason, be de- w nounced, as unworthy of partaking irt the tl administration of government, whichr they e< have aflifted to establish, at the hazard of lj their Uvea, or by the facrifice of their for- • nr tunes. THOMAS MIFFLIN. o Philadelphia, 28th Augull, 1797. F o A CAUTION b To Seamsh and other Citizens of America. r< , AT the till f,ft,in of congnfs, a proposition Was brought (WwaM, whether a citizen of the United States hiiirht expatriate himfelf, or, in oth- • er words, forfeit his allegiance to hit own country, v and becocia a citizen or fubjeit of another ? It was )' F proposed to pafsa law for tkat purpose ; but, on' , further confulerati«n, it was agreed that the quef f tion {hould lie over tiil the snfuinj m-tting of the t , house of reprefenta! ives. The probability is,there- n : fore, that it will ajain be introduced when con gress meets. Every seaman and citizen of Ameri- 1 i ca, who poflcffcs genuine attachment to his coun- u . try. fholild avoid entering into any foreign service, h whatever Mattering encouragement might be held { - out for him to abandon his own country ; for, if ' the law takes place, which is likely, it is c-xpeoted ; to be so modified, that if a citizen of out country 1 t take the benefit of it, and surrender his allegiance r j to his own, and take it to a foreign nation, that he { will never have it in hl» power to restore what he [ has voluntarily giten up, and consequently never * afterwards enjoy the privileges and benefits of an » - American citizen. Hence it ought to be a fettled determination with him, to consider any one who t is daring enoijgh to hold out temptation to him to 1 ' accept i>f foreign employment, as his greatest ene- | my. Many advantages may be painted to our ci- ( tizens in glowing colors, tofeduce their afFe&ions ; - but it will he Tound, if experiment fliould unfortu- ' nately be made, that it is mer« delulion, and the advantages held out will be as unsubstantial as the visionary phantoms of a dream. No nation under ( C Heaven a(Fo»wr«.-—T rue. Lord M.—ln possession of your Colonies 3 in the Antilles, of your Faftories in the East-Indies, Masters of the Sea, and of an immense Navy, with which no power can cope, and that too derived from almost the whole of your Navy, our interest has been silent at the voice of humanity. Lctourn. (rubbing his hands) — And from the fear of an invasion, Ay ? . Lord M.—Ridiculous apprehensions in any one who knows the state of your Ports and Dockyards. The regiftef of your na val force makes it amount to twenty Ships of the Line and some Frigates, confined to your pQrts, and incapable of making a junc tion . | Letourn.—To which are to be added the Navies of Holland, Spain, and Venice. Are they nothing too ? Lord M.—lt is not the number of Ves sels that confers superiority. A Navy con sists of two parts, the more substantial part, n as the Ships, and the essential part, that is t( the Crews and Commanders. Admitting ; that with the addition of the Venetian force ' ■ you had established the substantial part of ~ your Navy, you would yet be deficient in the essential part, and your Fleet would be ' kept in port by the third part of the naval fore? of England. Letourn.—While we have wood we can a have (hips ; and the reft may be supplied by 1 a requisition. " Lord M.—Your Excelle»cy recollefts, that at the Treaty of Peace of 1763, the 1 French navy was in a deplorable state ; that c that Treaty stipulated the number of (hips a which France should build annually ; that the observance of it was particularly watch- ed by our commissaries, and that France on ly got over it in the American war. How c • many years are neceffarv to the restoration 1 of a navy ? Supposing all the Dockyards in 1 Europe employed in the service, they could only have produced her forty (hips per year, 1 because the collection of materials must be 1 regulated by the produce of nature. Lctourn.—Hold'. Lord M.—But while your commerce is l interrupted by our cruizers, where'would 2 you procure wood, hemp, fail cloth, &c. c . Letourn.—Hold. 1 Lord M. —But supposing France to furni(h every material, you could never build more than 12 (hips a ' year ; and as to sailors, since the entire ru- ( in of your commerce, of your fi(heries, you J have neither naval schools nor pupils, and ' soldiers compose but a very bad crew. Letourn.—My Lord, you must agree, that beforethe Quiberon expedition it would | not have been impofiible for us to have pro duced excellent officers ; and you cannot Contend that the best of your naval officers peri(hed in that expedition. Lord M.—The event was a little adverse to us ; but if we are reproached with not having been very careful of spilling French blood on that occasion, we (hall reply by citing the law which commends the massa cre of prisoners. Letourn.—ln fa^. Lord M, —Let us have done with this ex ceflive policy, and proceed ilraight to the objeft of our deliberations. Letourn.—That is well said. LordM.—On vvhatconditiondoes France seek peace ? Lctourn.—l will tell you in a moment, my Lord. ( Draws, a paper out of his pocket.) These are my direftions. She alks, 1. The restitution of her colonies. 2. The restitution of her (hips, or the va lue of them in money. 3. The restitution of the Dutch navy. : 4. The restitution of the conquests taken I from Holland. / 5. An indemnity of so many millions for t the benefit of the F '.nch, for reasons here -5 after to be afligned. ) Lord M.—What would be the answer 1 of yuor excellency, if England (hould adopt the principles on which the French Repub j lie has treated with the House of Austria ? 1 Letourn.—l do not understand you. t Lord M.—France requires reflitutions ; i but has it restored Holland to the House of 1 Orange, the Low Countries to the House - of Austria, or Savoy to the King of Sardi : nia ? On what title would it found the pri vilege of keeping what it has gotten ? On d its viftories ? That would be contradictory to itfelf. On its power ; its armies have e not yet invaded our coasts. On the promise i, made to its allies ? Ought England to fub e mit to stipulations to which it has, not con d fented. \. h Letourn.—l think—l am of opinion—it e may be—it is—l do not know—however ,e —for confider—(Talcs out his watch) n Two o'clock !—Pardon me, my Lord, I must leave you. My wife and my colleagues ! are waiting for me. I will state your Lord ship's observations to them, and I have no J doubt—But I must firft consult the Tele : f° r I 030 d° nothing without the 1- Telegraph.—(TheirLord/hips rife.) —I beg id you will not trouble yourselves—No cere- U mony—you oppress me—How do you do ? (in Englifh)—Goodnight (instead of good day) : return, I beg of you. i- As Letourneur went out, much laugh it ter was heard, but from #hat quarter our v- correspondent does not inform us. M. Le f- tourneur returned to his colleagues, and :h told them that he was enchanted with Lbrd ix- Malmesbury ; that things had taken the >u best turn imaginable, and that peace de ae pended only on a thread. Thomas Armat and Son, OF PHILADELPHIA, TNFORM thrir cuflomcrs and the publie, they tie A have removed a part of their merchandize to be Wilmington : Also, they h. ve their store open in be the city. At either place their friends can be lup plied, and their orders carefully attended to. By the Cumterland, from Hull, they have re ceived a handfeme afT«rtment of aiticles, suitable y* to the approaching fcafon ; and cxpeit to aid to it >r- by other fall'fbips. y, Should the Ccknefs prevail in the central part of )n ' the city, that branch of their bufindi will be re , uioved to Germaatown. ■ 7 gj The communication by post ii open and re gular as usual. Sept. 18. thtf By this day's Mail. NEW-YORK, September2o. By the Fartny, Braine, from dlafgow, itl continuation— [From the Sun of Aug. B.] The latejl FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. • FRANCE. PARIS, August 3. y Extraft of the report of Do-mas to the council of five hundred, in the name of the committee charged to examine into the resolution refpefting the Constituti onal limits, and the one relative to the movements of troops. This eloquent report, which is in every refpeft worthy of its author, ought to prove to the little Club Machiavels, that those dreadful divisions, which they flatterred themselves with having created between the Councils, exist only in their imagination. General Dumas has {hewn himfelf at the Tribune of the Council of Ancients, what Pichegru has proved himfelf in that of the Council of Five Hundred—a friend to peace, and ready to make eyery facrifice, except tfcat of honour, to public liberty. He had no difficulty in proving, that these two re solutions were in every refpeft conformable to the text of the Constitution, and were called for by the critical situation of public affairs. We are bound to state, that within some weeks the consoling appearance of public af fairs has totally changed—Diftruft'has suc ceeded to hope, agitation to calm, Revolu tionary appearances to the tranquility which prevailed before. The Executive Direftory, deceived by chimerical alarms, appear apprehensive of the future, and fearful of relying on the sup port of the power which has been entrusted to them, or the exercise of its lawful means; they endeavour to appear apprehensive of an attack on the Constitution ; but instead of retreating into a fortrefs, and defending it, they have recourse to arms, which the Constitution (hould break. There are, doubtless, men in France who regret the old government, and there are others, no doubt, who have a partiab'ty to the Revolutionary Government, so favoura ble to their malignant passions, and their in fatlable avarice ; but these feftaries of defpo tiftn and anarchy form but a small party in the Republic ; and even supposing the num ber of them greater than it is, the Royalifls have (hewn the feeblenefs of their policy, the Anarchists the cruelty of their disposition, too much to fuffer us to fear that they will ever again be able to muster with success against the Defenders of the Constitution. If the Direftory would fee the objefts as they really are, and not attempt to represent the political horizon as charged with clouds which have blown over us, they would-be convinced that the great majority of the country is devoted to them. Who then are the persons who favour one or other of these opinions ? Are they those who firft at tack the power of Ministers when armed with Letters de Cachet and arbitrary power to aft as they pleased ? Are these the per sons, who in different public AfTemblies have proclaimed and developed the pritjci« pies of Liberty and of Representative Go vernment ; It is this incalculable number of Administrators, of Judges, and of Public Functionaries who have entailed upon them selves the haired of those who only wish for laws that they may profit by them ; or of those who hope for advantage by the noft ejpftence of the laws ? Can it be from our viftorious Soldiery who have seen the Constitution rifi cemented by thelilood of their Brethren—who have perished in dangers in which they have par taken ?—lt is from them that we arc to ex > pest measures that are incompatible with _the fafety of the Constitution ? Let the direftory frankly unite with the • legislative body—Let it derive hs power from its true source—Let them be convinced that there is a cessation of government when there is a cefTation of harmony between the supreme powers. That authority, however extensive, is not fufficient for governing, if it is not supported by confidence, and that eon. fidende is the prize given by public opinion —that ministers without efteerh, are minis ters without influence', and that they will meet with obstacles where others woulj havfc found afliftance That peace, which is the common objeft of all our wishes, can only be obtained (whatever talents the negociator may pos ses) by the ftrift coalition of all the firfl au thorities, — , That generals crowned with laurels, tint soldiers and citizens having the most glori ous profpeft before them, the life of Pom r pey, and the old age of Timoleon, will ne -1 ver consent to facrifice their brilliant defti > nies in filch a Catilinarian attack. 1 OTI'ICE OF XHS MARINE, AUG. 4. The privateer Le Petit Diable, captain Salvetat, has taken, after a fight of three - quarters of an hour, and carried into Dels- I zil, an English packet, boat named the Dol -1 phin, bound from Yarmouth to Cruxhaven; * it had on board a courier, eharged with dif - patches, and 18 pafTengers. The privateer Intrepid, of Nantes, has " taken a ship under American colours, from Liverpool to Philadelphia, with a cargo of fait, coals, tin, and copper sheathing, for f, three frigates. n The privateer Le Deeade, of Bourdeaux, i- captain Lufone, has taken and carried into Corrunna, the Portugueze ship the duke ps " Braganca, of 600 tons, laden with cotton * ; t rice, coffee, cocoa, &c. &c. from Marag nan to Lisbon. >f The privateer Le Chafleur Basque, capt. Dariban, has carried into Bayoune a. fee English brig, called the Jean, from Quebec, laden with planks, 'skins, pot-a(hes, &c, &c. The privateer Le Coureur, of Rochcl'.e,