of t\)Z Mnitefc States, AND Philadelphia Daily Advertiser:
( By John Fen no, N 0- iio Che [nut Street.
NvmmZ - {TMM« XIII.
*
PHILADELPHIA, T
TOESPAY EVENING. April 3.
Philadelphia, March 30th 1798.
LETTER 11.
To the mouse of representatives of
the UNITED STATfcS.
'' ■ I
Q.KNTLSMEN t
MJUfn the legislature of a great and free
jwopk is convened atau ireportantand threat
ening crisis we naturally expert from it foitte
uHQoirirtion prute&ion, to their rights and li
bei ties.
If we are deceived, and instead of great
exerlious for security, a (hameful neglect of t |
»verj ordinary means takes place ; vvc are m
to enquire the cause of such desertion of A
duty 5 the mind is uneasy if it cannot 11
aiSx a proportionate apology.
Perh.ips It may be thought too bold if I
publicly declare my opinion ; but as lam w
sincere I scorn to fupprefa the inclination—
It is tha lirft privilege in a free government w
to speak your mind ; it iq a privilege I glory e:
in and which I (hall now exert; truth un- °
d*r whatever fignatute loses nana of its force
it carries cofivi&ion tp king and peasant. w
I conceal not my name from fear ®f pan- A
ifliment > for I mean not to violate any one fc
Vw of my country; I «fpe& and revere 0
them and-it is for their prefervatian I write. "
Why Ido not disclose mjrfelf is to avoid "j
personalities which would unavoidably hap- j
pen and thus divert the attention from the fc
main ohjedt of these letters. e<
The aid which the French government P
gave to America in her contest with En- P
glandwas repaid on oiirpart (andjuftly too) j
with esteem and gratitude ; from that period
there has subsisted a mutual attachment ; f- c
and the revolution which has just been ef- n
fe£ted there, joined to the brilliant fuccels tl
that has conllantly attended their arms ; has T '
heightened this attachment (in the breads
of a large poition of our citj-z-ens-) to the a ,
wioft extravagant enthufiafnv. t>
This growing affection was observed by 1)
tJjfi French republic with peculiar fatisfadli- it
cn— they were too cunning not to take adr
ventage of it. Dazz-led by the splendor of P
th«ir victories and the novelty of the scene,
which a sudden change from one extreme to w
another rjjuft produce—a change by which e
tjbc ahfolnte government of twenty-four «
millions of people is wrested from one man n
and divided anvmgft themselves ; they yield- 1'
ed up the-control of tbe passions and indulg
ed ill all the excefles ps vice and folly—for 1
their follies an apology from the impartial ls
and thinking roan can soon be obtained. <j
Human nature iti not endued with for- tl
titude fnfficient to_jvithftaud so great a tor- '
«sent of prosperity, it turns us giddy and al- ?
mod incapacitates us for thinking. But for "
vices such as theirs no excuse can be framed, 3
they mull proceed not from an over heated 0
imagination that magnifies an error into a d
criuve, but from villainy daep rooted in the
heart ; for they ftopt not after the firft im- v
pulse of zeal in the new cause had subsided ; t
but continued to wade deeper and deeper in '
human blood and flay one another in a cool 0
and deliberate manner.
Thus, Ikilful in the blacked crimes and f
heated with an insatiable ambition, it is no r
wonder thatiftie is nofcfatiefied with the con- t
queil of near half of Europe, but that the J
fubjeijtioo of America must decorate her
pompous littv j
To obtain,theis dofirable end (he has pur- r
fuetl'llte fsmc method ih this country as in (
every other—(he wanted to subdue ; Che has f
fcnt her etniffhries abroad to bribe those base 1
but influential characters who, discontented *
•with their prefeot lituation and of relllefs f
tempers would facrifice the dearest interests t
of their native country to.their awn ambiti- f
ous views. By her. gold and her infamous d
fuggeflions of future rewards (he has been £
too fuccefjfuL. in sowing diffentions among \
the people, dividing them from; their gov- c
erwneivt, in (hnrvt, in subverting their con. e
ftitutions and fubilituting in the room a a
mean and fervilt dependence on a foreign t
power. This game is now playing here, I 1
and T hlufluto own, with too much (uccefs. 'j
It has even penetiated the walk of your as- y
fembly, where a large junto of servile jac- r
obins furioufty oppose every mcafure of the j
executive, are driving to subvert the consti
tution and destroy the confidence which the ]■
people have reposed in the condituted au- v
thorities. . , . r
This li evident from the whole tenor ot f
their conduct, uniform in thing hof- (
tile to the true and acknowledged mtered of
their country—this is the cause of your dif- r
trafted councils—this is the source from ,
v.'hich ha,s fpritng our present unprepared,
dfcfcncclcfs condition. c
But thanks to Heaven there is a majority f
of enlightened, re«l patriots in congress re
folnte to maintain inviolate our liberty andin-
dependence and who will ri(!c both life and
fortune in the noble cause. _ o
Ob you the people of America.lean, as
,heir prop, their pillar in the hojif of dan- j;
you they look up fpr proieftion— <>
Qh ! guard their rights ! defend'their dig- o
nitvl-lwffle the villainous confp;racies of ;t
your prollitute.d colleagues. _ j
' Tl»e smiles of an approving conscience
Iwill be your revvard —the hearts of a gene
rpus pepp'c w!n evi;r witb g ratitude >
and your names will (land rtcor4ed in the h
;< mials of hiAory " tlw arm defenders of the !
" oeople'* rights." - n
P 6 EUGENICS.
From American Daily Adveatissr..
Meflfrs. Cla vpoole, r
The following very interesting letter from Mr. |
Webster, of New-York, to his friend in
thiscity, is sent 10 you for publication, by ®
cor.ient of the author. It conta. s infor:r 1
tion upon the origin and nattir»t)f cialigua. t
fevers, thai is worthy of the notice of e«ry f
legiflatorand merchant in the tlnited States, j
, • Mr. Webster's discoveries upon this fub
jeftare entitled lothe more refpeel, as they .
are the result of invelligations unfettered by _
previous theories in medicine. —He writes '
as a philosopher, and hisfole objects appear t
to be the health and lives of hi« fellow citi- r
zens, and the prosperity sf his country. ]
Nrw-Tcn-ij March 20, 1798. |
SINCE issuing proposals for publilhing my
Enquiry into the Origin as Epidemic Dif- '
. eases, 1, find many people have the impression :
that this work is t.v'jc a revision and enlarge- s
ment of the Letters which I publilhed Taft ;
: Autumn on the fubjedt of the Yellow Fever. (
It is necelftry to impreffion from .
the public mind. The work proposed is al- '
together new; tho a few of the facts and con- 1
clufions llated in my printed letters will be I
' wrought into the intended volume. 1
The'tpieftion to be decided, is not simply ,
what are the origin and phenomena of the dif- (
• ease which lias alarmed and scourged our cities ; |
but what is the reason why malignant or pesti
lential diseases prevail at fooie times more than
' at others ? If the cause is imported infection, 1
why is infection imported into all ports of ;
■ America in one season, or in one period of
: four or five years, and the* for a long series
. of years, is not imported at *ll ? Are malig
nant epidemics confuted to fMrtfcular" -places
j or countries; or are they pr<- in many '
or mod parts ef th 4 world at the arae time?
" If so, and we find that'they spring up in dif
'■ ferent parts of the world at the fame time,
communication by infection cannot be the
t principal cause, and we must resort to # other
principles.
, I hinted at this circumstance in my printed
letters, but was not then prepared to discuss
' 4he (object. I have however ascertained the
faft, that epidemic diseases usually appear in
many or mod parts of the civilized world at
the fame time, and not only on land, but on
the ocean, and on the opposite fide of the
globe.—lt is equally ascertained, as I- suspec
ted from my own oblervation, that violent
and dellruftive epidemics are aliuerrs preceded
by diseases of a less malignant type, and near
ly in the order in which they have prevailed
in the United' States, viz. Catarrh, anginas,
bilious remittents of encreafed malignity or
• petunial fevers, yellow fever, or plague. This
progress or fotnething similar is obfervjble of
all the great pestilences that have ravaged the
world. The ta£ts to prove this principle in
epidemics, and the order of them, will be so
elearly ascertained, as to render it impossible
not to forefee the approach of a peltilential
period.
From this fail, will be deduced mod fatiS
fa£tory explanations of some points which now
, occalion controversy among medical men. It
is alfodemonftrafed beyond all controversy or
doubt, and I polTefs full evidence of tfre fcrtt,
that when any great pedilence is laying-waste
those countries mod obnoxious to it, as Ca:ro
or Conftantiriople, the mortality is augmented
in all parts of Europe. But this is not all ;
the influence of the pestilential (late of the
armofphere, which,in Grand Cairo, produces
1 plague, produces in America some malignant
1 disease which swells our bill, of mortality.
e Ido not speak of llight plagues which pre
- vail in the Levant cities almoCt yearly, from
• the dperation of powerful /ocalcmiCes ; but of
„ those great and general plagues which in the
I course of every period of twenty or thirty
years, carry oft' thousands in a d(»y. in Cairo
and Conftautinople, and often extend to more
3 healthful citjes. So uniform is this pheno
-0 menon, that give me correct bills of mortaili
. ty for the principal cities in Europe and Ame
e rica, ( and I can tell when a dedruiitive plagua
has ravaged the Levan., without one particle
r of other intelligence of the fact.—The fame
dreadful plague 111 Egypt in,1736, which car
- ried off several thousands in a day ip Grand
n Cairo, was cotemporary with that dedruflive
s fore throat in America, which our old people
e (till men'ion with horror.--The yellow feveV
j ofi74i in Philadelphia, and of 174.3 in New-
York, c'orrefpond in time with another gene
s ral pedilence which ravaged the Levant ci
-5 ties. The fame was the vy\ith the yellow
1- fever of 1761 or 2in Philadelphia, which was
s during the great plague of'which Riiffel I has
n given so particular an accpunt. At the fame
time the bills of mortality in London were
= fwelied tVorti the u(ua ; number of about 20,00*
0 and in 1740, to 30,000. The lad
' .epidemic under which we are yet smarting,
a and which lam afraid is not yet at an end,
n tho evidently lighter than many that have
happened within two centuries, has been felt
' in the Weft-Indies, South America, on the
African coast, and our unhappy countrymen,
who have been.prifoncrs fn/Vlgiers, can wit
" ness forme that its eft'eclshave been fatally ex
f periencedin thut country.
' Why tliefe great andintereding
e have been nearly overlooked and disregarded,
i- while rulers of nations have been busy in com
bating the importation ofpe.dilence in bags of
cotton and old rags, i 3 to me aftoli;{hing.<—
p But it is often.the dediny of man to overlook
r the mod obvious thing.
II » ' "
The .primary causes of general psdiience, it
maybe difficult toafcertain; but I have no
n helitation in faying, that it must be an alter
'> ation in the chemical properties of air. It is
clearly demonstrated bv evidence in my pol
y fellion, that changes of season are not" adequate
.. canfes ; for the worlt plagues-have broken out
in high northern latitudes, in tlie- wdft of
winter.
The season* have material influence on the
general ltate of health ; and local.causes haye
s still nioreinfluenceiner&rarjaptnmxial diseases.
" 13ut it will he made clear that some more pow
erful caule is always combined with these fnb
- ordinate ones, in producing the more general
f and malignant epidemics. What this cause ij
1 will not. undertake to decide. The question
has. hi tho to baffled enquiry; but there are
e hopes that some light will tie thrown on tbi,
" part of the.frbje^.
■ This enquiry is extremely inler.cding to the
c happiness and prosperity cf our country ; and
c j ) 10 p c to find a fubfeription Aaf wi\f indem
nify me for th e labor and expence I must
incur in prosecuting it.
NEW-YORK, March 27. :
The author of the refidenee in France, 1
now publifhiwg by a Mr. Davis, and who is ]
said to be a lady, has a very happy talent at 1
dcfcribing the (cents th«c took plsce in j
France, as well as the characters of the ac- 1
tcrs. The following description of the dif- i
ferent charaitera of th« Fuench and Englii , £
is extremely just and «xa<3. !,(
" The conduct of Fouquier Tinrille,Jiai j t
led m'e to some refleftions on a subject which! 1
I know the French consider as matter of 1
triumph, and as a peculiar advantage their
national character enjoys over the Eugli(h—}
I mean that smoothness of manner, and '
guardednefe of expreflion which they call'
" amiable," and which they have the facul- (
ty of attaining and preserving diftinft from j J
1 a correspondent temper of the mind. It 1 j
accompanies them through the moll irritat-11
ing vicissitudes, and enables them to deceive ! 1
even without deceit, for though this suavity 1
is habitual, of course frequently undefign- ■
ing, the dranger is nevertheless thrown off (
his guard by iti and tempted to place confi- j
dence, or expedl fervicea, which a less con- ;
' ciliating deportment would not have suggest
ed. A Frenchman may be an unkind huf
' band, a severe parent, or an arrogant inaf
, ter, yet never contrast his features or afpi
, rate his voice, and for this reafoh is, in the ;
f national sense, "un homme bien doux."—
i His heart may become corrupt, his priaci
-5 plas immoral, and his temper feroeiotii;
yet he (hall retain his equability «f tone and
, complacent phraseology, and be "un hom
' me bien amiable.
The revolution has tended much to deve
> lope this peculiarity of the French charac
: ter. Fouquier Tinvillc was a man ps gen
r tie exterior. Gouthon, the execrable affoci
-1 ciats of Robefpirre, was mildness itfelf.—
3 Robespierre's harangues are in a stile of
: didinguifhed sensibility, and even Carrier,
1 the destroyer of 30,000 inhabitants of
1 Nantz, is attested by his fellow students, to
J have been of an amiable difyofition. I know
a man of mod insinuating address, who has
t been the means of conducing his own bro-
I ther to the guillotine. The philophic Con
- dorcet pursued his patron, the Due de la
Rochefoucault, with malignancy, and Col
' lot d' Herbois dispatched at one discharge of
s eannon three hundred people together, to
f " spare his sensibility," the ta(k of execu
e tion in detail.
II Without deciding whether the Englilh
3 are more geatle in nature than the French,
'j lam persuaded this douceur of the French is
no proof of the contrary. An Englishman
is seldom out of humor, without proclaim-
ing it to the world ; and the mod forcible
t motives of interest or expediency, cannot
r always pre*iil on hira to assume a more en-
V" g»ginjr cxtcrmd than thee which dclirn-ates
e his feelings. If he has a matter to refufe,
1 he usually begins by fortifying himfelfwith
a little ruggtdnefs of manner, by way of
e prefacing a denial. " The hows and whens
s of life" corrugate his features and difharmo
t nize his periods, " contradi&ion fours and
paflion ruffles him." .
It is this difference of charafter which has
" a prodigious influence ever the political fuc
-1 cess of the two nations. If aA Englishman
y has designs upon you, his manners tell of
o |he plot—and the dratagem carries with it
e its own defeat. If he means to dp you a
- favor he does it with such an ill grace, tfct
- it is a chance you do not thank him for it.
e the fame in his manner, whether to do you
e a favor or to plunder you—the fame civility
of manners, the fame ease of deportment
d and fafciiiating smile, introduce the proposed
e fchejcc ; and even after he is dete&ed jr.
y a villainous trick, you are so pleased with his
. address ; as to almod furgive him."
LONDON, Nov. 20.
~ There is no nation that eqaah the Eritifh
iS for strength of charaiter—no nation so ca
s pable to contend with adversity. The pre
e sumption of France, in imagining that it ri
e vals Rome, is only ta be surpassed by the
* falfehood of the supposition. The Frencl*
possess a degree of enthusiasm, that has a
i' splendid outside, but falls very (hort of that
e equanimity which characterized the Romans:
It The proof of genuine courage, is the for
le titude with which it fudains a reverse of
'» fortune. It is that unlhaken condancy
" which animated that great people, at a time
when Harmbal befieg&l t!leir very gates,
that taught them even in that extremity,
| t to despise the conqueror, and abfointely to
fell the ground oft which he-had encamped
>f his army. Fear was a dranger to their foul*.
- Are the French such a nation ? Let but a
k battle or a dratagem fail, and where is this
Roman resolution? Have tbey not fled like
!t hunted dags, before armies of Germans,
0 inferior, both in numbers and difcipliiie ?
j s Again, the Romans were a magnanimous
. and a generous people. Do the French re
e femble them in this ? On the contrary, are
it jiot all their victories tarnished with wanton
'f and deliberate cruelty. Of this, both the
Rhine and Italy supply abundant examples.
e Victorious only by dint of numbers, they
0 are cruel by inclination. Their piratical de-
predations on the feaa, and the cowardice
. they display in evety engagement, are in
il conteftible proofs' that their pretended valor
is is that of barbarians, who trud in multitudes
n to crush and ovirwhelm difcipliue.
h What the Frenchmen are not, the Bri.
tifh are—a manly, persevering courage, e
e qually undilmaycd by adversity, and nnin
d toxicated by success, is their condant dif
_ position. It is this temper of pur idanden
(t that makes us so terrible to our Gallican
neighbors, who, vast as their territory is,
and numberless as their armies appear to be,
, are yet incapable of approaching onr coast.
i Nor will they dare to anncry ns, though au
: hundred diredtors inltead of five (hould
prompt them to the enterprize. While the
■ lioa lives, though wpunded, and a prisoner
in his deo, he is ilill the lord of the son ft ;
, i and though the wolves may howl rouut' his
l.cave, the sturdy beatt still lfr«ps then at t
1 ; bay by his well known reputation : a eou-' ,
. rage uufobdued by accidcntj and expiring t
~ only with life.
.PICTURE 'OF PARIS
} (FROM 4 FRVNCH JOURNAL.)
[ ' If you are fond as dancing, you, may l ave a-
hundance of it. In every quarter ynu will find •
j a plate, where y«u may enjoy this aClive amtjfe
' i mcnt. Are vnu so admirer of plays ? Paris of- j
; | tcrs you at ksit thirty Theatres. 'I hey ait no
- j longer, it is true the fine pieces of Racine or
: Voltaiie ; but yftu may fee plenty of new
r pieces, which are lorgpttfn th;* next* day. Are
you given to play ? You will SnJ in Paris abun
r dance of tables, and wh" \vil!
cheat you them. Ar.- yoit tempted to the en
joyment of the fox Paris with fair
- frail-onei; there sre at ieaft tACi.ty for ona
- ' when CHajjmittk profetihe<l at once theholy
' and the profane, an l attacked at the fame tim
the Saints of the-Chtirch, and the Venufcs of
the püblic places
gious folemnities,*you will Gnd fume of all
e -—Catholics who offer up the ; r prayers tathe
~ Deity with the founri t,f niulirai inftruluents;
- Lutherans who calmly listen.to the IcjSsi '<* from
j the iJiWie and the Goipel ; the Phi!a< , tJfeopift'i,
wh« flourifh'in la#g«>ge, and finp as if were
at the-Opera. —If you like to frequent reading
rooms a»d acadebiies, Paris has more than for
m#*ly ft mrifhed in At hem —Are vojr fond of
readi»g? We no ld;iger, indeed, fia! « hook:,bur
we translate ahundal't'y. Scarecty il» r. » dark,
- gloomy, horrible romance iflu: from th« Preis
[. in Loadon, before twenty drudges set to v. ork
_ toclothit in a forryFrenchdref<Areyou fond |
j of music? There is the harmonic Circle audi
don't know how many concerts every week. —
' D« y»'i refpeil good sense, wit, and underdan
'* ding ? You will find them with diffisuky; but if
o you search diligently, you may find them. —Do
N you cheri(h virtue, candeur, franknefs? Where
is you will discover these, I know not.
BOSTON, March 23.
a COMMUNICATION.
|_ According to Roxbury logic, while there
,f is the peffibility of tne person's abusing the
0 means of protedtion if put into his hands
for his security on the high way or seas, ev
ery one (hould be exposed t» robbery, irfult
and perhaps murder. W? have never def
, poiled the aommerce of France, and yet we
I, find her equipping and arming vessels for
n offenfine operations against our trade and our
rights., She is not afraid of incurring hof
|e tilities with us, but as a magnanimous great
)t Republic, (he (hould behave jujl from prin
ciple not from fear. —Wtll then, perhaps
ja they do not think their conduft vnjujl—if
e not—our arming on the defenfive to protect
j, onr property, would not only be jtiftifiable
,f but commendable. It is our right apd du
-13 ty. Then let it be done ; and let us trud
j. tp the Omniscient Being who knpws our
j motives, to protest us in any poflible cenfe
quences. If excesses are committed, the J
ls government not authorizing such, can fay., ;
asthe friends of the Freoch said by them, i
n as lung as there remained a chance of their j
being believ-d, that the government knew ,
[ t nothing of the atrotities committed by wic- j
a ked and intemperate individuals. This was 1
, t thought a fine extenuating argument. If
t nece(ft,ry it may be repeated for our go'vern
jj ment, and those who have long used it,
n ought to be the firll to accredit it, efpeci
y ally, as it would be unequivocally true.
it ■' ' ' •' ' " ■
d On I'uefday, the 10th day of
ti April nMct, at 7 o'clock in the evening, aj
Is the City Tavern, Second Street, in the City
of Phi!a ,'e!phia,
WILL he exposed to puhlic sale, fevenfesn
tracts or parcels ofl.ind situated m Point
tow nfhip in the county of Northumberland, arid '
containing in the whole fix thoufapd seven hun
dred and-fixty-four acres and three quarters,
with the wfuat allowance for roads.
Terms of (ale, i-j ofthr purchase msney on
i® the execution of the deed, i-,i in three months,
k and i-j in fix months, in good notes or other
a appr«ve*l feearity.
it CONNELLY £«f Co. A*a.
s ; March 9. iaw< ta thi a
r- Valuable Stands for Business.
>f
y FOR SJLE—by the Subscriber j
ie Two Lots of Ground,
s > Situate on the fauth fide of Chefnut-flreet, be-
T, tween Second and ~\ hird flretfts :—one containing
o eighteen seer. and the 6ther fevtnte 11 feet, more or
d lefs,'on tlw said street, and both extending, thej
fame one hundred and forty-eight, more'
or Jess, to Carter's alley.
a There are, on Chefnut-ftreet, two two-story
is BRICK HOUSES
e (Numbers 8p and'Bs)
!, Which may readily be made feto one ; and, or,
Carter's alley, there is a convenient, well built
ls three-story
.. Brick House and Kitchen,
Almost new, which has two rooms on a floor
n arrtJ , a . frpnt of eighteen feet on said alley.
J prorerty is clear of ground-r«nt, and an;
ie inaifputah'e title will be given to the pyrchafer.
3. The-three Houfcs will fepk'fately or toffC
y t|jcr.
parficuiJirs may hx kftbwn ort apjjtict
tion to
•' ZACHARIAH POULSOJt, jbh.
No. 20, Chtcfuui-fireet, or at the Library.
>r match **> frffgw
A Negro Boy for iale.
f-T' 9 ahout i 5 VMri old, und ha* about 15
, year'; to hivif j i":.n bonsd until he
-- 11 28 year# old, uij»rv(foei» of ih 4 - vlayor of this
l- City and Mr. f homas Harrifon. He is botii ac
-- r *ve anj^mif.hitvous, but incapable of becoming
r j a very u,t !ul boy with a "nailer that v.-otif.' injmc
aiately fopori«tert(! hi-, t ~ For further par
tiruiars avfif ta the I'ciu: £ her.-ai.
» ai.trci ii. ,
CONGRESS.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
CALL UPON THE PRESIDENT. t)
„ ~ JcO
Friday, March 30.
( GwclwlcJ fr«m ycjlcrdjy s Gazette. J
Mr. Li vinC stow said, . there appeared to
be two objections to going into a cottwsHttta
of the whole on the state of the union ; feme
thirllfcrthepropofition before it i&of too 1 rifling
a nature to con/lime time ; others, that it i»
of {0 great magnitude, that they wj/h to gain
farther information, and to ha"ve time to con
sider it.' Tbe firft class of gentlemen, he
thought, treated a fubjetl, confefiTedly of
«reat iiuportarce, with too much levity—■'
Gentlemen fay yoti do us wrong, when you
place the question before the committee in the
light of a Peace or War question; we have no
idea of going to war. This was the language
of the'gentleman from New-Humpfliire (Mr.
Gordon) particularly. . Had that gentle
man forgotten what had been said by his elo
quent friend from Malfachufetts (Mr. Sew
all) who fits belide him ? That gentleman
had declared, not that war might be expect
ed, but that ?w'ar exists ! Was it unreafona
bVe, after fuel)'a declaration, to come to a re
folutioo which fays that it is not'fcxpedienf *
to resort to war at this time ? He thought the
welfare of the country required it. But th 4
gentleman from Massachusetts did not (lop
here. Though, he said, a defepfive war was
all ne vvifhed for, under our present circum
ftanoes, yet he invoked the Supreme Being,
and wiflied we were in a situation to carry on
an otfenfivt war. Yes, exclaimed Mr. L.
the God of Peace Aas iuvokci in favotifr Of
War; the God of Mercy was called uptyi
to favour a war ofvengeance ! And yet gen
tlemen iVifhto throw an odium upoothofewho
cOme forward with a prupofition for pe,>ce.
Mr. L. said, he wiflied as much as any
member for further information before the
house proceeded in active measures ; but lie
was far from being certain that complete in
formation could be obtained ; he believed
great oppofhioh Would be made to the call ;
in the next place, if called for, he believed the
information would not be lent, he supposed
this from a former refufal madeoll the ground
of Executive authority. He deprecated the
decision ; but he believed, as precedent would
authorize it, it would be made.
Mr. Rutledge thought gentlemen went
much too far on this occasion, in anticipat
ing, notfonly what would be the proceedings
of this house, but also of the President. He
rose immediately after the gentleman from
Georgia (Mr. Baldwin). That gentleman'#
arguments went against a postponement gene
rally, but not against a postponement till Mon
day. That gentleman was furpriled that gen
tlemen Ihould wish for a postponement ; he
, was one of those who excited his surprise. He
was in favour of the postponement of this
question, because the last had been postponed.
He thought the motion for a call of papers
ought to have been pafled ; but not having
. palled, ha wished it to pass before the house
, went into committee on the proposition which
: had undergone some difcuflion, especially as he
did not believe the delay would postpone the
final decision upon it. 'if gentlemen would
agree to pal's over the firft proposition, and gu
011 to the next, which relates to measures for
the defence of the country, he fliould be as
. ready as tliem to go into a committee of. the
whole on the state of the Union. He doubted
not the gentleman from Virginia was anxious
to deliver the speech which he had promised
1 to the committee [Mr. Nicholas informed the
gentleman he would hear 110 speech from him
to-day].- Mr. R. hoped, then, he would not
~ object to the postponement. The gentleman
from Pennsylvania, said he wanted noMufor
j mation. Nor did he himfelfwant it. He h ; id
received a letter from France, which convin
ced him of the perilous situation in which we
flood with that country ; he had fee 11 the
h rench decree ; and he had seen a gazette
which had informed him that the mefTa-e of
the Directory was paired unanimoufiy by the
Council of Five Hundred; but he supposed
, some other gentlemen had not fufficient in
formation, orelfe it would not have been caill
ed for ; and surely gentlemen would not call
fucli to vote upon what they deemed to be a "*
question of war or peace, without it.
Gentlemen had (aid, that the message of the
President had produced a belief that we (hall
be involved in war, and that produce had fa I
len accordingly. He did not believe the fall
was owing to the message, but that it was
the effeCt of the decree ; and asked whether
the President Would not have been criminal if
he had fuffered the drfpatches to have (lent 1
; night upon his table ? He certainly would'
the communication was indispensable '
Mr. Sew at l was sorry to differ in opinion
from his friend front S. Carolina. He was
himfelf against the postponement. This dif
ference, he supposed, arose from that
iran's yielding to the assertion of gemlemen
that the question before the committee of the
queftion of war or peace, which he
himfe.f did not. He neter confide red th«
•qneftion in that light. It comes in as a bar to
any measures being taken for the defence of
■our country, or from getting into business,
; j which really concerns the state of the union •
what were the motives of gentlemen for
'bringing it thus in, he could not tell The
readiness of gentlemen to come to a decision
upon the question without farther information
proves that they do not consider it as a quef'
tion of war or peace. 11 cannot be doubted"
that it the was called upon tode"
clare war against any nation, they would Inve
aright to expeft that every fact relative to
that nation should be laid before them.
The gentleman from New Yoric, Mr. S
said, had thought fit to (ritude to hint as an'
pealing to the God of Mercy to support us in
a vindictive war. Pwn'.llwnent, Mr. S. f ; ,; c |
was sometimes the triteft mercy ; and if the
■United States could inflict pimifhment on
'France, it might be mercv to that country
And cou\4 any American citizen consider the
fufforings which the French Republic had
•brought upon our merchants, our Teamen and
upon our country generally, without ca'llmlr
•upon the God of Mercy to enable us to in
flict punilhmen? upon that country ? When
gentlemen fay (ann none (eenitodeny it)that
l'Vancc has given this country ju/t caule ot
war, will they not f.iv France has g lV en us
jn(t catife of v-ngeance ' And is there, said
he a patriot in this House,[who acknowledges
France hus given us jult cause of war, and
who does not wish to infliCt that war ur o i
that country m trhe Jeverefi and fuliea man-