Thi 11IGHT CONSTITUTION of a COMMON WEALTH EXAMINED, (in continuation.) FLORENCE too, and Cofinus, are quoted, and the alternatives of" treachery, revenge, and cruelty ; all arising, as they did in Greece, from the want of a proper division of authority and an equal balance. Let any one read the liiltory of the lirft Colinio, his wisdom, virtues, and un bounded «opularity, and then conlider what would have been the consequence if Florence, at that period, had been governed by our author's plan of successive single aflemblies, chosen by the people annually. It is plain that the people would have chosen such, and such only, for re presentatives as Cofimo and his friends would have recommended : at lealt a vast majority of them would have been his followers, and he would have been absolute. It was the aristocra cy and forms of the old constitution that alone served as a check upon him. The speech of Uz zano must convince you, that the people were more ready to make him absolute than ever the Romans were to make Casfar a perpetual dicta tor. He confefles that Cofimo was followed by the whole body of the plebeians, and by one half the nobles: Thar if Cofimo was not made malter of the Commonwealth, Rinaldo would be, whom he dreaded much more. In truth, the govern mental this time was in reality become monarch ical, and that ill-digested aristocracy, which they called a popular State, exiftedonly in form ; and the persecution of Cofimo only served to ex plain the secret. Will it be denied that a na tion has a right to choose a government for them selves ? The question really was no more than this, whether Rinaldo or Cofimo ihould be mas ter. The nation declared for Cofimo, reversed that banishment into which he had been very un juftiyfent by Rinaldo, demanded his return, and voted him the father of his country. This alone is full proof, that if the people had been the keepers of their own liberties, in their fuceel five aflemblies, they would have given them all to Cofimo ; whereas, had there been an equal mixture of monarchy, aristocracy, and democra cy, in that constitution, the nobles and commons would have united against Cofimo the moment he attempted to overleap the boundaries of his legal authority. Uzzano confeffes, that unless charity, liberality and beneficence, were crimes, Cofimo was guilty of no offence, and that there was as much to apprehend from his own party as from the other, in the point of liberty. All the sub sequent attempts of Rinaldo to put Cofimo to death and to banifli him were unqualified tyran ny. He saved hislife, itistrue, by a bribe, but what kind of patrons of liberty were those who would betray it for a bribe ? His recall and re turn from banifliment feerns to have been the ge neral voice of the nation, exprcfled, according to the forms and spirit oftheprefent without any appearance of such treachery as our author suggests. Whether Nedham knew the real history of Florence is very problematical; all his examples from it are so unfortunate as to be conclulive against his proje<ftof a government. The real eflence of the government in Florence had been, for the greatest part of fifty years, a monarchy, in the hands of Uzzinoand Nafo, ac cording to Machiavel's own account; its form an aristocracy, and its name a popular state : No thing of the eflence was changed by the reftora tionof Cofiino ; the form and name only under went an alteration.—Holftein too is introduced, merely to make a story for the amusement of a drunken mob. " Here is a health to the re " membranceof our liberty." faidthe " boorish, " poor, filly generation," seventy years after they were made a duchy. Many hoglheads of ale and porter, I doubt not, were drank in En gland in consequence of this Holftein story; and that was all the effect it had it could have towards supporting our authpr's argument. '' How deep soever the imprellion may be, that " is made by the love of liberty upon the minds " of the people, it will not follow that they alone " are the belt keepers of their own liberties, be " ingmore tender and more concerned in their " security that any powerful pretenders whatfo " ever." Are not the lenafors, whether they be hereditary or elective, under the influence of powerful motives to be tender and concerned for the security of liberty ? Every senator, who con fultsliis reason, knows that his own liberty, and that of his posterity, must depend Upon the con stitution which preserves it to others. What greater refuge can a nation have, than in a coun cil, in which the national maxims, and the spirit and genius of the state, are preferred by a living tradition?' What stronger motive to virtue, and to the preservation of liberty, can the human mind perceive, next to those of rewards and punifli ments in a future life, thnn the recollection of a long line of ancestors who have fat within the walls of the senate, and guided the councils, led the armies, commanded the fleers, and fought the battles of the people, by which the nation has been sustained in its infant years, defended from dangers, and carried through calamities, to ■wealth,grandeur, prosperity, and glory? Whp; institution more ufeful can possibly exist, than a living repertory of all the history, know ledge, interests, «nd wisdom of the common wealth, and a living leprefentative of all the great characters whose prudence, wisdom, and valour, are registered 111 the history and record ed in the archives of the country ? If the peo ple have the periodical choice of these, we may hope they will select those, among the moll con spicuous for fortune, family and wealth, who are most signalized for virtue and wisdom, which is more advantageous than to be confined to the ekleft son, however defective, to the exclusion of younger sons, however excellent, and to one family, though decayed and depraved, to ano ther more deserving as in hereditary senates ; But thatafenate, guarded from ambition, (hould be objected to, by a friend of liberty and repub lican government, is very extraordinary. Let the people have a full lhare, and a decisive nega tive ; and, with this impregnable barrier againlt the ambition of the senate on one fide, and the executive power with an equal negative 011 the other, such a council will be found the patron and guardian of liberty 011 many occasions, when the giddy thoughtless multitude, and even their representatives, would negledt, forget, or even despise and insult it; inflances of all which are not difficult to find. CONGRESS or the UNITED STATES. Begun and held at the City of New-York, on Wrdnefday the Fourth of March, One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty-Nine. RESOLVED, That the survey directed by Congress in their aift of June the fixtli, one thou sand seven hundred and eighty-eight, be made and returned to the Secretary of the Trea lury without delay; and that the President of the United States be requested to appoint a fit person to complete the fame, who shall be allowed five dollars per day whilst atfiually employed in the said service, with the expences lieceflarily at tending the execution thereof. FREDERICK AUGUSTUS MUHLENBERG, Speaker of the House of Representatives. JOHN ADAMS, Vue-Prefident of the United States, and President of the Senate. APTROVID, AUCUST the 26th, 1789. GEORGE WASHINGTON, Prefdent of the United States. An ACT to provide for the fafe-keeping of the ACT. S, RECORDS, and SEAL of the United States and for other purposes. BE it etiaftedby the Senate and House of Represen tatives of the United States of America in Congress ajfe?/ibled, That the executive department, deno minated the Department of Foreign Affairs, shall hereafter be denominated the department of State, and the principal officer therein shall here after be called the Secretary of State. And be it further tnatted, That whenever a bill, order, resolution, or vote of the Senate and House of Representatives, having been approved and signed by the President of the United States, or not having been returned by him with hisobjec tions, fliall become a law, or take effecft, it shall forthwith thereafter be received by the said Se cretary from the President: And whenever a bill, order, resolution, or vote, shall be return ed by the President with his obje&ions, and fliall 011 being reconsidered, be agreed to be pafl'ed, and be approved by two thirds of both Houses of Congress, and thereby become a law or take ef fetft, it fliall, infuch cafe, be received by the said Secretary from the President of the Senate, or the Speaker of the House of Representatives, in whichsoever House it shall lafl have been so ap proved ; and the said Secretary shall, as soon as_ conveniently may be, after he shall re ceive the fame, cause every fucli law, order, re solution, and vote, to be published in at least three of the public newspapers printed within the United States, and fliall also cause one printed copy to be delivered to each Senator and Repre prefentative of the United States, and two print ed copies duly authenticated to be sent to the ex ecutive authority of each State ; and he fliall care fully preserve the originals, and fliall cause the fame to be recorded in books to be provided for that purpose. And be it further etiaHed, That the seal hereto fore used by the United States in Congress aflem bled, fliall be,_ and hereby is declared to be the seal of the United States. And be it-further er.atled, That the said Secre tary shall keep the said seal, and shall make out and record, and shall affix the said seal to all civil commissions, to officers of the United States, to be appointed by the President by and with the advice andconfent of the Senate,or by the President alone. / ; ovidedy That the said seal jJiall not be affixed to any commifuon, before the fame shall have been signed by the President of the United States, nor to any other inftruinent or acft, without the spe cial warrant of the President therefor. And be it further catted, That the said Secreta ry (hall caule a Seal of office to be made for- the said department of such device as the President of the United States fliall approve, and all copies of recoros and papers in the said office, autl'cn ticated under the said seal, lhall be evidence e qually as the original record or paper. And be it further enaded, Tliat there lhall 1 paid to the Secretary, for the life of the Unit, I States, the following fees of office, by the Jr lons requiring the services to be performed ,v" cept when they are performed for any officer of the United States, in a matter relating to the du ties of his office, to wit: For making out and authenticating copies of records, ten cents'for each ffieet, containing one hundred words for authenticating a copy of a record or under the seal of office, twenty-five cents. And be it further etiaCled, That the said Secre tary lhall forthwith after his appointment entitled to have the custody and charge of the said seal of the United States, and alio of all books, records, and papers, remaining in the offiee of the late Secretary of the United States in Congress ailembled ; and such of the said books records, and papers, as may appertain to the Treasury department, or War department, (hall be delivered over to the principal officers in the said departments respectively, as the President of the United States lhall diredt. FREDERICK AUGUSTUS MUHLENBERG Speaker of the House of Rep, efentatiw.' JOHN ADAMS, Vict-Prijidcnt of the United Statu, and President of the Senate. AOPROV ED, SEPTEMBER the 15th, 1789. GEORGE WASHINGTON, Prefdcnt of the United State,. NEW-JERSEY PAPER MONEY. NUMBER I. To the CITIZENS of the State of NEW-JERSEY. THE tender on the continental currencyaud on the State money of the ninth of June, 1780 was very injurious to the citizens ofNew- jersey! The injustice ofimpofing a tender or a depreciat ing paper was very apparent from .We two in. fiances. Yet the State of New-Jersey, after dear bought experience, and in time of peace, in 1786 emitted a paper-money, commonly called Loan- Office-Money, to circulate for the term oftwelve years, and armed it with a tender. The State in 1786, impoled a tender also on another species of their paper money, commonly called Revenue- Money, which then had twenty-two years to run. The paper money of this State, has, from the year 1786 to theprefent day,depreciated nearly, if not fully, one-third in its nominal value; and the depreciation of it, has in many cases 011 com pulsory payments, occasioned to the creditor the loss of one-third of his debt. A Paper daily depre ciating, wearing a tender, injuring at almost every rtepinits progress, and likely fotoconti-, nue in one part, until the year 1 798, and in ano ther part until the year 1808, was a mifchief fe jious in its nature and fraught with many preju dicial consequences too obvious to need an enu meration. This was an enormous evil, which called loudly for redress. To remedy this and other evils, was framed the Constitution of the United States of America, which the State of New-Jersey unanimously ratified. This Consti tution on the fourth of March, 1789, on which day it began to proceed and to diffufe extensively its beneficial effects, did, by the tenth fedion of the firft article, and by the second clause of the sixth article, fupercede and do away between ci tizen and citizen in the payment of debts, the tender on the loan-officemoney and revenue mo ney of New-Jersey. This is aiiiong many others, one great benefit, which this State has already derived from the new Constitution. Happy /Era, when was baniihed fronuhe Union, the folly and iniquity of a tender on worthless Paper ! The only money, which since the fourth of March last, lias carried in New-Jersey a legal tender in the payment of debts between citizen and citizen, is' Spanifii milled silver dollars and Portugaljohan nefes, which were legitimated by ast ofthe legilla ture of that State on the eleventh of February, 1777- The loan-office money and revenue mo ney, are lawfully receivable in the payment of taxes to the State, in the fame manner they were before the fourth of last March. Theloan office money is,and by law ought to be receivable by the State until the expiration of its term, in fatisfadlion and discharge of the mortgages, on which the bills were loaned, in the fame manner it was before the fourth of last March. The New-Jersey paper money has not had, since the fourth of March last, any legal tender on it be tween citizen and citizen in compulsory payment# of debts. The citizens of New-Jersey are well entitled to avail themselves in their contracts and other money matters of the benefit of the new Constitution, the fupremelaw of the State. Silver Money, A Citizen of Nevi-Jn'fi)' Dated the 25th of September, 1789. ANECDOTE. IT is remarkable that Hugh Aubriot, an tive of Dijon, and Prevot des Marchands of 3 ' lis, who placed the firft stone of the Baftilf j ' like the inventor of Phadaris' Bull, the nrl « tim of his own work, being confined there un pretence of heresy. ■published by JOHN FENNO, No. 9, Lane, near the Ofwego-Markct) New-York. [3 ''
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers