f /?2X(mub [No. CII.J the tablet No. CII. « The man who grows lets by elevation is like a little Statue, placed on a mighty Pedestal." PROMOTION brings the talents and integ rity of a man to a"test. It tries them by a standard that cannot long deceive. The reputa tion of a person, before and after an appointment to office, may be very different. In the tranquil scenes of private life, where good breeding is deemed equivalent to good fenl'e ; where ufetul virtues often aflume the name of great talents ; and where art and cunning are not severely fcru tir.ized, how can it be known who poflelfes the fir'melt probity, or the moil; extensive abilities ? Causes merely accidental may draw people into public view, in the fir£t instance, but the leal cha racter can only be determined by an experiment. It is therefore not surprising that some menfhould fink and others rife, in influence, by being raised to a conlpicuoua station. A man of a narrow capacity may perform duties to a certain extent, with as much propriety as he could, were his mind more comprehensive. In attendingtoobjeds evidently within his reach, he does not seem to be inferior, in that refpetft, to a person of an elevated genius. The reason is,, that the employment itfelf does not give lcope for stronger faculties than he isknown topofiefs. Hence it is readily presumed that he is qualified for more arduous undertakings. Many circum- Itances may confpirc to promote him to some im portant office which is beyond the sphere of his capacity. It could not be ascertained, without a trial, whether he deserved fucha promotion. The abilities of men are not often co-extensive with their ambition. Keen palfions do not disdain sometimes toaflociate witha weak underltanding. When this is the, cafe, men are tempted to wan der from their limits ; they make themselves little by striving to be great ; and become contempti ble in proportion as they aspire after refpeift.— Every person who a<fts well the part alfigned him may gain some degree of reputation, but the mofl eminent part illy atTted, can confer no honor on the performer. The fame observations will hold good when applied to the reftitudeof men. There is a cer tain degree of llrengtli in the probity of every in dividual. While a man is moving in the ordi- _ Tiary course of life, exp®fed to no uncommon temptations, his integrity may perhaps never be Shaken. But place him in a situation new and difficult, where he is prefled by alluring motives, to depart from his duty, and it is incredible how soon he can shake ofF his former restraints. A person of slender abilities may not be able to com prehend the difliinflion of right, and wrong, in the intricate circumstances of public life. He can have no definite ideas of virtue and vice relative to fubjeifts which he does not understand. By this means, a weak man whose intentions are origi nally honest, may fall into habits repugnant to moral re<siitude, merely becatife he does not know what morality has to do with the occasion. It is hazardous in every point of view, for a person to take a (land more elevated than he deserves. The .public eye will feareli out his deserts, and the public contempt consign his characfter to the ihades. FROM THE DAILY ADVERTISER, THE great and important obje&of railing a revenue cngrofTcd much of the Mien Lion of Congress in their last feflion • in the •present they we engaged in cftablilhing public crrdit by funding the Actional debt, foreign and domcftic, and devising ways and xneatttto pay fche itotereft on both :—thefe arc undoubtedly objects .of the created national importance, and every person who can fur jiifli-ufeful hints ought tt> do it. It is evident that a principsil re liance mnft be had upon commerce ; it is equally so that comrncrce OHghttherefor lobe encouraged ; and in my opinion* theprcfent leflion ought not to be fuffercd to pass without very particular attention to it. In their innumerable fine harbours, the amazing inland navigation which their rxtertfive rivers afford the exports, 'Which encreafe with aftonifliing rapidity—the enterprise of their commercial men—-the plenty of materials for (hip-building, and the (kill of their workmen in that branch—the present number of iheir featfien, and the cafe with which it may be encre-ifed ann in their relative Situation with refpeft to other powers, the United .-States poflefs vervfuperior advantages, which ought immediately to be improwd for the public benefit. That it would be ufeful cannot be denied, and it is evidently good policy, by g'.ving suit able encouragement to commerce, to enable our merchants to pav thole large-firms of monev which government is under the ne ceflitv o! calling on the*i for in the firft instance, a*id even larger, frould they be hereafter wanted. A well regulated commercial fvftem ftiould be forced and supported, 2nd, in this, very part!- cu'ar attention flvniM be paid to our (hipping. Whether we con sider the number of men employed about one veflel, from the cut -tingdown the timber for her, in the fore ft, to her departure from port—the farmer? emoloved in raising provisions for all these, and flax and hemp to m ike the fails and rigging—-or the number ol mcchanicai arts dependent on* and promoted by fhip-bu;lding,i PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS BY JOHN FENNO, No. 9, MAIDEN-LANE, NEW-YORK SATURDAY, April 1790, this branch of business will appear worthy of the warmest sup port : in addition to the other advantages to be derived from it, will be the very importaut one of being our own carriers, which will enable us to transport the produtts of our country, on the bell terms, to the highed markets, lurnifti us with an opportunity of procuring the conveniences of life from other nations at the fiift cost, and keep all the money paid for the large freights out and home among ourselves, instead of its being paid to foreigners who now reap moll of the advantages of our trade. The conduCt of Great-Britain may furnifhus with a very uleful hint, and we (hall be unwise indeed if we do not profit by her experience. Her a£ts of trade and navigation lhew clearly her attention to her own (hip ping, and the reluctance (he has always discovered to any relax ation of their rigor proves that lhe is fully sensible of the advan tages gained by them. Let us attend a little to her conduCt. Her (hip., mull be Britipi-built, and the master and three-fourths of the hands mud be Britilh fubjeCl?. Her own territories .do not fur nifh her with the materials necessary for fhip-builttirig, in fuf ficient quantities, and (he mull have recourse to foreigners to pro cure them. Large quantities of our tirabci, plank, maftSJ'fllSE. are annually carried off in Britilh ships sent hither for the puV'pofe: thus her seamen are employed, and a freight is made. The raw materials carried from us are manufactured in Great-Britain, and her (hip-carpenters and their attendants, blacksmiths, (hip jo;n ers, caulkers, block-makers, mall-makers, rope-makers, riggers, fail-mak.ers, boat-builders, and a great number of others arelur nifhed with employment, and support. The (hips, thus built, furnifh a nursery for seamen ; become the carriers of Britilh ma nufactures to us ; and of our products at home, as remittances for those manufactures ; for all which we must pay : and they are at this time profitably employed in carrying the produce of the U nited States to France, where they obtain a bounty on it. Due at tention to the encouragement of Ihip-building, and the proper re gulation of commerce would throw all these advantages into our hands, and prevent our commercial and feafaring nfen the morti fication of feeing foreigners engrofling our trade and growing rich by it, while they themselves arc and unemployed ; it would fill our harbors with vessels manufactured at home, and with hardy seamen born among ourselves, who would haveftrong er attachments to the country than the mercenaries who come here merely for the fake of gam; and on wfrofe afliflance wc could re ly in cafe of neccflity. It may be enquired whether we could build a fufficient num ber of velTels to answer the purposes of our commerce : of this there can be no doubt in the mind of any person who will recol lect what was done in this way before, and even during the war. In the year 1774 the small (late of New-Hamplhire built and sent to sea, forty-two (hips from two to three hundred and fifty tons each, (which were all manned from the finale port of Portsmouth i besides small trading and fifhmg vessels : if so small a (late could furnifh such a proportion, what would not the exertions of all the dates be equal to ? Even under the depreilions of the war, our own yards turnifhed merchant vessels and privateers with an ex pedition that was furpnfing ; and can our abilities now be doubted when weare under cvsry advantage torcultivatingtheartsot peace ? Why then should we longer luffer foreigners to enricli theinfelves 1 with the spoils of our commerce ? Why Ihouln we fuffcr our national dignity to be insulted by a people who will not deal with us on terms of reciprocal advantage The trade of Great-Britain to America is one of the mod lucrative branches of her cpmmerce ; 1 (lie trades with the United States on equal terms with the mod fa vored nation, aud every ot our ports is open to her (hips. What return docs (he make ? Sfie admits us, it is true, to her European ports, but arc not all the others shut againd us ? Are our mips permitted to trade with her Wed-India illands, and other territo ries in America ? They are not: why then should we treat her with greater generosity £ Why (hould wc abuse ourselves, and do injudice to our allies, by Submitting to the insolence of an haughty nation, with whom we have no commercial treaty ? A decidcd preference in every point of view ought tobe given to our own (hipping; an higher tohtiage on foreigners in general will have a great edeCt ; and foreign ships (hould be absolutely pro hibited from carrying the produce of these dates to any port or place, to which American vessels are not admitted. It is rather an unfortunate circumtlance that there are so few mercantile characters in Congress ; as for want of fufficient com mercial information, the intereds of the Union in this importaut point cannot be so well promoted as they otherwise might: the defeCt would be in fomemeafuiefupplied, if our m rchants would, from time to time, fugged such alterations in, and improvements upon the commercial fyilcm of the Union, as would tend to pub lic benefit; these will, undoubtedly, be properly attended to by our national government, and such arrangements will be made as would promote oiir manufactures, extend our commerce, and I affid our revenue. A. B. March 31 CONGRESS. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. THURSDAY, MARCH n. IN Committee of the whole on the report of the Secretary of the Treasury, for making provi sion for the support of the public credit—the fol lowing proposition was read, viz. " To have sixty-six dollars and two thirds of a dollar funded immediately, at an annuity, or yearly interest of fix per cent, irredeemable by any payment exceeding four dollars and two thirds of a dollar per annum, on account both of principal and interest ; and to have, at the end often years, twenty-fix dollars and eighty-eight cents funded at the like interest and rate of re demption." Mr. Jackson observed, that hefhould not tol low the gentleman, (Mr. Ames) through the long tract of history which he had entered into ; al tho he wotfld hint to the gentleman, that the his tory of Great Britain, which had been so much ob jected to on former occasions, feeiiied, as it suited the gentleman'spurpofes, tobethebeft authority now? But he rose to answer some of the argu ments he had adduced. The gentleman had quoted the situation ot Great Britain in the year \n<), and had shewn that flie had cleared oIF full one half of hei na tional debt, and could have cleared the other al PRICK THREE DOLLARS PR. ANN so, if ihehad nor been prevented by an irredeem able quality. I will appeal to the gentleman, himfelf, if this is not the strongest reason for striking out the words, and if his argument (aS he could wifti it) is not totally inadnnffible; He has likewile pointed out to us the flattering profpefts and flourifliing situation of the country, such indeed as no other nation ever poflefied ; and has produced the amazing increase of refourcei America haS derived from the year 1756 to the prelent time. Sir, this argument is tlje strongest: evidence for the motion, I have the honor to make you, and is the most forcible reason why we fliould not tie our hands up from redeeming our debt. From the gentleman's description, we may bri able to get rid of it in a very few years ; and lhall we prevent our having the power ! He trusted not. The irredeemable quality > he foiltid from the gentleman was to prevent the public from paying off the principal, if the rate of interest (hould (o fall as to make the capital of greater value : As forinftance, if the national rate fell to 3 per cent that the public should pay the advance, -whicli would be 2 J per cent, and of course that sum was to be paid for every one hundred pounds princi pal. This was what he could not consent to. Ihe public had contrail ed a debt; Hewifhed then 110- neftly and fairly to pay the amount of it. He was not for depreciating that debt; but at the fame time hewaS not for appreciating it beyond its real value. He wished that the honoi' of the nation might be preserved—that every Ihilling, plight be provided for ; but not a shilling more. It had been advanced, that, by this quality, a part of the principal would be funk, and that if the motion took place this would not be the cafe. Mr. Jackson here observed, that the country would not be injured by the motion he had made, nor by the raiftng theintereft to fix percent. He wilhed it done forthe honor and faith of the na tion—it was agreeable to the original contract.— He had before (hewn that, as the resolution was now worded, it was altogether for the benefit of the foreign creditor, and that it \vould prove a perni.ious drain to our specie ; that the lower ing the interest would add to that drain, and that therefore it was a disadvantage. The common rate of interest, in the Southern States, was 8 per cent, if the interest of the debt was reduced to four, would any man in thole States hold stock at that rate ? Would they not altogether fell out, even at a loss, and loan their monies to individuals at 8 per cent, and regain their capital ? It would be a natural consequence; and there would be no holder of stock in those parts. The securities would either go into the hands of foreigners, or be purchased up in the Ndftliern States. It was therefore clearly the interest of America, to raise the principal and interest agreeable to the con tract, to keep as much within the States as possi ble, and, to make the burthen agreeable, to have it divided and dispersed generally among our own citizens. The gentlemanliad said, that foreigners would follow their property into this country : This he could Hot agree to. The characters whicli would purchase were generally the brokers he had alluded to, who lived on their interest with out regarding posterity ; they were chiefly su perannuated, and well feitled, and of course would not be for a change of situation ; but if they did, the evil would still remain, and the se curities would soon find their way to foreign coun tries again. The settlers, here, would experience it to be their interest to place their monies in a more active capacity, and the fame rate bf Inter est would be the fame inducement to other fo foreigners to purchase. The gentleman had alked if it was the inten tion to oblige the public to pay compound inter est He would anTwer him, no. It was an op tion held out, where persons might not prefer ourweftern lands : It would shew creditors, that Congress provided for them as much as lay in in their compass atprefent, and that the remain der would be provided for whenever the United States had it in their power. If he did not un derstand the original proposition, he begged to be set right s but as he understood it, the preient motion would leave the proposition, on the head of interest, as it found it; the principal only would be raised to its nominal amount. The motion, he contended, was just to our cre ditors, and complied with our engagements —it was just to ourselves. He hoped the committee would view the word "irredeemable"as he did, and as lie was convinced ouv fellow-citizens would view it—as obnoxious and impolitic. He would beg the committee again to attend to the firft ar
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