Ax&lc itJurthfT e*nßti, That the benefit of clergy tail no* It used or allowed, upon conviaion of any crime, for which, by •iny statute of the United States, the pumfhmcnt 14 or shall be de clared to be death. Audit >t further trtißed, That no person or persons thall be pro. Jccuted, tried or punished for trealon or other capital otfence a jorefjid, will.)] murder or forgery excepted, unless tht indidl ment lor the fame shall be found by a giand jury,' Within three years next after the treason or capital sffence aforefaid (hall be «one or committed ; nor shall any person be profceuted, tried'or punilhed for any offence not capital, oor for any fine or forfeiture unocr any penal ftatutr, unless the indictment or information for «lje fame In .ill be found or instituted wuhift two years front the time ot committing the offence, or incurring thefine or forfeiture alofefaid -. Provided, That nothing herein contained ftiall extend to any person or persons fleeing from justice. And-te it further enaded, That the manner of inflicting the pu inlhment of death, ihall be by hanging the person conv>aed by -»he neck until dead. 1 FREDERICK AUGUSTUS MUHLENBERG, . . Speaker oj the House oj Reprefevtatives. JOHN ADAMS, Vice-President of the Untied States, '"d Prejident of the Senate. Apr*OVED, Anil THI THIRTIETH IJQO GEORGE WASHINGTON, Prekdent of the Unit,d States rui COPY) THOMAS JEFFERSON, Secretary of Stmt. THE TABLET. *' TV advantage of study is often loft, by attending 10 too many points at once." Mr. Editor, t AM so well pleased with a letter lately sent i me by an ingenious correspondent, that I ■wish it may be communicated to the public, as a number of the TABLET. It is on\a fubjetfl of importance, and I hope the remarks of my friend ■will meet with approbation, as they appear to be founded in reason and propriety. FOR THE TABLET. " probably know that I was admitted to -1 the bar of our Courts in April i 781 ; and certainly know that for a confiderablepart of the time since, I have given my attention to philology, .belles Lettres and ancient hiltory. Some part of the tihie has been spent in travelling, and this has been the inoft ufeful period of my life. You know from a multitude of observations, how ma ny errors in opinion and deep-rooted prejudices grow up with the most vigorous genius, under the molt advantageous fyilem of book education; unless the person has an opportunity oftravelling abroad. 1 frankly own this was iny cafe ; and 1 was two years abroad, before I could believe o taer States as wife, as prosperous, and as happy as my native State. " I have finifhed my ramblings and set downin my profeflion, in a place as healthy as North America affords, on a public road, in a pleasant fertile country, where commerce is flourifliin<r, manufactures begin to thrive, and the company ks as good as I deserve. Here I have reflected up on the errors of my own education, and endea vored to devise a better plan ; being rayfelf con fident that I might have gained all my present knowledge and learning in half the time, had my studies and travels been conducted by a man of experience and juit ideas. " I have found by experience what my tutors tfhonld have caught me, that the great error in ■our common method ofinftru<fting youth, is, that ■we permit them to read "without an objeit; that is, •without 3.fpictfic particular object. We give them a book to read ; and diretft thein generally to be mailers of the fubjeA. But the object, in this cafe, is so general, so indeterminate, as to make little or no.impression upon the mind of the ftu ;dent. It is not particular enough to arrest his curiosity ; or rather the indefinite view of the object renders it iinpoliible for the attention to be fixed upon any particular point. The person who reads avolume of Hiftdry, or-Law, with this .general view, loses three fourths of his labor. " Toreadtoadvantajje, the whole attention of a fttident jhould be called to one point at a time. Let liim be diredted for instance to enquire into the reformation in the lixteenth century, and at a future day, to inform liis inftru<ftor, at what time this great event took place, and what were the particular political, commercial or other acci dental circumstances which favored the progress of it ; by what characters it was effeCied, and as- -j terwards what were jts corifequences on the po litical itaie of Europe. Let him then be directed ■what authors to examine, and the more he con fnhs, provided they are of reputation, the fairer chance he stands of finding and retaining the truth. The student then would fix his attention upon one objeiil ; the faifts as they iliould arise to view would reft upon the mind and gradually form a connected ltory, and the prospect of reci ting the faifts to the inftru<ftor would impress them uiore deeply on the memory. Thus the student Ihould take every important era, event or person by itfelf and enquire into the accounts ■which different writers have given of it; and not read a book in course, as is done for ainufeinent, or by persons reviewing their studies. " If I fliould ever open an office for ftudentsin Law, I could wifli them to prepare for this libe ral study, by a year or two year's preparation in the study of History. The common practice of keeping them two or three years writing on No. CXIII. rJ" j parchment, I consider, as an impofuionj wnsea fonable and useless. Tlit forms of process may as well be learnc in fix months, as in a longer time ; and a student of law should be fotnething more than a drudge. If Undents were previously acquainted with Greek and Latin, 1 fhonld wish them to read Herodotus, Thucydides and Xen ophonj in Greek, and Livy, Casfar and Tacitus, in Latin. The belt orators arid poets among the ancients are read as clafiical books in our colleges and schools ; but their historians, which I deem the inoft valuable, are moltly negledled. This is one of the modern errors of our public education. Indeed To imperfectly do mod of our schools teach the ancient languages, that few of the ftudenrs can read the Greek and Roman historians witheafeand advantage. For thisrea fon, I should diredt them to take the bell compi lations of ancient history jn Englifli, and diredl them to attend to such parts of it as illustrate the policy, manners, arts and literature of the wife and celebrated republics of antiquity ; for as to wars, they are the dry bones ofhiftory, and a hungry man will hardly fatisfy his appetite by picking them. " In (hort I could wish that the flndies ofybuth might be made to approach to pra&ice. A Jludcr\t of history should read it, like the compiler ; lie should take a (Ingle point of history, and consult different jruthorities until he had made himfelf master of it. A student of Law should read it like an attorney ; he should take one point and turn to his authorities for illustration, as if he were preparing a cause for trial. I have found this to be the only method in which I can read to advantage myfelf; and perhaps my experience may afford ufeful hints to others. THE HUMANE HOWARD. [The liberal and philanthropic are the denizens of at! countries—ar.d from all countries are fntitled tc the tribute ofgratitude. J he benevolent How a r vt—iohofe exertion« in relieving the prisoner bound in the dun* " co . r ! arr) Violating the condition ojJervitude—and pouring the wine aitd oil into the wounds r.ade by dife.ife, are as untvrrja/ly admired, as known To his memory then are thefollowing lines dedieate'f] ON HIS DEATH. HOWARD, thy talk is done, thy mailer calls, And fummonsthee from Cherson's diftjiit walls. " Come, well-approved ! My faithful servant come ! No more a wand'rer, seek thy deftin'd home. Long have I inark'd thee with o'er-rnling eye, Ana sent admiring angels from on high, To walk the paths of danger by thyGde, From death to fbitld thee, and from fnarcs to guide. MyminifUr of good, I've sped thy wjy, And Oiot thro dungeon-glooms a leading ray, To sooth, by thee, with kind unhop'd relief My creatures loft—and whclin'd in guilt and grief r I've led thee, ardent, nn thro world'ring climes, To combat human woes, and human crimis, Bui 'us enough—thy great fcomniilfion's o'e'r, I prove thy faith, thy ze.l, thy love no more. Nor droop, that far from country, kindled, friends, 1 hy hie to duty long devoted, ends ; * What boots it wheie the high f ward is giv'n. Or where the foul triumphant fpriim toHeav'n '• (Majackufdts Cctilinel.) CONGRESS. HOUSE OF REPRESENTA HVES THURSDAY, APRIL i. The profwjititm ftr ajumihg the State debts under (onf, deration. M Nr?v L VT N ?'K in r,ply l° Mr ' MOOr '' am extremely K j y 'j Chairman,that anoihrr wo. thy colleague of mint has rendered it necessary for me to rife in this' debate as I had flattered myfelt that ray fcntim,ms had bee,, clearly expreflVdand fully underlW when I (pokeon it the day before yclterday.and explained to another of my worthy colleague yefterdav I he owever the house will iidulge Je lor A" ioS { B \ "Z" ion of this importance, when I seem to beperfonally called Soon rut"* ™y° vn °P>»»ons, and in the peculiar predicament ot differing from nine of my colleagues. I shall mnfin, (elf entirely to anfwerirg the objrftions of the gentleman who fpokelaft ; he too lias taken notice of what I fa.d refpe&inc the weight of wealth laying towards (he sea coast of Virginia and the weight of legislative influence to the weft ward- this he'has n ? denied ; but lays that the articles of the treaty for the M vl' , r Britilh debts, contrafled prior to the war ought to have b're n r ° plied With—that the honor of all America wa. conce. neH T" complying with that orticle-and that therefore the gentleman could not complain of the western influence in comolvini I the expre sdefire of Congress, whose bufij."™^ftlfiTor do°not C th 3' tr "'V' Sir 1 with him so lar"- I do not complain that mv country patted ani ast for the fulfilment' eonrJ rea '>' e,,terrd '" to h y the general government ; but. f„ ) conceive that a treaty has two fides to it. and that the ft. nulati on both (ides ought to be literally TulGlkd. When a claufr w introduced into that,ft to fnfpen'd the operatln of i mi, T Brifilh government fhoisld MSI it c .n <beirp.„ t that the pJiance might (fill go on when this was claimed as a jull.ce due to hem by the debtors to the Britifl. natfon, who lay in the track Lf the armies, who inhabited that part of the counhy toward, the fta coast who had been deprived of their negro--, contrary to treaty, and who were at the famt time State'creditors forfutl.ii I njhea the armies ttj the United States. I alk that ,/„ ther this rpafonable propofltion for a suspension of the 'ast um'l Congress might have time to remonstrate with the Britilh ™ mcnt for their relief, was not violently opp»fed by fh fluence, who fuffercd none of these inconveniences, or bu a v « J final) degree or proportion of them ? Sir, th.t gentleman wis The gentleman acknowledges that the greater part of the ferviees of the war and of the supplies, were drawn f rom theeaftem d vifiono that (late; but that the welte.n alway, held themlelves i„" ,h llcd on - In this 1 Ks flr '. th "' th " e were no citizens in the United States better affefttd totne American cause than they were ; but lir does hi. ZttnJ ' 1 haVC si " d ° tthC iu <Wtyof.he burthen 450 Your's sincerely, M fve>> .V«- c moic fci i tr>\h tkt JUtt could thin pa\ the en, they were content to receive tor "them wlrat thoy 'couW Sir, 1 willgivea (hort hiftoryof this bulinefs : 1 own I am for™ to mention it, as it atfedts, in some lon, the credit ot the state to which I helong ; hut 1 believeit will not befoUnd flu ilar Thcfe ■certificates were to be redeemed in the manner the worthy gentle man mentions by calculation, in four, )ui or h-. years, I cannot exa&ly remember which; bu: hv np remained • low; time previ oits to the *6 urtnoticed or utilunded, bad lallen at low as i/6 in the pound. This tax, in one or two years. aj,pr< i.ited therato three or four flii!l.ng«. "Hits ."ipwecvtion was t nitid too burden some lor those who were.., mail, Ideis; th- tax was.aswella. my memory feives, leluned; and when at bit it was found that they wire near.y ewuun,Khed or called in, they were made pays-", blc in the airtarages ol taxrs iui; Jor several years back,and thus never rofc, until the last arrears were paid in, to more than four (hillings in the pound ; and thus was ihe property of those who furnifticd the armies of the United States reimbursed thetn Sir, I fprak feelingly on this liibjea : I was one of the fuffer. ers, my conftituems are almost all fufterers in this mode. Sir what I fay of myfelf, I wifti not to be understood as influencing mv conduit on this floor: I fpurn'at the idea, if it (hould be en tertained. On this floor I hope ] always act on enlarged and sc. neral principles. ® * Sir, the gentleman has mentioned what I said of emigrations - and has aflTerted that, natwithftanding those emigrations, the number of inhabitants who were to pay taxes in Virginia, had in crcafed since the war, which he fays on a former occasion I ad mined to be the cafe. I am sure, fir, I havr seen no document! to confirm thtj gentleman's aflertion, nor can I conceive that 1 ever aflenteS to such an one fat the time the fi\ingombe fe»{ of govern ment was incontcmplation, or at any other time) as it refpefted Virginia ; hut I verify believe the fact to be otherwise, unless the gentleman a(Tures me from proper documents. The gentleman (ays it is the intefeft yt Kentuckyandthe Weft, em Country to tili'ume the .debt: It this b«- the cafe, fir, ] much surprized that their rcprefi-ntntive* should be found arguini so llrongly against what they :.(Tert to be thr iniereft of their con- Itnuents. But, fir, it docs not become me to point out to them their duty; I therefore left'* them to afrinthc manner they think right, not doubting but tliey wt.'l in th» end do the best for their condiments, as I think lain doing for mine, and for the unionat large. lam so firmly persuaded of thi,. fir,, that lam willing to ' wh;u liulc r#ptii»i»on 1 may be pnlftfled hf as a politician on the event, and not knowing the fenfc of my constituents on foim portain a fobjeit, 1 shall veotuie to. support the opinions I have Bdvincedl, keeping mv mind open lo convi&ion, and yielding to • 'ear and unequivocal arguments when they are produced, that will shew me that I am wrong. ! hope I have thus far exculpated mvfelf from the charge which I rtii'j to be aimed at me, of having advanced opinions unfound ed and erroneous. I fliaii only lake notice of one ohfrrvation, with whichthe gen tleman concluded : That in all political quetlinns he should be *o. vemed in his vote by the principles of justice. I hope he will C.iantablv suppose lam under the fame influence. But fir I will conclude that justice is due from Congrels to the states, and to the cnizcns of the Hate : This can onlv be done by eftabliih ing credit on the brord and ftahle foundation of public faith to the creditors ot the United States of every denomination. L Smi T' l v( -) Iht gentleman (Mr. Moore) he said, had altogether mi ft a ken the law of South-Carolina, he had noti <efl, and its operation ! That law was intended to create a medi um ot circulation, by way of loan or mortagage; ioc,oool. were emitted lor that puipofe, all the specie of the country exported and the dtir.efisgreatly diftrefTed forthe want of a rac i r h ' hrn rcad thr P rc - ,n ble of the law and Come ot the claures, to prove what he had said. Of the above futn not et an ahnnt6o.oool. circulated in South-Carolina, the re mainder having found its way into the neighbouring ftatu. J he gent 1 -man was ecually mifinformed, when heobfcrvedtJiat axes levied in that state had not been applied to thedilchargc .laaebtr, brf: iad been oiverted into a different chamie'., Mr. . mith r-ad a f'atemerit from the report of a committee of finance, !! imposed from 1784 to 1789 to the 3. nofr' O•" nv< " 3°°tCOO (f01ii..., annually, for the exprefj pur- L i! C ,nl ". <f * <>n 'be debt contrasted by the «ar; All I j e rR 'i l3l , P tnod upwards of a million and a hulfof >; lars bad . ren funk ol the principal of the debt, by fairs of laod ehfehar° ' i j'T* - d r< ' orc 3S R rfa ' exertions forthe to the mlliri® f v u C f""' " V,r S inia - With rei'peft nrrriati-1 'h A lr g' n ' a having l.een paid in money greatlv de h/d not ,h< - South.Carolina beer, likewise ohn Ia ? Had not some of the militia been life then en, \a . k V 7 tW " the pound ? How tnnia w • H propriety, that the militia of Vir lin- ?Th h VT d '° P av '' u debts of those ol South-Cam. Ant J i"T C ] T r l,m, . nvi| V tJ xed ever since the war? fuml, y n °' 7 llWw 'th taxation, if the .f- Ceorr a" l", "K g r" VC u ? haS bf ' C " faid > b V ,hc gentleman from than theno ,h ur more to the import on w„uM w" : Wa-no'tha.a Bmngargumcnt why theatfumr.. th '°, th " rc lh ' rs ?11 generally ackno,- son? djf C ° n l " nt!n,: ' 1 drh,s were chiefly in the hands of per son dwelling to the northward ol Potowmac j the greatest pro- Z rL"r t >" r , drh ' S ; "' C r " nt " r >' on the south of O the r, '' t,,crcforc ,h ; Southern states paid the greatest part r ,T U V- Wa l' t "? tf r their that the afftimption back in • aC . '/k 1 . Tne " l ' t ' ,e late creditors wouMdraw which othcr^fr 1 ° 'u" r In . tcrcfts ' 1 proportion ofthat impiit g ° alt0 S fth e' into the pocketsof the con tinental cred tors ? It was undoubtedly an injury to theftatr. whirh contributed molt to the r! j " j fnnrrrc f , l »ipoft, to be drained of their re ted ast P^ P "^"; Whorcr,dr d thole states which contribu- Secrctarv d' , ° i"" 5 va fi"us articles reported bv the wy calcul i H " 0t ? PP r y in Ulis fta S e of thc That report funded w „1, f V 'be bonfe that the state debts could be of the hunle -h" ol i!' n s "j ta xation; it was in the power thof which'fh Uk le f ndsw | er s under consideration, to reje3 He could -° U w ° ur m j u riou» f and to fabftitute others, "d in n/ hOV r CVCr ' in remark that persons intereft lieved ir, nf! "" 1° rllicw manufacture were to be be couJd he urid ' 'ft nC J 'k Secretary, who was difmtcreftcd-, nor which in On, ' 'he mconfiftency of the petition alluded to, ihem .» d r ar »^ Ct , or . l^at ,e duty would be oppieflive to nuc ' H' r u that J t WOuld Produce nothing to the reve a-'iinft whi I '"" ' e was no ooflible objeif of revenue, 'he a mend me r f not complain. As to bad himfelf 'he member from that state vention me- nt ' 3rC j w° u ld not undertake to fay the con carried that m° ?" l? a ' nft thc assumption.but that the words men, could TT'' n? -, \ h,s mi S ht be true, and yettheamend fumotion wa. ° ap P[-'' because the house had been told theaf ment was fr * ""7" fought of ill that state at the time theamend aTainft .b/ r - U hce " f " d . 'hat a, North-Carolinawa. be 'efted V, 7u P - l, ° n ' " was a Efficient reafonwhy it (hould not was rcnicrnKf .a 'l W3 f a i° ext "Ordinary declaration, when it desirous of it" ' 1 ' >CCn to ' d that South-Carolina being the inclinatiorT'f "° a Z be adopted, and that 'v'l there Was T ? a ' C d not prevail with Congrcfs. Sure- Hate was in fa, r reason why it (hould be agreed to if ona state was <r;' ° 'i L aS ' C " lou ' c ' be rejefled because one 'hmkThat fTn. Thc S «'e<ary, it had been said, seemed ,0 take place • Tlw'YT' Was an event whtch -.vopld not certainly unauc-ftionaKl I c m , cnt or without an afiumption, wouli pXy::mtk y stha a t^ dCd WUh aod the "* fcttlenunt alter the °' n wb'ch can be made to a >0,-« to pZr n,ch dors ;iot with c<iu,!
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