Gazette of the United-States. (New-York [N.Y.]) 1789-1793, October 09, 1790, Page 621, Image 1

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PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AMD SATURDAYS BY 70HM rnrun »•
... > OHN FE/ *NO, No. 4 <, BROAD-STREET, NEAR THE EXCHANGE, NEW-YORK
[No. 52, if Vol. ll.]
From the ENGLISH REVIEW
t-JR AWEMBER, i 787.
thc Conflict,„ ns of Government of the United
of ,hl A A m "' ca f - .B y J" HN Adam,, LL.D. and a Member
of the Academy of Arts and Sciences at Bolton.]
American revolution has produced ma
. «y theones and fpecnlations on govern-
Jnent and politics. Leg.flators have flawed up
in eyeij pare of Europe and America who wished
to give law. to the new world, and to change
the chaos of American anarchy into a regular
and order,yfy Item It is much robe doubted,
i- her s Peculative politicians are fit
oFmII r C J , . rsofmcil ' orthe lucubrations
of the closet to form the model of public life.
The most chimerical systems of legislation have
been adopted and recommended by men of un
common genius and extensive learning. The
dreams and visions of Plato and Sir Thomas
More, and even of Milton and Locke, are, in
I *l?n^il artS ' as w " t ' alu ' eccen tric as the ravinp-s
ot Bedlam. A philosopher mav make luccefsful
experiments on air and electricity, may excel in
algebraical calculations, may wander in the ma
zes of metaphysics, without being bewildered •
nay, he may defend the principles of liberty
and the rights of mankind with great abilities
and much success ; and, after all, when called
upon to produce a plan of legislation, he may
aitonilh the world with the aberrations of iiuel
left and the vagaries of fancy. Mr. Locke, in
1663 was employed to compote a code ofleffifla
tion for Carolina ; with one stroke of his pen he
committed the whole authority, legifluive and
executive, to the eight proprietors of the pro
vince. By this new oligarchical sovereignty he
created at once three orders of nobility ; barons
with twelve thousand acres of land ; caciques
with twenty.four thouland ; and landgraves
with eighty thousand. Subjects were wanting
to this ill-modelled government, the colony de
cayed, and the fyltein of the philolopber perilh
ed in its abfui diiy.
Three wiir-rs i,, Europe, of abilities and re
putation, M. Turgot, the Abb:-de Mably, and
Dr. Price, have turned their attention to the po
litical constitutions of thc Uniied States of Ame
rica, and have published rothe world their (pe
culations and their criticisms. Notwithflandinir
the pure intentions of the authors, the experi
ence in" public affairs acquired by one of them*,
and the ample information concerning the na
ture of man and the l'cience of government pof
fefled by many sentiments occur in their
works which it will be difiicfllt to reconcile to
icafon, experience, the couititution of human
nature, and the firll principles of policy adopted
by all enlightened nations, whether ancient or
modern. M. T urgot in his letter to Dr. Price,
acknowledges " that he is not fatisfied with the
'< constitutions that have hitherto been formed
" for the different Suites of America." He ob
f£i ves that, by most of them, the customs of
" England have been imitated, without any
" particular motive. Inrtead of collecting all
" authority into one centre, that of the nation,
" they have established different bodies ; a body
" ot representatives, a council, and a governor j
" because there is in England a house of com
" mons, a house of lords, and a king. They
" endeavor to balance these different powers,
" as it this equilibrium, which in England may
" be a neceflary check to the enormous influence
" of royalty, could be of any nfe in republics
" founded upon the equality of all thecitizens ;
" and as if eltabli/liiug ditferent orders of men
" was not a fourceof divisions and disputes-"
From the commencement of rhe revolution in
America there has been a party in every State
which entertained fentiniems similar to those of
M. Turgor. Two or three of them have ertab-
liihecl governments upon his principle ; and pro
posals have been made in several states of Ame
licato depole the governor and fenace as ulclefs
and expensive branches of the Constitution. As
the opinion of M. Turgot contributed to excite
tliel'e discontents amcng the people, Mr. Adams
held it a political and moral duty to examine his
theory at great length ; to call the experience of
part: ages to enlighten the preferit; and, from a
wide and extended view of human affairs, to mark
and ascertain tliofe principles of legislation and
government which give order, success, liability,
and duration to politico, eftablilhinents and to
civil society. The subject is certainly one of the
wort: interesting that can engage the speculation
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9 , , 79 0.
or pro 111 pc the decilioa of men. What combina
tion of powers in society, or what form of govern -
ment is m°ft likely to secure the eltabliifiment,
and the impartial execution, of good and equal
laws, so that the citizens may enjoy the benefit
or them, and confide in their perpetuity, is an
inquiry that equally concerns the philosopher and
the citizen ; for, whether the end of man, in this
itage of existence, be enjoyment or improvement,
or both, it can never be attained so well iu a bad
government as a good one,
1 he great and leading idea which runs through
the ingenious and learned work of Mr. Adams is,
that a mixture ot the three powers, the regal, the
ai iftrocratical, and the detiiocratical, properly
[ balanced, composes the mod perfetft form of go
vernment, and secures the greatelt degree of hap
piness to the greatest number of individuals —
This policy, indeed, appears to be the initiation
ot nature. Vitruvius discovered the rudiments
of architecture in the conltruc r tion of a rutticcab
'iii ; and the historian or philosopher may trace
the origin of the three powers in political society,
m the rude governments of savage tribes. Every
nation North-America has a king, a senate,
and an allembly of the people. The royal office
is elective, but it is for lit" ; the facheins form
the ordinary council, in which all the national
affairs are deliberated ant.' discussed ; but, on |
great occasions, such as declaring war, the kino
ano sachems convoke a nai ionai afTembly,
af'er a foleinn facrifice, communicate their refo-
lution to the people, fhofe who approve of the
war, yartake the facrifice, throw the hatchet into
a tree, after the example of the king, and join in
the luafeqiient war-fangs av.i dances, as a mark
of their concurrence with tle expedition. A fi
milarforin of policy prevailed apiong the ancient
Greek?. " It is ealy t o observe from Homer,"
fays Aristotle, " that the ancient governments
of Gieece were limited ; t(ie king proposed to
the a lembly of the people ,iiat beforehand had
been concerted an<l in rlic counrjl of
the chiefs. J lie political institutions of our
German ancestors were formed 011 the fame prin
ciple. "Dt minorib us rebus," lays Tacitus,
principts consultant, de Tn,ijoribui ovines ; ita ta
utenut ea qtinque, quorum penes ptebem ar bit rum ell,
apui prtncip.s pr*traftentur.**'
j Among the ancients, the fame Tacitus extols
the form of government in which there is a chief
or leader, a senate, and a popular aflembly, tho
he doubts ot its prac'iicabilicy and duration.
Cundas nat tones, et urbcs, populus aut prions, aut
f'pguli, reguut. Detetta ex his et conjiituta reipub
)or"u> t*udari facilius quam i/iveniri ; vet [i
,a! "} di "t«ma eft potejtf." Cicero is deci
ded in giving the fame preference : Stutuo ef op.
time conjtitiitam rempubticam, qt/.e ex tribus generi
n\ ''!' s ' r! £"t'y °ptimo et poputari, mo dice conf'u/ai."
rolylnus and Dionyfius of Halicarnaflus gi ve their
teltimony to the fame doctrine, and affirm that
the molt perfect form of government is that which
conlilts of an equal mixture of monarchy, altrif
toe racy, and democracy.
1 lie observation of.M. Turgot, that " tliecuf
toms of England are imitated in moll ofthenew
constitution! in America, without any particular
motive, ' is shewn by Mr. Adams to be without
foundation. _ Supposing that the Englilh cuftoins
were merely indifferent, the people by their birth,
education, and habits, were familiarly attached
to them ; and thisfurely was a particular motive
for their preservation, rather than endanger the
public tranquility or unanimity by renouueing;
them. A divifiou of power was adopted bv the
itates, confifling of a body of representatives, a
council, and a governor, not because the leeifla
ture in England confiltcd of three branches, a
house of commons, a lionfe of lords, and a king
but because their own aflemblies had been so con!
ltituted from time immemorial ; and besides their
attachment from habit, the conclusions of reason
led them to the conviction that it was founded in
nature, and conducive to public good.
* Some cci:ion» red « ptrtraScntur," which lufci the idea of
Tacitus altogether. + Anna), lib. iv.
+ Cicer. Fragm de Rcpublica.
(To be continued.)
LONDON.
ACCOUNT oj the late Mr. JOHN LEDYARD, a
CELEBRATED TRAVELLER.
MR. LED YARD was an American by birth
and seemed from his youth to have felt an
invincible defireto make hirol'elf acquainted with
~ yer/i
621
. k*/so-
unknown or imperfectly discovered regions ot
the globe. For several years lie had lived with
the Indians of America, had studied their man
ners and had pratitifed in their fohool the means
of obtaining their protection, and of recommen
ding himfelf to the favour of lavages. In the
Humble situation of corporal of marines, to which
he submitted rather than relinquish his pursuit,
lie had made with Captain Cook the voyage round
the world, and feeling on his return an anxious
desire of penetrating from the North.weitem
coast, which Cook had. partly explored, to the
eastern coast with which he himfelf was perfectly
familiar, he determined to travel fe the vast con
tinent from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean.
His firft plan for the purpose was that of embark
ing in a veflel which was prepared to fail 011 a
voyage of commercial adventure to Nootka
Sound ; on the western coast of America ; and in
this view lie expended in sea stores the greatest
part of the money which his chief benefactor fir
Joseph banks, (whose generous condutfl the wri
te! of this narrative has often heard him acknow
ledge) had liberally supplied. But the fchemc
being fruftrated by the rapacity of a cnflom
house officer, who had seized and detained the
tor reasons which on legal enquiry, proved
to be frivolous, he determined to travel overland
to Kanifchatka, from whence the paflage to the
western coast of America is extremely /lion.
With not more than ten guineas in his purse,
which was all that he had left, he eroded the
'tiwi Channel to Oltend, and by that of Den
mark and the Sound proceed to the capital of
Sweden ; from whence as it was winter, he at
tempted to traverse the Gulph of Bothnia on the
ice, in order to reach Kanifchatka by the flioi test
way ; but finding when he came to the middle
ot the sea that the water was not froze;:, lie re
turned to Stockholm, and taking Ins course
northward, walked into the Axftic circle, and
parting round the head of the Gulph, descended
on i'j eastern fide to Peterfbnrfth.
1 here he was soon noticedas an extraordinary
man. Without stockings or shoes, and too much
poverty to provide himfelf with either,he received
and accepted an invitation to dine with the Por
tuguese Ambaflador, 1" 0 this invitation ic was
probably owing that he was able to obtain the
urn of twenty guineas for a bill on Sir lofeph
banks, which he confeffed he had no authority
to draw, but which, in consideration of the busi
ness that lie had undertaken, andof the prog, efa
that he made, Sir Joseph, he believed, would not
be unwilling to pay. To the Ambaflador's in
terest it might also be owing that he obtained
permiflion to accompany a detachment of stores
which the t-mprefs had ordered to be Cent to
Yakutz, for the use of Mr. Billings an En<rli(h
man at that time in her service. &
rhrnnT c-°'. n °'"° date d he travelled eaftwavd
through Siberia 6°°° „ n les to Yakutz, where he
was kindly received by Mr. Billings, whom he
remembered on board Capt. Cook's (hip i„ t he
fhe a F° n ° f f Af ? i ro , no " ,er ' s lervant, but to whom
"" r "" cd the fth ™« »f
F rom Yakutz he proceeded to Oczaclcow
the coast of the Kamchatka sea ; from whence
he meant to have palled over to that peninsula
of the r V fr em r^ d on the eastern fide >n one
of the Ruffian veflels, that trade to the western
Ihores of America ; but finding that the nav£?
tion was completely obftrudted by the ice he re
turned again to Yakutz, in order to the
conclusion of the winter.
S "^ h . hjs situation, when, in consequence
of (ufpieions not hitherto explained, or?efei.t
ments for which no reason is affigued he was
di." whi ft !
jS,™,'." *" SU " d ' » ptate
ve!"ed h th , h d Ve f u P r° V i rty ' Covered w »h rag S , i„.
dit, unkown, and full of miferv L ] JI '
ho °°"° f 1s
course to his old benefaftoTr^n^KcluV
/ <y®
[Who le No. i 56.]