PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS BY JOHN FENNO, No. 69, HIGH-STREET, BETWEEN SECOND AND THIRD STREETS, PHILADELPHIA [No. 28, of Vol. lII.] FROM THE COLUMBIAN CENT IN EL MR. RUSSELL, THE next article upon Which Mr. Paine has pronounced the superiority of the French conflitution, is upon the fubjeOt of making war and peace. rlie right, he fays, is placed where the expense is ; that is in the nation.—Whereas, " in England, the right is said to reside in a me taphor t shewn at the l ower forfixpenceor a {hil ling a piece." He answers himfclf again in this pallage, and fliows the folly of placing such a formidable right in a metaphor ; but in this in ltance, as in the former, there is much wit, and 110 truth ; and I mult take the liberty to affirm, in contradiction to Mr. Paine, that the French constitution has not, nor could not place the right of declaring war, where the expense must fall ; and that the English conflitution has not placed this right in a metaphor. Ihe expense of supporting wars must in all countries be defrayed by the nation, and every individual must bear his proportion of the bur then. In free countries that proportion must al ways be determined by the representatives of the people ; but the right of deciding when it may be expedient to engage in a war cannot pos sibly be retained by the people of populous and extensive territory, it must be a delegated pow er ; and the French constitution has veiled it in the National Ajfembly. By the Englilh constitu tion it is vested in the supreme executive officer : but to guard agai 11 ft the abuse of this formidable power, it has given to the representatives of the people the exclusive right of providing for the lupport of the war, and of withholding the sup plies, " the sinews of war," if it fhnuld fver be declared contrary to the fenf'e of the people themselves. Mr. Paine ftippofes a perplexity which is warranted neither by theory nor by the experience ofhiitory, " if the one rallily de clares war," fays he, " as a matter of right, 3iul the other preremptorily withholds the fuppliesas a matter of right, the remedy becomes as bad if not worse than the disease." But every war in Eugland tiuifl be the war of the people : the King is in reality no more than the organ of the nation, and inuft be more than an idiot to declare a war, upon which he inuit depend altogether upon them for irs ftipport, without being certain of that fupporr. imagin ary conclusions drawn by reafoiling againlt the inevitable order of things, are unworthy of a politician, andfhould be left as a feeble vefource for the fatyrift. To have given this objetfion e ven an appearance of plausibility, Mr. Paine should have mentioned an initance, when this clalhing of the the King and of the Com mons has ever been productive of the ill effects which his fancy has sagaciously drawn front them. Indeed Mr. Paine himfelf, upon further re flection acknowledges the futility of his objecti on, and fays " that in the manner the nation is represented, it fignifies not where this right resides, whether in the Crown or in the Parliament." But 1 apprehend, if the repre sentation in England were as perfect as human wil'dom could devise, their present fyftetn with vefpect to peace and war, would comprize all the advantages of the French fyfleni, and at the fame time be iVee from many inconveniences to which that tnull be liable. It must be clear to every one that tlie French have nor. as Mr. Paine pretends, united the right anil the expense : The impracticability of such an union, mult be equally evident ; and the only qneftion which can eflablifh a fair ground of comparison between the two constitutions is, Whether it is expedient to delegate to the legif- Jative, or whether to the executive authority,the right of declaring war. As l am not a convert to Mr. Paine's opinion, that a nation has a right to do what it pleases, I must be allowed to fay that they have no right to make war upon their neighbours, without pro vocation. The people by their representatives must judge, when the provocation is Sufficient to tliflolve them from all the obligations cf morali ty and humanity, by which nations are bound to prtferve the blessings of pcace. But when they lia'e determined that the great law of felf-pre leivation, to which all other laws mtift give way, orthat the laws which they have enacted in con ference of the primitive Contract which united all their power for the benefit of every individu al, compel them to appeal for justice to the God of lattles, the declaration of war, the for Wednesday, August 5, 1791. 111 al art, by which they announce to the world their intention to employ the arm of power in their own defence, feeins to be proper attri bute of the executive power. The difference therefore, between the English and French con iHtutions conlidered in this light can involve on ly a qnellion of propriety, and as such the En glish appears to me to deserve the preference. If this idea should be considered as heretical, I must beg leave to call to my ailiftance the au thority of Roajfeau, a name ftil! more refpertable than that of Mr. Paine, because death has given the ultimate fanrtion to his reputation. " The art of declaring war," fays he in his social com part, "and that of making peace, have been conlidered as arts of sovereignty, which is not the cafe; for either of those arts is not a law, but only an application of the law ; a particular art which determines the operation of the law, as will be clearly perceived when the idea annexed to the word la-w fiiall be ascertained." The spi rit of the English conllit ution is perfertly agree able to this idea. But let us cnnfider the subject a little further. Whenever a difference arises between two na tions which may terminate in a war, it is proper and cuflomary, that previous negotiations fliould be held, in older to use every possible means of fettlit.g amicably the dispute. These negotia tions, the appointment of the agents, by whom they are ro be conducted, and the communication of the proposals for accommodation,' which are offered by either of the parties, are all appropriated ro the executive department. When the restoration of peace becomes expedient in the opinion of the people, agents mult again be appointed, and proposals of pacification niuft again be made. Ir is obvious to every man, that in the management of these concerns the Htmoft secrecy and dispatch are frequently of essential neceflity to the welfare of the people ; but what secrecy can ever be expected, when evei y inftrnc ticn to an Ambadador, every article of a proposed treaty, and every circumstance of information from the minister, in the progress of his opera tions, must be known to twelve ihundred men as sembled in the capital of the republic ; what pro bability of dispatch, when all these things must be debated in this afiembly of 1200 men; where every thing must in the neceflary order of events be opposed, by interested individuals and irritat ed factions, who may protract the discussion for months or years at their pleasure. By the constitution of the United States, it is true, the right of declaring war is vested in the Congress, that is, in the legiflntive power. But it is in the point of form that it agrees with the constitution of France ; it has wifely placed the management of all negociations and treaties, and the appointment of ail agents and ministers in the executive department; and it has l'o tho roughly adopted in this inllance the principlss of the Englilh constitution, that although it has gi ven the Congress the right of declaring war, which is merely a difference of form, it has vest ed in the President, with the advice of the Se nate as his executive council, the light of making peace, which is implied in that of forming trea ties. This is not the firft instance in which Mr. Paine's principles attack thole of the conflitu tion of his country. Highly as we may revere, however, the principles which we are under eve ry obligation to support, we may without irre verence acknowledge that they partake of the human imperfection from which they originated, and if Mr. Paine's principles in opposition to tliem, are in any instance founded upon eternal truth, we may indulge the hope, that every ne ceflaiy improvement will be adopted in a peace able and amicable manner by the general con sent of the people. But if the principles of Mr. Paine, or thole of the French National Aflembly, would lead us by a vain and delusive pretence of an impracticable union between the right »f de claring, and the expence of supporting a war, to the facrifice of principles founded in immutable truth, if they could persuade us, -by eftablilhing in the legjflative body all negociations with fo reign nations relative to war and peace, to open a thouland avenues for base intrigue, for furious faction, for foreign bribery, and domestic trea son, let us remain immovably fixed at the ban ners of our conflitutiotial freedom, and nor desert the impregnable fortrefs of our liberties, for the unfubfta:itial fabric of visionary politicians. 109 PUBLICO LA fsiop>o [Whole No. 236.] FROM. THE GENERAL ADVERTISER. Bruxellhs, April 21. NEITHER the internal disturbances which followed theinfuriection, nor the agitation which flill exists, have been an; oppofnion to the execution of the Emperor's intentions. It was of importance to Leopold that the Belgic people (hould feel the necelfity of order, and wi(h for the return of any kind of government. Princes have more patience than the people—theyunderftand the art of wearing out the courage of the people, simply by fuffering them to adt. They sometimes even irritate the unfortunate beings who fuffer, in order to tire them the sooner—and then they become an easy prey: They then fteo forward, and the people contend who shall firft be placed under their paternal protection, and adore the iron hand that protects them. This is our his tory. A remarkable operation, partly commercial, and in part political, has been performed here. Government has granted totbehoufeof Hayeand Co. of Krnxelles, the cxclufive privilege of buy ing the mulkets and other arms, of the patriots of Brabant. Who Mould credit the fhameful ea gerness with which our citizens run to difpofeof their arms? The company of Haye has already bought tip an aftoniftiitig quantity; they have upwards of 28 or 30,000 mulkets. What must we think of this people, who resume the yoke as a garment ? What are we to conclude from this in conceivable docility, but that this people, the sport of intrigue, have never acted from proper fpirit,and a sentiment of their own dignity ; ancl that excited, by the mere cry of liberty, by some seditious characters, they now coliceive their past conduct founded on an erior, and inwardly re gret and pant after the habits of their ancient and comfortableobedience ; The government ap pears yet to fear a popular clamor against there inftared States General, and are busy in protect ing them, as the allembly,by a military force, which is looked on by the peonle only as a di verting fliew. This is our present situation. THE REV. DR. PRICE. A —.. Lift of some of the writings of this excellent man, may be acceptable to our readers : His firft publication was a Thank]giving Sermon, preached in the year 1759. Be has since publish ed a Review of the principal questions in Morals, Bvo. A treatise 011 Reversionary Payments', 1 vol. Bvo. afterwards enlarged to 2 vols. An appeal to the public on the National Debt. In 1776, he publiflied a pamphlet on the justice and policy of the American war, which made a great impref lion on the inhabitants of this country. This work has been since enlarged to an Bvo. volume. In 1779 and 1781, two or three fact ser mons : A treatise 011 annuities and afl'urances for lives; with an eflay on population, in Bvo. : State of the Public Finances and Public Debt in 1 783 : Observations on the American Revolution, and a volume of Sermons on the Christian Doctrines. He contributed largely to a volume of Friendly Correlpondence, publiflied by himfelf and Dr. Priestley, on the Dodirines of Materialism and Philosophical neceifity. One of his last publica tions was a Discourse on the Love of our Coun try, preached at the Old Jewry to theßevoluiion Society, on the 4th of November, 1789. LANSINBURGH, July 22 It is observed that several farmers are spread ing their flax before beating out the feed, by which they are like to lose what the more pru dent will save. It is I rue, flax-feed has run low ; but if we may credit the late accounts from Ire land, that article will this season be in demand : exports lall year turned out so, that it is -very pofliblethe shipments will be larger this. Far mers, save yur feed ! at any rate, if it be proper ly cleaned, it will bear a price with wheat. N E W - Y O R K, July 28. A generous and humane acftion of a sailor de serves to be recorded. A fine little boy, son of Mr. James Saidler, of this city, accidentally fell into the Eafl-River yesterday, from Jones's wharf. Mr. Launcelot Chalmers, of the brig Sally of London, fortunately observing the accident, im mediately at the imminent rilk of his own life, jumped into the river, and happily saved thelife of the boy.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers