PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS BY 10HN F£NA'O, No. 69. HiiIU.STRF.ET, BETWEEN SECOND AND THIRD STRFETS, PHILADELPHIA [No. 6 1, of Vol. lII.] Saturday, November 26, 1791- BY HIS EXCELLENCY WILLIAM PATERSON, Esjuire, Governor, Captain-General, and Commander in Chief in and over the State of New- Jerjey, and territories thereunto belonging, Uianceller, and Ordinary in theJame. PROCLAMATION. WHEREAS it is, at all times, our duly to approach the throne of Almighty God with gratitude and piaife, hut more efpeciaily in teafons of national peace, plenty, and prospe rity; I have,therefore, thought fit, by and with the advice and consent of the Honourable the Privy Council, 10 alli ;n Thuifday the eighthdav of December next, to be set apart and observed as a day of PUBLIC THANKSGIVING and PRAYER for the great and manifold mercies Conferred upon this land and people ; and particularly for the abundant produce of the earth, during the prefertt year, for the foirit of rnduftry, sobriety, and economy wHich prevails ; for the liability and extenfton of our national credit and commerce, for the progress of literature, arts and sci ence and for the good order, peace and nlcnty, and the civil and religious liberty wilh which we are blefTed. And alio, that we may unite in our supplications, and humbly implore the Almighty Ruler of the Universe, that he would be pleased to continue his protcftion and goodness to this land and people, to fniilc upon all Ichools and seminaries of learning, to promote agriculture, ina nufaflures and commerce, to tlluminate and guide our publtc councils, to hlefs our national and ftatc governments, to enable us all to discharge our official, social and relative duties wilh dili gence and fidelity, to eradicate prejudice,bigotry and superstition ; to advance the interests of religion, and the knowledge and prac tice of virtue ; and for this purpose to pour out his holy spirit on all ministers of the gospel, and to spread the saving light thereof to the nroft drftant parts of the earth. Given under my hand and seal at arms, at Trenton, the twenty-firft day of November, in the year of our Lord one thousand leven hundred and ninety-one. By his Excellency's command, Bowes Reed, Sec'ry. Copy of a letter from the King of France to the National dffembly, accepting the Constitution Gf.ntlemen, I HAVE examined with attention the Conflitution which vou prefer»ted me for acceptance. I accept it, and shall fee it exe cuted This declaration would have been fumcicnt at another time ; but at prefcnt I owe the interests of the nation and myfelf an explanation of the motives that have induced this acceptance. — from the beginning of my reign I have been desirous of reform ing abuses, and in every ast of" government, have wished to be guided b> public opinion. Various caufcs, among which the fuuation of the finances when I came to the throne should be men tioned, as also the immense expences unavoidably incurred for the support of an honourable war, carried on tor a length of time, without an increase of taxes, had a great difproponion between the revenues and the expences ot the state. Fully fcnfible of the enormity of the evil, I not only looked for a remedy, but felt the neccflity of preventing its return. I con ceived the design of establishing public felicity upon a firm foun dation ; and tofubje£t to invariable rules even the authority which I exerciled. I called around me the nation to execute this design. In the course of events brought on by the revolution —my intenti ons have never varied. When, alter having reformed the ancient institutions, you began to substitute for them your firft works, 1 did not wait to give them tv.y aifent that the whole Constitution should be known to me. I favored the establishment of parts be fore I could judge of the whole ; and though disturbances which have attended almost every ftcp of the revolution too often were the causes of great grief to me, I always hoped that the law would resume its vigor in the hands of its new depositaries, and that as you drew towards a conclusion of your labours, every day would reltore it that refpe£t, without which the people can neither be free nor happy. I long perfilted in this hope ; my determination Changed, when that hope left me. Let every one call to recollection the time when I left Paris. The Conflitution was nearly completed, and the authority of the laws was diminiftiing. Public opinions, far from being fixed, appeared to be more divided than ever. The least moderate opi nions appeared alone to have weight. The licentiousness of the press was at its height, and no authority was refpe£ted. I could not obtain an acquaintance with the general will, when by looking around I could fee nothing but the laws without weight and not enforced : Then, I mud fay it, had vou presented the Constituti on at that time to me, I should not have thought it the interest of the people, the constant and only rule of my conduct, that I should have accepted it. I enteitaineo but one sentiment : I had in view but one design : J wilhed to retire out of the reach of every party, and examine what was really the wish of the nation. The motives that influ enced my conduct, no longer cxift ; since the inconveniences and evils which I then complained of have struck you as they did me. You have shewn a desire to restore good order ; you have at tended to the undisciplined state of the army ; you have seen the necessity of putting a (top to the licentiousness of the press. In the rcvifion of your work, you have placed among the laws several articles which have been presented me as conllitntional decrees. You have established a lepal mode of reviling the Conflitution. At length the public wish is known to me ; I have f en it evi denced in the attachment of the people to your work, and to a monarchical form of government. I therefore accept the Conftitucion, I promise to support it in the kingdom, ro defend it a gain ft foreign violence, and to procure its execution by all the means which it places within my power. I declare, that convinced of the attachment of the great majority of the people to the Couftitution, I gave up the right of concur rence, which I had called for in this work, and that being respon sible to the nation alone, no one has a lo complain ol this de parture from my original requifuion. I should how ever deviate from truth, if I said that I have per ceived in the administrative and executive authority all the energy lieceirary to put in motion, and preserve harmony in all the parts of this wide extended empire : But since opinions areat this time divided on this fubjeft, I consent that experience alone should be Ihe judge. When 1 shall have put into action all the powers plac ed in my hands, I can fuller no reproach, and the nation, whose intcieft tiiould bed comlaui rule, will explain itfclfiu the manner WILLIAM PATERSON. laid down in the Constitution. But to strengthen liberty and the Constitution, to promote the individual happiness of every French, man, certain interests pofttively cail for the re-union of all our ef forts. These interests are, refpedt for the laws, the le-eftabhlh ment of good order, and the re-union of citizens. At this time the Constitution being finally eftabliflied, French men living under the fame laws should know no other enemies than those who disregard them—Discord and anarchy—they are our common enemies : I will oppose them with all my might. It is impoitant that vou and your fucccftors should second my ef forts with energy. Without attempting to controul thought, the law prote&s equally all those whose a6hons are in conformity to it. Let those whom fear of perfections and disturbances have driven from their country, find, when they return, security and tranquility: And to put an end to feuds, to foften the diftrefTes which a great revolution always occasions, and, that the law ma) from tins time command with full energy and be well executed, let us consent to forget the past. Let accusations and prosecuti ons, which took their rife in events which accompanied the revo lution, die away, and let an universal reconciliation take place. I make no mention of those who have been guided only by their attachment for me : Is it pollibie that you fticuld deem them guilty ?—With regard to those who, having been guilty of cxcefles that involved nerfonal injuries, have drawn upon their heads the vengeance of the laws, I prove to them, that lam King of all Frenchmen. P. S. I have thought, gentlemen, that I ought to pronounce my solemn acceptance of the Constitution in the midst of the Repre sentatives of the Nation, and on the Ipot where the Constitution was framed ; I (hall therefore come to the National Assembly to morrow at noon. NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, SEPT. 13. dfler the King hadfubfcribed the oath, the President made the following jut'W/r o INVETERATE abuses, which had long triumphed over the good intentions of our best Kings, and which would still have con tinued to defy the authority of the throne, kept France under op preflion. The National Aflembly, entrusted with the wishes, the rights and power of the Deople, has, by the deftruffion of all abuses, r£- established the solid foundation of public prosperity. Sire, what the National Aflembly has decreed, is ratified by the consent of the people : the molt complete execution in all the parts of the empire attests the general assent. It defeats the weak, schemes of those whom discontent has too long rendered blind to their own interests. It protnifes to your Majesty, that you will no longer wifli in vain for the happiness of the French. The National Aflembly has nothing more to wish for on this ever-memorable day, wherein you consummate, in the midst of them, the most solemn engagement —the acceptation of the consti tutional royalty. It is the attachment of the trench—it is their confidence which confer upon you this pure and refpe&ful title to the faireft crown in the universe * and that which secures it to you, is, Sire, the inexhaustible authority of a Constitution freely de creed : it is the invincible strength of a people, who has felt itfelf worthy of liberty : it is the want of hereditary monarchy, which will always be indifpenfible to luch a great nation. When your Majesty, expefling from experience the light which it will throw upon the pra£hcal results of the Constitution, pro mi fes to maintain it within and to defend it agfiivjl enemies from with out, the nation, relying on the justice of their rights, and on the consciousness of their strength and courage, as well as on the car ncftnefsof your co-operation, cannot fee any ground of alarm I rom without, and will concur by its quiet confidence in the quick suc cess of its internal government. How great to our eyes, dear to our hearts, and how sublime will appear in our history the cera of this regeneration, which gives citizens to France—a country to the French ;to you as a king, a title to greatness and glory, and to you, as a man, a new source of enjoyment and new fandlions ot happiness! The fill owing Address from the General Assembly of St. Domingo, was read in the House of Represen tatives 0/ the United States, on Monday lafl. TO THE HONORABLE IMS CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES. Gentlemen, IN our letter of the 24 th of last August, you received information of the misfortunes, which had befallen the northern part of this flourjfhing colony. Our whole force, though very limited, has been levelled against the ravagers, who are it waste ; and we have so far accomplish ed our ends, as, if not to effect their total reduc tion, at least to check the evil in its progress. That unhappy cataflropbe forced the General Assembly of the French part of Saint Domingo to embrace every means of fafety, indispensable in similar cases, and rendered necessary by the ur gency of circumstances ; in consequence of which, the flipping in general, and, among the reft, the velfels belonging to your nation, have ex perienced some little delay in their departure. But, desirous of maintaining the union and har mony, that subsist between France (of which we conttitute a part) and your States—desirous also of telHfying, as far as in their power, their arateful acknowledgment of the generous servi ces offered and rendered to the colony, by the brave fubjecfts of the United States—the General Assembly, in concert with the King's representa tive have in the firft plate, set aside the Droit d'Aubaine, in favor of such as might fall vie tims to their own zeal and courage. The Aflem bly would have wifbed to abolish it forever, and to extend the exemptionstothe Americans inge iH»p>l, b ' Jt tllis ob J e the circumitances of the people of the refpedive countries are efTentially different.