Wuft have dropped down lt Ah ! Ye*, Ah !
Yes!" cried the Hon. Members, staring at
each other with faces of wonder. w But, ex
claimed the Hon. A. J. D. certainly fir, you
did not irrite all thin poem in one day ? 44 One
day! replied the astonished author, one day
Whv, fir, how you degrade my poem j
Can you be fermus in your cjueftion \ N T o, fir,
—I locked myfelf 111 this study i'or 19 days
and nights—l lived during the who'e time
foleiy on dry bread andJi'ong cvjfte, which you
know Doflar is a powerful stimulant to the
imagination—The firft day I made one stanza,
and so greatly was I by it", pathos,
that I gained not one wink of ileep that night
—The next morning being wearied, I fell in
to flam'iers} during which 1 saw the ghost of
Patty—-immediately on beholding her, I broke
out into that foiritted addreft which begins
the second stanza— 1 ' Ah ! ah ' dear patty !
Oh ! ah ! oh \ dear Cat !"—Whert I awoke
at four in the afternoon, I put down the line,
left I (hould forget it—then getting my cot'
fee down and walking twice across my room,
I was capable of purftrfng my labor, and by
next day evening finifhed the second stanza.
In twelve days I finilhed the other four stan
zas, and the sixteenth day I began to read
over my work, in order to make corrections'
in grammar and spelling—l came to the line
" Ah ! what have I to do but lie and !"
I saw something wanting, and being then un
der the influence of ftroi-g coffee, and of the
poem as I had read it eolle&ivcly, I fat down,
and before night completed the poem, by that
matter-piece of composition the concluding
stanza. The three remaining days I spent in
corrections and copying—For the fpeUings I
always followed Entick's pocket dictionary.
Thus, my honorable and worthy friends, you
fee what labor can effect ; and as I have done
this poem in so short time, you ought not to
despair of completing your panegyrical poems
in the space of one month But before I con
clude, gentlemen, let me take the liberty to
observe to you, that the best and easiest me
thod I have found to make verfew, is firft by
putting down the words which rhyme to each'
other, which you can procure from that valu
able book called the Rhyming Dictionary.
This is the mode I follow and approve—and
indeed I believe the great Mr. Pope followed
this plan also, for in his immortal poem enti
tied the " Wife of Bath," the only poem of
his that I have read, I find he has almost eve
ry rhyme from that dictionary." Here the
honorable gentlemen bowed to the learned
author, and the Hon. A. J. D. moved that the
thanks of the company be presented to him
for his information conveyed; which motion
being carried, they were accordingly present
ed by the Hon. mover. It was now i 2 at
midnight, and the honorable gentlemen mutu
ally pledging themselves to appear at the fame
place on the 3d* day of February, with their
poetical addrelTes to their worthy leader the
virtuous P •t of the S—e of P — -a, they
retired to their refpedVive habitations.
+ Thro' '.he Jane channel that I received those
Jketches, I have obtained the proceedings of the meet.
ing held agretMy to this rrfnlution, on the 3d 0/ Fe.
irutiry, and shall fend them to you in a few days.
For the GAZETTE of the UNITED STATES.
Mr. Fe N NO,
I COULD not help smiling at a late remark on
the Speeches and Refolutionsof certain mem
bers of the House of Representatives of the U. S.
refpe&ing some of the Officers of Government,
viz. " Satan hath desired to fiftyou as wheat." —
1 know the transparent and firm integrity of enc
of thoje officers of mod refpe&able chara£ter : but
tho' I had no (hadow of doubt of his integrity,
or fear of his faith in an omniscient overruling
Providence, failing; yet I could not be certain
of his faith in the intelligence, penetration and
candor of a very great majority of the citizens of
these United States, and a continuance thereof,
"till I considered the further means of ufefql
knowledge and discernment of their own true
interests, and of his real merits and capacity,
which would be afforded in consequence of the
reccnt investigations and fillings of his conduct
since his appointment to that very weighty of
fice— I then took comfort, and doubted not,
that even his faith in this refpefl would not fail
him ;—and upon reading his Letter, or Report,
of the 4th inft. I am exceedingly pleased to fee
his foul rife superior to those premature and
groundle-fs insinuations, in a certain precipitate
and rema»kable publication. And though I
perceive he is not insensible to what might have
been the motive to those erroneous and uncandrd
insinuations, yet his answer puts me in mind of
the Angel whvn contending with Satan about
the body of Moses—He brought not a railing
accusation against him (as in justice he might)
but only said, " The Lord rebuke thee, Satan"
—to which I fay, Amen.
I rannot help ferling hurt when I fee inno
cence and remarkably superior rnen't attackrd by
anv son of Adam or of Eve—be he whom he
will—as I can with conscious truth declare my
felf a lover of mankind—and in particular, of
the peace, credit, profprrity and honor of these
highly favored United States—
And am, Sir.
Your friend and fuNfrriber,
PHILANTNROPOS.
Norfolk, January 26.
Extratt-tf a letter from a gentleman in Cape-Fran
cois, td his friend in this towri, dated Dec. 28.
" We have for sometime been under fearful
appre.henfions that the opinions of the metropo-i
lis would prove fatal to the interest of the coun
try. We are now happy to inform you, that
the National Convention have sent 45,000,000
livres to the relief of this colony—Ninety ihou
fy»d dollars arriyed lad evening in a vessel from
Hourdcaux, and 130,000 «ry>re are now entering
our pori. We are farther aflured, that 20,000
troops have lately embarked from France, who
will establish good order in Martinique & Gua
daloupe. This oughc to animate our courage
and forces, and infpire-ns with a hope that a
general tranquillity will soon be established in
thii unhappy country."
Foreign Affairs.
F U L DA, November 9.
PRIVATE letters fromHanau mention, that
they expe& every day large reinforce men t*
from Austria and other powers.■ Eight days
ago, three Hanoverian regiments arrived alrea
dy at Marburg, where are like wife some Hef
fan dragoons, and ten thousand men more are
ready to march at a moment's warning to the
alii (lance of the Prince of Hefle Caffel.
The regiment of Carabineers of HefTe Caffel
is marching towards Hanau. Three thousand
three hundred Auftrians, who had with them
great quantities of cannon and ammunition,
were obliged to halt at Afkaffenburg, on ac
count of the French being in Franckford. Jw
Franconia the quarters were bespoke for the?
Austrian troops, and they are procuring provi
sions for the men andhorfcs.
It is said for certain, that the Ele&or of Sax
ony is going to march his contingent of fixthou
fand men towards Mentz, and that lix thousand
more are in readiness in cafe of necessity.
LIMBURG (on theLahn) Nov. 9
The Pruflian van-guard, which was quarter
ed here, and amounted to about thirteen hun
dred men, was attacked this day by the French;
these advanced suddenly from Weilburg, with
about two thousand five hundred men. The
engagement was very severe, and lasted from
one till four o'clock. But this timt the supe
rior numbers had the advantage, the Pruflians
were obliged to retreat by the Lah Bridge,
with a loss of two hundred men killed and
wounded. The French then took poffefiion of
our city. They had in the engagement five
cannons served with canister (hot, which gave
them a great superiority, the Pruflians had only
two cannon with them.
The French immediately took pofleflion of
the EleiSloral Caflle and Offices. They demand
ed two thousand five hundred guilders as z con
tribution from the fame, but did no kind of in
jury to any of the citizens.
COBLENTZ, November ir
As soon as the news of the engagement at
Limburg arrived here, the Duke of Brunfwick
marched thither with a considerable body of
troops. The Kmg departed likewise with a (mall
retinue.
P.S. This inflant we received the news, that
the Duke of Brunfwick has drove the French
out of Limburg again. The Pruflian general
Prince Hohenlohe, who commands the rear
guard of that army, covers the city of Treves,
where there it yet a considerable Pruflian maga
zine. Our Elector (of Treves) is gone to Augs
burg, and the Ele&or of Mentz to Vienna.
It is reported that an engagement took place
between the Heflians and the French, wherein
the firft had the advantage. Several Pruflian re
giments pal Ted thro' this city to-day for Lim
burg on the Lahn, where general Kalkreuth;
stands now, who isready to march against Frank-'
fort.
Nov. 12. The king of Pruflia is still with the
army, and the duke of Brunfwick, it is nowaf
ferted, will keep the command in chief. They
have built a bridge across the Rhine in order to
accelerate the march of the troops —A great
many wounded have been brought in here, a
mongst the reft a prifonerof ft ate, whose name
is not known A strong corps ofPruflian canno
neers is marched into our fortrefs. The Carthu-;
fians have left their conventand have taken lodg
ings in town. Their,convent is full of Prussians,<
and several batteries are to be ere&ed there. Ge
neral Ihlow has died here. The French troops
near Weilburg are said to amount to 8000 men.
The army of general Kellerman, which some
reckon at 40,000 men, is already near Mertzig
and threatens Treves. The garrison in Mentz
must be very strong, as every day frefh troops
are marching there ; those that have not room
in the city, entrench themselves under the can
tion of the fortrefs. General Cuftine ilegleils
nothing to secure himfelf; it is even said that he
is about condu&ing the river Mayn so as to
strengthen and secure his fortifications. It is said,
that te ? more regiments are to come from Bran
denburg. Ye Herd ay an express brought the ac
count, that the French had destroyed the Prus
sian and Imperial magazines at Remich and Gre
venmachern.
REGENSBURG, November 9.
The consideration of the third article of the
Imperial decree of the ift of September, concern
ing the fafety and the war establishment of the
empjre, which had been made the order of the
day for the sth instant, has been postponed
quite unexpc&edly a second time. Some fay
that the ele<storate courts had altered their in
ftruclions. So much may be depended upon,
that the day preceding that appointed for the
said deliberations, a number of expresses arrived
at the hotels of some of the ele&oral ambafladors.
A great number of French emigrants arrived
here within those few days, but our magistracy
hath intimated them, that they must quit the
city before Sunday next* Orders have been like
wise given at the gates, that no more French
men {hall be admitted into the city without hav
ing previously obtained a special permiflion for
that purpose.
Much is talked here of a great prisoner of
state, who was with the combined armies in
France, and as it is said, had been gui ty of trea
chery when they were about surrounding Gen.
Dumourier.
F R A N K F O RT, November 13.
The king of Pruflia is said to be near Lim
burg on the Lahn with 16,000 men, and the
French have withdrawn from that quarter. On
the 9th the French marched 5000 men from Hu
ningen into the neighbourhood of Speyer, and
on the 13th, they we e to be followed bv 7000
more.
299
B A. N A U, November 13
. Yetlerday some more French troop?, with
,qannon and ammunition-waggons, marched
Frankfort; but another large detachment
marched from there iikewife with cannon to
wards Friedberg. According to the account
the Wetzlar Gazette ha? given of the en
gagement near Weylburg, between the French
and Hessian troops —the Hessians have taken two
cannon and a number of horses ready saddled,
.and the French had carried off seven waggons
with wounded. In the Hefiian dominions every
body is taking up arms; all the corps-de-refervd
. are complete, and fevcral thousand Hanoverian
troops have marched into Lichtenau and Witz-
enhaufen,
BRUSSELS, November 15
On the 13th instant, a severe engagement
took place between the roar guard of the Austri
an army and the French, which reachcd ourfu
burbs of Anderlech. They fired from our walls
till night, when the Auitrian troops marched
off and some of the French officers came into
town with torches. The next day General Du
mourier followed with his van-guard, confiding
of about Sooo men, and another column palled
by this city. The cities of Ghent, Cortryck,
Dornick, &c. have been taken pofTeflion of by
the French in the name of the committee of re
volution of the Belgians and Liegois.
CONGRESS.
HOUSE OF REPRESENT JT IF ES.
In our Paper of 6th iiijlant, <we gave
the fuhjlance of Mr. Murray's rrmaris
On the bill to amend the a& to promote the
pragrefs of the ufeful arts, —the following
is a more particular fhetch of his olferva
tions on that oceafion.
MR. MURRAY said, he intended to move
to finite out dirritnroj tbr mint, for the pur
pose of inserting, the judge of the diftriel where
in the applicant might reside. As he thought
the bill of great consequence as it related to the
tifeful and ornamental arts, he would trouble the
committee with his reasons. He thought it was
of con equence, that while the law holds out an
invitation to genius, the mode of gratifying the
fair fehoneft inventor ftiould beaseafyas possible.
The director of the mint mull reside at the feat
of government; and if he alone, or any other
person were exclufivcly empowered to issue pa
tents, the benefits of invention would be bnt ]
very partially enjoyed by the citizens who reside
at a diftanca from the feat of government. The
law ought to facilitate the granting of patents,
and as the right of exclusive enjoyment, at least
. for a limited term, was inherent in all equally
in every part of the nation, so all ftiould as far
as possible have equal facility in making their
pretensions known and eff.ftual. A country in
Europe, Great Britain, had afforded, it was
true, much experience on thefubjeiS; but regu
lations adopted there, would not exactly com
port in all refpe&s either with the fitiiation of
this country nor with the rights of the citizen
here. The minds of some members had taken a
wrong diredlion, he conceived, from the view
in which they had taken up the fnbje<£t under its
analogy with the docftrine of patents in England.
There is this ftreng feature which diftinguiflies
that do<Strine in that country from the princi
ples on which we mult fettle it in this. These
patents are derived from the grace of the mo
narch, and the exclusive enjoyment of the profits
of a difcoveryis notfo much a right inherent, as
it is a privilege bellowed, and an emanation of
prerogative. Here on the contrary th» citizen
has a right in the inventions th-y may make,
and considers the law but as the mode by which
he is to enjoy their fruits. England is one entire
kingdom. Its court is the feene where its pre
rogative diffufes its bounties, and being stationa
ry at London, the business can be well managed
in afingle spot. Here on the contrary, there are
fifteen Hates sovereign as to many purposes, and
forming within themselves tenters of attraction
for the ingenious and aspiring. London in that
country, not only attra&s as the mart of genius
arid of "all riiat contributes to ease or gain, but
by its immense combination of things aids inven
tion and draws the genius into a£tion which it
may have attracted—But we are differently cir
oumftanced both as to local situation, and as to
the thing as it regards the principle on which it
is to/be obtained. The diilance from the ex
tremes of the union, or from its center to its ex
tremes, is very g eat. If the power were lodg
ed with the diftricSt judges, the citizen of inge
nuity would have an opportunity of taking a pa
tent certiinly with more safe, than if you oblige
him to take a journey of perhaps fix or eight
hundred miles. The facility of enjoyment would
prove an incentive to invention. Difficulty and
diflance would discourage it, andwould frequent
ly overpower the wifli to obtain a patent for a
discovery, the profits of which would often be
doubtful. One, and but one objetflion had been
made to this alteration—that if the district judg
es hava the power, patents may issue in differ
ent places for the fame discovery. This would
be an evil,but is not without a remedy. Patents
are matters of record Let it be the duty of the
judge, immediately after the granting of a pa
► tern, to transmit a copy of the application with
all the necessary description of the article, to the
supreme court, from which it may be easily dif
femmated to every district court, and through
the United States. An inventor desirous of ob
taining a patent, would of courfc examine the
patent records, to fee whether he had been anti
cipated. 1 he grant of a patent does not destroy
a,claim or right founded in priority. Here he
would observe, that if the inconvenience were
not entirely removed by this measure which he
pi opofed, neither was the inconvenience of clalh
mg claims as to originality and priority of dis
covery removed by any provision of the bill as
It ftspj,, sor ewM hmu iitjmcay p .y, v ,.
devifc a complete mode in which it couU b.,
viated. If a man who i, rea! l y tht , k
chufes to try his title a, t» t h c originality of*'
invention, even after a patent in aivrn > 7
he will make ar.d vend the article, and tCfoS
title will be tried before a junr in „„ J 1
brought igainft him by ,h c pi tmtci . ,)*"•»
mcalure he propofsd were not deemed a W
eqt guard, he would suggest the proprietor 0 f ]
further cautton-Ut.thc application be JLi*
ed and remain 111 the office, at in Fnil-,-
does, he believed, two months in the fh cc 'J
the attorney-general, that a cavui n-..- v be en
tered by any man who mig ht claim or d.f™,'
the applicant s title. p
He believed that the bill, either a* it tend 1
to foftec the genius of men, or wa< ,
with refpe£l to distant emolument and .
chara&er, was extremely important. It was -j*
mod immediately one of thofc laws that emW*
ed national views and national eitwenfhiu anj
looked to an obje& of advantage which n'.lhinz
but a national government could secure. With
out the aid of a general government, the »nii u j
of the Americans could, not reap its fruits"; ncr
had the state governments given a fair occ'afiw,
for the display of the ingenuity which he believ
ed existed in the country. As to this great ob
je&, which requires national citiz.-nftiip, the
state laws were impotent. He thought that it
was of consequence that no J„, wr . v^r
small or irrelative it might at firft appear, should
be loft ; and where he saw the idea of a patent
law ridiculed by some, and unattended by others
he believed they were accustomed to fahe things
in their appearances, and had not exerted their
reflexion. A little reflection would teach us
that whAtever is great and aftonilhing in the
work* of art was humble in its origin, had been
oppoftrf by ignorance or cramped by poverty,
and had become important but by gradual ivcu
mulation and a very flow progrelfion ; and that
the wisdom of government should b« exerted in
forming a repository, where nothing that mi-fht
eventually be of service should be faffered to pe
rilh. He therefore wilhed to fee such a Is v as
would not only secure what micdit be off -cd
near the feat of government, but invit-and
draw forth the ufeful invention of those who
lived at a distance. That it Ihottld present an r:-
fy method of granting it prote&ion, he then
fore moved, that the judge of the diftri& where
in the applicant may refida, Ihouldbe fubfliluc •
edfor Director of the Mint.
TUESDAY February 11
A bill pursuant to the petition of Robert Eden
for exempting from duty live flock imported :n
to the United States, for the purpose of improv
ing the breed of particular species of ufeful ani
mals; was reported, read twice, and committed.
The petition of GifTard Dally wa taken up,
and a resolution proposed pursuant to the prayer
thereof—Laid on the table.
\ petition of Lewis Garanger was read, pray
ing an adjuflment and payment of interest pn
certificates received by him and his brothers;
and that they may be considered as foreign offi
cers of similar rank—Referred to the Secretary
of the Treasury.
A bill for the relief of Elijah Roftwick was
taken lip in committee of the whole, Mf>Muh
lenberg in the chair, amended, reported, and or- .
dered by the House to be engrofled.
A petition of Lewis Pintard, of the state of
New-York, was prefentcd by Mr. Lawrance,
praying to be exempted from the duties on a
quantity of wine loft by isakage—Referred to a
feleA committee,
A message from the Senate by Mr. Otis, in
formed the House that they have agreed to the
report of the joint comfnittee, refpe&ing th\j
mode of opening counting the votes for Prefl
dent and Vice-President of the United States.
fn committee of the whole on the plan report
ed by the Secretary of the Treasury for the re
duction of the public debt—Mr. Muhlenberg
}he chair.
The rcfolutions offered yeflerdaybv Mr.Fit?-
simons were difcufled. These refutations are in
conformity with the Secretary's report.
After further debate, the committee, without
coming to any vote, rose and reported jfrogreft,
and had leave t® fit again. Adjournedj.
WEDNESDAY, February i^.
A bill for the relief of F.lijxh Boftwick wa»
read the third time and passed.
The resolution,. laid on the table yesterday tiy
Mr. W. Smith, in conference of a petition of
Gifford Dally, authoring the Clerk todifcharge
the necessary expence for L b »r, incurred dur
ing the present feflion, out of the money appro
priated by law for the contingent expences of
the House, under the dire<Stion of the Speaker
was taken up and agreed to.
Mr. Parker presented the petition of Thomas
Mathews, which was read, and on motion of
that gentleman, referred to the Secretary of the
Treasury.
Mr. Sumpter called the attention of the house
to ail a& pafled the lall felfion, providing i(*
the settlement of claims not barred by the limi
tation ; heretofore established; recurring to parti
cular fe<slions of that a<sl, he {hewed that the
provisions therein contained fubje<sl the claim
ants to so much expence and .delay in, getting
their claims adjuftcd and fettled as amounts to
precluding them from obtaining that justice t e
a& appears to be designed to afford. Mr. Sump
ter concluded his remarks by moving that a com
mittee be appointed to bring in a f ill for re
pealing the second fe&ion »f the a#, an<t t»
provide adequate regulations in the cale—
on the table
The bill to refund to Jacob Bell certain ti
tles on pickled fifli, was taken up tn committee
of the whole, Mr. Murray in the chair.
bill was reported without'amendment, am or
dered by the House to be eqgrofk'd for a t ir
reading..