A NATIONAL "WfibNESDAYS ANOf .SATURPATS BY Ff.NNQ, {Jo. 34, NORTH*FIFTtf-ST&tkTi'^Hn.hnr.tvuiA
[No. 105 of Vol. IV'.]
FROM THE COLUMBIAN CENTIN^L.
44 OMNIUM PPIMUM RAWS TUERI PIS&::
UCAM FIDEM." Liv.
Mr. Russell,
» TT has been enquired by citizens anxions
A for the welfare of the country, and aware
of the distress to which it must inevitably be
Teduced by a European war, whethev we
have not already pledged our faith so far as
to preclude us from any present contfderatlpii
of convenience or inconvenience, and whe
ther we are not by oar own voluntary en
gagement bound to take the part of the pre
sent government »n in cafe
the Weft-India iftaild > be attacked bv
Great-Britain.
By the eleventh article of the Treaty of
Alliance with France, the United States
U ' guaranty to his Most Christian Majesty, the
pofleffions of the crown of France in Ame
rica."—But the course of human events has
either totally absolved us, or at least suspend
ed the obligation of this- clause, and it can
not be made even a plausible pretext for. in
volving us in the present war. My reasons
for this opinion are,
1. That the guaranty is te kh most Christian
Majesty, or the poffejfiffls of the crown of France.-—
I ask, who is at this time his moji Chnflian Ma
jesty ? A part of the French nation, and all
the other powers of Europe will answer, he
is the son or the'brother of the late Lours
theXVlth. The National Convention, and
the present Republic of France will fay there
is no such man. The office and all its powers
have been extinguished in the blood of the
person wfah whom your contrad: was made.
If the article "binds us to either of the par
ties, the question, which of the two is en
titled to claim the performance, is now a
audition to be fettled by the event of a civil
War, and neither party can call upon us to
dccide it for them. •
2. That supposing the revolutions of France,
are now completed, and a Republic firmly
established, it may be doubtful, whether they
have not by their change of government, dif
"fofved this clause of the Treaty : I know it
is a general principle of the laws of nations,
that the rights and obligations of Treaties
survive the internal revolutions,of govern
ment, and therefore that the, Republic of
France may be entitled to the benchr; of en
contracted with the former mo
narch. But to this rule there are many ex
ceptions ; the firft Constituent- Aifembly were
so fully of this opinion that they thought the
nation absolved from all such Treaties pre
yioufly made, as might be injurious to their
iqterefh, and the present government have
extended the principle much further,when as a
juftification for opening, the Scheldt, contra
ry to the positive and express flipulation of
many Treaties, they have formally denied
the obligation of any compa& t/ which was
contrary to the natural Rights of Men. Upon fpe-
principles it maybe very question
able how far the sovereign controul of a
French Republic, over illands at three thou
sand miles distance from them is confident
with such natural rights, and it would be dif
ficult to mark the diftin&ion which should
prohibit every art of jurifdi<slion exercised by
one nation over a river flowing through the
territories of another, and at the fame time
allow a supreme authority over'colonies pla
ced by the hand of nature at so wide a dis
tance from the metropolis.-—The pofjejjior.i of
the crQTua qJ France, as guaranteed by our Trea
ty to his moji hrijlian M(ije[ly i appear to me to
have formed a part of that Constitution of
g jvernment which then existed in France;
tney were a part of the monarchy, and under
tae new government they can .no longer be
confiJered as pojfeffiem, in the fame sense in
which they were understood when the Uni
lep States bound themselves to the guaranty.
. 3* Should both these grounds for the opin
ion I am supporting be considered as errone
ousj and the clause in quefHon be held as
binding us to the French Republic, in the
fame manner as it formerly did to the Kinp,
it remains to enquire what was intended by
the guaranty and what are the duties which
it has prescribed to us I—During the admin
ift rat ion of the royal \ ..-rnm«ot, had the
authority of the Covert »• • »en guided by the
maxims of speculative freedom or of prac
tical tyranny; had he provoked a rebellion in
the by opprefling the planters or by
liberating their slaves; the guaranty in the
treaty would not have bound us to assist him
v/.th our blood and treafuies, in enforcing an
abfund and unnatural Government against the
perpetu-tl refinances which it would necefTarj
jy provoke." Had the late King of France,
like other Kings of whom we read in "history,
veiling his insatiate ambition, under Anne
ipecious pretence of glory, of* dignity or of
Safety, declared a wanton and uujuftifiaWe
\%ar against any or all of the commercial na
tions in Europe, and had his pofleffions in
America been conquered by his enemies in
the course of such a war, "he never could have
called upon the United States by virtue of
■this guaranty, to repair the injuries of his
folly, and to tecrifice themselves in support of
25, I 795.
- : ' . .n*. i>i. . ...
his Dlßiwms project*. Ft is tinnecefTary to
f&tigu? the public with the pedantry of quota
tions the write nrupon natural and po
litical Law, but it may he laid down as 3,11
unive-ffal principle, that no ftipuiation con
tained infc treaty, can ever oblige one nation
.to adopt or support the folly or injustice of
another.—ln applying this principle, it be
come* neceflary to observe, that the adniin
iftrat'on of the French government over their
'colonies, since the firft revolution of 1789
has been tisch as to keep almost all their
islands in a con it ant (fate of rebellion and ci
vil War ; hy the forjiifr; of these calamities
the slaves have been united against m.as-
; by the latter the mailers have been di
vided against each other. From the chaotic
mass of hum art passions, a polle&ion of all the
most violent and inflammable elements has
been fele&ed and combined together ; the
torch of the furies has been applied to the
com portion j and the miserable illanders have
been the v;iftims of the fatal cxplofion.
To such a state of desperation have these
devoted colonies been reduced, that a for-
mal deputation as we are informed by the
public papers have solicited for them the
prote<ftion ot'tiie Bii'ifli government; and'
we are now told that this protection ha< been
promised ; that the King of Great-Britain,
has agreed to take poifelfion of these colo
nies and to hold them in trull for his Mqfi
Christian Majefly, the power to whom the letter
of our guaranty has promised the afTiftance
of the United States. An arbitrary and op
pre/five system ofadminjftration compelled us
to renounce the authority of Great-Britain,
and France aflifted us to maintain our honor
able warfare. A similar evil, has driven
some of the French colonies to a similar re
medy; one of them has even attempted a
Declaration of Independence, and all the o
thers would doubtless ,have done the fame,
Were they not profoundly fenlible that the
tims is not yet come, for the Lion to lie down
with the Lamb, and that the justice of their
cause would avail them but little against the
powerful injustice of tlieir oppreflors. But
fuiely there would be fomethipg iingularlv,
and iniquitous, to fee the United States
support the French in a plan of oppreflive ad
ministration over their colonies, as a reward,
for refctiing them from the oppreflion of
Great-Britaiu. It would hg fucli a
vierfion of all moral and political consistency,
such a covenant between virtue and vice,
such a coalition of liberal freedom with des
potic tyranny, as can scarcely be imagined
without a confufion of or expressed
without an abfurd'rty of language.
4- The last ground ijpop which I. consider
this guaranty as dissolved or at least suspend
ed? is, that by the att of the French govern
ment, it has been rendered impracticable.
They have declared war against all Hie naval
powers of Europe. "What the event of that
war will be, it is not given to man tofpretjel;
but we cannot take a part with the French
Republic, without uniting all the reft of Eu
rope against us ; which upon every lational
calculation of probability, would be dooming
oarfelves to inevitable ruin and deftru&ion.
We are therefore commanded by a Jaw,
which fupercede* all others, by that uncon
troulable law of nature, which is paramount
to all humap legislation, or compact, to re
main at peace, and to content ourselves with
wishing that laureled victory may fit upon
the sword of justice, and that Crnooth success
may always be strewed before the feet of vir
tuous Freedom. MARCELLU S.
EXTRACTS,
Written it 1790,— Tmnjlattijr<m the French.
" "TAR from faying to . people that nature
X has made all men e<]ual, they ought to
learn on the contrary, that (he has made them
very unequal; that one is born strong and
another weak j that one is born healthy and
another infirm ; that allarenotequaHyadroit
«nd vigilant, and thus the mailer piece of
well regulated society is to render equal by
laws, those whom nature has made so unequal
as to their ineans. By nutuia! equality, we
understand an equality as .to rights, and not
an equality in fact ( since it is true that men
are born with unequal means, and pass their
lives in conditions very unequal whatever li
berty the country to which they belong may
polTefs. A Shoemaker of ancient Rome was
not the equal of Scipio, although he had na
turally as much right as Scipio to be elected
to offices ia the Republic; they were both
equal as to their rights, but unequal as to
their means. It would be better, perhaps, to
adopt the expreflion of civil equality, since all
the citizens are profeifted by equal laws
There is not, and .there never will be any
other equality among men.
ALL wife Legislators have added to the
obligation of laws the ties of religion. Thev
thought that they could rot take too many
precautions to establish among men subordi
nation—that tutelar; angel of the world
But the philosophers of the present day, build
their republics like Plato upon a Hem theory.
409
They have :n their imaginations an itWal
world, which they wish tp-ftibftitute for that
which really exiits.
TRUE Courage has always confifled in
boldly speaking against arbitrary power, whe
ther of the Prince or .of .the People. It is
when every body is awed to Jilence in the pre
sence ot a Despot—-it Is. in the midst of Slavery
a man ought to elevate hi§ voice in fa
vor of Liberty; but when a furious multitude
all pu'rfiUng this fame liberty, and marking
their fodtfteps with blood rises, it is then ne
celTary to fofren the voice, and to speak dis
creetly in favor of government, without
which thpre is no liberty. In one word, cou
rage at jfueh a time confills in maintaining
moderately our opinions, as it before consisted
in boldly exprefftng them. The arbitrary
power of an individual is defpotifm—»that of
many is Anarchy. Nothing is more frequent
than to.find men of honor, who pride them
selves in oppoling the arbitrary authority of
an individual: But before the power of a
multitude every thing yields in a moment,
and we obey without blulhingv In Short, it'
requires the most fub'ime courage ndt to"
flatter tfce pafHons of the people.
IF there existed on earth a race of beings
superior to man, they would Come times be
acton i Hied at our inftin&i—but would laugh at
our reafoii—Above al/, in the great Events of
this world, our heft efforts betraying so much
imbecility and our projects accompanied.with
so little fmefight, would excite their pity.
Human vanity must confefs that there exists
a kind of fatality which Seems to amuse itfelf
in giving the l.e to our prudence* and at its
pleafureTjaffles the councils of wisdom. It is
to the jhprtnefs ofVour views, we muft.attri
b.ute this, If we. could .find out.caufi?s bef9re
we were, alarmed by their effects, we could
predict events with ibme certainty—but al
ways compelled to ascend from effects to
causes, mau palles his life in reafonning on
the past, complaining of the prefect, and
trembling for the future.
BY a Constitution we combi
nation of the three powers, Lecrijlativc' t Exe
cutive, and Judkiat. A constitution is good
when the three powers are combined.for. the
pcopfe, afid tlie gloj-y, of tt?e
government; A. constitution is bad, when
these powers are confounded or are nnited in
the fame hands for the misfortune of the fub
jeft, or the debafeinent of the'Prihce, or the
Magistrates. Every nation which is not fa
vagc, is a body politic, and. artificial-—the
constitution gives it existence, the l/i>ys give
it a<sl;on.
fHOk TiiE-tOLUMhIAN i^NTINEL.
Mr. Russell,
IT is with much pleasure I have observed
in a perusal of Paris papers, as late as the
16th March, that a great degree of peace and
order appeared to exist in that populous ca-r
pital. 1 obfer-ved-, in a paper of the that
fps Theatres were advertised as open on that
evening for public exhibitions.; and I think
the following diary of the business done in
the Commune of Paris, no bad index of the
tranquillity of the city, viz.
CrviL State.
March 2d Divorces 6. Marriages 25. Births
6?. Deaths 36.
£d. Divorces 5. Marriages 12. Births
91. Deaths 43.
4th. Divorces io. Marriages 29. Births
62. Deaths 69.
sth« Divorces 6. Mnrriages 38. Births
56. Deaths 39, &:c.
In thi; detail the civil state of the is
daily kept, ard in my opinion, i.t is a very
strong evidence that a great degree of order
must reign in a plaee, where the administra
tors of tjiePolice can keep so regulaf and par
ticular an account of the civil circumstances
whioh tranfpjre in it. Your's,
A Friend to the French.
May 1793.
Foreign Intelligence.
CONSTANTINOPLE, Feb. u.
ACCORDING to the latest advi
ces from the Archipelago,feve
ral veflels, mider RuUian colours,
loaded with grain, have been taken
by a French frigate.
Semonville'sarrival is still retard
ed, and it is now believed the
Porte will follow the example of
other powers, and refufe to acknow
ledge him..
Egypt is desolated by a croel fa
mine. At Cairo, the Hreets are fill.
Ed with the dead bodies of the poor
wretches who have fallen a prey to
its ravages—The Plague has again
appeared on a fud'Jeii at Smyrna.
r Whole No. 425.]
v. ' >
SWITZERLAND, Feb. 2r .
The council of Berne
resolved, after a long lifting of ifae
21ft it)ft,, ro accede to the propofaJs
made by the directory of Zurich, of
recommending an official cprrefpon
denpe wjih M. Bartheleiny, Minif
ler of the I'rench republic.
The cantons of Bazjl, Scbaffhoufe,
AppenzelJ, and the towns of St. Gal
l£s, Biel, and also de.
cJared their adherence to the judg
ment of the Directory of Zurich.
The other states of the Helvetic
Corps only waited the determination
of Berne to follow its example.
STOCKHOLM, March j.
The day before yesterday the
young king, accompanied by the
Duke Regent, set off for [JpfaJ.
Another voyage is abeady talked of
in the approaching spring, towards
the Finland Frontiers, when an in
terview may have place between the
Etnprefs of R uflia, our young Mo
narch and his illuttrious' Uncle,
WARSAW, (Poland) March 6.
The Ruffian ambaflador lias at
length persuaded his majHly to
make the voyage to Grodno. His
excellency goes on before about the
9th, and his majefly is expected ro
follow towards the end of the ap
proaching week.
H A G U March 2?
On the 2tft infh great part of (he
noble town-hall of Maeftricht fell
in. This is the cqnfequence bf the
bombardment, which, it feeiriSj was
designed rather to destroy the city
than i:.ke it.
Thirty-nine- pieces as cannon,tak
en frorri the-Kren-ch in the fwfiion of
the ;Bth, were brought ipts Maef
tricht on t,h e .3.4 th. It ip fupppferf
that they mult have 101 lin the dif
ferent engagements fi;orn the tßth
to the 22d, more than 60 pieces of
cannon, and that they had 14 or iy
thousand men killed or wounded.
The loss on the fide of the Austrian?
is estimated at 6000.
O S T E N D, March 31.
The whole province of Brittany,
except Nantes, is now in arms. The
Paris papers state the number of re
volters at 40,000, but other accounts
by private letters make them amount
to 90,000 men, It is supposed that
the reason of their Hopping the
mails by ihe way of Calais is, to pre
vent its being known in England,
lelt afliftance IhoulJ be sent to the
revolters. They are in pofieffion
of all the country round Brest and
Rochelle.
L E Y D E N, April j.
" Head quarters of the Prnflian ar
my at Laubach, on the Hanfcrue,
March 24.
" We are encamped here at the
distance of 2 leagues from Simeri'a,
which is occupied by our troops.
" In a little time v»e (hall advance
against Cruetznach.
" Our van-guard, under the com
mand of Col. Seculi, having fallen
in with the enemy on the road, re
pulsed them the firft day, on the se
cond he was repulsed in turn, but
en the 3d he beat the French, and
drove them as far as Binpcn. The
iofs on either fide was trifling. A*
our corps was not fuflicientjy nume
rous, it retired to Stromberg. We
should have been already maitersof
Kingen, had not a spy a native of
Crueiznach, informed theenemy of
our march. He has been arretted
and will soon luffer put*ifhuienr. ''
" I his day 4 Pruflian regiments
palled the Rhine at St. Goar, to join
us. VVe arc informed also, that se
veral Auftriaa regiments of the ar
my of Prince de Hohenloh- have
quitted Treves under the coeraiani
V