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*N A FIONA LPA P EH, PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS ANP SATURDAYS BV JQHW FENA'O, So. nrrH-STRE-f '
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[No. 155 of Vol. IV.]
FOR TJHF GAZHTTE.
HELVIDIUS— No. IV.
THE last papers conjoleated the view pro
posed to be taken of the &Y£\iments in
support of the new and aspiring doctrine,
which ascribes to the executive the preroga
tive of judging aiid deciding whether there
be caules of war or not, in the obligatipfH of
treaties; notwithftand'ng the expi-eis provi.
lion in the constitution, by which the legiflu
tui*e is made the organ of the national will,
on questions whether there be or be not a
caiiie for declaring war. If the answer to
th*le arguments has imparted the convi&ion
which dictated it, the leader will have pro
nounced, that they are generally fuperficialj
abounding in contradictions, never in the .least
degree conclufrve to the mafn point, and hot
conclusive against writer
himfelf: whilfl: the doctrine—-that The'powers
of treaty and war, are in their nature exe
cutive powers—which forms the basis of those
arguments, is as indefenfible and as danger
ous, as the particular do&rine to which they
are applied.
But it i&noA to be fotjLPtten that these doc,
trines, though ever so clearly disproved, or
ever lo weakly defended, remain before the
""public a ft: iking monument of the principles
and views which are entertained and propa?
gated in the community.
It is also to be remembered, that however
the consequences flowing from such premises.
may be riilavowed at this time or by this in
dividual, we are t6 regard it as morally cer
tain, chat in proportion as the do&rincs make
their way into the creed of the government,
and the acquiescence of the public,every pow
er that can be deduced from them, will be de
duced and exercised sooner or later by tkofe
who may have an interest in so doing. The
•character of human nature giver this falufary
warning to every sober and refie&ing mind.
And the history of government, in all its
forms and in every period of time, ratifies the
danger. A people therefore, who are so hap
py as to poiTefs the rneftimable bleflTng of a
free and defined conilitution, cannot lie too
watchful against the introduction, nor too cri
tical in tracing the consequences, of new
principles and new conitru*tions, that may re
move t >Ht la lid nrtrrks of f.
Should the prerogative which has, been exa
mined, be allowed in its molt limited sense, to?
usurp the public countenance, the interval
would probably be very {hort, before it would
be heard from some quarter or other, that the
prerogative either amounts to nothing, or
means a right to judge and conclude that the
obligations of treaty impose war, as well as
that they permit peace. That it is fair rea
soning, to fay, that if the prerogative exists
at all, an operative rather than ail inert charac
ter ought to be given to it.
lii support of this conclusion, there would
be enough to echo, 44 tl)at the prerogative in
this adtivs sense, is conoe<sted with the execu
tive in various capacities—as the organ of
intercourse between the nation and foreign
nations—as the interpreter of national trea
ties" (a violation of which may be a cause of
■war) uas that power which js charged with
the execution of the laws of which treaties
make a part—as that power, which is charg
ed with the command and application of the public
Jorcc
With additional force, it might he laid, that
the executive is as much the executor ai the
i»t:rpreter of treaties: that if by virtue of
theJirJi chara&er it is to judge of the obliga
. tions of treaties, it is by virtue of the fecond>
equally authorised to carry tho.'e obligations
into, ejfecl. Sliould there occur for example, a
* a J~u> Jcderis x claiming a military co-operation
©t the United States, and a military for.ee
(hould happen to be under the command of
executive, it must have the fame right,
as executw of public treaties tr> employ the public
£»' ce, as it has in quality of interpreter of pub.
he treaties to decide whether it ought to be cm.
ployed.
The cafe of a treaty of peace would be an
auxiliary to comments of this fort. I ; t is a
■condition annexed to every treaty that an
anfra&ion even of an important article, on
°ne fide extinguishes the obligations on the
other: and the immediate consequence of a
dissolution of a treaty of peace is a restora
tion of a (tare of war. If the executive is "to
decide on the obligation of the nation with
regard to foreign rations"—- 4i to p von ounce
the txijling condition (in the sense annexed by
tlie writci} of the nation with regard to
them ; and to admonilh the citizens of their
'obligations and duties as founded upon that
condition of things"—" to judge what are the
reciprocal rioht* and obligations of the United
-States, and of ali and each of the powers at
Tvar •' —add, that if the executive moreover
Jfc)fTei7es all powers relating to war vctJlr 'tQly
within the power to dcciarc mar, which any pu
p*l of political casuistry, could diftinguifti
from, a raero xcUiffe into a war, that hedbttn
*tcbined r With this {lore of materials and the
example j*iven of the use to be made of them,
"would it be difficult to fabricate a power in
the executive ;o phmjre the nation into war,
Saturday, September 14, 1795.
wherever .1 treaty of peace might happen to
be infringed ?
But if any tl flicnlty fliouTfl a,rife, there is
another mode charked put by which the end
might clearly he brought about, even without
the violation o>f the treaty of peace ; especi
ally if t,he other party should* happep to change
its governmeju at the crisis. The executive,
in that cale, could ftfpcnd the treaty of peace
by rrfufnig to receive an aribajj'idu r si oni the >iitr
government, and the State of war civ?+#> \f
courfc.
This is a fampleof the ijfe to which the
extraordinary publication we are reviewini,
might be turned. Some of the inferences
could not be repelled at all. And the teaft
regulav of them must go Imoothly down with
those, who h:d fXvallowed the gwfs sophistry
~ which wrapped up t-he original dole.
view t!>at Gan be taken of this
fubjeft, adin->n.iflies the public, of the i.eccf
fity of a rigid adherence to the tfinple, tlie re
ceived and the fundamental dodtrini? of the
confti tat ion, that the power to declare war
including the power of judging of rhe icauffes
of war isjuliy a-nd xxcfufneh vested in the le
giflatufe : tbar the. pjcet utive has no right, in
any cafe to decide the q.ieftion, whether there
is or is not cause for declaring war : that the
right of informing 'ConfrreT';,
whenever such a q\reflion seems to call for a
decision, is all the /ightwhich the corftitution
has deemed requisite or proper • and that for
such more than for any other contingency,
this right was fpecialiy <>;iven to the execu
tive.
In no part of the eotiflifusion is more wis
dom to be found than in the clause which con
hdqs the que ft i«n of war or peace to the le
giflatuie, and pot to the executive depart
ment. Beside the objection to such, a fixture
of heterogeneous powers : the trust and the
temptation would t e too great for any one
man : not such as nature may offer as the
prodigy of many centuries, but such as may
be expe&ed jn the ordinary fiicc</fions of ma
gi ftracy, \V#r is in fact the true uurfe of
executive ag: audizement. In war a plfyifTcal
force is to'be created, and it is the executive
will which is to d'we-ft it. In war the public
treasures. are to be unlocked, and it is the ex
ecutive-band whic':. i.s to difptijfe them. . In
war the honors and .emoluments of office are
to be multiplied ; and it is the executive pa
tronage under which they are to be enjoyed.
It is in war, finally, that laurels are to be*ga|
theied, and it is the executive brow they
to enxircle. The flji ongbfl: paflions, and mcft
dangerous weaknefTes of the human breast ;
avarice, vanity, the honorable or
venial love of lame, aie all in confpiracy'a
gainft the desire and duty of peace.
Hence it has grown into an axiom that the
executive is the department of power most
diftinguifhed'by its propensity to war : hence
it is the p raft ice of all dates, in proportion
as they aie free, to disarm this propertfity of
its influence.
As the bed p r aise then that can be pronoun
ced on an executive magiftrr.tr, is, that he
is the friend of* peace ; a praise that fifes in
its value, as there may be .» known capacity
to (hine in war: so it mull be one of the molt
sacred duties of a free people, to mark the
firlt omen in the society, of principles that
may ftimnlate the hopes of other magistrates
of another propensity, to intrude into qi:ef
tions on which its gratification depends. If
a free people lie a wife people alio, they will
not forget that the danger of surprise can
never be so great, as when the advocates for
the prerogative of war, can iheatlie it in a
symbol of peace.
The constitution has manifefted a fmiilar
prudence in refufing to the executive the Jole
power of making peace, The trust in this
instance also, would be too great for the wis
dom, and the temptations too ftroug.fnr the
virtue, of a fugle citizen. The principal
real'ons on which the constitution proceeded
in its regulation ot the power of treaties, in
cluding treaties of peace, are so aptly fur
nidled by the work alrecdy quoted more than
once, that I fliall borrow another comment
from that source.
"However proper or fafe it may be in a
; ovenuncnt where the executive magistrate
s an hereditary monarch to commit to h;m
tie entire power of making treaties, it wouM
>e utterly unfafe and improper to entrust that
lower to an elective magistrate of four years
Juration. It has been remarked upon ano
ther occasion, and the remark is ququeftinna
biv jufV, that an hereditary monarch, though
of'ei the onprefTor of his people, has person
ally too much at stake in the government to
be in aov material danger of being corniced
bv foreign powers. But that a man raised
frora the Ration of a private citizen to the rank
us chief magistrate, pol&tl'ed of but a mode
rate or slender fnitune, »nd looking forward
to a period not very remote, when he may
probably be obliged to return to the Hation
from which he was taken, might ftmetimes
be under temptations ta faerjficr hi* duty to
his interest, which it would require fnperla
tive virtue ro,wi,ihftand. Anavariciocs man
yiiglit be tcmyted lo betray ite intercuts ol
537
*}•>'.J t
the state to the acquisition of wealth. An
ambitious man might piake his own aggran
dizement, by the aid of* a foreign potver, the
price of his treachery to bis roKffitYip fit's.—
I he hiUorv of human condnft doe* not war
rant that exalted opinion of human virtue,
which would make it wife in a nation, to com
mit interests of-, fq delicate and ;\io,i?!tiitous a
kind as those which concern its mtcrcourfe with
the reft of the wo»M, to the fi',c difpoial of a
magtftrate, created and circnmftanced, as
would be a PrefuJent of the United States."
I Hull conclude this paper and this branch
of the (uhjeft, with two reflexions, which na
turally arise from this view of the Conftitn
tiojj.
The firft is, that as the pcrfonal interest of
t an hereditary monarch in the government, is
the only security against the temptation ihci
! dent: to a commitment of the delicate and
\ momentous interests of the nation which con
| cerri itr intercom f w.th the reft of the world,
to the disposal ofafmgle ma gift rate, it is a
plain consequence, that every addition that
may he made 10 the ycwV,agenpy arid influence
of'the Executive, in the iutercouefe of the «a
tf#n with foreign nations, is an increase of
the dangerous temptation to wh'ch an dcft 'tve
avc temporary magistrate is expoi'ed ; and an
argument andadvance towards the security af
forded by the per Tonal interefiis of'dnhereditary
magistrate.
Secondljv As the confiltution has not per
mitted the Executive finkfi to conclude ar
judge that peace oug'it to be made, it
be interred from that circuirftancfr alone,
that it never meant to-»iveit jtrrg/y,
to judge and co.nckufe' that war ought not to
be made. The trull would be precifcly iin.i
lar and equivalent in the two cases. The
right to fay that wir nfcght riot to go on,
would be no greater than the right to fay that
war ought to begin. Every danger of
error or corruption, incident to Juch a prerd
gative in one cafe* is incident to it in .the
other. If the Constitution therefore has
deemed it unfafe or improper in the one cafe,
it must be deemed equally so in the other
cafe. ' HELVIDIUS.
- * United States.
EROCEJETHNGS xrMivetothr. PRESIDENT'S
yHOCLAMA.TI.9N oj NEUTRALITY.
AT a meeting of the inhabitants
of the town of Duxbury, on
Monday the 19th inft. a letter con
taining the doings of the merchants
and others concerned in trade, re
fidingin the town of Boston, was
read, and also the Proclamation of
the President of the Uniied States,
of the 22d of April lall ; and upon
cbnfidering the fame it was gnani
m oufly
Voted, That the said Proclama
tion of the President appears to us
founded in wisdom, jullice, and good
policy ; and calculated to promote
the peace, inteieft, and happineU
of oiir country.
Voted, That we will exert onr
felves to expose to public view, and
bring to legal punishment, all those
who may pursue nical'ures calcula
ted to diflurb the public tranquili
ty, or contravene those impartial
principles of neutrality and good
faith, towards the European na
tions at war, which it is both the in
terest and duty of the citizens of
these United States to maintain in
violate.
Voied, That the Moderator of
this meeting be reqneited to tranf
mit a copy of the above votes to the
Hon. Thomas Ruflel, Esq. President
of the meeting of the merchants
and others of the town of Bolton,
and to nflure him that we received
the communication of the doings of
their meeting with fari»fa<ftion ;
and that we will most cheerfully
unite with them in - carryiogthe oh
je<s\ of them into full and complete
execution.
By order of ths [aid viteiing,
JAMES BRADFORD, Mideratir
dugufl 20th, 1793•
AT a meeting of ,the merchants
and others, inhabitant* of the town
of Gloucester, in coufeq'tenee of a
circular letter from the met chants
pUXB V R V ( Majfachnfetti)
Gloucester (Majf.)
T, PHILADKLPKIA
[Whole No. 457. j
and millers of the town of BotVon,
refpec r tin« the Prcfideiu's We P,o
clani:ition.—
U antei. Ro.ge b-s, Ffq. PreJ'iieut.
Voted, Tliat we consider ibe Pre
fi dent's latePioclaiua:iirn asthe moil
(alurary step that conld have been
adopied to fecoi e the neutrality of
the United States, during the pre
sent European co»tc(l , and pi e
ferve inviolate those faci ed Nation
al Rights which are the grand basis
cf good government.
Voted, That we will exert onr
tnmofl: endeavors to prevent a breach
of ftich neutrality, and to bring to
putiifhment the perpetrators
of such breach, whose feme; iry /JiaJl
leinpt tfietii to the cotiiiniiuin of
such conduct.
Voted, T|iat we feel oitrfelvs
peculiarly interested In tiie support
ofthe President's Proclamation, not
only ;>s citizens df the United States,
but frctn our local fiiuation, as
thereby* it tends to the eftabiiftiment
and pt otertion of one of the gr;rnd
Itaples of this Coinmonwealth, the
Fifheryof Maflachufetts.
Voted, That a copy of the pro
ceedings of this meeting be trahf
mined to Mr. Benjamin Btiffcl„ fc'di
iar of the Columbian Celriiiiiil,. stnd
reqneft their publication.
Si t<-ue copy from'the Records,
JOHN G. ROGERS,Stc'rji.
Glohctfter, Augujl 28, 1793.
Portsmouth (New-Hump. J
Agreeable to notification, for the
purpose of considering of the Pre
sident's Proclamation declaring
thele United States neutral, i'nthc
prelent European war, the inha
bitants of this town alfembled, on
the 28th u!t. and palled the follow
ing refolntions :
Voted, That the inhabitants of
this town do heartily approve of
the Proclamation of the President
of the Supienie Executive of the
United States, warning all persons
to refrain from violating the taw of
nations, and declaring the neutra
lity of the United States, and their
disposition to observe a conduct
friendly and impartial to ward's all
the belligerent Powers.
2d. That in our opinion the Pre
sident of the United States in ifT'u
ing his Proclamation has ailed in
ftritft conformity to the nature and
duties of his office, as the Executor
of the L aws and Guardian of the
Public Welfare, »niif thereby ren
dered essential ferviee to the Public
in general, and tnolf seasonable re
lief to the Mercantile interell at a
time when it was doubted in foreign
ports whether our flopping would
remain neutral or not.
3d. Thar we are determined to
affifl to the otinoft of our ability
the Government in maintaining the
Neutrality and Peace of the United
Stfttes, afid will life our best endea
vors to deleft and bring to Jullice
all persons who by their adis and
proceedings shall violate the Law
of Nations, and endangerthe Peace
and Welfare of the Union.
4th. That we rely on the fnpporr
and energy of the government of
the United States, that our Naviga
tion shall be fr£ed from the present
depredations and inftilts committed
by the Powers at War—and that
jnft compenfarion shall be made to
those who have fuffered by fucli un
warrantable cotvdull.
G. Went worth, ToiUH-C/crt.
Chestertown (Maryland)
At a meeting of the citizens of
Kent county, in the Srare of
htad, convened M the court bmrtfe
in this town, on the rfay of A»-
gust, for the ptirpofe o( declaring
their feutiinents relative terte'FVd-