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s?cr tt;v CohutiUtan spttfeum.
dl cor re [non lent riqdcfts, M’ffrr. Po/v-rs ‘'S Sel
mom , to admit h>i their nPxt j: ‘per, the follow
tugjlricl*res upon th’ “ P.xtrael ofa letterJro >*
a mercantile hosfe iit Philadelphia,” tSe. which
appeared in their Aj. ig-
IT can hardly bo believed, that the dctntfil of
that JcLtc-r, wat intend'd fur the .citizens of
Cent ;i.i, tl. ■ (chcin ■ of the writer is too noto
rjotu, for apprehending any impredions from
it ‘u ‘iii, Hats, but at its hem’ published here
o<i the loot, may the imposition a
],ioad, it will not be. asifitfs to accompany it
with a lew comment*.
livery feature <>f the extraft, befpenks the
old Yazoo mans llrikingly, that the reader
cainnot, be a *oment at a lols, for its parent,
■yet to gratify the writer's wiflie-., we will (tip
potr liiui .1 mere novice, a candidate only, for
the honor', and emoluments 01 the h a zoo ira
ternify and as such, we cannot help pityin 3
him; tor being lo unfairly dealt with, by his
Savannah correlpondents, who contrary to el
tablifhed rules and policy, publilh bis orders,
with a view no doubt, of fqueoziug bis pockets
.more cllctfually by raising the commodity
ibis is not meant however to infumate any iuf
picion of positive fraud against the corrclpon
firn's ; they may them felvcs bed alers in Ya/oo
.lock, and ii Ip, it would be but natural for
t hem to appreciate if ; betides that, Itock-job
t'in< r has such unlimitted privileges, and is so
myAcrious a fcieuce, that* of the Yazoo more
particularly, that ihoukl I bea witaefs to tli -ir
Bargains, and even lee the money a&ually paid
down, I would Hill have my doubts about me.
Not being initiated, I may as well drop that
fubjed. But the writers authorizing hiscorref
pondent here, to engage so deeply on bis ac
count, in thevaperous Yazoo fund, will at bell,
move his brain pan, to be lo overflocked with
Yazoo caff! '* and efqtiirilh or lordly nations,
I.s to exclude cool and sober reflection, and be
mull be mistaken, if in preaching up to the
world, lii,i implicit faith in tlie oracular opinion
of the gentlemen of the la-.v at Philadelphia,
concerning the non-coitftn l, be cxpedls to gain
?ny profdytes to that doflrine, or to seduce
other, by his example of venturing or resting
their property, a, lie pretends to do, upon fucli
jury Inundation I '. In desperate cases, when
t here is no alternative left, men muff iometimes
relign palTivcly their properties, lo thecainclion
advices and management of lawyers ; so will a
man who is a drowning, attempt to favehis life
by catching at a draw ; but would not he, be
loo!; ‘*L upon as a fool, who unprovoked and
by mere bravado, would throw himfelf into a
gulpb, in order to extricate himfelf by a ft raw.
{j ye h inders v: mid conclude, that such a man
was tired of life—and we are convinced, that if
our Yazoo candidate, were in earned, his
■ m >ney inufl have become a burthen to him,
and he wiflms to be divorced from it.
That the Yazoo gentlemen will let a high
value, upon such learned opinions is natural—
that they would wish to improve them to their
.bell advantage, is evident ajfto, by their policy
in procuring them and tl:civ industry in circu
lating them.
It only remains now to examine the merits
of such-opinions —if we alk that oi the gentle
men ol the bar, of the officers and judges of
the federal and hue Hate courts of Georgia, we
(hull undoubtedly’ get it in lavor of the porch
afr, it being an offspring of their own, at. leaf!
of a large majority of them; part having con
trived the plan, others have been afTociated to
it sot the fake of influence. How far the jefu
ttical conn.*,’ ion has extended itfeli northward
ly, is needless to determine ;it is however
fully known, that Fliiladelphia has beer, th?
nurlery of oui own {peculators—it is ln>;n
there, they drew their tirll fupplics, and could
we not inter from thence, that fome of thole
gentlemen, who have given their opinion to
>mr candidate, arccounfel in their own case
but admitting even the opinions ot fome of
thc;n,, to be impartial, and that part of them, .
which gives the courts a cognizance over the
t ran factions of the sovereign .Hate legiflatut?s ;
to be candid and loUnd, can it be expected
when such opinions will be found at variance
with common jultice and common fenfc, that
they will weigh down, the plain underftand
ingof honejl juries. Or have the gentleman in
ontemplation to rid themselves altogether of
ji. les, in dragging the matter, bv dint of their
owj: opinion before the courts of admiralty?
To avoid prolixity, I mult take leave here of
the mercantile house and its corrcfpondent,
without noticing the decent encomiums be
llowed upon the government, and the pathetic
feelings and regrets for the loft credit, of this
Hate, other wile, than bv expreifing iitnilar i
grets lor the ruined credit of the Yazco.
from the Gazette of the United States.
{Have fecn a number of resolutions, entered
into by the Legiflalure of Georgia, on the
motion of James J.u kfon, publilhed in ilia Ar
gus, of New-York, on th? >.gd inllant; in which,
among other things, I am declared to have loft
the confidence of that l,egi(Jnture. Supported
by an integrity which has long withllood the
efforts ot much enmity and malice, 1 feel tny
fclf quite unaffeflcd hv a proceeding dictated
by the malevolent leader of a disappointed 1 i* -
tiou ; and Iboidd not think it tvcelfary to give
.if the notice which I now do, but fora refpeft
due to the public opinion, liable to be mill and
by partial publications, she basts of this cx-
Iraordinary proceeding, is a charge of my hav
ing attempted to corrupt fome ot the members
't the legiilature. in the laic of the Wcliern
Territory of that S ate, and which is laid to ap
pear by fevcral alHdavits. These affidavits lofc
their weight by the manner oftheir being taken
- Not by a judicial procels, and the opportuni
ty offered of across interrogation; but by a ie
cret committee, of which James Jackson was
chairman. The quelbons were all on one lid;,
end such anfwars, or parts of anfwcrs, as were
not liked, were (li icken out before they were
reported But even those affidavits, taken and
rcport-.l as they were, do not amount to a
charge of my attempting the integrity of any
m unber— they go as to what one man thought,
another heard, and to what I Paid ti> one man
•<! another. 1 lay ftrefa upon General Jack
-1 “u s being chairman of the committee ; bccaufe
his enmity to me on this ground, is well known,
ft is alto well known, that, there has been a
i* Georgia igr ionic time p;J>, that ke
Columbian jEuCettm,
had put himfelf st the head of a prevailing par
ty, and iias abused th’ public confidence. A
precedent has been cßablifhcd of unlimited mil
chief, in the deftriitftion of the public records,
the evidences of l ight and of property : andtli?
judicial fyflein, the bell fecuritv in a republi
can government, has been entirely deranged.
It is not, however, my with to he underitood
as treating the afts of the legiilature lightly. It
is the government; audits voice, in general,
ought to be refpc&cd : but the ambitious and
uncontrouled alcendancy ol an individual, for
the moment, and under circumstances of a pe
culiar nature, would in this instance, receive
the homage, and not the unbialfed representa
tion of a free people.—And I am warranted in
faying, by recent letters from that Hate that the
tide of opinion is rapidly changing. An inves
tigation is ordered by the legiilature, affecting
a large defeription ot pedons interetled in the
late purchase, in which I conhder myfell im
plicated, and wiiich I shall meet with decided
pica lure ; anticipating as I do, the approving
rclult ol an impartial enquiry. It is with rc
. luttauce and pain I trouble the public ; and my
apology is the occasion. The Printers who
publish the resolutions will have the justice to
publilh this.
J. GUNN.
Philadelphia, March 25, 179 ft.
jpeocrai Heginaturc*
house of representatives.
Friday, April 22.
THE house resolved itIV If into a committee
of the whole on the Hate of the Union ;
when the resolution for carrying into effefit the
Hritifh treaty, being under consideration, Mr.
Coitand Mr. Israel Smith, spoke in favour oi
the treaty ; and Mr. S. Smith, spoke on the
fubjeft generally againll the treaty; but, be
lieving itto have been conftitu:ionaliy formed
and hading that his conftitucnts were almofi
wholly in favour of it, he declared his inten
tion of giving his vote for carrying it into exe
cution. The following are his observations.
Mr. Smith laid, the fitbjret now before the
committee, appeared to him to be of impor
tance, at lc aft equal to the great constitutional
mteftion which had agitated the house during
.tin? present feflion, and lias had, and he trulleu
wouJd continue to have, the fame calm atten
tion pa id to its diicuffxon ; he hoped and cx
pe£ledtiat it would ultiimt ly be determiiv’d
with a view to the real interest of the nation,
under the exiting Jlate of things.
The queltio n is, whether we shall confirm,
by an af.t of tiih- house, the treaty made by the
conditutcd ?uthi>iities with Great-Bvitai:i, or
w’hether, (having .the declared right so to do) w n
shall refufe to make the appropriations necef
iary to carry the tA”aty into effect. The ap
prehension left the treaty fhouid not be carried’
into clfett, lias alarmed .the public mind ; funs
are seriously concerned 0/1 account of evils hit
they apprehend might rtffu.’t therefrom—others
affect an extraordinary co&cern, and like the
elarmills of England, run ab.-vU every where,
dillcminating their ill founded lvvs.
He faidhis conftituen’s had tlc“n up the fub
jetl. A findl part have thought it advifeable
to inftrufcc him lo employ his belli endeavors
to obtain the ljecelfary appropriations ; anoth
er part, equally respectable and more rnmtcrous,
have expressed their wish that he would exer
ciie his own diicretion on the prclent great
occasion, and that they will cheerfully acqoi
efee (as good citizens ought to do) in whatever
may hr Llm decifton of the national repreftri>-
Latives, alter a tree di ten fit mol the principle?
ot our government, and the interest of the na
tion. In paying refpett to th? latter, ii” ffiould, ‘
peri taps, give fatisfattion to the former.
Wiien the treaty was firlt published, he had
read it with attention, and although lie had not
lecn all thote fauns with which it has ftnee
been charged, yet there was to his view h> lit
tle good contained in it, anvi so much of evil
to he apprehended from i.. that he had felt a
hope tha. the Pr , .' , ;d'T.t would not have ratifi
ed it.—llehad been disappointed.—Yet he had
not a doubt, but the Preiident had given his
signature after the mod mature deliberation.
PoiTclfed fas he was) ot every information re- .
!aava to a fuhjcdt so very important, he could
b-ttei determine on t.hc policy of its adoption,
than those who were lels informed.—Still th-me
w'ere many articles, particularly the commercial,
which every man mi ;ht judge oi from the face
of the in Hr u meat. On those he did not hesi
tate to give an opinion, which was, thatthey
promile not one lolitary advantage, and shackle
our commerce in many important points. He
would not trouble the committee with going
deeply into a fubje£t, that hasclreadv been so
ably difcuff.ed ; lie however could not refrain
from a few remarks on the right, to counter
vail our extra duties on foreign tonnage, and
on goods impei ‘d in foreign bottoms. He
alkcd, what would this countervail b* ? could
any man tell ? It was not fpecified in the ar
ticle. Itv/as then diferetionary with the Bri
tiib—diferetionary with a nation, whop rule of
right his always been the measure oj its sower---
whose conduct has invariably bem to cramp
and diftrefsthe commerce ol all o,her nations,
i'o lc h a nation, could ii have been proper to
trail India latitude i 1 Will she make thiscoun
tervail opprchive and unjust: ? It is more than
probable she will, and if five fboitld, whatvem
edy have we ? None ; lor we ate forbid by the
tame article to iegiflatc further on tlv* (abject.
Fir {aid he would take leave to explain the lgth
article, which relates to the East-India trade,
a ltd whidv it has been laid, gives such solid ad
vantages as to counterbalance all the evils ari
ling out of the treaty, He had taken fame pains
to inform himfelf on the fubjett, and he had
found, that die Americans, in common with all
other nations, traded to the Biitifh and other
ports ol India, and were every where received
with that lort oi kindnels, which grows out.
ol the interest that the vender has in felling his
goods for ready money, and to a great profit.
That our trade is so much the intereftof the In
dia company, and of all its officers and factors,
as well as of the private traders rcliding there,
that it was ridiculous to suppose th? India com
pany would prevent it ; il thcy ftuuld, what
would he the evil ? Littie or none; for there
wer?other ports, belonging either to other Eu
ropean dowers, or to the nations in the neigh
borhood ol all ihc English ports, who would
receive as with open arms, and fupp'y us. for
o’J r Jih. ’} on equilj 01 nearly (o lie then
Hated, that our flvips could now carry from one
port in Europe to another, to China or to Eu
rope ; anemoloyment that had been found very
lucrative ; whereas, under the 1 reaty, they mult
proceed with whatever you purchase in an
English port direst to America. The article
fays, his majesty consents to your trade to In
dia ; and this is celled a loon. It appears to
him just as ridiculous as if bis majesty had said,
he conft nted to our going to Great-Britain, to
ptirchali* its manufactures.
To enumerate the many faults lie found in
the treaty, ss well of omitTion as commiliion,
would take up too mu :h of their precious time;
yet he fhouid he excufcd for taking a Avon
view of its leading 1 -atures.
When the envoy was lent to Great-Britain,
it was principally to demand restitution far
the cruel depredations committed on our com
merce. We find that obj it attended to so
vaguely, that our bell informed men feein
douhtlul whether much will ever be recovered
under the treaty. They find that in every in
fiance, the loser mull full pursue his remedy
through their tedious and expenfivc courts. Wo
find that by fair corn! ruflion w- have acknow
ledged ourselves to have been the inlraCtors o
the treaty of peace ; for what was the ground
on wh":ii I une of the states placed legal im
pediments to the recovery ol Briu'fh debts ?
Why, that lord Dor heft-tr liacl 1 efufed to de
liver up or pay for the negroes, which bv that
treaty ought to have been reftorrd. and which
(laves would ha v e ailifted their mailers by their
labor to pay thole debts ; yet we fee no men
tion of them in the treaty, and we find toour
furprize, men, since this treaty, defending the
conftrutfion lately put on the treaty of peace bv
the Bi itilh, and which had never been heard if,
thus acquiescing in the charge of our being the
(irfl aggfelTors. But this only relates t'/’our
honor, of course can be of little confequcnceto
a nation, whose rule of conduft is to submit. to
evrry thing, provided that on the whole ac
count. there appears to be a balance of profit in
its favor.
After llius having formed his opinion relative
tilth” treaty, his next enquiry was, is the treaty
conjlitutional ? Cn that point he had held him
lell opentoconviflion, and waited its difeuf-
J ion. He had not Ir-ard any gentleman yet
a- •'are it to be unconstitutional, except one,
’r. Page) who feem?d to give his opinion as ii
iic Hill doubted, and having carefully himfelf
conlidered the lubjeft, he was now of opinion,
that to :re was nothing directly repugnant, to the
oonfti. u ion in the instrument. He then enqui
red wb.-tl r, under (he existing Hate of things
the tmaA ought to be reje£led ?—Whether it
‘■onta: ted stipulations so extremely injurious to
the United States, as ought to induce the house
ot reprefentaives to rej es a compact made by
(he other branches of the government. In the
ten fir ft articles which ar: -permanent, he found
ton: objections. The third article, which, like
many others, cannot be well underllood, teems
to fay, that, goods imported in Britillr bottoms
to the ports ol the Lakes, shall pay no extra du
ty. Ii this be a true conftruCtion, it will then
be necessary to repeal our restraining duties,
to make the treaty and law confident with the
confutation, which requires that all duties shall
be equal. The tenth article ties our hands
againll fequellration, a power which ought not
to beexercifed except on lorn? very extraordi
nary occasion ; yet it was a power, which, con
fidcring our relative situation to Grcat-Bri” fin,
it was imprudent to part with. Still, on fair
consideration, he did not find i hat th -re was fuf
heient cauls on that account to i eject the treaty,
in the filiation zee are now placed. The reiidue
ot the treaty will expire in two or three years.
He wopld fay a few words on the 18th, com
monly known by the prove 1 ion article, he had
not underitood as giving the Britilh a fight
;•> feizeourveffels carryingprovifions; ho: ,
king of Great-Britain having, after the treaty had
been frned by Grenville and Jay, issued ait ord -r
1.0 thaf X'ffert, it teemed a commeni uoon, and
as eftabtfftiing his conilrudlion of the article.
However, .as he has withdrawn that order lines
the ratification, and as it was no w under nego
cialion, lit would lope that the ex .lanation
would hr to our fatisfaftion. The arti
cle changed the ilate of things with re(p,;£lto
France. Tiierebirc the French had (not by trea
ty, but under the law of nations) a right, in
which wc acquiesced, to fell their prizes.—By
this article they will be prevented—and fhouid
a war take place between England and Spain,
which is not improbable, then th: former will,
under this treaty, have a right to bring their
prizes into port, and under the law of nations
and our ulage, to fell them, whilil all her ene
mies are preyeiUed from felling. What would
be the consequence ? Why, that your pons
would swarm with British finips of war and
privateers, on board of which your seamen
would embark, in spite oi every opposition :
Good policy will, thirefor -, -dictate that a law
fhouid pass to prevent th? file of the prizes of
all nations within oar ports.
Air. Smith then Hated, that notwilliftanding
the many objections he had to the treaty, vet he
would give his content to carry it into eileil in
a constitutional manner.
Not bacaulc he thought that war would en
lue in calc ofiis rejection,
Not bccaufc the underwriters have refufed
to write ray more, except against thefca rifle,
Not because the merchants pretended they
were afraid to pursue their nfiiial commerce,
’Nor because of the frivolous report that the
charge dcs affaires of Great-Britain had thr-V.-
ened that the polls would not be given up, un
lels the appropriations were made—a report
which he hoped and nenevedto be unfounded.
lie added, that he could not believe that any
gentleman could be in earned in the opinion
that a war with Great-Britain would ensue in
calc ot refuial. To what ptirpofc would they
deprive themselves of their best cultomers ?
Nobody can contemplate that they would in
vade our territory. It is true that they might
(weep the ocean of a great part of our ships,
but would ti*.t be an equivalent for the lots of
our trade, or the riik they would run ol losing
Canada, lhe idea ol war leemed to him to be
too ridiculous to be mentioned in that house,
could be intended only to alarm the public
inu.d, and ought to be treated with contempt.
But there was good ground to fear tha; if
the treaty was rejetted, the Britilh court o! ap
peals, which is generally direst-d by the nuinif
tcr, would confirm the decrees made againll
our prop''rty in their colonial courts.
And that the Bermudians and others would
Ip -cuiata on tir- noflibiiity of a war, feiae our
velTels every where, and that their judges would
continue to condemn as heretofore, without
law or justice.
The merchants again pursue their bufinefi -
and they, as well as the underwriters, will be
ashamed of the attempt made to influence the
votes of the house of reprefentativrs—for. are
not those tlie very men whom we haw fecn re
probating the conduft of the democratic socie
ties P And will they, on mature refleftion
who have reprobated .he democratic commit!
tees of corr-’fpond'nce, believe that it
proper to inflitute committees of corrcfpon
dence to influence the merchants and traders of
the union in opposition to the house of repre
sentatives? He felt alfured, (from the know
ledge he had of that house) that as they would
not be influenced by such conduft to vote f or
the mealure, neither would they be induced to
vote against it, because of those just fubjeds of
irritation: cur duty to our condiments taught
us, that we were tha rcprcfoUativcs of their
interest, and not of our owii pallions. For
none of thojg reasons, he repeated, did ha give
his conf-nt ; but because he did believe, ,hat
k woiud tend to rellore harmony and unani
mity to our public measures—a house so near
ly divided against itfelf, could never thrive.
Because the moll material arlichts will ex
pire in two or three years; and, from the great
and fieriolls opposition to them, as well amon *-
the people as in this house. he did not believ*
they would ever again be renewed,
Because he did believe the prefider.t and
fioate had conceived that they had a right to
make all treaties without the concurrence of
ibis house, and had, under that impreiiion,
committed the faith of the nation—And,
Because that he believed it to be the opinion
ol a great majority of the people of Maryland*
whom he had the honor to represent, that allKo*
their dislike to the treaty continues, yet that
less evils will grow out of its adoj’t on than mas oe
apprehended from :is rejection —A realon, to’his
mind, fu peri or toall other:.,and which, although
lie had not been ol a limilar opinion, ought and
certainly would have governed him on the pre
fect great and importantqueftion.
The committee rofie and had leave to fit at
tain. Adj.
PARIS, February 29.
Meat was this day fixed at ninety
(bven iivies the pound (about fourpence
ltcriing.)
The executive directory have at
length proved that they acknowledge
the dangers which we have so long de
nounced, and that they feci the Anarch
ies and Jacobins to be as great, enemies
as the Royaiifts and. counter-revolution
's. J hey have diredled a vigorous
execution of the constitution, and in a.
mefiage to the legiilature have aiiQOun
ced the (hutting up the clubs, which
were viewed with such alarm by thc-
Iriends of freedom.
The following is the arret of the di
rectory upon the fubjeft.
Art. r. lhe society formed in tha
place known by the name of ballon de*
Princes and Sallon des Arts, on the
iiouievard des Italiens.
‘i lie society fortned in the house of
Serilly, in the Fortner Rite du Temple.
The society in the Palace Egaiife, un
der the name of Societe des Echees.
The society in the former Convene
des Cenovelatons, and known by th®
name of the society of the Pantheon.
The society called the society of Pa
triots, in the Rue Traverfiere, No. 854,
are declared illegal and contrary to pub
lic tranquility. They (hall be shut up
in twenty-lour hours, and the fcais pla
ced on tne papers of the societies.
2. lhe theatre in the Rue Feydeau,
and tne Edifice known by the name of
the Church of St. Andre des Arts,
shall also be fhmt up within twenty-four
hours.
The minister of the general Police is
ordered to execute the present airet.
(Signed) Letourneur, Frelident
8. Ventofe, Feb. 27.
In the night of the 29 and 30 Piu
voife, the town of Mayenne was attack
ed by the Chouans. The/ even got
poffeifion of fotne of the posts ; but they
were soon by our brave volun
teers.
March 4.
A letter received by Riou, of Finif
terre, a rep refen tative of the people,
from Brest, has the following intelli
gence :
Tire squadron of frigates, under the
command of Capt. Montefonne, has just
failed from this harbour upon another
cruise ; it has lately taken four conside
rable prizes ; and a Portugccfe of 300
tons, laden v/ith fruit and oil, is at Mor
luix.
A transport with 260 foluiers, on
colonel, and 1 2 otlicers on board, being
one ot the convoy destined by Pitt, for
America, but forced by contra :y winds
to return to England, The prize i*
carried into Havre.
Tne privateer La Renomme, of Brcfr,
has taken two (hips, one laden with
Fruit, and the other with Indigo, cot
ton, baifarn of Peru, cochineal. Arc. She
is estimated at 800,000 livres ir. specie.
Another privateer of Brest, fined
out by citizens Binard and Poliquen,
e.itercl the port OF Morlaix, on the
16th Piuvoifc, with an Engiidn vessel of
z ®o ton:, lader. entireay corn and
I wine,
No, al.
