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ai %i fd t£fc fatisfartion of the legionary
court of enquiry, within whose bounds
he may refidc ; and it ihall at all times
hereafter be the duty of every such cap
tain or commanding officer of a company,
to enrol every such white male as aforc
faid, and all those who (hall from time
to time arrive at the age of eighteen
years, or being of the age of eighteen
years, and under the age of forty-five
years (except as before excepted) (hall
come to rcftde within his bosnds, and
(hall without delay, notify such person
of the said enrollment, by a proper non
commiffioncd officer, by whom such no
tice may be proved.
(To be continued.)
THOMAS PAINE
T 0 the Citizens of the United Statrs 3
LETTER. THE SEVENTH.
(concluded.) -
To the measures of adminidration Tup
ported by the firmnefs and integrity of
the majority in congress, the United
States owe, as far as human means are
concerned, the preservation of peace and
of national honor. The confidence tv hich
the weftern people reposed in the govern
ment and in their rcprefentatlves is re
warded with success. They are rein dat
ed in their rights with the lead poffiblc
iofs of time; and their harmony with
the people of New. Orleans, so neceflary
to the prosperity of the United States,
which would have been broken, and the
feeds of dil'cord sown in its place, had
hostilities been preferred to accommoda
tion, remains unimpaired.—Have the
federal miniders of the church meditated
on these matters i and laying a fide as
they ought to do, their electioneering
and vindictive prayers and fennons re
turned thanks that peace is prefervedand
commerce without the dain of blood.
In the pleaflng contemplation of this
date of things, the mind, by comparison,
carries itfclf back to those days of uproar
and extravagance that marked the career
of the former adrainidration, and decides,
by the unstudied impulse of its own feel
ings, that something mud then have been
wrong. Why was it, that America,
formed for happiness, and remote by fix
ation and circumdances from the troubles
and tumults of the European world, be-
VMn, plungml into iu rortex anti tainted
with its crimes? The answer is easy.
Those who were then at the head of af
fairs were apodates from the principles
of the revolution, Raifcd to an eleva
tion they had not a right to expert, nor
judgment to condart, they became like
feathers in the air, and blown about by
every puff of passion or conceit.
Candor would find some apology for
their condurt if want of judgment was
their only desert. But error and crime,
though often alike in their features, are
<lidant in their chararters and in their o
rigin. The one has its sources in the
vveaknefs of the head, the other in the
badness of the heart, and the coalition of
the two defciibcs the former administra
tion.
Had no injurious consequences arisen
from the condurt of that adminidration
it might have passed for error or imbeci
lity, and been permitted to die and be
forgotten* The grave is kind to inno
cent offence. But even innocence when
it is a cause of injury ought to undergo
an enquiry.
The country, during the time of the
former adminidration, was kept in con
tinual agitation and alarm, and that no
invedigation might be made into its con
durt it intrenched itfelf within a magic
tircle of terror, and called it a /edition
laiv. Violent and myderious in its mea
sures and arrogant in its manners, it as
serted to disdain information and intuited
the principles that raifcd it from obfeu
rity, John Adams and Timothy Pick
ering were men whom nothing but the
accidents of the limes rendered viable or*
the political horizon. Elevation turned
their heads, and public indignation hath
cad them to the ground.—But an enqui
ry into the condurt and measures cf that
adminidration is nevertheless neceflary.
The country was put to great expence,
'Loans, taxes and (landing armies became
the Handing order of the day. The mi
litia, said secretary Pickering, are not to
be depended upon, and fifty thousand men
mud be raid'd. For what ? No cause to
tuftify such measures has yet appeared.—
No difeovery ol such a cause has yet been
made. The pretended sedition law (hut
op the sources ol invedigation and the
precipitate flight of John Adams closed
rhe feene. But the matter ought not to
deep hero.
It is not to gratify relentroent, or en
| Outage it in others, that I enter upon
this- lubjeft. It 1., not in the power of
man to accuse me of a perfecting fpirlf.
Bat fomc explanation ought to be had.
The motives and objefts xefpefting the
extraordinary and expcnfive measures of
the former admlniftration ought to be
known. The (edition law, that Ihield
of the moment, prevented it then, and
justice demands it now. If the public
have been imposed upon, it is proper they
fliould know it, for where judgment is
to aft, or a choice to ..be made, know
ledge is firft necessary. The concilia
tion of parties, if it does not grow out \
of explanation, partakes of the efiarafter
of collusion or indifference.
There has been guilt somewhere ; and
it is better to fix it where it belongs, and
separate the deceiver from the deceived,
1 than that suspicion, the bane of society,
fliould range at large, and four the public
mini. The military measures that were
proposed and carrying on during the for
mer administration could not have for
their objeft the defence of the country a
gainst invasion. This is & case that de
cides itfclf, for it is felf- evident that while
the war raged in Europe, neither France
nor England could fparc a man to fend to
America. The objeft therefore must be
something at home, and that something
was the overthrow of the representative
fyltem of government, for it could be
nothing else. But the plotters got into
confufion and became enemies to each o
ther. Adams hated, and was jealous of
Hamilton, and Ha mil ron hated and de
bited both Adams and Walhingtpn.
Surly Timothy flood aloof, as he dm at
the affair of Lexington, and the part that
fell to the public was to pay the expence.
Bat ought a people who but a few
years ago were fighting the battles of the
world, for liberty had no home but here,
ought fuck a people to fland quietly by
and fee that liberty undermined by apo
ftacy, and overthrown by intrigue ? Let
the tombs of the slain recall their recol
leftion, and the forethought of what
their children are to be, revive and fix in
their hearts the love of liberty.
If the former admlniftration can juflify
its conduft give it the opportunity. The
manner in which John Adams disappear
ed from the government renders an en
quiry the more necessary, He gave some
account of himfelf, lame and confuted as
it was, to certain Eajicrn wife men who
came to pay homage to him on his birth
day. But if he thought it necessary to
do this «ught he not to have rendered an
acccount to the public. They had a right
to expeft it of him. In that tete a tete
account he fays, ts Some measures 'were
the effeft of imperious necessity, much a
gainfi my Inclination.** What measures
docs Mr. Adams mean, and what is the
imperious necessity to which he alludes.
“ Others (fays he) 'were the measures of
the legijlalure, 'which although approv.
ed 'when pafftd 'were never previoufy
proposed or recommended by me,‘* What
measures, it may be asked, were thote,
for the public have a right to know the
conduft of their repretentatives ? u Some,
(fays he) left to my dlfcretlon were never
executed , because no necessity for them ,
in my judgment, ever occurred
What does this dark apology, mixed
with accusation, amount to, but to en
create and confirm the suspicion that some
thing was wrong. Admlniftration only
was possessed of foreign official informa
tion, and it was only upon that informa
tion communicated by him publicly or
privatelv, or to Congress that Congress
could aft, and it is not in the power of
Mr. Adams to (hew, from the condition
of the belligerent powers, that any impe
rious necessity called for the warlike and
expensive measures of his administration.
What the correspondence between ad
ministration and Rufus Kipg in London,
or Quincy Adams in Holland, or Berlin,
might be, is but little known. The pub
lic papers have told us that the former be
came cup bearer from the London under
writers to capt. Truxton, for which, as
minister from a neutral nation, he ought
to have been censured. It is, however,
a feature that marks the politics of the
minister, and hints at the charafter of the
correspondence,
I know it is the opinion of teveral
members of both houtes of Congress that
an enquiry, with refpeft to the conduft
of the late administration ought to be
gone into. The convulsive state in which
the country has been thrown will be belt
fettled by a full and fair exposition of the
conduft of that administration, and the
cautes and objeft of that conduft. To be
deceived, or to remain deceived can be
the interest of no man who teeks the pub
lic good; and it is the deceiver only, or
one intcrcftcd fn the deception, that can
with*to preclude enquiry.
Tb? fypfoion agajnft thi late adsnjtii.
flrction, is, ihat Lt was ploiting tooer
lurn the representative system of govern
ment, and that it spread alarms ofinva
fions that had no foundation, as a pretence
for railing and eftablilhing a military force
as the means of accomplilhing that ob
ject.
The law, called the Edition law, en*
afted, that “ if ar.y j)erfon fiiauld write
or pab'liflt, or cause to be written or pub
lished any libel (without defining what a
libel is) againll the government of the
Utiited States* or either house qf con
i’- grefs, or agalnlt the Prefidcnt, he fliould
be punished by a fine not exceeding two
thoofand dollars, and by impnfonment
not exceeding two years.”
But It is a much greater crime for a pre
sident to plot againfl a confutation and
the liberties of the people, than for an in
dividual to plot against a prefujent j and
confcquently John Adams is accountable
to the public for his conduft as the indi
viduals under his adniinidratioo were to
the fed!tion law.
The object, however of an enquiry in
this case is not to punish, but to fatisfy ;
and to Ihew by example to future admi
nistrations that by an abuse of power and
trust, however disguised by appearance?,
or rendered plausible by pretence, is one
time or othei to be accounted lor.
THOMAS PAINE,
Bordentown , on the Delaware, \
Nenv>-Jer/ey, May 12, 1803, j
« *4- S V
Latest Foreign Intelligence,
Received at Ntw-Tork, per the Brihjk
Backet Lady Arabella, 40 days from
Falmouth,
THE CONSULAR MANIFESTO.
The following is a copy of the Mani
ft-flo, in its original state, inferred by
desire of the French Minister, at Ham
-1 burgh, in the Hamburgh Correspondent,
1 of the 30th March.
Paris, March ij.
For Tome months a warof Newspapers
and of the Press has been kept up between
France and England. Thisfeemed mere
ly the dying embers ot an extinguilhed
conflagration ; the last consolation of a
desperate party; the food of fort e low
pafiions and a few hungry scribblers.
The French government was far from
attaching importance to such matters.
Notwithstanding some difficulties in the
complete execution of the Treaty of Ami
ens, they ft ill believe they might rely on
the good faith of the British Government,
and directed their attention solely to the
re-establishment of the Colonies. Rely
ing upon the facrcdncfs ot Treaties, they
securely dispersed the remains of the
French naval force, which had been giv
en a prey to the EnglKh fleet. In this
situation suddenly appeared a solemn Mes
sage from the Cabinet of Sr. James’s, and
informed all Europe that France was
making considerable preparations in the
ports of Holland and France ; an Address
was voted by Parliament, promising to
the King of England such extraordinary
means ot defence as the fccurity of the
British Empire and the honor of the Three
Crowns might require. From the Hid
den appearance of this melTage, people
doubted, whether it was the efi’eft of trea
chery, of lunacy, or of weakness.
Let any one call his eye over the ports
of France and Holland, where he will
find only detached naval preparation de
stined for the Colonics, and confiding on.
ly of one or two line of battle (hips and a
few frigates. On the other hand, let him
look at the ports of England, filled with
a formidable naval force; on such a re
view one could be tempted to believe that
the Message of the King of England was
mere irony, it such a farce were not un
worthy the Majesty of a Government.
If one confiders the influence of factions
in to free a country, one might suppose ,
that the King of England had only had
the weakness to yield, if weakness were
compatible with the fir(t quality of a
king. In thort, no rational motives re
main to which it can be aferibed, except
bad faith—except a sworn enmity to the
French Nation —except perfidy, and the
delire of openly breaking a solemn treaty,
for the fake of advantages, which will
be maintained, and the facrifice of which
the honor of France and the faith »f trea
ties forbid. When a man reads this
Meflage, he thinks himfelf transported
to the times of thole treaties which the
Vandals made with the degenerate Ro
mans, when force ufarped the place of
right, and when, with a hasty appeal to
arms, they insulted the antagonist they
meant to attack. In the present Hare of
civilization there is a refpeft which a
great Monarch, which a policed people •
owe to themselves, were that refpeft 00 |
a»ore tiwjn to feck a pku&bfc pretext for *
aft But J r , irurance^h*..
ry iji'.ag' is precipitated, and repugnant
to decency and to justice., An eternal
war would succeed a dreadful ccnteft, art j
the more unjud the attack, the more h
icconcileabie would. l>e its auimofity.
Such a novelty will doubtlcfs excite tl-e
-difapprohation of While even
the English, whod* national pride had not
entirely blinded them, sighed at this pro*.
P the Times cal! the peace of
Amiens an armiflice, and in doing To pal,
fed the fevered latire on the government
it defended, and the rapid failcf the nr.
tional funds is the fird prelude to the
misfortunes which may follow, as the re
venge due for the wound given to all f o _
cial rights. The Ftench are less intiml.
dated fhan irritated by the threats c.f
England. 'They have neither keen dis
pirited by their reverses, nor elated
their viftories ; in a war to which there
appeared no termination, they saw ad
Europe confederated against them. Their
constancy, their courage, and the prompt
a&ivity of their government, brought it.
to a ccnclufion. This war wmuld have a
different objeft. France would contend
for the liberty of the ffates of Europe and
the sacredness of their treaties ; and if the
English government be determined to
make it a national war, perhaps her
buaftcJ formidable naval ftrengih would
not be fufficient to decide the result, and
to lecure the viflory. The French,
itrong, the justice of their caufc,
and in the confidence they repose in their
Government, do not dread the new cx
penfes and new facrificcs which such a
war might render neceflary. Their fy
dem °f finance is more Ample and less ar
tificial than that of London, and so much
the more solid. It all lies in their foil
and in their courage. On the fird news
of the Engliffi Meflage, all eyes were
turned to the Cabinet of the 1 huilleries,
•As mod trifling notions receive a charac
ter or importance, its mod unpremeditat
ed words were eagerly caught up. Every
one impatiently expelled the aflembly for
the presentation of foreigners, which
Madame Buonaparte holds once a month.
Every one has prepared to draw some in
ferences from it. It was as splendid as
usual. The Fird Consul made bis ap
pearance, and fald, on his entrance to
the English Arnbaflador, who was Hand
ing belide M. Markoff, “We have been
at war for r 2 years. The King of Eng.
land fays, that France is making immense
naval preparations. He has been led in
to an error. In the French ports there
are no preparations of any magnitude,
1 he fleet is gone to St. Domingo and the
colonics. W ith regard to the ports of
Holland, to which the message iikewife
alludes, there are only the preparations
for the expedition under General Victor,
and all Europe knows its dedication is
fur Louiliana. The King fays further,
that between the Cabinets of Paris and
London, differences continue. I know
of none. It is true that England ought
to have evacuated Malta, and Malta is
not evacuated ; and as his Britannic Ma
jedy has bound himftlf by the mod so
lemn treaty ever entered into, it is itn
poflible to doubt of the speedy evacuation
cf that idand. And,” added the lirit
consul, « thole who would attempt to
frighten the French people, should know,
that it is poflible to kill, but not to in
timidate them.”
During the coutfe of the evening, when
the fird consul happened to be near M.
Markoff, he said ro him in a low voice,
“ That the British Minidry wilhed to
keep Malta for five years more. Such a
proposal was infilling, and no treaties
should be entered into which it w*as not
resolved to observe.” At the condition
of the aflembly, when the Engliih am.
baffador was about to retire, the Fird
Consul said to him, “ Madame the Duch .
efs of Dorlet, has spent the unpleasant
part of the year at Paris. It is my fin -
cere with that die may also spend the a
greeable season. But if it should happen
that w-e really mud go to war, the responsi
bility is exclusively wdth those who deny
the validity of their own contracts, since
they refufe to observe treaties which they
had concluded.” Thcfe words of the,
Fird Consul require no comment. They
explain completely his present opinions,
bis pad conduft, and his resolution for
the future. It is fufficient to compare
them with the tergiverfations, the dupli
city, the evasions, and the message of
the English government, in order to be
enabled to decide on the justice of the
dtfpure.
LONDON, April
This morning we received Paris papers
to the zd inclusive. -The M xtitear of
that date'contains the following article*
J