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Kfe ArTURD AT, Augu/l ir, r;B7* .fir.- r - - , r .- . w . iSKVI Q.W 3 GEORGIA STATE GAZETTE jH OK B INDEPENDENT REGISTER. »V., * * J ' "' V . '1 • ... .■ i 1 '• .... ... j/.. .1 ... . . 1 F. REE DO M of the PRESS, and TRIAL by JUR Y, to remain inviolate forever. Ccnftitution of Georgia- k< M PG U *■* Printed by JOHN E. SMITH, Printer to the State \ Effoys, Articles of Intelligence, Advertisements, &c, will be gratefully received, and every kind of Printing performed . > f'-aat• . , . , • • . ... IftijE ORGIJ. ♦ j'lft the Honorable GEORGF. MATHEWS, j$P Esq. Captain General, Governor and Com nunder in Chief in and over the said State. Jt Proclamation. |w yHERE AS there is just reason to HR / apprehend by dispatches received from the Creek nation, that hoili wjimm V l* l ' 6B w 'l' v ery fhortl> commence ▼ on the part of the Indians, ren- abfolutcly necessary that the Legiilature .should be convened, in order to deliberate on mea sures for the defence of the State : I HAVE {TiiHSp-EFORE thought fir, by and with the advice confent of the Honorable the Executive Coun imic this ray Proclamation notifying the I , fame, and requiring the attendance of the General !. /Ufcmbly of the said State, at Augusta, on Thurs | public business. .Given under my Hand and the Great Seal of jp Ap* the said State, at Augusta, this ninth Day ( t-tei of August, in the Year of our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty-Se wen, and of our Sovereign ty and Inde pendcncVthc Twelfth. GEOROE MATHEWS. \ By His Honor’s Command, Milton-, Sec’y. V-Wk GOD SAVE THE S TATE! t CHARLESTON, July 5. .Jsixtrnft of a letter from a gentleman in Philadelphia, U ?0 his friend in this city , dated 'June I, 1787. ■SfUrirvU R. news-papers will inform you of the pKI names of the Federal Convention j they jhavc acquired a latge lliarc of the confidence of thi3 f city; and there 13 little doubt of our taking tfje.lead in adopting such a government as they ihali recomniei: L jjil ■•lp|'The inclofcdaddrcfs “to the Freemen of the States,” was intended to awaken the fame I arW f for Government, which prevailed for Liber years 1774, and 1775. —I wish it could i tiWfwpOblithed in all the papers on the .continent. ««'General Walhington presides in the Conven with his usual dignity.—The venerable Dr. Franklin attends it daily, and is contributing his I experience and knowledge to aflift his country in rJtefc' s prefe'nt crisis. Mr. Dickinson, it is said, has Itturnec! his thoughts -for some time part to the buli- K%i|fi‘of the Convention, and intends to offer them ■i»bls!ccrimtry.— From the. characters of the gen- I aiobien who compose this illaftriousaffembly—from §*tlr#mcreafe of our national difficulties.—and above | aUffrom the growing disposition our citizens every |||K r e difeover to'improve our federal govern- I have not a doubt but that America will years realize all tbs happiness for which si£Vas contended.” ■■■ ■ ■■ ■ - layw be Freemen of the United States . PsslA CITIZEN of Pennsylvania, in a retired fi- L tuation, who holds and wishes for no lhare i *-Jjji|he power or offices of his country, and who of t tebaddreffed you in the years ry74, and 1775, inpbn the interesting fubjett of the LIBERTIES America, begs leave to address you again upon Khe important fubjett of her GOVERNMENT. Kit is impossible to bs happy without freedom } r and it is equally impossible to preserve freedom without such conftitmioos and laws as are adapted to the circumstances and habits of our country. The Rights of mankind are simple. They re quire no learning to unfold them. They arc bet ter felt than explained. Hence in matters that re late to Liberty , the mechanic and the philosopher, the farmer and the scholar, are all upon a footing : But the case is widely different with refpeCt to Go vernment. It is a complicated science, and re quires abilities and knowledge of a variety of other fubjeCts to understand it. Unfortunately from the general prevalence of despotism, and the monopoly of power in a few hands, mankind have had but few opportunities of profiting by the knowledge they have acquired from experience in this science. The world, for the firft time, saw a number of freemen assembled in America to compose a system of government for themfclves. It now beholds a feene equally new and illustrious —a body of freemen assembled to correct the mis takes of this government. How different is the situation of the citizens of America from the rest of mankind ! What would be the fate of the millions of our fcliow-creatures in the kingdoms of Europe, Ihoyld they assemble by voluntary as sociation, for this purpose ? Or what would not the subjects of Great-Britain, wh'o complain of the defect, or corruption of their government, give for this incftimable privilege :' Let thiacorupa rifon kindle in your bosoms a due sense of the va lue of Liberty, and let no pains be spared in com posing such 4.form of government as will preserve it forever. The present federal constitution was formed amidll the confufions of war, and in the infancy of our political knowledge.—lt has been found in effectual to support public credit, prevent hostili ties with our neighbours, and infurreetipas among our citizens : —Hence the name of an American, which was so vefpeitable in the year 1782, in every part of the globe, is now ,treated every where with Oaliquy and contempt. If the evils we have fuffered, and the infamy we have incurred, have not been fufficient to in duce us to alter our federal government, there is one argument that ffionld possess weight with us that should be irrefiftable. Mankind insensibly glide into a liable government. The rich and the poor soon grow tired of anarchy. They prefer the order and tranquility of despotism, to popular licentiouliiefs and the oppression of the law. Hence the fucccfs of usurpers of every age and country. It becomes us therefore to prevent the power which is the offspring of force, by means of a re gular constitution founded in a mutual compact be tween rules and the people. There never was a republic of long duration in any country, whose form was not mixed. But the mixture was in mod cases unfortunately the effect of accidents, or popularcommotions—hence the inequality of liberty in molt of them, and hence their corruption or extinction in every part of the world. I fee no reafo'n why a republic composed of a legislature properly compounded and balanced, where representation is equal and elections annual, Ihould not continue to be the ve hicle of liberty to the end of time? We have therefore, my fellow citizens, no choice left to us. We mull either form an efficient government for ourselves, suited in every refpeCt to our exigencies and interests, or we mull submit to have one im posed upon us by accident or usurpation. A bram ble will exercise dominion over us, if we neglect any longer to chufe a vine or a figtree for that purpose. The present relaxed state of government V H B * I' ■ ’ „ . [No. XLVI.] in America is no common temptation to ambi tion. A federal Shays may be mote fucceftful than the Shays of Maftachufetts-Bay, or a body of men may arifc who may form themselves into an order of hereditary nobility, and by surprise or stratagem profirate our liberties at their feet. The view of our lituation is indeed truly alarm ing; we are upon the brink of a precipice. Hea vens! shall the citizens of America, ftiall the de pofers of the power of George 111. and the con quercrs of Britain in America, submit to receive law from a bold and fuccefsful demagogue, < r a confederated body of usurpers ? Shall the United States become a theatre on which the crimes of theL'ttfars and Cromwells of past ages are to be ailed over again ? Are the freemen of America to be summed up in accompt of universal slavery, and transferred like cattle at an au&ion to the high est bidder ? Are our fields to be fctatched (for they will not then be cultivated) by the hands of slaves—and is .the produft of our industry, whe ther in arts or agriculture, to be torn from us by arbitrary edifls iflued from a newly eftablithed court of an American despots ? Was it for this we drew the sword at Lexington and submitted to, or rather embraced poverty, exile, imprison ment, flames, and death, in every stage of the war? Was it for this we triumphed in the re covery of our cities, and in the reduction of the armies of Burgoyne and Cornwallis ? Was it for this wc exulted in the peace which we extorted from Great-Britain in the year 1782? If it was, then virtue has buffered, heroiftn has bled, and heaven itfelf blefted us in-,train. America has it in herpower to adopt a govern ment which shall fecure.to her ail the benefits of monarchy, without pat ting with any of the privi leges of a republic. She may divide her legisla ture into two or three branches. She may unite pe.'feft freedom and wisdom together, and may confer upon a supreme magiftratc such a portion of executive power, as will enable him to exhibit a representation of majesty, such as was never seen before. I mean the majefly of a free people. To prelerve a sense of his obligations to every citizen of the republic, he may be glefled annually, and made eligible for feign years, or for life. The more we abridge the states of their fore reignty, and the more ftipreme power wc concen ter in an sjjtmbly oj the States, (for by this new name let us call our federal government) the more fafety, liberty and prosperity will be enjoyed by each of the states. The ambition of the poor and the avarice of the rich demagogue, cm never be reflrained upon the narrow scale of a state government. In an af* fembly of the states they will theck each other.— In this extensive refeivoir of power, itwili be im poffble for them to excite forms of feditiou, or cppiefiion. Should even virtue be wanting in it, ambition will oppose ambition, and wealth will prevent danger from’ wealth. Besides, while the eyes of the whole empire are diretfed roonefu prene legislature, its duties will be perfectly un derfeed, its ccndttft will be narrowly watched, and its laws will be obeyed with chearfplnefs and refpett. Let the states who are jealous of each others competitions and encroachments, whether in com merce or territory, or who have fullered under aristocratic and democratic iun.os, come forward and ftrft throw their sovereignty at the feet of the Con vention. It is there only they can doom their disputes, unjust tender 2nd commutation Jaws, their paper money, their opprefhve taxes upon land, and their partial systems of finance, to de* fruition. (For the remainder, jet page if-)