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[VOL. ll.]
jLrGrSTA-PiUKli i) OY DANIEL STARNES & Co.
- - - - .
■/tom the Enquirer %
To the Refujlican party !
THE eKNTINEL—Ne. VIII.
The intcreft which the
people of this country felt
in the revolution of Fi ance,
displayed itfelf in the moil
itriking manner on the ar
rival of Mr. Genet. Re
garded as the French re
public perfonified, he was
received wherever he went,
with raptures of joy and
triumph, which proved the
generous sensibility of the
American heart, and the
paifion for liberty which
prevailed, with a great ma
jority, throughout this land.
There were those, however,
among us, who looked up
on these eftufions, as lao-o
did upon the favor manifef
ted towards Caflio, and up
on the innocent and biifs
of Othello and Desdemona
that is, with an eye of
envy and of dark and malig
nant jealouly and revenge.
The project was formed of
making the object of favor
himfelf the instrument of
that revenge, and the fire
and enthuliafin of Genet’s
character afforded an eaiy
opportunity of carrying it
into effect. He was accused
of having threatened to ap
peal from the Prdident,
Washington to the people,
touching a measure tending
to preserve the neutrality of
the U. States. lie denied
the charge with all his
flrength ; and Mr. Dallafs,
the Secretary of State for
Pennfylv.ania, the only per
son to whom lie was pre
tended to have utterd that
threat, also denied it in the
mofl; folcmn and decisive
fanner. It was all in vain
however: for such an op
portunity of tiling the po
pularity of \V aliii ngton as a
fliicJci lor the secret e rwmies
01 the French republiek,
' v as not to i)e loft. Accor
liing.Jy John Jay, then the
ohiei juitice of the United
States, and Rufus Ring, a
Senator, came out with a
Voluntary statement in the
N* York papers, that they
htd acculed xMr. Genet of
ottering that threat, and
’that they had it from Ha
milton and Knox $ who had
h 2 d it, bye the bye, at the
second or third hand, from
ir * Dallafs, who entirely
1 “nied it. With thrfe high
names again! l him, however,
jt V, as i n v*ai n for Genet to
; the charge was faf
upon him—an illtie
tnus formed between
general Wafliington and
jrnlelf; and the federal-
availing themselves of
„ T P rc vious ideiiti.de.'lion
the miniiter with his re- <
MIRROR OF THE TIMES
public* branded ev<Ty friend
of France as a friend cf
Genet, and of course an
enemy of Washington, the
father of his country. No
thing could be more
ingenuous than this arti
fice ; the people, however
who could not immediate
ly understand the ijo-o]**
were brought to pause t'ney
loved France bccaufe ranee
had fervedthem in the hour
ot trouble and danger ; they
panted lor the fuceefs of
the French republiek, be
cause its object was liberty,
to atchieve which they had
themselves just waded thro’ •
feus of fire and oceans of
blood : At the fame time, ’
they felt that those lenti
ments were not only con- i
fiftent with their love and
veneration for the father of 1
their country, but that those j
lentiments were not only
confident with their love
and veneration for the fa
ther of iheir country, but ;
that those attachments in- j
vigorated each other by
their congenially. They re
membered the union of
Washington and Fayette;
they had leen those heroes j
of liberty upon the field to- ;
gether ; and they rcinem- j
bered through what troops
the British marched at the i
surrender of York.
They could not compre
hend* therefore, now their j
attachment to France or I
French liberty was at all in
f »
confident with their love
for Waihington. The fe
dcralifts, however, infilled
that it was so, and by put- ,
ting the people to confider, j
how their mute and noble !
gratitude to their friendly
anxiety for their freedom,
could be displcufing to
Wafliington, gave fora time j
a very fer.fible shock to
the popularity of that patri- !
ot. This is not the oniy j
instance in which to fereen
themselves from the re
sentment of the people, *
thcle politicians have inter- j
posed the name of Walhine- i
ton, and, thereby, Idfened
the reverence jullly due to
thatname. On the occafiou,
however, on which lam !
now speaking Gen. Walli-
was soon refeued i
from this dilemma by the
pen of Mr. Jeiferfon, the
American Secretary of State.
In a letter to Mr. Morris,
our minister in France, he
brought together in a tnaf- j
terly manner, Mr. Genet’s
violations of the existing
treaty, and his encroach
ments on the lbvereignty of
this nation, and infilled on
his recal. lie discrimina
ted in the mofit clear and
fitiffactgry maimer between
that'minuter and his repub- .
lick ; and Ihe wed to the 1
ii hold ri!E .mirror lr to na'|Oue.” — Shakespeare.
WK>T K.\ l) OF RROiD STREET.
people both of that and this
country, that gratitude to
I France and the mad fmcere
and earned Tol IC! tude tor
her success, involved no ap
: probation or Genet, or cen
fiare of Wadfington. . The
federal ids did not thank
• Mr. Jederfon for this letter ;
icr although, on his part,
a li:npie di (charge ot du
ty, it opened the eyes of A
merican people to theftrata
gem which had been play
ed off upon them. It re
stored the harmony of their
love tor Walhjngton end
France. It took from be
fore the federaliis the fliicld
of Walhinffton's name, al
-1 though it we may judge
from their future conduct,
th«y did not seem to know
that it was removed, lince
I tliey dill feised every op
portunity of launching their
political thunderbolts at
France, and bending the
knee ot (übmillion to ar
rogance.
In the debate on the ton
nage duty it was admitted,
three fourths, if not four
fifths of the commerce of
the United States was car
ried on by Britiih (hipping.
With this, however, Great
Britain was not contented.
Enraged at our indepen
dence, determined to di
mi nifli its enjoyment as
much as pofiible, and to
take m a covert and cow
ardly manner that revenge
which die dared not to at-*
tempt openly* die afTailed
us by a series of commercial
redactions, calculated tode
droy all competition,and to
thcle (he added the plunder
of our commerce under the
sanction of judicial forms,
and the impediment of our
seamen on the pretext tint
they mud be Britiih fub
jedts, becaiife they (poke
the Englith language.—
'Fhe House of Reprefcnta
tives at length thought it
time to look into these a
buies ; and the Secretary
of State was called upon to
make a report on the prl
vileges and redactions on
the commerce of the Uni
ted States. He performed
that duty on the i6tli De
cember, 1793, and after
(hewing the redactions of
each nation with which we
had commerce, he proposed
if they could not be obvia
ted by friendly negociation,
to meet them by correfpun
dmg redriCtions in every in
dance. On this report were
founded the celebrated revo
lutions of Mr. Madison,
which were laid on the table
of the House of Reprefenta
tiveson the third of Janua
ry 1791. Thole resolutions
proposed nothing more than
to retort upon each nation
prccucly the fama degree
of redaction which die had
previously im poled upon
Ki. Vet it was on these re
foiutions tint the imputation
jof partiality was founded;
and on this signal occasion
it was that the charge of
French Tn fine nee fird dif
dinCtty made it appearance,
it was fiiii that these reso
lutions bore harder upon
G. B. than upon France ; it
was admitted ; but why
did they so ? Bccaufe G.
Britain had previoutly bore
| harder upon ns exactly
in the lame ratio; and
the policy of the refo-
Intion clearly manifeded,
|as (ad as lhc removed iier
nggreflive redactions, we
| would remove our defen
i live ones.
There was ihdecd another
rcafon why Great Britain
; would have felt our redric
j lions more fenfihly than
i France, & that was bccaufe
of the far greater (hare of
our commerce which (he
; enjoyed. It was (hewn by
| Mr. JefFerfon’s report that
| our exports to these two
countries dood tllus :
:To G. Britain and T)oils.
j its dominions, 9,363,416
i To France and its
dominions (the
next hi idled na-
O
tion on tiie lid)
and of which a
: very great pro
. portion pafFed
i thro’ G. Britain 4,698,735
Balance in favor
of G. Britain, 4,664,621
1 That our imports
were from G.
Britain and its
dominions D. 15,685,428
From France
its dominions
(thenext high
; ed on the lid)
j Balance in favor
1
j oi (r. B. 13. 1 3,217,080
! While of the American ton
: nage employed in this coin
j rnerce G. Britain employed
only Tons 43,580,
While France em
ployed 116,410
Tons while Great Britain
! ahnod the
; whole profits arising from
• the exchange of furplufTes,
; die Was bulily employed in
excluding our vefiels from
any participation in the pro
fits of tlic* carrying trade;
while France with com para- ;
; tiveiy little inducement from j
commercial barter : r ave cm- 1
•J
ployment & encouragement
to our (hipping in the ratio
lof nearly three for one. It
is clear, therefore, that
with this immensely superi
or dakc in American com-
I rncrce, gained, too, by the
policy ot her redactions, G.
1 Britain would feel the coun
tervailing redactions of the
jU. S. much more sensibly
[No. 04 j
MONDAY, Jilv 30, 1810
than France of* any other
nation. But whole fauft
would it be that Hie would
lo feel them ? Mod clearly
her own ; been ule we pro
poled only to relent her ag
grefiions, and retaliate upon
her, rdlri&ion for reftritti
|on. The great policy of
| thole meal tires was to force
! all nations to treat usjulUy *
j to deprive each and every
1 one of them of ahy undue
advantage gained by their
own wrong ; to take oft* ev
ery fetter from commerce
and leave it to its natural
courle ; to leave to the sev
eral and rcl'pcctive nation
of the. world all the advan
tages Which nature and na~
I turcs God had given them,
i was speaking of these
| resolutions, lb just, lb im
! partial, so noble in their
! views, that Mr. Ames laid
j “ they arc built on partiality
for one nation—they have
French damped on tbev£-
ry face of them/'—To this
Colonel Parker of Virginia
replied : “ I will], dr, therd
| was a damp on the forehead
| of every man in the Houfe*
; to dcilgnate whether he is
* for France or Great Britain.
myfelf, I will not fit
blent and hear that nation
abulcd to whom America i*
indebted for her rank as a
nation—for I am firmly per
suaded, that but for the aid
of France in the lad war,
thole gentlemen nowon the
door, who pride themlelvcs
in abusing her, Would Hot
have had an opportunity iri
this place of doing it."—
“ Upon this, lay the papers
of the day, two or three per
sons in the gallery made a
faint attempt to clap/’
“ This sentiment, fays Judge
Marlhall, produced a clap in
the galleries. And on the
1 motion which followed to
! clear the gallery, he gravely
adds, " that tiic debate
showed that the degree of
fallibility excited by this
difordcr, was extremely dif
ferent in the different par
ties." Strange indeed ! that
a party who, by their own
rude aggredion had drawn
upon themselves a Just re
tort, and a public "laugh,
did not enjoy the occurrence
quite as much as others ! It
is true, there was at the
time, an attempt to parry
the point of the retort, and
conceal the smart which i{
! g av G by uffeding a mighty
paflion at the difordcr of the
gallery, and infirtuafirig that
the love of France was be-*
traying us into in imitation
even of her jacobinic disor
ders; but this design wag
I defeated by the concurrence
of the republicans in cen
suring the difordefj the on
ly differences between them
arid the federal ids, in th#
1