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The GEORGIA JOURNAL:
AND
Independent Federal Register.
Dab. twice a wecli\
Vol. I.]
grnp HE falc of the SLAVES, BOAT, &c.
X belonging to the estate of John M'ln
toih, jun. deceaft.d, advertii'ed for W’ednefday,
the IJth inflant, is postponed (on account of
the races, and no person attending) to Wed
nefdav, the aid inst. when ilie iale will take
place, at the Vendue-Houfe, in Savannah, at
ten o'clock.
DANIEL COURSE,
AUC'TIONIER.
Jan. 17, 1794-
FOR SALE]
A PERSON who is defiroils of retiring from
the mercantile bulinefs, will dii’pole of his
remaining flock in trade, in amount about
£.1300, iirfl cost, confiding of ufeful and fea
ionable goods, and well laid in.—They will be
fold on very advantageous terms, and delivered
either here or at Charleston, South Carolina,
l or particulars apply to the printer.
NOTICE.
ALL persons who have demands againfl the
late Mr. JAMES INGLESBY, are re
queued to deliver them to the fubferibers, pro
perly attested ; and those indebted tofaid estate
art deiired to make immediate payment.
ELIZABETH INGLESBY, adminiflratrix.
THOMAS HILLS, adminifirator.
Savannah, December 11, 1 79 3*
NOTI C E.
CONSTANT attendance will be given at
the fubferiber’s office, for receiving pay
ment of the taxes, until the lirfl day of March
next :—All taxes unsettled by that day, will
be lev Jed unon. without cllferimination. I
’ ER-ajnulS COCRVOIiir, I.C.C. C.
Savannah, “January 14, 1794*
Ladies’ Shoes and Gloves,
’THHE fubferiber has just received, per the
1 fioop Lark, captain Austen, from New
York, three chests of well-aflbrtcd ladies’ fine
and coarse limes. Alio, a box of .habit and
long gloves, of the fir ft quality : which will be
difpokd of on the low est terms, for cash or
nee.
HENRY PUTNAM.
Savannah, Jan. 18, 179
Two Guineas Reward.
RAN-AWAY, on the 16rh December ult. a
Guinea-born Negro, called POLLYDORE
— ; about five feet two inches high, speaks Eig
hth very rapidly and impcrfeiftly; formerly
the property of Mr. Abraham de Lyon, of this
city.—k is supposed that lie has taken refuge
somewhere near Qgechee, where he is (aid to
liav£ a svife. —Whoever apprehends laid Ne
gro, and lodges him in gaol, of delivers him
to the fubferiber, fhaii have two guineas re
ward, and all reasonable charges
JOHN MOORE.
Savannah, Jan. 14, 1794-
W A N T E I),
From 30 to 50,000 \V HI 1 E OAK
STAVES and HEADING.
HENRY PUTNAM.
Savannah, January It, I7; 4*
‘"ITIE fubferiber takes the liberty to ac-
X quaint the planters and the public in ge
neral, that he continues to prolecute the
FACTORAGE & COMMIS
SION BUSINESS only ,
and hopes, from his affidtious eudeavours, to
promote the interest of those who may favour
him with their commands—His stores arc as
convenient for the reception and security of
produce as any in this city.
gjp Order's from the country will be punc
tually attended to.
ROBERT WATTS.
Savannah, December 28, 1793-
Received, per the Jnvw Minerva t captain
Save!, direct from Cork ,
A SMALL consignment of BLS 1 IRISH
LINENS, and for sale by the fubferiber.
Who will charter said vctlel lor any pdrt in
the Weft Indies, if applied for soon. Sue is
strong, and well calculated for lumber, or any
•■her cargo.
HENRY PUTNAM. .
“ WHERE LIBERTY DWELLS, THERE IS MY COUNTRY.” —Franklin.
SAFANNAH: PRINTED BY JAMES CARET , ON THE BAY, NEAR THE COFFEE-HOUSE.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 1794.
Mr. JEFFERSON’s LETTER to mr. MORRIS.
[Concluded from cur lap ■ ]
3J. Mr. Genet, in his letter of July Qth, re
quires that the (hip Jane, which he balls an
linglilh privateer, (hall be immediately order
ed to depart; and to juftify this, he appeals to
the 2zd article of our treaty, which provides
that it llial! not he lawful for any foreign pri
vateer to lit their ships in our ports, to fell
71 lb at they have t, den, or purchase victuals, Si c.
The Hi ip Jane is an English merchant veil'd,
which has been many years employed in the
commerce between Jamaica and thele states.
She brought here a cargo of produce from that
island, and was to take away a cargo of flour.
Knowing of the war when she leit Jamaica,
and that our coast was lined*vith fniall French
privateers, (lie armeu for her defence,and took
one of those comrr.ilfions ulually called letters
of marque. She arrived here iafelv, without
having had any rencounter of any tort. Can
it be net diary to fay, that a merchant vefiel is
not a privateer ? that though flte has arms to
defend herleli in time oF war, in the courfeof
her regular commerce, this no more makes her
a privateer* than a hufbattdman following his
plough, in time of war, with a kniic or pistol
in his pocket, is thereby made a mldicr ? Ihe
occupation of a privateer is attack and plun
der; that of a merchant veiled is commerce and
, fclf-preftrvation. r l lie article excludes the
former from our ports, and from felling •üb.a
Joe bit taken , that is, what (lie has acquired by
war, to fliew that it did not mean the merchant
veil'd and what flic had acquired by commerce.
Were the merchant velTels coming lor our pro
duce, forbidden to have any arm; lor their de
fence, every’ adventurer who has a boat, or
money enough to buy one, would make her a
privateer; our coasts would swarm with them,
foreign velTels mu ft cede to come,oar commerce
i” ~ I’ • * *.rti \\
our hands, or at le.ift that great portion oi it
which we have not velTels to can y away, our
ploughs must be laid abide, and agriculture
lufpended, This is a l'acrince no treaty could
ever contemplate, and which we are not dil
pofed to make out of mere complaifancc to a
falfe definition of the term privateer. Finding
that the Jane had purchased new carriages
to mount two or three additional guns, which
flic had brought in her hold, and that flic had
opened additional port holes for them, the
carriages were ordered to be relanded, the ad
ditional port-holes flopped, and her means of
defence reduced to be exactly the fame at her
departure, as at her arrival. This was done
on the general principle of allowing no party
to arm within our ports.
4th. The 17th article of our treaty haves
arm ed velTels'free to conduit whitherfoever they
please, the {hips and goods taken from their
enemies, without paying any duty, and to de
part and be conducted freely to the places ci
prefled in their commillions, which thecaptain
ilia!! be obliged to fliew. It is evident that this
article does not contemplate a freedom to J*H
their prizes here, but on the contrary, a departure
to fome other place, always to he expreilcd m
their COmmiflion, where their validity is to be
finally adjudged. In iuch case it would be as
unreasonable to demand duties on the goods
they had taken from an enemy, as it would be
on the cargo of a merchant veil'd touching in
our ports for refrefhment or advices, and
against this the article provides. But the armed
velTels of France have been also admitted to
land and left their prize goods here for con
luntption; in which case it is as reafonahlc they
fliould pav duties, as the goods of a merchant
man landed and fold for consumption. They
have, however, demanded, and as a matter of
right, to fell them free of duty, a right, they lay,
given by this article of the treaty, though the
article does not give the right to fell at all.
Where the treaty does not give the principal
right of felling, the additional one of felling
dutv free, cannot lie given : and the laws, in
admitting the principal right of felling, may
withhold the additional one of felling duty
free.—lt must he observed, that our revenues
are railed alrnoft wholly on imported goods.
Suppose prize goods enough fliould be brought
into supply our whole consumption. Accord
ing to their construction, we are to lose our
whole revenue. I put the extreme case, to
evince more extremely, the unreasonableness
of the claim. Partial supplies would efFeCt the
revenue but partially. They would lefieu
the evil, but not the error, of the construction:
and 1 believe, we may fav with truth, that
neither party had it in contemplation, when
penning this article, to abandon any part of
its revenue for the encouragement of the fea
robhers of the other.
sth. Another source of complaint with mr.
Genet has been, that the pnglifli take French
goods out Os American veftels, which he lavs
is again ft the laws of nations, and ought to be
prevented by us. On the contrary, we ftippofc
it to have been long an eftablitlied principle of
the laws of nations, that the goods of friend
are free in any enemy’s veflel, and an enemy’s
goods lawful prize in the vefi'el of a friend.
Ihe inconvenience of this principle, which
fubjedla merchant veftels to be flopped at lea,
searched, ransacked, and led out of their courfc,
has induced levera! nations latterly to ftipulatc
against it by treaty, and to lubftitute another
in its stead, that free bottoms lhall make free
goods, and enemy bottoms, enemy goods; a
rule equal to the other in point of loss and
gain, but less opprellivc to commerce. As far
as it has been introduced, it depends oh the
treaties stipulating it, and forms exceptions in
special cases, to the general operation of the
law of nations, Wc have introduced it into
our treaties with France, Holland and Prullia ;
and French goods found by the two latter na
tions in American bottoms, are not made prize
of. It is our .xviflx to cftablilli it with other
nations. But this requires tiieir confcnt alio;
is a work of time ; and ill the mean while they
have a right to aeft on the general principle,
without giving to us, or to France, cause of
complaint. Nor do I fee that France can lose
by it on the whole. For, though flic
loics her goods when found in our veftels, by
the nations with whom we have no treaties,
yet the gains our goods, when found in the
veftels of the fame, and all other nations : and
wc believe the latter mass to be greater than
the former. It is to be lamented, indeed, that
the genera! principle has operated lb cruelly
in the dreadful calamity which has lately hap
pened in St. Domingo. The miserable fugitives,
who, to lave their lives, had taken af) lum in
our veftels, with luch valuable and portable
<1 ‘••• as could he nathered in the moment,
out o: the allies of their houses, and wrecks oi
their fortunes, have been plundered of these
remains by the licensed sea-robbers of their
enemies. This has 1 welled, on this occasion,
the disadvantages of the genera! principle,
that “ an enemy’s goods are free prize in the
veftels of a friend.” But it is one of those de
plorable and unforeseen calamities to which
they expose thcmfelves, who enter into a Hate
of war,’ furnifiling to us an awful lefton to avoid
it by justice and moderation, and not a cause or
encouragement to expose our own towns to the
fame burnings and butcheries, nor of complaint,
because we do not.
6th. In a case like the present, where the
mifiionary of one government construes differ
ently from that to which he is sent, the treaties
and laws which are to form a common rule
of action for both, it would be unjust in either
to claim an exciufive right of conftruiftion.
Each nation has an equal right to expound the
meaning of their common*rules; and realbn
and usage have eftahlilhed, in luch cases, a con
venient and well understood train of proceed
ing. It is the right and duty of the foreign
millionar■ to urge his own conflructions, to
support them with rcafons which may convince,
and in terms of decency and reipcet, which
may reconcile the government of the coun
try to a concurrence. It is the duty of that
government to lifteu- to his reasonings with
attention and candor, and to yield to them
when just. But if it fhaii (fill appear to them
that real'on and right are on their fide, it fol
lows of neceflity, that txerciiing the sovereign
powers of the country, they have a right to
proceed on their own conflructions and con
clusions as to whatever is to be done within
their limits. The minister then refers the case
to his own government, asks new inftrmftions,
and in the mean time acquiesces in the au
thority of the country. His government ex
amines his conflructions, abandons them, if
wrong, in lifts on them, if right, and the case
then becomes a matter of negociation between
the two nations. Mr. Genet, however, aflumes
anew and a holder line of conduct. After de
ciding for himfelf ultimately, and without re
fpeift to the authority of the country, he pro
ceeds to do, what even his sovereign could not
authprize, to put himfelf, within the country,
on a line with its government, acl as sovereign
of the territory, arms veftels, levies men, gives
commiflions of war, independently of tlient,
and in direct opposition to their orders and ef
forts. When the government forbids their
citizens to arm and engage in the war, he un
dertakes to arm and engage them. When they
forbid veftels to be fitted in their ports for
cruizing on nations with whom they are af
peace, he commiflions them to fit and cruize.
When they forbid an uncedcd jurifdiclion to
be excrcifed within their territory by foreign
agents, lie undertakes to uphold that exercise,
and to avow it openly, The privateers i
Citoyen Genet and Sans Culottes, having
beert fitted out at Charleston, (though without
flic permillion of the government, yet before
it was forbidden) the prcftdvnt only required
they might leave our ports, and did not mter
lerc with their prizes, iiifi&ui, however, of
■ heir quitting our ports, the Sans CulotteVrc
mams Hill, ftrengtheuing and equipping, her-
Jeii, and the Citoyen Genet went out only to
cruize oil our coast, and to brave the authority
<ft the country, by returning into port again
with her prizes. Though in the letter of
jiuie .ytlx, the final determination of theprefi
dcut was communicated, that no future arma
ments in our port fnould he permitted, the
V ainqucur de In Baflile was afierwards equip
ped and comniillioned in Charleston, the Anti-
George in Savannah, the Carmagnole in Dc
lawai.', a schooner and a Hoop in Boston, and
Uu: 1 oily, or Republican, was attempted to be
equipped in New-York, and was'the iuljccft of
reclamation by mr; Genet, in a rtyle whieix
certainly did not look like 1 clinquithing the
practice. The l ittle Sarah, or Little Demo
crat, was armed, equipped and manned, in the
port of Philadelphia, under the very eye of the
government, and as if meant to inlult ft. Hav
ing fallen down the river, and being evidently
on toe point of departure for a cruize, mr.
Genet was desired, in my letter of July 12th,
on the part of the president, to detain her till
ome enqmry and determination on the case
fnould he had. Yet within three or four days
alter fiie was sent out by orders from mr. Ge
net lnndelf, and is at this time cruizing on our
coasts, as appears by the protest of the master
of one of our vessels maltreated by her.
1 he government, thus insulted and set at
defiance by mr. Genet, committed in its duties"’
and engagements to others, determined still to
lee mthefe proceedings but the character of the
individual ; and not to believe, and it dots not
ici.cvc, that they are by inftnnfti .ms frt .1 ids
employers. They had allured the Britilh ini
‘.i .. line, that the veftels already armed in
tne-ir ports ihould be obliged to leave them,
and that no more Ihould be armed in them.
\ct more had been armed, and those before
aimed, had either not gone away, or gone only
to return with new prizes. They now inform
ed him that the order for departure Ihould be
enforced, and the prizes made contrary to it
fmnud be rtflored or compensated. The fame
thing was notified to mr. Genet, in my letter of
Augu 7th, and, that he might not conclude
the pronofe of compcnfation to he of no con
cern to hmi, and go on in his courses, lie was
lemindcd that it would be a fair article of ac
count against his nation.
Mi. Genet, not content with ufintr otir
orce, whether we wii) or not, in the military
me, against nations with whom we are at peace
undertakes alio to direct the civil government’
and particularly, for the executive and lemf
-1 tuie bodies, to pronounce what powers inav,
or may not, he excrcifed by the one, or tlie
other I bus in iiis letter of June Bth, he
promises to refpeeft the political opinions of
he president till the reprefeniatives Jhall have con
i'ejeSed them: as if the president had
undertaken to decide what belonged tothede
c 1 lion of congrcfs. I n his letter of June the ‘
14 belays more openly, that the president
ought not to have taken on himfelf to decide
on the iubjeift of the letter, but that it was of
importance enough to have consulted eongrefs
t itreon : and in that of June 22ii lie tells the
pi efidcnt, in direct terms, that congrcfs ought
already to have been occupied on certain ques
tions which he had been too hafly in deciding :
thus making himfelf, and not the president, the
judge of the powers aferibed by tlie constitu
tion to the executive, and dictating to him the
occasion when he ihould exercise the power of
convening congrcfs at an earlier day than their
own a est hid preferibed.
On the following expressions, no commentary
ihall be made.
{lp the original the/e paffaget are quoted in French ,
and the transitions giv, n in notes ; me here sub-
Jtitute the tfanfiatioi.t , as anf-.vering every pur
pose to our readers, and at the fame time favini
room for something more important .J
J u h 9- ‘ ‘fhi philosophical principles proclaimed
by the prefident.’
June 22. ‘ The opinions private tr public of the 1
president, and this eg is not appearing to you fuffscienif
June 22. ‘ The federal government has been ear, r,
urged by I know not mbit influence.’
June 22. ‘ I cannot aferthe meafares of this na
tui e, but to extraneous imprefjions, over which tin. e and
truth will triumph.’
June 25. ‘ They putfue with 0 ige the French
privateers, by the orders of the prejub ni.’
sane la, * This refufal tends to accompli fl ‘ ’ ‘ •
fernal fyfletn of the king of England, and ,„e oil. .r 1
I Ungs, his accomplices, to flftioy, Iv jaUine, French
freemen and freedom.’
[6 ana.
[No. 15.