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From tht New Fork Diary.
INSERTED ET PARTICULAR DESIRE.
CATO—No. 11.
Before we examine the measures of
our own government with refpeft to
the belligcrant powers, it will be proper
to take a retrofpe£live view of heirs to
us. To minds not yet p >if,ned bs
British politics, and racificu:*, it wi'l
appear that we labour under the highefl
obligations to France, for the molt
elTential services rendered to us in the
eftablilhment of our freedom and inde
pendence, and that the diltindtions by
which fome endeavour to refine away
those obligations, are fitch as would in
private file (damp the chara&er of the
apologifl: with infamy, and fitch as pub
lic men who value thetnfelves more up
on their virtue than their cunning,
would turn from with disdain.
p The article of our treaty with France
by whiih the neutrality of the veifei
(hall secure the property of an enemy,
was ittferted witti a view to the then
exiitinglaw of na i >ns, asfolenmly a
d tpted by the United States, and all the
civilized nations of Europe (Britain
excepted) as l(h ill hereafter illjw more
a’ large. Bnh contracting parties ha I
at that time reason tofuppofe that each
would abide by what th *y declared to
be their sense of the law of nations,
and that if war (hon'd break out be
tween one of them and another p >wer,
that they would enforce the mo lern
law, and not fuller the article to operate
only againfl their ally, while the law
was violated with impunity by their
enemy. What has been our conduit
on this occasion ? Hive we abi led by
our own principles? Have we iofided
upon our right to protect the property
of France agiinll the depredations ot
the Bridlh, or have we permitted 50m
Veflelsto be (earthed and pin idered'oi
the merchandizes we were bound to
proud ? In what flotation does
France then find herfelf with refped
tons? While her trale receives, no
security from >ur veflels, Ihe fees the
com nerce of Britain borne in fafety
through every part of the world un
der the protedion of our Hag! The
inconvenience and Infs (he fu(tains
fr m this circum f ance, infinitely over
balances any advantage Ihe can deriv
from our neutrality, and it would not
have been matter of surprise, had ill .*
made the indifference with whiih we
fiifFer the law of nations to be violated
to her injury, and the extreme eagu
nefs with which we clasp the article
that proteds the property of her
enemies, a caiife of complaint, and llill
less so, if in imitation of their example,
(he had winked at the rapacity of pri
vate (hips of war. I ittead of which,
with a friendlhip and good faith, that
will ever bind her to the hearts of every
uncontaminated American, (and such
I hope (till exilt) Ihe scrupulously ex
amines and fi-verely pumlhes every in
fradion of her engagements. In her
Commercial arrangements, she again
diilinguiihes 11s below no other na
tion, and very lately has enabled us to
trade to her illands as freely and with
the fame advantages as her own citi
zens.
Now let us turn the other fide of
the pidure, and examine the condud
of Britain with refped to 11s.—Tne
injuries that preceded the late war—
the malfacres in cold blood—themifer
able deaths and premeditated murder
of our fellow-ciiizens in prison and in
prifon-lhips—and ihe wanton and cruel
conflagrations which attended their
armies, Hull be palled over in silence,
hecanfe it is magnanimous to forgive
(;h nigh it would be folly to forge ) th
injuries which precede a treaty ot
peace ; those injuries, however, which
in violation of that peace are itill con
tinned, it would be weaknefiand cow
ardice either to forget or forgive. Tht
in’: with which th; treaty was writt n :
wast.i, Jlydry, before the very letter w a
broken Uy ihe transportation of tht
(laves that ha.: fi-en plundered, though
there was art express Uipulation that no
slaves (hould be carried elf, nor has any
scitituiion been made to this hour, al
though our governments and our courts
-if law have defeended to unworthy
humiliations to obtain it, and have cor,-
Itrued the treaty more liberally for
Biitain than (he herfelf intended. By
a forced and unnatural conflrudlion ot
the words that relate to the payment
of Briiifh debts, they have given her
fubjt £ls advantages over our citizens in
our own courts, which at the time of
fignir g the treaty (lie would bealham
ed to ask ; and fome among our then
n inifftis would have bind.ed to grant.
But notwiihdandii g fliis meat n Is on
our part, whi. h we aie plea fed to dig
nify by the title of got and faith, flu has
continued to add new aggreflions to
the one already mentioned Though
the treaty provides ekprefsly for the re
lipquilhment of the western pofls, and
clearly defines the territory of the Uni
ted States’, yet Britain, in contempt ot
thofeflipula ions, wiihout the halt pre
ttxt, (fill continues to hold thole pofls,
and maintains an aimy within the ter
ritories of the United States. By ‘lns
violation of the treaty, we fiiflain (in
dependent of the irilult and indignity)
the following direct arid evident 1 fhs.
1. We have loft the fur trade for ten
years, tfie pr< fits ot w Inch may be elli
mated at 700OCO dollars a year; thus
has (even millions of dollars been al
ready transferred from us to Britain,
without a shadow of right on her part,
and as we fee no reason to believe shat
Ihe ever intends to evacuate those pi fls,
the amount of our lot’s is beyond the
povv‘-r of calculation.
2. We have loft that power and
influince over the Indian nations,
which are peceiTary to our fafety, and
to this at count we mulkadd in part,
the expercts of the Indian war, the
depredations on our frontiers, the blood
of the brave men who have died by
th ir hands in the field, and the flaugh
ter of uncounti and numbers of every age
and sex, that have been cruelly malia
ertd < n our frontiers.
One would have imagined that these
facrifices, made to the rapacity ol
Britain, in vie'adon ot her plighted!
tai h, would have been fufficiei t to
fat isfy her avarice, anil aiftiage her
thirlt of revenge ; but alas! ewery day
convinces us, that new facrifices aie
exptcled, that every f< a as well as every
land (hould witness our humiliations,
and that while our ow n laws are forced
for their emolument, their laws and
even the sacred code of nations, (hould
be violated for our opprtflion : and vet
gracious God ! (my blood thrills while
I fay ii), there are men who live under
the protection, who enjoy the honours
of our government ; there are Ameri
cans base enough to become the ad
vocates and apologiits ol Britilh mea
furcs.
American seamen have repeatedly
been forced into the service of Britain,
and have even been taken out of our
vessels for this purpose : this vvasgloif
ed over by that class of men amonglt
us, who have ever been eager to sup
pose that the Biitifh nation, like the
Britifli king, could do no wrong— ‘ It
was only the a£t of an individual, the
captain of a man of war, or the com
mander of a privateer.’—But even this
apology flame and miserable as it is,
for every nation is bound to answer for
the a£ts of the people ihe employs) is
taken from them, and in a late c-afe,
one of the judges of England solemn
ly juflified this aggreflion upon the
righis of nations : —two American sea
men were prefled in London, they
brought their habeas corpus, and on
the hearing, though they produced the
oath of several persons, and among
others that of the mate of the Amen
can lhip in which they arrived ; yet
upon the Ample return of the officer,
not under oath, that they were born
luhj els of Britain, they were remittee
to hiscuflody, and lent on boaida lhip
of war; the j idge declarir g that he
would not enquire into the truth of tire
return, or in other words, that he
would fuffer any officer commanding
a prels-gang, to seize upon and retain
our seamen, if he will only fay that they
were born Britifli fubje&s, which may
be truly said ot every American above
the age of 18 years. If our own ter
ritory is not free from invasion, if by
means of British violence we are ex
posed to the fealping knife of the
f'avage, and if, even in the midst ot
their capital, within the view of their
court, and under the supposed protec
tion of their haws, the pcrfonal libeity
of our citizens is violated, we have
little reason to be (urprifed at their
avowed piracies on the high fcas, and
their contempt ot the lawsot nations;
what these are sh juld be well under
flood, fome miflaken ideas ot them,
have induced many well disposed per
fdn- to suppose that they authoiife these
usurpations.
The taw of nations is the tacit ac
qniefcence of nations, in those rules
by which they consent to be governed
in their ranfa£tions, which rdpe£t to
each other. This law mud thereiore
vary as civilization fufiens, and im
proves the general truss of manners,
among those nations whose mutual in
tercotufe fubjeds to fimnar laws.
Thus it was anciently held, that the
conqueror had the power ot life and
death over the conquered—and from
thence was deduced the pradice of
holding prtfuners in a ltate of slavery.
Tne humanity t)f modern nations, has
exploded this dndfitne, and the law
of nations limits the power of the con
queror, to a tunporacy confinement
1 he ancient law of nations declared,
that an enemy’s property, or even the
fubjedt of a power at war, might be
taken from a neutral (hip, piovided
that freight and dumurrage were paid ;
so that the neutral velf I loft nothing
by the capture. The violence and in
conveniences that this law, even thus
qualified,give birth to, induced the tin
piefs of Kuflia, to propose duiing tlie
lafl war, an alteration of if, when, by
neutral vessels should be inviolate, ex
cept when cariyirg contraband goods,
and to prevent any mifapprehei fi is
on that lubje£t, she enumerated the
c< ntraband goods.—To ti is law all
Europe (with one exception) and the
United Stan s formally acceded. Bii
tatn, the exception alluded to, not be-
mg willing to relinqilifh her piratical
(yitem, did not tormally acknowledge
the rule—however, she refpeded it lo
tar, as to confine her aggreflions to the
weaker (fates, and thole aggn (lions
produced her war wiih tfie United
Netherlands. But as one individual
of a community cannot prevent the
operation of a law , w hich the in; jority
impose ; the law of nations has by their
consent been changed, notwithltanding
the diflent of Britain ; and that ihis is
the opinion of the prefldent, appeais
from his appealii g to ihe modern law
of nations in his proclarration. It
follows therefore, that every seizure
and detainer of onr vellels ; every con
demnation of their cargoes under pie
tence of their belonging to an enemy,
is an open and grids violation of the
modern law of nations. But whv do
vve talk ot modern law r There is no
law either ancient or modern—no law
either human or divine—that confines
her usurpations, that sets bounds to
her violence. By a late proclamation
of the Britifli king, every veflel carty
ing the produce of our own country,
of any kind, to any part of France, is
made liable to seizure ; Ihe mull fufFor
the insolence of Biitifh cruifets, and be
compelled to dilpofe of her cargo at
such rates as they chufe to give. In
what law of nations, has this usurpa
tion upon the rights of a neutral pow
er, ever been found r But the injury
does not flop here—it goes fuithei
and declares, that w henever any place
shall be declared to be in a (Lie of
liege, that every veflel going towards
it, (hall be lawful prize—so that the
royal proclamation shall alter the na
ture of thing'--, and make that a flatt
of siege, which is not so atfually ; and
that contraband which no law or usage
ever declared to be such—and a r this
law could in practice only affi.& tht
three great maritime pow cis at prtfi ni
in a ftateof neutrality—Sweden, Den)
mark and America, so lavomatfle
opportunity of Viewing a marked con
tempt and hatred of us, could not be
paflfed over. The proclamation there,
fore contains on express exception j a
favour of the two firfl, and diredls th t
if any of their ships be taken, going to
a blockaded port, they (hall only be du
reded to change the p’ace of thci r
eflination, and (hall rtot be captured
unless theyperfifl in th. ir.vnyage ; but
an American lhip under similar cir.
cumtlances lhall be captured and con
demned.
But why do I speak of the want of
faith, the violence, the irjuflice of’
B.itain? Why do I urge the good
tiith, the friendlhip and benevolence
of France toward- us ? The firfl has
one a.lvan age which in the eyes of
many jn 11 fi s our ingratitude to the
lafl —one virtue that cumoenfates lor
every vice : —she has a kino.
C A T O.
PHILADELPHI N, January 4.
On Wednesday the fi It of January,
a committee from the officers of the
jficond regiment of Pniluhlphia mili
tia. waited on citizen Genet, with the
(following address :
To Charles Fdv und Genet, miti jl- r plenis
potenti.iry from th: r.public oj Franco
to the Untied States.
Citizen Mmifter,
A deputation of officers from the iff
and 2d battalion of the 2d regiment of
’ Philaddphiami!itia,haveihephafureof
! waiting on you,in order toteflify to you
their fa’isfadion on the happy prof
peds ot the eftablifliment of a free
republic in Fiance, as well as ihe high
opinion they entertain of your civic
and democratic virtues, and with, fir,
that the present year may usher in
vidories to your republic, and termi
na'e in your personal happiness. In
behalf of the reyfinenr,
JOHN BAKER, lieut. colonel.
Jan. 1, 1794.
1 o which a idrefs the minifler made
the following reply:
Thilad Iphia, fame try ?</, 1794,
third year oj the Ft each r public.
Citizen G enet, minuter plenipoten
tiary from the French republic /a
the United States, to tne deputa*
tivm of the officers of the fecund
regiment of Philadelphia militia.
Citizens,
At a time whela the perfiJious cla
mours of flakier, eagerly received by
theenemies of equality, are raised on all
(ides, to impair the femiments of be
: r.evolence w hich the American citizens
bear towards the French republic, and
those who fanhlully firve it.it is particu
larly grateful to me to fee that, impene
trable to the (hafts ot calumny, and
proofs againlt the errors to which de
tradion may have given birth, you pre
fttve the aflfedionate attachment for
j my country, which she has merited by
1 the unlhaken rtfiliation with which
Ihe maintains the rights of man, and
accelerates the decifiun of the grand
question, whether despotism, demo
cracy or aristocracy shall prevail.
It is not solely in the midst of com
bats the French people have to c >nj
: tend with their enemies, who.rife up
against them, in every shape, and 1 n
all parts of the world. But the zeal
of their agents at home s*nd abroad,
(hall be as conltant as the invincible
courage of their soldiers, as long as they
(hall be supported and animated in their
painful carter, by the esteem of’ free
and virtuous men. This being our
only ambition, citizens, you mayeafi
ly conceive what heartfelt pi afuteand
fatisfadion I have received from your
repeated exprefiions of friendfhip, and
ot the interest you take in my country’s
cause.
GENET.
FUGITIVE THOUGHTS.
A man may as soon be well without
health , ashapoy without goodness.
When a man has the heart to do a
very bad thing, he feldcm wants the
Jace to bear it out.
I he fhortefl way to be rich, is not
bv enlarging our ejiates, but by con
aading oui djires.