tereft in preventing it for every reason of rivalry will be removed. Then France will command refpect without infpiringly Then France fear to the two nations whofe friendship is the most important for her commerce, and the preservation of her iflands; and all thefe advantages will be obtained without the expense of establishments which ruin the public treafure, and divert capitals from their true object.

But if, on the one fide, France keeps New-Orleans by attempting to colonize Louifiana, fhe will become an object of jealoufy to Spain, the United States and England, which powers will not only dif courage her commerce, but will compel her to make expenfive eftablishments to fecure the pofleflion of it.

In the foregoing obfervations I have confined my felf to obfervations which prefented themfelves, without having recourle to fubtilties, which only ferve to millead the judgment. I have expofed fimple facts with candour and all the fimplicity of language. If a reply is made, it will be by pursuing a contrary courfe. quence and fophiftry they may be comWith elo. batted and obfcured; time and experience will demonftrate their folidity.

Be it our weekly task,

To note the passing tidings of the times.

>>>>>>808<<<<<<

Dudson, August 2, 1803.

MASS

INTERESTING DECISION.

In the cafe of David Dennifton vs. Dennis Cole, both of the county of Orange, the defendant having been arrefted and held to bail in the fum of 480 dollars, cited the plaintiff before his Honor Judge Gardener, to fhew caufe of action. The Plaintiff, in the ufual manner, inade out his affidavit; But Fish, counfel for defendant, objected to Mr. Denniston's oath, on the fcore of his principles, having underflood that he neither believed in a Supreme Being nor in a future ftate of rewards and punishments. The plaintiff was then afked by the Court on these two points; to the first he faid he did believe in a Supreme Being; the fecond queftion he declined anfwering -By the Court: The oath cannot be taken--let the defendant be difcharged from the arreft on filing common bail.-Rofs for plaintiff, Fifk for defendant.

We understand that the Theiftical Societies of this city have had an extra meeting on the above, and have voted to refift the decifion to their utmoft, as an attack upon their religious principles! [Ev. Poft.]

The war is carried on between the French and Brigands with every fpecies of barbarity their favage minds can invent. When the brigands take a prifoner they put him between two planks and faften him with cords fo that he cannot move, and then take a crofs cut faw and faw him nearly affunder in different places fo as to terminate his exiftence in the moft barbarous manner and the French in their turn when they take a prifoner tie him neck and heels, and throw him into a place where they have a parcel of half ftarved bloodhounds to be torn to pieces by them.

[Ibid.]

The first act of the war on LONDON, MAY 25. Firft Conful has been, not to meet us manthe part of the fully at fea, not to carry on hoftilities in the way adopted between civilized nations; but to make an attack upon the perfons and feized and imprifoned all our countrymen liberty of thole whom he was bound by all the laws of hofpitality to refpe&t-He has and women in France!!!

The mails between the two countries day from Dover as a flag of truce. Wren having been ftoped, a packet failed on Frifhe arrived at Calais, fhe found that two of the English packet boats had been feized, decree to the following effe&t: and the men imprifoned. She was informed alfo, that the Firft Conful had iffued a

66

l

under 18 nor exceeding 60, or bearing a That every British fubje&t of an age not

247

ately be confidered prifoners of war, to anwho is at prefent in France, fhall immedi commiffion under his Britannic majefty, public, as fhall have been detained and fwer for fuch citizens of the French remade prifoners by the veffels and fubjects of his Britannic majefty."

Talbot, the fecretary to the British lega-
In confequence of the above decree, Mr.

who had arrived at Calais on his re-
embark. The Earl of Yarmouth, Sir
other Englifhmen, are alfo detained at Ca-
turn to this country, was not allowed to
James Crawford, Mr. Cobourn, and two
lais. We have not heard whether they
have been fent to prifon or rot. The cap-
turned on Saturday afternoon from Calais,
tain of the Auckland packet, which re-
forming his majefty's minifters of his de-
tention.
bro't over difpatches from Mr. Talbot, in-

English gentlemen have been fent to the Temple, the Conciergerie, and other priAt Paris, it is faid by fome, that the fons, and the ladies to Fontainebleau. Other accounts ftate, that both men and lifh, we understand, have been put in prifon. women have been ordered to repair to Fontainebleau. At Dunkirk all the EngMAY 28.

fquadron under Sir Roger Curtis from the A Letter of this morning from Portfmouth, flates the arrival yesterday of the cape of Good Hope, and of that fquadFrench Eat-India fhip, estimated at one ron having taken yefterday at noon, a hundred thousand pounds value. The fame letter brings an account of the capture of the Hazard floop of war, which eMinerve at fea. vent Sir Roger Curtis learned from La

The Knell.

"Nay, Dashwood cries, that bloom's not Harriet's
'Twas bought at Reynold's, More's, or Marriot's
And, though you own her face untainted,
I swear by G-, your beauty's painted."
A wager instantly was laid,

And Ranger sought the lovely maid;
The pending bet he soon reveal'd,
Nor even the impious oath conceal'd.
Confus'd her cheek bore witnesa true,
By turns the roses came and flew,
"Your bet, she said, is rudely odd-
But I am painted, sir-by God !

Diversity.

TRAIT OF OLD TIMES.

A LAW to promote and enforce induftry, especially pinning, paffed by the Legillature of Mallachufetts, in the year 1665.

6.

Be it enacted by the authority of this court, that all hands, not neceffarily enployed on other occafions, as women, girls and boys, fhall be, and hereby are, enjoyned to fpinn, according to their skill and ability and that the felect men in every town, do confider the condition and capacity of every family, and accordingly do affefs at one or more spinners; and because feveral families are neceffarily imployed the greateft part of their time, in other bufines, yet, if opportunities were attended, fome time might be spared at least by fome of them for this work, the said felect men fhall therefore affefs fuch at half and quarter fpinners according to their capacities. And every one thus aforefaid for a whole fpinner, fhall for time to come, fpin every year for thirty weeks, three pound a week of linen, cotton, or woolen, and fo proportionably for half and quarter fpinners, under the penalty of twelve pence a pound fhort and the feleƐt men fhall take fpecial care for the execution of the order, which may easily be effected, by dividing their feveral towns into ten, fix, five &c. paris, and to appoint one of the ten, fix, five &c. to take an account of their divifions, and to certify the fele&t men if any be defective in what they are affeffed, who fhall improve the penalties, impofed on fuch as are negli gent, for the encouragement of thofe who are diligent in this work."

66

whom he deemed to be anti-christian. It once happened that, while a congregation was going out of a church-houfe, Benja min who had ftood at the door, on the outfide, during fervice, loudly exclaimed, How can you, by fuch preaching as you have now been hearing, diftinguish the fheep from the goats ?" A facetious gentleman, ftepping up to him and taking him by the beard, replied, "We diflinguifh the goats, Benjamin, by their beards."

Complete files of the first volume, which baye been reserved in good order for binding, are for sale -Price of the volume, bound, Two Dollars and fif ty cents-unbound, Two Dollars. The whole may be sent, stitched or in bundles, to any post-office in the state, for 52 cents postage; or to any post-of fice in the union for 78 cents.

PUBLISHED BY

SAMPSON, CHITTENDEN & CFOSWELL,
Wanen-Strect, Hudson.
WHERE PRINTING IN GENERAL 39 EXECUTED
WITH ELEGANCE AND ACCURACY,

|

can do no wrong" 'tis ftupid to fay this of a king; but Mr. Jefferson has more wifdom, more virtue, more honour, thar all the kings have put together, who reign in Christendom.-He betray and facrifice the intereft of the nation! The fuppofition is blafphemy.

Q. Inafmuch as the angels of light became foul apoftates, it is furely not impoffible that even Mr. Jefferfon may err and do wrong; and if fuch an incident fhould exift and the public fhould thereby be greatly endangered, ought not the peo. ple to know it?

A. It would be beft that the people fhould not know it: the publication of fuch intelligence would light up the torch of fedition; it would diminifh the people's confidence in their chief magiftrate, and would eftrange their hearts from his facred perfon.

Q. Should a printer publifh any fact of this kind, together with fubflantial documents in proof; what must be the confequence ?

A. The prefumptious wretch must be indicted, and punished according to law.

Q. Should he produce in court twenty fubitantial witnelles, in proof of his allegation, would not this circumftance tend to effect his acquital?

A. If he fhould produce in court an hundred witneffes, it could no wife avail him. The bench would not permit them. to be fworn common law forbids it.

Q. If Mr. Jefferson fhould perfonally appear in court, and acknowledge the fact alledged against him, might not this exculpate the publisher ?

A. It would in no manner tend to his exculpation, but would really aggravate the offence: it would prove that the allegation were a great truth; and confequently, that it were a great libel.

Q. Is this then the perfection of liberty?

A. It is the quinteffence, the very marrow of liberty; it is the facred touchflone of orthodoxy.-Whoever does not believe with all his heart, that to publish all manner of evil against the ex-officers, and allo against the fecond magiftrate in the nation, is highly meritorious; and that to publifh aught against Mr. Jefferson, (tho' true,) is a damnable fin ;-whoever does not believe that the Sedition Law, which admitted the truth in evidence, was an a&i of horrible oppreffion and tyranny ;-and that the common law, which punishes truth as feverely as it does faifhood, is the beft poflible fecurity for the freedom of the prefs ;-whoever does not believe and openly profefs, without any equivocation. or mental refervation, all and every of thefe cardinal points of republican faith, together with all the fubordinate doctrines and principles, which have been now declared in this catechetical creed—is an in.

"We are willing to give ample credit to "Gen. HAMILTON for great talents in his profeffion, great addrefs as a politi"cian, great courage as a foldier, and great "ambition as a fiatefman. His talents, "his address, his courage, and his ambi "tion, we believe, have been ftudioufly "devoted to his own perfonal agrandize[National Egis.]

"ment.

forded him the means of viewing every thing on a larger fcale than thofe who had only divifions and brigades to attend to:who knew nothing of the correfponden. cies of the Commander in Chief, or of the various orders to, or tranfa&tons with, the general Staff of the army.

"Thefe advantages, & his having ferved with ufefulness in the Old Congrefs, in the General Convention, and having filled one of the most important departments of gov ernment, with acknowledged abilities and and made him a confpicuous character in integrity, has placed him on high ground, the United States and even in Europe. To thefe, as a matter of no small confideration, may be added, that as a lucrative practice in the line of his profeffion is his moft certain dependance, the inducement to relin. quifh it must in fome degree be commen. furate. By fome he is confidered an am.

In answer to this pitiful attempt to defame, it might be fufficient to prefent a fin-bitious man. That he is ambitious, I fhall gle fact-Mr. Hamilton was certainly readily grant, but, it is of that laudable more than any man able to calculate very kind which prompts a man to excel in early on the confequences of funding the whatever he takes in hand. Debt, and it will eafily be feen that he might, directly or indirectly have availed himfelf of his knowledge, to extend his private fortune to any nameable amount. It is well known, however, that an inceffant diminution of that fortune was the refult of his going into the Treafury, and eventually rendered it neceffary for him to refign his fituation and return to his profeffion for a fupport.

But instead of difputing with a pert and faufy jackanapes, whofe impudence is only equaled by his malice, one of thofe egregious triflers, whofe vanity fcruples not to facrifice truth to the rounding of a period, we fhall, as a fatisfactory refutation of this abufe, prefent the impartial opinion of one who will be allowed full credit: One whofe attribute it was to fee more deeply into real character than almost any other man, and who was intimately acquainted with Mr. Hamilton for a long courfe of time both during the revolutionary war and fince. Two years after his retirement from public life, WASHINGTON thus expreffed himfelf in a letter to Mr. Ad.

ams:

Extract of a letter from General Wafh ington to Prefident Adams, dated MountVernon, September 25, 1798. s

66

It is an invidious tafk, at all times, to draw comparifons, and I fhall avoid it as much as poffible: but I have no hesitation in declaring that, if the public is to be deprived of the fervice of Col. Hamilton, in the military line, the poft he was defined to fill will not be eafily fupplied; and that this is the fentiment of the public, I think I can venture to pronounce. Although Col. Hamilton has never acted in the character of a genaral officer, yet his opportu nities, as the principal and most confidential Aid of the Commander in Chief,

"He is enterprizing, quick in his pre ceptions--and in his judgment intuitively great: Qualities effential to a great mili tary character, and therefore I repeat, that his lofs will be irreparable."

Now then let the malignity of age dictate and boyish vanity endite--here is the tel mony of one who could not be mistaken, and who was incapable of deception,

Balance Closet.

RETOR T.

The civilized and the savage man have opposite modes of warfare: the former stands erect in the open field, and bares his bosom to his adversary the latter lies in ambush; and the corroding wounds, pursued to his hiding place, he speeds his flight to which he inflicts, proceed from an unseen hand. If another dark retreat; and plots to ensnare the enemy, that he dares not meet on open ground.

A like difference of characters is observable in the warfare of the pen. Some wage it in an open manly manner, and scorn to shrink from an avowal of any thing they write. Others prefer a busb-fight: in anonymous publications, or under the cover of fictitious signatures, they can, with cool and delib erate malice, commence unprovoked attacks. They can secretly feather their arrows, dip them in pri son, and aim them, with an exertion of every nerve, at the heart of their marked victim. In their hid. den recess, they "grin horrible a ghastly smile," at the wounds on character, which they have se curely inflicted If challenged to avow themselves, they plunge still deeper into their thicket; if vigo rously pursued, they are like the scuttie fish, that, to conceal itself, fouls the water with which it is surrounded ;—if dragged into open light and dared to a fair combat, they instantly cry, "murder."-If their insulted, incensed foe make a free use of the

af-goose-quill, and repay them, with interest, in their