Gazette of the United-States. [volume], August 24, 1793, Page 513, Image 1

About Gazette of the United-States. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1789-1793

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A NATIONAL PAPER, PUIipSHbD WEDty£SQAYS AND SATURDAYS BY JOHN FENNO> No. 34, NOPTH FIFTH-STftE&T, PHILADELPHIA.
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■ [No. A :^->! F s*■" 1" : [Whol © .45'fsJ'
FOR THL GAZETTE.
TO TilE PEOPLE.
HAVE the Americans a right to go a pri
vateering agamft any nation, w-hile Ame
rica is at peace wife all the world ? That
they have 110 fiich right is declared by the
President ; and the fudges of the supreme
court are d.robtlefs of the tame opinion. Kut
tlie-e is party in some of the States who sup
port an opposite opinion. They contend that
art American citizen may when he p eufies en
ter 011 board a foreign privateer while the
United States 1 afe at peace. When we con-
Jider the conduct of this party in Philadelphia
during the late trial of a privateer's-nun, the
proofs of joy they afterwards exhibited, and
the late publications that seem Xb have been
made by some of them, indecent bevondd
their usual efforts; when we consider also that
the head of that party fcttnn to have appealed
to the people'm oppofjtion to the fenfe'of the
•executive, with the hope, as we mult Aippofe,
ofcauftog infurrettions and overturning the
government, it must be hig;h time for cvrrj
citizen to consider the fribjeft fully and fay
whether kw i« for war or pesice.
Be not deluded my fellow-citizens by the
icW? parade of wordy lawyers or frothy poli
ticians, there is but one question before us.—
It is the question of War or Peace—and the
true object of all the privateer Vmen is d ge
ruralWaj, whatever they may pretend to the
contrary, for their measures tend to inevita
ble war. You will be pleased to think on this
subject an(i give your opinions.
The argument used by the party in oppo
sition to government, I do nos know whe
ther they, are tifually called for the lake ot
<lUlm&ion, pi ivateer's-men or Geneteens, is
that a citizen of America, living in America,
may when he pleases change his allegiance,
that he may this minute be an American, and
on the next minute, without change of place,
he may, by a kind of hocus pocus or le&ev de
main, be a French, an or a Dutch
man. That being thus he
may Chip him lie If ou board the armed fliip of
Iris adopted foreign nation, he may go to. sea
and plunder or take the (hips of people with
Avhom the Americans are at peace, may
bring thole lhips iqt" American ports and
fell them a'; pood prizes. Le.t us trace the
natural conclulions from this argument.— ,
French privateers tliey fay may be fitted in !
American ports and American citizens may j
become Frenchmen in our towns. If part of
the crew of a French privateer may be Ame
ricans, nick named French, certainly the
Whole crew may be of the fame class. If one
man may purchase and fit out a vessel for
eruifing against the trade of a nation with
whom we are at peace, every other man .may
do the fame thing. Our ship owners may be
tranfrnufied into Freiichmen as well as ou/
teamen. In this cafe there may soon be fclty
rtr an hundred privateers at sea, cruizing
against ths trade of Spain, Holland, Jwvgland
a«d Germany, mak'n&defcentsoo their iflinds
or their European dominions, aivd plundering
their ftibje&s. All tl*e prizes or plunder must
come into the United States for the accom
modation of the captors when they Iball think
fK again t<* call tbemfelces Americans. It
might so happen that not a finale man of afl
this privateering armada had ever been in
France—all of them birn in Amcrica and re
taining the privileges of American citizens ;
but the people of the United States are all
this time supposed to be inofferfive and peace
able ! Suppose any of the injured nations
should complain that Americans had taken
■their veflels and (hould demand reparation,
mirjfuhtile politicians are prepared with an an
swer j—we are to reply that those Americans
had changed their country, while they were
cruizing, and we disowned them ? Would this,
do you think, be a fatisfaftory answer ? Old
Judiams make treaties of peace with us and
•young Indians kill our fellow-citizens ; when
we complain of the breach of peace, the blame
is conftantjy ia»d, not upon people wbo ceafe«d
to lie Indians, but upon di{orderlyyoung people;
the nation do not make themselves anfwera
b\e. The policy of out pi ivatter's-men is an
-improvement on savage perfidy ; their out
rages \rjll «urt be committed by aiforderiy peo
yle of the United States,but bv frendirrm who
<b<jd been Americans before they went oh
Jboard and will be Americans when they come
on fbore.
Suppose wc should declare war to-morrow
England, Spain and Holland, what is
to be done ; it is generally supposed that our
whole exertions must he confined to priva-
sgainfl their commerce, bat this is
the very th ner ©ur politicians would eifeft by
their new fa/Kioned system of neutrality.*-
T hie re would be no diiference in substance,
finue ditferepice there might be in ftiadow.—-
in one cate ve ihouki cruise with a striped
cockle, in the otber cafe with a black one.
In 01 tv cafe we fhottkt cruize under a falfe
n:wiie, in the other cafe withotir proper name.
S»ch a -did imftion mav be good for children at
plwy. for sober men or for nations it is too
coi. iciuptible to b* mentioned.
in M n wivily a pity tfeat tbe property, the
T7TT
| J; i&V}sv:iv,'c'i ' jS. i.. ,!,7'
I vfSfOfir
5 fteo W fee ifn3?ps«*td fry'St teW, ,f*riv <
' »».{, *fc* F ,a ft.« f »fi wlio K»M
* to work arc delirousoj -Ahbing ,qa fiie rng.n
I Rav' "* fiavv *tia
1 France 'wftl jlfttfy fertii* fii»lfe«fe^4tno»«fßrtia
* rtis* d Vfft'liwi trfJlieutnJltM, but jehefei *er«
> men are going to crui»e .*B%"s t[#j ,putcb T
ai*l .fcnvw t?o ,e 0,1
' oyr accoijijt fh« war than th?
* FieiuMi; wliya'jes.gWititucte' tW
H<ilTai|ri<.Vputi ii4 J (i«'ttrt?rij?®Strch
■' rtfcrv he* rrtifelMfotfto Wte'ftian wl»«'\vi(htn Jur
an'icKUfcw IVi»i property "that, is; '*,1
1 njyri; by injtjir«i ?)*►"'>* they »ib 4 be. r*-
, girded as intuit tqtojjjr;r-. Th?y. will
' not fail to di'covir that tiiey Wve been struck
■ by"Afi>erVcar>y. • 1 »*' "" ""*
', 'fiV* toWd'tny'fWiW'-tWizart'v r>
! We ititjfrfirmly frt dar flipoxteri
' agaSnftsthhtwicle' ol" privateering, 1»r rant
' ttes ni.jn of American Frcnch
\ ▼e'oiuft go t" , >v?.r with . Spaiiij E«-
i giand anff jtojtand.' 'If toil prefer ftea'ce' you
wtfl'aft iscordi'rfgly. ! W * ~'. Mjto'Wßg •
FOR THE CAZFJTf. ,
Mr. Fen.no,
Please to give a place in your tfazeVt to the fo'low.
ing ohfervatioru The Printers xu'w may have re
publifked the piece*. Pacific us, are a/si
requeued to re-puhhjh theft, and wiU w doubt be
candid enough to do Jo.
O £VERAL pieces with t'te (igrfature of Pa-
O cific-js were lateJy puMi filed, whith have
"been read with (angular and applftufe,
by the foreigners and degenerate citizens a
mong us, who hate our republican govern
ment, and the ,French revolution; whilst the
publication seems to have been too little re
garded, or too mfcch despised by the steady
fVier.ds to both.
Had the do<Shines inculcated by the writer,
with the natural consequences from them,
been nakedly presented to the public, this
treatment might have been propei. Their
true character would then have (truck every
eye, and been rejectee! feelings of eve
ry heart. But they offer themselves to the rea
der in the drefsof an elaborate differtattan ;
they ate mingled with a few truths that may
serve them as a paflporr -to .credulity $ and
they are introduced with profeffions ol anxi
ety for the preservation of peace, for the
Welfare of the government, and for the re
fpeft due to the parent heßd of the execu
rive, that may prove a snare to patriot!fin.
Ititbele difgut:fes they have eppeared to
claim tlie attention 1 propose to lieftow on
them; with a view to (hew, front the publi
cation itfelf, that under colour of vindicating
an important public act, of a chief magif
trnte, whoenjoys Hie confidence and love of
his country, principle 1 ! are advanced whirii
ftrilpe at the vitals of its constitution, as well
as at its honor and true interest.
As it is not improbable that attempts may
be made t<> apply inlinnations which are fel
doni spared when particular pnrpoles are to
be anfwercd, to the author of the ensuing »b
---fervation.», it may i»t be improper to pre
mise, that he is a friend to the constitution,
that he withes for the preservation of peace,
and that the present chief magistrate has not
a fellow-citizen, who is penetrated with deep
er refpeft for his merits, or feels a purer so
ltcitude for his glory. '
This declaration is made with no view of
courting a more tavorable ear to what may be
said than it deserves. The I'ole purpo'e of
it is, to obviate imputations which might
weaken the imprcffions of truth ; and wtiich
are the more likely to be resorted to, in pro
portion as solid and fair arguments may be
wanting.
The substance of the firft piece, lifted from
its inconsistencies and its vague expressions,
may be thrown into the following' propor
tions :
That the powers of declaring war and |
making treaties are, in their nature, execp- !
tive powers :
That being particularly vested by the con
stitution in other departments, they are to be
confrdered as exceptions out of the general
grant to the execmtve department r
That being, as exceptions, to be construed ;
ftriftly, the p<»wers not ftri&ly within them,
remain with the executive :
That the executive consequently, a< the
organ of iiltercoiwfe witn foreign nations,
and the interpreter and executor of treaties
and the law of nations, is autborifed, to ex
pound all articles of treaties, thnfe involving
quelt'ions of war and peace, as well as others;
—to judge of the obligations of the ITrtWed
States to make war or not, under any cafus
federis or eventual operation of the cont raft,
relating to war {» «and, to pronounce the Rate
of things refuUing from the obligation- of
the United States, a§ understood by the exe
cutive :
That in particular the executive bad au
thority to .judge whetber in the ca4« ol th«
?' ;
Number I,
513
» .(C *• .• ' ■){ : . "II '
«».«4»l«u|Nntnri blttWOMt Itif United ftfttM ,
.France, b«mnd by if to ,
«iW in the.war s ' ; * . . ?
'VTliat piliAiancfe «f :
fferta-fitWity, decided tliat ihe United Stiates i
*»•* A»t I>ound f»- Amt r " °i
That its proclamation of the 22d of April i
lafl, kto be taken as the efFect and exprefiion |
of that decifioti.
The basis of the reasoning : s, we perceive,
the exttaordinary do&rine, that the powers j
of making war and treaties, are in their na- |
ture executive ; and therefore comprehended
in the general grant of executive power,
where not fpeciaUy and itii&ly excepted out
of the grant.
Let us examine this d'o&rine ; and that
we may avoid the pofflbillty of miftating the
writer, it fhallbe laid down in his own words :
a precaution the more neccflary, as scarce
any thing else could outweigh the improbabi
lity, that so extravagant a tenet ihould be
hazarded, at so early a day, in the face of the
public.
His xrftrds ate— 44 TRwo of [excep-
qualifications to the executive pow
ers] have been aJrendy .noticed —the partici
pation of the Senate in the appointment of offi
cers. and the making 0/ treaties. A third re
mains to be mentioned—the right of the le
gislature to dedare war, and grant lettets ej
marque and riprifa/S'
Again—'"Vdeferves to be remarked, that
is the participation of the Senate in the mak
ng treaties, and the power oi the legislature
:o dec/art war, are exceptions out of the general
recutivepower, veftcd In the Preficienr, they
ire to be court rued jiri<7/v, and ought to be ex- ;
rnded nofarther than izejfcntial to their exe
rution."
If there be any countenance to these pofi
lions, it must be found e-ther I ft, in the wri
ifcrs, of Authority, on public law ; o'r 2tl, in
:he quality and operation of the powers to
nake war and treaties ; or 3d, in the con di
lution of <thc United Stares.
11 would be of little nfe to enter far into
he? firft source of information, not only be- .
our owil reason and our own conttitu
ion, are the best guides ; but because a just
malyfiK and discrimination vi the powers of
government, according to tiieir executive,
egiflative and judiciary qualities are not to
>e expected in the works of the most receiv
ed jurffts, who wrote before a critical atten
;ion was paid to rhofe objects, and with their
eyes too much 00 mooarehical governments,
vhere all.powe/s are confounded in the fovc
eignty of the prince. It will be found how
ever, I belive, that ajj of them, particularly
W.olfius Burlamaqui and Vattel,fpeak of the
lowers to declare war, to conclude peace, and
10 form alliances, as among the highest a&s
)f tie sovereignty ; of which the legislative
>ower must at least be an integral and pre
eminent part.
Writers,fuchas Locke and Montesquieu, who
lave difcufled more particularly the principles
if liberty and the ftru<sture of government, lie
under the fame difadvantagc, of having writ
ten before these fubje&s were illuminated by
the events and discussions which diftinguifli a
very recent period. Both of thein too are
evidently warped by a regard to the par
ticular government of England, to which one
of them owed allegiance; * and the other pro
feijed an admiration bordering on idolatry.
Montesquieu, however, has ratherdiftingui/h
---ed himfelf by enforcing the reasons and the
importance of avoiding a confufion of the
several powers of government, than by enu
merating and defining the powers which be
long to each particular class. And Locke,
notwithstanding the early date of his work 011.
civil government, and the example of his
own government before his eyes, admits that
the particular powers in queflion, which, af
ter some of the writers on public law he calls
federative, are really dijiinQ from the executive,
though alinoft always united with it, and
hardly to be feperated into dijlinft hands,. Had he
not lived under a monarchy, in which thele
powers were united ; or had he written by
the lamp which truth now patents to law
givers, the last observation wbuld probably
never have dropt from his pen. But letusqmt
a field of research which is more likely to per
plex than to decide, and bring the question to
other tests of which it will be more easy to
jud^e.
2. If we confidt for a moment, the nature
and operation of the two powers to declare
war and make treaties it will be itnpoffible
not to fee that they can never fall within a
proper definition of executive powers. The
natural province of the executive mag'fttate
is to execute laws, «is that of the legislature
is to make laws. All his atts therefore, pro
perly executive, must pre-fuppofe the exig
ence of the Jaws to be executed. A treaty is
not an execution of laws : it does not pre
suppose the exifient e of Uws. It is, on the
contrary, to have itfelf the force of a law,
and to he carricd into exuulioty like all other
* Tht-chapter on prerogative, Picks houi much
tke rffon t>f the phi/ofipner uas by tU roy
a-'ifm of tic kngltjhmj*.
/aw.r 9 by the executive magi-jf?> To fay then
that t'»e power of making treaties which are
confefledly law*, belongs naturally to the de
partment which is toe.xecute law-?, is to Fay,
that the executive department naturally in
cludes a legiflativc power. In theory, tiais is
an absurdity—in practice a tyranny.
The power to declare war is fuhjeft so si
milar reasoning. A dfcclaratidn that there
fliall be war, is nor an execution of* laws : it
does not fuppofc pre-existing laws to be exe
cuted : it is not in anv refpeft, an a& merely
executive. It is, on the contrary, one of the
moil deliberativea£ts that can be performed ;
and when performed, has the etfeft of re
pealing all the law? operating in a ft Ate of
peace, so far as they are inconsistent with a
state of war : and of enabling as a rule for the
executive, a netvcode adapted to the relation be
tween the society and its foreign enemy. In
like manner a conelufion of peace annuls all
the latui peculiar to a state of war, and revives
the general laws incident to a state of peace.
These remarks will be fireiVgthened by ad
ding that treaties, particularly treaties ot
peaee, have fofae times the efife<sl of Changing
nor only the external laws of the fociery, but
operate alto on t)»e internal code, which is
purely municipal, and tQ which the legislative
authority of the country is of* itfe'f compe
tent and com pleat.
From this view of the fubjeft it mnft be
evident, that although the executive may be
a convenient organ of preliminary commu
nications with foreign governments, on the
fubje&s of treaty or war ; and the proper
agent for carrying into execution the final
determinations of the competent authority ;
yet it can have no pre ten (tons from the nature
of the powers in question compared wirh the
nature of the executive rruft, to that eflen
tiaJ agency which gives validity to such de
terminarions.
It must be further evident that, if these
powers be not iti their nature purely legisla
tive, they partake so much more of that, than
of any other quality, that under a confHtu
tion leaving then) to r.cfult to their oiott na
tural department, the legiflatuie would be
without a rival in its cl-aint.
£ The rejidut of this rtumber will appear in our next J
F&H mE-^A2»tc£:
f m l i • 1
Mr. F f.n Mo,
I HAVE obfe-ved with fonie pTtafute fche
'gradual of certa : n terrtvs fefr
merly irt lift? amongst U«*, invidioujly calculated
todiftinguifh I'ome men, polfeHing
met it in public stations, or eminently virtu
ous in private life, iVom others, in whom
those qualities are not To conspicuous, as.d
having a dangerouk tendency to destroy rlriit
equality without which we cannot be said to be
jree*
In the room of tlie-fe disparaging epithet*!,
we have happily introduced other phrases Co
congenial to the rpirit or freedom, that hay
ing at the befl: no meaning at all, they may be
moulded by a temporizing incendiaiy to the
purposes, firft of m.fleading his followers,
and, when his party becomcs ltrong enough,
of bearing down his opponents.
It is not without fatisfa&ion that I find
the term Prefideut becoming so very offenfive
to, some citizens, though I must con&fs, that
my joy i 1? considerably abated on this occa
sion, bv the mortifying lefletfion that few or
none t>f the true citizens of the United States
have Qtlopttd this or include in it,
person of our chief magistrate—the rape of
modern liberty having not, as yet, entirely
destroyed that reverence for eminent talents
and virtue which have heretofore been deemed
neceflary In oor .rulers.
I have unfortunately made use of the word
magijlrate, and indeed, as matters are yet cir
cumstanced—l could not well get over it
it has an ugly found, and a more dejlrufrive
meanivg char. Prefidenr, which tignifies no more
in this country, ev£n jn the mouths of mo
dern reformers than one man unanimouily
chosen bv his feHow-cifizens to preside over
a government rationally free and framed by
themselves—by which his power and duty is
unequivocally prescribed.—Whereas the other
l>einfif applicable under various modifications
to all governments y gives us a general idea of
order, and the fhameful neceflity of fubmittHig
to it.—An alarming idea ! which strikes at
the very root of •* the plartit we have laboured
to rear"—our darling mongrel exotic, J-iberty
and Equality.
But fear not my fellow-reformers—behold
Avjiocral and Democrat coming to your aid—-
these unmeaning giants fliall work wonder*
for you.—The magical founds of Aristocrat
and Democrat, in the mouth of any jug/er,
fliall turn your chaff into wheat, transform an
honed man a knave and a pimp into a
patriot.
t have msrMfcr Mmarked with ttrach de
light, tb« advancement of our cult iM.tkc
augmentation of our force* from V j udicio oi
management of the vprdi »»d
KenHmtn.—lf* a Virtuirul Aiherican, ants con
feqfefttly a lover of Ftact and LBtrty, fltebld
fpvfck ;n general termi M'*He fatal cafeHuitiat