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The National Intelligencer y Vol. I. WASHINGTON CITY, PRINTED BY SAMUEL HARRISON SMITH, NEW-JERSEY AVENUE, NEAR THE CAPITOL. No. VII. FtVB, Doll.-:. PEM Attn. The following account of the Prigiqui, Publiche, or Great Common Prison in Venice, is given by Dr. Mosely, an J'.n glish gentleman, who, with sonic dijfi eultifa obtained permission from tlie Inqui sitors to visit it on the 1 61/1 . September, 1787. this " Horrid Tale," the autho rity of which cannot be doubted, forms a striking contrast to the treatment of criminals confined in our prisons, where Just \s is wisely tempered by Human:!-;, und the only end of punishment is refor mation. " I was conducted thro' tire prifon by, one of its inferior dependants. We had a torch with us. We crept along narrow paffages, as dark as pitch. In fome of them two people could fcarcely pal's each other. The cells are made of fnaffy marble: the architecture of the celebrated Saufovins. v The cells are not only dark and black as ink, but being furrounded and confined with huge walls, the l'malleft breath of air can fcarcely find circulation in them.— TheVare about nine feet fquare on the floor, arched at the top, and between fix and fe »en feet high in the highell part.—There is to each cell a round boh, eight inches diameter; thro' which the prifonei' allowance of twelve ounces of bread, and a pot of water is delivered. There is a ("mall iron door to the cell. The furniture of the cell is a little ftraw and a final!tub: nothing elfe. The llraw is renewed, and the tub emptied, thro' the iron door, occa« fiomilly. " The diet is i'.igenioully contrived for the perduration of pimilliment. Animal food, or a cordial nutritious regimen, in fuch a fituation, would bring on difeafe, and defeat the end of this Venetian jufttce. Neither can the foul, if fo inclined, (leal away, wrapt up in {lumbering delation, or fink to reft, from the admonition of her lad existence, by the jailor's daily return. " I faw one man, who hact been in a cell thirty years, two who had been twelve years, and feveral who had been eight and >lin< years in their refpective cells 1 " By my taper';; light I could difoover the prifoncrs' horrid countenances. They ■were all naked. The man who had been there 30 years, in face and body, was co vered with long hair. He had lofl the ar rangement of words 8c order of lan, When I fpoke to him, he madi Telligible noife ; and exprcmd P prize ; and, like fome wild animals in <' r -^rts, which have, fuflfered by the treacher; of the human face, or have an inAinetiv* abhorrence of it, he would have fled like fitfhtnintr from me, if he could. " One, vvhofe faculties wu-e not '>'•; ob literated, who ftill recplli -I' I Uh( between day and night, vvhofe eyes and ears, though long clofeu with a (ih nt blank, ftill languifhed to perform their natural functions, implored, in tin moft piercing manner, that I would prevail on the jailpr to murder him ; or to give him fome in ftrument todeftroy himfelf. I told him T had no power to ferve him in this ri ten entreated 1 would life my end :i - vors with the inquifitors to get him el, or drowned in the Canal Orfano. But even in this 1 could not ferve him. Death was a favor ' had not intcrcft enough to procure for him. M This kindnefs of death, however, was during my ftay in Venice, granted to one man, who had been v from the cheerful ways of man cut off," thirteen years. " Ik'fore he left bis dungeon, I had fome conversation with him ; this was fix days previous to his execution. His tranlport at the profpect of death was firprizing. He longed for the happy moment. No faint ever exhibited more fervor in anticipating the joys of a future (late, th m this man did at thoughts of being rcleafed from life, during the four days mockery of his tri. id. " It is in the Canal Or'fano, where vef feh from Turkey and the Levant pi quarantine ; this place is the water) of many who have committed no offences at all. They are carried out of the <itv in the middle of the night:—tied up in a fack, with a large (lone fattened to it, and tlr. own into the water. Fifhennen are prohibited, «r> forfeiture of their lives, a-j WASHINGTON * ADVERTISER. gainft filhing- in this diftricl ; the pretence is the plague. This is the fecret hiitory of people being loft in Venice. k* Wall age, the government grew fee ble; was afraid of the difcuilion of legal procefs and of public executions ; and na i this rotten ilucentaur of the Ad riatic, by (pies, priions, aiVaihnation, and tlie Canal Oti'ano. chat hdl; and fome [talis inventor. Su< h a one, as he i.l try, who, to accomplish the etc perdition of his eneiir d himtodif claim his faith, to iavc his life ; then in- Ibantly [tabbed him to the heart, to pre\ em his repentance* " What I now unfold, in iv. prifon in Venice, is known but to i people. 1 have reafon to beli Her betides m) I fed the ! have related; theexploring of which nearl) coft me my life. w 'I he heat and want of air in fb ■.•; the cells, fo Opprefted my h and r< fpiration, thi ilk or breathe when i lefl the prtibn. t ran thro' every port! of my clothes were to my toat-ileew . 1 [laid too loHg th< re. .1 « Si. Mark's Place as foon as 1 could; and by ili- affiftance of the trembing Domintco waiting- my return, the bl< air, and a few glaffes Mftrafehi d to get to my lodgings at the ■di Franeia, on the fide of the great , near the' Rialto ; where I was for ly ill, and for feveral pofed. " Jt is not mypurpofe here, to enquire r the Venetian people were wicked, Wnetian government wile ; nor t(. (ettle the proportion of crimes and punilh ,in fuch a [late as Venice. An Efl an e,miw>t. FoX r-tHS NaVI'jXM. IjtrSLLJGBHC&It. It is n fubjec\ of deep regret that the Conftitution ofth itfttes, in direct ing the manner in which a Pfefident and Vice Prefideht lliall be chofin, has not been more explicit. The terms, in wh',< mode is defi bnit of i'o wide" tude, that different conftrueYions have been put Upon them and governed by \ viewsof policy the fame (late has been found to abandon its full plan in the adoption of ahoth Unfortunately 1, fome ftates, owing to a' diviiion of opinion among theii : have been threatened with a total ex< I n ipating in the election of the (ihit . tte. An . at prefent, is the lar. [late of Pennfylvania. The mode heretofore purfued in tha has been an ( le :ion of .electors by the peo ple ; in al ticketj prrfcribed by a temporary law. As this law h no new election can take place, until a n w OJie be pajTcd. And with regard to this i difFeretfce of opinion is underftobd to exift in the Legifl'ature of that '<• It is unqueftibnably all important that the Chief Magiftrate fhould be the repre. ferttati v hole union. The verj tee of a republican government de pends upon the complete vigor of the n■ prefentative principle ; public opinion is the pillar on which it refts for all its (Import ; if deprived of it dlfcbutent may fubvert it in a day. The People .ire. acciiftomed to be governed bylaws of their own making, and to fubmit to them with chearfulnefs becaufe palled by their own But if it (hall at any time appear that the timent rep; ut, and not the of the community, this fentiment may be impaired or ever deftroyed. Every friend, then, to the harmony and liability of the union, and every, friend to the federal conftitution, as the' heft fhield >f that harmony and (lability, will endea vour to reconcile oppofnfg view, and to produce a refult which (hall pref'-rvc I date its portion of the TH9.Cs of tien. FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14th, 1800. There are three modes of chooiing elec tors. 1. By the people of each (late. 2. By the Legillature of each ftate ; the two houles eh cling by joint vote. 3. By the feveral Legislatures; voting by concurrent vote. Tii. object of my remarks will be to c: amine, whether ail thefe modes are con ftitutional ; and if not fo, which is coniti tutional and which is not. After this eutjuiry, 1 (hall examine, in ■to Pennfylvania, which is the mofl expedii iung more than one mode [to b< inalj 1. I do in I the Elec tion o! il to the fpirit, and molt i to the words of I Conflitutibn. As there exifls no diverfit) 'ion on the Conilitutionality of tins mode, i<: is entirely ufelefs to enter into a de tail of the grounds on which it is fupport ed. .1 [ha ire enquire whether, In ihe 2d. and 3d. places, the choice of irs by the feveral Le be coh ilitutional } and if it is, whether the joint or the concurrent vot< tutional, *ot whether both be conßitutional. Art. 0. Sec. :.'. ol ral Confti tution prefcribes, that " Each State (hall •• appoint, in fiii i as the I ■ " tare thereof may direct, a number of ; electors, equal to the whole ndmber of " ReprefentativeSj to which tlie ftati ; < be entitled in Congrefs." The fill enquiry that presents itfelfis what is meant by the terms* j , .' 1 anfwer that it fometimes impii.'. pic hi their original conftitbent capacity- Sc 1 times in their incorporate np.cfcniativt. capacity. The only elucidation, which this point teems to admit, mull be derived from the ronftruclious of n of the C 'ution, made at a period when part; .1 little, if any, influence on the de cifions of tlu feveral legiilatures. It appears thai tors by the Legiilature has been purfued by New- Hampihirr, Rhode [(land Connecticut, lont, New-Jcrfey, New-Ybrk, Dela ware, South Carolina and Georgia, making nine Hates out of fixteen ; and recently the I ime jd,in. tiatdrs out of 32, and 55 lieprefentativ'es out of ,i h ii is evident thai j6rity nited States, as reprefented in their !' Legis in ing ret Congrefs of all the votes ; in ti.is way. ho lu<ld different npi d< is unconltitii ■ nut would pro< eed frmn a It would follow that no PresidentialAo the adoption of the1 federal < lly elt fled ; that hi ution of i very law been violated ; thai hole, who have fworn todefend the Ginr flitution, hive broken duwn its flrongef) barriers ; that the peoph are undei i o oh* on to obey thi laws; Bs'tli law, under which the prt President is held\ is nug f.-trre. F< i •hat every bill which (hall have \ afiVd tin Houfe of Reprefentatives and the '• (hall before by the President ; mil.-Is, after his difiitp proving; it in a prescri&ed form, it (lit 11 b< re-paffed by two third; iufe. Now if there oifhd no constitutional President. it irrefiftibly follow-. that no law has conftitutihnally piiLd, as fuch Pre! rauft'in ordcrto giye conclufiVe force to a law, either approve, <>r, difapprove it ; in which bill cafe two thirds of each houfc mnfl re-enact it. However, then, men may have differed in theory reflecting this part of tlie Con. dilution, in' practise there has been a com plete agreemi rrt. Now it has n os out of fixteen have purfu med> of legiflative, choice, and that all th< Pa in In Advance. by their reprefentatives in Congrefs, have confirmed that mode. Nor is it recol lected that, at the times of election, any lifapprobation was exprefTed of this mode from any public or private quarter. t deference ought to be paid to the cool and impartial expreftton of the public mind at periods, when no personal attach' nu ■;.■/, or party motive influenced cur public councils. When in addition thereto, it is confidcrcd that no ftatc, that has reviled i iitulion, fince the adoption of this mode, has, in fuch revifion, interdicted it the ftrongeft evidence is furnilhed that the mode was not deemed uncon- ftitutional. For had it been deemed fo, ndoubtedly have been prohibited coriftitutiotts framed. Since the Federal Conftitution, es of Government have been ifhed in New-Hanrpflwre*, Peimfylva nia, Delaware, South Carolina, Georgia, out, TrnnHiYe, and Kentucky ; mak actty one half of the ftates in the Union. If the legiflative choice be conftitutional, let us in the next place enquire whether this mode fbouldbe purfuedby a joint or a rent vote. In making this enquiry, we can he guided only by three confedera tions- } the firft is derived From the direc ofthe Federal Conftitution, thefecond '.ole of the Conftitution of Pehn fyivania ; the third from the ads of the tes. By the Section of the Federal Conftitu tion, above quoted, it is directed v that each Hate (hall appoint, in such manner as the legislature thereof may dincl <Ecaors," Set. Confiderirg the legislature r.s the oigan of the choice, let us enquire what the Federal Conftitution means by the asoicl " legislature." The-3d feftiofl of the lft Article, fays, The Senate of the United States ft;: 11 be Compofed c€ two Senators from each ftate, chofen by the Legislature thereof," Now, what conftruction has b< en placed upon thefe terms, than which none can be more explicit ? F.\ n the union, it is believed, has adopted the mode of choofing Senators by % joint vote cf the two hi In fome few cafes, a cotn v c has been contended for ; but the toon been abandoned by the the States, who have ultimate!] elect by a ioinl \ Some (li,-lit doubt is entertai; accural \ i f the abov : ftat< i to the (late of New-York, thou, ii n-, it is believed that eve n tl at (late elects Senators in the fame v>ay. Senators r'yj T . I ofenj have taken in the Fedi lit) of thi 'r election ; Lh ugh th< 'had the ppwei, but, li &\ ihg it, \ :o < -.( p Mr i members nn- IcbnititutidhallV This cafe furnifh a solitary pre i dent, dictated by pafiion 01 but it furnifh tution, fyftematically aited upon by moft, if not by die .< . If this rr.nftri".' !'•'!'" cue, then ■ Federal Senate usurj yd all the pow er it o them, can h The | C.i»flfttiicti6o', from its having hi after the fulled investigation ; particularly of PennfylvaniA, which was for a confiderable tune deprived'of one of its Inderal fehatorsby the difagreement of the two hem!' 5 in the mode of chrdcci The Conftitution of Penufylvania does in to throw an) li ■) t on the n i •d to the term " legis'alUre.'* Hut • not be uio.vorthv of notice in this that the i hat in Cafe two perfons, voted for as Governor by the people, h n c ;■ ■.; eqnal nun her of vote*, I , fhall be « i oferi governor, by ;' both From this dtrrefticn cf th.c ccnftiti !, that though in ti i law it Wfwproper thai the tw< : fhotild act in their diftincl cap;