The Recorder, or, Lady's and gentleman's miscellany. [volume], May 12, 1802, Image 2

About The Recorder, or, Lady's and gentleman's miscellany. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1801-1802

Image provided by: Library of Virginia; Richmond, VA

                
' if .':, c-f daughter. It is at lead twice a? ex
tern*. *e as the late kingdom of Franco; even
ifrei the victories, or rather the robberies or
] ouii tlie fourteenth, at the head of fi>ur hun
drt t thou land men, had (welled his dominions
to their r cm endows magnitude- This mod
abfurd and wanton gifi had been feverely
mdemned in rnv hearing by general \lafon,
and by another perfon of eminent rank, in the
for. ice of tins commonwealth, indeed, at
: his enlightened time ot. dav, there call be but
one opinion about the butmefv The majo
rity of that aiTembly behaved like a man, who .
has a dc.fccn (hi<*i.s, and who throws eleven of
them into the fire* 'The all’embly hud no
title to give away this land. It bud been
earned by the valour and the blood of their
conftituents. In point ot legality-, they were
as riluch authorifed to have made the govern
ment a prefent of the county of Ilcnrico; and
tVie delivery even of luch a narrow fpot into
the fangs ofan hungry jobbing majority ofcon
grefs, at the diftancc of three hundred miles,
might perhaps have been regarded as an ob
jectionable meafure. By relieving tl.ir. in
valuable maf> of territory in her own hands,
Virginia might have been able to raifc her
felf to a moil enviable pitch of opulence and i
importance. By felling off a moderate por
tion of it, yearly, to mivurc purohafers, (he
mull have been able to p y her fliare of the
public debt. Tire charges oi fupp'O! ring her
own government, and her (hare of the annual
cxpeiice of liipporLu'.g the federal i'yitem,
could, with perfect facility, have been ex- i
trailed from trie fame fence. W ithout one
(lulling of public debt, without one inter
nal ax of uny description, this commonwealth
mu it, in courfe of time, have arifen 10 be the
granary, the work shop, the exchequer of the
w.4. .- . 1-1. En>v-t- m»Ut have thronged
from evci;r part of the continent. Thu far
mers and rj..sj»i,f2j!ilurers, from England, that
much wanted,ami moft ddfirable dais of citi
zens, mult have looked forward to Virginia,
a< tneir predoftined nfyliim. In the nineteen
years which have elapfed fince this moft
wretched acl of folly, ihe worth of property
;o Richmond might have mounted to five
tunes its prefent value. The adjacent high
roads, :n every direction, might have been
transformed:into the ramifications of an ex
tentive maaufa^luring city. Mahchcftcr
might, by th > time, have laid the foundation
ot a future nvalfhip with the iminenuty and
the fplendour of its Britilh namefake. Efau
parted with birthright for a mefs of pot
tage- Efau was hungry. He received his
meal. The gener . rflembly were hun
gfy* They gave away not oniy their own
birthright, but ours, alio. They received,
they expected nothing! Two hundred and
twelve miliir- * of teres of good iand are not
■j. ctr... Tyfe- hing. The fucceifive acts of
dCrtig cflirnatcd them at the price of
iout Bt&idred and forty millions oi dollars.
Rhis fum is, perhaps, very frr below rheir in
trifific worth. Vet even a property worth
only FOUR. HUNDRED AND FORTY MIL
LIONS of dollars is not abfolutely undc
fyrvingof public attention.
Some years after the clofe of the Brici/h
war, edngrefs began to fpeak of difeharg-ing
the public debt. i hey uud not, at that tune,
the;, prefent unlimited power o- taxation ; for
as yet, the federal conftitution had not even
fqueuked in its bale clothes. As for ready
money, they might very fafelv have laid, with
St. P..:r, u Silver, or gold, have I n?tie.”
7 heir foie -fource was in the fale of thefc
North Well; ' lands, with which they had
been complimented, as a gij.y by the bewitch
ed commonwealth of Virginia. lmmenfe
funis were offered hv wealthy fpecu.h rors in
Europe for traTs of this land* A great uart
of the public debt Could actual iy have been
dilcharged by this means. But Alexander
Hamilton wanted to have a large funded debt
lie call obftacres in the way of the fale.
i’he debt wa funded
7'hefc matters are brought F»riv: rd here to
nrove that the worth of this Wt-flcm country
,s notan invidious, or folitarv drea i of mine.
This beautiful and fertile portion of the globe
is wide enough to hold in its lap, the whole
German empire, with the kingdom 6f Bohe
mia, the two PruiT.es, and all together !
Between ftdeial and {late taxes, this com
monwealth pays at prefent perhaps fhree mil
lions of dollars per annum. 7'hr fum rari
>ot '•-< much lefs. In a Few years, it will moft
likely be mu- :i greater. If you had kept your
h-.rxi fo round/ as, in common fenfc, vou
/ironId .;ve done, there was not occafion to
have p.-id -v farthing of taxes of any fort f
atvrj.u •.!!<; <*l {• ve hundred thoufand, or a
mill’ou of acix-s woml have cleared off the
■ hr ; ' uhnets, ! not confine me for this
; ujiication of pai .1 truth ; of truth which
’*uft f»icrc< and v mg your hearts with afton>
■ rSi;>*iit. war. utd.-goat'• >n, »r.d with fo*Tow.
vv^*rt. not afkir».r <<",r this territory.
I Iwy *<e<tef pretend d that they had the
firulleft title to it, Tdor does it th (j
a.iy fi* gleft i-.e nadevi ii ougnt o; claiming an
t.t this tai>d Conned!icut, how- ver,
NOTF.
1 l' (ittr-ij. art to he found in Sedgwick
nd^o. Vfj. «lfo, Mr. Fi.vily*. hifMrr of
•> ? W"iifi i n i wiut»cciion.
has contrive.*!, in the feftionof cotigrcfs before
laft one, to get ahandiome cut of thelodf.-f
t now come back, to the point from which
this long explanation may feem to have de
parted.
Mr. J mcs charges me with apoftacy, b
caufe the Recorder has pall an oblique ccn
fur * upon Ibm • of the rneafures fthe prefent
ruling party. Upon this grout* 1,1 am an fcpof
tate of an old Handing. The chief promoter
of this gift, Was Mr. James Madilon, our
prefent worthy feerttai y of (tat , and who, at
fhe time «>t making this donati on, ■>. ;*> a .mm
her of the irenev:- 1 alTcrnbl y< 'be '• .!Ks here
dated upon the authority o( r .ntlenuu • who
voted agarnft this mtafute. The particulars
were piinted in the fccond volume of The
Profped, four months before / left pnfon.
It isevidem. ib.it theie was nothing to be
gained, .id that fmnething nv^h: be loft, by
the publication oi a narrative in fuch dii-ct
oppofitionto the judgment, and the political
teners of Mr. Madilon. Ehe publication
was regarded as an aft of dut a, and it Was
made from no other motive but an inveterate
habit of circulating political (ruth. It was
nor, at that time, thought an a<51 of apofi.icy
to publilh what was rt garde.! as a material
anti irrecoverable error in the endued of Mr
Madilon. h\ next Examiner Mr. Jones will
no doubt be (or converting thefe remarks into
a libel againft a gem’email, who deferves to
be praifed as often a? he fin'll be named.
With a privateeharacler inac- ellibie to blame,
with a flow ot eloquence, which i» at once
pure and lively, net vous and gentle, pt-rfpicu
ous and perfualive, our prefent (ecrotary may
demand rhe fame kind of r.vik among the
ftnteimeu of America, which Mr. Addiion
hold* among the clafticks i *' Britain.
‘ r has been iuppoled by (V. tic people, or, at
Icaft bv Mr. Jones, tK . hw u*.-er. f conle
quence, as a political ciifpmar.t. /mpafiiblc !
He wants thofe three features which t rm the
bails oi inch a character. He waitsdiligence,
abilities, and firmnefs. He wants tliofe habits
of induflry which are cfiential for the labour
of collecting information; that unrelenting
vigilance, which is ever on thewng; that
fullen meicilefs fag-achy, that iufieri nothing
to eicajie; *nd that equally fcorns to take,
or to give quarter. Mr. Jones wants thofe
abilities, without which knowledge is ahr.ol!:
ulelefs, and which in fome menfu; c, create it.
He wants the talent of ideating, of combining,
of charging home h;s information , that ta
lent without \vh ch tile iierccft aflailant re
bounds from ins mark, l.ke the dart of i'nam
from the fhield of Neoptelomus. Mr. Jones
wants that firmnefs which fights for the laft
‘s,“b of its ground ; that firmnefs, which often
fmis of to* eels, hut vhicb negr *au he con
queied; that firmnefs, which a fuptvior mind
(o piomptiy feels, in ;* proud cimfcichifncia of
the wealth and amplitude of its refources.
JAMES T. CALLENDER.
t '.‘id. Recorder of Feb. 13th'
vk... f&k JWM.rjn«w*T
—-* * ■*r,-jflto-rrw..
WEDNESDAY, May UT.
LATEST FROM ELROPfi.
j 7'- <-Vando, caprain Fyars, has arrived
at %rtc:s» Liibcrj, He failed on March
22o. a iSritifii picket had arrived’there in
four da\ v from London. This is five or'fix
days later than our iaft accounts. The grand
3vef of thirf 11 of the line, failed on May
f-L for the coaft of France. It/was under
flood loaf hoffilitics would immediatei*- re
commence. FuHcratc writs will be received
in a tew days. We think there can be iittie
doubt than war wit! le renewed.
Some days ago a woman in Richmond was
fiiiriyddivercdof three ciiilTen. They arc
faid to be remarkably fine infants. Their
mother is in want. As men of humanity, wc
rrmfl all be of opinion that the deferves to he
relieved. As patriots wv, uiuft all be dif
pof.d to reward an effort fo unvomaioniv vi
gorous tor the population of Virginia. The
bnahciT turn viol; he l.haiiK-.’! y received h*'
the mayor of the city, Captain Richardfon.
OJ the three children, two arc boys, and
the third agirl. She has had other three chil
dren, of whom the tide ft is at prcfciit under
four years o[ age
Married on Saturday luft, Mr>Mte
le r W. MVraw, merchant, to M’.ls
Peggy Toler, both ot rhis city.
LON DO N. Feb ruary 7'.
GRF AT alarm was excited among the
merchants of Amftordam, on the »7»h, by rhe
hidden «ud ^reat fail of the Dutch fund.. 'I 11
rci..riptiom» payable after tic peace, frj! thret
pei cent. »f.e fir ecs Prcvifiore< of flic loan
of 1797, f 1 per cent and the other funds in
proportion. Some report? rcfpe#mg tlw nr- j
gociation are dated to have occafioticvi this '
tail, which is greater than any that took place J
at once daring the war.
The Moniceur of the 18th, contains a lid
cf the births, deaths, &c. of the department
of Seine, (including Earis)for twelve months.
Never was there pubiilhed a document that
gives fuch an official record of profligacy of
manners. The number of legitimate births is
17,566; the number of illegitimate birciw is
4079. So that the nuhibei of bastards is lit
tle lefs than a fourth of the whole * The
number of marriages is 4359* The number
of divorces 748, or about a fifth. It is need -
Id' to comment on fuch a date of focicty.
DIVORCE. — Mr. Windham, when he
laid that French marriage? were as loofe.as
the tenure of furiiidicd lodgings, had really
too much foundation for what he dated. Ml".
Mallevillc, one of thbfe who drew up the
civil code, has puWifhed a pamphlet, jufti
tving the author of that work, for having )ef
fened the facilities of divo'ce. The followin'*
extra#, from Malleville’s book, we think
mud convince all impartial men of the hor
rible confequences cf relaxing in the prohibi
tion of divorce, and of the unparellded fcan
dal of making law itfelf pander to the vices
of mankind.
'Die fury of divorce, favs Malle vile, has
not ceafed for the lad ten years. At prefent
it no longer prevails in the cafe of marriages
contracted previouflyto the nation obtaining
this iatal permiffion. It is, in man iages con
tracted fince, that it rages with the mod
by undid? licence. I ^ is mofi frequent, in the
cafe of mati uges tontra#ed after a divorce.
Sonic tune* divorce takes oficc w**en a rr.ee
nage has existed but for eight day , / t_/\ cjr_
cumllance which ought to excite the molt fe
rioub 1 eflections is, that the number of mar
riages in the yearS (1799, 1800,) was only
3,306, and the number of divorces was 68l.
In the eleven lad months of the vear o f 1800.
inoi) the number of marriages was 3,501, and
that of divorces 659, fo that out of five mar
riages the chance is, that one will be annulled.
Was there ever fuch a thing heard of amongft
nations which have pra#ifed divorce fince the
time when, in the days of fallen, degenerate
I1 me, the women computed their age, not by
the oonfuVhip, but by the number of their
hufbands r ’*
j LONLONyMcrch 8.
A LETTER from Balfofah, dated Sept.
4, via Conlfantinople, fay.% the Bedowin
Arabs, who mqnaced the followers of Ma
homet, in the year 0*8, have again appeared
in ,.,ms on the borders of the delart, where
‘hey arc joined by Komenfe numbers of
Profelytes to theirnew tenets. Their doc
trine is a fpecics of deifm, and in decided hof
tility to the Koran: its firft propagator is laid
to have been aflafltnated in his camp, and to
have been fucceeded by his fon-in-law, a fan
quinary ruffian, who puts to death all perfons ‘
within his power, who do not embrace and
a flirt in the eftablifliment cf his new religion.
C'onfidurable alarm has been excited at 5d?.:r_
dad, arid bodies of troops are mar-chine from
various quarters in order to oppole the iiifur- i
gents.
One of ..lie Englirti packets, charged with j
Ibme important commercial difpatches, has 1
been captured in the Pcritan Guiph, bv a pi
ratical fquadron of Dows, commanded by
Eg wee hga: 1 he crew of the packet was
landed oil an uninhabited part of the coaft, to
the North Weft of Carnbron, but after great
hardfhips, found their way hither. Egwce is
oneof the perfons concerned in the conspiracy
agaiuft the life of the emperor, and who, on its
difeovery, effe&cd his efcape. S< veral armed
veflels have beenfent in quert of him, and a
large reward has been offered for his body,
alive or dead.
/ maun Shaw, according to letters from
Surat, dated early in September, *,vas poifoned
at a public entertainment;—it is added, that
rhe cow fpirator shad taken refuge in flic camp
of the infurgents, on the South Eaft frontiers,
and who, at the d ire of thefe accounts were
confidcrably increafed in force. So foon as
tranquility -s reftored in the interior, the India
company purpofe to fend an amba/fador to
Label, with a view, it is ftated, of eftaWifhin*
a reJidcncy on the frontier of Candahar;—
Capt. Malcolm, it is further faid, is to be em
ployed on this important occafton.
kxtraf} of a letter from a correfpondenfto the
editor of the Aurora, doted Lo.idon, Febru
ary 10.
Has Buonaparte advanced his reputation
or encreafed his power ? I believe not. In this
I i v, wh-re he had lately thoufands of convert*
| from enemies to admirers, he has flvaken
: ?p,,,,J]n tl07, itS antJ air*°n? thofe, who
, navv been always c mdid to acknowledge the
iaA f c*V’VX\ ht has ,low ^omc an
o.ijt 1 ot averhon. No paity here eftcems
him, and none- I car, alTarc y ou, difl.kc him
more than thofe who have been confidered
! y thc government as French Jacobins, i
| denve much coniolation and great pleafurs
| here, however, from the fe^timents which
; prevail concerning our own country and
govennmenu Mr. Jeffcrfoi.’s conduct -t
’•*"tich to many inexperienced apd vicioully
difpofc.i men at home have cavilled, has exci
ted here no fentiment but rhnr of admiration
| yes ! unlimited admiration. I have not feen
one fince my arrival here, (and I have feeti
many of the old anti-revolutionary tories,)
who did not fay that Mr. Jefferfim’s eleaion
had at this time laved America from a war with
b ranee. 1 know not what your opinion is
on this particubii, but I have more than con
jeCtur? to uphold that fentiment- -I have evi
dence, rhnt mins were taken here to produce
that efl'ea.” H
[IT is certainly a matter of very fma’l
concern to the firft conful, what the people of
London think about him. Their newspapers
are conftantly teeming with filly fplenetic re
marks upon his conduCt, which, if ever they
reach his ears, would be regarded bv Buona
parte with ineffable contempt. What has
the Corfican done of late to jbuke opinion from
iti bafe f Docs not the whole world know,
and has it not long fince been known, that he
is r bold, able, ambitious man; that he has
moft eminently promoted the power and pros
perity of the republic; and that the domeftic
peace of France depends, at this time, upon
the continuance of his authority ? We have
already given our idea of his character: u Alike
“ intrepid and cool, enterprifing and provi
dent, blent in his refentment, impenetrable
j u in his defigns, Superior to every pnflion bur
| 1 that tor the perpetuity of his power, and
41 ftudious, at once, of his intereft and hi?
| “ vengeance.”*
I As for the opinion which is entertained in
London about Mr. JefFerfon, the admiratie.n%
■yes ! the unlimited admiration, without dero
gating in the final I eft degree from the greet -
net's of his merit, it is certain that the English
nation give thcmfelvcs but very little trouble
about it. With ab tench war hanging over
their heads, with a debt cf almoft fix hundred
millions flerling, an annual dwftcit of at leaft
twelve millions ftcrltng, and an infijpportaMe
prefiure of taxes, their melancholy circum
ilanccs afford them but fmall lcifure for think
ing of an American president. When Jai ’«
precious treaty was iigned at London, the
people of 1 hiladclphia were (nrpiifcd that the
king of England, in his next fpeech to par
liament, did nor take the leaft notice of that
tranfa&ion. We fhould not like Mr. JefFer
fon’s condudf much the better for its beino
the object either of French, or Eritifh, jf
Spanifli, or of Dutch admiration. Wc he.;
that it will deferve the thanks of all thoie
honeft men, who put Mr. JefFerfon into office,
and of all thofe honeft men who attempted to
keep him out of it.
i he..aurmrer of a mulatto minuet, an opofile
ef duelling, or an- apologijl of murder, nay
perhaps conAder this language as apojiacy.
We feel but very little concern about his
opinions.
Vv e have bee.' informed that, on Wednes
day morning, the c?h inftant, a renowned re
publican laid openly, ut the poll oAics, that
the »vr-ter ot this article ought to fit fer ov. jg~
nom.Hiouj, nenth. If this was really fa:d, we
fhould be glad to hear the gentleman come
forward, and afsign his reafons far think'tig fo
We never gave him the fmaliefl offence in*
thought, word,or deed; but much the contra
Ty\ .
Fhe fame perfonage remarked, feme months
ago, that Callender was a rofcal; and that he
wijbed the party well rid of him ! The petu
lance of a weak or malicious individual Ihali
not drive us from our impartial and indepen
dent ground. It is not fuch men as Callender
but of overbearing and arbitrary men, that a
political party fhould rejoice to get rid of.
And what is that enormous, th.<t incxpiaV je
crime, for which one of the editors of this
paper ought to fufter an ignominious death T
All Richmond is now convinced that we did
not hint, nor wilh to hint 2t Skelton [ones,
or his duels; for hr hasbeen either firit or fe
cond in two or three. But when he attacked
; us in the moll infolent, the rr.oft unprovoked*
! an(l the moft pcifonal manner, when he called
--ut the v. riter ot this article by name, an an—
, . fwer w as drawn up in language at once mod eft*
temperate and firm. Hr and his brorher re
joined with even rnorethan th*’ former imper
tinence ot Skelton Jones. And, by way of
bug imr, perhaps, the duel was dragged for
ward. And bccaufe we have premined to
rejoin, the punifhmcnt is or ought to be at
ignominious death /J
We return to the above ertratf of a letter.
Some time laft winter there appeared in one
of the Richmond newspapers an article re
commending the cultivation of Virginian
manufactures. Within a fortnight after, this
piece came back upon uS* verbatim, in the
Aurora, as an extrahf of a letter from Rich
mond te a gentleman in Philadelphia ! ]
NOTE.
* Recorder, November 2ift.
LIFE BOAT.
The following is the tenjlruflion of a boat >, -
cemmended by the Royal Humane Sorictf
and with great propriety termed a life
BOAT. It ts ufed in f’veral parts of En«,
-andfor Javing the lives of feamcn, tsfc. iu
Jlormy weather.
1 HE Boat is thirty feet by ten, in form
reiemblmg a conunoo Greenland boat, cxce. t