The Independent Gazetteer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 2

Poetical Miscellany. For tht Indimndint Gazetteix LINES, Occfioned bj the perufaltf a paltry piect in the Daitj Advertifer oftbt lth infant, tn the Death' of I Addiesiid to the Author. MMORTAL bard when firft mine eyes fur vejr'd Thy liner, which rev'rence and attention claim, How fairly is this tribute form'd I cry'd, 'To fhine confpicuous in the lids of fame With this I took the eligiac verfe, And having folded it with tendered care, Thus to myfelf, when in my pocket plac'd, Until I need thcc mighty work, lie there. But fuch, my friend, were the decrees of fate, (For nature and her laws mud be obey 'd) Thy piece performed the decent, cleanly talk The firft alas I my trait'rous hand betray 'd. And is it thus inCloacina'a With all the rage of heated wrath, cry'd That in oblivion, worth fhoold thus remain 7 Strange thought, that works like thine fliould ever die I I' OBSERVER.

December 78c. AN EPITAPH ON A CARPENTER, By his Foreman. by Death's hatchet, here lies Spong, Who many a fturdy oak has laid along Pvfii oft he made, yet n'er a place could get, And Uv'd by railing, though he. was no unit OldSauvs he had although no antiquarian. And Styles amended yet was no grammarian, A HAPPY TURN.

AT one of the late county afltzes, in England, where an indictment for an a (Tat) It had been prefer red againft a woman for the ill ufage of her hulband, who is fuperannuatcd his Counfel, in the heat of declamation, happened to fay, that half the fex were devils! But feeing a number of genteel females in the Court, after a very (hort paafe, he went on But the other half are angels I and fcvcral of them, faid he, are now prefent. The Gazetteer, Mr. OSWALD, HOW long is the credulity of the community to be irrpofeJ on, by the artifices and presumptive cenlvlcuce of a man whofe public fteward Ihip has been fo Angularly marked by defalcation Some time ago, I communicated, through your paper, to the public, the daring conduct of this man, in the Houfe of Senate of the United States, Vyupon the occafion of a motion made by the Honorific Richard Henry Lee, viz. that coinpulfory mea fures be taken, to recover the fums of money afcer taincd to be due, by the fcttlement of the Board of Treafury, from the fever al defaulters contained in the lid laid before the Scnati, unlefs they difcharged their refpective balances, on or before the cud of nine months. I dated, that Mr.

Morris, availing himfclf of his place as Senator; oppofed this very moderate and accommodating motion, although, the balance found due by him, in the capacity of Commercial Agent of the United States, amounted, after every confident allowance being made him, to the enormous fum of four hundred and feventy thoufand fpecie dollars, and more than twelve years had elapfed, fince he has withheld this oublie trea fure, notwithltanding the public didrcjfes and the butthcus of taxation, which might hare been con fiderably relieved, if thislhan and the other nume rous public defaulters, could be made to red ore the public mi nits; and I further dated, that fuch was fiis ctmwandoX this Senate, that he prevailed upon a uvjjriry of them', to fmother public fpiiitcd motion of the Honorable Richard Henry Lee. I fully etpeflei ttie old game of frocraJHnaMg iM public opinion upon thisfcrious information, would be again praflifed by Mr. Morris, and 1 have not been difappointed. He, or one 9 his tools comes forward, two or three days after my publication, but under an afTumed fignature, and boldly denies the truth of it, arid, to prevent his ambitious fchemes, in the prefent Convention, being marred by this unlucky difcovery, he endeavours to diffi patc even the lhadow of doubt of his innocence, by pledging himfelf to the public, that he will, in ten days, produce unanferable documents of the falfity. of my charge.

Ten days and more, are fuffered to glide away, whilft the public opinion is fufpended and his influence in ihe Convention is when, at lad, he appears again onthc fecne, and; indead of the promifed documents, the public are to fatisficd with hisfimple, unau thorifed alTertion, and that under alignaturc for which he is not rcfponfible. Wilhing to fee how far this manceuvcring would be carried, 1 filently waited the refuk, which bjing condrued into a want of evidence to fuDdsniiate what Mr. Morris knew to be founded in truth, but hoped was not in my power to obtain he, or hi. tool appears again, but dill anonymous, and taking it for granted, that the whole of my reprefentatiun was a falfhod, winds away upon the boaded ferviies of this great and g'sod man, for fo he is termed, who tsTaid to be fecond to General Wafbingtm, in his merits, and artfully endeavours to excite the indignation of the community, againft his patriotic opponents, againft the faithful centinels of the people, whofe lance' has detected the embezzlement of the publi: treasures. How infolent is it to'compare this public defaulter with the great whofe conduct has been fo diametrically oppoGte to the former, ar.J whofe unexampled fervices have been rendered to his country jratuitoufly from the pure impulft of virtuous patnotifm, whild fordid gain has marked the public as well as private career of the other, and finally, a deficiency of upwards of four hundred thoufand dollars, fpecie, found in his pubiic accounts, and that of twelve years ftanding.

I now challenge Mr, Robert Morris to come forward in his own name, (not under anonymous ftgnatures, for which he is not refponfible) and deny that fich a motion, as I have mentioned, was made by the Honorable Richard Henry Lee, and that it was crulhed by his undue influence and interpofition, which I prcfume he will not dare to do, a the evidence of the fact is fo iv ar at hand, for my information is from Members of the Senate of the United States gentlemen, whofe characters for veracity, and unblemilhed integrity, have never been yet impeached. Since the fliamelefs effrontery of Mr. Morris's advocates, in denying fo public a fact, I have written to thefe gentlemen, requefting that they would afcertain it beyond all doubt but as feveral of the gentlemen are at a confiderable dif. tance, I have not received an anfwer yet but from one of them, wh, after exprefSng his adoniflim nt that an attempt Onald made to deceive the pub lie, refpecting a tranfaction of fuch a public nature, promifes to furnifli the neccflary jcuments, and I expect iimilar affillance from the other Senators. I mud obferve that, from midake, I midated the fum found due by Mr.

Robert Morris, which I will correct in my next publication it is not quite fo much as four hundred and feventy thoufand hard dollars, although it is confiderably above four hundred thoufand dollars fpecie. I will a(k with what propriety can Mr. Morris be fitting out fquadron after fquadron to the Eaji Indies, freighted with thoufands of dollars for the purchafe of the codly commodities of the Ead, and pretend inability to difcharge the balance due the public in nine months, after twelve years ufe of this money Is it not infulting the people, whofe trade and property is taxed for the public exigencies, to obferve an individual enabled to monopolize the benefits of commerce and government at their expencc, ou near a half million of hard dollars of their property DETECTOR. Mr. OSWALD, S9 OME dayi ago, in fending you the abdract of the form of government, propofed by the majority of the Council of Cenfors, in January, 1784, inferted in your paper of the 4th inilant, the fecond amendment, fuggeded to be made to the bill of rights, was omitted.

I his amendment was, That a claufe be inferted to prevent the enacting of retrofpecVive is in criminal whichas matters then rtood, might have been well enough for one (hotjld think that, in civilifcd times, lilce thofe we live in, fuch a pro vifion ought to be as umecelTitry, as it would he to debar a Judge of determining in his own caufe, feeing that both are repugnant 10 natural judice. But to our reproach mud it be granted, that glaring proof has been afforded, that not only by our fingle Legifla ure, but alfo.by thofc of the neighbouring dates, where two branches mud agree in pafling laws, an effectual redraint upon enacting, retrolpectively, is needed. Take, for example, the law palled by thd lad Houfeof Aflombly, to vacate the refidue of the term of fven years, unexpired, (granted in purfuanccof the act of 1785) by which the prefect Comptrollex Geucral of Tcunf) lvania. tield his office on thexondition dat le ftnttld lebrvt himjelf well. Of this he could not legally be dw veded, unlefs were on the impenchraent of the Legiflature, convicted befoe the of mif behaviour in hi office, or in a court of law.True it is, that a committee of the Houfe did charge him very highly, as by the minutes of lad fprin.

Yet it doth not appear; tha ue was ever cited, or had opportunity of defence, as the principles of natural judice required. Yet the rLufc, nhich ac cufed him, aflimiog judicial power, or rather define, condemned him unheard, and proceeded by bill, which depended kfs than thirty hours after it was brought in, todedroy, (as far as fuch a proceeding could) tleeflate for. years, which Mr. Ni ehojl'onhad in his office; by as good a title as any of th? members had in their freehold. Ir be afked, could this legislative proceeding have any force Was not the act wholly void from the beginning Suppofe no other npcd: ment Hood the way, had not this date, previouf ly to lad March, (when thisextravigancc was committed) adopted the new Conlhtution of the United States of America, and become bound by it i Doth not this Conditution, (art.

i.f. ct. 4. id pa .) provide, that no date (hall pafs any II of attain der, ex pod facto law, nor any lav impairing the obligation of contracts Was not this pretended law defigned to impair the implied contract between the date and officer Where did the members find a fubterfuge to get over the bond of the federal Conditution Was it not enough to have caft afide the obligations of honor and confeisnce, im pofed by the Conditution of this date, that, unlefs tieojptj compelled.their bills fhould lie oirr for public confideration another fcflion? How was fary to vacate the term for which the office of Comptrolier Gcner.l wa holden Mr. Nicbilfan dill holds it for the Prefident and Council have not feen fit to difmifs him.

The difcerning world jnud conclude, from all the circumdances of this bufinefs, that the Comptroller was perfectly innocent elfe, why were the common forms of judice eluded? Strange that country gentlemen can 'be thus led into doings only becoming mob Had the difgraceful bill lain over till another fitting, as the Conditution required, it could not have aT. d. We are on this occafioh ri minded of the obferva tion of a great wtiter, that fome of the demagogues of the Roman republic, improved every opening in the forms of the government, to carry puli'ic proceedings into extravagance, by infidioufly pu(h ing the people to abufe their privileges, hruing thereby, at length to difgud them wuh thc'r outraged liberty, and to difpofe them to yield op all power to the few, or to a tyrant. How far this artifice has of late been in Pennfylvania, it would be hard to didinguilh. Many of the violations of the Conditution doubtlefs, be afcrilnrd to grof ignorance of the nature of by laws and principles.

By laws we undcrdnnd, Ruhs Jevifed before bandnut retrofpective edicts, the doings of defpotifm more perhaps to the perniciou example of tlv lail Af femblies of the iate provinces, which neceilarily af fu med executive powers, upon the commencement of the late conteft with Britain continued afterwards by committees, and councils of fafcty. Yet, befides thefe avenues of error and mifchief, and the The. Legiflature of Pennfylvania, on the 10th of April, 1 75, enacted, that during i years, after the td of May next following, the Secretary, Receiver and Surveyor Genera! of the Land Office mould not be entitled to their fees of office, hut account for, and pay over the fame into the date treafury, and be recompenced by falaries for them felvesand Clerks. This regulation was fuffered to expireand thofe officers, of courfc, returned to their refpective fees as before, till the 29th Septem ber, when the General Aflembly, having joft" before taken up the fubject, continued the falaries (but thefe were again to exj ire on the id of May, 1 789) and by an ex poftfaKa claufe, the Lind OiB cers were requited to account over their fees during thelapfe, limitting them to their falaries, above mentioned, in the interim: thus commanding, out of the pockets of thefe gentlemen, their, private property. The extravagance of this wasthc greater, as, perhaps, they had kept no account, as they were not obliged to it.

1 ad My, from the inattenti. cf the legiflature, thefe falaries were again fuffered to expire'; and thus the officers in quedion wereredorcd to their till the prefent Houfe lately refumed the fubject, by ordering in bill to revive the falaries. 'I he bill coming be debated, it was ftrongly infixed by fome of the members, grown grey during their long fcrviceia the Aflembly, that the retrofpective claufe 7 Ihould be re enacted, and the Land Officers made accountable for the fees received from the 1 ft May, 1789, till now. The great majority, recollecting, perhaps, that having Fworn to fupport the Conduction of th United States, they could no longer pafs retrofpective acts the claufe was rejected. But this did not fuisfy tho to whom length of days, nor long experience, do notfupply the lack of talents.

In thistafir, public officers, (fair gan asfime think) were the obircts but habits of in j.iilice, thus ar infenftbly extended to public creditors, aau even ta the property 01 viiuals..