greatest of curses which can befal a people. He is a more horrible scourge than the yellow fever. X. Balance Closet. LIBERTY OF THE PRESS. No. 1. OUR readers have been presented with an accurate and impartial account of the late transaction in this county, relating to the liberty of the press. A fair statement of the conduct of the public prosecutor, on this occasion, has been laid before them, together with the defence set up by the defendant's counsel, the decision of the court on the motion for shackling the press with previous restraints, &c. The transaction, we find, has excited much of the public interest. Moderate men, of all parties, have beheld, with astonishment, this extraordinary attempt to screen the conduct of the first magistrate of our country from investigation. They have heard, with amazement, that alarming doctrine advanced by the Attorney General, that, for publishing the TRUTH concerning our rulers, a printer is liable to punishment by fine and imprisonment.They have been surprized at the recent conduct of men, who, but a short time since, were the loudest and most violent declaimers against a law, which merely had for its object, the punishment of scandalous and malicious falshoods. This transaction has furnished the people with an invaluable piece of instruction. It has brought home to their minds a solemn truth, which political writers might have la boured for ages, in vain, to inculcate. It has taught them, that the professions and promises of an as ̧ piring demagɔgue, are like the gaudy trappings of a painted harlot, put on to entrap the unwary and to deceive the unsuspecting; and it has convinced them, that those are not always the real "saviours of the republic," who proclaim their patriotism upon the house-top. It cannot be expected that we shall sit calmly down, and brood over this affair in silence. The Ran is scarcely deserving of liberty, who can be. hold, with indifference, any attempt which may be made to wrest that liberty from him; and who will not exert himself to preserve it inviolate from the ruthless hand of tyranny. We feel no inclination to relinquish a right guaranteed by our constitutionBut if we must be deprived of the most inestimable privilege, by a forced construction of our laws, we shall submit with all that good grace which character izes the orderly citizens; but not with that spaniellike servility, which would prompt us to kiss the hand that scourges us. In the remarks which we may offer, from time to time, under the head of the Liberty of the Press," we shall be guided by candor and impartic.. ity. If we feel that we have been injned; if the wrongs which we have suffered, or which we are likely to suffer, are aggravating in the entree, still we must not expect to obtain redress by taunt ng invective or violent declamation. A public prin. ter ought to have a nobler object in view, than the mere gratification of personal resentment. When events happen, from which instruction may be drawn, it becomes the duty of editors of newspapers, to treat of them in a manner which they deem most likely to promote the public good. This will be our aim in the present instance. We shall draw a contrast between the Sedition Law and the Common Law against Libels. We shall shew that the Sedition Law was an amelioration of the Common Law, inasmuch as it permitted the publication of truth, and limited the amount of fine, and the term of imprisonment for seditious falshoods. We shall shew that the Sedition Law met with the decided opposition of the democratic party, from the highest to the lowest-from the majorities of state legislatures, to the most obscure individuals-and that prosecutions have been commenced by the same party, under the most rigorous construction of the common law. We shall shew that much the greatest number of scurilous publications have issued from the democratic presses-and that Washington and Adams suffered more slander and abuse from a single democratic print, than ever Jefferson has re. ceived from all the federal presses in the union. We shall contrast the former professions of certain men, with their present conduct; by which we shal shew that their sentiments on the liberty of the press changed from one extreme to the other, precisely at the moment that the administration of our vernment passed out of the hands of John Adats into those of Thomas Jeferson. We shall take a particular view of the manner in which Mr. Spencer has thought proper to discharge his public trust; by which we shall shew that consistency, et least, forms no part of his character. When these truths are fully exhibited, we cannot but believe, that every honest democrat, who has been deceived by false appearances, and beguiled by false prom"ses, will instantly burst the shackles of delusion, and embrace those genuine principles of republicanism, which alone can save our country from utter destruction. Mr. JEFFERSON's PROPHECY. " A letter from a gentleman in Washington to the editor of the National Aegis, states, that Tom Paine "is well drest, and appears like a gentleman; " that he is very tempemte," and that he is a liv ing volume of information." It adds that Paine "means to recommence his political publications," and that "The federal papers, as he says, will republish his communications."" If they do not, they will lose their customers; and, if they do, they will lose their cause." ! ! !--Well done, Tom Paine ! Your vanity has led your judgment (if you possess any) astray. If the federal printers do not republish your communications, they will lose their customers! To prove this a small mivake, we need only state, that a certain federal paper, in which but a part of one of Paine's communications has been published, has gained more than two hundred customers, since his landing in America That the federalists will lose their cause, by re-publishing Paine's trash, is, we presume, only the modest 0pinion of that living volume of information" him. self. Because he has blasphemed, the saviour of the world; and slandered the father of federalism, with impunity, he must not puff him elf up wita the ridiculous idea that his goose-quill is a magic wand, by the touch of which he can conquer his thousands and tens of thousands. JUNIUS. A writer in the Wilmington Mirror, who signs "T. Rodney," declares positively, that Major general CHARLES LEE, of the American Army, was de real author of the Letters of Juairs. He states that Gen. Lee communicated the secret to him alone, exacting a promise il at it should not be divulged during his (Lee's) life. JOHN D. BURK, an imported patriot, has issued proposals for writing and publishing the History of Virginia. The Americans are certainly a blest people. Their political instructers, their historians, some of their rulers, and "the organ of their will,” ́ have but just come er. And this is not all. The state of Delaware, is to have the distinguished hen In Greenleaf's New-York Journal and Patriotic Register, 1798, the editor 66 Says, It should be aor of being represented in Congress, by a man who custom with the printers of republican newspapers, obtained his seat by the suffrages of foreigner, in our country, to publish, at least once a year, the whose votes have, since the election, been dechic I following prophetic remarks of Thomas Jefferson illegal by a grand-jury. Esq; written during our late struggle for independ. eace; they display, in few words, the philosopher, the state man, the patriot and the man of penetration. The trach of them, we believe, will not be corted by ever the advocates for infalibility and L-itish in ace." "Hail, Columbia, happy land!” A straggling number of the Protile which we have lately received, contains the following elegant paragraph. The editor of that paper says, the harshness of the expressions will be exersed for the sake of the bumor of the luas. "The Federalists during their administration, "played the Devil and burnt down two public of fices, and now they are all in a fover because the "Republicans don't raise Hell and burn the city" Now this is true democratic decency-genuine grog-shop humour, It is all false, to be rure; but, what then If there had been any truth in it, the "humor" as well as the wit would have been los. Agricultural. FOR THE BALANCE. ON FOREST-TREES. As S wood is among the neceffa. ries of le, a foreft is a neceffary appen dage to every farm. Foreft-trees have the power of re-producing themselves as well from their roots as from their feeds; and but for fhamefully bad management, they would be found growing, in fufficient numbers in almost every part of this country. A farmer's wood-lot fhould be nearly as much the object of his care as his orchard. Wood-lots fhould remain un touched, during the feafons of fpring and fummer; becaufe, the wood being then full of fap, is lefe durable for timber and lefs valuable for fuel; and becaufe the roots, being nearly exhaufted of fap, have not ftrength to shoot forth again. Wood fhould be felled or cut down, between the months of November and March. This circumftance renders it more durable in timber; and caufes it, when ufed in fuel, to yield more heat, with lefs fmoke: at the fame time, the roots being abundantly replenished with fap, which is the blood of plants, are able to fhoot forth a new progeny. In applying the axe to a wood-lot, which the owner would with to perpetuate by a series of reproductions, the beft method is to cut down every tree, as far as the axe-man- goes. This will give the young and tender progeny the neceflary advantages of a free circulation of the air, and of the unobstructed rays of the fun; whereas if fome of the large trees be left, the fhoots, which fpring up from the flumps of the others, will languith beneath their fhade. The part of a wood-lot, that is felled by the axe, fhould be kept as carefully fenced as a corn field; or otherwife the browfing of cattle, efpecially in the fpring of the year, will poifon and defroy the rifing tendrils. Care fhould alfo be fed to pluck off a part of the tendrils or foots around the fumps; leav ing only, by the fides of each ftump, two or three of the most large and thrifty. By fuch a prudent management, a wood-let might be rendered a perpetual fund of timber and fuel. Monitorial Department. To aid the cause of virtue and religion. FOR THE BALANCE. DOCUMENTS CONCERNING THE EXISTENCE OF NOAH's DELUGE. ACCORDI Improvement. PURIFYING BAD WATER. Mr. Raphaelle Peale, of Philadelphia, has communicated to Mr. Poulfon, editor of the American Daily Advertiser, his newly difcovered mode of purifying water, which probably combines as much ufefulness with fimplicity, as any late difcovery whatever. The following sketch CCORDING to Richard Kir-explains the operation :win, Fiq. vaft heaps of marine fhells, which lie remote from any fea-fhores, have fometimes been found, on examination, to be not only of different kinds, but alfo fuch as belong to different climates; which plainly betokens that there has been a confluence of the feveral oceans over the earth. The fame writer quotes the teltimony of Don Ulloa, that thells have been found on a mountain, in Peru, at the height of fourteen thouland two hundret and twenty feet. It is further mentioned on refpectable authority, that the bones of elephants and rhinoceri have been found in the lower parts of Siberia. Thele animals, it is known, belong to warm climates; and cannot live, in the open air, in countries which are extremely cold. It is abfurd to fuppofe that they had wandered fpontaneously, thousands of miles from their native and congenial climes, into the North of Siberia, the region of eternal froft. It is even impoflible that they could have endured the extreme cold on their way thither. Moft probable it seems to be, that their carcafes were brought into that frofty region by a deluge of wa ters. There is alfo this remarkable circumflance to be noticed, namely, that the part of Siberia where the aforementioned bones and carcafes have been found, is feparated by continued chains of lofty mountains, from the oceans and from the warm regions which the elephant and the rhinoceros inhabit: therefore if their carcafes were brought thither by a deluge, the waters thereof must have rifen fo high as to have wafted them over the tops of thofe mountains. A barrel, keg or bucket may be used by boring a hole in its bottom. This hole must be covered with a piece of fponge. One third of the veffel muft then be filled with powdered charcoal or common coals, extinguifhed by water-another third with river or beach fand, and the remaining third to be left for the water intended to be purified. Mr. Peale ftates that water, ever fo obnoxious, will pafs through a veffel thus prepared, cleared from all foreign matter, as sweet and pelucid as the finest pump water. Experiments have been tried with water of a bright green colour from a ftagnant pond,-with the moft putrid water, and with difh-water-and all with fuccefs. BALANCE. Miscellany. FOR THE BALANCE. THE RIVER ST. LAWRENCE. NATURE ATURE has formed America, particularly with refpect to rivers, on a much larger fcale than the other quarters of the globe. Among its moft noble rivers is that of St. Lawrence. This river beginning at Lake Ontario, and extending to the ocean, is Teven hundred and fortythree miles in length. At its mouth, it is ninety miles wide. At cape Cat, which is one hundred and forty miles from its mouth, the St. Lawrence is thirty miles wide. At Quebec, which is four hundred miles from its mouth, it is five miles wide. Up to this distance from the ocean, the river is navigable by fhips of the line. At and near Kingflon, which is fituated at the fource of the St Lawrence, that is, feven hundred and forty-three miles from the ocean, the river is faid to be from two and a half to fix miles wide. The channel of this river, it is reported, is better now than it was when the river was firft APHORISM.-Bow to him who bows difcovered by civilized people. During not to the flatterer.-Lavaler. Mofes's hiftory of the deluge will lead us to account for thefe phenomena; and certainly it is more reafonable,-more philofophical to account for them upon that ground, tho' liable to fome difficulties, ground, tho' liable to fome difficulties, than from vague and arbitrary conjectures, which are liable to difficulties and objections fill greater. W. the fpring-floods, the waters from Lake its novelty, as well as of the principles in. volved in it. Upon returning to my lodgings, I endeavoured to recollect and commit it to writing, that the gratification it afforded me, might be in fome meafure participated by my fellow citizens upon the perufal, A JERSEYMAN. [The speech cf Mr. Morris will be published in our next.] Be it our weekly task, To note the passing tidings of the times. Hudson, February 22, 1803. A letter from Walhington of Feb. 10, fays-The Supreme Court this day had under confideration the motion made at the laft term, for a rule upon the Secretary of State to appear and fhew caufe, why a mandamus fhould not iffue for the com. miflions of certain magiftrates, who were appointed by Mr. Adams, whofe appointments were approved by the Senate, and whofe commiffions were figned and fealed, but not delivered, when Mr. Jefferfon came into office. Mr Lincoln, the attorney-general, who at one time acted as Secretary of State, was fummoned as a witnefs, to teftify whether he had any knowledge of fuch commiffions in the office of ftate-He retufed to teftify-and the court allowed him to confider the fubje&t until to-morrow, and come to a final determination whether he will teftify or not. [Evening Poft.] By the Mars, arrived at Philadelphia Our readers must have obferved, that from New-Orleans, which fhe left the 17th Mr. DAVIS, a democratic member of Con- ult. we learn that the difpatch-boat from grefs, from Kentucky, has of late prov- our government had reached there previous ed extremely troublesome to his party in to her departure, and the Intendant, fo far the houfe of Reprefentatives. He has, in from relaxing, or regarding the recommena firm and independent tone, expreffed dations of the Chevalier de Yrujo to restore his indignation at the childish manner in the right of depofit, treated his interference which the unwarrantable conduct of the with the utmoft contempt, and perfifted in Spaniards at New Orleans, has been treats conduct with unabated rigor. It is ed; and he has dealt forth fuch weighty blows, that it has been found expedient either to get rid of him, or to adminifter an anodyne, for the purpofe of abating his watchfulness. Our worthy prefident has, therefore, appointed Mr. DAVIS a judge of the Indiana Territory! The Hon. JOHN Q. ADAMS, of Maffachusetts, is elected a Senator of the United States. BONAPARTE has banifhed Gen. TousSAINT, to the Island of Elba. further ftated, that no other opinion was [Ibid.] FROM THE NATCHEZ GAZETTE, ADVERTISEMENT. proceeding from them, that they fhall be In the numerous and refpectable lift of the patrons of this paper, John Walker, of Albermarle, appears as one. A few weeks ago, he came down to Richmond. He brought along with him a celebrated correfpondence, which the Recorder has more Under the date of the 16th inft. the Inthan once hinted at, as being on the point tendant General of the provinces tells me of publication. He fhewed this to a number that the citizens of the United States of of gentlemen, feveral of whom, we muft, America, can have no commerce with His for the tenth time, affirm, that we can Majefty's fubje&ts-they only having the produce in a court of juftice. Mr. Walk- tree navigation of the river for the exporer was advised to poftpone the publication. tation of the fruits and produce of their The reason we take to be this. It is ftill establishment to foreign countries and the almost two years till the election of the next importation of what they may want for prefident It was fufpected that the horrithem-as fuch I charge you fo far as refble infamy of the contents of a part of this pects you, to be zealous and vigilant, with correfpondence might have its edge blunt-particular care, that the inhabitants neither ed in 18 months of newspaper repercuffion. That the letters will be printed, firft or laft, there can be no queftion. [Recorder.] purchase or fell any thing to the fhipping, (Signed) Thou sole companion of each anxious care, Did'st yield sweet solace in this pensive hour, My bosom's various thought did'st seem to share, And rise or fall with sympathetic power. When transient joy beam'd rapture to my breast, To thee the poet's grateful song is due, To thee, my friend, (for social is thy kind,) More than companion, thou'rt a teacher too, And much of moral shew'st the observant mind. Thy gradual waste, in unperceiv'd decay, Be thou my friend-and as thy lustre mine; And when life's lamp but gleams with feeble power, Clear as thy flame may parting reason shine, Warm in decay and bright in life's last hour. EPIGRA M, FROM THE METEORS." I BOUGHT a horse; the owner swore He had no fault, was far from vicious: Thus much was well, I ask'd no more, Not choosing to be thought capricious. When, lo! to my surprise, I find, This faultless horse is almost blind. In haste, I hie me back to meet My jockey; find him-" Sir, this cheat, Will never do; the nag's unsound, Has not an eye to see the ground;" Friend, quoth the man, as sharp as salt, 'Tis his misfortune--not his fault. Diversity. ADVICE ON A TRIVIAL SUBJECT. TERMS OF THE BALANCE. To City Subscribers, Two Dollars and fifty cents, payable in quarterly advances. To Country Subscribers, who receive their papers at the office, Two Dollars, payable as above. To those who receive them by the mail, Twa Dollars, exclusive of postage, payable in advance. A handsome title-page, with an Index or Table of Contents, will be given with the last number of each volume. Advertisements inserted in a conspicuous and handsome manner, in the Advertiser which accompanies, and circulates as extensively as the Balance. Complete files of the first volume, which have been reserved in good order for binding, are for sale -Price of the volume, bound, Two Dollars and fifty 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-office in the union for 78 cents. AGENTS FOR THE BALANCE. The following gentlemen are authorised to receive subscriptions and payments for the Balance : State of New YorkCity of New-York, W. Coleman, editor of the Evening Post. Poughkeepsie, N. Power, Printer. Kinderhook, D Ludlow, P. M. Albany, Whiting, Leavenworth and Whiing. Kingston, Mr. Elmendorf, P. M. Owego Village, E. Dana, P. M. Union, Charles Stone. Bath, D. Cameron, P. M. Walton, Elias Buler, Batavia, S. Hunt, P M. Rhinebeck A: Potter, P. M. Walkill, the P. M. Malus, L. Bingham, P. M. Whitestown, R. Leavenworth. Johnstown, N. Brewster, P. M. Cananda gua, Norton & Rich TWO perfons, meeting together in a narrow pafs-way, often embarrass and feemingly infult one another, while the moft friendly complaifance is mutually ards. Schenectady, J. Shurtel, P- M. Geneva, meant. One fkips afide to give the other the way; and the other, as if both had receiv ed an electrical fhock, fkips in the fame direction, fo that they exactly meet and nearly ftrike their heads together. Halfconfufed by this difafter, they leap together to the other fide of the way, and again meet, cheek by jowl. I have feen a gentleman and a lady dance this figure, till, in the words of Milton, "Confufion, became worfe confounded." Now there is a fure and eafy way to a void this embarraffment: that is, whenever you perceive this fkipping dance beginning, only fand fill, and let the other party país. BALANCE. GEOGRAPHICAL IT has been reported, that, while Bon. aparte was in Egypt, two fafhionable la. dies in this country (novel-readers, we conclude) had a warm difpute whether Egypt is feparated from England by the red fea, or by the river Nile. This learned difpute was, by mutual confent, left to the decifion of a gentleman. A YOUNG man, the other day, relating the adventures of an unfortunate ride with a lady, very feriously concludes thus: "I drove down the hill to a bridge with full force, when the carriage wheel came off, and the firft land we made, was up to our necks in water!" [Extract.] John T. Chapman, or the P. M. Troy, T. Collier, Printer. Herkimer, C. Woodruff, P. M. Lansingburgh, Mr. Tracy, Printer Marcellus, S. Bishop, P. M. Utica, the P. M. Minder, J. Her kimer, P. M. Catskill, M. Croswell, Printer. Coop. erstown, Mr. Grillen, P. M. Maryland Baltimore, C. Prentiss, editor of the Anti Democrat. ter. Massachusetts.- -Boston, Mr. Hastings, P. M. Plymouth, W. Goodwin, P. M. Nantucket, W. Çoffin. P. M. Worcester, I. Thomas, jun. PrinSalem, T. C. Cushing, Printer. Leicester, the P. M. Williamstown, H. F. Penfield, Williams' College. Stockbridge, H. Jones, P. M. Lanesborough, M. Welles, P. M. Pittsfield, Ashbel Strong. Greenfield, Mr. Denio, Printer. Northampton, S. Butler, P. M. Randolph, W. P. Whiting, P. M. Great-Barrington, M. Hop. kins, P. M. Randolph, W. P. Whiting, P. M. New-Jersey. Trenton, Sherinan and Mershon, Printers. New-Hampshire.Hanover, the P. M. Salis bury, T. Thompson, P. M. Keene, John G. Bond, P. M. Walpole, G. Huntington, P. M. FOR THE BALANCE. A SINGULAR MODE OF DUELLING. IT As well the poetical taste of those moonShine geniufes, as the mildnefs and fuavity of their difpofitions, appear from the following anecdote. the Iceland gentry, might learn to settle their affairs of honour in this harnlefs manner. But, on the other hand, it ought to be confidered that the Americans are not born poets, and with the moft ftrenuous efforts, feldom rife above mediocri ing money is accounted, in this country, the moft eftimable of all talents, whereas a mufe-ridden genius feldom fails to be It has been credibly related, that when any two Icelanders have an affair of hon our, or a quarrel, as it is vulgarly call-ty;-that the faculty of getting and keeped, inflead of boxing and bruifing together, like furdy Englishmen of the lower claffes; or whipping one another through the lungs, with fwords, or mutually in-poor and finally, that the Iceland cuftom might cause the whole country to be among the more polite and fashionable deluged with wretched poetry,by tempting people, as well in America as in moft parts many people, as well females as males, to of Europe; they fcourge each other murder rhyme, who have hitherto been (carefully minding never to break the fkin pure from this crying fin.-Therefore, feor fetch blood) with flender twigs, pluck-rioufly weighing thefe objections, and ed from the neighbourhood of Parnaffus. That is to fay, the contending parties going forth and taking a confpicuous ftand, ing forth and taking a confpicuous ftand, amidfi the affembled friends and acquaintance of both fides, exert their talents in ridiculing and buffetting each other in rhyme; and he that is able to keep up this pugnacular poetry with the moft fpirit, and to continue it the longeft, is declared to be the conquerer. In this way, a difpute between them is decided; and, at the fame time, all the company are highly amufed and diverted. T is a curious fact, that many millions of people, in Afia and Africa, who live under the vivifying influence ofjecting leaden pills, as has been common an almost vertical fun, and enjoy a perpet. ual fpring, where there is conftantly, "One boundless blufh, one white-empurpled shower of mingled bloffoms ;"are deftitute of fancy and tafle, and continue in a condition of torpid ignorance; while a defire for literature is awakened and fancy is lighted up in the minds of the inhabitants of the cold and dreary regions of the North. The people of Iceland, where the earth is perpetually enchained with froft; where the fun never rifes but a few degrees above the horizon; and where fable night reigns, for feveral months together; have a tafte for literature, and particularly for politics and po etry. "On Heckla, and on the rocks of the fixty-fixth degree of North latitude (fays Thus the lads, in Iceland, learn the art an ingenious writer) political literature is of verfifying, for defence, and for annoynot fo barren as might be expected from ing their rivals; even as people of other ing their rivals; even as people of other the foil and climate. The inhabitant of nations learn boxing and fencing. When the cold regions of Iceland has, indeed, I firft fet myfelt down to fcribble upon ever had a warm heart for literature. this fubject, it was my intention to have In the printing-office at Heolum, eftab-recommended this bloodlefs mode of du lifhed two hundred and fixty-eight years ago, a monthly intelligencer is printed, which bears the name of the Iceland News-paper." elling to my dear countrymen; in lieu of nicely balancing the pros and cons, I have concluded to give up my project and to leave duelling as I found it-left the remedy fhould prove worse than the difeafe. PROJECTOR. Columbian Eloquence. SPEECH OF MR. GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, In the Senate of the United States, on the refolution for directing the Secretary of the Senate to give an attefted copy of the proceedings relating to the nomination and appointment of William Marbury and others, as juftices of the peace in the territory of Columbia, as mentioned in our laft. [From the Evening Post] MR. PRESIDENT, WHEN I first role in this debate, I felt and expreffed much doubt; but the |