duce the effect if he should go into Connecticut, or change the opinion of the meaneft hoftler. Mr. Lyon faid, he knew the temper of the people of Connecticut; he had to fight them in his own district whenever they came there. Mr. Grifwold asked him, whether he fought them with a wooden fword? Upon which Mr. Lyon fpit in Mr. Grif wold's face. Mr. Grifwold, from refpect to the House, and being inftantly cautioned by fome of his friends, repreffed his indignation. The motion to take up the subject in the House, was made without the previous knowledge of Mr. Griswold. I have not heard that the Committee, appointed to examine into this fhameful affair, have made any report on it yet. The public are extremely anxious to know, whether it was tobacco-juice, or natural faliva, that the Honourable Matthew Lyon, Efq. fquirted into the face of his brother Legiflator. Next after this important point, we Philadelphians all want to have out the whole hiftory of the wooden fword. There is certainly fomething at the bottom of this ftory, that the Honourable Member wishes to keep in oblivion. For, let the reader afk himself, whether a gentle hint, like that of Mr. Grifwold, was calculated to awaken resentment in any one, to whom it was not applicable, and in whose mind it did not revive fomething that he was very anxious to keep hidden from the world. But I pray fome one to fend me the history of the dagger of lath; then we shall have facts, and not reafoning, to judge from. Emigrated Patriots.-It has been, I believe, about ten thousand times averred, that the emigrated patriots, particularly those who come from any part of the British dominions, are the caufe of a very great portion of the happiness and honour of America. Among thousands of inftances, the following may 'be mentioned. HANCOCK was a republican Briton; he fled from England hither for liberty, and he counterfeited Bank notes. HARPER was a burning patriot of the fame stamp. When war was expected between this country and his, he invented a machine for deftroying his countrymen; it was not wanted-and he counterfeited the current coin. CALLENDER fled from Scotland for libelling the Government, the King and his family. He fays Mr. Jefferfon encouraged him to republish his libels here and he has called the Congress thieves. DOCTOR REYNOLDS was a United Irishman. He 'fled hither for repofe. He aflifted at the hanging of King George in effigy, on board the ship in which he came paffenger-and he has affifted in a rift base attempt to vilify the character of the American Secretary of State. MATTHEW LYON came from Ireland. He not long agó drank Succefs to the United Irifhmen," then in open rebellion against their King—and he fpit in the face of an American Member of Congress. Lyon in Congrefs.-House of Representatives, February 1. The Speaker informed the House that he had received a letter from a member from Vermont, which he was requefied to lay before them. Mr. Rutledge thought that in all cafes, when letters were sent to the Speaker to be laid before the House, it would be proper for him to ftate the fubftance of fuch communications before they were read, otherwife improper matters might be brought before them. The The Speaker allowed that the fuggeftion was a proper one, and proceeded to ftate the contents of the letter in his hands; which having done, the reading of it was called for, and it was read as follows: SIR, As the attention of the Houfe of Representatives has been called to my conduct in a difpute with Mr. Grifwold, on a fuggeftion of its being a violation of the order of the Houfe, and of the refpect due to it from all its members, I feel it incumbent on me to obviate the imputation of intentional disrespect. Permit me, Sir, through you, to affure the House of Representatives, that I feel as much as any of its members the neceffity of preferving the utmost decorum in its proceedings; that I am incapable of an intentional violation of its rules; and that if, in the present inftance, I am chargeable with a difregard of them, it is owing only to my ignorance of their extent, and that the House of Reprefentatives claimed any fuperintendence over its members when not formally conftituted, and when they are not engaged in actual bufinefs. If I have been miftaken in my understanding on this fubject, I beg the House to believe that my fault has been without intention, and that I am very forry I have deserved its cenfure. I am, Sir, your obedient fervant, MATTHEW LYON. To the Speaker of the The reading of the letter having been gone through, a member propofed that it fhould lie on the table; when Mr. Macon faid, that as it was an acknowledgment of improper conduct, he thought it ought to be entered upon the journals. Mr. Nicholas moved that the letter be referred to the Committee who has this fubject under confider F 4 ation. ation. Gentlemen would recollect, he said, that on a former occafion, when an offence of the fame nature was committed, a letter written by the offending member was not only referred, but was alfo deemed a fufficient apology to the Houfe. He did not know that this would be the cafe in the present inftance; but that it might be, was evinced by the cafe to which he alluded. He hoped therefore it would be referred.—Agreed. I As for this letter, no one will fay but it is exactly what was to be expected from the Lyon of Vermont; nor will any one be furprifed, that the bon Citoyen Nicholas fhould exert his flender abilities in favour of it. But there is one phrase in his fpeech, that I fhould not have expected even from him. allude to his calling Lyon's offence, an offence of the fame nature as one formerly committed. Now, for my part, I never heard that any member ever affaulted another any where, much lefs in the hall, and while the Houfe was fitting; and if even all this had before taken place, certain I am, that no man of any defcription was ever before known to fpit in another's face, except in fome dirty grog-fhop or blackguard brothel.. I have paffed a confiderable part of my life among private foldiers, and I never faw or heard of fuch an action amidft all their vehement and drunken wrangles. If any one had fo far forgotten his character as a man, I am certain, that being girded with a wooden fword would not have been his only punishment; and does Mr. Nicholas wish to let the idea go forth to the world, that filthinefs, difgraceful to a barrack-room, and which would fubject a private foldier to the lafh: does he wifh, I fay, that this fhould be thought no novelty in the Congrefs of America? This bufinefs, God knows, is of itself calculated to load the Congress with difgrace enough. The only way in which it can be augmented is, by inculcating the idea that the of fence fence is become familiar; and this is the evident tendency of Citizen Nicholas's fpeech. In the abhorrence of this offence all parties fhould have joined. There is something in it fo abominably nasty, low, and degrading, that it foils the lips which can utter a fyllable in its extenuation. Lyon.-The Committee of Privileges, to whom was referred a refolution, on the 30th of January, charging Mr. Lyon with diforderly behaviour; with inftructions to inquire into the whole matter thereof, and to report the fame, with their opinion thereon, to the House; having examined the feveral witneffes on oath touching the subject, Report, That, during the fitting of the House of Reprepresentatives, on the 30th Jan. the tellers of the House being engaged in counting the ballots for managers of the impeachment against William Blount, the Speaker had left his chair, and many members their feats, as is ufual on feveral fuch occafions. The Speaker was fitting in one of the members' feats, next to the bar of the House, and members near him, of whom Mr. Grifwold was one. Mr. Lyon was ftanding without the bar of the House, leaning on the fame, and holding a converfation with the Speaker; he spoke loud enough to be heard by all thofe who were near him, as if he intended to be heard by them. The fubject of his conversation was, the conduct of the Reprefentatives of the State of Connecticut (of whom Mr. Grifwold is one). Mr. Lyon declared, that they acted in oppofition to the intereft and opinions of nine tenths of their conftituents; that they were purfuing their own private views, without regarding the intereft of the people of that State; that they were feeking offices, which they were willing to ac cept, |