Enclosure: Resolutions from the York County, Virginia, Citizens, 2 September 1793
Enclosure
Resolutions from the York County, Virginia, Citizens
[2 September 1793]
At a Meeting of the Inhabitants of the County & Borough of York, on Tuesday the 2nd day of September 1793, the following Resolutions, were enter’d into, Vizt.
1st Resolved, That peace to a Nation is a blessing too, Valuable to be Wantonly interrupted.
2nd Resolved, That it is peculiarly the Interest of the infant Republick of America to Cultivate peace, Agriculture & Commerce.
3rd Resolved, That the faith of Treaties, which have for their Object, the Establishment, & continuance of peace, Ought to be held Inviolate.
4th Resolved, That the conduct of the American Government in their Exertions to preserve peace & Neutrality in the present War of Nations, is strictly conformable to her Treaties, & ought to be Supported with firmness.1
5thvResolved, That any Interference in the politicks of our country by Foreigners, more especially a public Minister, is an unprecedented indignity Offer’d to the people, and Government, derogatory to the Independency of the Nation, & shou’d Speedily recieve, its Merited disapprobation.
6th Resolved That any attempt of any Foreign Minister to excite the people of the United States, against the Establish’d Government, because his construction of a Treaty, has been denied by that Government, is a Violation of his Mission and a daring insult to the people of America.2
7th Resolved, That those Citizens of America (if any there be) who have advocated the pretensions of any Ministor, in exciting the United States of America to an unjust War, Ought to be consider’d by all good Citizens, as the lawless advocates for plunder, and disturbers of the peace of the Nation.
8th Resolved, That we sensibly feel the Glorious cause in which France has been Engaged to establish the Liberty of the Nation. Yet, while we most ardently wish a free, equal & orderly Government to that people, we cannot but reprobate any designs to Introduce anarchy and disorder into these happy States.
9th Resolved, That the thanks of this Meeting be presented to the President of the United States, for his patriotic exertions and commendable firmness, in promoting the happiness and Maintaining the Independency of his Country.3 Thos Gibbons Secty Wm Nelson jr chairman
DS, DLC:GW; LB, DLC:GW. The DS is in the writing of Thomas Gibbons. These resolutions were printed in the Virginia Gazette, and General Advertiser (Richmond), 11 September.
1. GW issued a proclamation on 22 April declaring the United States neutral in the war between France and a coalition of European nations led by Great Britain. For the applicable treaties between France and the United States, see , 3–44.
2. For the reports that Edmond Genet, the French minister to the United States, intended to excite the American people against the government, see Genet to GW, 13 Aug., and n.4 to that document.
3. GW responded to these resolutions in a letter to William Nelson, Jr., of 23 September.