True Bill of Seditious Libel Brought Against William Duane, Case #3
10/15/1799
Add to Favorites:
Add all page(s) of this document to activity:
Add only page 1 to activity:
Add only page 2 to activity:
Add only page 3 to activity:
Add only page 4 to activity:
Add only page 5 to activity:
Add only page 6 to activity:
Details of the libel charge against William Duane for printing charges against the United States government in his newspaper, "Aurora." Duane claimed to have uncovered within the dispatches of Robert Liston, British Ambassador, proof of U.S. collaboration with Great Britain "in measures calculated for the dismemberment of France". This "dismemberment" was allegedly brought about by establishing commerce with part of the French Republic of St. Domingo.
Transcript
[1]In the Court of the United States in and for the Pennsylvania District of the Middle
Circuit.
The Grand Inquest of the United States of America for the Pennsylvania District
upon their respective oaths and affirmations do present that William Duane late of the
same district yeoman being an ill disposed person designing and intending to defame
the government of the United States and to bring it into contempt and disrepute & to
excite the hatred of the good people of the said United States against the same on the
twenty fourth day of July in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and ninety
nine at the city of Philadelphia in the district aforesaid wickedly and maliciously did print
and publish and cause to be printed and published in a certain Newspaper called the
Aurora these false scandalous and malicious words and matters following that is to say
The transactions of St. Domingo and the dispatches of Robert Liston are objects of too
great public concern to be suffered to pass into a partial oblivion. The people of the
United States are imposed upon and insulted. The High character for public and private
virtue which America achieved in her struggle against Britain has been tarnished by
British intrigue. We (meaning the people of the said United States) no longer hold the
same estimation which we possessed in the opinion of the world. It is high time
[2]
That we (the people of the said United States meaning) should look back and around us
and enquire how it has come to pass. That we (the people aforesaid still meaning) are
in this state in the eyes of civilised nations is too plain to be denied. That British
influence has been practising and with success in various instances among us (the
people of the said United States meaning) we have evidence which would be conclusive
under the most critical scrutiny of a court of justice. 1. We have it on the records of the
British Privy Council in the most authentic form that Britain had formed a party devoted
to her interests in the u. States (meaning the said United States.)
2. We have ^it^ in the handwriting of John Adams now President of the United States
that British influence has been employed and with effect in procuring the appointment of
an officer of the most confidential and important trust under the government (meaning
the government of the said United States.)
3. We have in the examination of the Irish patriots published in the Aurora a few days
ago the declaration a man in the full confidence of the British cabinet, that a secret
connexion or league subsists between the British government and ours (meaning by the
word ours the government of the said United States.)
4. We have it under the handwriting of Robert Liston the British ambassador residing
among us (meaning among the people of the said United States) that the American
[3]
Government had embarked in concert with the British (meaning the government of
Great Britain) in measures of aggression and insult, in measures calculated for the
dismemberment of France.
5. And we have it acknowledged in the writings of Timothy Pickering (meaning Timothy
Pickering Esquire Secretary of State) that in case of a war with Great Britain a foreign
war is not the only one to be dreaded.
These are facts which no perfidious artifices can evade nor impudence deny.
They are such facts as the American people must remember and act accordingly or
suffer their liberties to perish and their posterity to be enslaved.
These facts although conclusive in themselves do not stand alone. The
corruption of Blount. The failure of the attempt to bribe General Clarke. The mission of
Chisholm. The intrigues with Romayne The open employment of a press to interfere in
our governmental affairs and revile our form of government. The interference in our
elections. The intrigue of Col. McKee a British emissary to stir up the Indians on our
frontier and within our own territory. The successful efforts by which we (meaning the
people of the said United States) have been plunged into a dishonorable and perilous
dilemma with France, in fomenting the dismemberment of St. Domingo (meaning the
measures taken by the government of the said United States for restoring a commercial
intercourse with part of the island of Saint Domingo) at the very
[4]
moment that we (meaning the people of the said United States) are holding out a
prospect of negotiation with France. All these strong and connected transactions
flowing from the same source are very deeply contrasted by the known fact that in
America alone during the year 1798, Great Britain has expended secret service money
to the amount of one hundred and eighty thousand pounds sterling or 800,000 dollars!
(thereby meaning and intending that the President of the United States and the principal
officers of the executive government thereof had been seduced and bribed by money by
them corruptly received from the government [struck through] of Great Britain. To
foment and endeavor to affect a dismemberment and separation of part of the French
Republic.)
And also the false scandalous and malicious words matters and things following
that is to say In the corrupt governments of Europe in Austria Russia Prussia or among
the pitiful princes of Germany. Secrecy in corruption is unnecessary in Great Britain
corruption is so open that the price of a seat in parliament is publicly advertised and
every office under the government is a subject of traffic in one shape or another. But in
America (meaning in the said United States) we (meaning the people of the said United
States) have not yet advanced so far in the refinements of orderly and regular
governments and therefore the modesty of those who have shared these 800,000
British dollars will
[5]
preclude with scrupulous delicacy every knowledge of the transaction from the public
eye. The facts then above stated (meaning among others the said measures taken by
the President of the United States for restoring a commercial intercourse with part of the
island of Saint Domingo) must stand opposed to this corruption and the people must
^endeavor to^ identify as well as they can the channels in which this corruption of
Britain has circulated (thereby meaning that the President and principal executive
officers of the said United States had corruptly received sums of money from the
government of Great Britain to induce them to adopt the measures for restoring
commercial intercourse with part of the island of Saint Domingo and concealed the
same from the public. to the great scandal of the President of the said United States
and of the government of the said United States against the forces of the act of
Congress of the said United States in such case made and provided to the evil example
of others in the like case offending and against the peace and dignity of the said United
States
W Rawls attorney
of the United States for
Witnesses the Pennsylvania District
Britton White
Richard Peters Esquire [?]
D. Caldwell – C.C C.
[6]
[underline]No. 3.[end underline]
Circ. Ct. Oct. 1799
The United States [bracket]
v
William Duane [end bracket]
Libel
True Bill
John Landrey
Foreman
1799. Octr. 15 th
Mr. Dallas appears for
The Deft. William Duane
& pleads not guilty
This primary source comes from the Records of District Courts of the United States.
National Archives Identifier: 278990
Full Citation: True Bill of Seditious Libel Brought Against William Duane, Case #3; 10/15/1799; Records of District Courts of the United States, Record Group 21. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/true-bill-of-seditious-libel-brought-against-william-duane-case-3, March 22, 2025]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.
