The constitutionalist — Exeter, N.H., 1810-07-02 00:00:00, page 2

^EW-YORK. Jve^-York, June 18, 1810.
THE DESPATCHES.
- The National Intelligencer of Friday
has very few remarks on the late des
patches. The editor says, the infor
mation is now placed in the most
unquestionable shape as it has an
official stamp. This " stamp" might
have been put upon the information
long ago if ouf administration had seen
lit. But for certain reasons it has
been throught politic to withhold the
government stamp until now; and for
want of that very stamp millions of
American property has' fallen into the
hands of Bonaparte, which might have
/ been saved. To prove that our govern
ment have been in possession of this in
formation for a long-time, a letter from
Mr. Armstrong to Mr. Madison, while
Secretary of State, dated so long ago
as the beginning of the year 1808,
and received in this country soon af
ter, and then published, is undeniable
proof. This letter was not publish
ed with an " official stamp," it was one
of the documents suppressed by the
arch juggler Jefferson. But some
how or other it crept out. That it is
genuine no one ever denied ; though the
government refused to put stamp upon
it. It may not be improper to call to
the minds of our readers, the reason
1 given on the floor of Congress for
suppressing the documents at that
time— It was, that the publication might
endanger the personal safety of Mr.
Armstrong.
The Intelligencer candidly ac
knowledges that the despatches add
very little to our stock of informa
tion ! What will the merchants who
* have sent property to France think of
this. Our government knew all this
before! they knew that there was no
prospect of civil treatment froin Bona
/ parte. Hehad declared that we should
be his " allies or his enemies , that we
should fight for him or against him.
Mr. Armstrong told them so in Feb
ruary 1808— He told them there
was no hope. And with a spirit becom
ing an American expected our govern
ment totake its ground. Ourgovern
/ ment knew the decision of Napoleon —
they knew when he had once taken his
ground that hewould not recede. Did
they take their ground ? No—they flat
tered the people with false hopes—they
cried peace when there wa^no peace!—
theyidstructed Gen. Armstrong to dis
grace himself and his country, by mean
& pitiful supplications, which at length
produced the insolent letter of the Duc
de Cadore. The haughty Duke, to
prevent our government from spppress
' ing this insult as well as pocketing the
affropt took care to publish the letter
to the world, before it Wais presented
to our minister. This insolent letter
was published in this country long be
fore the adjournment of Congress ;
font it had not the " official stamp ,
' t^ ft
thus deprived of all means of subsisting
themselves ; the captains have been
obliged to subsist the crews [amounting
nearly to 300 men] and are now men
aced with a farther exaction for port
charges. Thus in the strong language
of one of the sufferers,is literally to strip
them naked, and then demand from
them the expence of doing so. As the
Consular agent of the United States at
Naples has made several unavailing
representations on this subject to the
King, and as he has reason to believe
that the system, of which this treatment
is a branch, emanates from his majesty
the Emperor, it becomes my duty to
submit the facts to your Excellency,
and to seek, through yourintervention,
such correctiop of the evil as humanity
and justice, may conspire to dictate.
A remark which equally applies to the
crews of the ships captured in Spain
and Naples, is, that should the vessels
to which they belong be confiscated,
means ought to bo afforded them of re
turning to their country.
In this event, therefore, I have to
propose to your Excellency that two
or more ships be put at the disposition
of the nearest American Consul and
permitted to sail for the United States
under bond for the amount of their
valuation respectively. lam sir, &c.
(Signed) JOHN ARMSTRONG.
H. E. the Duke of Cadore.
COLUSIIBLI. Washington, .Time 15, 1810.
-the despatches.
The public have now before them the
despatches received by the John Adams.
They add little to the information pre
viously received ; but they place that
information in the most unquestionable
shape, by giving it, an official stamp.—
Some hopemight have been entertained,
that our frigate would not have been
suffered to depart with such unwelcome
intelligence.—But even that hope is
now dissipated ; and nothing remains
but the manifestation of the naked
purpose of the French government to
pursue what it considers its line of
interest, without regarding our interests
or rights.— National Intelligencer.
>, the sails.
Resolves passed granting 1200 dol
lars for the annual salary of the Gov
ernor; 400 to the Secretary ; 700 to
the Treasurer; 600 to the Attorney
General, and 50 to the commissary
General; which sums was ordered to
be paid by the Treasurer.
The Committee on the subject report
ed that the Rev. Roswell Shurtleff be
paid 40 dollars out of the Treasury as
a compensation for preaching the elec
tion sermon ; on motion the report
be amended by inserting the word twen
ty, the yeas and nays being called for
—were 98 yeas-—6B nays.
Voted that there be but one session
of the General Court, and that the
next session be at Concord.
TUESDAY, JUNE 19.
The committee on licensed houses,
reported the expediency of altering
the laws relating thereto. Accepted.
A bill establishing the times and
places for holding the Superior Court
and Courts of Common Pleas passed
to be enacted.
The governor by message communi
cated the resignation of the Hon. Na
hum Parker, senator in Congress.
The bill granting to Arthur Liver
more the right of building a bridge be
tween the towns of Plymouth & Ilold
erness, passed to be enacted.
A committee of ten was appointed
to consider the expediency of district
ing the State anew for the choice of
Senators.
Wednesday, JUNE 20.
A bill for establishing a road from
Connecticut river through Colebrook,
Township No. 2, Millstield, &c. to the
easterly line of the State, passed to be
enacted.
An act respecting disorderly persons
passed to be enacted.
The committee on the subject re
ported the expediency of raising a
State , Tax the present year. Accepted
and a committee appointed to report the
sum necessary.
The House proceeded to the choice
of a Senator, when, after four trials,'
the Hon. Nicholas Gilman was re-elect
ed for six years from the fourth of
March next. [The whole number of
votes on the first trial was 170—86
necessary to a choice : Hon. Mr. Pea
body had 76; Hon. J. K. Smith 79;
Ilon, Mr. Gilman 15. Second trial,
whole number, 171—86 necessary to
a choice. -Hon. Mr. Peabody had 59 ;
Hon. Mr. Smith 85 ; Hon, Mr. Gil
man 26; I). L. Morrill, Esq. 1. Third
trial, whole number, 170-^-86 neces
sary to a choice. Hon. Mr. Peabody
had 51 ; Hon. Mr. Smith 82; Hon,
and the good friends of France declared
it to be a British forgery. It would
not do to stamp it then, it wotitd have
turned the northern elections ; and
Gov. Gerry would not have had an
opportunity to sing hallelujahs to his
" supereminent" friend the '' paragon"
Bonaparte. Whether the people will
consider electioneering intrigues a suf
ficient reason for the executive to with
hold his official stamp from such im
portant information time must deter
mine. Some of his friends, we appre
hend, will feel a little sore on this ' busi
ness; they will think he has assessed
them rather too high at this election.
As to the people in general, especially
those who have been duped by the
false information propagated by our
government, to vote for such men as
Governors Langdon, Gerry and Tomp
kins, we expect they wi§h by this time,
they had their votes back again. But
their repentance comes too late ; their
votes, like the property of our mer
chants, have gone for the benefit of
Bonaparte, and all they can expect in
return is insult and contumely.
The despatches, however, have add
ed a little to our stock of information.
They have given us information, and
with the " official stamp" on it too,
that Bonaparte has sequestered a gov
ernment vessel sent out for the purpose
of " effecting a national remittance."
That he has refused on the representa
tion of Gen. Armstrong to give up this
vessel, but has " ordered the caseto be
brought before the council of prizes,
where condemnation necessarily awaits
her." — -Evening Pest.
The petition of John L. Sullivan &
others to be incorporated for making
locks and canals from Winnispiseokee
lake to the Merrimac river was referred.
The committee on that part of his
Excellency's address which relates to
the Judiciary reported the expediency
of making provision by law for a re
porter of the decisions of the Supe
rior Court. Accepted.
Timothy Dix and William 11. Sum
ner were granted a further time of three
years for completing a settlement of
thirty families in township No. 2, coun
ty of Coos.
The additional N. 11. Iron Compa
ny bill passed—also a bill to incorpor
ate Charles Cutts and others by the
name of the Portsmouth Insurance
Company.
New-Hampshire Legislature.
t^Q®^®^^™©^ ®G ? =
MONDAY, JUNE 18, 1810.
" A PATRIOT," says Dr. John
son, “ is a man, whose ruling passion
is a love of his country." Patriotism,
of consequence, is the love of one's
country. But, as it is natural to sup
pose that every man loves his own coun
try better than any other, how are we
to distinguish the patriot from any oth
er citizen 3 I answer—Not by profes
sions, which cost nothing, but by
deeds —and these must be noble, gen
erous and disinterested. A man may
bear arms in defence of his country
and perform honourable and even brill
liant services, without any patriotism.
For proof of this we need only consid
er that he, may perform such services,
fighting in a foreign army, against his
own country, and in violation of his
natural allegiance. Neither officers
nor soldiers, in regular standing ar
mies, can, from the bare circumstance
of tlieir employ, claim the honour of
being patriots. It is the profession of
the former—the trade of the latter:
and the mercenary foreigner may serve
with as much zeal and fidelity as the
native. It is he only, in this class of
men, whose services are voluntary —
who gives up domestic pleasures and
conveniences—who relinquishes ease
aqd independence, or lucrative employ
ments, to encounter the dangers, to un
dergo the hardships and to suffer the
privations of a military life, who can
justly be denominated a patriot.—lt is
he only, who makes some generous
sacrifice of his own private interests to
the public good, without the expecta
tion of any extraordinary reward. So
far, even, as the idea of the emoluments
attached to the office, in which he serves,
operates as a motive, it alloys and de
bases the purity of his patriotism, tho'
he may be allowed to enjoy them.
It was by patriotism like this that
the Grecian and Roman Republics
arose to eminences of power and splen-'
dor, which modern optics cannot view
without blinking. It was by patriot
ism like this that the United Provinces
of the Netherlands maintained a thirty
years war with the Spanish Monarchy,
then in the zenith of its power —and
it was by patriotism like this that the
United States of America effected their
emancipation from British tyranny and
oppression.
But what is the patriotism of the
Republican party in the State of New-
Hampshire, who modestly alledge that
it belongs to them exclusively ? As to
the Federalists, if they possess any,
they are willing the world should ap
preciate it, from their general conduct.
A sense of- dignity and propriety pre
vents their laying claim to it. The
man of real integrity does not think
it necessary to proclaim it. The wo
man of unblemished virtue never makes
her boast of it. It is only the man
who knows himself to be ^ knave,
and the woman, who is conscious of
her impurity, who are wont to claim
the virtues of honesty and chastity.
But what, I again ask, is the present
Republican patriotism ? I answer bold
ly and without fear of refutation. 4 —lt
is the most gross, palpable and shame
less system of selfishness, that ever
disgraced men pretending to any
decency of character. Almost every
man of the party, from those in the
highest stations in political life, down
to the pitiful pedlar of pottery and
politics, in a country village, ex
pects a reward for his services, cal
culated to gratify either his avarice or
his ambition, according as the one or
the other happens to be his ruling pas
sion. Is this a bold assertion ? Noth
ing more is necessary to demonstrate its
truth than to turn the public eye to
the transactions at the Seat of Govern
ment, at the commencement of the
present session of the Legislature. In
consequence of the refusal of a majori
ty of the council to concur with the
late Governor in the reappointment of
the Sheriff of the county of Rocking
ham, a gentleman who, to say the least,
had given as universal satisfaction as
Mr. Gilman 37. Fourth trial, Ilon.
Mr. Peabody, I; Hon. Mr. Gilman,
92; Hori. Mr. Smith, 78; Charles
Cutts, I.]
The House proceeded to choose a Sen
ator to fill the vacancy occasioned by the
resignation of the Hon. Mr. Parker,
when the Hon. Charles Cutts was chos
en. [The votes stood 92 for Mr.
Cutts; 73 for Thomas W. Thompson,
Esq ; 4 for Hon. J, K. Smith.]
In the Senate, on the question for
concurring in the choice of the Hon.
Mr. Gilman, etery member voted in
the affirmative <,ept the Hon. W.
Plumer; and on the question of tlw
election of Mr. Cutts, Messrs. Bartlett,
Darling, Fiske, W. Plumer, B. PI timer,
Quarles and Sanborn were in favor,
and Messrs/ Adams, Fairfield, Russel,
V ose, and Willard were against it.
TRUE AND FALSE PATRIOTISM DE-
COMMUNICATIONS.
FINED AND ILLUSTRATED.
For the Constitutionalist.
When the venerable governor had
at length, hesitatingly announced to
them that the office had already been
disposed of, and they found that it was
;to one not known to be among the
; candidates and whose claim they could
not allow to be legitimate, the whole
croud was, for a while, wrapped in
mute astonishment, which was succeed
ed by a strongly-marked indignation
at this unexpected disappointment. At
last their mouths began to be unglued
and they spake with their tongues.
" May it please your Excellency,"
says one, “ this is a mortification I was
not prepared to meet with. Had you
known, (and I thought you had) how
much 1 have done for you I should
certainly have had this office. 1 have
loaded my conscience with the guilt of
a thousand lies for you" 4—“ I have
tilled news-papers with columns of fab
rications," says a second, “ calculated
to run down federal men arid measures
—I have been extremely industrious
in spreading these lies aud fabrications
about the country," says a third, "and
added to them many of my own, as
good as I could make, though I con
fess I could never make them pass.—l
have, to the great injury of my estate
and my reputation, spent much time
and money in taverns and dirty grog
shops, to enlighten the minds of those,
who resort to them," says a fourth—
“ I have represented you, sir," says a
fifth, " as the soundest politician and
greatest patriot in the State"—" I have
charged your rival with being a man
of no principle, an unjust judge, a tory,
an aristocrat, a man devoted to the
British interest," says a sixth, “ and
all contrary to my real belief"—" I
have done all these things and many
more," says a seventh, " and conse
quently have a better claim to the
Sheriffwick than any other man." " I
have" In short their services
were too multitudinous to be enumer
ated. But of whatever nature they
had been, each one claimed the sheriff
wick as his due, and declared that he
came from home with a full expecta
tion of returning with .the commission
in. his pocket. Oue thing, however,
ought to be mentioned to the credit of
their modesty. Very few of them
pretended to any one qualification for
the office. This probably arose from
a comparison (which they could not
help making) of themselves with the
gentleman, who last filled aud honour
ed it. It will not be understood that
the foregoing were precisely the ser
vices on which these modest people
founded their claims to the vacant
sheriffwick, much less that these were
the identical words in which they ex
pressed them. They might have been
made to say much more, equally hon
ourable to themselves and flattering to
the Governor. But I have been cau
tious not to put into their mouths any
thing but what every body knows they
would say, with the strictest truth.
His Excellency having, with great
patience, though much agitated, heard
their respective statements and listened
to their remonstrances, doubtless made
the best apology he could for the choice
he had made, and with his usual suavi
ty and politeness expressing his grati
ticatio+for their kindness to him and
their good will to the public, recom
mending to them a continuance of their
patriotic exertions aud encouraged
them to expect, in due time, rewards
adequate to their deserts. But as each
of them thought he had, from services
rendered, a better claim to the office,
which was the object of his ambition,
than the successful candidate, in which
most of them were probably more cor
rect, according to their own notion of
services, than they-had been in the es
timate of their own pretentions, they
all retired with equal indignation and
chagrin ; determining, in all probabil
ity, to interest themselves less in future
elections than they had done in those
past.
News of the fatal event was imme
diately conveyed to the metropolis and
communicated to the candidate, who,
in his own opinion, was already High
Sheriff of the County. This is a man
possessing neither talents nor character,
and of course enjoying neither the
esteem nor confidence of his^fellow
citizens: But being a clamorous dema
gogue, calculated, by his habits, to be
°r /, ?
any that had ever served in the office,
the place had for some weeks been va
cant. To this office no les< than thirty
three, some say thirty-seven different
men had modestly laid in their claim.
No sooner had the new chief magis
trate been qualified for discharging the
functions of his office, than he Was
surrounded by this formidable flock of
hungry harpies, each one prepared to
vaunt his services and claim his reward.
Whatever difference there mi,t have
been in the nature and amount of these,
which indeed all consisted in having
contributed each one his mite to the
glorious change that has been brought
about in the politics of the St6te, every
one thought himself possessed of equal
merit aud entitled to the same remu
neration.
Do you presume, sir, that freemen
will tamely and silently suffer their
rights to be invaded ? the Americans,
jealous of their liberty, will ever watch
the intriguing, and thwart the designs
of the ambitious. You will not pre
tend, sir, to call in question the neces
sity of an independence between the
Legislative, Executive, and Judicial de
partments, unless as usual you openly
oppose the spirit of the constitution -
for there it is stated, that, " the three
essential powers, viz. the Legislative,
Executive, and Judicial ought to be
kept as separate from, and independent
of each other as the nature of a free
government will Admit." Do you
think this founded in reason ? Do you
perceive the necessity of this clause in
the constitution ? Have you ever ex
amined the benefits that result from
this independence of the three branch- 4
es'? I put these interrogatories wishing
you may give some open evidence in the
affirmative : your conduct, sir, has a
different appearance: do you wish to
hear in what particular? Do you wish
me to expose your conduct at Con
cord, during the last session of the
Legislature? For your own reputa
tion, sir, it ought to be buried in ob
livion.—Public good requires an ex
posure. With all the self sufficiency
of a despot you planted yourself in the
midst of your tools ordering and dic
tating every transaction of the Legis
lative and Executive branches. You
took a conspicuous part in the ap- ,
pointment of Sheriff for the county of
Rockingham, and, sir, your interfer
ance in that appointment commenced
even before the session of the Le
gislature: The Counsellor, who is
better qualified to splice ropes and
hand saitg than to set in the Council
of the state, echoed your sentiments
and endeavoured to accomplish your
wishes, and by your advice the' county
was deprived of a Sheriff for nearly 30
days; in this you sacrificed the inter-,
est of the public tp your private views.
I address you, sir, as the real Coun
sellor, for the nominal one was a mere
automaton set in motion by you. \ ,
Probably your Epping friend the
guardian of the people has an equal
claim with you; he is peculiarly a
dapted to? promote discord and confit.
useful to the party,'in low company;
he has been encouraged and rewarded
by several honourable appointments,
to all which,however, it is well known
he was obliged.to nominate himself.
In his extreme distress he applied to
the Bell-weather of the flock, the cele
brated manufacturer of virulent party
essays and electioneering paragraphs ;
whose principal business (being other
wise a man of leisure) has, for several
years, been to blind the eyes of the
honest unsuspecting yeomanry of the
State to their true interests and their
best friends—to eulogise weak men
and ridiculous measures—aud to de
privf of private reputation aud public
confidence, gentlemen, in whose pres
ence it is only by the courtesy of the
land that he has been allowed to stand
covered. On consultation between
these worthy personages it was agreed
that they should repair together to the
seat of government and endeavour to
obtain a reversal of the nomination to
the sheriffwick, which had so blasted
the high raised expectations of the?
honourable demagogue; where the lat-
ter gentleman (by the same courtesy
of the land, so called) we understand
still continues, endeavouring to lead
the executive by the nose, and crack
ing a negro-driver's whip over tho
heads of the cowering legislature. O
verflowing with accumulated indigna
tion at the cruel disappointment of hi^
worthy friend, he accompanied him to
the Council Chamber and then express
ed to the Governor his astonishment
at the nomination, which he had made,
and clamorously insisted on his revers
ing it—declaring that, if the appoint
ment should take place, many of the
candidates and their friends would tufa
federalists—and that the party would
be divided and ruined. His Excellency
beyond measure alarmed at the dangers
that threatened republicanism aud ap
prehending a fatal diminution of his
own popularity, a possession so dear
to his heart, endeavoured to persuade
the gentleman in nomination(who real
ly had but slender pretensions to the
office) to decline the appointment.
Believing that a fat oilice was a very
clever thing and that it did net; every
day, fall in the way of all those, to
whom it would be convenient, he did
not see fit to withdraw himself front
the ground, on which he said he had
been placed without his own solicita
tion. The commission being now re
luctantly signed by the Governor, the
honourable gambler, full of indignation,
and chagrin, and cursing his ill stars
and the new sheriff now retired to his
usual haunts, to wait, with what pa
tience he may, for another vacancy in
the office.
[to BE CONTINUED.]
To the Ilon. Judge Evans.