The constitutionalist — Exeter, N.H., 1810-09-24 00:00:00, page 2

by the genius of the reigning emperor,
has nevertheless derived its origin from
causes antecedent to his advancement,
and in a great measure, independent
of his skill.—Thus, though he must be
acknowledged to have entwined him
self so artfully with the existing in
stitutions, that his destruction may
indeed by possibility, involve theirs ;
yet as we believe them to spring from
a separate root, We have very little
hope, that on his death they will actu
ally cease to flourish. These consid
erations are extremely important; be
cause the future conduct and hopes of
Great Britain must materially depend
. upon the conclusions that they may
form with respect to the real sources
of the power of her enemy.
"For some time before the revolu
lution, it had been a favourite specula
tion, among the bolder classes of poli
(Lians, that a powerful European
state might easily arrive at universal
dominion. Warlike expeditions were
instruments of acquiring this domin
ion, and a warlike constitution was to
secure it. France from the situation
, and extent of her empire—the fertility
other soil —the vast amount of her
population—her ambitious spirit—-and
from her excellence in arms, arts, sci
ence, and civilization, seemed of all
nations the most completely adapted
for the achievment of such a purpose.
But the inefficient nature of her gov.
ernment —the incumbering indolence,
pride, and weakness of the aristocracy
and dignified clergy—and the misera
ble and unfortunate embarrassments
of her finances—long prevented her
from attempting the enterprize; and
lire 3wbmei<moa ^f 4ho balance of pow^
er, even with all the derangement that
the ,le had suffered since the un-
principled and impolitic distribution
of P^and, was still a check suffi
cient to counteract a design so bold
apd overweening, as that of universal
conquest. —The revolution came, ho^-
g er —and all these obstacles vanished.
A new government, or rather a suc
cession of new governments, mad with
enthusiasm, but with all the strength
of madness, rose upon the ruins of the
monarchy. A thousand ambitious
theories were at once let loose upon
the state. The dream of domestic
liberty seemed already to have been
realized, and in the fury of that tri
umph there was nothing too extrava
gant for the hopes and pretensions of
the people. The glittering phantoms
of antique achievement and Roman
sovereignty floated before their eyes ;
&while they exulted in what they had al
ready obtained, they imagined a further
greatness, an 'all hail hereafter.' But
the vision was inspired by intox
ication; and by acts of intoxication
was it dispelled. Instead of taking
security for their own freedom, and
laying plans for the extension of their
power, they composed songs in praise
of themselves, and took their glory
upon credit. They talked about re
publics till they fancied they were
free • and murdered one another till
they 'had convinced themselves they
were indivisible. And thus, among
this vain, volatile, and profligate peo
ple, was the mighty enthusiasm es the
greatest revolution the world|ffer
witnessed, harrying to its own ex
tinction—either dissipating itself in
folly, or quenching itselfin blood —
when the sudden assault ofa confed
erate invasion marshalled the irregular
energies, and decided the fortune of
Europe. Those fleeting subtle spir
its, that weredately flying abroad in a
thousand directions, now suddenly be
came fixed : the genius, that in the
late anarchy h&tfoverpowcred by
clamorous absjqmty^nd romantic
wickedness spruri'^^^ht once, with
the buoyancy of fire, to the upper le
gions of the state: a common dan
ger engendered a common feeling; and
all the efforts, and all the resources of
the people were collected, consolidat
ed, and concentered. The shock had
been severe ; but it sobered them at
once. The power of the French re-
publick, which had hitherto been pro
- claimed but in the explosions of ora
torical vanity, now echoed in the thun
der of her cannon ; .and the ridicule of
Europe subsided into terror.
“ Nor was that terror groundless.
Theembryo principle of unlimited am
bition, that had been choked or dis
sipated in the general chaos of the
new constitution, was now taking an
organized form, and a steady direc
tion. The abuses of the former gov
ernment had been done away. The
people perceiving that high birth was
no longer necessary to military pro
motion, flocked to the standards of
their country. The complete distrust
of publick credit banished all financial
fears and scruples ; and nothing was
wanting to strengthen and mature the
rising spirit of the nation, except the
, incentive of opposition and exercise.
tyfy^^ 0 This desideratum, the British
government quickly supplied, by
promoting and co-operating in a war
Gainst the infant republic. As if our
very object had been the fomentation
" Then the French conquered, and
we were astonished. But our aston
ishment did not teach us wisdom. A
gain, and again, we reiterated our pal
try preposterous attacks; andstill the
enemy defeated US ; —and still we were
astonished. And the enemy began to
be astonished too; for he found that
we were actually giving ourselves into
his hands, unconsciously helping him
to attain that universal power, at
which we scarcely suspected him to be
aiming. The very government we
were opposing thanked us in secret, for
imparting a steady direction to the in
constant zeal of their people. They
redoubled their efforts on every side ;
and perpetually as they saw the succes
sive failures of our petty and partial
endeavours, they enlarged the scale
of their own operations. The pre
text of their self-defence was no longer
thought necessary at home or abroad.
They were strong enough safely to
avow ulterior objects ; the prize that
was thenceforth to be sought for, was
the mastery of Europe. From year
to year we poured in our gold to bring
the sway we sighed for ; and still the
sword of France was flung into the op
posite scale, and beating down the bal
ance defeated the bargain^
" the brilliant successes which had
been achieved by the talents of their
leader, and by the general circumstances
and constitution of the government,
were greatly assisted in their effect up
on the French people, by their inher
ently vain-glorious and sanguine char
acter. La grande peasee, which is
the term familiarly employed by the
Parisians,to expressthe national scheme
of universal subjugation, was every
day becoming more and more popular
with all ranks. Nay, it had so totally
diverted the thoughts of the multitude
from the care of their liberties at home
th* Napoleon's military despotism was
received without a struggle for free-
of her dangerous enthusiasm, we cal
culated our hostilities with so nice a
moderation, that we irritated without
fatiguing lrer,& fostered her spirits with
outimpairing her strength. Weeducated
and broke her in, by little expeditions
of our own, and unwieldy coalitions
of (for allies —obstacles just formida
ble enough to excite the necessary an
imation in the heart of her people, &
complete the discipline of her troops.
While she was collecting from all her
vast and populous provinces, an end
less array of her own ardent citizens,
to contend for their land and their lib
erties, we were stirring up the co-ope
ration of states, where the people had
no motive to fight, and the govern
ment no energy to decide. We treated
and harangued and confederated, when
there was no common interest but the in
terest in our subsidies. With an unpre
cedented ignorance inhuman nature, we
attempted to kindle enthusiasm by
bribes : we teazed every hesitating,
impotent, selfish state, to draw forth
its hollow mercenaries, against armies
with whom the only bounty had been
the impulse of their own wild patriot
ism. We generally trusted the for
tunes of the whole world to leaders
recommended only by family interest,
by the routine of seniority, or by
the baser title of purchase. All the
commissions in the republican army
were purchased also ; but by genius
and valour—not with money.
Defence of empty Treasuries.—The
Hon. Matthew Clay, a member of Con
gress from Virginia, in a late circular
letter to his constituents, excuses the
Administration for draining the treas
ury, by remarking, " that we know
how dangerous a full treasury would
be in the hands of a profligate Admin
istration, if such a one should happen
to get into office." This is a glorious
doctrine for thieves and robbers, and
will justify the peculation of Skinner
and Bidwell, or sequestrations of Na
poleon. Conn. Cour.
dom, must have appeared quite incom
prehensible in any people less fickle
than the Great Nation.
Democratic Defaulters. —Yesterday
we gave a history of that immaculate
patriot Barnabas Bidwell, Esq; The
democratic papers appear to think we
are wicked to expose their favourite ;
as he has been guilty of nothing but a
little peculation and forgery ! They
threaten us with a list of Federal de
faulters, if we do not desist. Now,
“ brother editors, "we are not frighted
at your threats ; we are willing to " dis
play columns" with you, and shall not
be ashamed to hear the name of every
federalist who has been exalted to places
of trust by the. people and has abused
that trust. At any rate we shall not
forbear to expose the conduct of pub
lic officers, whether democratic or fed
eral, who are guilty of crimes which
would consign any other man to the
state prison for life. It is time the
people knew their leaders ; —lt is high
time all your Barna. Bidwells were
hunted from their exalted stations, &
exposed to that scorn and contempt
I which they deserve.—And you may
7
Most of the democratic papers arc
now filled with ebullitions of rage and
spleen at the evident and acknowledged
incapacity of those,whom they have
succeeded in placing over us as civil
rulers. What Democracy has done
for the honour and interest of Virginia,
may be conjectured from the follow
ing Communication in the last Rich
mond Enquirer, the leading Jacobin
paper of the ancient dominion.
Communication.—The political apa
thy which prevails in Virginia, and has
doo! ever sinceour republican success,
is a 'circumstance much to deplored ;
the great dearth of talent growing out
of this circumstance in our councils
can only be remedied by the appear
ance from their retirements of out
wise ones on the publick theatre ;
which is wished for by all and most
respectfully solicited. It is time to
save the people's feelings from sarcasm,
and the sinking reputation of our state
amongst her sisters, in point of talent:
this may be done by coming forward
at the approaching elections, and op
posing those who have been the means
of our degradation; let it not be a
gain reported, that a Virginian Sena
tor, on his first appearance at Rich
mond to take his seat^^w "°' "here
to find his chamber, an&l&at he knew
not the distinction between the legisla
tive powers of Congress, and the Vir
ginia senate, by observing during the
existence of the embargo law " that he
expected they would be very much
pestered at their next meeting with
petitions from the people for a repeal
of it." A VIRGINIAN.
depend tipohit "brother editors,"
there are more of them to be exposed
yet. Time will lay open views which
will make you stare worse than you
did at the history of honest Barna.
There are greater men than Mr. Bid
well, who will, sooner or later, have
to take themselves off.
N. Y. Ev. Post.
From the Repertory.
Fruits of Democracy.
We hope every Federalist who
reads the following articles will note
them well, and use them in conversing
with people, who would have honesty
enough to abandon the democratic par
ty, if they knew them. We cannot
reach our opponents with oar papers ;
but we furnish our friends with ample
materials to argue with, and by verbal
communications much good might be
done—at least let the experiment be
made. These arc no federal fabrica
tions, it will be .observed; they arc
principally acknowledgments from de
mocratic papers of the first rank.
Such is the description of the demo
cratic government at VIRGINIA, if
a democratic paper of that state. N—
see how things are going on in the
mocratic state of PENNSYLVANIA ,
as we are informed by no less authori
ty than Duane's Aurora.>
"The present governor wishes_to
secure a majority in the next legisla
ture, in order to secure an interest for
the election of himself next year.
And thus all publick interests, po
litical principles, moral principles, the
offices of the' people, are brought to
market like corm —for sale; in order
that in 1811, we may be again- saddled
with the same system of imbecility, de
pravity and ignorance, which has dis
graced the state for nearly two years."
NEW-JERSEY.
So we go.
FROM THE TRENTON FEDERALIST.
Since the last election, besides the
numerous culprits that have been
Ibrought to light among the leaders of
the democratic party in other sections
of the country, a Judge of Monmouth,
[New-Jersey] has been forced to fly
his country, and a Justice and a Mem
ber of Assembly of the county of Sus
sex, [New-Jersey] now stands indicted
for the passing of counterfeit money.
GENERAL GOVERNMENT.
[Mr. Poindexter, member of Congress
from Mississippi, is a flaming demo
crat. Let him be heard as to the
purity with which our government
is administered.
Mode . of disposing of offices at
Washington.—Mr. Poindexter, a rep-
Iresen tative from the Mississippi 'lerri
tory, in a letter to his constituents,
says, ''lt is a well known fact that the
suffrages of the people are never con
sulted in the selection of officers, de-
Isignaled to rule in the respective terri-
Itories. Intrigue, fraud, perfidy and
I chicanery, are engines not uufrequently
Iwielded to obtain for the fawning syc
ophants that preferment which is deni
led to the independent possessor of vir-
I tue, integrity and talents.".
The result of the Experiment.
PENNSYLVANIA.
VIRGINIA.
FISIIER AMES.
[^ The following just tribute to
the talents and writings of the First
of the Sons of Massachusetts is paid
by a writer in the last Baltimore Fed
eral Republican.]—Cent.
BY far the most eloquent writer
which this country has produced, is
Fisher Ames ; indeed as a political
writer, he may safely challenge a com
parison with any in the English lan
guage. His works contain a fund of
political wisdom conveyed in a style
easy, chaste and eloquent. His writ
ings and speeches, as they have been
elected and published, are a public
treasure. They ought to be in the
hands of every American. To our
youth, who are emulous of distinction,•
they should be a manual—written as
they are with the pen of genius and
fraught with deep political knowledge,
embellished by the graces of polite
literature. lie possessed that illumin
ation <^nind —that prophetic sagacity,
which diving the future from the past.
" Turns on all hinds its deed discerning eyes;
Secs what betel and what may yet befall :
Concludes from both and best provides for
; all."
He was not less happy than Burke,
in drawing wisdom from the treasures
of history, lie knew that " history
is philosophy teaching by example."
A Statesman should be wise from the
experience of other nations. In his
tory a vast volume is displayed to the
instruction of mankind : but few in
deed know how to read it with profit ;
and draw the lessons from it which it
teaches. This knowledge Ames pos.
sessed in an eminent degree ; and he
perpetually illustrates, embellishes, $
enforces his principles, by arguments
derived from the historic page.
No man ever had the interest of his
country more at heart; or entertained
a more ardent attachment to the pure
republican principles of its constitu
tion ; and no one ever more clearly
saw .the dangers to which both arc ex
posed ; or more forcibly, andeloquent
!y pointed them out. —During his last
years, the welfare of his country en
grossed his whole soul : and ho exert
ed all its powers, which have never
been excelled, in warning her of her
dangers, and endeavoring to avert
them. This unceasing anxiety, (it is
said by those who intimately knew
him,) preyed upon his health and
brought him prematurely to thegrave.
Heappears to have been one of those
men, whom Heaven sometimes endows
with extraordinary powers, for the
instruction of mankind. In this por
tentous crisis, he ought to be consulted
as an oracle. Every person whp does
not read his Writings is guilty of a ne
glect of duty—for in them, though
dead, he yet speaks. The rancour of
party has never dared to impeach the
purity of his motives ; and no one
who reads his works can doubt the
uncommon powers of his mind.—lt is
to be hoped that all, without distinc
tion of party, who have the welfare
of their country and the permanency of
its free government at lieart, will read
them. And surely, no one, unless his
soul is benumbed and blackened with
prejudice, can read them without both
profit and delight.
Commencement at Bowdoin College.
The annual commencement at Bow
doin College, in Brunswick, was cele
brated on the fifth inst. The proces
sion at 11 moved from the chapel to
the meeting-house, with an excellent
band of music from Portland. —The
exercises of the day commenced with
a solemn and appropriate prayer by
President Appleton. The perform
ances of the candidates for the degree
of Bachelor of Arts, were as fol
lows : —
1. A salutatory oration in latin—
by Frederic Southgate.
2 An English essay, on The advan
tages and disadvantages of superior
ity in genius and talents by Arthur
McArthur.
3. An English dissertation, on The
comparative characters of Pericles
and Lorenzo de Medici ; —by John
Emery Abbot.
4. A poem, on The progress of su
perstition —by George William Boyd.
5. An English essay, on The influ
ence of a despotic government upon
individual character —by James We
ston. _
6. A Greek oration, on Language
—by John Wise.
7. An English oration, on The
moral effects of philosophical investi
gation —by William Clark.
8. An English dissertation, on The
effects produced upon literature by the
reformation —by Henry Smith.
9. An English oration, on The influ
ence of public opinion on individual (
character —-by Edward Henry Cobb.
10. A poem, upon Empiricism —by
Jere. Fellowes.
11. An English oration, on The
harmony of nature— by Robert Page.
From the Portland Gazette.
1. An English oration, on The ge
nius of our-political liberties—by
Charles Stewart Davies, A. b.
2. A valedictory oration in latin-—
by Seth Storer, A. b.
The assemblage of ladies was bril
liant & the house was croudcd. We
were gratified, as we have been at every
preceding commencement at Bowdoin
College, to see that the most perfect
order and regularity prevailed. The
music was excellent, judiciously select
ed, and executed with taste. We be
lieve we speak the sentiments of every
auditor in saying, the performances re
flected honor on all the young gentle
men, and gave additional reputation to
■is distinguished infant seminary.—
They uniformly displayed classic lit
erature and bellettra acquirement, and
many of them breathed that fervent
spirit of morality and religion, which
convinced us, that the most important
of all studies had occupied a portion of
collegiate life.
Although all the parts of the litera
ry exercises were handsomely support
ed, we hope not to be considered cyn
ical, partial or unjust in observing,
that the Salutatory, by Southgate, was
elegant and classical, delivered with
grace and energy. The English disser
tation, by Abbot was just and discrim
inating, and discovered reading and
fancy. The poems by Boyd and Fel
lowes were harmonious in numbers, &
that of the latter lively in wit. The
English oration on the moral effects of
philosophical investigation, by Clark,
displayed a soundness of judgment and
maturity of understanding, unexpect
ed ; it was elegant in diction and cloze
ing in imagination. The texture of
the robe was strong and interspersed
with chaste and beautiful figures :
though he lacked many of the requi
sites of an orator, ho possessed one of
the most important, he felt his subject.
The oration by Davies on the genius
of our political liberties, happily and
novelly blended the exuberant fancy
of the poet with the deep researches of
the statesman and lawyer.
The address to the graduating class
by the President was impressive, len
der and affectionate. It unfolded the
untried scenesof life ; exhibited the al
lurements and temptations of the world,
& that independence of character, that:
is necessary to maintain integrity, to
secure the esteem of the wise, and the
approbation of Heaven. It camefrom
the heart and it reached the heart.
Exercise of candidates fdr the degree
of Master of Arts.
charleston, sept. 3. —The brig
Respect, Capt. Heard, which arrived
at this port a few days since from Liv
erpool, is one of those unfortunate
American vessels which have passed
through the gripe of French tyranny
and robbery. —The Respect sailed
from Liverpool, bound to Gottcn
burgh, on the 25th Nov. last, and on
the Ist of December in the English
Channel, was captured by four French
luggers ; Capt. Heard, was taken out
of his vessel into one of the luggers, a
French crew put on board and she
was ordered for Calais ; on the same
evening the brig was re-taken by a
British cutter, after an ineffectual at
tempt on the part of the French to run
her on shore. —-While on board the
privateer captain H. was treated with
the greatest brutality by the privat
eersmen ; when he was landed, he was
put into irons, together with his mate
and two seamen ; and after lying in
the prison at Calais eleven days, he
was marched off with several other A
merican prisoners all in chains, for
Boulogne, where he .was again thrown
into prison. After being kept in a
loathsome dungeon at the latter plied
for about twenty days, without any
thing to subsist on, save bread and
water, and without being allowed even,
a change of linen, he was again taken
out and marched back in the same de
grading manner to Calais. Here cap
tain H. was confined for about six
weeks longer, when he obtained his
i liberation through the intercession of
the Commissary General of Police at
that place, from thence he effected
his escape to England. -After return
ing to England Capt. lleard # found
that his vessel had arrived safe in that
The degree of Bachelor of Arts was
conferred on John Emery Abbot, Ar
thur McArthur, George William Boyd,
William Clark, Edward Henry Cobb,
Jere. Fellowes, Robert Page, Henry-
Smith, Frederick Southgate, James
Weston, John Wise and Benj. Lear.—
^ The last mentioned young gentle
man, we understand, was a member of
Bowdoin College but a few weeks—.
this, we presume, was the reason he
had no part in the exercises.
The degree of Master of Arts was
conferred on Charles Stewart Davies,
Robert Means, Seth Storer and George
Thorndike, A. b. 1806. ,
Sp the #i^
French Alliance.