The constitutionalist — Exeter, N.H., 1810-08-20 00:00:00, page 2

" who had grown not only grey with
" age, but poor, in your service, to
'' make room for others certainly not
" more deserting. Many, very many,
" of these removals he made during
" the recess of the Senate. He made
" the vacancy, he caused the contin
" gency to happen, which alone gave
*' him the power to create the officer
" without the advice of the Senate.
" The present administration have
"in an arbitrary manner, removed
" Judges from office, against whom
" no charge of misbehaviour was ever
" suggested, notwithstanding the Con.
“ stitution expressly declared " they
" should hold their office during good
" behaviour,
No man now hears the Hon. Mr.
Plumer accuse Mr. Jefferson of " ar
bitrary" measures, or " monarchical
principles." And as to removals from
office, is it not a fact, Sir, that Mr.
Jefferson, or his minister Mr. Granger,
at your solicitation, removed a respec
table man from the office of Post.
Master at Epping, and appointed the
Hon. Mr. Plumer in his place ? You
had forgot, when you made this appli
cation, that such removals were ar
bitrary and monarchical. This fact
deserves consideration. In 1804 you
acrimoniously censure Mr. Jefferson
for removing officers without cause.;
You have nevertheless procured the
removal of a worthy man, your neigh
bor, from a very petty office, in order
to obtain that office for yourself. How
much to your honour is this transaction!
How flattering is it to your vanity !
What a proof of your great national
consequence !—A Senator of Con
gress, a great manof the realm—has
pushed his influence so far, and raised
his importance so high at court —that
he cannot be denied any thing he asks
—even if it be the office of Deputy
post-master for Epping ! —But I re
turn to present you with farther ex
tracts from your book ; although I
fear, that by this time, you begin to
have a particular distaste for your own
writings—l hope you will consider
well the first period of the following.
EXTRACT NO. 7.
" It is not uncommon for'those
" who profess great respect' for the
" people, and who are perpetually
" talking of liberty and equality to
"be in fact real aristocrats. The
" Virginians boast of their love of
" liberty, and of their passionate
" attachment to the equal rights of men
" and yet receive their daily support
" from the labor of people condem
" ned by their laws to PERPETUAL
" slavery ; and whom they treat with,
"as little respect, as you do your
" horses or cattle. Not a man there
« can vote, for any officer of Govern.
" ment, unless he is the owner of real
“ estate to a certain amount. And
" not more than one in four of their
" free males of twenty-one years of
“ age and upwards enjoy this privilege.
" Their form of government will not
" permit even those few voters to elect
" their Governor; he is chosen by.
" their Legislature. And yet these
“ are the people, who are exclaiming
" against New-England, as being in
'' imical to the cause of freedom. The
" fact is, disguise it as you will, the
"manners, habits and interest of the
“ Southern and Northern People are
" very different.\ In the south prop
" erty is vastly more unequally dis
« tributed than it is here. There an
“ individual holds extensive tracts of
" country, and those who live on it
66 nrp either his humble tenants, or
" abject slates. Here our lands are
" divided into small Farms, and are
" principally cultivated by the owner
\" and his children. Can you there
fore believe that the former are the
"real friends of liberty and equality,
<hhd the latter its enemies ? certain
"ly not.
“ A few facts will further demon
" strate that the Southern States have
" not only a different interest from
" the Northern but that the former
" have privileges that are denied to
" us ; and that they are relieved from
“ public burthens, which we are
“ doomed to bear. In the Southern
" States slavery is established by law
" —and in making the proportion a
« mong the States, of Representatives
'' in Congress and of Electors of Pres
" ident and Vice President, evtery
" five of those negro slaves are
“ counted equal to three of you.
“ Those negroes give to the Southern
" States sixteen additional Represcn
% tatives, and the same number of
“ Electors ; which is more than all
" the Electors from four States, and
“ is equal to the number of Repre
'' sen ratios from six of the States.
" These'&ves have no voice in the
I' Electing; they are mere property ;
' 6 yet a planter possessinga hundred of
"them may be considered as having
" sixty votes, while one of you who
" has equal or greater property is con.
" fined to a single vote. Property
" in the South gives them sixteen Rep
', reseotatives and as many Electors,
" but all th© wealth of New-England
" does not give a single vote for either
“ of those important officers. This sure
" ly is unequal, yet it is owing to .
“ this very inequality that Mr. Jes
" ferson is now your President. At
" the last Election of President, the
" slaves gave to the Southern States
" ten Electors, and those Electors all
" voted for Mr. Jefferson. The
“ whole number of votes given to
r" him was seventy-three, from this
“ take the ten negro votes and his
“ number will be reduced to sixty
" three, which is two votes less than'
" the number Mr, Adams received
" from the Electors chosen by free
" men. It is owing to this same
" inequality that the late unfortun
" ate change in the Constitution of the
“ United States was effected in the
" House of Representatives in Con
" gress. An alteration which mate
" rially affects the weight and influ
" ence of the smaller States in the
" choice of President and Vice Pres
" ident. The increase of slaves in the
" United States, for ten years preced
'' ing August 1804, was one hundred
" ninety-nine thousandthree hundred
" twenty-five. The State of South
" Carolina has by law authorized its
" inhabitants to import slaves directly
" from Africa ; and it is the opinion
" of those best acquainted with Lou
" isiana, that that extensive country
" cannot be cultivated but by slaves.
" These are events that will rapidly
" increase this fatal inequality'
" between the Northern and Southern
" States.
" The greatest part of the army,
" who served during the revolutionary
" war, were raised and paid from
" States north of the Potofliack. The
" Northern States at the close of the
" war, on settlement of the accounts,
" were creditor States to a large
" amount, while the Southern States
" were deeply indebted. At the last
" session of Congress, a motion was
" made in the House of RepreSenta.
" tives, to extinguish the claims of
" the United States on the debtor
"States, and on the question, there
" was sixty-five yeas, sixty-seven nays
" —the motion was therefore negativ
"ed by the small majority of two
" votes only. This is an easy way
" to discharge just debts, and is a
" method which will probably be
" adopted at the riext session.
"Two of the Southern States, South
" Carolina and Georgia, have not
" paid a single cent of the Direct Tax
" into the Treasury of the United
"States.
" The monies collected at the Post
" Office, are principally from the
" northern, and two of the middle
" States ; and yet a very large pro
" portion of it is now expended in
" transporting the Mail through the
" Southern States. The net amount
"of monies received from the Post
" Office in 1800, (the last year of the
" the Federal Administration), was
" seventy-three thousand six hundred
"and seventy-Dollars, but in 1803
" was only twenty-seven thousand
" Dollars,"
" The Hospital-Money is a kind
" of Poll-tax of 20 cents per month
"on American Seamen, deducted
" from their wages ; and was original
" ly intended for the relief of the sick
" and disabled Seamen in the State in
" which they lived. A very large
6 5 proportion of this money is col
" lected north of(the Delaware, but is
" expended south of it; leaving our
" old worn-out seamen to fall a bur
" then on the towns where they live.
¥ Not a cent of the Hospital-Money
"collected in New-hampshire haSever
" beta expended in the State.
" The attempt to destroy the Loan
" Offices in the several States, and to
" have all tye transfers of public stock
" made at the seat of Government,
" would had it succeeded, proved
" highly injurious to that portion of
" our citizens, who are interested in=
" the funds. Millions of the Public
" Money drawn from the Northern
" States, have been spent in defending
" the frontiers of the Southern and
" Western States against the Indians ;
" and particularly io purchasing lands
" from those hostile tribes. A large
" portion of those lands lie within the
" limits of particular States, and ^s
" soon as those States please, they will
" take those lands to themselves. At
" all events they can never be of
" much value to the Northern States
" who have paid for them ; but will
" pfove highly useful to the other
"States.,
“ The purchase of Louisiana has
" added more than fifteen millions of
“ Dollars to the National Debt; and
“ which must be paid by monies drawn
“ from the Northern States, by duties
"on dur Commerce. Thi^ territory
“is more extensive than all New-,
" England ; and is susceptible of be
“ ing subdivided into many States ; and
" must, from its situation, greatly in
“ crease the weight and influence of
" the Southern and Western States,
«_ while it will dest,oy that of the
" Northern. Indeed the voice of
" New-England is not now heard in
." Congress. Virginian influence di
" rects every measure of Government.
" It has broken down and destroyed
" every man, who has been opposed
" to it, whatever his politics may have
" been. The Vice-President was of
'' their sect but being a man of talents,
" they considered him as a dangerous
" rival to their favorite and therefore
" destroyed his political influence,
'f Every prominent character that be
" belongs to the North, they are sure
"to denounce. They sometimes, to
" conceal their views do indeed con
" sent that an old man crippled with
" age, and who can never rival their
" favorite, may hold an office in the
" North : hence they haveagreed that
'' old Governor Clinton of New
" York shall be the next Vice-Prcsi
"dent.
" Virginia is almost wholly exempt
" from taxes, yet she is using the
" whole weight of her influence to en
" crease the duties on the commerce
" and navigation of the North. Not
" content with this, she even wishes to
" admit foreign shipping into our ports
" upon equal terms with our own, and
" thereby lessen to us the profits of
" that commerce she is taxing ; hence
" the attempt to repeal the discrimi
nating duties."
Since you wrote the foregoing para
graphs, every evil there mentioned has
been aggravated, and every danger in-'
creased. The total disregard of all
law and justice recently manifested in
the case of the Batture, has never been
equalled in any country, where even
the name of liberty existed. An arm
ed force was sent by Mr. Jefferson to
expel a man from land, of which he
was in possession, by virtue of a judg
ment of the Supreme Court of the
Country. An act like this not only
indicated a propensity to arbitrary
power—but is in itself the essence of ty
ranny. We have seen, too, a propo
sition pass the House of Representa
tives to increase the duties on com
merce fifty per cent. Since the date
of your pamphlet, the claims of the
United States against the debtor States
have actually been extinguished as
you feared they would be. Not only
so, but British creditors, having debts
against the citizens of Virginia and
other Southern States, have been paid
those debts out of the National Treas
ury, to the amount of several 'mil
lions of dollars. The resources
of New-England are annually more
and more exhausted, by the sums ex
pended to defend the Southern and
Western frontiers, and to feed the
profligacy and avarice of a favorite
General. Hundreds and thousands of
our soldiers have fallen victims to those
noxious climes, and to the peculation
and fraud of their commander. We
are surrounded, at this moment, with
a cordon of calamities, induced by the
course of policy against which in the
foregoing paragraphs, you are so justly
indignant.
On the south and west we hear of
nothing but the sickness and deaths
among our troops—the profligacy and
treachery of their Commander, and the
unbounded tyranny and usurpation of
the Executive Government. On the
East and North, Embargo, Non-In
tercourse, increase of Duties, French
Confiscations, and the prospect of an
English War, threaten our commerce
with all the deaths, which it can die,
and bring confusion, poverty and
wretchedness among all orders and oc
cupations of men.
In the mean time, instead of raising
your voice, and exerting your talents
to save the country, you are sedulous
ly employed in supporting the meas
ures, from which these evils flow.
You cry out for France, and Embar
go, as if the landyou live in had no
share in your affections or regard. In
your conversation, in your Legislative
acts and votes, and much more in the
endless columns of your newspaper
publications, you assert that all the evils
which the country endures, and all the
still greater evils which threaten her,
are to be ascribed to the measnresof
the Federalists ; to measures, 'many of
which received your warm support,
and eager approbation. You give
your voice at the same time to a system,
which you have warned us against, as
destructive and fatal. You ask us to
entrust dur Republican Institutions in
the, hands of men, who you say,
^ while they are talking of Liberty
and Equality, are in fact " REAL
aristocrats." You daily extol Mr.
Jefferson, although you affirm that he
is inclined to " arbitrary" power, and
" monarchical principles.'? In that
you urge the people^of New-Hamp
shire to pursue a course, which/you
have solemnly assured them will end
in the speedy, and utter ruin of their
best interests, their Government and
their Country. BRUTUS.
[to BE CONTINUED.]
ft Man's chief wisdom consists in
knowing his follies. —
LETTERS UPON FRENCH 1X
The secret message of the President
of the 6th of December 1805, which
was annexed to the last number, o
pens an ample field for in vestigation and
criticism. It is not probable that all
history can produce an instance of
conduct at once so unprincipled and
undignified, in the ruler of a free peo
ple as that of Jefferson upon this oc
casion will appear to have been when
fairly and fully developed.
Acknowledging the duty incumbent
upon the Executive of the United
States to require from the government
of Spain indemnification for our injur
ed citizens, the message announces that
a convention was accordingly entered
into between the Minister of the Unit
ed States at Madrid, and the Minister
of that government for foreign affairs,
by which it was agreed that spoliations
committed by Spanish subjects, arid
carried into ports of Spain, should be
paid for by that nation, and that those
committed by French subjects, and
carried into Spanish ports, should re
main for further discussion. It would
seem to appear that the transfer of
Louisiana by France to the United
States occasioned the rejection of this
convention on the part of Spain. But
it is believed that this was not the case.
In this, as in all other instances, Spain
was bound to know what the com
mands of France were, and to obey
them. France would not suffer Spain
to make an arrangement with us, un
less we would give our discharge in full
for what France peremptorily Pro
nounced an unfounded claim on our
part, that of payment for French spoli
ations carried into Spanish ports. And
why ? Because, as happens to leak out,
towards the conclusion of the message,
" France was prompt and decided in
her declarations, that our demands on
Spain for French spoliations, carried in
to Spanish ports, were included in the
settlement between the United States &
France." That France, in ceding
Louisiana to the United States, look
ed forward to all the difficulties which
the omission of boundaries must natu
rally produce, and that she even then
intended to take that advantage of her
own wrong in this respect which she
has since done by preventing an ad
justment between us and Spain, ex
cept upon terms which should replen
ish the French treasury, there can
now be no doubt in the mind of any
man of common apprehension. It
was one object, indeed, to have a
plausible pretext for evading payment
for French spoliations in Spain, the
existence of which proved that, polit
ically speaking, there was no Spain.
But it was another and a greater object
to keep the boundaries of Louisiana
unsettled, as the instrument of estab
lishing a strong French influence over
the United States, whether in expecta
tion of obtaining more money from us
or not, is quite immaterial. Yet facts
abundantly and conclusively shew that
such an expectation must have been
entertained. M. Talleyrand Was then
chief councillor to his Imperial Majes
ty: and had he not been, Napoleon
would have known the true character
and situation of our country. He
knew our extreme love of peace; our
deep animosities against England ; the
ill conduct of England towards us;
our ardent attachment, from revolu
tionary recollections, to the French
nation; our consequent indisposition
to view the wrongs of France in so
strong alightas those of England; our
deficiency in military and naval power ;
the unpopularity which would attend
the creation of armies and navies ; the
idolatry of the people for the existing
administration; the probability that
that idolatry would continue while
the people should believe the adminis
tration to be devoted to economy and
peace ; and the certainty that, should
we be impelled to war with a foreign
power, every disposition would exist
1 among us to go to war with England
rather than France. He was also ac
quainted with Jefferson's philosophiz
ing, theorizing, and timid disposition ;
with his total ^ant of nerve; and
with his ardent hatred of England, and
profound devotion to France. He
knew that the same President Jeffer
son, excessively ambitious of literary
fame, had staked his reputation as a
writer upon a prediction that the Sun
of Britain's glory was about to set for
ever, and of course that he was deeply
interested to turn his own prediction
into, prophecy. Under all these cir
cumstances he. must have been a fool
to dou6t that the American President
was ripe so far as depended on himself
alone, for the great and good work of
completing the destruction of Old Eng
land. (He tauld not therefore but ex
pect with confidence a perfect submis
sion to his dictates in regard to our
relations with Spain.
To the People of the United States.
From the Freeman's Journal.
FLUENCE.
No. IX.
There were several statements in the
message, which, if not in fact false,
were extremely deceptive. After the
President had spoken of Spain, as the
efficient power in reference to the con
tested boundaries of Louisiana, he in
cautiously admitted, in the very same
paper that France was managing the
business to promote her own purpose,
as appears by the singular expression,
Whatever direction she might mean
to give to these differences —that is,
whatever direction France might mean
to give the differences between the
United States and Spain. He was
sensible, indeed he had been informed
by his agents in Europe, that France
intended to give some direction to
those differences, and he affected to be
ignorant what it would be. Yet he
perfectly knew what it was, and was
at that moment secretly labouring to
give those ''differences" the very same
" direction" which his friend Napole
on contemplated. This may be con
sidered a high charge but it will be
amply supported by unquestionable
facts. The direction which France
meant to give, and had in fact given,
was, that several millions of dollars
should be paid out of the treasury of
the United States into that of France.
We could prove the fact to the satis
faction of any independent court or
jury in the United States. But as
Jefferson knows we can prove it, wo
shall not be called on for the proof. We
cannot exhibit in these letters the same
sort of evidence, either as to this point
or as to a presumed particular corres
pondence between Jefferson and Napo--
leon, which it would be in our power
to command in a court of law.
P. S. The defence set up by Mr.
Jefferson & Mr. Madison, in the Na
tional Intelligencer, against the charges
contained in No. VIL will be exam
ined at considerable length in No. X.
to which will be added an appendix,
very much to the point, in which
two great statesmen will be cut to pieces
with their own favorite edge tools.
It augurs well that those gentlemen
treat this subject so seriously, and it
would put to the blush, if any thing
could the few wretched French par
agraph makers who affect to ridicule a
developement which their masters feel
to be fraught with death to all their
hopes.
If imputation and strong circumstances,
That lead directly to the door of truth,
Will give you satisfaction,you shall have it.
There is no hesitation in asserting
that Jefferson, more perhaps through
fear than from corruption, had made
up his mind to carry into effect the "di
rection" which France " might mean
to give to the differences" between the
United States and Spain. He will
not deny it. The public may expect
the proof.
The publication of the secret docu
ments, "in extenso," is suspended
for the present. When the Public
feflect upon the importance of those
parts of them which were disclosed in
the seventh number, and which com
pletely proved the fact of the subjec
tion of Jefferson's administration to
the influence of France, and reflect al
so that documents of such importance
had been known, for four or five years,
to exist, by 50 or 60 inflexible oppo
nents of the administration in Congress,
they must have some idea of the power
of that charm which binds the members
of the National Legislature to secrecy
in certain cases. It appears now to be
universally admitted that there is no
constitutional or legal obstacle tothe
publication of those documents. But
the writer finds that some of those
whose judgment he cannot but highly
respect, are not quite so clear as to the
perfect propriety of such a step. AIL
the members of Congress have uniform
ly agreed in opinion that some parts
of the papers which were laid before
them ought not to be given to the
world. —More, much more general
information upon the subject, how
ever, the Public are entitled to and
shall receive.
>? the sails.
PENNSYLVANIA. philad. avg. 8.
FOREIGN :— From Dutch papers.
By the Betsy, Ca pt. Risbrough, from
Stralsund, we have received a file of
Dutch papers. Os public intelligence,
they state, that French troops, from
Germany, continued marching for
Spain :—That airinterview between two
powerful Monarchs [supposedto mean
Napoleon and Francis] was to take
place in July, in one of the Rhenish
Cities ; —and that the British Minister
in Constantinople had advised the Porte
to make Peace with Russia, even if it
cost a sacrifice ; —but that the Porte
was not inclined to listen to the advice.
Two thousand persons lost their lives
by the late great Earthquake in Candia.
Mr. Isaacson is acknowledged A
merican Consul in Christiansand.
...But yefl say.