The constitutionalist — Exeter, N.H., 1810-06-11 00:00:00, page 1

To the People of the United States.
IT is proposed, fellow citizens, in
a course of very brief and very plain
political letters, to unfold the history
and display the character, of that pe
culiar species of French Influence.
which, almost all unprejudiced persons
of all parties are now prepared to ac
knowledge, has been exercised, in some
way or other, upon the affairs of our
country, since the commencement of
Thomas Jefferson's administration.
The letters will -be short, that they ma,
stand a chance for a general republica
tion in the independent papers; and
they will be written in a style simple
and unornamented, that they may be
understood by every man, woman and
child in the United States, who is at
all in the habit of political reading.
He who addresses to you these let
ters, has been honoured with no incon
siderable portion ofyour attention up
on former occasions. He has made the
subject of politics, as an English wri
ter says of poetry, too much the busi
ness of his life. Too much for his own
happiness as well as interest. He has
been satirised by his late democratic
friends, because it was his fortune, or
rather perhaps his misfortune, to rise, in
the course of a few years, from one of
the very lowest situations in rural life to
a seat in the councils of his country; a
circumstance which he will not affect
to remember without pleasure, and
which certainly he does remember with
no little republican pride—Pardon this
egotism. It will be confined to the
first letter, and to the necessary pur
poses of explanation.
But the writer has changed his po
litical party. Hence all this satire and
much boisterous clamour. Some na
tion has a proverb, intimating that the
wise man changes his opinion often,
the fool never. It will be admitted,
however, that frequent transitions in
politics, from one party to another,
ought to render any individual suspect
ed. If one change were not to be al
lowed, the democratic ranks in one
part of the Union, would be very thin.
But no man, in public life ought to
change his party, without giving to his
constituents and the public the reasons
which have governed his conduct. A
mere sic nolo, " I choose to change,"
should never be accepted in such a case.
Os the administration of the govern
ment of his country, the writer, while
he acted as one of the representatives
of the people, did not solicit either for
himself or any other person, directly
or indirectly, a favoui of any conse
quence whatever. The appointment
of a young gentleman as a midshipman
in the navy was the only thing that he
requested alone and in that he was
gratified. The appointment of now
and then a deputy postmaster, in some
small country village cannot beconsid.
cred as the act of the executive admin
istration. Probably no other demo
cratic representative ever asked so little
from the President, for from him noth
ing was asked.—The writer was disap.
pointed by the administration, but he
was disappointed in his capacity as a
representative of the people, and on
their behalf. He was disappointed in
finding that his political friends wlfo
filled the different departments of the
government were not, as he had believ
ed them tb be, real republicans, and
that they were not firm and independ
ent patriots.
When conscience demanded a com
plete transition from one of the great
political parties which divide the coun
try to the other, there was but one way
for the writer to act, consistently with
his own principles, or rather, perhaps,
in this respect, notions singular enough
[The following address of Mr. Eliot's
to the people of the United States
will be read with pleasure and profit,
as he in this assigns powerful and
convincing reasons for abandoning
that party which has for nine years
ruled this country. As he was a
conspicuous character with the De
mocratic party, this public confes
sion of his delusion may remove the
prejudices of many who place im
plicit confidence in the present ad
ministration.]
LETTERS UPON FRENCH
INFLUENCE.
No. I.
Vol. I.]
FROM the freeman's JOURNAL.
POLITICAL.
THE CONSTITUTIONALIST
AGAINST THE INSIDIOUS WILES OF FOREIGN INFLUENCE, THE JEALOUSY OF A FREE PEOPLE, OUGHT TO BE CONSTANTLY AWAKE Washington.
to be sure, but such as could not but
govern him. It was to give the best
evidence the nature of the case would
admit that no interested or ambitious
views, or any impure motives, produc
ed the change, by abandoning the high
and honourable situation to which he
had been three times called by gteat
.and rapidly increasing majorities of
those who knew him best, and to which
he knew he could again be called. He
declared, on this occasion, that he nev
er again would be a candidate at any
popular election whatever ; and this
promise he means' to keep He does
not believe that any individual in a re
publican government, is under any ob
ligation to devote more than a reasona
ble portion of his life to the public
service. He has a right to judge for
himself when it is prudent and proper
to retire, unless, indeed, so general a
disinclination, to the labours of pub
lic life should pervade the country, as
to occasion the wheels, of the machine
of government to stop! In the cases
of invasion and rebellion it is very dif
ferent. Even the life of every one is
then the property of his country. In
the present case, the writer's perpetual
retirement is more the result of choice
and taste than of disappointment and
disgust.
It was in the " memorable and
mournful" session of 1805-6, when
both Houses of Congress were shut up
in darkness for several successive week s,
that certain individuals of the democrat
ic party became convinced that their
leaders were not only despots in their
hearts, but were devoted to the fear if
not to the interest, of France. In the
course of that session, Mr. J. Clay, the
representative of Philadelphia, made a
solemn public declaration, that France
had threatened War against the United
States, and acknowledged that the
threat had not been without its influ
ence upon his mind ! —He was called
to order, and not suffered to proceed.
Mr. Clay, it is believed, has not even
yet manifested a disposition to become
other than a democrat in American pol
itics. His veracity remains unimpeach
ed. Upon that occasion he alluded to
a document which is still concealed
from the people, and which probably
will never be published. The present
writercould not justify himself in disclo
singit. He recollects, indeed, that when
it was first laid before Congress, it
produced a sensation as honourable
to that body as much of its subsequent
conduct has been disgraceful. Alas,
it was but the sensation of a moment !
The great political magician, Jefferson,
waved his potent wand, and the spirit
of genuine patriotism became extinct
in the councils of America.
To the People of the United States.
Previous to an investigation of the
origin and character of what has been
deemed by the writer, in common with °
a great proportion of his countrymen,
to be the influence or a fear of France,
if nothing worse, operating upon the
executive and legislative departments of
the government of the U. States, several
introductory, explanatory, and inci
dental points, naturally claim consid
eration and demand attention.
This course is rendered the more
indispensable by the peculiar situation
of the writer of these papers.
The constitutional power of the
President of the United States to im
pose upon the Representatives of the
people, and the rights of the majority
of those representatives to impose upon
the minority, a perpetual injunction of
secrecy, in relation to matters of great
national concern, will form the first
subject of examination.
The constitution of the U. States,
politically speaking, should be regard
ed with holy reverence. It is the
most illustrious of all the monuments
of human wisdom. Plato, Aristotle,
Cicero, and others, whose names are
written on the list of the wisest men
of ancient times, did but dare to dream
of even a faint outline of our present
political system. Could the genius
and the greatness of the present age
have been so far anticipated, as to
have presented to the view of these
sages, a general idea of the American
constitution, they would at once have
pronounced the system too pure and
perfect ever to fall, in practice, to the
lot of human nature. They would
have declared that it was the vision of
a theorist of a set of theorists ; great
and magnificent, but delusive and im
practicable..
No. 11.
EXETER, (N.H.) MONDAY, JUNE 11, 1810.
In paying the tribute of his highest
homage to the wisdom of the authors,
and the excellence of the character, of
the constitution of bis country, the
writer must again stop for one moment
to impress upon the minds of his readers
the sincerity of his present attachment
to that glorious instrument. It can
not be concealed that he was once an
anti-constitutionalist, in other words,
a French partisan. No one should
blush to recollect the errors of youth,
when those errors resulted from purity
of principle, and the most ardent wish
es for the happiness of the whole
human race. Especially should the
recollection be cherished, when those
errors have been discharged from re
flection and experience. In political
science at least, never to have erred is
never to be wise, for political wisdom
is not inherent in our nature. Ex
perience cannot develope it, but must
create it, even in the strongest and
soundest minds. The writer knows
that not only many of the youth of
our country, but some of the aged also,
have abandoned the strange dreams of
the revolutionists of France, from a
perfect conviction of their futility and
folly. We hailed with joy the open
ing dawn of what was fancied to be
the coming day of human perfection.
We were among the wildest of all wild
enthusiasts. Compared with the purity
of French democracy, the constitution
of our own Republic was deemed a
corrupt mass of aristocracy. Jefferson
was believed to be a better and a great
er man than Washington. These recol
lections indeed can be connected with
no pleasant emotions. Jefferson and
Washington ! Compare the ant with
the elephant ! Compare the little rill
which travellers denominate the Scam
ander of Homer, with tie Danube or
the Missisippi !
It were to be wished that the late
President of the U. Stites, whose
power to close the lips of the repre
sentatives of the People, upon subjects
vital to the independence of the Ration,
is about to be questioner, had in all
cases squared his conduct by the pro
visions of that sacred instalment which
he, as well as those representatives,
nad taken a solemn oath of office to
support. Butalas, he who, while grad
ually mounting the little steps ol
•' young ambition's ladder," was the
most adroit and oily of all the flatter
ers of the populace, since the days of
Julius Caesar, was the most odious
despot when in power! He did not,
indeed, altogether scorn the base de
grees by which he did ascend, for
baseness was the most prominent
feature of his presidential character.
In some instances positive evidence, in
many strong circumstantial evidence,
will appear in the course of these let
ters, should that course be completed,
proving that the President of the
U. States did carry on a most degrad
ing correspondence with him whom he
ought to have considered the decided
enemy of his country, did implore
mercy of him, when he ought to have
demanded justice, and, instead of
claiming and commanding the respect
due to the U. States, as an independent
republic, did deprecate the wrath of a
foreign power in a manner the most
cowardly, mean, and submissive. —
Strong assertions these, but they shall
be supported by arguments which will
not be deemed feeble, and by the
mightier powers of evidence. For the
present we return to the constitutional
question.
Thomas Jefferson was never sin
cerely attached to the Constitution. —
One of his strongest objections to it
was that the President might be re
elected! Strange that he was not even
then calculating to become President
himself. But it is possible that he was
at that day an honest man. None of
us need blush at having been deceived
by Thomas Jefferson, for he deceived
even Washington. That great and
good patriot gave him the first office in.
his power, and thus advanced him far
in the path of his inordinate ambition.
Washington knew that he had been
opposed to the Constitution, but be
lieved that he had abandoned that error.
But Jefferson seemed to feel the stings
of a guilty conscience, for he began to
vindicate him self before he was accused.
The moment a schism began to arise
in the Cabinet, in consequence of the
political differences between Jefferson
and Hamilton, the former wrote an
elaborate letter to the President, en
deavouring to shew that although he
had wished for important amendments
in the constitution, yet he had tai}
upon the whole friendly to its adoption.
The father of his Country was even
yet deceived, for he wrote in answer.
“ I did not require the evidence of the
extracts which you enclosed me, to
convince me of your attachment to the
constitution of the U. States, or of
your disposition to promote the gener
al welfare of this country." (See
Bancroft's Life of Washington.)
There is every reason to believe that
one of the great causes of that schism
was a discovery made by Mr. Hamil
ton that the Secretary of State was
holding an improper " language con
fidential" (the reader will recollect
that these are Genet's own words)
with the most outrageous Minister of
France. How far conduct of this
sort was constitutional in an American
Secretary of State, it is not now ma
terial to enquire.
The " exclusive republicans" con
tended, before their elevation to power,
that neither the general government,
nor any of its branches, could con
stitutionally exercise any power what
ever, for which they could not shew a
special delegation. It was the demo
cratic doctrine to discard all powers
by implication. Hence the clamour
against the act establishing the Nation
al Bank, and against the Alien and
Sedition Laws, as unconstitutional and
despotic. Tried by this test, the
president possesses not a particle of
authority to close the lips of the mem
bers of the legislature, in relation to
any communication which he may
think proper to make to them. He
has not only the right, but it is made
his duty, to communicate from time to
time information of the state of the
Union. But the right to bind the
members to secrecy in any possible
case, is not to be found in any specific
provision of the constitution. If it
exists at all, it must be sought for else
where.
The Intelligencer, a Witness
to the Weakness of Government.
Extracts from the last National Intelligencer.
" The information recently received
from France, is of such a complexion
as to give increased interest to the
arrival of the John Adams. By her, it
is probable thata fuller, perhaps a eon
elusive, indication of the temper of the
French government will be received.
We shall then, probably, be enabled
to decide, whether, bad as the existing
state of things With her is, the pros
pect is not that they will grow worse,
rather than better ; and whether the
time is not at hand when every Ameri
can vessel, entering the ports of the
continent of Europe, will be condemn
ed; whether in fact, any trade to the
continent can be carried on with safe
ty. We would not wish to paint the
dangers of the commercial world in ex
aggerated colors; but, it is a truth,
which neither can or ought to be dis
guised, that the whole foreign horizon
lowers with danger. The numerous
private letters, received from every
part of Europe under the controul of
Bonaparte, corroborate the tenor of
the official documents in our last paper,
and are commentaries, which cannot
be mistaken, on the note of the Duc
de Cadore. Our vessels are every
where seized, not by the municipal
authority, or conformably to the usual
forms of judicial proceedings; but by
the strong arm of military power ; not
in detail, but in mass. A general con
demnation follows, and by one tre
mendous sweep, millions are carried
into the public coffers.
Such are the outrages committed on
our rights, which, it would seem, flow
from the mandates of the French gov
ernment, cotemporaneous with the note
of the Duc de Cadore.
The only construction that can be
put upon the language of the Note, is,
that if America will actually make war
upon England, France will make a
treaty with her. For France knows,
that, short of going to war, we have
done every thing to resist the British
orders in Council and proclamation
blockades ; that we have imposed an
embargo, passed a non-intercourse law,
and prohibited English armed vessels
from entering our waters ; and that we
have offered to her, to continue the
two last prohibitions so far as they
affected England, if she would rescind
her edicts. More than this could not
have been done, unless we had actual
ly made war on England. This, then,
is the end at which France aims and
0# hep sine qua non for respecting,
our rights. And because we do not
take this step at her dictation, we are
reproached with a want of " just po
litical views, of honor and of energy.'*
The blood that was spilt in atchieving;
our liberties is called up in judgment
against us ; and we are told that we
'' ought either to tear to pieces the act
of our independence, and to becomei
again, as before the revolution, the
subjects of England, or to take suclt
measures as that our commerce and in
dustry should not be tarified by tha
English, which renders us more depen
dent than Jamaica, which at least has
its assembly of representatives and its
privileges !"
But, suppose it possible that we
could be so base, as, at the mandate of
any foreign government, to be driven
into war with its enemy, what would
be the effects ? The trade with Eng
land, we all know, would be lost so
it certain that we should retain that!
of the continent, as our indemnity ?
So far from this being certain, is it not
most likely, that France would then
impose the same restrictions on our
trade to the continent, that she now
docs upon that of her allies ; prohibit
it altogether, or only so far authorize
it as comported with her own interest ?
Although the retrospect is fruitful
of painful feeling, we are irresistibly
carried back to the proud and com
manding attitude in which the Embar
go, that much abused measure, placed
us. Not a day passes, without con
firming its wisdom, and illustrating thei
penetration and foresight of the illus
trious character that recommended it.
It was worthy of him who had so
splendid an agency in atchieving our
independence, to interpose this shield
for its protection against new and!
fearful peril. However, amidst the
squabbles of party, its policy may bei
questioned, and the motives of its au
thors vilified, when the petty feuds of
the day are forgotten it will receive the
award of an unprejudiced posterity."
From the Baltimore Evening PosfZ
The seizure of American property
in the ports of France, &c. without;
any previous notification without:/
the preferment of complaint for crimes.'
committed without the semblance
of reason, or the pretext of justice, is &
deed of infamy without its parallel.
The German papers under the head
of Paris, March 19, state, that on the
preceding day the daughter of the
Senator Lucien Bonaparte arrived ire
that city ; Lucien, either disgusted with
the apostacy of Napoleon, or fearing;
for the permanence of his power, hast
long declined to partake of his fortune.
The arrival of his daughter at Paris, is
probably the signal for the reconcilia
tion between the two brothers. Wei
also find from the German papers, that §
the blessings of a military conscription;
are to be extended to Naples, Den
mark, and all the other countries and!
states which enjoy the benefit of Frencla
fraternity.
Edward Livingston, Esq. now of NJ,
Orleans, has brought a suit against
Thomas Jefferson, on the ground of
his having ejected him from the Batture
of New-Orleans, while Mr. J. was
President of the United States. His
damages are set at 100,000 dollars
and the writ has been served.. The
federal court, in which trial is to ba
had, is now tiding at Richmond.
Presuming on a French influence ill
Canada, we are led, as it were import
ceptibly, to view our position in Loui
siana, & the eventful cession' of the Flo
ridas ; the easy access of the first with
the two latter, by mean of the Ohio
and the Missisippi, necessarily present:
reflections, which cannot fail deeply to
interest every friend to his country.
We present to their immediate consid
eration some weighty queries. First,,
is the cession of Louisiana to the U. S &
by France, so guaranteed as that Bo
naparte can find no pretence to call
the validity of our title into question ?
Second, has not Spain, by some act
previous to the dethronement of the:
Bourbon dynasty ceded the Floridas
to France ? And will not France, ora
taking possession, revive the ancient:
disputes relative to the navigation of
the Missisippi.
From the Philadelphia Democratic:
Press.
[No. 4.