The United States oracle of the day — Portsmouth, N.H., 1801-08-29 00:00:00, page 1

Aftfrs. Willet ts O'Connor,
BU 1' if the friends of Mr. Jefferfon
should deem my insinuations a
gainst his patriotism unmeritedly severe,
let them convince me of it and I will
recant them. If they can palliate his
^Juft by Scribing it to ether motives
than indifference about the prosperity
of the state, and an immoderate & an
insatiable ambition, in the name of
Heaven let them do it. I should not be
at all tenacious of these arguments a
gainst him were I his private or politi
cal enemy,for lam confident that they
cannot shield him from objections which
prove his unfitnefs to hold the helm of
affairs. If they are willing to defend
the purity of his intentions at the ex
pence of his mind, they are thoroughly
welcome to do it. Perhaps it would
foupd fofter to their delicate ears, if we
should ascribe his political fins to a want
of firmnefs. Should they not like this
paliative, they may, if they choose, dis
claim for him every thing contained in
his speech, and honestly announce to
the world, that it was delivered under
the cloak of insincerity.
Let it be granted then that he is a
well meaning man, and that the only po
litical frailties with which he can be
justly accused, are a want of firmnefs
and sincerity. And what greater flaws
can there be in the character of a Pre
sident? Ofhis firmnefs I fha.ll fay noth
ing, because he has been repeatedly and
publicly told that for deficiency in it
his example cannoli be produced. The
fads upon which this charge is bottom
ed are before the public, and I shall
leave it with them to draw their own
conclusions, after remarking, that to ac
quit him of it requires an inordinate
share of incredulity.
But if it be admitted that Mr. Jef
ferfon has Shaped his conduct by the
plans fettled in his breast when he com
posed his speech, it must be acknowl
edged that his title to his office is va
cated. The people know him to be a
man whom nature had endowed with
her most precious bounties, and that
his mild was stored with the richest
gifts of literature. Great and com
manding however, as his talents are,he
was not raised to his present eminence
on their account alone. America is not
so barren of genius as to be able to furnifli
only one man whose talents are adequate
to perform the dutiesof a President. It
is a fad incontrovertibly true, that Mr.
Jefferfon owes his election chiefly to the
principles he avowed. If he has im
posed upon us in expteffing sentiments
that were alien to h,s mind, we have a
right to expert that /he will relinquish
his dominion over us, and retire in a
private character to feign over his Af
ricans at Monticello, v^hat confidence
can we have in a public character if he
be at liberty, after he arrives atM of
fice, to abandon his engagements ? Pri
vate engagements, when voluntarily
given, it is universally admitted, can
not be warrantably broken. If they be
deemed sacred, surely those made with
the public, are, if poflible, Hill more so,
for in the firft instance only one person
is concerned, in the latter, millions. It
has never been questioned that a man
who presents himfelf to the public for
their fuffrages, and at the fame time
makes an open confeffion of his tenets,
Hands pledged to adhere to them. If
he departs from them he is guilty, in
the ftrideft sense of the word, of an in
fringement of his engagements. Are
not these the sentiments of Mr. Jeffer
fon, and of every man ? If they be, let
us enquire whether he has conformed
to them. Mr. Jefferfon. reprobated
Mr. Adams for refilling to keep in or
to appoint to anoffice any man who was
not a federalift. Has Mr. Jefferfon in
this particular been his copied ? The
answer to this question either convicts
or acquits him of insincerity.
I have thus unanfwerably proved
that Mr. Jefferfon either wants sinceri
ty or has but a slender claim to the
honorable praise of patriotism. His
ravishing the old marshals of their offi
ces muff be confidcred by many as fub
fiantiaiing against him, not only ; want
of candour, but of love of country. —-
It was a Hep which I will vencure to
predict he "Will live to lament —A hep
which will probably float down his
name to posterity covered with re-
AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, TWENTY-SIXTH YEAR.
/DR fSMOUIH,N.H. Printer, and Published every SATURDAY
Laws &c. of the United
SATURDAY, AUGUST 29,180!.
™* A *^ 3mre =ETraTCrnrmtSCTtr ffi forc&tafotmFmti
MISCELLANY.
CONON- No. 111.
or ALLTHE DISPOSITIONS AND HABUS WHICH LEAD TO POLITICAL PROSPERITY, RELIGION AND MORALITY ARE INDISPENSABLE SUPPORTS. •WASHINGTON'S 1r
^tUm^ States
From the Norfolk Herald.
The citizens of Albany intend to peti
tion to the Council of Appointment of
New York, for the re-inffatement of
Mr. Cuyler, to the office of Sheriff of
the County—from which he was lately
excluded for political non-conformity.
A majority of these citizens are demo
cratic republicans,' and their conduct
in this case, will entitle them to an hon
orable diftinaion.
His conduct is inexplicable but up
on two grounds. He either harbours
against those who go under the appella
tion of federalifts the ranked enmity,
or he is seriously & indefatigably plan
ning the subversion of the federal gov
ernment. As to the firft point enough
has been ab eady said : as to the second
my fears rife up alarmed left there
fliould be too much cause to apprehend
that such are his intention^. But the
further difeuffion of it I shall reserve
for my next paper. CONON.
If this be a just delineation of their
character, ought not the man who en
deavours to persuade the people, that
the foundation ofjuftice in the federal
court is poisoned, to be watched with
the vigilant eye of fear ? and has not
Mr. Jefferfon, by the removal of the
Marshals, charged them in the presence
of the people of the United States
with corruption ? It is currently re
ported, thAt when he seated himfelf in
the presidential chair, he declared that
in order to counterpoise the partiality
of the federal bench, the marshals must
be removed, and men of antifederal
principles appointed their successors.—
Notwithftandingl received thisinforma
tion from such good authority,that I can
hardly question its authenticity ; yet I
am willing to cast it behind the cur
tain. Ads,firs,fpeak louder thanwords.
What possible objedion could Mr. Jef
ferfon have to the marshals of N. York
and Virginia ? Did they want capacity
to know, and industry to execute the
duties of their offices ? Have they ever
been assailed except by calumny, and
the prostituted pens of hirelings ? Have
not their public and private lives been
marked with the pencil, of praise? I
will not indulge for a moment a sus
picion that Mr. Jefferfon to revenge a
private pique, was prompted to Strip
them of their power. He was moved
therefore to displace them for some
other reason than that of any personal
injury, which he may have received
from them, or a belief that they want
ed the qualifications which their office
required.
The end of all government is the
furtherance of justice. Give to the
people.a government which does not
refped the immutable laws of justice,
and inflead of a blefling you bellow on
them a curse. It is highly more im
norta" they should be encouraged to
bye: ,hat their rights sre protected,
aid their grievances redressed, than is
generally imagined. When once a dis
trust is cieated in them that their
courts do not decide according to prin
ciples of justice, they go with reluct
ance to filch tribunals either to prose
cute or defend their rights.
But is there an unprejudiced & well
informed man, who questions the in
tegrity of the federal judiciary ? Ex
amine their lives and characters. Are
they men who are bankrupts in fortune
and character ? Are they men whose
needy circumstances press, eleven en
courage them to violate their oaths,
and require the poignant rebukes of
conference for the fake of a beggarlv
bribe ? Are they men who have ever
shewn themselves the tools of a party
in this country,much less the pensioners
of a foreign potentate ? Without vio
lence to truth may it be afferced, that
our federal judges ar„e an ornament to
America. Traverse, this or any other
country, and you will not find any men
whom it would disparage to be com
pared with them. In their decisions
they have always evinced themselves
too heroic to yield to the groveling ad
vice of fear, too confeious of the sacred
ness of the rules of justice to be deeded
by the sordid suggestions of private in
terest, and too independent to immo
late at the altar of popular applause,
law,jaftice and honor. To sum up their
merit in a few words, in virtue, in pat
riotism, and in talents they have but
few rivals.
proaches—A step which I fear his
country will have cause to bemoan as
long as the hiftory of this period is un
devoured by the moth of time.
With all such papers, and with the
principles which they inculcate, we de
clare ourselves to be at open war ; and
since we now poifefs the means of car
rying our'arms,extenfively, into the ter
ritory of the enemy, they shall experi
ence from us neither truce nor quarter,
till they manifeft a difoofition to sub
mit to the wholesome restraints of
truth, law and decency. By allowing
the impudent falfehoods of wicked men
to go uncontradiCled, the confidence of
the people, in many of our wisest and
best men, has been fliaken ; and even
the ark itfelf of our government has
not escaped the ihock. Through the
intrigues of such as have crept in among
us, aided by the ill-deSgning, and the
mis-informed of our own nation, we al
ready behold one from a far country,
and of an unknown tongue, taking charge
of that sacred ark, which should be
touched by hallowed hands alone, by
the hands of Americans. Others of the
fame description are eagerly and fuc-
On this occafion,we fliould doviolence
to our feelings, did we not acknowledge,
with gratitude, that, for the success of
this enterprize, thus far; we are almost
entirely indebted to the great exertions
of a few friends in this city ; and to
the zeal and perseverance of a number
of public Spirited gentlemen, in various
parts of the country. To most of the
latter, we have not the honor of being
personally known. As, therefore,
their friendly exertions have proceeded
from a hope, that the proposed publi
cation would prove beneficial to the
community, and subservient to the
cause of truth and good order, our
gratitude to them will be best expressed
not in courtly phrases, but in laborious
and assiduous endeavours to render the
Gazette ufeful, and thus to fatisfy their
expectations. We tender our thanks
to those who have favoured us with
their fubferiptions, among whom we
are proud to find the names of very
many gentlemen whose countenance
would do honor to any undertaking.
To the editors of a large number of
refpedable Gazettes we are under obli
gations for the kind insertion of our
proposals, & for the very flatteringterms
in which some of them have been pleas
ed to announce our design.
Though the character of the Gazette
of the United States is generally known
—and though the views of the Editor,
in offering a Gazette for the Country,
were pretty fully explained, at the time
of issuing the proposal ; it may not be
deemed improper on this occasion, to
fay fomething-of the objects to which
this publication will be devoted, and
of the means proposed for accomplish
ing them.
Our firft aim, and one which we
look upon as of primary importance,
will be to contradict the falfehoods, to
refute tfie sophisms, and to expose the
absurdities, which, by means of cheap
papers, are widely circulated through
our country. These papers, which are
principally conducted by foreigners,
unacquainted with the country, and
men of law characters, who possess
neither honesty nor the means of cor
rect information,having by some means
acquired a currency, have long con
tributed to deceive and disquiet the ig
norant and inconsiderate, and have at
length become the sources of alarming
mifchief to the morals and government
of the nation.l
WE are at length enabled to lay
before the Public our firft num
ber of the Gazette of the United States
for the Country.
O"It is with pleafurs we give to our rea
ders tie fallowing addyeft ofMr. Wayne,
on publfting the joft number of bis
Country Gazette— This production we
think d-serves tie attention of our friends
^patrons. There are ^foments contained
in it excellent in a high degree ; —ana de
dunions, naturally floe ^g from principles
so genuine, that if hot fly weighed in the
scale of the public r" i cannot be found
wanting ; ba. de pt:c; :a (th ,=eft of
metals) inflead of losing will gain weight
in proportion to the severity of the test b,
which they are tried. IVe trust that the
noble undertaking of Mr. Wayne will be
crowned with success ; for every advocate
for the principles and sentiments of our de
parted WASHINGTON defo•ves it in
the higbeft degree ; and every new eftab
l°bment thus devoted, we confider like
another fapporting pillar to the majefic
temple of Federalism.
Fol. X/.
TO THE PUBLIC.
A 1 47-
=™===^^ >-■--T.■ ■..-«».—■ ■ . .-
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, THIRTEENTH YEAR.
PRICE I DOLLAR 50 CENTS Per Annum.
Morning, by WILLIAM TREADWELL, & C° Printers of the
States, in New-Hamplhire.
Oracle of tlje ^,
Such is the character which the A
merican people possess, and which is
calculated to give liability to the gov.
ernment, and contentment and happi
ness to the citizens, provided proper
care be taken to prevent them from
being deceived and misguided. It has
however, unfortunately happened, that
those entrusted with the management
of public affairs have relied solely, for
public approbation, upon the fidelity,
witll which they difeharged their duties
—and the friends of the government,
feeing the integrity and wisdom with
which it was managed, have believed
that the reproaches of gainsayers would
recoil and bring infamy upon those
who uttered them. In this they have
been mistaken. Demagogues who
wanted power,and profligate foreigners
who wanted bread,and protection from
the punishment of their crimes, and
who felt none of that refped for rulers
and gratitude to protestors, which pre
dominate in the breads of Americans
and honest men, were allowed to occu
py the ground wiiich ought to have
been taken by the friends of the coun
try and of the government, and to be
come, in a great measure, the directors
of the public opinion. Felons, from
every part of the world, who unfortu
nately flipped their heads from the hal
ter, while they were yet able to run,
and as many of their comrades as ex
pected the fame fate without the fame
good fortune, bent their course, with
one consent, to this ill-fated country :
and no sooner had they reached our
shores, and once more opened the ob
ftruCted passages of their throats by in
spiring draughts of whiskey or gin,than
they began to bellow out their blasphe
mies against our religion, and treason
able falfhoods against our government.
Impartial and Republican papers, as
they are called, sprung up in every
town and village. Those men, who,
in their own country had been advan
ed to the rank of a Secretary to a fedi
tiousclub, or fircling player upon the stage
could write and harrangue ; while
others could work a press or travel thro'
the country and proclaim to the igno
rant, that government is usurpation,
that taxes are a robbery upon the poor
to support the powerful, and that noth
ing but immediate opposition to their
rulers can save them from the chains
cf slavery. ,
Such is the origin and such has been
the progress of the belief which Hill
exists with numbers, that Washington
speculated upon the public money ;
that Pickering defrauded thegovernmeflt
—that Hamilton plundered theTreafu
ry—that Wolcott did the fame; that
the administration were concerned in
the infamous conspiracy of Blount ;,
that Thomas Nash who called himfelf
Jonathan Robbins, was an American ;
that the late Secretaries set fire to the
public offices, though their accounts
had been just examined by Democratic
committees, and pronounced to be fair
cefsfully prefling forward to the fame
object. Such things are disgraceful ;
they are ominous; and nothing, but
the united exertions of fentible & hon
ed men to difeniinate truth, and to
inculcate good principles, can prevent
them from becoming fatal.
The difeontents, the murmurings,
the animosities, the seditions, and die
infurredions, which we have experi
ericed ; and the impatience under the
xeßraints of government, th; hope of
change and the loud clamours for a
new modelling of the government which
are now manifefted, are to be ascribed
not so much to the body of the people
themselves, as to the inattention of hon
ed and influential men who have been
the real friends and supporters of the
government—The mass of the people
of this country (we mean the Amercan
people of this country) do not so far
mistake their talents and character as
to suppose themselves capable of decid
ing upon the intricate questions of na
tional interest, or of dictating measures
of general policy. They do not pre
tend to call in question, without hear
ing reasons or arguments, the wisdom
and honesty of their rulers. On ques
tions of this kind they very properly
submit their judgments to the opinions
of those who are supposed to possess
better information, and who are conse
quently, more competent to judge. It
is natural, therefore, and it is proper
for them to rely upon the information
which is given them, unless that infor
mation be contradicted and Ihewn to
be falfe or imperfect.
and correct ; with a thousand other
falfehoods equally abused and equally
notorious among men of information.
Attempts are every where made to
bring Religion and found learning into
disgrace by propagating slanderous
falfehoods against all those whose time
and talents aie devoted to these objects.
The people are persuaded that the cler
gy are attempting to form a regular
hierarchy and to establish in their own
.hands, an inquifitiou as despotic as ev
er existed in Rome or Spain.
" Thus men are fooled out of their un
" derflanding ! fooled out, of their fe
" curity! fooled out of their bappi
'' nefs ; and when they have loft every bless
" ing beyond recovery, they look round
"at each other in a Jlapid def pair, clank
" ing their chains and unable to foake
" them of, and aft, 66 How has all this
" been brought about ?
Against abuses and impositions of
this kind, abuses which threaten to un
settle the integrity of the nation, to de
stroy the sympathies of our nature,and
to root out all mutual confidence from
society and social intercourse, we will
lift up our voice, while there is yet
hope ; and we call upon all those,
whose duty and whose interefl it is to
uphold pure morals and a liable gov
ernment, to lend us the aid of their
talents and exertions, while yet talents
and exertions may be of some avail.
" We may (for we can) all of us contri
bute to the assistance, and the comfort,
and the good of others, and to the La
bility of social happiness. The voice
and the pen, and individual influence
must be resolutely and decisively called
into action, for defence, for counsel, for
admonition, and for cenfure."—The
majority of the nation is, probably, dill
on our fide. The property, the talents
the wisdom, the integrity, and conse
quently the character and influence,are
decidedly and greatly in our favour.—
We want, then, only exertion and
concert. We need not be "intimi
dated by the war-whoop of Jacobins &
Democratic despoilers.”
Thus far we have spoken of defen
five measures—measures calculated
merely to repel the malicious attacks
of difaffeded and wicked men. In ad
dition to these, it will be our aim, as
occasion may offer, and as our abilities
shall enable us, to explain and enforce
the true principles of our government;
to caution the inconsiderate multitude
against the precepts and practices of
disorderly men : to inftruft the igno
rant, and to remind the careless of the
privileges secured by the government
to the people, and of the duties which
the people owe to the government. We
believe and shall attempt to prove, that
the only danger to be apprehended to
our system of government, is from the
people themselves. Not from the people
in opposition to the Executive,but from
the people in opposition to the principles
of the government. There is no ground
for fear, that any executive will require
power fufficient to tyrannize over the
people; but that the executive will
become apaffive instrument in thehands
of a factious mob, will allow the con
stitutional energies of the government
to become torpid, until the people Shall
rife above the law, throw the country
into confufion, and introduce the ne
cessity ofa military government, which
will end in a despotism as absolute as
that of Alexander of Russia, or even
that of Bonaparte.
A Chief Magistrate, in performing
his duty faithfully, must often resist,
with firmnefs, the solicitation of those
who are most forward and most loud,
and who, on these accounts, mistake
themselves for the people. The proc
lamation of neutrality by Gen. Wash
ington, was very unpopular, counting
those for the people who make the pop
ular clamours ; but it was not, on that
account, the less necessary, or the less
confident with the principles of the
government. It is a mistaken and very
pernicious notion inculcated by Jaco
bins, that the government is bound al
ways to aft in conformity to the will
of the people. In the firft place, if the
people were competent to the talk of
judging for themselves of the expedien
cy °f public measures, there would be
no need of instituting a government for
that purpose :—and again, allowing
the competency of the people, & grant
ing that their will ought to direct the
government, Still it is impossible for the'
executive to obtain any adequate know
ledge of that will, previous to the a
doption of any measure.