The Pennsylvania evening post — Philadelphia, Pa., 1776-10-08 00:00:00, page 1

For the PENNSYLVANIA EVENING POST.
To the PEOPLE.
HE Convention had scarcely met when your ene
mies began, in low whispers, at the corners of the
Greets, to traduce them. A regular cftablifhed go
vernment under the authority of the people only
would a& with such vigour as to defeat all their diabolical
machinations. This mutt not take place, for in a continua
tion of the unsettled state of our affairs depends their success.
How fliall this mighty work be effected ? Why, the credit of
the Convention must be ruined. " Stop every man you can
with any propriety in the fireets, and fay foroething against
the Convention to him. Let the prefies teem with general
censures on their proceedings, and reflexions on their condu&.
Let F attack their ordinances, Brutus their oath of allegiance,
and Camillus the plan of choosing the Council, and Hick at
nothing which can in the least degree yield assistance in this
hour of distress. For if the new government is once set a
going, we are undone." This is the language of our enemies
at this time, as appears evidently by their conduct. No doubt
they have some gleam of hope which urges them on, and yet
when they reflect on the feameful defeat of their champions,
Cato and Plain Truth, they might begin to delpair.
Every engine is now to be set to work, every battery they are
masters of is ordered to play. Lies and truth, misrepresenta
tion and calumny, and every other means of doing mifchief,
are at work. Though the artifice of Cato has failed, the
calm barefaced and bold lying of F may succeed. " Assert
roundly that the Convention fat above one hundred days, a^d
agreed upon no frame of government, that they expended in
wages above three thousand pounds of the public money, and
did nothing but pass ordinances, which they had no right to
do. Few persons will put thsmfeTves to the trouble of ex
amining whether you spoke truth or not."
By the assistance of an Assembly, which loved to discourage
the Association, they made a fhift to keep the minds of the
Associators agitated and uneasy ; but now, that an ordinance
is passed to do them some justice, and prevent the Non-Asso
ciators from crowing over them, a method must be fallen up
on to elude its force, and keep them kill difconten tedr—They
have the arms in their hands, and when united are not to be
withftcod—How is this,union to be prevented ? Why, by
lowing the feeds of jealousy and discontent among them, and
by decrying the Convention, the only public body that ever
endeavoured to fee them redressed. —That this is the intention
of the writers above mentioned must evidently appear, when
we rcflc& that every one of them has lied for the very purpose
of defaming that Honorable Body. F has told three.as no
torious lies a. were ever uttered within the limits of one sen
tence. He asserted they fat above one hundred days, spent
.above three thousand pounds, and did not clothe buhnefs for
which they were appointed. Let F prove this, if he can.
That he might the more easily gain credit with the friends to
our cause, he affe&s a great animcfity against the Convention
for usurping an authority not delegated to them.—However,
Providence, who hates hypeciify, and delights in expefing
The PENNSYLVANIA EVENING POST.
Vol. H.J
Price Three Coffers. Published every ffue&y, Phurfdaj, and Saturday Evenings
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1776.
499
the villanies of the wicked, permitted some things to happen
at that very time, to fatisfy the public that F's attachment
to the rights of the people was not sincere, for a few mem
bers of the late House of Aftembly then met, and, without
any authority either from the old or new government, gave
away fifteen hundred pounds of the public money to pe. c n;
who had not earned one farthing of it; and, as their last will
and testament in favor of Non-Associators and Tories, passed
a resolve to encourage them to refufe paying the fines and
assessments intended to be levied upon them, by way of
equivalent to the services of the Associators. Now had F
been sincerely attached to any thing but Toryifm, would he
have passed such a notorious transgression of every right of the
people by a few gentlemen, who, while they were performing
the highest a&s of legislation, openly avowed that they did it
without authority—They are now dead, and peace to their
shades ! I should not have called them from their graves only
to exhibit a contrafl: between them and the body which F
labours so hardly to defame, that every man may fee to
which fide he belongs. The Convention are Whigs and As
sociators, and their works teftify it. These gentlemen arc
Non-Associators, and their works teftify it. F having paved the
way, Camillus succeeds, and after prejudicing us in his favor,
by his sensible reflexions on the best mode of securing the
rights of the people, that he may give a stab to the Conven
tion, supposes that they have given the President and Coun
cil a negative on the laws of the AfLmbly, which is an abso
lute falfehood. Then comes Brutus, who is so blinded with
passion that he cannot give a genuine tranferigt of the oath
of allegiance, which contains about three lines in the column
of a newspaper he designedly inserted the word
never or not, I will not undertake to fay, but every one pas
sionately combats the ideas excited thereby, and gives 9 com
ment upon it whicha Jesuit would be afliamed of. he calls
the Convention cruel, tyrannical and unjust, compares them
to the Britilh Parliament, and makes them the worst of the
two, and for what, God only knows, for there is not one
syllable of what he fays, but the direct contrary to be found
in their works. For they have regularly provided for the
amendment of any article in the constitution, which experi
ence may shew to be defective, yet he charges them with hav
ing precluded every man from attempting to expose an im
perfedion, or proposing an amendment. This is the lan
guage of Brutus !—Had the Convention claimed exclusive
privileges; had it derived power from any source but that of
the people, had it exempted its own members from taking
the oath, had it done any thing unfriendly to the cause, or
had any of these writers pointed out a defed in the constitu
tion which tended to tyranny, they might have justly expo
sed them, and in so doing be esteemed the friends of the peo
ple ; but as they have not, as each and every of them has lied
to serve a purpose, what are we to think of them ? Are they
not the toolsofa party, whole sole view is to diftrad and di
vide us, and to restore the old government ?—I beseech every
one who loves liberty to beware of such writers. The plan
was laid feme time ago. And now they are determined to
have one other Struggle for, the power they have loft, and
[Num. 268.