The Republican ledger — Portsmouth, N.H., 1800-01-01 00:00:00, page 1

I The Republican Ledg er 'l
PORTSMOUTH, (NEW-HAMPSHIRE) PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY GEORGE JERRY OSBORNE, fa. MULBERRY LANE, NEXT DOOR TO ROUSSELET, MUSEUM.
NUMBER IQ.— VOL. I„] *
" WHEN YOU SHALL THESE DEEDS RELATE, SPEAK OF THEM AS THEY ARE ; NOTHING EXTENUATE NOR SET DOWN OUGHT IN MALICE."
For the Republican Ledger. 1
I ibe&amm JIM s + l
WHY the appellation of the Porcupine
Club, thou id be given to the dangerous]
■party, we have to contend with, in order to\
I have the American Republic, may need an ex
flplanation. Names are often derived from
■unimportant, and accidental circumstances:
■ Our readears will find, in the course of these
W papers, that this dangerous, monarchi
! cal party, procured one Cohbet, a corporal
Ilin the Englilh army arNova-Scotia, to e-
I red a press in the city of Philadelphia, in
I favour of Monarchy ; and that he has beenl
■ employed as the engine of abuse, against e
■ very one, who was not devoted to the prin-I
■ ciples of such a government ; and that he is]
■ now employed by the clubto overthrow that]
a great and eminent man,'jfohn Adams, be-]
I cause the measures of his administration are]
I not directed to that end.
These men are charmed with the English]
government. They g^ceive that fyftem,|
to have, concentrated iffiit, all poflible per-]
fe&ion. The English constitution doesnot]
exist any where Upon paper. It rests on
an aft called ma^na cbarta, and the mere]
farm of the legislative and executive autho-I
tities ; blended with, and explained by the]
administration of their government.
,1 his is said to be a mixed government : I
2nd many people are carried away by thel
found without examining the fubftance.—|
The Englilh government is the offspring of|
■ conquest. The Monarch represents the con-|
| queior, and the nobles represent his gene-|
■ rals ; from many hard and dangerous con-I
5 fiias, the people have achieved the privilege |
lof a house of commons, a grand jury, and a]
I petty jury, as checks upon their conquerors
■ but this is all ineffectual to preserve their|
■ rights as men. The people under that gov-I
I ernment are miserable Haves, with all theirl
I boafted privileges.
IThetnglilh monarchy,whichis focharm-l
I ingin the eye of the Porcupine Club, as al
■ mixed government, is a government of ter- I
a ror, corruption, and interest. The ftandingl
,army gives the monarch the force neceffary]
to a complete despotism. This with the|
appointment to, and removal from office, |
with a negative on the a£ls pf the legiflature,l
readers the King as absolute a tyrant as there]
is in Europe. The principle of terror, is]
mixed with the principle of corruption, in a]
very extraordinary, and effeaual manner.|
—Should a man oppose the adminiftration|
there, for corruption, and errors, he is by no|
means to expe& an appointment. And isl
he is in office,he must exped to be removed |
The Club in America, have attempted, I
as far as their abominable influence has ex-I
tended, to have our government conducted]
on the fame principles, should there ever be|
a day, when our government /hall negle&,l
and refufe to appoint men of integrity, and]
ability to office, because they are against cer-I
ttin measures of government, or should itl
displace men, because they conceive the ad-1
ministration to be wrong, we (hall be wide-1
ly removed from a Rate of freedom, and havel
our government pra&ically assimilated tol
that of Great-Britain. How can a govern-1
ment be said to be free, if thole who hold I
offices under it, can have no opinion of their|
own ? This very corrupt, and extraordina-I
ry principle, was adopted in the American I
administration by the court of London, be-I
fore tfe revolution, and the confequencesl
are known to the world. The world is con-1
vinced, that a people, as intelligent s as thel
Americans are, will have their own opin-1
ions ; and that it is in vain far the Porcu-1
pine Club, or any other power, to attemptl
to fabvert so important a right, whfch ran 1
never be surrendered whilst an idea of civill
liberty remains. ( ,
We now return to the measures taken by l
this club, in order to establish an hereditary I
monarchy in America. • I
The world is divided in sentiment, upon l
the principle of civil government. All a- I
free that government is necessary ; but all l
p not agree in <he principle on which it l
Shall be eftabiilhed^ We contend in Ame- 1
rica, that the feelings resulting from a re-I
gard to personal fafety, and an interest in the l
possession of external things, is a good and l
valid foundation for civil government. So- I
cial duty is but the result of reciprocal ad- I
vantage ; or as the poet fays, that " felf- I
love and facial are the fame." We exclude 1
the principle of fear, as base and unmanly ;|
Rand a& from principles of reciprocal inter
ned only. This gives the true idea of equal
■ ity in society, and makes each man a patri
,ot ; because, each loves his neighbour, and
■his c untry, for his own, and his neighbor's
■fake. This junto contend, that marois not
■ capable of acting from motives so worthy of
■human nature, but that he is an abjed ani
m^l, and must be governed by the principle
■of fear only. Should we Stay at this place
Ito contend against an hypothesis so exceed
■ ingly derogatory to the American character,
■we thould offend our readers. Therefore,
■leaving the position of those devotees to he
■ reditary monarchy, and hereditary ariftocra
-ocy, to be treated with the contempt it de
nferves, we proceed to examine the measures
■ they have assumed to advance the intereß of
■monarchy upon the United States.
■ The imbecility of the old American con-.
■ federation, was every where seen and ac
■ knowledged. A convention was agreed yp
■on to form a system that might Rrengthen
■the Union. The people who had passed
■through the conflict of the late war, were
■then alive. Lt'may be figuratively said, that
■ they had been baptized in the sea, and in the
■cloud. They had eat manna in the wilder
■nefs, and having passed over Jordan, had ar
■ rived at the promised land. They there
fore elected, generally, the men who had
■ been their leaders in the time of danger, to
■ represent them in the convention. By these
■men a system, naturally resulting, from the
■constitution of the several states, from the
■habits of the people, and from the princi
■ ples of jurisprudence, which had prevailed
■in the country, was formed: By the arts
land address of a few men, there were feme,
■equivocal expreflions retained, which were
■very important, but which have since been
■ corrested by amend ments.
■ The separate Sovereignties, the imperium
uin imperia, complained of, was then an ob
■jea of attention. It was provided in the
■ constitution, that the courts of the United
I States, should have jurifdi&ion in all cases
■between two, or more Rates. The true
■ federalifts, who wilhed to avoid a confoli
■ dation of the whole, which would of course
■introduce a monarchical government, made
■this an objeaion ; but the junto laughed at
■the idea, and daringly denied the consequence.
1 Very r oon after the government was adopt
■ed, the judges declared, that the Rates had
H yielded their fovereignty,and were coercible
■ by the precepts of the national government.
I Maffachufetts was sued, and the exertion of
■Hancock and his friends, alarmed the peo
■ple of the whole union, and an amendment
■was made to fobvert so dangerous a grinci
■ Pie
fl The Club being thus foiled, were obliged
■to wait for an opportunity, from whence
■ they might gather strength and impudence.
■ The affair of the British treaty brought them
■on their legs once more. The follies of the
■ French Republic, have given them sup
■ port, and they have lately been within the
■ reach of all their wishes, as they have vainly
■imagined for some time past.
■ An alliance tffenfife and defenfive, with
■the crown of Great-Britain, would give
■ them all they want ; or at least insure them
■ eventually, the utmost of their wishes.
, The arts the cfob have taken toeffefl this
■important end, have been very various.—
■ The press of Fenno, has been obviouflyfn
■gaged in that inicreß. Eyery man', who
■has been considered as opposed to the plan,
■has been abused and Calumniated id that ga
■ zette. But that paper not being base enough
■ to retail the abuse necessary to the plan, Cob
■ bet was procured to come from the dregs of
■human life, and money was provided, for
■him to ere& his press in Philadelphia, Thg
■ Editor, under the feigned name of ftter Por,
■ cupine, has done all, that the junto-required
■of him, in order to destroy the fpiritof Re
-1 publicanifm, to scandalize the principles of
■the American revolution and to disgrace the
■ patriots who lead the people to that glorious
■ event, His papers were sent on gratis, to
■the extreme parts of the union, and emiffa-
Iries were provided to scatter the poison they
I contained throughout the country. As soon
las John Adams, like the true friend of his
■country, took measures to avoid a foreign
■ war, this editor began to abuse him. ^ A war
■ with France, would have given us an/acciden-|
Ital alliance,offenfive & defenfive,withGreat4
■Britain. Adams disappointed the club in fl
■this, and he has no*, in the Gazettes ofl
■Fenno and Porcupine, become the fubje&l
lof the Club's abuse.
^EDNESDAr, y^uußr 1, 1,800.
The ostensible reasons, offered by the club,
for our engaging in a war with France, is,
that we are in danger of adopting French
principles and French politics, unless we
fight to avoid them. The Englilh nation
went to war on this ground ; but it was not
the people who declared war ; it was the
prince. The kjng, was no doubt afraid of
republican principles, and made war to avoid
their gaining ground in his Empire. They
were dangerous to his prerogatives.' But in
America, we are republicans ; we cannot be
injured by republican principles, and those
who are endeavouring to engage us in a war,
are doing it, only, in order to gain the assist
ance of the Englilh government, to subvert
our eledive Republics, and to establish a
monarchy on their foundations.
There were a number pf the club assem
bled in Boston, as we are well informed ;
and upon a deep conversation, they conclude
cd, that it had become necessary to engage
the clergy on their fide. The fimple,harm
lefs work of a gospel minister, is an agreea
ble and heavenly employment for a good and
pious man ; but where ambition, avarice or
vanity has taken possession of the pulpit stairs,
fome,king else is necessary. The author of
the chriftian religion, declared that his king
dom was not of this world, he said, render
to C^far the things that are Cxfars, but re
fufed to decide what were due to C^far.—
The club have, however, found means to
engage a great number of those men, who
profefs to be chrißian teachers, on the fide of
monarchy ; they do not generally know, to]
what political end their condu& leads : but|
they are zealous, noisy, and uncomfortable.|
The purposes and design of social worship,
and public devotion seem to have been laid
aside among them ; and the ordinances ofl
the holy religion of the gospel, prostituted to
the vile ends of party politics.
To urge the ministers of the gospel, on to]
an extreme difgraceful to their profeflion,
the chimera of the European illuminati has
been brought forward. Men who have!
heretofore negle&ed public worship, treated!
the ordinances of the gospel with contempt,l
or ridicule, and prided themselves in scan
dalous vices, have now come forward, dress
ed in the dirty robes of hypocrisy, weeping/
over the prevailing infidelity of the country,]
and warning the people against the preva-1
lency of French irreligion.'
The fad is, that in the year 1778, when]
we entered into an alliance with France,]
the King, nobility, and gentry were Deifts,j
and the illuminati, so much spoken of, ex/#,]
ed as fully then as it has finee ; but our po-I
liticians can now make an advantage of it,]
which before was unnecelTary to their pur-|
poses.„
^n interesting political Sketch, at the -commence- I
ment of the Jeffiou ofAongrefs—from the Aurora|
./December 2."
It is a matter of the highest prudence to|
take a view of the affairs ot the old world at |
the openingof the session of Congress. We|
find— l
^ That the Ruffians have been made deep- I
ly to fuffer at Novi, by an inferior French|
force ; and that they have even been defeated |
by the French and new Dutch troops in Hpl-|
land. '
2. That the emperor of Germany's army|
has been obliged or induced to leave the Bri-|
tifh expedition to Holland, unsupported by|
any Austrian army.
3. That the British and Ruffians in Hol-I
land have received such a check, that they]
probably cannot advance, especially after thel
arrival of the French troops, which are dai-1
ly going thither. ,'I
4. That there was no appearance of any 1
material infurreaion in Hol land. _ 1
^5. That the old Dutch aristocracy (thel
members of the states general) which was|
their true sovereignty under the latq conffi-I
tution, are greatly offended at the Britiihl
plan of giving the sovereignty to the ftadthol-|
der :° and that in fa& the British with toef-|
fed a revolution in favour of an absolute mo-|
narchy in the Orange family.
6. The king of Prussia not only refrains|
from attacking Holland, or supporting the |
British and Ruffians, but he drives the Dutch |
ariftocratical emigrants out of his dominions |
near Holland. |
7. The kings of Prussia, Denmark & Swe-|
■ den, the electors of Saxony and Hanover |
I (kingGeorge of England) the princes of Brunf-|
I wick, Hesse, &c. refufed to break the neutral|
I league, even before the late French fucceffes.|
I^ The Außrians are doing so little as to l
■■■■■■■■■tßmtMi
[1 DOL. 50 CfS. PER ANNUM.
give rife to observations ^nd opinions, that
they are again treating with France, or jea- 0
lots of Ruflia end Britain.
9. Ihe British king expresses no confi-|
dence in, or hopes frem the German emperor
while he extols the emperor of Ruffia,which R
leaves room to suppose he is jealous of the
inactivity of Austria. M
10. The French have penetrated into parts §
of Germany not comprised in the neutral|
line.
11. The archduke has drawn off his main 1
force from Switzerland, and has neither at- |
tacked France on the Rhine, nor repelled the■
French attacks on the empire.
I 2. Gen. Hotze, who is a Swiss, and is the R
rallying point of the Swiss ^riftocrats, has E
been left unsupported by the archduke, and |
has fuffered from the attacks of the French |
under Maffena.
13. The cruelties of the British and Ruf- g
fians in Holland, and of the British and Nea- &
politans, in Naples, exceed all the barbarities ■
of the present war, which has, does, and mutt ffi
continue to operate against the success of the
combined powers.
14. The king of Sardinia has not been re-#
stored to his throne by the Ruffians and Auf- g
triads, but a German government has been fet U
Up in his dominions of Piedmont, &c. an evi- g
dence that the combined powers are ready to
■fpoliate and rob their own weak and unfor
■tunate /r/endf.
■ 15. The pope being dead, and the city ofE
Rome yet in the hands of the French, there |
Mean be no constitutional and valid ele&ion of§
■ a new pope, so that the prieftiy monarchy of |
■Rome cannot be fettled.
16. Malta remains fafe in the hands of the W
■French.
■ 17. The king of Naples keeps on the ill-!
■and of Sicily, and has not ventured to return
■back to Naples, so that an orderly monarchyl
■is not yet established there. The govern-■
■ments of Italy from Naples to Piedmont are
■yet in the grehteft derangement, and Suwar
■row is by no means on his firß tide of fuc-|
■cefs. Joubert, Moreau and Champiunet |
■have arrested his progress.
■ 18. The Turks are perfedly ftHl in Eu- g
■rope, alarmed in Syria, and dreadfully cut |
■ up in Egypt in their late attempt to penetrate ■
■by AbouKir.
, 19. Buonaparte not in Syria as was pre- §
■ tended, but triumphantly and dreadfully vic- ■
|torious over the Turkish army; on the very I
■ sea coast of Egypt. The Greeks and Kopts, |
Lwho were active and faithful to him, in hisl
■late real or pretended distress, will on this I
I success be Rill more ffiendly and more ani- 1
■mated on his fide. The French are now in ■
■full and undisturbed possession of Egypt.
20. Sir Sidney Smith taken with a head,
■ wind, which blows from the field of Turk-,
■ifh defeat at Aboukir.
21. The Britilh exceeding the French in ■
■the value and number of captures of Ameri-|
■ can vedels.
■ 22. The British national debt increased to |
■five hundred millions of pounds sterling
■Their annual expence is lixty millions of
■ pounds sterling. :'• ■
1 23. Th&Britiffi monopolizing aft& wa-M
Uters, of the world, in order to tyrannize by I
' ea - ' / ' # ■
■ 24. The British blockading proclamation, ,
|for seizing all the tranfmarine countries, ■
■they can lay theirhands on, viz: Minorca, ■
I Surinam, the dominions ^ Tippoo Saib, ,
I the Cape of Good Hope, and Holland, in |
, order to direct and engross the trade of the |
■ world : and their printers denouncing "/fol
■ true Americans,* ho are not so chr/ian like |
lasI as to love them far defpitefully^fmg_ us.
■ 25. Ihe Americans enjoying innumerable |
land unutterable benefit from theJßritiih trea- ,
fry, from British impreffinents, from British |
■ fpoliatiops, from the non-payment of award- ,
Icd1 cd losses, fram the reinforcements upon, and ,
■ extension of principles of capture and ton- ,
Idemnations,1 demnations, from the exportation of British ,
■ manufaduring machinery to fyffiafand the ,
■ punishment ot its ex pot tat ion id? America, |
■from British presses in America,<f@ their ,
■ kind interference in our eleaiol& 1& ,
■ 26. The French people taught to derift from the |
, bloody deeds of their Kobefpierresfy th^niislor- ,
■tunes, and hatred they produced, anti infitucted ,
■ by the rejiflance of neutrals mb the nraembinq- 1
■ tions of deJpotiJm, that they mus pursue jfflice at ,
I home and abroad, or induce the ran oft their ,
■Their Rulers yielding to these frrehltable truths, |
■while those of the combined powers, whujn Hea-■
■ ven feetus determined to deltroy; ft foa,a-|
, dopting the cruelties, the fpoljatiops, and the am ,
■ bilious projects 'of France under Robtfpierr&i and |
lofI of the combinations ol Favi^, Fi^tz,i,w@n @nd■
IPeteriburfa' ™ r :