The Republican ledger — Portsmouth, N.H., 1799-12-25 00:00:00, page 1

THE manner of the election of Senators,
is a principal objection in the mind of
the Porcupine Affociatjon, againß our pre
• tent form of government. The Senators
are to be chosen by the legislatures of the
several Rates. If there was any mode of
popular election, where the " paraxifins of
sodden democratic intemperance" would not
be dangerous, one would suppose this to be
the one : but the objection is to any eleaion
at all. The idea is, that the body called the
Senate, shall have a permanency in their of
fice. That they cannot have this unless
they are separated by interest and feeling
from the people, and have their authority
.independent, derived from the Jingle execu
tive, and continued down, in family right,
as an inheritance to one branch, while all
the others are to be maintained, as they are
, in England, ly the hard earnings of the peo
ple*
There is surely no pretensions, tnat ifthe
Senate were not elected by the legislatures
of the several States, but by the people at
large, in the Rates feverallv, or in all the
states, that they would be more out of dan
ger of being injured by democratic intem
perance. Were they & chosen by Congress,
it would be but an election of themselves.
The consequences of an appointment by the
Angle executive at Rated periods, would.ren
der the legislature dependent upon that ppw%
er. The confequencej df their appointment
for life, would be equally bad, because the
father would be all his life, in a servile pros
tration to this % powerful executive Officer,
left his own for ishould not succeed him. —
'The making an inheritance of the office, has
been already hinted at ; but it may here be
added, bv way of ekpofition, that armies and
fleets would becorrie necessary, to create of
fices for the younger male branches df the
noble families, and to portion off the fe
males. Wars must be multiplied to keep
up the vile pretext. External calumnies
would be produced, to hide the bufferings
within. Mankind would be rendered
wretched, and the burden of human woes
be increased, to copy the English govern
ment, and to render one branch of a legis
lature more permanent.
iWe have to trace the Club, (for this is to
Ib^ considered as their plan)a little further.
I "The.paroxifmsof democratic intemperance,
have denied to republics that longevity, and
tranquility, which have been enjoyed by o
rher governments." If this was true, it
would be a very extraordinary argument to
lurgelurge upon a free people.
The word Republic, may mean, ahv kind
of government, in the form of which the
common public intereß is deposited. But
it has been frequently, if not generally used,
to express a government where the execu
tive, and legislative powers are elected by
the people. It itoery clear that our author
tifes it in that feme in cur text.
Then his proportion is, to make the exe
cutive, and senate, independent of the peo
ple, in order to place them beyond the reach
a democratic intemperance. The government
can no longer exist, as a republic, in his, or
our sense of the word, after a change shall
be made as he proposes. Then his plan is
to give tranquility and longevity, to the Re
public, by destroying its very exigence.—
There is no better mode, perhaps, to render
a man quiet, that by taking away his exift
ahce. To kill one in order to give him
longevity, would, to be fare, be trying a new
projea.
But we do not know where the club, who
speak by this man of talents, and experience,
have procured their learning. All Europe
from its earliest hiftory, has been under
monarchies. Before that quarter of the
globe was of note, or consequence, the pet
ty kingdoms were overflowed by greater, un
der the form of the feudal system. The
conquerors were Lords, and the conquered
were Raves, or vassals. The firft pretence
to overthrow this tyranny was in England,
in the reign of Charles the firfl. This did
not fiicceed, because the vast influence of the
* nobles, who were Rill left in the possession
of their estates, and the continuance of the
right of the oldeß son to inherit the whole
e^ate of his ancefter, subverted it of coutfe.
' In the late attempt in France, measures have
been taken to avoid that rock ; but from the
:education of that people, under the Roman
catholic church, there is no doubt a deficien-
NUMBER I B—VOL.8 —VOL. I.]
©jc Grammer. So. 4.
"WHEN YOU SHALL THESE DEEDS RELATE, SPEAK OF THEM AS THEY ARE ; NOTHING EXTENUATE NOR SET DOWN OUGHT IN MALICE.'
PORTSMOUTH, (NEW-HAMPSHIRE) PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY GEORGE JERRY OSBORNE, jun. MULBERRY LANE, NEXT DOOR TO ROUSSELETs MUSEUM.
Fur the Republican Ledger.
The Republican Ledger.
cv of faith, honour, truth, and a want of in
telligence among them as a body. Their
necessity, may, however, cement them, and
their misfortunes may hold them together.
The government of the Netherlands, neve;
had a particle of republicanism in it. It has
always been a vile, hereditary aristocracy,
without a syllable of democracy attached to
it. The people there have ever been Raves.
Any one who shall read the remarks of Pre
sident Adams oh that government, will fee
their true, but mifera^e filuation.
There were republics in Greece, l)iit they
were conquered by foreigh monarchs. And
Monarchies and Empires fell at the fame
time, before the fame conquerors.
Rome was a republic, but conquered her
felf, and raised a monarchy by Puttering the
idea of a mercenary flandihg army. The citi
zens of a republic are its military force, and
defence. A fending army is a body id men
Separated from, and being no part of the cit
izens.
Should we calculate upon the number of
infurreaions,feditions ahd civil wars, which
we find in hiftory, we shall have as many on
the lift of monarchy, as on that of republi
canism. If we add those, which have tak
en place on the changes of, or the attempts
to change, the Dynamics, where men have
contended for domination over the people,
as (laves, each claimant claiming them as
his exclusive property, the lift of civil wars
in monarchies, will be swelled out of all
comparifun with that of the others, But
these wars were for the monarchs, not for
the people. They mwft be Raves let which
will conquer. The motto of Suwarrow's
flag is, " the Prince fights for glory, and the
people for the Prince."
One more objection to bur Republic, is,
that " there is the difeordant, and seeming
ly anarchical cohflia of national, and Rate
sovereignties, the imperium in imperia.
The men who formed that system, exv
ccpting one, whom the club wish to dress in
the diadem, considered this, as a provision of
vast importance to the very exigence of the
government as a Republic. Could all the
Rates be consolidated into one, the territory
would be too extensive, and the fubje&s too
numerous for an elective republic. Ihe de
mocratic intemperence, would in such a si
tuation be formed up by men, who want a
monarchy ; and would soon point out the
necessity of one. But fortunately the divi
sion of fovefeighty, among the Rates is im
proved to all the necessary ends of rendering
the national government permanent, that
could be effcaed by an European aristocra
cy. We have this advantage without ,the
evils and calamities attached to it, which
these governments now are, and will conti
nue to be under. This is a main support to
the national government of the United States.
What is this 'fovereigAty here hinted at :
sovereignty is nothing more than a supreme,
uncontrollable power. And does not the
national government, notwithflanding the
sovereignties of the several Rate govern
ments, possess it in a fufficient degree r Who
can controul that government in declaring
war, and making peace I of making and
breaking treaties ? Can it not raise taxes,
build Ships, and form armies at its own plea
lure r Does not its legislative and executive
powers, extend to all the obje&s necessary to
maintain its authority r but yet alas, it is
not like unto the British government, and it
must therefore be all wrong—all imperfec
tion, and fulbof errors in theory, and in
practice.
We have been alarmed in this country,
from the President in the chair, down to the
compiler for Hannah Adams, least the peo
ple Should be divided from their government,
but in England the government is entirely
divided from the people. The greater part
of the people of England, but more so in
Scotland and Ireland, are in a Rate of mis
erable Servitude, under the vain bondings of
liberty. The few who are idle pqnfioners,
and useless officers, do not even recoiled,
that they are rioting.on the toil and groans
of a miserable multitude in that country. —
They confider the king, tha%g/e executive,
as the fountain of wealth, and honour.—
They draw from him, through the influence
of that permanent senate, the nobles, their
fortunes and grandeur ; and never once re
flea, that the king has no mon^y, but what
is earned by the labour of the people., Our
club must be capable of great exertions, be
fore they can assimilate the American nation
to a Situation so wretchedly servile, and so
abjealy miserable.
WEDNESnAr, DECEMBER 25, 1799.
The association, were good enough, how
ever, to engage, to Wait a while to fee if our
government carl stand where it is, without
affumng the robes of monarchy, and the
garter of nobility, their expression is, that
these Rate sovereignties, “ are yet considered
by many as deviations from a corie& politi
cal theory thole who hold these opinions,
are willing nevertheless to wait quietly,
for the light, that time and experience Wi
throw on the fubjea."
The opinion ot one member from New-
York, 4 s is well known, in the convention
which compiled the national conflitution,
was very flrong against the theory upon
which it was founded, as an elective Repub
lic. The party now called the Porcupine
Club, have from the moment it was estab
lished by the people, supported the fame o
pinion. And under an hypocritical enthufi
efm tv. federtlifore, have tevn rt j>-Urttt¥_ -+—
change rind final fubverfioti.
But whether they have kept their promise
or intention, by being willing to wait with
patience, until experience Ihould have had
its perfea work, will be attended to in sub
sequent numbers.
This evening, (Saturday) having finished
my business a little sooner than usual, 1 fat
myfelf quietly down in my elbow chair, rub
bed up my fpedacles with a little chalk and
green baile, that so I might fee the clearer,
ahd after determining in my own mind, that
I would keep my temper, called for the pa
per. -The firft article that met my eye, I
found was a long piece about the choice of
a speaker—ah, fays I, that is a business I
know little about—l hope, however, there
is so much honeßy in our representatives as
will induce them to choose a gentleman for
their Speaker who possesses a real love to his
country, good talents, quick difeerhment,
and net makea job of it in the way that my
bootmaker and I fettle bufirtfs— fays he,
Robert I 11 keep you in boots if yen'll keep
me in Shoes, doneTaid I, and so we do con
tinually from year to year ; but 1 trust said
I, Rill talking to myfelf, that the honor of a
representative of thirty thoifad honest free
men will per be found powerful enough to
preserve from such infamous trafficking of
the rights of their constituents.
I had juR proceeded thus far when in came
my neighbor with the True American in his
hand—Robert, fays he, I just Repped in to
let you Lear a piece that may serve to ex
plain foihe dark passages in the writing of
these great and good men, who are fighting
for the glcry of God, the honour of true re
ligion, ans the good of mah—Ods my heart,
answered I, let me hear it, has the sword of
Suwaffon, as my friend paddy Brown said,
enlightened both the moral and political
hemisphere? have the French established
Monsieur on the throne ? restored the Rom
ifh church to its former power ? ceased to
be infidels, delivered up their consciences
into the keeping of the clergy and become
true Tons of old mother chinch ? Or have
the English—my friend as I said this, leap
ed to his set, (et back his chair, and thrift
the papers Into his pocket—-what fays I, you
are not going away sure r Yes but I am—
you are got into one of your questioning fits
—{tis in vain to Hop you—good night—l
prole#, said I, you Shall Stay, laying hold of
his oat with both my hands, do, do Ray, I'll'
.not by one word more until 1 hear your Ro
ry—fny friend with a good nattered smile,
drey forward his chair again, drew his pa
per put of his pocket, and read me the whole
of tiat horrible piece, extracted from the
Amsterdam Courant, extra. ——God pre
ferte u>e, said I, all in a cold sweat. what
an unfeeling monftqr is man, once let him
diphis hands in blood r cruelty is as great a
favorite with him as humanity was before—
what punishment, continued I, do such a&s
of horrid wickedness deserve ?—Rather ask„
said my friend, what ponifliment do these
unfeeling monsters deserve, who cause man
thus to butcher his fellow; who spirit them
cn to the perpetration of every species of
cruelty and reward for the most inhuman
deed": $1 Should indeed, said I, it was not
the poor failotfs on board the Jersey prifon
fhip, who were to blame for Starving; poi
foning,and torturing many hundreds of our
brave brethren—but their unfeeling coffi
manders—nor were the private fuldiers to
blame,, who burned our poor soldiers in the"
buck-wheat Straw, at the Crooked Billet,
but their murdering officers—Lord bless me
HR. Editor.
From the AURORA
continued I, what a black account will those
men have to give at theory of judgment—
I am sure 1 would not be in their Rate for
ten worlds——Robert, rejoined my friend,
don'tyou know the right reverend father in
God, the bißiop of Ofnaburg ; and that he
went into Holland from the purest motives,
namely, to redeem them from the Influence
of infidelity to restore them to order and the
praaice of true morality and genuine chrif
tianity ; by placing them under the arbitra
ry and unjust power of the Prince of Orange.
And thus cried I, he fulfils all these promis
es, he massacres their old men, ravishes their
virgins and mod honorable matrons in the
very presence of the husband and the father.
Stabs the infant and tortures the sage, and all
to free them from the influence of infidelity
and make them hupp, —it put me in mind,
tys I, of a Rory I remember to have read ;
Barter Jo'<-toeing v^fvltonn+oly fiHerr ttflo
a deep pit which was full of water in the
time of a very severe froft—had with the
greatest exgtions gotten a sass hold of the
ice, and so keeping his head above the water,
called aloud for afliftance ; when who Ihould,
fortunately, as he thought no doubt, come
up to the place, but a reverend brother of
the society of mercy- he put forth hi^
hand to raise up the poor fufferer ; but, per
ceiving that he was a Jew, immediately
drew it back. Thou art, fays he, a Jew —-
thou can'll from toe receive no afhftance un
less thou betieveft in the Messiah and be
comeß a chriftian That I moss readily
and Sincerely do, only take me out nay
thou must firft believe all the articles of our
holy Catholic faith—that I will moss sin
cerely, only save my life, I feel 1 am per
iling ; nay, further, thou must swear in
the molt solemn manner to put thyfelf whol
ly under the direction of the clergy, and on
ly to believe as they tell thee, and that dur
ing life. For Heaven's take, holy father,
take me out, I believe all, I'll do all, and I
moss solemnly swear to all, oh ! deliver me.:
Son, fays the good father, I absolve thee
from all thy fins—then art now in a right
mind, a fit candidate for heaven,thou might
eft hereafter recant ; in kindness to thy foul
I will put it out of thy dower, so having
said, he broke the poor fellow's hold and
thrust him under the ice. So said 1 the pi
ous biihop whohas religion so much at heart
to save the poor Hollanders from infidelity,
he kills them out of pure love, left their vir
gins might be induced to marry infidel
Frenchmen, they are given up to the luff of
his good, brave and faithful Ruffians, and
their children are destroyed left they might
chance to embrace republican principles,
which are declared to. be deftra&ive of all
order and religiorf!! !- If this, continu
ed I, be chriftianity, let me be any thing
else—is these, men be true Christians and
servants of God, let infidelity Step boldly
forward—it is not possible fbe can exhibit a
farce more disfigured with monstrous a&s
of wretchedness—But, Ged be pr^ifed, add
ed I, it is not Christianity ; true and genu
ine chriftianity abhors, renounces, yea curs
es such horrid proceedings—and those men,
be they who they may, kings or prieffs,
lords or bishops, who dare pronounce that
such conduct as accompanies the armies of
the combined powers is for the advance
ment of religion and good government, may
next moment agree that, infallibly to prove
that God loveth righteousness and hateth in
iquity, we must cease to be virtuous and do
all the evil anions that can possibly be de
vised.- Why Robert said my friend you
really furpiife and aftonilh me, I thought
you were going to preach me a sermon, ods
my heart, answered I, I wish I could: but
let me speak on any fubjea whatever, I be
lieve you would have some obje&ion to it # —
one time lor too hasty—-another time I
look but at one fide: now I am, what do
you call it, about centre I excentric, aye,
that's the word, and next I'm preaching, I
believe, becau, you have learned la, in, you
think 1 have done nothing but cobble old
(hoes all my days---but let me tell you I
have read the bible, and the testament too,
very often over and over, and every time I
read it, it appears more pleafing,and I know
as well as his reverence that these great men
hare a far better right to be Riled horrid mur
ders, vile incendiaries and profeffional hypo
crites, than good chriftians. Robert said my
friend, shaking me kindly by the hand, don't
be offended I meant no harm 1 aCure you---I
felt hurt, I muff confefs, I was too bally,and
to convince him 1 was pleased-—down came
my decanter which soon ended our conversa
tion— - ROBERT SLENDER.
Dot. 50 CTS. PER ANNUM.