The Republican ledger — Portsmouth, N.H., 1800-08-26 00:00:00, page 1

The Republican Ledger.
PORTSMOUTH, (NEW-HAMPSHIRE) PRINTED BY NUTTING & WHITELOCK, MULBERRY LANE, ADJOINING ROUSSELET's MUSEUM.
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NUMBER I. —VOL. ll.]
'' WHEN YOU SHALL THESE DEEDS RELATE, SPEAK OF THEM AS THEY ARE ; NOTHING EXTENUATE NOR SET DOWN OUGHT IN MALICE."
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From the Republican Watch-Tower.
SOME honest citizens have at times en
tertained doubts whether the federal or
anti-federal, or 'rather republican or anti
republigan party, is the most truly and sin
cerely attached to American liberty, and the
true interests of the United States.
To ascertain whiclrof'tliefe two great po
tejtica! divisions have Qifrted their attention
:> :°^ .public welfare, and
which of them would make the greatest ex
ertions to ward off the fatal eftas of mon
archy and Slavery, we have only to appeal
to the evidence of fa& c , arid the solemn tef
timoniqs copftantly passing before our eyes.
The republican expresses himfelf in Strong
and unequivocal language in favour of lib
erty and equality. The federalist or anti-.
republican, aSferis that he is equally attach
ed to the real interest, Strength and dignity
of the United States.
If two such characters enter into an enqui
ry upon political fobje&s, it is soon difcov
<ered that their opinions and their views arc
conftarfily diverging from each other—their
designs and meanings are opposite and dif
ferent, and that one of them mult be politi
cally wrong, and the other in. a greater or
less degree politically right.
• , To afeertain which of the two is entitled
to approbation or applause in this case, the
the appeal muff be made to evidence
Four prominent considerations present
themselves in this business. The firft is,
that the United States were under the British
monarchy : the Second is, that we now ex
hibit a free, ^republican and independent
country : the third, that France and other
countries jn Europe have become republic
cans : the fourth, that England is hili a
monarchy, and with all its pretentious to
an excellent government, it is a monarchy
of an odious and deßru&ive kind, whufe
poisonous effects are felt from one end of
the globe to the other.
It we look Readily; and wbh a Correa .
imhd, at the Subject in'ttediftreht points j
of view here Rated, we Shall be able to dis-I
cover where the lurking attachment to I
monarchy rests, and in whose bosom the
generous flame of liberty glows. The old
tories who were opposed to the revolution,
and who were at that time in favour of all
the measures of the British monarchy, have
not in any essential point, varied their poli
tical opinions, even to the present •mo
ment. ™•
• This description of men have undeviat
ingly mapifefted through all the successive
changes of government in the United States,
a difpofitiou to embrace and applaud any
and every measure, constitution. or law
which seemed to approach^ in its character,
towards the nature of the British govern
m6nt, and conform in any Shape whatever
to its measures.
Since the independence of the Country has
been established, and the Sentiments of the
people agitated upon the princ^le of a gen
eral government, which Should secure the
interests of the whole, we have seen anoth
er dak of citizens rife up, and under a new
modification, advocate political dodrines
not less deftruaive to these Rates than to
those to which the old tories were attached
at the commencement of the war.
In Short, those principles for which mod
ern federalifts contend, must be very Similar
to those to which the. avowed monarchist,
during the war, devoted his affedion ; and
in proof of this, it is only ndeeffary to ad
vert to the incontrovertible fa&, that old to
ries and the.new federalifts have formed a
complete coalition, and both contend for the
fame measures, and the fame laws in the
Congress of the United States.
Every effort that can be made by the gov
ernment of this country, to imitate Britain,
and unite us with that government, has been
uniformly applauded by both descriptions of
men. The old monarchist and the present
federalifts combined to Support the fame
plans, and carry into effed the fame anti
republican designs.,
These are the men that have calumniat
ed France and her tevolution^-Thefe are
the men that oppose the progress of liberty
"Tn Europe, and who with to, give.to Britain
privileges of which they are determined to
deprive republican France. These are the
men who wiffi for armies and navies in time
of peace, and under the pretext of prote&-
ing our commerce, expend enormous Sums
for naval arrangements, more deßru&ive,o
the true interests of the country, than the
profits of such commerce could be advanta
geous to its revenue.
These are the men who, ori allowances so
far as it is possible, with to take the right
election out of the hands of the people. On
the contrary, it is against all these measures ;
and plans that the republicans of this coun
try have uniformly contended. Who then
can 'doubt to which party we Shall attribute
the love of liberty, and to which a strong at
tachment to liberty belong? Read recent
historic fade, and Qs question must un
doubtedly be decided in favour of the demo
cratic or republican citizens of the United
States, and against those that are denominat
ed federal or aristocratic.
From the Independent Chronicle.
£Dn Trtftocratical Deception.
WHEN I confider the extensiveness of
the Subject which I-have undertaken to
to treat in these limited essays, I am inclined
to wonder at my own temerity. What
writer, endowed with the talents and know
ledge which I possess not, could follow eve
ry divergent ramification of the schemes
contrived by ariflocrats to deceive ' the weak
and credulous ? The talk is immense. ; the
burden fit for the Shoulders of ah Atlas.—
No sooner is an impoßure detected, than
another Starts up; No sooner is the malk
of the hypocrite torn off, than he puts on ano
ther With astonishing dexterity. There is,
moreover, a natural propensity in man to
catch at the baitof deception. When chil
dren, we are entertained with eastern tales;
when men, with political fiaions. I re
member an anecdote that shows with What
facility a talfehood becomes current in the
world: °'
In the 15th century, a young man appear
ed in Germany, and firange to tell, he had a
..void tooth. Great was the turprife of all
Europe, Thiscurious nhe<qmenon attr?Q- .
a* th^ % attention ot Ine connoifleurs ; and
foona warm controversy began on the man
ner th which nature had proceeded in the
formation of that tooth. + learned world I
as usual, was divided on this important fub
je&, and the presses groaned with many a
ponderous folio. At I^R the young man,
having pocketed the money of the virtuofi,
was brought to confefs, that the gold tooth
lad been placed in its socket by a fkilful
lentiff, who was fatisfied with (haring his
profits and laughing at the public credulity.
—Smile not, gentle reader, the Rory of the
gold tooth, is the story of every day.
_ A modern philosopher has said, that man
kind may be divided into two clafles—lm
boflors and dupes. The number of those
who are neither impofters nor dupes ; who#
uninfluenced by prejudices, possess minds
vigorous enough to run the full career of
inquiry, and prove by the criterion of rea
son every sentiment blindly received under
the fan^ion of authority, is not at present
so inconsiderable as not to be worth men
tioning. They appear, it is true, like the
Trojan swimmers in the Virgilian tempest
— rari nantelJQ gurgite vafio. They have
to contend against the ambitious, the pow
erful, the fanatic members of society.—
Their life is an incessant struggle ; but such
js the force of reason, the irresistibility of
truth, that sooner or later their voice becomes
the voice of the people. The experience of
the last fifty year,, has proved beyond a
doubt, that there is a sensible, though flow,
progression of the hutpan mind towards phi
losophy.; The friends of humanity alone
have not made this observation. The un
usual restlessness of the Episcopal body, and
their strenuous efforts to keep in a Ration
ary Rate the reasoning faculties of man, are
evident proofs that they think at no great
dißance the auspicious moment, whenfht
terrors of superstition shall flight^way like
nightly shadows, and give place to a truly
evangelical system of morality. In this
confiia of imposture against truth, aristo
crats have distinguished themselves. No
arts of deception are left untried to alienate
the affeaions of the people from their real
friends. Hence, the perpetual streams ot
abuse issuing from the Anglo-federal presses
against our distinguished patriot and philo<
fapher, Thomas Jefferfon.
\lt is not merely on account of his being
a friend to his country that the American
scribes and pharisees have sworn an eternal
enmity to him. They would perhaps for
give him his patriotism, and his accession to
TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, iSoo.
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"'''l m ,^"^ c y ; ' n 'be hopes of delud
ing hit into their measures, as they have
done already in the case of another great
charter. They know the influence of
flattery ; and that no man, unless tempered
by wisdom, can resist the intoxicating fumes,
of adular^i. But they cannot forget nor
forgive L^hilojnrlff, his fuWire elevation
of mi:/.:^^qfct ;iiabies him toA>M in equal
co;;ten;, (be vulgar attractions 'of vena:
praise ,nd}he tontunlelious flandets of a
nonymt^fy villains ; his unerring ira& to
difeern his duty and fulfil it with virtuous
intrepidity ; his refpea for the civil and re-.
. ligious intrepidity ; his refpea for the civil
^'religious rights of man, and that heaven
descended breath of philanthropy, which an
imates his eloquent productions, and will
waft his name, unsullied and refpeSed, thro'
the wreck bf ages. ,
I have proved in my precedent number,
that the acdifation of Atheism, so often re
peated agailft Mr. Jefferfon, was the groipid-.
less effufionjof malevolence. The next and
last charge bgainft him, is this— He withes
to destroy pe federal Constitution.—Who
makes the assertion ?—An anonymous writ
er— What {re his proofs f — mere sophisms,
the most ridiculous that villainy ever at
tempted to impose upon credulity.—Let us
suppose ftr a moment, that the letter to
Mazzei, w# really written by Mr. Jeffer
fon, and ex^nine candidly the paflage on
which the, calumnious charge is founded.—
" They (alluding to the royalist faction)
would , rest From us this liberty, gained by
so many t<xlsanti so many dangers. But
we shall preftrve it. Our weight and mafi
of wealth is too great for them to attack us
by force. Itlis fufficient that we awake,
and that we bleak these Lilliputian ties with
which they have bound us in the firft (lum
bers which fufceeded our labors"—lt is ev
ident that the eagle-eyed Republican sage,
meant by those Lilliputian ties, the ties of
British influence with which the old and
new T,qh,.^^' W bri^d-'tho- &WRCtfr
people, a; the close of the revolutionary
war ; expelling to drag them back gradu
ally to that Rate of fubje&ion, from which
they had so lately escaped, with the assistance
of France; They seized that period of pub
lic languidness, which generally follows
great and long exertions, to lay the fourida
tions of that plan which was finally to bind
us faft to the chariot wheels of G. Britain.
Lilliputian indeed, or muchidepraved, is the
understanding of that man, who can put up
on it another conftru&ion. Nay, the writer
of the letter himfelfdevelopes fully his mean
ing in a subsequent paffagp.—" It fuffices,
that we arrest the progress of the system ot
injustice and ingratitude towards France,
from whom they would alienate us to throw
us into British influence."
Who knows not that there exists in this
country a Royalist fadion, an Essex Junto,
who have been and are still endeavoring to
engage America in a war with France, and
a close alliance with Great Britain. They
do not-even conceal their withes. Has not
Pickering been dismissed for his partiality to
England, and his enmity to France ? Are
not the writings of Camillus still existing,
to prove what tenderness Hamilton felt for
his British brethren whilst depredating on
the American trade ? Are not those men the
leaders of the Junto ? Do they not wjfh to
raise Pinckney to the Presidential chair, be
cause he is a profeffed enemy to France, and
a friend to Great Britain ?,What crime has
Adams committed r—he has resisted Britilh
influence, and this is a crime never to be for
given. What member of the Essex Junto
dpes not take a particular delight in calum
niating Republicans under the name of Ja
cobins ? Was it rational to expert that they
would fuffer Mr. Jefferfon to be virtuous
and true to his country with impunity r No,
the (hafts of calumny have been barbed, and
the most contemptible tools of the Essex pha
lanx have treated the second Magistrate of
the Union with unparalleled insolence. The
yileft sophister of the whole gang, Decius,
texpe&s by garbling the works of our great
Patriot, and interlarding them with his own
comments, to convince the people that Mr.
Jefferfon is their enemy. No, Decius, you
will never peffuade real Americans that
breaking the ties of British influence is de-
Rroying the federal Constitution.—ls there
any work, not excepting the Bible, which
cannot be made, by mutilations, sophisms,
talfe conßru&ions, to fignify almost any
thing r Do you think that the people of'this
* ^writer in the Centinel.
[1 DOL. 50 CTS. PER ANNUM.
m.Btßßtm.nn„BCTroa.ramttfoteflraimitfapbrffltt.Bmmmo
country have no (hare ot common sense ?
‘ Believe me, Decius, return to your petty,
logging labors ; heap dollar upon dollar at
the experife of fools ; and wait to write till
you lidve acquired some Logic and decency.
I beg leave to apologize tor having intro
duced Decius in my difauifitions; Jam not
like a certain ^>rr r, emperor, who de
lighted i, iNl&fytys ; but the incarant
buzzing of fob# insets te &l^bg,:fr,Q.
every one has not the patience of n;„a'cle
Toby. °DEMOCRITUS.
From the Same.
• B—
" Quem Deus vult perdere priu3 demarat.”
A writer in the Cen'inel ot August 6th
with the signature ot 6 Caffigator,' appeal
to be one of the “ EtTex-Junto," or party,
which he fears is falling into contempt.
Would to God his fears were realized ! and
I trust they will be, notwithftandiug all his
. and their attempts to prevent it.
Another, in the Jame paper, immediately
succeeding, who (igns • A Federalift,' ap.
pears also of the fame party. They are ait
alarmed, and with their satellites are busily
employed to avert the impending ruin of
their long projected schemes of consolida
tion, aiißocracy and hereditary rights.
“ It is the appiehenfion of many, that
the federalifts are splitting into parties, and
that 4 third party is going to be formed,"
fays the “ Federalist." It is by the charm
of words that this Junto has obtained and
so long kept the afccndency in our political
affairs.-— Federalists, in the true meaning of
the word, is an honorable appellation, and
every one who justly and honestly bears the
title deserves well of his country." Jacobin,
a word without any meaning, but used by
this party as a term of derision, has been by
them too fuccefsfully played off against those
who have ever seen and constantly opposed
their plans. 'lt must be confefled that the
Junto are men of art, of cunning, of prop
3N, ;,te#h&a ffi&l, ,wer*|o<kt
to monopolize the printing presses, to fill
the newspapers with their own writings;
in them to inculcate dedrines, though by
them called federal the better to induce their
belief among the citizens, tending to a con
solidation of the States, to the deftruaion of
the individual States, and to the alteration
of the federal constitution to the one con
templated in the convention which formed,
but rejeded it, though advocated by their
champion.
From that day to the present, they have
been assiduously employed to bring about
this change, and have been as Readily oppos
ed by those who love our Constitution in
Sincerity ; tho' by them called, Jacobths,
-diforganizers, &cl Men must be possessed
of great strength of nerves and firmnefs of
mind always to withstand the Shafts of ca
lumny and ridicule ; this, that party well
knew, and they have accordingly made great
use of these weapons against men whom
they knew were able 10 withstand and com
bat with them with success, in the said field
of argument and reason. Thus, as but few
comparatively have this strength of nerve
and mind, many retired from this unequal
warfare—others, true federalifts in their
hearts, but unskilled in the arts of govern
ment, and not having leisure to enquire
into principles, have been led to follow this
Party merely from the name they assumed
and falfely applied to themfelvel From
these causes they gained the afeendency
which they have had in our public affairs,
and, (fortunately torirue federalifts, or
“ conftitutionalifts,") thinking themselves
firmly fixed in this their factious afeen
dency, they began to Shew too early for
themselves, what their real intentions were.
Those who had retired from the field, ral
lied afrefh; and many of those who hereto
fore,had followed their Standard; now be
gan to /discover they had been deceived, and
that they had been too long led on under
falfe colors. Thus at present are we cir
cumstanced, a Short, time will determine
who. are to prevail—ty the Republicans,
the " Conflitutionalifts, the real and true
Federalists, be firm and united, and this
" Essex Junto" will return to their original
Contemptibly “Jmall party."
1 here need be no apprehension of " three
parties." It is the vanity of the Junto only
that makes them imagine vain things ; the,
are not numerous enough to be called a par
ty ; —they must submit, however degrading
they may esteem it, to be called a Junto and
4 Faction. But they aye wil, and crafty;
;& ? '. — f