The American Republican gazette — Concord, N.H., 1803-01-13 00:00:00, page 1

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From the National Intelligencer.
FEATURES tfTEDERALISM.
" The Leonard cannot change his feots,
nor the Ethiopian his jkin."
IT is impossible to review the con
dud of the Federalists of the United
States without at once perceiving the
application of this motto to their cha
racter Neither the voice of the
country, which loudly calls upon them
for a reformation of their conduct,
nor the impressive le£Tons which they
have received from their own expe
rience, can reclaim them from perfe#
verance in error. They still persist in
the defence of those measures, & pur
sue that conduft, which at firft im
paired their party, and will ultimate
ly produce its dissolution, like a man
addicted to intoxication, who, feeling
the paralytic effects of the last night's
draught; drinks a dram in the morn
ing to strengthen his constitution.—
They have continued to misrepresent
till no person is duped but themselves
—and have uttered falfhoods till they
alone are deceived. While engaged
in scenes of oppression and prodigali,
ty, to effect their purposes by hood
winking our understandings, they
were enthusiasts in the cause of reli
gion.
Seasons of election were seasons of
religious ardor. The extent of their
zeal for Christianity was measured by
the magnitude and importance of the
office, to which a candidate was to be
elected. When a constable or col.
leCtor was to be chosen, the cause of
Heaven was at the freezing point ; a
member of congress, excited their pi
ety to summer heat, and a President
of the U. S. boiled the spirit of fede
ral chriftianity. They seemed to fay
to their fellow citizens, 66 it is enough
for you to attend to your spiritual in
heritance, we will graciously rifque
our own salvation by taking under
' our protection all your earthly chat
tels and hereditraments." Their ob
je& was to fix the popular attention
on heavenly things, that they might
unnoticed be careful only about sub
lunary things. For while with one
hand they were holdingout the hifto#
ries of Robinson & Barruell, with the
other they were grasping after more
power, and plundering the pockets of
the people. They pretended to in
spiration, and in the true style of re#
ligious enthusiasm; predicted, that if
IJefferfon were elected president,.
chriftianity would be destroyed and
morality set at defiance. But like o
* ther pretenders to the art of divina
lion, they have loft the credit of true
prophets by the falfity of their predic
tions. Christianity still flourifhes ;
, our churches still exist as monuments
of their impiety and arrogance. The
ties of morality are not loosened ; the j
bands of social intercourse are not
broken; nor is the basis of ciyjl foci
: ety removed. "f
With all these evidences of the
falfhood of their assertions, the fede.l
ralifts still repeat, that religion and the
constitution are in danger. For the j
-proof of its truth they no longer rely
, on Robinson and Barruell, nor on the 9
° reverend Dr. Morfes tales of illumin
kifm, or the reverend doctor Linn's
AMERICAN REPUBLICAN GAZETTE.
gs.a te,]
THURSDAY, JAN. 13, 1803.]
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-'' z PRINTED AT CONCOR^, N. HAMPSHIRE, BY E. RUSSELL.
" Error of Opinion ma, be tolerated, where Reason is left free to combat i&rfherijh the Federal Union, as the onl. Rock of Safety.'' Jefferson.
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" serious considerations these are
thread-bare delusions that can no lon.
ger impose upon our credulity ;
Something novel must be invented to
awaken our attention to the fafety of
chriftianity ; for the public mind has
slept over these stories as a fable that
had been often repeated. Happily
for federalifm Mr. Jefferfon wrote to
Thomas Paine a letter, which they
fay invited him tc this country, and
contained expressions of esteem for
the services which he had rendered
mankind. Here they saw undoubted
evidence of a conspiracy to destroy
our religion and our government;
they eagerly seized the clue, but like
Harper's, it has proved uhfubftantial
as the visionary phantom of a mad
man's brain. All the comments that
they have made on this letter, serve
rather to show their malignity than to
aid their cause. The, wished to im.
pose upon the community a belief that
it amounted to an invitation, when
not a word or expression can be tor
tured to mean any such thing. No.
thing less could have been written by
a person in Mr. Jefferfon's situation,
who had the least claim to civility, or
retained the least gratitude for the ser
vices of a man that aided our refin
ance to the tyranny of Britain, and
supported our spirits in the most try
ing scenes of our revolutionary war.
—But gratitude for such services has
long ceased to be a virture with fede
ralifts. This we might well expe&
from that spirit which treated the hif
tory of British oppression as a fubjeft
which ought not to be remembered,
which would forget the declaration of
our independence! and patronife a
wretch who wrote bloody buoys to
disgrace the principles of liberty, by
representing the excesses oftheFrench
revolution as the true effects of the
sentiments of freedom. Why this let
ter should have any thing to do with
religion or the constitution, it is diffi.
cult to conceive. Is Mp Jefferfon
an infidel because he wrote to Tom
Paine, who wrote the age of reason ?
is he an enemy to the constitution be.
cause the fame man has censured the
character of General Washington who
was a friend to the constitution ? Must
we be fu ^ofed to approve of anoth
er's faults because we approve of his
virtues? Must we behave to a man
as though we were destitute of huma.
nity, because be has fallen into error ?
Where is there a federalist who, on
this principle, would not approbate
the violation of his neighbor's bed ?
Where is the federalift who would pot
be the supporter of falfhood and for
gery, whowould not confider the con
stitution no better than a pftce of blarik'
paper ?
If the federalifts be serious when
they declare that chriftianity is in dan
ger, they are not chriftians ; they do
not believe the declaration of its foun
der, that it shall withftapd every op
position. Did they place any confi
dence in his promise, they would not
apprehend that Mr. Paine could wea
ken the evidences of divine reyela,
tion, they would rather believe that
its truth would shine the brighter, and
/the purity of its precepts be more con.
fpicuous. But their religious copdu&
like their political, is at war with their
LIBERTY and THE CONSTITUTION.
THE
prdfeffions; and in any country less
enlightened than this, would have e#
re&d the standard of rebellion, and
lighted the faggots of ^cclefiaftical
persecution. The garb of chriftiani.
ty has been made the cloak of their
maliciousness; under its covering thev
have outraged every chriftian princi
ple. While they were commanded
to utter no falfhood, and to speak evil
of no man, they have calumniated the
firft chara&rs in the Union, and mis
represented the most salutary measures
till it has become doubtful whether
they are now capable of feeing the
truth, or of behaving with decency.
With an affeded veneration for the
constitution they have, by exciting
the jealousy of one state against ano
ther, endeavored to propagate a spirit
of disunion and anti federalifm. To
complete their chara&er, and recon#
ci,le their pra&ice with their proses
lions, they have ultimately avowed
the unconstitutional principle, that the
People are greatest enemies of themselves.
With this principle, federlifm, like
metaphysics, is capable of reconciling
the greatest absurdities; it seems to
be the general medicine of federal
politics, it cures all blunders, and
heals all contradictions. With this
doCtrine the federalifts can prove that
republicanism means any thing or no
thing, they can prove it to be a des
potism or anarchy; they can prove
that a majority of the people are al
ways wrong in their opinions, and that
whatever they advocate is deftru&ive
to their interests and happiness. We
are much obliged to them for the a
vowal of this great leading principle
of federalifm ; it will serve to explain
many parts of their conduct which to
'a vulgar apprehension would seem a
paradox. We can now account for
their adoption of measures in opposi
tion to the wishes of the people; we
can now account for their total disre
gard of public opinion; we can now
reconcile useless taxes, unnecessary
armies, and unconstitutional laws,
with the security of the constitution,
and the purest spirit of patriotism.
CLERICUS.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 5.
THIS DAY again exhibits to the
people of America the interesting
fpeaacle of a meeting of their repre.
fentatives, chosen by themselves for
purposes promotive of the public
good;with powers limited to beneficial
objects. While the Eastern world
contains not a foot that can be justly
called free, the U. States present an
immense traCtin which there is not a
Single despot; and while the Sword of
lawless power is directing Europe at
will, reason, having here fixed her em
pire, protests with an uncontroulable
energy the political & personal rights
of freemen. The contrast is Striking
—and the cause obvious. But obvi.
ous as it is, its infinite importance
Should render it an object of constant
attention, and particularly on those
occasions in which its effects are most
conspicuously dtltloped. The cause
is the republicanism of the nation and
that of the government; that republi.
canifm, which rests upon equal rights
in the people, and a pure reprefenta-
tive system whereby all rulers are de
rivable from as well as amenable to
the nation. This is the only genuine
republicanism that exists in the world
—The term is abused, when other
wise applied.
It is the necessary eftQ of this sys
tem to enlighten the whole people, by
calling them into a participation of
(he government, and by making it at
every moment of its existence depen
dent upon their will. It thus becomes
the intcreft of the great body of the
people, diftindly understood and ha
bitually felt, to make themselves ac
quainted with the firft principles of
government, to understand their ap.
plication to leading public measures,
Ind to pronounce through the organs
of public opinion and of elections on
the conduft of those in power ; retain
ing those who enjoy, and dismissing
those who have forfeited their confi.
dence and affe&ion. 7
Before the illustrious example set
by America, doubts were entertained
by the best and wisest men of the com.
petency of a nation to govern itfelfin
a rational & tranquil manner. Those
doubts have now vanished before an
experience which has established a
new aera in the world. We have
proved the genuine republican system
to be not only the heft, but the only
one under which the liberties of a na
tion are secure. Fur while the tian
quility and very existence of every
other civilized nation have been en
dangered or loft, our nation, gather
ing strength from the surrounding
ftorm,has demonstrated the wisdom of
institutions, which, being the proper
ty and the protection of all, are de
fended by the united energies of the
whole nation, invigorated by one
common sense of interest——Well,
therefore, may we exult in our present
state, and our future protpeas; and
as we owe the firft to ourselves, to %
ourselves also Shall we be indebted for
the accomplishment of the lafK The ,
vigilance and patriotism of the people
can be their only securities; for tho'
they are not, as has been contended,
" their own worst enemies," yet it is
undeniable that they have, and ever
will have enemies, ready to embrace
all occasions to destroy the fair fabric
of their rights,r
Ata period when the legislative bo.
dy is about to resume the exercise of
its important fundions, it may be in
teresting to enquire into the causes
which nave insured the unrivalled
happiness we enjoy. We have alrea-I
d^ remarked that the primary cause
js the republican sentiments of the
people, and the republican ftruHure
of the government they jave adopted.
^loJubordination to this circumftauce
are others of a nature only Secondary
to : t, on the observance of which the
true prosperity of nations always de
pends.
1. Freedom of reflection, fpeech T
and writing.
2. fieefym of a&ion in the vari
ous occupations ^ratetyt"
3. Taxes commensurate) and iiot^
more than cemmenfutate with the ha
neft wants ofthe government.
4. The least possible political cow.
ne&ion with foreign nations.
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Volume ll.— Number 101.
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[Pa, quarterly.