The American Republican gazette — Concord, N.H., 1802-12-07 00:00:00, page 1

TUESDAY, DEC. 7, 1802.]
,7g a Year,]
%r%^ ^PRINTED AT CONCORD, N, HAMPSHIRE, BY E. RUSSELL. ,Q, /#
________J_rf^^^ ——. — — - ! — — —-*- ! • —#
Error of Opinion ma, be tolerated, where season is left free to combat it.—Jefferson.
INTRODUCTORY.
[We know that the prejudice, not to fa,
, malice awl hatred, of man, honest &
well meaning men, is wrought up to
thehigheft pitch against " Tom Paine
the inf del, as the fpneful federalJis§
^ ra^ftnerfrt^
on what the great, the immortal,
the "sainted" WaJhingtonfaid in
his praise, gains us censure—but we
know further, that in a free country
like ours, every man has the right of,
appearing in his own defence —Thf
we hope that no fellow creature, none
of the workmanjhip of Divine hands,
will be finally so miserable as not
ultimately to fnd pardon with their
Maker ,- yet we are full, ferfuafed
that Mr. Paine has committed "the
unpardonable fin" agoirft Toryism:
His pen, alinofl at much as thefword
^ ofWaJhirigtan, contributed to the es
tablijhment of America's Independ
ence—he has feelingly explained, and
ftrenuoufl, defended, " The Rights
of Man' againf the doctrine of the
'divine right of Kings, 'and ever of
posed their opprtfons—and Tories
and tyrants will never forgive him.
But Mr. Paine is said to have written a
' vile book agaifl Religion—the beji of,
men ma, fall into errors, and be left
to crimes— We do not defend the crime
nor the Infidelity of any man : how.
filer'heterodox Mr. Paine ma, be in
his religion, we carinoffa, ; We are
unacquainted @h his religious write
ings—but it is not denied, that he is
ftfefe^^ Politics—
at leaf with Republicans—and altho'
, in farefreak f imagination, he ma,
Have attacked the Christa Religion,
what of that ? the attacks of Infidel
- ityferve only to render the Beauties of
the Chrifranfyftem more confpic^ous,
^ more engaging— Neither Tom Paine
nor for} anybody elje, can write down
norprevail againji Genuine Chris-
TIANITY. t
But wk, do we talk of these things, and
mix religion with politics ? —Tis not
Mr. 'Paine's religion,,, irrcligi%
h,h4l jnc#fe$tip " &ti agattfftm,
but his Politics; his Democrat, ;= j
,this it is that firikes FcderaliJls " as
with an hydrophobia ;"—the thought
of his Democracy, is to a Tory “ like
thefight of water to canine madness."
^togTHOMAS PAINE,
inftiffCiTizens of the United States.
BETTER THE FIRST.
A FTER an absence of almost y
41 years, I am again returned to the
country in whose dangers I bore my
ty% ,nd to whose greatness I con.
} WhenT&od for Europe so lit
fpriog; of 1787, it w, my intention to
return to America the next year,,nd
^itCT hc ,^ °f,y
^; frie|ids and tb£ r^pofe Lw^tyltleM „
to. I had ft° o 4 ° ut ct ^{RlMQne
revolution, and had no <i{h tq em
hark in ^n other 11111 Qiner icencs
and other circumftanc6s ran those of
contemplated gate ^re allotted to.
^ tofy@Q
ginning to germinate when I artMted|
I'lA k ranria "=rho'hriihflinlAe fit vVf'
CTnadrthPv were tooted from fimeri 4 *
AMERICAN REPUBLICAN GAZ^TT^.
LIBERTY AND THE CONSTITUTION.
honest. But the fury of faction
exwnguifhed the one and sent , the o.
ther to the Icaffold. Os thole who
fegan that tedlution,! arfial
only survivor, & that thro a thoufaAd
dangers.' I owe this not to the
^^^p^^*o;prlefts, nerr the -pi&y * °
'crites, but to & continued proteaion
; of PROVI^NCE.
By# "While I beheld with pleasure
tt/ciawn of liberty fifing in Europe,
1 saw, with regret, the lullre of it fad#
ing in America. In less than 2 years
I from the time of my departure, some
distant symptoms painfully suggested
the idea (hat the principles of the rev
olution were expiring oh the foil that
produced them. I received at that
time a letter from a female literary
correfpohdent, and in my answer to
her, I expressed my fears bn that head
in the following pensive Soliloquy :
“ You touch me on a very tender
point, when you fay that my friends
on your fide the water, cannot be rec
onciled to the idea of my abandoning
America, even for my native England.
They are right—l had rather fee my
bdrfe Button eating the grass of Bor
dentown or Morifania, than fee all the
pomp and shew of Europe.
, A thousand years hence, for I
must indulge a few thoughts, perhaps
in less, America may be what Europe
new is. The innocence of her char#
a^ter that,won the hearts of all nations
in her favon^may found like a ro.
mance, and^het inimitable vtfeas if
it had never been. Theruihs of that
liberty, for which thoufaads bled, may
just furnifh materials for a villagetale,
or extort a sigh from rustic fenfibiliiy ;'
Whilst the faCionable of that day, en
veloped in diffipaiion, £hall deride the
principle s arid deny the fa&
:" When we contemplate the fall of
empires and the extinaion ofthe na
tions of the ancient, world, wefee but
little more to excite our regret, than
the moulderhg ruins of pompoms pa-;
teefy magnificent monuments, lofty
pyramids, and walls and towers of the
most costly WQrkmanfhip: but when
the empire of'Amerjca shall fall, the
lubje& for contemplative sorrow will,
be infinitely greater than crumbling
l»afs or marble can inspire. It will
not then be, said, he^^ a tempte;
of vast antiquity, here rose a Babel of
invi^ole hejght, or there a palate of
sumptuous extravagance; but, here!
a painful thought ! the noblest work
of human wisdom—the g'randeft feene
of human glory, the fair cause of free
dom Rose and Fell! Read this, and'
then afl( if I ffyeC^riCT.-t^
know know from the information]^
obtain upon the spot, that the imprefc
fo^that then diftrefled^ ffie, for ^
w^ proud of Deflea, were but too
well founded, v S^ turning her
I back on her own glory, and making
^fcn't^r^'
oblivion. But a spark from the al.
tax of seventy six ungxtingwffied
and unefainguifhable trf^at Idog
@pf erfofosfo
every p^rt of the union, tcg nu
, flame of rationaljhberty. ^^^ li|
lAs the French revolution advanc
led, # fixed the a^riti&nbfthe world,
————
THE
brought me once more bn the theatre
of politics, and occasioned the pamph
§Tet Rights of Man. It had the
greatest run of any pamphlet ever
published in the English language.—
The number of copies circulated in
^ EnglantiS.^^^ pe
sides translations into foreign lariguag.
es, was between fourand five hundred
thousand. The principles of that work
; were the fame ~as those in Common
Sense, and the effe&s would have
been the fame in England as that had
been in Aiherica, could the vote of
the nation have been quietly taken,
or had equal opportunities of tonfult
ing or aulngexifted. The only dif
ference between the two works Was,
that the one was adapted to the local
circumstances of ^England, and the
other to those of America. As to
myfelf, I a&ed in both cases alike ; I.
relinquished to the people of England
as I h^d done to those of America,
all profits from the work. My rewards
exilted in the ambition to do good,
and in the independent happiness of
my own mind.
But a fa&ion acting in disguise was
rising in America, that had loft fight
offirft principles. They were begin
ning to contemplate government as a
profitable monopoly, and the people
as hereditary property.> It is there,
fore no wonder thatthe^Rtytt of Man
was attacked by that fahtidn^nd its
author continually abused. :'But let
j them go on, give therp rope enough
and they will.put an end,to their own
infignificante. "There is too much
common sense and independence in
America to be long the duple of any
faction, foreign or domestic.
^sut, in the nridft of the freedom we
enjoy, the licentioufhels of the papers
called federal, (and I know not why
they are'called ro, for they are in their
principles anti federal arid defpocic,)
i§ a'difhonor to the character of the
country, and an injury co its reputa.
' ; tion and importance abroad. —They
fepfefent the whole people of Amer
ica as deftiture of public principle &
private manners. As to any injury
' thfy &h do at home to those whom
they abufe,or service theycan render
to those wtio employ them, it is to be
set down to the account of noisy no
tbingriefs. It is on themselves the
disgrace recoils, for the reflection ea.
fily presents itfelf to every thinking
I mind, that those who abuse liberty when
ttyfogfs it woul^ abuse power c@ld
they obtain it ; -and therefore they may
l as well take,as a general motto for, all
such papery We and our patrons are
riotjit to be trifled with power.
-XTmeiWis^^ tha n in
any other country, a large body of
people who attend quietly to their
farms, cty follow fcir fev^ra! QGspa
tions, who pay no regard to the clam
ours of anonymous fcfibbltrs, who,
hink for themfelv& and judge ofgo
yernment, not by the fury of newfea
per writers, but by the prudent fru
gality ofits measures, and the encou
^fc-x^
who aging on their own judgment
never come forward in an eleHion
I but on some important occasion?,: f ^
I When this body moves, all the lit.
tie barkings of fcribbing and witless
curspAfi for nothing. To fay to this
independent description of men, ,ou
muft' turn out such or such pefons at the
"riffle the, have taken off a
gfedlikfy taxes and; lefined the expens
^tf^to^ment, the, have 'difmige^
m, Jon; or m, orifther, or m,frf,jfom
a lucrative office, in which there was
Nothing to so, is to shew the cloven
foot of fa&ion, and preach the lan
guage of ill.dtfguifed mortification.—
In every part of the union, this fadion
is in the Agonies of death, and in pro.
portion as its fate approaches, gnash
es its teeth and Draggles. My arriv
al has struck it, as with an hydropho.'
bia, it is like the fight of water to ca.
nine madness.
As this letter is intended to an
nounce my arrival to my friends, and
to my enemies, if I have any, for I
ought to have none in America, and
as introductory to others that will oc
casionally follow; I shall close it by
detailing the line of conduct I shall
pursue. ?.?
I have no occasion to ask, and do
# not intend to accept any place or of
ficein the government. There is none
it could give me, that would be any
ways equal to the profits I could make
, as an author, for I have an eftabliffied
fame in the literary world, could I
reconcile it to my principles to make,
money by my politics or religion, I
must be in every thing what I h^ve
ever been, a difimeretted volunteer ;
my proper sphere of aHion i^on the
common floor of citize6fhiu and to
boneft men I give my hancrand my
heait freely.
I have some manhfeript works to
publish, of which ^ shall give proper
police, and some mechanical affairs
to bring forward, that will employ all
my leisure time.——l shall continue
these letters as I fee occasion, and as
to the low party prints that chufe to
abuse me, they are welcome, I fliall
not defeend to answer them. I have
been too much used to such common
fluff to take any notice of it. The
government of England honored mq
with a thousand martyrdoms,by burn
ing me in effigy in every town in that
country, and their hirelings in Amer - 4
ica may do the fame.
TIIOMAS PAINE.
ftCi^
—~==^==^j^niiiii>«^^^ —^^"'™''""'"=
From thw National In^^^^
CATO—No. 11.
THE people of America are republi.
can. They are republican from hab.
it and principle. They never were
slaves ; they never will be slaves.--
Their political inftltutions are affre#
publican. The constitution of the
United States, guarantees to all ths
fetes a republican form of govern#
ment. O^ this pfytpere
vision among ths people. There are,
it is true,,* few men, distinguished
heretofore by the public favor, who
have unbluffiingly avowed a prefer
ence of monarchy ; but the avowal
has cost them Same—they are funx. e
No public man lean retain the affec-,
tions of the people, who is avowedly
a monarchist. Public pity may drop
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