The American Republican gazette — Concord, N.H., 1803-03-17 00:00:00, page 1

flfscellanp. .
FEDERdLISM "uNFOLDED.
Frorrf tbe Pittsfield (Ms.) Sun.
Efitraa 0/4 Utter from a representative ^ congress
mb. it uni^r/flls efhes^d 4,'<>lL&r^„ rtzt
ance, not only ox account of bit great abilities ^
integrity, but'for bis pious courje of life for about
forty yean ,afl, to a gentleman in Pittsfield, da
ted Fo/bingto^ fan. 3, 1803.
« My dear Friend,
“ BUT little business has been accom
plished since the present feflion com.
menced. The firft week passed with
out a quorum in the senate. Christ
mas holidays are, in this part of the
country, rather unfavourable to the
tranfa&ion of business in congress.
“I perceive that, the presses, and
some of our desks, still team with ca
lumny against the government, and
particularly against our First Magis
trate. Thave seen extracts from Dr.
Osgood's thanksgiving sermon, which,
; in point of insolence, ill nature, want
of decency, and either involuntary,
or wilful ignorance, exceed almost a
ny thing I have met with —even his
other performances not excepted. I
cannot butthink that in those extrads,
wherever he makes use of the name
ofhis maker, the least & the best that
, can be said of it is, that he takes that
holy and reverend name in vain—ln,
deed, merely to fay, he takes that sa
cred name in vain, does not, as I con
ceive, by any means, express the hei.
nous nature of his crime. He seems
to have made use of that sacred name
for the purpose of fandioning and giv
ing a currency to falfhood, calumny,
and the worst of passions. Has he
produced the least shadow of argument
or scrap of evidencein fupportof those
unmannerly & insolent charges which
he has fulminated against men whom
he never saw, and who are generally
beloved & revered by those to whom
they are personally known ?—Has he
assigned the least substantial reason on
which he grounds his dogmatical cen
sure ofmeafures, the wisdom & found
policy of which have been demon
strated by the salutary effects which
they have already produced, and by
the still more salutary effeds that are
daily resulting from them? Far oth
erwife is the case with him. He has
employed (I will not fay prophaned)
the consecrated desk, and the sacred
name of that Being whose ambassador
he claims to be, to the vile purpose of
base calumny, falfe accusations, and
luch blind and unreasonable censure
of the government under which he
lives, as betrays either the most shame.
ful ignorance, or the most inimical &
abandoned disposition. For the truth
and justice of these obfervatiops, I
need do no more than refer, on the
one hand to the extracts themselves,
• and on the other, to that feourity for
life, liberty and property, which the
citizens of the United States now en
,joy—to the regular administration of
justice in bur courts of law—to the
state of our finances, as exhibited in
the Presidents meflage to both houses
of congress at the beginning of the
present session, and in the report of
the Secretary of the Treasury on that
•fubjed—and to that peace and tran-
" Error of Opinion may be tolerated, where Reason is left free to combat it.-otffy tile JWtalAntanas the CHIP Buck Os Safety.."— Jefferson.
AMERICAN REPUBLICAN GAZETTE.
THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 1803.]
PRINTED AND PUBLISHED AT CONCORD, (NEWHAMPSHIRE,) BY E. RUSSELL.
quility which pervades the Union ;—
except so far as the fame may be dis
turbed by the preacher and a few oth
er disappointed, ^io, and turbulent
spirits like himrelf.
6 'l do not recollect that, in this
place, I have ever heard a word said
by any one against the private charac
ter, either of Mr. Jefferfon or Mr.
Gallatin, but many things in favour
of both. I have made particular in
quiry of men in whose integrity and
veracity I place entire confidence,
concerning those fcandalbus reports
that have been circulated relative to
Mrs. Walker and Sally ; and am sub
ly convinced that the, arc mere mali
cious fabrications, invented by base un
principled men, with no other view than
to stigmatize a character which has hi
therto remained without a realflain !—
I have enquired particularly of Mr.
New, a member of Congress, who ap.
pears to be a gentleman of exemplary
manners and real piety. He assures
me that from his youth up, through
the various scenes of his life, Mr. Jes.
ferfon has been universally esteemed
in all that part of the country where
he has lived, as a man distinguished
for the purity of his morals—that he
is venerated and beloved by all his
neighbors & acquaintance, both poor
and rich—that he is remarkable for
his integrity, kindness, and benevo
lence—that he contributes liberally
and extensively to the support of pub
lic worship and religious institutions
—in particular, that from the time of
passing the law in Virginia for abol
ishing the taxes which all denomina
tions were compelled to pay to the E
piscopal Clergy, Mr. Jefferfon has
principally supported the Clergyman
of the parish to which he belongs, (be
ing one of that denomination) out of
his own private estate—-that he never
fufpe&ed, or heard of the least suspi
cion of intimacy between Mr. Jeffer.
son and Sally 'till published by Cab
lender. Nor has he even the most
distant idea that there is so much as a
shadow of foundation for the least
suspicion of that kind. For the truth
of all this, and more that Mr. New has
related to me infavor of Mr. Jeffer
fon, he fays he is ready and willing to
pledge his own reputation. I know
it is natural for friends as well as ene#
mies to exaggerate : But, my dear fir,
what shall we fay to these things ?—A
system of calumny and lying seems to
have been formed ; and it is become
tie indispensable duty of honest men
to unite their endeavors to refute and
expose it. ,
66 How can it be accounted for that
such vagueand scandalous accusations
so greatly abound at a distance, many
of which appear to come from the feat
of government, when, as I have ob
fetved before, I have never heard any
thing of the kind alledged in conver.
fation here, nor even in the warmest
disputes that take place between op
posite political fe&s? I believe you
will recoiled that Mr. Hastings, in at
tempting to account for his having
been led into a mistake with refpea
fb^ethoifanddollars said to have been
paid for legal advice or counsel, dur
ing the Attorney General's absence
from the duties of his office, alledged,
LIBERTY and THE CONSTITUTION.
—.—
THE
that while Congress were fitting the
fubje& was frequently cohverfed on
among the Federalists at the feat of gov.,
ernment — that it was said to be a fa& %
and /that he never heard it contradi&
-''^ words to that purpose.) That
he therefore had no doubt of its dudi.
Several other members, whose names
I believe were not mentioned, certifi
ed .to the fame effe&. There is rea
son to fear that pradices like this are
too prevalent at the present day—that
men of a certain description get toge
ther and converse among themselves,
surmise things to the disadvantage of
others which they wijh to be fads, and
none being present to gainsay or re#
fute them, they are introduced as fads
into the Wafoington Federalist and o#
ther papers of the fame kind, among
the editors of which James T. Callen,
der holds a superior rank. In^this
way, calumny is diffufed. Those who
read no other papers are led to receive
it for truth. Unprincipled men who
may have been at the feat of govern#
ment confirm their belief by afluring
them they never heard them denied.
In this way, even honest men are, for
a time deceived. But we have rea
son to hope that ere long, that credu.
lity itfelf will be undeceived, and that
the malady, odious and detectable as
it really is, will finally work its-own
cure."
I n..>■
[U" The above letter was written b,
fudgeßacon,member of congrefsfrom
Massachusetts.
OLD MASSACHUSETTS—
Which the anti-republican "federaLre
publican"federalijis have exulting), de
nominated the " head quarters of good|
principles," is rapid, approximating to \
her ancient pure genuine republicanism :
—as evidence of the truth of our poftion,
we refer to the late proceedings in the
General Court of that fate, whichjs now
in session -The Essex Junto, or fede
ral part,yin that state, brought forward
a plan to Penjion the Judges of their
Superior Court for life ! to induce them
to rejign their feats, who it seems are too
far advanced in age to perform their
duty as it Jhould be done— Thefefriends
of order had clamoured so much about
the Judiciary, that the, were ashamed
perhaps to remove their Judges, how
ever faperanudted or incapable ; the,
preferred making the office a sinecure,
and brought forward the plan to penjion
the Judges, and pay them for life, for
doing nothing, ty way of reward for
reJigning !—A fine douceur !— excels
lent incitement to their " eminent law
yers" to take the bench !—But the Rep
resentatives of Massachusetts received the
fubjidiaryj/lan, as they ought, and RE.
JECTED it, 78 to 43. " Thus Mas
fachufetts is fill herfelf—invincible in
republicctyfm, when her citizens are
clearly apprized of the nature and ten
dency ts the measures before them.';
Another evidence of returning re
publitanifm in Maffachufeus, is found,
in the late eledion of two Federal Se.
nat&s by the General Court of that
state, in-place of Messrs. Mason and ;
Foster, who refgned their feats in the
Senate of the Union—Gen. Skinner,
a uniform and decided democrat, was
the republican candidate in both in.
Dances ; —John Q. Adams, son of the
ex- President, the idol of the idolizing
fe&, was the anti-rer 'lican candidate
in the firft inftane! ^d on the fourth
trial was ele&edi a majority of ore
vote only— In the second instance, M,
Pickering, the ^ Secretary whom
President Adams dismissed, was op#
poled by the federaliJls U Mr. Skin
ner—and Timothy Pickering was also
elected by a majority of one vote only.
So that Federalism in Massachusetts,
as has been emphatically obierved,
66 has nothing to spare." R. Gz./
Mrs. DEARBORN 3 T. PAINE.
From the Aurora.
There is no baseness too base for to
ryifm to resort to. The following ar.
ticle has been copied from the Port. -
land Gazette, from which it has been
copied by several despicable prints;
the Palladium has only given the ma
licious slander in general terms.-
When it firft appeared in an infigoifi
cant'print in this city. (Philadelphia)
we determined to make inquiries at
Washington Subjoined t< the arti
cle is the answer we have received on
the fubjeH from Washington.—
" Mrs. Dearborn & Tom Paine !—-
The last Kennebec paper contains the
following singular article. Weintert
it for the amusement of those who are
acquainted with the politics and religion
of the parties :— [Portl. Gz,
" Do&or C , a member of Con
gress from this state, in a letter to a
friend thus writes: " A number of
gentlemen were lately invited to dine
at Gen. Dearborn's; among whom 0 as
Tom Paine. After dinner, Paine be.
Igan to ridicule religion, & blaspheme
I the Nazarine in the most shocking
manner. Mrs. D n, with an air
of Dignified authority, arose, opened
the door, and bid him begone ! Paine
and his friends feared & looked thun
derstruck ! Mrs. D a told him £he
had heaid his blasphemy as long as fne
could endure it ; then pointing to the
door, commanded him to begone that
moment ! he then left the room, while
the company fat in amazement!"
" lidignartt thus, the rebel heft difmiy'd,
The Almighty mandate silently obey'd ;
Nor <u>es tbtri one in haven'j b/tf manfoufoun^,
Who durst ofepoje, when God in vengeance frown'd.
On taking a view of the principal
a&ors in this Tragi Heruic feene, the
candid, impartial mind, will be at no
loss in determining to which chara&er
belongs true magnanimity of foul ; —
to which, difgraceful licentiousness ;
and to which, contemptible infamy !"
[The above is ajihe for, nicely toll;
—it has gone the federal grand rounds,
in NewhampJhire, during our eleElions,
and may have helped federalifm; but it
happens to be a clear Jbeer faJhood.]
Remarks, written at Washington.
"You might have concluded from
the internal evidence of thisnew tale,
that it was a gross imposture. One
of the pious means by which the relfo
gious profeffion is brought into difre.
fpe& and doubt. Dr. Menaffeh Cut
ler,is the member of congress to whom
this slander is attributed in the firft in..
stance. He solemnly declares that he
Volume lll.—Number 110.