Alexandria daily advertiser. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1803-1808, 1806-11-12
5 Tron, the N. u. Commercial Advertiser.

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z, SSTINCs an eye over the history ofour
ro5ities sinee the reyoiution, nothing strikes US
more fopsibys than the false colorang given to
4es4era under I'll their notifications
and afsaal periods. Alter Great Britain had
acknowledged our independence, the tumut
of War having sgbsidsa, the question arose on
the mo ii cntous subject OF a government. TO
haranonize our disGordant interests, to cenisat
the Sansis OF equal intercourse, and to super-
cese RE former confederation, which was fal-
ing to pieces from its own lraSglllty ne lau-
relied heroes returning from victory win ING
sages, VINO had entered the CABINET unaPpa1lea
In the our OF general espondency, !" gre iooA-
ed 10 as the guarantees OF our, high wrought
hopes, and the. pillars our political security
They were named by the people. to devise iof'
us 4 system OF government adapted to cur OK
icencies,- graluated by the spirit of the coun-
try, and such as its duration might not yield
to the. disgrace. of being only an EXPERIMENT..
They met. Washington appeared at theEs
head in the councils OF peace, as ne had done
before In the more terrific, but net more ardu-
Gus; councils of war. Our present constlttu-
tion & as the product Of their wisdom. 1t was
sent iorta TO the paople. They weighed It.
Their interests, and tire insterests OF poSterlty
were 1neasurabiy poised upon their decision.
The various turns of augmentation, Which
were drawn forth at that pregnant CRISIS, now
awakened the tempest,of impatient sollcltude;
now aiiayea the tu1ault of overwrought appre-
hension. The duke Of Sully says, that ''rea-
son, although It slowly appears IN tumuituous
assemblies, vet forces itself at last tc be seen
and acknowledged 4 and, after long opposition,
it follows through necessity. 1t was thus IN
this instance. The good sense of our fellow
citizens at length prevailed: our constitution
was adopted.
Here we find the origin of our political. dis
tinctions. Those, who had been efficient IN
framing it according 70 its spirit as tinsliy set
tied, and those who had advocated It's adoption
were very properly styled federadsfs those
who hadopposedit inits progress, and lnveisgil-
ed against It's characteristics, We're with equal
propriety styled AMI Jtederalsts. Here the au-
rora of democracy, may say OF Jacoblhlsir
and infatuation, first tinged our horizon Its
FIRST bushes were seductive although unalarn1-
inc: but it soon glowed with the horrors Of
flaming vault. a battery asopened upon te-
deral gentlemen for advocating aristocratlcal
doctrines, as was falsely asserted, III the DIS
cussions, which were had in the convention OF
delegates, for settling preliminary principles
They were stignatlzed; nay even exeorated'
On the heads, whitened IN the iabors OF their
country, were imprecated all the maledicuons
which could be invented by satanic lnyeteracy.
Whoever had supported the constitution was
arraigned with the acrinony OF persecution,
and the -scllrrility of SANDER. No one was We
nerabie in the eyes of these abusive declalTn-
ers: purity was reviled and innocence assall-
ed. Feeling the spirit of domination, they
endeayored to rend In tatters the constitutional
texture, before it was fairly completed know
inc, that energetic government and We'll order
cd laws were hostile to the antcipations OF their
degenerate ambition.
Such was the fungus of faction, out OF which
has grown large proportion OF our present
r,t,ers. j do not mention this because 1t is not
we'll known: on the eontrary,it is one OF those
facts. which often brings the blush into the
cheek shrivelled with age--and causes the hoa-
nv head to shake with painful indignation it
is mentioned, because 1t ought to &c kept IN
remembrance Hereafter, when history shall
,,nmasked these deluders ofthe people, when
;nopartiality shall discern their naked villalny,
the Young American viii repress the tear of
honest dis1ain, ard start to think that his coun-
fry was so early on the verge OF perditlon-He
will see the bottom of those pretenSions which
now bee,lile us and with sorrow will learn
st,,a;str,,st. man whom he will often discover
70 he the base dissembler of the virtues, for
the secure contamination OF the vices; re-
membering what Fenelon makes his mentor
sav.sxs the, wicked are not incapable OF doing
well. they indiHerently do good and evil, as
NAV serve their ambition" He will see the lu-
brio folds, by which the serpent OF democracy
3, ent,giires the prejudices of the illlterate /;
strangling infantreason in the arms ofitssguar-
dian and defender. He viii draw a parallel be-
tween ours, and the free governments, which