Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1830-11-25

the proceedings Of TIE Penn Soc,efy. at the re-
cent celebration i'll your city. has been received.
As am not a subscriber to - The American
Daily Advertiser" am OF course indebted TO
your courtesy. for this opportunity OF inspecting
its columns, and with the feeling prompted by
the perusal of their contents, make haste to Of
fer to YOU my acknowledgements. II
With your permission, sir, Will avail mysei1
of this occasion, the only one which the clrcum-
stance. have left open to me- to offer, through the
medium Of your paper, some observations on one
of the incidents Of that celebration. IL nave
been correctly Informed, a faithful representation
of this occurrence. might nave reneFeu "e Ho'
the necessity of doing So
The toast. which, in conformity TO the request
of the Society. had the honor to transmit to
their Committee. has; furnished an occasion for
an elaborate address. by the gentleman to whom
the office Of announcing it was conilded. That
toast affirmed, simply
! That. the freemen of Pennsylvania, successors
/ of William Penn, where the legitimate Lords
Proprietary, ofhis woodland domain.
That, before the advance of civilization, the
red man of the forest had retired from the graves
! of his ancestors. -.
That, it was not the dictate ofhumanity toaeh
plore this result &C.,,
The two first of these propositions. were little
more than historical facts. The third was re-
Election. which it seemed to me. they were natu-l
rally calculated to excite; one which could not
possibly be offensive to the senstlveness OF any
one. 49,
Looking, Sir. to Pennsylvania. ds Sne @as,
when the war cry of the wandering savage echo-
ed through her forests-to Pennsylvania, as she
Is, the peaceful abode Of free and happy psHple
Justly esteemed among her sisters of the con-
Ifcderacy, for the freedom and the 1grity OF her
civil and religious institutons-tof her elevated
moralty-her rapid advancement in literature y
scienCe-in agriculture, commerce, and all the
useful arts-as we'll as those which adOrn and
cmbellish the home of civilized Understanding
too in those halowed institutions, which are des-
tined to minister to the necessities OF the helpless
and TO alleviate the sufferings of the afflicted,
thought it might be safely affirmed, that it was
not the dictate of humanity to depore the result.
From its necessary connection with the preced-
ing part of the sentence, however, this affirm "a
ton was obviously confined to Pennsyv ania a
lone 1t seemed to me. that it was properly so con-
fined, because the toast, in which 1t was embo-
died. was addressed exclusively to society OF
the citizens of that State, assembled to do honor
to the memory of its founder.
1t was true, that from the positions asserted
in it, one might deduce as general proposition
cation to savagism--but it was equally true that
those who sought, in the practical application of
this principle, to sustain themselves. by invoking
the authority, and the example of Pennsylvania,
must conform to the conduct which that exam
ple inculcated. If Pennsylvania had happil at
tanned this result, by a careful adherence to all
the duties which Justice and humanity enjoined,
it would be vain to appeal to her example. as a
sanction for course of proceeding, in which
those duties were violated. 1t would be time e.
nough, however, to s'demur," not indeed ''to the
analogy but to the claim itself. for the want OF
it, when such aclaim was preferred.
NV purpose is to show very briefly, that no
such claim was preferred in this case. either in
behalf of the General Government or of Georgia
land that all other considerations apart, the
toast did not afford any reasonable apology, for
the elaborate address, of which it was made to
furnish the occasion.
1t was rendered subserviant to the purpose. to
which it was applied, by ascribing to its au thor.
a motive for offering the harmless and unpretend
ing sentiment which it expresses. which is who'll
Ily unfounded i'll fact. and existed only in the i'm
lagination Of the gentleman BY whom it was shy
pothetcally" suggested. Although it would GER
tainly excite my surprise, confess it would gra-
tify me. to be convinced, that this misconceptiOn
vas real. Looking however to the characteristic
courtesy of your citizens, should even then find
myself unable to account for such proceeding
towards an individual vino was absent, and there
fore defenceless-for the expression of an opini-
on. which er conceSSis, was no, Il BILE to censure,
in the absence OF the motive. which only con-
jecturay imputed to ito one, whose senti-
ments had been called for, not obtruded on that
festive occasion.
| do not mean to urge the discourtesy of the
proceeding. That would present considerations
of ii different character. Strictly speaking. mere
courtesy is voluntary to b. given or withheld, at
the option of the individual who bestows. or retu-
SEES 1t. There are some situations indeed, in the
present advanced state Of society. in which, by
the common consent Of the civilized world. GER
tain acts of courtesy are ciassed among rights.
not entirely of imperfect obligation. But it is
not my purpose to prefer such a claim on this oc
casion. 1t suilices for me to affirm that to misre
present the motives of an absent individual--hy-
pothe'icaAy to impute to him motives. by which
he has not been actuated-and assuming the truth
of this hypothesis. to arraign through him, the con-
duct Of those with whom he l. osSoci