I "JLf 7 0/' [No. 54, of Vol. IV.] Wednesday, September 26. 1792. FROM THE AMERICAN DAILY ADVERTISER. MR. Dunlap, THE public have been lately amu r ed with lome criticisms in the United States Ga zette, upon the political chara&er and conduct t»f the Secretary of"State. The charges exhi-, t>ited against him, in substance, amount to this : 1. That he was always inimical to the present government, and has in a particular manner shewn it since he came into office, by the free dom with which he has cenfnrsd public measures. 2. That he has abused the trust reposed in him, by confering the appointment of tranllator of foreign languages, in the department of State, worth 2s~) dollars per annum, upon Mr. Fre neau, Editor of the National Gazette. This appears to be the sum of the charges : whatever else they contain is the figurative amplification of the writer only, and reducible to no head. To that refpe&able tribunal to whom they hare been submitted, upon the fa&sand illultra tions given, partial as they are, so far as it ref pefts himfelf the decision might be left without a comment, fits countrymen have beep too long and too well acquainted with his talents, virtues, and services, to fuffer loose and equi vocal charges of this kind to leflen him in their! estimation. But this attack liasobvioully some thing further in view, than (imply to wound the fame of one deserving citizen. It is levelled at that free and manlyYpirit of enquiry, which has lately developed the principles, and demonstra ted the mischievous tendency of some, of the measures of government, and which it seeks to crush, a spirit of enquiry which the author sup poses has been foftered and cherished by him. Ifaperfon of his note in the republican lift, could be destroyed in the public confidence, its cause would be humbled, and the friends of mo narchy triumph. An attack, therefore, upon this gentleman, mult be deemed a direst but artful one upon principles, and in this view it becomes a matter of public concern, and merits particular attention. What was his political conduct in early life, through the revolution, and to the adoption of the pre ent government, though the period was momentous and eventfu', and the several fta t ions' which lit- occupiejf futh &-• presented him perpetually to the view of his countrymen, seems of no importance upon the present occa sion. This long and honorable career has el caped the censure of the American, and I fha.ll not review it for the fake of applause. I have alluded to it merely to ftiew, that if he has not kept pace, in all the revolutions of opinion, pra&ifed by those who now censure him, he has liotwithllauding been always consistent with himfelf. Before I proceed in reply to the firft charge, to furnifh the documents which it is presumed, will place his political sentiments in a fatisfac tory point of view, a previous general question lhould be noticed, which though not particular ly conne<sted with him, may be deemed of im portance to the community : " Wherein was the merit or oifence of a favorable or unfavor able opinion of the constitution, and to whom rendered V It was a»propofition of great ex tent, submitted as of right to every free ci tizen, and npon which he was bound to decide ; to have lhrunk from it would have been dis honorable, and a fiiameful abandonment of his duty. By what rule then, or upon what prin ciple, (hall a man be rewarded or punished, for the fair exercise of his judgment, efpeciallv when called on to give it, by obligations he could not resist, and upon a point, in which in prefer ence to all others, the most unbounded free dom should be u(ed ? I had supposed that if his decision was a wife one, the benefits of the fyf tein were to be his compensation ; if he erred, his own and the calamities of his countrvf the punishment ; that the question involved in it, neither in the origin, nor its consequences, con liderations oj' a personal nature, and that of coiirfe the conduct of no man, in relation to this object, be it what it might, merited reward or punilhment. I could wilh that thole politi cal casuists, who are acquainted with the trans actions on the great theatre, would solve this problem ; for to me it seems indifpenlibly ne-1 celfary tiiat thofewho arraign a fellow-citizen, j before the bar of the public, should at least de monstrate that the charge with which he" is ac cused, contains in it fomethiug criminal. It will be remembered that at the time the! constitution was formed, and whilst under dif- : cuflion in the State conventions, Mr. JefFerfon was in France the minister of America. That of the train of events which brought about the important crisis of a general convention, as of thoie which followed it, he was an interested, but a distant fpeftator. •The nature of the trust reposed in him by the public confined him to the ipot. The only part he could bear in .the cares ot that momentous period, was to unite with liis fellow citizens in the molt fervent wishes, that their labors might be fuccefsful, and re dound to the advantage of their common country. What his sentiments were on the fubjeft of j the conltitution, and that of government gene-1 rally as conne<sßd with it, will be seen by the , following extracts taken from his letters ad-! dreifedtoa particular friend, at the time oi their refpedive dates, and in the cotirfe of a A NATIONAL PAPER, PUBLISHED WEDNESDAYS AND SATURDAYS BY "JOHN FENNO, No. 6q, HIGH-STREET, PHILADELPHIA very tnterefting and confidential correspondence. As he could not have forefeen that in any pofl;- ble event, they would be laid before the public, they inuft be confide red as the free and iponta neous effufions of his heart. From that friend I have received them, and will if any doubtj should be suggested oftheir authenticity, im mediately make them acceflible to others. To Mr. Jerferfon, whole approbation to this mea sure, has neither been a iked nor obtained, some apology for the freedom is due : to the confi dence however which his own conduct has in spired, that it was never his wifh,his sentiments, up<fethis or any other fubje& of a public na tujflfhould be with-held from his countrymen, I it be attributed. * u The season admitting only of operations ftn the Cabinet, and these being in a great mea- secret, I have little to fill a letter. Werefore make up the deficiency by adding a Few words on the constitution proposed by our convention. I like much the general idea of framing a government which should go on o itfelf peaceably, without n.• Ming continual re venue from the Irate legiiiaUu'el like the? or gaiiization of the government into legislative judiciary, and executive. I like the pov.e given the legislative to levy taxe lam cap tivated by the compromise of the oppofit* claims of the great and little states, of the lat ter to equal, and the former to proportional in fluence. Xam much pleased too with the fubfti tution of the method of voting by persons, in stead of that of voting by states : and I like th< negative given to the executive with a third o: either house, though I should have liked it bet ter, had the judiciary been appointed for thai purpose, or inverted with a similar and feparatc 3ower. There are other good things of iel< moment. I will now add what Ido not like, Fir ft, the omillion of a bill of rights, providing ilearly and without the aid of sophisms for free dom of religiori, freedom of the press, protec :ion against standing armies, re {trillion againfl uonopolies, the eternal and unremitting forec )f the habeus corpus laws, and trials by jury ir ill matters of faer triable by the laws of the and, and not by the law of nations. To fa\ hat a bill of rights was not necelTary becaufc ili is refervct! inthe cafe of the general govern uent which is not given, while in the particular •nesall is given which is not reserved, is fuvely . gratis di&um, opposed by strong inferences rom the body of the instrument, as well as from he omifiion of the clause of our present confe leration, which had declared that in express erms. It was a hard conclusion to fay because lj|f!te has been no uniformity among the states, s to the cases triable by jury, because some lave been so incautious as to abandon this mode if trial, therefore the more prudent states fliall te reduced to the fame level of calamity. It vould have been much more just and wife to lave concluded the other way, that as most of he states had judiciously preserved this palla dium, those who had wandered should be brought tack to it, and to have established general right nftead of general wrong. Let me add that. a •ill of rights is what the people are entitled to igainft every government on earth, general or and that no just government should efufe, or reft on inference. The second fea ure I dislike, and greatly dislike, is the aban lonment in every instance of the neceflity of otation in office, and most particularly in the ;afe of the president. Experience concurs vith reason in concluding that the firft magif rate will always be re-ele&ed if the conftitu ion permits it. He is then an officer for life. V his once observed, it becomes of so much con equence to certain nations to have a friend or i foe, at the head of our affairs, that they will nterfere with money and with arms. A gallo nar, or an angloinan, will be fupportetkby the lation he befriends; if once ele&ed, and at a second or third election out voted by one or two rotes, he will pretend falfe votes, foul play, lold pofTeflion of the reins of goverment, be fup >orted by the States voting for him, eipeciailv f they arc the central ones, lying in a corupaft >ody themfelves,and separating their opponents : ind they will be aided by one nation of Europe, vhile the majority are aided by another. The ile&ion of a President of America some years lence, will be much more interesting to certain latior.s of Europe, than ever the election of a Cing of Poland was. Reflexion ail the inftan •es in history ancient and modern, of elective nonarchies, and lay if they do not give founda ion for my fears. The Roman emperors, the 'opes, while they were of any importance, the serman emperor? till they became hereditary n practice, the Kings of Poland, the Deys of he Ottoman dependencies. It may be said that i elections are to be attended with these dii •rders, the feldomer they are renewed the bet er. But experience shews that the only way o prevent disorder is to render them uninter ifting by frequent changes. An incapacity to >e clewed a second time would have been the mlv eifeftual preventative. The power of re noving him every fourth year by the vote of he people, is a power which will not be exer-' iled. The King of Poland i-, removable every] lay bv the Diet, yet he is never removed—l mailer objections are the appeal in fact as well s law, ai-.i the binding all persons legislative, 133 executive and judiciary by oath to maintain that constitution. I do not pretend to decide,: what would be the belt method of procuring the eftabiiihment of the manifold good things in this cpnftitution, and of getting rid ot the bad. Whether by adopting it in hopes ot future a mendment, or after it has been duly weighed and canvafle.d by the people, after ieeing the parts they generally c'iflike, and those they ge neraliy approve, to fay to them u we fee now what you with. Send together your deputies again, let them frame a constitution for you, omitting what you have condemned, and efta blidiing the powers you approve. Even these will be a great addition to the energy of your go vernment ; at all events I hope you will not be tfifcouraged from other trials, if the present one fhouid fail of its full effect. The late re bellion in MalTachufetts has given more alarm than I think it fhouid have done. Calculate that one rebellionin thirteen States inthecourfe of 11 years is but one for each State in a cen tuiy and a half, nor will any degree of power in the hands of government prevent insurrec tions. France, with all its despotism and two DrtS ee hundred thousand men always in arms, has had three infurredtions in the three yea**s I Paris, Dec. 20, 1787. I will have been here, in every one of which greater numbers were engaged than in Matfachufetts, and a great deal more blood was ipilt. In Turkey which Montesquieu supposes more des potic, infurreftions are the events ojf every day. In England where the hand of power is lighter than here, but heavier than with us, they happen every half dozen years. Compare again the ferocious depredations of their insur gents with the order, the moderation, and the aim alt felf extinguishment of ours. After all, it is my the will of the majority should always prevail. If they approve the pro posed convention in all its parts, I {hall concur in it cheerfully, in hopes that they will amend it whenever they {hall find it work wrong. I think our governments will remain virtuous for many centuries ; as long as they are chiefly agricultural ; and this will be as long as there fliall be vacant lands in any part of America. When they get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, they will become corrupt as in Europe. Above all things I hope the edu catior of the common people will be attended to ; convinced that on their good fenle we may rely with the molt security for the preserva tion of a due degree of liberty." FOR THE GAZETTE OF THE UNITED STATES, THE writers against government, like the Pharisees of old, seem to make up a very good mouthy thanking God that they are not as other men. It is very probable they are right, and we may with good cause thank God that he has not made all other men like them—for in that cafe the world would be turned topsyturvy. These writers affect to be the friends of the people, champions of republican liberty,and men of more purity than those who hold offices, or who wish to support good order—that is to fay, they pretend to be better than the reft of man kind. If the fun were to shine into their dark holes, their bragging pretensions would perhaps expose them to ridicule. In another country, the garret-fcribbfers talk big as long as they lie concealed. It would be pleasant to fee their lean host marfhal'd. Those who give law, as far as dilating and finding fault will go, to na tions ; who atfedl to lit in judgment; on kings, and to fay to power, thus far (not very far) flialt thou go, and no farther, would certainly laugh at one another, and themselves if they were brought together. The thrones of these gazette kings are placed up three pair of flairs: they descend from their power when they shew themselves in the street. This is certainly true of the greater part of the scribblers in one fo reign city, and a great city it is. A*, our party writers have adopted the polite style of their Grubftreet progenitors, there is room to believe that they are their peers in rank and dignity. InlVances are not wanting to countenance the opinion that some of the most audacious slander ers of government are not more refpe&able. A boy of 16 has been known to write political pieces in a gazette in which he chattered about men in high otfice lik£ a magpie. Besides, men who have character, are the most cautious how they attempt to take it away from others. But the man who never had any, or having had lome, has loft it, can write abulively against public men without measure, and without any feeling to check him—for he cannot make the cafe of the man he rails at, his own. He is more likely than a good man to believe ill of his adversary, and he can abide him therefore with a better conscience. For when he fees a man in a public place, which is exposed to dirty temptations, he takes it for certain, judging from his own heart, that he has basely yielded to them. Let a man, having nothing to do with the government, but standing impartial, read the base aspersions which have latelv been thrown on public men and measures, he will fay, it he has a good heart, that he had rather be the fubjecTt than the author of them—he will fay that thole hearts which could nurse fuchfuf • picions, and those men who could publish them i without proof, have shewn what and who they an;. Z. [To be concluded in our next.'] [Whole No. 5567) THE GAZETTE OF THE UNITED STATES. M r. Fenno, I/M// £ heard it remarked, and J believe u ith a great deal of truth, that Ike newfpoper culled the National Gazelle, contains more. Ir.urrilitv again ft the general govemmen;, than all the other public pa pers in this city put together. And as it refpetls the editor oj that p«p-r, I am not at all fur prized.— I have always considered the per (on as mimical to good government, who wrote for a paper called the freeman's I Journalfome years ago. But mujl conjefs 1 feel some \ uneaftnefs for the reputation of the Secretary of State t when J fee such circumjlanccs brought forward by two if your correfpnndents, as mufl naturally induct a be lief that Mr. Freneau and his paper are probably re tained by h'm, with the view of promoting certain po | htical purposes. Either the Secretary supposed that these circumjlanccs would not have been attended to, or admitting his views to beperfeßly upright, he may consider them as trifles and of little conjequence ; but every public officer ought» if poJfibUy on a!l occasions, to condutt himfelf in such manner, as at lecjito give no probable cause for fvf picion. And Mr. J ejferf on mufi certainly conclude, when he comes to re fled on this bufinfs, that feme re fpeft is due to the opinions of a people, who set a high value on that government, which is juftlv elteemrd the belt in the world ; and I have therejore but lit tle doubt,that he will oblige vhe inierpreier either to leave the office, or to construe in. bcticr language. An OBSERVE!!; FROM THE ALBANY REGISTER, Mr. Barber, Through the medium of your paper I beg leave to put the following queries to the audacious John Cannon, chairman of a pompous iheeting of fovte licentious charaders, of the interior counties of Pennsylvania at Pitt/burgh, the z2d of Augufl, *732. Query ift. \ S you avow in the lace of the £\. union—in the face of law, decen* cy and common sense, your intention of oppo sing the excite system, do you seriously suppose that the whole strength of the union, in men and money, is to be devoted to the protection of the very counties you aifume to represent, and that you (of all the people in America) fhouid dare to oppose jhe government which prote&s you ? Query 2d. Do you suppose, that your stupid rofoives are to influence the mealureiof the na tion ? Recollect Sir—you arc not arting upon the local ideas of a State as heretofore; but compare your ineafures with a general national system. Query 3d. Can you be so mean and short sighted as to luppofe, that the union at large are to pay the expence of your protection (which will cost it more than all your poiTellions are worth) and that you are to be exempted from a share of that burthen, to fay nothing of the direst advantages you receive from the vail sums of national property which are expended every campaign among you? Query 4th. Are you so loft to all fenle of lhame, as to avow in the face of the world, that you are so beastly attached to that filthy liquor, called " whiskey," u that if the excise conti nues it will bring immediate distress and ruin on the western country." In your wife preamble you jefuitically aflert, that you mean to purfus no other than legalmeajurcs, to obtain what you call redrrfs; but in your last resolve you give the lie direct to this assertion, by illegally pro nouncing u your vengeance against excise offi cers which the laws of your country have efta- Llifhed among you ; and declaring all persons your enemies who have any dealings with them." Finally, have you the prefumptior. to think, that the fcnttering inhabitants in the wilds of two or three back counties of Pennsylvania, are to di&ate laws to the rising empire of America, —G—d forbid blush ! John Cannon, and when you appear again recolle<fl with a little modesty, that you represent, but in part, a mere speck on the map of America, and not one hun dredth part of the inhabitants of the United States. Should your daring measures pass by with im punity, I sincerely hope the reft of the union* who are paying heavy duties to protest you, will withdraw their protection, and leave you to defend your scalps and drink whiikeyat your leisure. Your western counties have long en joyed the reputation of being the moll turbulent and licentious people in America. It is hoped as education increases among you, that the ri sing generation will not 6nly enlarge their ideas on a national scale, but that they will become more liberal and civilized. An electioneering addrcfs pablijhedin the Carlijle pa per contains the following charatteriftic obfer- vations. IT matters little to the public who presides in the Senate : They do not choose to let the public know any thing about the reasons of their political conduit ; the public therefore may trouble themselves little about them, ex cept it be to watch them with a jealousy, and try to get rid of them as soon as poflible ; it is but little good ever they did, and but little good they can do, but they may do much evil; there are however valuable characters shut up in their Divan. We fiocerelywifh them re leaf ed.—Pcnnfylvahia wanted a'Senator this last ses sion ; we pray a greater evil may never befal her. A Northern Man.
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