*-«rs none" beth {ides have united in re
probating the felf created societies. Sure
ly then, gentlemen will not hesitate to re
icirrrf a vote which is no left deceptive than
it i»pern : ciout ? For if we adopt the amend
meat it will appear that all the branches of
the government are agreed in sentiment.
If we reje£ it, what willit proclaim less
than imbecility 2nd discord > VVhat will
faction interpret it to import (hort of this.
" The Prudent and Senate have de
nounced the felf created societies alluded to
in the speech, and this house has ftept for
ward for their protedlion." BeQdes the
unspeakable dilhonor of this patronage ;
is it not rekindling theiire-brands of sediti
on, is it not unchaining the demon of an
archy >
few as the apologists of the clubs have
been, the solemnity and perleveranee of
their appeal to principles demand fa,' it an
examination.
The right to form political clubs has
been urged as if it had be:n denied. It is
not, however, the right to meet, it is the
abuse of the right, after they have met,
that is charged upon them. Town meet
ings are luthorixcd by law, yet rhey may
be called for seditious or treafonaHle pur
jiofes. The legal right of the voters in
that cife would be an aggravation not an
excuft for the offence. But if persons
meet in a club with an intent to ob!tru<a
the laws, their meeting is no longer inno
cent or legal: it is a crime.
T he necefhty for forming clubs has been
a) lodged with some planfibility in favor of
ill the states except New-England, be
ealife town meetings are little known and
not practicable in a thinly fettled country.
( Mr. Ames here alluded to what had been
yeftcrday laid by Mr. ParkerJ But if
people , have grievances, are they to
be brought to a knowledge of them
only by clubs ; clubs may find out more
complaints against the laws, than the fuf
ferers themfelvcs had dreamed of. The
number of tliofe which a man will learn
fiom his own and his neighbor's experi
ence will be quite fufficieut for every salu
tary purpole of reform in the laws, or' of
relief to the citizens. He may petition
Congress, his own representative will not
fail to advocate, or at least, to present and
explain his memorial. As a juror, he ap
plies the law, as an elector he effectually
controuls the legiHators. A really ag
grieved main will be fure'of sympathy, and
affi(lance within this body, and' with the
public. The mod zealous advocates of
clubs may think them ufeful, but he will
not intift on their being indifpenfibly so.
The plea for their ufefuliitfs seem* to
reft on their advantage of meeting for po
litical information: The absurdity of this
pretence could be exposed in a 1 variety of
Views. I lhalt decline, find Mr. Ames, a
detailed confederation of the topic, 1
would just ask however, whether themoft
inflamed party men, who jilually lead the j
clubs, are the belt organs as authentic in
formation? Whether they meet in dark
nets, whether theyhide their names, their
number and their doings, whether they
Ihut their doors to admit information.
A laudable zeal for enquiry need not
fliun those who could fotisfy it j it need
not blush iir the day ligft. With open
doors and an unlimited Ireedom of debate,
political knowledge might be introduced
even among the intruders.
But, instead of expofilig their affetied
purfuitof information, it will be enough
to Ihew hereafter what they ailuall-/fpread
among the people—whether it is informs-
tion, or in the words of the Prelldent,
" jeakmfies, suspicions and accusations of
" the government," whether disregard
ing the truth, they have not fomented the
most daring outrages agj-nft fecial order,
and the authority of the laws. ( Vide the
President's speech.)
They have arrogantly pretended fome
tirnes to be the people, and sometimes the
guardians, the champions of the people.
They affeift to feel more zeal for a popu
lar government, and to enforce more ref
pe<si for republican principles, than the
real rsprefentatives are admitted to enter
tain. Let us fee whether they are set up
for the people, or in opposition to them,
and their institutions.
Will any refleiling person suppose, for
a moment that th'r great people, so wide
ly extended, so actively employed, could
form a common will and make that will
kw in their individual capacity, and with
out representation ? They could not. Will
clubs avail them as a substitute for repre
sentation ? A fey hundred persons only
are members of clubs* and if they should
for the others, it would be an usurpa
tion, and the power of the few over the
mauy, iu every view, infinitely worse than
sedition itfelf, will represent th.s govern
ment.
To avoid this difficulty shall the whole
people be clafled into chibs ? Shall every
fn milefguare be formed into a club so-
rereignty ? This would guard against the
abuSe of trust, because we fiiould delegate
none, but every man might go and do his
business in his own person. We might
thus form ten or twenty thousand demo-
eracies, as pure and simple as the moll dis
organizing lpirit could fighfor—But what
could keep this fair horizon unclouded ?
What could prevent the whirlwinds and
fires of discord, intefWne, and foreign, from
Scattering and consuming these fritters and
rags of the Society, like the dry leaves in
autumn. Without reSpe&ability, without
Safety, without tranquility, they would be
l ike f° man Y c »ves of Eolus, where the
imprisoned floras were said to struggle for
a vent. If we look at Greece, So fam
ed for letters and more for misery, we
lhall fee that ferocious liberty made their
petty tommon wealths wolves dens—that
liberty, which poetry represents as i god
deSs, history describes as a'cannibal.
Representative government," therefore,
is so far from being a Sacrifice of our rights,
that it is their fccunty; it is the only prac
ticable mode for a great people to exercise
or have any rights. It puts them in full
poflefiion of the utmost exercise of them.
By clubs will they have something more
than all ? Will such inftxtutions operate to
augment, to secure, or to enforce their
rights, or juftthe contrary?
Knpwledge and truth will be friendLy to
such a government, and that in return will
be friendly to thenl. Is it poflible for any
to be lo deluded a.vto suppose that the over
zeal for government, 011 the part of the sup
porters oi this amendment, would prompt
them to desire or to attempt the obftru&ion
of the liberty of speech, or the genuine
freedom of the press ? ImpofiiMe ! That
would beputting out the eyes ofthe govern
ment which we are so jealous to maintain.
1 he abuses of these privileges may embar
rals and disturb our present system ; but if
they were abolished, the government irjfft
be changed. No friend therefore of the
constitution could harbour the wi(h to pro
duce the consequences which it is insinua
ted, are intended to ensue. Mr. Ames re
lumed the remark that the government rests
on the enlightened patriotifmof an orderly
and moral body of citizen*. Lctthe advo
cates of monarchy boast that ignorance
may be nude to sleep in chains ; that even
Cori uptipn and vice may be enlisted as auxi
liaries of the public order. It is however
a iubjetft of exultation and confidence that
such citizens as we represent, so enlight
ened, so generally virtuous, and un
forrupted, under the present mild repub
lican system, practicable and /afe, jjay
more, it is evidently the only fvlltm
that is adapted to the American Hate
of society. But such a system com
bines within itfelf two indeftru&ible ele
ments of deftruaion, two enemies with
whom it mull conflia for ever/ whom
it may disarm, but can never pacify :
Vice and ignorance. Those who .do
not understand their rights, will despise
or confound them with wrongs, and
those whose turbulence and licentious
ness find rellraints in equal laws, will
seek gratification, by evasions or combi
nations to overawe or refill them.
A government that protetU proper
ty, and cherishes virtue, will of course
havtf vice and prodigality foi its foes,
because it will be compelled to abridge
their liberty, to prevent their invading
• the rights of other citizens. The; vir
tuous and the enlightened will cling t6
a republican government, because it is
congenial, 110 less wj'th theii feelings,
than their rights. The licentious and
the profligate are ever ready for confu
fion, which might give them every thing,
while laws and order deny them every
thing. The ambitious and desperate,
by combinations, acquire more power
and influence than their fellow-citizens;
the credulous, the ignorant, the ta(h,
and violent are drawn by artifice, oi
led by character to join these confede
racies. The more free the government
the more certain they are to grow up,
for where there is no liberty at all, this
■abnfe of it will not be seen. Once form
ed into bodies they have a spirit of
Corps, and are propelled into errors and
excefi'es, without shame or reflection.
A spirit grows up in their progress and
every disappointment makes them more
loose, as to the means and eveiy success
I more and ftiore immoderate in the ob
jects of their attempts. Calurtiny is
one of those means. Those whom they
cannot punish or controul they can vili
fy ; they can make suspicion go where
their force could not reach; and by r»-
mours and falfehoods multiply enemies
againll their enemies. They become
formidable, and they retaliate upon the
magistrates, those fears, which the laws
have inspired them .with. The execu
tion of the laws is not accompliflied
without effort, without hazard. Inllead
of mildness, of tnutual confidence, inllead
of the laws almolf executing themselves,,
more rigor is demanded in the framing,
more force to secure the operation of
the laws. The clubs and turbulent
comfcinatioi s exercising the refilling
power, it is obvious that government
will need more force, and more will
then be given to it.
Thus it appears, that instead of
lightening the weight of authority, it
will acquire a new momentum from clubs
and combinations formed to refill it.
Turbulent men, embodied into hoftg,
will call for more energy to suppress
them, than if the discontented remain
ed unembodied. IDifturbances foment
ed from time to time may unhappily
change the mild principle* of the fyi'.em,
and the little finger then may be found
heavier than the whole hand of the pre
sent government. F®r if the clubs and
| the government (hould both subsist,
tranquility would be but of the question.
The continual contefl of one organized
body against another, would • produce
the alternate extremes of anarchy and
excessive rigor of government. If the
clubs prevail, they will be the govern
ment, and the more severe for having
become so by a viaory over the exist
ing authorities.
In every afpea of the difcuflion, the
Societies formed to control and vilify a
republican government are hateful.
They not only of necefiity make itftiore
rigorous, but they tend with a fatal e-
iergy to make it corrupt. By pervert
ng the truth and fpreadingjealoiify and
ntrigue thiough tbe land, they coitipel
he rulerg t-» depend on new fuppOrts.
The ufurpingclubs offer to faction, with
n these doors the means of carrying eve
y point without. A corrupt under
tanding is produced befween them.—
The power of the clubs will prevail ever
lere, and that of the people will pro
portionally decline. The clubs eelx
he language of their piotectois here
.ruth, virtue, and patnotilm, are n<
onger principles, but names for 4lec
ioneering jugglers to deceive with.--
will aflimilate to itfelf the ob
e&s it falls on. It will persecute tin
nan who does his tlnty ; it will take a
way the lewaid of viitue, and beitov
3iaife only upon the tools of faction
I3y betraying his trull, a man may thei
*xpe£l the support of the powerful com
Jinations opposed to the government
By faithfully'adhering to it, he ciicoun
.ers persecution. He finds neither re
uge nor confutation with the public
»vho become at length To corrupted a
:o think virtue in a public station inere
iihle, because it would in their opi
lion, folly. The indifcriininate jealou
y which is diffufed from the clubs tend
io less to,corrupt the suspicious than th
ufpect ed. It poisons confidence, whicl
s no less the incitement than the re
:ompence of public services. It lower
:he flandard of action.
_ These observations, whiclj seem to b
■bunded On theory, unfortunately bea
.he it a ill p of experience. lititory a
Jounck with the proofs. Never wa
here a wife and free republic, whic!
was exempt from this inveterate mala
ly. We can find a parallel fpr thi
Jrighteft worthies of Greece, as well a
or their calumniators. In that coun
;r y» as well a3 in this, the afliilfitis o
:haracler abounded. While slander i
:red:ted only by its inventors it is caf)
or a man to maintain the serenity of hii
:ontempt for both. But when it is a
lopted by the public, few are hardy e
tough to despise the public opinion ; hi
hat pretends to do so is a hypocrite
ind if he really does so, he is a wretch
I his precious properly is one of the sirs
>Sjc£ts invaifion, and the combir.'&ti
>ns alluned to are well adopted and ac
tively employed to deltroy it.
It ie a plaulible opinion, that if,tln
government is not grossly defective ii
ts form, or corrupt in its adminilhation
immolitiej again<l it will not exifh—
This corresponds neither with fount
"enfe ior expeiience. Equal laws an
he very grievances of these petty ty
ants, who combine together to engrof
tiore than equal power and privileges
When power is conferred ex-cltilivelj
ipon the worthy, the profligate am
imbitious are driven to despair of fuc
:ef», by any methods that the worthj
vould adopt. The more ptjre and frei
he government, the more certainly wil
he word men it protests and teftrain
>ecome its implacable enemies, and fuel
nen have ever been the foes of Repub
ics. The outcasts from society, thofi
vho lingly are (hunned because infam;
las smitten them with leprosy, mei
yho are feared with worse than plagui
ores, are thefitft to combine againlt it
\nd such men have the front to preacl
mrity of principles and reformation
>uch men will meet ih darkness ant
>erform incantations- against liberty
here they will gather to medicate thei
toilons, to whet their daggets, to urte
heir blasphemies against liberty, am
nay proceed again to Ihout from tha
;allery, 01 may collect with cannon a
his door, to perpetrate sacrilege hcreii
ter very fandtuary.
It will be a/ked what remedy for th:
.'vil ? I answer no violent one. Thi
jentle power of opinion, I flatter myfel'
ivill prove fufficient among our citizen
who have sense, moials and property
The hypocrisy of the clubs will be un
malked, and the public scorn, withotn
touching their persons or property, wil
frown them into nothing.
Mr. Ames next proceeded to advert
more particularly to fafls. He made
mention of the Jesuits, who were banifti
ed for becoming a club against the E'u-
ropean governments. He mentioned
the Jacobins aIL, who performed well
in pulling down the old government,
but because they would continue pulling
down the new one, as such clubs ever
will, had their hall locked up by Le
gendre. Our committees in 1774 and
1 77'5> were efficient instruments to pull
down the British government. Yet al
though they were friendly to our own,
the people laid them aside, at soon as
they wished to build up inflead of pull
ing down. If our government were to
be demolished, clubs would be a power
ful means of doing it, and the people
may chufe to countenance them at that
time. But as they chufe no such thing
at present, they will discountenance
them. The Cincinnati were pcrCbnajly
worthy mc» r officers of the most worthy
army that crer triumphed. Yet altlio'
they were, friendly to " the go'vernment,
and poffelTed the confidence of the citi
zens by the moll "brilliant titles, the na
ture of their institution railed ajealoufy
and ferment. The state lejjiflatures
condemned it, as fitting up a govern
ment within the government. What
then are we to fay of clubs ? have
been rather imprudently called for, and
let fhem be examined.
The Democratic Society ot Ver
i fnont ft ate, as one reason for their eilab
| liflunent, the unmerited abuse with
which the public papers have so (iften
teemed againlt the minister of our only
ally. This was long after Genet's
whole correspondence had been publish
ed, and after France had Unequivocally
difapprovedhiscondu£t. <
Agreeable to a previous notification,
there met at Pittfburg, .on the 2lft of
Ailguit, a number of persons, Itiling
themselves "A meeting of sundry inha
bitants ot the Western Counties of Penn
sylvania." *
This meeting entered into resolutions
not less exceptionable than those of its
predeceflbrs. Tlfe pieamble suggests
that a tax on fpintuotis liquors is unjnll
in itfelf andoppreflive upon the poor,
that internal taxes upoo consumption
mult in the end doltroy the. liberties of
■the country in which they are introdu
ced ; that the law in question from cer
tain local circnmltances which are fpe
cified, would biing immediate diltrefs
and ruin upon the western country ; and
concludes with the sentiment, that they
think, it their dyty to perfilt in remon
strances to Cofigrefs, and every other
legal measure that may obltrudt the o
peration of the law.
Ttw; resolutions then •. roceed, fir ft to
appoint a committee to prepareatid cause
t<-> be presented to Congrtrfs an address
flatting objections to tht law, and pray,
ing iQr its repeal—Secondly, to appoint
committees of correfpojidence for Wa/h
---ington, Fayette, and Alleghany, charg
ed to corrcfpond together, and with
fitch committees as should be appointed,
for the fame purpose in the county of
Veftmoreland, or with any committees
of a firnfla\f natuie, that might be ap
pointed in other paits of [he Uiiitec
States; and also if foupd neccilary to
call either general meetings of
the pc'Qple, In their refpe<sbve counties,
or conferences of theitverarc6mmitte.es
and laltly to declare that they will in fu»
ture copfider those who hold offices for
the colJe&foh of the dtity, as unworthy
of their friendfMp, that they will have
no intercomfe nor dealings with them,
will withdraw from them every
ance, withhold all the comforts of life
which depend upon, those duties, that as
men and" fellow-citizen# we owe to eacl
other, and will upon all occasions treat
therri with contempt : earnestly recom
mending it to the people at large, t(
lollow the fame line of conduit toward
them.
Tie mentioned the (hameful transac
tion at Lexington, in Kentucky, where
Mr. Jay was burned in effigy. It was
painful he fafd thus to dwell on the dis
honor of the Country, but it wasalreadv
publilhed."*
, The late appointment of John Jay as
Envoy Extraord nary to the Court of Lon
don, brought so ffrongly to the recolleHion
of the peiple of this country his former ini
quitous attempt to barter away their mo ft
valuable right, that t/xy could not refrain
from openly teflifying üb'horence of the man
ivbofe appointment at this critical period of
their affairs, they confidcr as tragically
omw-ous. Although they hud not forgot
ten, nor even faintly remembered, bis fir
mer acl of treason agai»jl them ; yet they
hoped, from the office hSjdled, he was in as
harmless actuation as he could he placed
and that no effort ofpowef or policy, could
drag him forward, so long as be held his
offer, andfet h.m once more to chaffering
with our rights. With these impressions
a number <f refpeSakle citizens of this place
and its -vicinity, on Saturday laji, ordered
I a hkentfs of this civil genius of wefiern A
merica to be ma e, which wasfoon well
executed. At the appointed hour he was
ufhercd forth from a barber's shop, amidjl
tbejhouts of the people, dressed in a courtly
manner and placed ereSl on the platform
of the pillory. In his righ: hand he held up
lifted, a rod of iron; in his left he Md ex.
tended Swift's laji speech in Congress, or.
thefubjeSl of Rritifh depredation ; on one
fide of which was written
Nemo repente fLit twpiffimus-. JUK. Sat.
J f " 33-
No man e'er reached the heights of viee at
/"ft-
And on the other
—nor, deficit alter. Virg. j£ a . 6
A second it net wanting.
About his nedcuiasfuJy:n(Ud by a hempen
Jl ring, Adams'i iUfer.ce bf she American
Constitutions ; " on the cover of which was
written " Scriberejujjit aurum". G-v. Ep.
— Gold bade me write.
After exhibiting him in this condition
for J'ome time, he <was ordered to be guillo
tined, which was joon dexteroufty executed
and a flame injlar.tly applied to h,m, which
finding its way to a quantity of powder,
which was lodged in his body, produced
such an explojtan that after it there was
, The Gub of Chailefton, South Caro
lina i'olicited an adoption of the Jacobin
Club at Paris. They alio addressed Con
sul Margourit, who had a&ually granted
commission» to privateers, in defiance of
the Prcfidept's Proclamation of Neutra
lity.
Extract of the Gazette Nationale, or
Univerfel, No. 27th.
JACOBIN SOCIETY.
October, 1793.
Coupe de Loife in the chair.
Th« Republican Society of Cbarlef.
ton, in Carolina, one of the Uni;rd-
States of America, demand of the
cobin Club its adoption. "
Hautheir—«VVc havefpiit our blood
for the eftablifhrnent of American H-;
berty. I think that the Aoieiicank
ought to do the fame for us, before we
grant them adoption."
A Citizen—" Before engaging thtm
j to intermeddle in our war, it is rjcccfHi
ry to understand one another, to come
to an agreement with them. Ido not
fee then a more efficacious way for the
previous re-union, than an adoption of
their society."
Collot de Herbois—After making
some general observations, fays—" Ne.
verthelefs, we should not neglect the
advantages which may arise from this
advance. I conclude that we agree to
this adoption."
The elub of Pinkney di.lridt in Caro
lina had voted in favor of war and a
gainfl paying taxr*, because they were
too far from the market.
A Virginia club had voted an altera,
tion in the conllitution in order that an
amendment might prevent the President
being again eligible. Is proof necefl'a
ry to those whb remember the state of
this city last spring? Are the relolvcsof
the clubs of this place and New-York
forgotten? Could outrage and audacity
be expected to venture further? One
condemned the excise as odious and tv
ranncal; the other, inforcing that fenr.i
ment, published its condemnation of
IVJr. Jay's million of peace. Did not
all of them arraign the whole govern
rient, reprobate the whole fyftein of
laws, charge the breach of theconttitn.
the P.efideot, and unfpeakabl*
turpitude un the adminiftiatien, as well
as on this tody? Surely Americans,
feeling as they ought, for the honor andf
prace ar.d fafety of their country, can.
not forget these excefTesr they cannot
lemember th;m in manner which
my reprobation coui<i enforce.
Extqidl from the proceedings of a mt.-ct.
ingot delegates from the deAion dif-'
tricts of Allegany county, held vd*
Pitlfburg, April i . Thomas Mor-
tqn in the chair,
At this jtinfture we have France to
assist us, who, fliould we now take a part,
will not fail to stand by us until Canada
is independent of Britain, and the tnfti.
gators of Indian hollilittes art removed?
and ftionld we lie by, while France is
ft niggling for her liberties, it cannot be
fuppoled tha't her republic will embark
in a war on Our account after the fliaU
have been vi&orious. It was for this
reafun, that though we approved of the
condu'ift of the Prelident, and "the Judi
ciary of the United States, in their en
deavors to preserve peace and an impar
tial neutrality, until thefenfeof the'na
tion had been taken on the necessity of
retaliation by actually declaring war,
yet now that the Congter ß have been
convinced, and tuch jtift groi;nd» exit!,
we are weary of their tardiness in com
ing forward to measures of reprisal.
But we have observed with great pair,
that our councils want the integrity »r
fpint of Republicans. This we attri
bute to the pernicious influence of stock- •
holders or their fuboidi nates; and our
minds feel this with lo much indignancy,
that we are alrnoft ready to with for a
Hate of revolution, and the guillotine of
I ranee, for a Ihort space, in order to
infli& punilhment on the miscreants that
enervateand disgrace our government.
Gaz. of the U. States, May .5,1794.
If ths black charges again'ft Congress,
3Bd the whole government, were tine,
they ought to fly to arrrs. They ought to
pull down this trswerof iniquity so asnctto
leare one stone upcn another. The deluded
■western people believed tlem true & afled
accordingly. The great mass of the di - ,
contented, therefore, are to le pitied fpr the ''
ignorance and credulity which nxiiie them
the dupes 0 f the clubs. They thought
they were do.ng God and their country
lervice by cleansing this Ai.fran ftabfe of
its tilth. It wss not ofiprifiion that rout
ed them to arms as some would insinuate
lor their country flouriflies wonderfully,
it was an infurrtiftion railed by the wicked
arts of tadiion.
A moment however is due to the peculiar
falfity of the two flande.-on this hodv.
i lieicars of the simple citizens have teen
ftaitled with the fablo that there is a mo
narchy party m this houfc and tlie other.
Scarcely to be faunS a par t icle of the disjeHa.
membra Phmpo. .
Nevj-rirk Journal or Patriotic
by Grunhaf, Augujl %t I;9J .