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r eg ister: AND Our t are the plant of fair delightful peace, Unw,pd by puty rage, t live like brother. North Carolina State Gazette "Vol. VI. PENNSYLVANIA POLITICS Having published the Aaare-s u- . - -bers of the Pennsylvania Legislature in . favor of a Convention and a change ot Governor, we now give the Addreg i of the Societv of -Constitutional Republicans, established in the City and unjy of Philadelphia, to the Republicans ot 1 enn v.iirania : which ' was unanimously ap proved and adopted, at a general meeting of the Scietym the City of Philadelphia, on Monday, the 10th of June, 1805, tor n..rvmo' th nreacnt Constitution as it is, ,, tjv-a i kr-u;r and tor retaining me i ad.ire$s is supposed to com irom inp pen of Mr. Dallas. Friend and Fellow-Citizens, Aftek an arduous contest in sup port of those principles of civil libbrty to which the Revolution gave birth during the first period of a tnuijnph, that conferred tne Executive anq i.e trislarive authority .ot the nation, up on patriots of our own choice ; while the character of the American Peo- i on l of their government, is n- sin??, with un-. vailed lustre, irj i the estimation of the wise and the good the ripe season, of domestic prospfcnty presenting its blessings as me icpaiu . ... xl L 1 rifv rtm. an; ln'iUStr.V, WlinOUl U1S- ttnetien of persons places, or pur s!iir wnn can ucai, wuuuuu am- prize, the cry of social discontent ; or view, without apprehension, spirit of political innovation ? But the painful crisis has arrived ! A roidst ail our inducements to preserve harmonv and Peace, the standard of .discorcl has been wautonW unfurled. By specious tales of imaginary wfon?s you have been urged to dcutt th; reality of the happiness you enjoy In the 'hope of substituting the glitter of impracticable theories, fod the steady light of experience, the fun damental laws and constitutions oi the land, are assailed. The Wreath of honor,'pUced by yourselves upon the brow of sages and of chiefs, i& rudely violated by strange and obtru sive hands. And the Republican Party of Pennsylvania (out-running the opprobrious prediction of its ene mies) seems eager to become the speedy instrument ol its own destruc tion, j The evil, thus distinctly tifaced. is great; but, "Ft How-Citizens, it is not incurable. Reflecting upon the origin and progress of the scheme to subvert our government," ,nd to degrade our patriots ; the motive.", the means, and the number, of its . authors and supporters ; the very nature of khe influence, which has beguiled some honest and respectable citizens to its aid; and the irr:sista ble force of reason and truth, in de veloping the fatal consequences, with which it teems ; you will be canvin ced that there, is yet safety, by an appeal to the virtue, intelligence, and power of the people. In countries, whose over-grown population, is tain ted with crimes and enervated by want arlvre the inequalires of property and of rank, produce envy, on the one hand and contuimly, on the other ; where labour has no ex citement for its movements, nor any security. for its accumulation'fandi wnere, in a struggle, to ne emanci pated frem oppression, the end is deemed a suycient sanction for ali th5 means, that c,'.n be employed to attain it the smallest spark of politi cal enthusiasm inturaUy kindles into a blaze ; and the public tranjqnility is iorcvri iicid, at the mere) of in dividuals, sanguine, bold,-and -aspi- ring. Far different, however condition. of Pennsylvania, wl material change can be ..pi without -involving the htisar .material injury ; and the is the ere no jected, t;op!e, neither insensible to the bounties of Providence, nor regardless oi the j dictates of prudence; will hear, ex .amine, and decide for themselves. Encountering this ordeal, the clamour which has been suddenly raised, must as rapidly pass away ; and, like a 5umniei'o storm, serve only, by its concussion, to purify inti en liven the political atmosphere.! Bshold, then, Fdlow-Cuizens, in the history of the 'existing "crisis, '-as well the ground of consolation, as the source of your affliction!. Du ring the memorable period, in which the Republican party strove to res cue our civil institutions from danger, aid to enforce the right of participa te, in the service and holier of our country ; a principle of concert pid of conversation, and sudden ebulli conciliation, gave life, and confidence j; tions of passion ; have, been obtruded and effect, to all our plans and oper- : from the recesses of a malignant ations. Bat no sooner were the sta- ; memory, upon the public ear ; and tions of power and patronage, occu-1 indeed, it was once vainly thought, pied by distinguished Republicans ; ; that favor might be. atchieved, by srnw 0 had the? ausnicious inauirurtV- i. an OUVIi V. J T I I . m . 1 1 tion of 1801 U, oi-luKpatfl nnr ' ' indeed, had the toils of the re jent j' conflict, ceased to rt quire relaxajion ; and repose ; when symptoms ot am-1 ! bition and intrigue ; ot jealousy ana discontent oT disunion and disorder, awakened the patriotic mind, to a sense of new troubles, and new bor rows. The distinction then became ' obvious between those Republicans, o a . M who had foueht for the Cause, and those who had onlv fought for them-; : ciafion and terror ; transferring their selves. With some merit, on the principal scene of action from Wash score of service, but wi'h more pre-..ngton to Philadelphia ; where the tension, from the desire of remune- i 1 Press, which had attained a match ration, a small but active combina-! j less celebrity, urd-r the guidance' tion of mtlcontents was formed, to ?! of its able and upright Touniier, was influence, rtr contniul, the measures devoted, by its present proprietor, of government : And these men (in their career, presumptuous, intrepid, and persevering) have deemed no claim too extra v . gant to be advanced ; no artifice too mean to be employed, no obstacle too irreat to be surmoun-; ! ted. While they have ma ked for ; i dertqok sometimes to act in the name popular scorn and susp cion, every !f the Legislature, just as the ml other citizen in public employment, j contents themselves, have always Uierr business and j.leasure, and ! presumed to act in the Jiame of the pride, have been the designation of rpeople. I he plausule pretext ot re offices fur themvelves, and the hun-.jj dress of grievances, and a reform u ;ry circle of their adherents. The tion of abuses, naturally operated highst oarings have not bven above the ii of their vanity ; nor are the 1 lowest beneath the cravings of jheir j indigence. The cabinet of State', ind the direction of a B ;nk s the desk of the Customs, and the bench of a Court ; the magistracy of a City, and the clerkships of a Department ; contracts for public supplies, and a encies for charitable institutions; military commissions, and medical Appoin men's ; have b en, alike, the nm, the hoper or. the solace, of their labours. Although the object of, the com bination, which we deprecate, may be thus regar it d as single (the self- , aggrandizement .of its members) the j arts that have been practised to ac complish it, have been numerous and j divei sifi. d. When the the issue of I our elections had destined the reins of government for Republican hands, it was seen and ft.lt, by the genuine Inends of that a d the rising administration, i igiified execution ojf the-' trust, wpuld be embarrassed by ex .pectationsfcsAvhich justice could not warrant ; by solicitations, ijvhich j reason was unable to satisfy ; aid by ' suggestions, which an enlightened ; policy could not fail to condemn. ', The indications of this perturbeja and j prowling spirit, preceded the! first official act of the new Adm'uystra tion; and measures td be adopted, j were uenneat-cci, Dy a Dpiu ana spe cious anticipation, that offered, in the form of a conjecture, -what was Aieant to be prescribed as a ! task. .11! l i i ti i j While the great body of the RUpOrb ! titans, aware tht their position did notaffo'rd a view of the whole of tht political ground, left the arrange ment of State, and the work of -reformation, implicitly, to their illus trious Chief and his Associates, the Malcontents pressed with increasing vehemence, on the Councils of the Ration. Sometimes they endeavor I eld to attract attention, by florid re ! presentations of their own personal worth, and civic popularity I At o ther times, they have soughto ele vate themselves, by depreciating the character cf every real, or supposed competitor. On one occasioh you have seen them magnify the ! hasty opinion of a few inhabitants, of a few t vraris of the city, Hito a deliberate expression of the will of the people. On another occasion, they have j been .detected in divulging plots, j which were never conceived ; and ' in branding as conspirators against the fame and fortunes .of the Chief Magistrate, men who would cheer fully expose their lives, for the vin dication of his principles, and the advancement of his happiness. The whole machinery of confidential let ters, essays upoe the state of parties, anonymous Jiints, admomtioujs-, and accusatforls has been set in motion. The petty incidents of privajte life, and the momentary asperities of pri- vate altercation : mutilated scraps j Monday, Juj-y 1 1805. attempt to sow the seeds ot Hiiiirinn. hvpti within tl Vi i"nurar precincts of the Capitol, Kut bamed in every scheme, and oisappointett in every wish ; mortih ed with rontempt, and exasperated by despair; the malcontents resolved to coerce, whom they could not per suade, and to ruin what they could not enjoy. They quickly,' therefore, exchaneed theavts of solicitation and deception, tor the weapons ot denun- to all their passions and projects. A few leading members of theGtneraJ Assenib'y, honest, perhaps, but fas cir v.ed by the mischievous and glow ing speculations of Godwin, were, also, enlisted in their cause ; and un upon weak, though worthy, men, in a small degree o augment their numbers ; while the desperate and the dissolute to whom any change is preferable to the continuance of or der) listened, with delight, to the sound of the Revolutionary tocsin. .Thus composed, and thus prepa f red, the malcontents commenced the work of devastation upon our public I characters,. ani public institutions ; boasting without shame, or compunc tion, that in the prosecution of their designs, the merit of past services should be obliterated ; the hope of future usefulness should be blighted, every feeling of friendship, every claim of gratitude, every tie of do mestic affection, should be disregarded and subdued. -Although they still wore a mask of respect towards tKe Chief Magistrate of the Union, the members ot his Cabinet (the inmates j of his heart, as well as the partners i in his toil) 1iave been, successively, libelled by their news-paper squibs, or stigmatized in their toasts at a Festival. They have sentenced a Republican majority in Congress, to the grossest imputation!! of corrup. tion. In terms of unequivocal im port, they havs charged eleven Re publican Senators of Pennsylvania, with perjury, while deciding in a judicial capacity. An opposition to the candidate, whom they delight to honor, or to a measure,- which they are pleased, without consultation, to propose, has never failed to open the sluices of scurrility and defamation, upon veterans of the Revolution and Republicans of the day of trial. In the lust of power, in the rage of pro scription, the exercise of the equal right of opinion, at political meetings, has either been over-awed by boiste rous menaces, or frustrated. by clan destine combinations. TheesseiviaT rules of discipline, have been viola ted in the military corps, to which they-fcelong, whil-men, wearing the garb, and claiming the name of sor diers, have re used obedience, on a political pretext, to the orders of their commander, leaving him no refuge from. intolerable disgrace, but an indignant resignation of his com mission. For maintaining the free- j dom of e1ectionv(that vital principle of a Republican Government, guar anteed by the constitution and laws, against every species" of yiiftfluence and outrage) Republicans have been deprived of petty ounces under the City Corporation. Nay, descending to the humblest sphere of persecution, a long list of tried and inflexible Re publicans, have been expelled with out a hearing, from a Popular Society, charged with the inexplicable crime of suspicion ; or attainted of a. con tumacious opposition, to the election of the Memrber of Congress, presiding at their expulsion. In short, who has not felt, or does not fear to feel, the goad and the lash of the present usurpation ? To the elevation of bad men, ; the prostration of good men, has always been found a necessarrpre ttide. The Gironde of Brissdt, formed ' a base for the mountain of Robetfitrrc. The worst views of faction, too, are, generally, pursued under professions of tire best. And tlis Citizens of America begin, at length, .to per ceive, that advantage has been taken of their just veneration for the Liberty of the Press, to shackle them with the tyranny of Printers. But it early occurred to the mal contents, that this system of (Enun ciation, could not be supperted by the mere weight ot their own authori ty. Many Citizens, who , were the objects of their enmity, bore honora ble marks of service in tfce war of Independence ; many had grown grey with the solicitudes of public I council ; most of them were attached ikj vuc nun, uy wie iiea oi parentage, of offspring,- or of property ; and all of them h id contributed to the tri umph of Republicanism. A gener ous people may be vigilant, but they cannot be suspicious : before they decide, they will examine ; before they inflict punishment, they muct be convinced, that thee exists guilt. it was natural, therefore, to .expect an enquiry, why men, who had been firm and faithful, throughout the gloomy season ;;f privation and suf fering, Should abruptly abandon their principles and their party, when ali was sunshine, hilarity and enjoy ment r 1 o escape Irom the difficulty of answering this question, the mal contents dexterously raised the phan torn of a Third Party f It is obvi ous', however, that while the rap;'' progress of their denunciation; pre sents numbers sufficient to constitun an independent political Corps, tbei; ingenuity has been eXcrted, in vain to assign an adequate motive for its formation ; nor ha3 their zeal been more successful in discovering anv proof of us existence. For, though the public have been long amused by a succession of promises, to unveil 'reasons, stratagems, and spoils;" what has been-heard, in performance if those promises, except the ragings j A ambition, and the ribaldry 6f nick-names ? ' Thus, to oppose ; andida e, pertinaciously nominated !y the leading tut Icontents, has been ieemed an inexpiable h rey although a Republican was his competitor. A efusal to acquiesce in the decision )f the malcontents at a popular meeting, has been arraigned as afios tay, although the decision was sur reptitiously obtained. A verdict fori the acquttal of Judges, whom the malcontents had fore-doomed to con viction, has been stigmatized as pa litiral dtfct'ion, although it was de livered, in favor of innocence, under the solemnity of an oath. In short. very Freeman, who was unwilling to yield, passive obedience to the mandates of a Secret Tribunal, and to sacrifice substantial brnefits, for airy novelty ; who would not applaud characters, that he did not approve, nor vindicate measures that he nevei advised ; who disdained to carry the. i j. . i ...... , , ireiuuices or partv inro tne circus f social life, or to declare all leVirn- T 1 J . .1. I mg, icarneo men, ana goou manners. lostile to the dignity of Republican. virtue; the malcontents have arb tra- rily en'-o'led as id or a Fcdertlist ; a Traitor or a To y ; involving them all, at last (under the auspices o General Steele and Mr. Mitchell) in a comprehensive proscripiion o " The Constitutional Republicans." But here, let it be explicitly anndun ced, that if to differ, at this period in opinion and feeling, in theory and practice, from the malcontents, can turnish the foundation of a Third Party, we shall rather boast, thai blush, at the imputation of belonging to it. For, as. -the malcontents have widely wandered from the political ground, n which we once acted to gether, our last, great hope, (re peating the sentiment of 1801) k' an Union of honest men, on the " principles, which led Washington ''to the field, and placed Jefferson " in the Cabinet." Having traced the malcontents through the windings of sinister in trigue, and personal detraction ; we proceed, with encreasing indigna tjod, to review their daring 'and sa crileg'mus efforts, against the civi institutions of oir country. On vain presumption, that.tae establish- No set. ment of their own influence, 1iatl been the necessary consequence f undermining; the influence of others, it was-thought easy to consummate the work of -destruction, by employ ing the same arts to decry principles, which' .they had hitherto employed to disgrace men. Resorting there fore, t all that could excite passion", or rivet prejudice ; to' all that could stimulate fear, or attract credulity ; they have exposed the form and th substance of our Government, the code of our laws, the system of our jurisprudence, and the administra tion of justice, through a false and deceptive niedium, to the scorn and detestationpf the world. Whatever wasprepared for us, by our venera ble Ancestors, is ridiculed as obso lete. Whatever is the production of co-temporary wisdom, is branded with corruption. The Patriots of America are supposed to have been ignorant of the tru interests of their country ; and her Statesmen are re- proached, with a treacherous con tempt of the rights of man : While the impious and visionary standard of human perfectibility, is proclaimed to be the only rational guide, in the formation of a free government ; and the malcontents themselves to be the only qualified Ruler,s of a free people Under the impulse of these dogma, and with a view to the introduction f wild, pernicious, and unheard of. schemes oT legislation and politics, The malcontents have endeavored to deprive us of the inestimable right of trial by Jury, incases of trespass and1 dani-ages, as well as in cases of debt and contract. They have endeavoured to deprive us of the security of independent Judges ; -of Judges independent of popularity and persecution, as well as of p.wer and patronage". They have endeavoured to deprive lis of the sanctuary of Courts of Jus tice, where publicity will always in sure impartiality ; substituting the private chamber of an individual Justice, where secrecy too oftett en courages oppression, aud begets im punity. They have endeavoured to deprive us of of the Fieedom of Election, by a display of the terrors of denuncia tion and proscription : threatening rhe good man wiih a loss of charac ter, and the poor man with a loss of office. Thoy have endeavoured to deprive us of the Liberty of the Press, by denying to Republicans the usual channels f public, comnuinicatibn They have endeavoured to deprive us df the honors of a well-orgmized militia,, by flagrant examples of dis ol tc eh e. ct . tur.1,acy, tu d cHjorde. They hare endeavoured to deprive us of. the benefits of the Common Law of Pennsyvania, as recognised, approved, and confirmed, by the Whigs of 1776. Ttiey are endeavouring to ovetS throw the State Constitution, invol ving m its ruirjs the order of Society, and the principle of Republicanism. And, finally, they are endeavour ing, through the example anrfinlu ence of Pennsylvania, to subvert the Federal Cousi t tion, at the hazard of civil war, aad a disso.utiun of the Union. Such, Fellow Ciu2ens, is the cri. sis, at which your decision is requi red, upon the great questions, Whether a Convention shalLbe called? And whether tho present Governop shall be re-elected r The inalienable rirht of th npn. pie, to assemble for' the alteration or abolition, of their form of eovern- ment : and the absolute authority of the Citizens, to seWct whom they please, for - their Chief Magistrate, have never been denied, and ought not to be resisted. But "the poss'es sion .-pf the right and the authority, Bespeaks discretion and justice in using them : and it would be dis graceful, as well as destructive, to vield that obedience to the cry of faction, which is due alone to tb legitimate voice of the People- To be continued in oar ntxt 1 f(
The Weekly Raleigh Register (Raleigh, N.C.)
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July 1, 1805, edition 1
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