E 
 
 33 
 


 
THE 
 PRET E NSION s OF 
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON 
 
 TO THE 
 
 PRESIDENCT 
 EXAMINED ; 
 
 AND THE 
 C II J R G E S AGAINST 
 
 JOHN ADAMS 
 
 REFUTED. 
 
 JDDRESSED TO THE CITIZENS OF AMERICA IN GENERAL) 
 
 AND PARTICULARLY TO THE 
 
 ELECTORS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 P R ESI D E N 
 
 
 \ 
 UNITED STATES, October 1796. 
 
, C 
 
A WRITER under the fignature of Hampden, in the Rich- 
 mond paper of the ift inftant, after afterting the exclu- 
 five right of Virginia to fill the office of Prefident, calls the at- 
 tention of the citizens of that (late to the illuftrious Thomas 
 Jcfferfon, as the fitted character in the imion to fill the Prefi- 
 dent's chair, and proceeds to enumerate the various preteniions 
 of that gentleman. They are, 
 
 I ft. His merits as z philofopher. 
 
 2d. As a. republican. 
 
 gd. A.O * friend to the civil and religious rights of mankind. 
 
 4th. As a citizen who was in favor of the prefent federal 
 government, but wimed for amendments. 
 
 5th. As an enthufiaftic admirer of the French Revolution, 
 without however furrenderingjihe independency and felf-govern- 
 ment of America. 
 
 6th. As a citizen, who had a proper fenfe of the perfidious 
 conduct of Britain towards us, which he would have counteract- 
 ed by pacific meafures, and meafures more advantageous than 
 thofe which have taken place. 
 
 7th. As a citizen whofe diplomatic talents, and political fa- 
 gadty are not inferior to his republicanifm and unalterable at- 
 tachment to liberty. 
 
 8th. As poffeffing a fortune no lefs independent than hfs 
 principles, and with a difpofition, continually impelling his fer- 
 tile genius to difcoveries and improvements in the arts and fcien- 
 
 ces. 
 
 I SHALL not ftop to confider the exclufive claim of Virginia to 
 the prefidency, but (hall proceed to examine the pretenfions of 
 Thomas Jefferfon, as the above detailed. We may juftly pre- 
 fume that his panegyrift has brought forward every title which 
 this candidate pofleffes to the public favor on this occafion, and 
 we may therefore fafely pronounce that thofe, and thofe alone, 
 are the titles on which his pretenfions reft. I fhall examine, 
 
 i ft. THE merit of T. Jefferfon, as a philofopher. 
 
 WHETHER a moral or a natural philofopher, or both, is not 
 ftated by Hampden. The character of a good moral philofo- 
 
 348646 
 
( 4 ) 
 
 phcris certainly a very refpe-Shble one, and if Mr. Jefferfon's 
 panegyriils can produce any evidence of his merits in that re- 
 lation, I (hall be happy to fee them. If it can be (hewn that 
 he has difapproved of the cruelties which have ftained the French 
 revolution, that he has reprobated, inftead of countenancing, the 
 impious dottrives of Thomas Paine, that he has been an advocate 
 tuppence^ order and fubmiffion to the laws, that he has never re- 
 commended in a public character, a profligate violation of pub- 
 lic faith, in that cafe, his qualities as a good mora/pHilofopher, 
 would be valuable ingredients in the character of Prefident of 
 the United States. 
 
 WHETHER or not he has vindicated, the horrors and cruelties 
 perpetrated in France, has been the advocate of Thomas Paixc- 
 and the patron of his works, has foftered diffentions in the ad- 
 miniftration of the federal government, has -eoanived at the op- 
 pofition to the laws, has recommended meafures dc-ilruCuv^ O f 
 the public credit and reputation, will hereafter appear by a re- 
 view of his conduct, and by a reference to public facts and do- 
 cuments. 
 
 IF Hampden only intended to exhibit him in the character 
 of a great natural philofopher, 1 am at a lofs to difcern in what 
 refpeCts his merits as a natural philofopher, can recommend him 
 to the preiidency. It mould feem that the a&ive, anxious and 
 refponfiblc ftation of prefident would illy firit the calm, retired 
 and exploring views of a 'natural philcfopher r his merits might 
 entitle him to the profefformip of a college, but they would be 
 as incompatible with the duties of the pieiidency as with the 
 command of the Weftern army. As well might we have 
 brought forward the eminent talents of Rittenhoufe, had he 
 been living, or the wonderful genius of Cox, the great bridge 
 builder : indeed the merits of the famous equejlrum Ricketts 
 would have been at leall as likely to recommend him to a ilation, 
 which may occafionally require great military talents. 
 
 HAD Hampden juftly appreciated the talents of this great 
 natural philosopher, he would have continued him in his philo- 
 fopliical 1 retirement, emptying his fertile ge-.i s i-,i difcc'vcrtes a : d 
 improvement in the < ' // I arts, impaling butterflies and iniels, 
 and contriving turn-about chairs,/ r the le-'efit cf his fellow, citi- 
 zens ar.d rna- kind in general. While in the innocent enjoyment 
 of fuch harmlefs occupations, no real friend to his peace and re- 
 pofe, and to the welfare of mankind; would draw this calm phi- 
 lofopher from fuch ufeful purfuits, to plunge him into the bufy 
 and dangerous vortex of an arduous Ration. 
 
 To be ferious, let us examine the claim which his panegyriil 
 fets up for him to the title of philofofksr. 
 
( 5 ) 
 
 FOR the proof of his affertion, he refers us to the Notes on 
 Virvi-'-ia. As a moral philofopher, I do not recoiled any part 
 of that work, which julliiies the affertion ; but as a -natural phi- 
 
 lofopher, his c^aim is probably founded on his ingenious 
 tation refpeding the primary caufes of difference between the 
 whites and the blacks. It is worthy of infcrtion, and will fur- 
 niih an accurate idea of his philofophical fagacity. This phi- 
 lofopherhad once formed the extravagant project of ema:.cipa-' 
 ti g all tbd flaws of fSirgi-.ia, and the more extravagant one of 
 afterwards '.item off to fome other country ; in page 147 
 
 of his Notes on Virginia, he fays, " it will probably be aiked, 
 " why not retain and incorporate the blacks in this ftate ? I 
 " anfwer, deep rooted prejudices entertained by the whites, 
 " ten thoufand recolledions by the blacks of the i juries they 
 " have fuftained, new provocations, the real dyinSions which 
 " n 'A 'TX.* has male, and many other circumflances, will divide 
 ' UG into parties and produce convulfions, which will never end 
 " but in the extermination of the o :e or tic other race. To thefe 
 " objections, which are political^ may be added others, which 
 " are phvfical ar.d moral. The firft difference which ilrikes us 
 " is that of colour ; whether the black of the negro refidcs in 
 " the reticular membrane between the fkin and the fcarf ikin, 
 " or in the fcraf ihiu ilfelf, whether it proceeds frcru the colour 
 " of _the blood, or the colour of the bile, or from that of fome 
 " other fecr>:!i v isjixaatq '^(it:.ire^ and is as real as 
 
 " if its feat aud caule \verc better known to us. And is this dif- 
 " fere xce of no importance ? Is it not the foundation of a greater 
 " or a lefs (hare of beauty in the two races ? Are not the fine 
 *' mixtures of reel ar-d \vliite, the exprcfliens of every paffionby 
 '* greater or lefs fuffuilon of colour in the one, preferable to that 
 " eternal monotony ".:ns in the countenances, that im- 
 
 " moveable veil of black which covevs ail the emotions of the 
 ' olher race ? Add to thefe, flowing hair, a more elegant iym- 
 " metry of fonn, their own judgment in favor of the whites, 
 " declared by their preference of them as uniformly as is the 
 " preference of the ora;t ou!a"g for the t T thofc of 
 
 *' his f.'V.>' ; fpcc!cs. Befldcs thofe of colour, figure and hair, there 
 ** are other pi: \&ious proving a of race; th y 
 
 " have lefs hair on the fp c v/f lefs ly the L'< 
 
 ** and more by ths glare's oj the A-/;;, which gives them a very 
 " Jlrong and difagrcrabfe odo?r. They are more tolerant of heat, 
 " and lefs fo of cold, than the whites, perhaps owing to a diffe- 
 " re.ice offiruci -jre i"i tbepnlm^ s ; they are more ar- 
 
 " dent afler their female their griefs are traniient ; in general 
 " their exiilence appears to participate more of fenfation than 
 " re^edion. They are in reafoaxauch inferior to the whites. It 
 " is not againit experience to iuppofc tliat different fpecies of the 
 
"fame genus, or varieties of tie fame fpecles, may poffefs different 
 * qualifications. Will not a lover of natural In/lory, then, one 
 * who views the gradations in all the races of animals, with the 
 " eye of philofophy, excufe an effort to keep thofe in the depart- 
 " ment of man as dijlintt as nature has formed them ; this unfor- 
 " tunatc difference cf colour, and perhaps of faculty, is a po wer- 
 "/,</ oljlacle to tie emancipation of thefe people. Many of their 
 " advocates while they wifh to vindicate the liberty of human 
 " r.ati-re are anxious alfo toprfferve Its dignity and beauty. Some 
 " of thefe, embarraffc-d by the queftion, what further is to be 
 " done with them, join themfelves in oppofition with thofe who 
 '* are aSttatfd by fordid avarice only. Among the Romans, 
 " emancipation required but one effort : the flave when made 
 " free might mix without Jlaw&g the blood of his majler, but with 
 *' us, afecwdis necsjjary, unknown to hi/lory ; when freed, he is 
 " to be removed beyond the reach of mixture." 
 
 A FEW comments on the foregoing very ridiculous and ela- 
 borate attempt to prove that the negroes are an inferior race of 
 animals, will place in a juft light the philofophicdl merits of the 
 author : This paflage has been felecled, becaufe it is among 
 thofe which have been moft admired by the author's friends. 
 
 Firft, we obferve an affe6ted anxiety to emancipate the ne- 
 groes of Virginia, why ? " in order to vindicate the liberty of 
 tlie human race ;" but this commendable zeal prefently yields 
 to a more intereiting anxiety " to preferve the beauty of the hu- 
 man race." 
 
 To extricate himfelf from the embarraffment into which he 
 is thrown by the conflicting defires of " vindicating the liberty 
 of the human race," and " preierving its beauty," he hits on 
 the notable expedient of emancipating all the flaves of Vir- 
 ginia, and then iriftantly /hipping them off, like a herd of Hack 
 cattle, the Lord knows where. The delire of preferring the 
 beauty of the human race predominates, however, in the mind 
 of our phiiofopher ; for notwithstanding the flaves are to enjoy 
 a momentary freedom, they are fuddenly after to be feized, 
 bound, packed on board veflels, and againit their confent ex- 
 ported to foine lefs friendly regions, where they would be ail 
 murdered or reduced to a more wretched ftate of fiavery, 
 Such are the noble and enlarged views of phi! of opine at politicians ! 
 But forne j unification muft be given for the latter part of this 
 merciful project : It was neceflary therefore to prove that the 
 blacks, (whofc emancipation was requifite to vindicate the li- 
 bcity of thf human racc^ were not in fat of the human ract, 
 for this muft be the author's meaning, if there be any meaning 
 in his work ; the idea of two or more human races, a black hu 
 
( 7 ) 
 
 man race, and a white human race, being too abfurd even for 
 him to have fuggefted ; it is true, his exprefiions arc fo vague 
 and contradictory, that it is difficult to ascertain very precifely 
 liis meaning ; but taking the whole together, it refults in this, 
 that the blacks are a peculiar race of animals below man and 
 above the oran outang, a kind of tertium quid, a higher kind of 
 brute, hitherto undefcribed. I am at a lofs to annex any other 
 refult to the following exprefiions and obfervations, viz. " The 
 real diftindtions which nature has made" a difference in the 
 two races" comparing the preference which the blacks have 
 for the whites " to the preference of the oran outang for the black 
 women" fecreting lefs by the kidnies, and more by the glands 
 of the fkin than the whites difference of ftrufture in the pul- 
 monary apparatus being in reafon much inferior to the whites 
 different fpecies of the fame genus, or varieties of the fame 
 fpecie? their exiftence participating more offenjttion than re- 
 flection gradations in the different races of animals," c. 
 
 THE confufion of ideas which pervaded the underftanding of 
 our author through the whole of this very ingenious and learn- 
 ed differtation mud be manifeft. At one moment he is anxi- 
 ous to emancipate the blacks, to vindicate the liberty of the hu- 
 man race at another, he difcovers that the blacks are of a dif- 
 ferent race from the human race, and therefore when emancipat- 
 ed, muft be inftantly removed beyond the reach of mixture, leaft 
 he (or flic) mould jlai.i. the blood of his (or her) matter; not 
 recollecting what, from his fituation and other circumllances, he 
 ought to have recolle&ed that this mixture may take place 
 whih the negro remains in flavery : he muft have feen all a- 
 round him fufficient marks of this Jlaixing of blood to have been 
 convinced that retaining them in flavery would not prevent it ; 
 he muft have been fatisfied that the mixture would not be the 
 lefs degrading from the emancipated ft ate of the black. At a- 
 nother moment he difcovers that the blacks are indeed a part of 
 the human race, but then they are a different fpecies of the fame 
 genus, or they and the whites conftitute varieties of the fame 
 fpecies. In one place he afferts with confidence " that they 
 are vi reafon much i fcrior to the whites ;" in another, he feems 
 to doubt it ; " this difference of colour, and perhaps of fatui- 
 ty ;" to juftify the emancipation of the blacks, they are made a 
 part of the h:iman race; to juftify their tranfportation they arc 
 clafftd with the brutes. 
 
 But the moll extraordinary of all the felf contradictions of 
 this philofopher is found in a Letter written, while fecretary o 
 flate, to a Negro named Benjamin BanneJser, which letter, liar- 
 ing a clofe relatioa to this fubjecl', may very properly be here 
 introduced. 
 
We have fecn from the above quotation, that our author 
 was decidedly of opinion ill, ? hat there was a Jixed difference 
 in.naiure between the whites and blacks :d, That this arnount- 
 
 a; j,.'J..;r.Iy not produced 'by their cm-uli- 
 
 tion, but by tii'.. 
 
 THE negro Benjamin was the reputed author of an Almanac, 
 which was either dedicated to, or lent, with fome compi 
 tary epiftle, to his brother author, our phiiofopher, whofe phi- 
 lofophy was of fo pliant a quality, that, inilantly forgetting all 
 his learned difcoveries on the fkin and fcarf fkin and kiduies cf 
 the unfavcry Africans, he fat down and wrote to brother Ben- 
 jamJn a fraternizing epiftle, in which "he rejoiced to iW! that 
 " NATURE -had given to his black brethren talents equal to 
 " thofe of other colours, and that the appearance of a want of 
 " them, was owing merely to the degraded condition of their ex- 
 " iPience, both in Africa and America.'' He then adds his 
 wr/tots for the emancipation of the negroes in the United States, 
 as fail as circumftances will admit. Here we find a direft and 
 jlat contradiction to all his afiertions on this fubjeft in his Notes ; 
 from which we muft infer, either that that work was compiled 
 with fo much inaccuracy, and fuch want of information or re- 
 flection, that the moft trivial chcumftance was fufficient to in- 
 duce him to contradict its contents kimfelf ; or that he was fo 
 influenced by a ridiculous vanity, fo tickled by a filly compliment 
 from an " unfavory animal of an inferior race" as wilfully and 
 publicly to contradict, without any fhame or regard to public 
 decency, his former affertions, flill believing them to be well 
 founded. His panegyrift may choofe from the above alterna- 
 tives, that which may be the ieaii injurious to his friend. He 
 will probably attempt to vindicate the phiiofopher by introduc- 
 ing his candor which led him to recant an error. The wonder- 
 ful production of Brother Benjamin, he will fay, had convinc- 
 ed him of the untruth of his former doftrine. But this apol- 
 ogy will not do ; becaufe the Notes on Virginia prove, that our 
 phiiofopher had feen the reputed works of other bloc&s, at lea'fl 
 canal in merit to Brother Benjamin J 3. and had fuggeited, that 
 they were the production of fome white perfon, falfely attri- 
 buted to the negroes. He had fully conlidered and difcufied 
 this fubje& : this appears from the preceding quotation ; but 
 to leave no room for doubt on this point, a rurther quotation 
 mall be inferted. Our author, in his great zeal to fupport his 
 doctrine of the inferiority of the race cf'lhe Hacks, proceeds thus 
 to the proof: " They are in reafon much Inferior to the whites ; 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 " as, I think, one could fcarcely be found capable of tracing 
 " and comprehending the investigations of Euclid ; in imagi- 
 " nation, they are dull, taftelefs and anomalous. Many have 
 " been brought up to the handicraft arts ; fome have been li- 
 " berally educated ; and all (in America) have lived in coun- 
 " tries where the arts and fciences are cultivated to a confidera- 
 " ble degree, and h?.d before their eyes iamples of the bed 
 " works from abroad. The Indians, with no advantages of 
 il this kind, will often carve figures on their pipes, not defti- 
 " tute of dtTigii and merit ; they will crayon out an animal, a 
 " plant, or a country, fo as to prove the exiftence of a germ 
 " in their minds, which only wants cultivation. They afton- 
 < ifli you with ftrokes of the moil fublime oratory, fuch as 
 <* prove their reafon and fentiment ftrong, their imagination 
 ** glowing and elevated ; but never yet could I find that a 
 < black had uttered a thought above the level of plain narra- 
 te tion never fee even an elementary trait of painting and 
 " fculpture. Love is the peculiar ccilrum of the poet : their 
 " love is ardent, but it kindles the fenfe only, not the imagin- 
 ation. Religion, indeed, has produced a Phillis Wheatly, 
 " but it could not produce a poet. The compofitions pub- 
 " lifhed under her name, are below the dignity of criticifm* 
 " Ignatius Sancbo has approached nearer to merit in his com- 
 " pofition : Though we admit him to the firft. place among 
 " thofe of his own colour, who have prefented themfelves to 
 " the public judgment, yet, when we compare him with the 
 <c writers of the race among whom he lived, and particularly 
 " with the epiftolarly clafs, in which he has taken his own 
 "" ftand, we are compelled to enroll him at the bottom of the co- 
 " lumn. This criticifm fuppofes the letters publifhed under 
 '* his name, to be genuine, and to have received amendment from 
 " no other hand, points tuh'fh ivo''-1d not bs enfy of tnvr/tigation, 
 (furprifmg the fame reflections did not occur refpccling Ben- 
 jamin, the almanac-maker!) The improvement of the blacks, 
 " in body and mind, in the^r/? l,iftance of their mixture with the 
 '* whites, has been obferved by every one, and preves, that their 
 " inferiority is not the effeS, merely of their condition of life. A' 
 " mong the Romans, their Jlaves were often their rarejl ar- 
 " tifts; they excelled too in fcience, mfomuch as to be ufually 
 " employed as tutors to their mafter's children, Epiftetus, 
 " Terence and Phcedrus were flaves ; but they were of the race 
 '* of 'whites. It is not their condition, then, but NATURE^ 'which 
 has produced the dif.la 
 
 FROM the above it is evident, that he had well examined 
 this fubje&, and that his direft snd grofe contradiction of all 
 this doilrine, fo foon after, fprung principally from a wi(h to 
 
 B 
 
( '0 } 
 
 acqin'ic a in;;c popularity with the free negroes. What muft 
 we now think of a philofopher, who, in one publication, af- 
 it". Is it to be " pro-vcd, that the inferiority of the blacks is not 
 " the effeft merely of their condition of life, but a (TiftinSion of 
 '* nice, produced by nature ;" and in another " that it is ow- 
 " ing merely to tlie degraded condition of their exiilence." Did 
 lie flatter himfclf that his letter to Banneker would efcapc 
 publication, and only be handed round among the free negroes, 
 who probably never had read his Notes, or if they had, would 
 forgive the pail injury, on account of the prefent recantation ? 
 Did he hope thus to efcape dttedion, and thus artfully to ob- 
 tain the chara&er of a great and fugacious philofopher with 
 the friends of negro flavery, while he would be rewarded with 
 jilaudits of the abolition focieties and free negroes? What 
 (hall we think of a furetary of Jlate thus frgterntving with ne- 
 groes, writing them complimentary epiflles, {tiling thetn his 
 black brethren, congratulating them on the evidences of their 
 gtnius, and affuring them of his good wilhes for their fpeedy 
 emancipation ; what mull the citizens of the fouthern Jlates, 
 particularly, whofe flaws are guaranteed to them as their pro- 
 perty by the conftitution and laws of the United States, think 
 of 'a fecretary of the United States, (whofe peculiar duty it was to 
 watch over the interefts of every part of the Union,) who, at 
 the hazard of the primary interefts of thofe Hates, promulgates 
 his approbation of a fpeedy emancipation of their flaves ? 
 What will they think of fuch a candidate for the office of pre- 
 lident of the United States r What will they fay to the Elec- 
 tors of the fouthern Jiates who (hall be fo entirely regardlefs of the 
 Interefts and future peace and tranquillity of their country as to vote 
 for fuch a perfon ? But this fubjedl, from its importance, re- 
 quires a further confideration. 
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON, fecretary of ftate of the United 
 Slates, in his letter to the negro Banneker, acknowledges him- 
 felf converted from all his former opinions, refpecting the infe- 
 riority of the black race, and declares himfelf convinced " that 
 " nature\a& given to his black brethren talents equal to thofe of 
 ** ether colours, and that the appearance of a want of them is 
 *' owing merely to the degraded condition of their exiilence both 
 " in Africa and America" He concludes his fraternizing epif- 
 tle with thefe words, " I can add with truth, that nobody 
 " wi/l'-es more ardently to fee a good fyftem commenced for 
 " ralfirig the condition both of their body and mind to iu hat it 
 " ought to be, as fcjl as the imbecility of their prefent exiilence 
 ** and other clrcumftances which cannot be neglected, will ad- 
 mit ! " Notwithstanding the caution and cunning with which 
 the latter lenience is worded, to admit of a double interpreta- 
 
lion, if neceflary, it cannot be denied that, taking the whole 
 letter together, it meant to exprcfs to the negro, Benjamin, 
 an ardent wifli to fee an early fyftera of emancipation in the 
 fouthcrn itates ; he had juft fuid, that nature had given to his 
 ILicL- brethren talents erjual to thofc of the whites, end th.it the 
 appearance of a want of thorn was owing merer; f:o th< ir ffcgrr.d- 
 <.',/ condition ; he immediately adds bit urJ:nt ^-/'Jh for a good 
 fyftem for ra'[fii'.g the condition both of their ln<!y and r : :(nd to 
 w'.>:'t if ou^ht ID be, that is, in plain Englifh, " from the de- 
 graded condition of flavery to a ftate of freedom.' 1 The qua- 
 lification fubjoined, viz. " As fait as the imbecility of their 
 " prefent exiilence, and olhar circttmjlanccs which cannot be 
 " negle&ed, will admit," was introduced as an artfid falvo, 
 not too far to commit himfelf ; behind thefe equivocal expref- 
 fions he thought himfelf flickered from an attack in the fouth- 
 cr'n Itates ; lie might, if puflied, conftrue them into an opini- 
 on, that for centuries to come, emancipation would be impo- 
 litic and dangerous, becaufe other clrcumftances v/ou!d not ji'i- 
 tify the meaiure. But this is certain, that had he viewed the 
 meafure of emancipation as a dangerous one, either he would 
 have difcountenanced it, or at leall, on fo delicate a fubjeft, 
 kept filent. Why fuch an anfwer to the negro's lette* ? Why 
 not confine his anfwer merely to the almanac, and to the ufual 
 compliment on fuch an occalion ? Why make a parade of his 
 opinion, by extolling the natural genius of the blacks, remind- 
 ing them of their degraded condition and expreffing a wim to 
 fee it changed ? Either hv v;as a friend to emancipation, or he 
 was not: if the former, then the qualification refpe-rHngo/^r cir* 
 cuirjlances was abfurd and unmeaning ; if the latter, then the en- 
 comiums on the talents of the blacks, and the ardent \vifh for 
 .heir releafe from their degraded condition, were equally abfurd. 
 in, he tells Bauneker, ai:d througli him all the negroes in 
 America, " I am fatisrlcd that your natural iaiztils are equal to 
 " thofe of the whites, and that the appearance of a wii'.t. i.f 
 " them in you is owing merely to the degraded condition of your 
 exiitence ;" now what does he mean by adding, " I wifli to 
 *' fee you emancipated, as f(^on as the imbecility of yoi/r pr- - 
 " font exiftence will admit i 1 " If the appearance of their want 
 of talents was owing merely to their condition, the iboner they 
 emerged from that condition the better ; if their imbecility wris 
 produced folely by their condition, that imbecility would ceaie 
 the moment they were emancipated ; what kind of reafbtiing 
 is it, to charge their imbecility altogether to their condition, 
 and yet to expecl an amelioration of their reafon antecedently 
 to their change of condition ? It is no better than the blunder 
 of the Irijkman, who would not fuffer his fon to go into the 
 water, until he could fvvim. J Accordiajr to our author's mode 
 
( 12 ) 
 
 of reafoning, the negroes could never be emancipated, his ar- 
 dent wifh could never be gratified ; the ilavery of the negroes 
 he fays is the fole cnufe of their imbecility ; but he immediately 
 .adds, they mull remain in flavery 'till their minds are enlight- 
 ened. How are they to acquire this neceffary pre-requifite to 
 emancipation, when, according to his doctrine, that pre-re- 
 quifite can only be obtained after emancipation ? Here is fuch 
 a jumble of ideas, fuch a confounding of caufe vn&effeB in this 
 letter, that the production of it by a man of common under- 
 ftanding can only be accounted for by afcribing it to a pitiful 
 graip at popularity from a clafs which he had defpifed, and to 
 an ardent wifh for the emancipation of the fouthern negroes, 
 fhrouded in the cautions and ambiguous language of one, who 
 thought the times not yet ripe enough for a full difclofure of 
 his dangerous views. Another qualification in his letter re- 
 fers ^to " clher circumjlanccs ) \\hich cannot be neglected." 
 What circumflances had he in view, to prevent the immedi- 
 ate emancipation of the blacks ? Does he allude to the dif- 
 ficulties which would oppofe his franfportation fcheme ? Sure- 
 ly the negroes would not thank him for their liberty on 
 frch terms ; but in his Notes on Virginia he is decidedly of 
 
 .inion^that the negroes of the United States, when freed, 
 muil be removed beyond the reach of mixture ; rather a harfh 
 treatment for his black brethren ! Whence proceeds this right 
 of transportation (without a crime or conviction) our phi- 
 Jofopher has not informed us, and on what pretext of lav/ or 
 juflice, free. Tien, not even charged with any offence, are to 
 be (hipped oil, like cattle, I am unable to difcover : had he 
 propoled {hipping them off, while flaves, there would be 
 more fenfe in the project ; but firft to emancipate and inveft 
 them with all the rights of free citizens, and then forth- 
 with to treat them as flaves and cattle, is altogether unintel- 
 ligibly 
 
 PERHAPS the project was, to make it a preliminary con- 
 dition Jine qua non with the Africas, that they mould be 
 free, fubjeft to immediate transportation : but when free, it 
 is doubtful how many of them would confider themfelves 
 bound by fuch a condition; indeed it is queflionable whether 
 many of them would accept their freedom on fuch terms. 
 Bui waving thefe difficulties, how impolitic would it not be 
 to banifh from the country feveral hundred thoufand of our 
 black brethren, to whom nature has given talents equal to our 
 own, and who, in fpite of their monotonous }- colour and of- 
 fenfive fecretions (circumflances common to thoufands of o- 
 ther colours) might become very ufeful citizens, and, ac- 
 cording to the fecretary's letter, rank with the whites in 
 
 t Wiu ever heard, bcU-re Mr. Je.Terf m's time, of the menotQtiy of olours ? 
 
( '3 ) 
 
 point of genius and merit, at the very Jnftant of their emanci- 
 pation. If the fecretary of State meant in his letter to al- 
 lude to his (hipping project by the words " other circUn> 
 fiances/' it would have been but candid in him to have un- 
 folded to his black brethren the whole extent of his views, 
 that they might be fully apprifed of the terms on which they 
 had his ardent wifhes for emancipation. Having omitted fo 
 eiFential a part of the plan, it is to be prefumed, that he has 
 abandoned it, and now wifhes for their emancipation as f aft as 
 other circumjlances will allow it to be accompliihtd ; that is, as 
 foon as he mall find it convenient to difpofe of his own, and 
 as foon as the meafures which 'are now puriuing for that pur- 
 pofe in feveral of the ftates, even in fome of the fouthern Hates, 
 and the principles which have been tranfplanted from the 
 French colonies into America, and his countenance as Preji- 
 dent of the United States, (hall combine to make the mea- 
 fure appear practicable in the eyes of its promoters. 
 
 IT appears almoft incredible (and could not be credited had 
 we not the facts before our eyes) that the fame Thomas Jef- 
 ferfon, who not many years ago published to the world his opin- 
 ion, " that there were powerful obftacles to the emancipation 
 " of the blacks, becauie deep rooted prejudices entertained 
 " by the whites, ten thoufand recollections by the blacks of 
 " the I juries they have fuilained, new provocations, the real 
 " diftindtions which nature has made, and many other circum- 
 " ftances, will divide us into parties and produce convuifions 
 ** which will never end but in the extermination of the one or the 
 " other race," mould have recently declared his ardent <wiflj for 
 fuch emancipation, at the ri(k of all the horrid confequences 
 which he had himfelf fo ilrongly depicted. 
 
 IF fuch a wonderful change h?.s been wrought in his mind, 
 to what are we to impute it ? I can find no other clue to it 
 than the deluiive and vifionary principles which he has imbibed 
 on that fubject by his refidence in France. It is to be remark- 
 ed that he publifhed his notes on Virginia, after fpending the 
 greateft part of his life in Virginia, among Negroe holders and 
 Negroes, and at a period when he muit be prefumed to be pret- 
 ty well acquainted with Negroes, and aware of the confequences 
 of their emancipation ; he wrote his letter to Banneker, the 
 Negro,y#?;z after his return from Francs. 
 
 IF his fentiments on this fubject were not changed when 
 he wrote to the Negro, then his letter to him is a piece of 
 grofs hypocrify, calculated to filch a little popularity from a 
 few free Negroes, and the friends of emancipation, at the ex- 
 pence of his own character and of the peace of his country. 
 
( H ) 
 
 WFI ETHER the Secretary complied with the promife made 
 in that letter to Banneker " of fending his almanac to the 
 great philofopher Coxdorcet" as a teftimony of his black bro- 
 ther's extraordinary genius, we have never learnt. 
 
 MANY further fimilar illuftrations might be made of the ex- 
 fecrctary's^i/o/o^/W talents from his notes on Virginia ; thefe 
 may for the prefent fuffice. At a future opportunity, we may 
 find leifure to notice his very extraordinary penal code, and his 
 v/himfical fyilem of retaliation, his wife attempt to refute the 
 account of the deluge, (evidently Hated by Mofes to be a miracle] 
 by a recurrence to phiiofophical and merely natural principles ; 
 and fun dry other phiiofophical abfurdities. His plagiary nr^cr/ 
 on weights and meaf.iHs will be adverted to under another head. 
 AFTER thefe fpecimens of his talents, we may fafely venture 
 to withhold from 1 homas Jeflerfon the title of philofopher. 
 
 BUT we mould incur no danger in yielding to his claim in 
 the fulleft extent, becaufe it mull be obvious to men of the 
 fmalleft experience in public life, that of all beings, a philofo- 
 pher, makes the worft politician; that if any one circumftance 
 more than another, could difqualify Mr. Jefferfon for the Prefi- 
 dency, it would be the charge of his being a philofopher. Not 
 believing him to poifefs any thing more than the majk of philo- 
 fophy, my objection to his election would certainly not reft on 
 that ground ; but as there may be fume, who, having read his 
 works fuperficially, may have been deceived by that character, 
 which is fometimes acquired, becaufe no one has been at the 
 trouble to Scrutinize and ftrip it of its borrowed garb, to them 
 I repeat that, admitting him to be a moll learne^l philofopher, 
 fuch a character alone creates his difqualification for the Preii- 
 dency. 
 
 IN turning over the page of hiilory, we find it teeming with 
 evidences of the ignorance and rmfinanagemerit of phiiofophical 
 politicians. The great l^ocke was employed to frame a conili- 
 tution for Carolina ; but it abounded fo much with regulations, 
 inapplicable to the Hate of things for which it was dtfigned, fo 
 full of theoretic whimfie3 t that it was foon thrown afide. Con- 
 dorcet, a particular friend of our American philofcpher, was a 
 great French philofopher ; his conftitution, propofed in 1793, 
 contains more abfurdities than were ever before piled up in any 
 fyilem of Government ; it was fo radically defective that its 
 operation was never even attempted ; -j- Condorcet's political 
 
 t Hear what Boi/iv d'Anrla* fays of the Constitution of Condorcet, a brother laborer 
 in Philcf^phy and PoHih't of Thomas Jeffcri'm : meditated aim'iift. intrigue and am- 
 bition, conceived hi the boi )iii of vice, rhat Conllitvition is nothing: more than the /;/.?*- 
 e nitration of all_ the element!, rf difurder, and the or^aniz itiun of anarchy. AVIiat ;n- 
 dcccl nnift we think ofa Corltitution, which organizes tht: partial infurrediim of powers, 
 independent of the conltiaited authorities and legalizes the reii>;n of plunder and ter- 
 ror." Compare this, Americans, with the principles and practice of the Democratic 
 Societies auel'the otlicr iiipportcrs of Thomas Jcff'tj fun ! .' 
 
{ '5 ) 
 
 follies, and the wretched termination of his career are well 
 known ; he had philoibphy enough to know how to raife a 
 ftorm, but not enough to avert its effects. The affairs of France 
 have fince been more ably conducted (except during the fliort 
 ariftocracy of Robefpierre) by men who are good politicians, 
 but fortunately for France, -not pbilofophers. 
 
 RITTENHOUSE was a great philofopher, but the only proof 
 we have had of his political talents was his fuffering himfelf to 
 be wheedled into the Prcjidency of the Democratic Society of Phi- 
 ladelphia, a fociety with which he was even afhamed to affociate, 
 tho' cajoled and flattered into the loan of his name. Many other 
 inflances might be adduced. 
 
 THE charafteriftic traits of a philofopher, when he turns po- 
 litician, are, timidity, whimficalnefs, a difpofition to reafon from 
 certain principles, and not from the true nature of man ; a prone- 
 nefs to predicate all his meafures on certain abftradl theories, 
 formed in the recefs of his cabinet, and not on the exifting Hate 
 of things and circumllances ; an inertnefs of mind, as applied 
 to governmental policy, a wavering of difpofition when great 
 and fudden emergencies demand promptnefs of decifion and 
 energy of action. If the laws are oppofcd and infurreclion raifes 
 its creft, the infurgents will always calculate on the weaknefs 
 and indecifion of the executive (if a philofopher) and they will 
 be juftified in their calculations, for he will hefitate till all is loft ; 
 he will be wandering in the labyrinths of philofophical {pecula- 
 tions, moralizing on the fin of fpilling human blood, and foolifh- 
 ly perfuading himfelf that mankind can always be reclaimed and 
 brought back to their duty by ivholcfome advice. His mind 
 will be conilantly attracted to his favorite purfuits ; and his pre- 
 fidentid duties, will, of courfe, be pcflponed to more pleaiing 
 avocations. 
 
 LET us fuppofe one of thefe exploring and profound philo- 
 fophers elected Prefident of the United States, and a foreign 
 miniller, on his firft introduction into his cabinet, furprifing 
 him in the at of infpecting tivtjkinand the fcarfjkin of a black 
 and a white pig, in order to difcover the caufes of difference 
 which nature has created in their colour, or with the fame view 
 anatomizing the kidnies and glands of a Negro to afcertain the 
 nature of his fecrettons ? Would not the miniftcr's firft obferva- 
 tion be. that the philofopher would be much better employed 
 in his retirement at home, and his fecond, that fuch a Prefident 
 would furmih excellent materials for him to make ufe of. 
 
 WHAT refpecl would the officers of government entertain for 
 a prtii Jent, whom they fnould find, on waiting on him for in- 
 ilruclLns, buiily engaged in impaling a butterfly or contriving 
 
with afliduous perfeverance an f eafy ckalr of new conftru6tion ? 
 Would not an attention to thefe littlenefles make him the ridi- 
 cule of the world ? The great WASHINGTON was, thank 
 God, no philofopher ; had he been one, we mould never have 
 feen his great military exploits ; we mould never have profpered 
 under his wife adminiftration. There is another chara&eriftic 
 trait in philofophers highly dangerous, namely, their extreme o- 
 pennefs tofattery ; a flatterer will be always fure to gain a philo- 
 fopher's affe&ions ; a philofophical prefident will be confequent- 
 ly moil influenced by that nation which flatters moft ; which that 
 is, need not be mentioned : if their agents do not fail in this 
 national qualification, fuch a prefident will be their moft devoted 
 fervant : he will alfo be perpetually furrounded by a fwarm of 
 domeftic flatterers ; and as they are generally the bafeft of cha- 
 raclers, the companions he will be attached to, and the meafures 
 they will promote, may without difficulty be predicted. 
 
 BUT, although I have thus denied to Mr. Jefferfon the title 
 of ^L real philofopher 9 I am ready to allow that he pofleffes the 
 inferior characterises, and the externals of philofophy. By one, 
 ambitious of pafling with the world for a philofopher, the firft 
 were eafily acquired, the laft as eafily affumed. The inferior 
 chara&eriftics, as applied to the fcience of politics, are a want of 
 fteadinefs, a conliitutional indecifion and verfatility, vifionary, 
 wild and fpeculative fyftcms, and various other defective features, 
 which have been already pourtrayed Indeed fo unfettled is the 
 mind of a would le philofopher, fo capricious and verfatile are 
 the principles of thefe pkilijfcphical mimics, that they attempt to 
 reconcile the moft irreconcilable theories, and to juftify the moft 
 inconfiftent acls by the fame ftandard. Thus you will find thefe 
 pretenders to philofophy, at one moment, coolly juftifying the 
 moft atrocious and janguinary cruelties, provided they are means 
 to a certain favorite end ; at another, cautiouily difliiading from 
 vigorous, tho' neceffary meafures, left they might fatally iifue 
 in the fiiedding of human blood. Condorcet and Br'iffot were, 
 like Jeffcrfon, reputed philofophers ; they fct up certain wild 
 and mifchievous theories of government ; of courfe, followed 
 the emancipation of the negroes in the French Weft-Indies, and, 
 of courfe, the maffacre of the whites, and the defolation of the 
 colonies : this was repreiented to them, by a deputation from 
 the colonies, warning them of the fatal confequences of their 
 principles. What was PltiUfopher Coudorcefs reply ? Attend 
 to it, Citizens of the fouthern States ! ! He anfwered with true 
 philofophic calmnefs, " Peri/h all the colo>;ifts, rather than that 
 we mould deviate one tittle from our principles." This is the 
 
 t Who has not heard from the (ecretary the iiraiies ot his wom'.erful Whirligi* 
 Chair, which had the miraculous quality of allowing the jies ion feated in it to turn 
 his head, w'tlumt moving his ta;I ? Who has rot admired hisfertite ^ti5 in the pro- 
 tluciion ofltii Epitursan fide-board, and other Gim K,rackery.' 
 
( '7 ) 
 
 enlightened Condorcctj to whom his friend Jefferfon, ftimulated 
 by a fympathetic philanthrophy, fent Banneker's Almanac, as 
 the higheil proof of his admiration of the Negro's work. This 
 is \\\z fame Condorcet who could, with calmnefs, fee the colonies 
 laid waile, and thoufands of aged coloniils and innocent women 
 and children maiTacred, and yet was perpetually preaching up 
 philanthropy and univerfal benevolence. Brijfui was much fuch 
 another clv.ira&er, and they both defeivedly met the fame fate. 
 
 As ignorant people are often impofed upon by an appear-f 
 ance of philofophy, thofe, wiio have ambitious deiigns, readily 
 affume its externals : thefe confifl in a ridiculous affectation 
 of iimplicity and humility, in a thoufand frivolities, and little 
 puerile tricks, which always render the performer contempt- 
 ible in the eyes of difcerning people, who foon difcover that 
 under the alTumed cloak of humility, lurks the moft ambi- 
 tious fpirit, the moil overweening pride and hauteur, and 
 that the externals of fimplicity and humility aiford but a flim- 
 fy veil to the internal evidences of ariitocratic fplendor, fen- 
 fuality and epicurean Jfrri. 
 
 MR. JEFFERSON has been held up and characterized by 
 his friends as " the quiet, modeil retiring philofopher -as 
 the plain, fimple, unambitious republican.*' He fhall not now, 
 for the firil time, be regarded as the intriguing incendiary 
 the afpiring turbulent competitor, unlefs fails lhall warrant 
 the fuggeilion : of thefe an enlightened public muft judge. 
 
 WHAT, if a quiet, modeil, unambitious philofopher, at a 
 delicate crifis, withdrawing himfelf from a poll of duty, from 
 an alledged attachment to philofophical purfuits, and a itrong 
 antipathy to public honors, mould immediately devote his hours 
 of retirement to mature hisfchemes r.f concealed ambition , and at 
 the appointed time, come forth the undifguifed candidate for 
 tie htgheft honors, and for the moil arduous flation to which 
 ambition can afpire ? 
 
 WOULD not this trait alone fufficieiltly mark his character 
 and his views ? 
 
 To fome few of his fellow eittizens, this may perhaps be the 
 Jlrft time his real character has been difcovered ; but let them recoi- 
 led that there is always " ajirjl time^ when characters, ftudi- 
 ous of artful difguifes are unveiled, when the vizor of floicifm 
 is plucked from the brow of the epicurean, when the plain 
 garb of quaker fimplicity is ilripped from the concealed volup- 
 tuary, when Ciffar, coyfy refufing the proffered diadem, is found 
 to be Casfar rejecting the trappings, " but tenacioufly grafping 
 faefubftauct of imperial domination" 
 
 G 
 
THE prctcnfions of Thomas Jefferfon to the Prefidency, in 
 the relation of a philofopher, having been canvaiTed, we mall 
 next proceed to examine his pretenfions as " a republican, 
 and a friend to the civil and religious rights of his fellow-citi 
 zens." 
 
 THE obfervations already made, refpecling the affumption 
 of the externals of phi!ofophy, will apply with peculiar force to 
 the aflumption of the externals of republicanifm. There are 
 (mpoftors in patriotifm as well as in philofophy ; and as the for- 
 mer are the moil dangerous, fo ought we the more carefully to 
 be on our guard againlt them. It is now become fo common a 
 trick in France, in England, and in the United States, for 
 every ambitious demagogue to put on the garb of patri f>fm, 
 to vociferate in the language of liberty, that every prudent and 
 intelligent citizen immediately fufpe&s them of fome mifchie- 
 vous defign ; and thefc fufpicions have been warranted by Ta- 
 tal experience. Who wore the externals of republican ifm, 
 who fpoke the language of liberty more than Ma r at and Ro- 
 lefpierre ? Who was a greater friend to the civil and religious 
 rights of his fellow-citizens than Cromwell ? Who bellowed 
 more for liberty than the infurgent and fugitive Bradford ? 
 In France, the aftors in the late infurre&ion againft the go- 
 vernment, not content with the title of patriots, arrogantly ilil- 
 edthemfelves the EXCLUSIVE PATRIOTS. In fhort, read, but 
 a few pages of ancient or modern hiilory, infpecl: but a few co- 
 lumns of a newfpaper, and you will find, that every afpiring, 
 turbulent, and feditious demagogue, has always begun by af- 
 fuming the externals of patriotiim, and vociferating in the lan- 
 guage of liberty, as a cloak and an aid to his nefarious projeds. 
 
 WHENEVER I hear a man make a parade of his own republi- 
 canifm, or his patriotifm, or his overflowing zeal for his coun- 
 try's good, I inftantly inquire, whether he is a candidate for 
 office ? When his puffers proclaim his republican virtues, and 
 his love of country, I inquire into his paft condutt : that is the 
 true left of patriotifm. Republicanifm (that much abufed 
 word) is discovered by opinions, not by profeffions. Patriotifm 
 annotmces itfelf by DEEDS, not bywords. When WASHING- 
 TON was unanimoujly called to the Prelidency, he required no 
 puffing, no Hampdens to blazon his fame. His paft conduct, his 
 genuine merit, his long fervices, were recorded in every breaft. 
 He required no affected retirement, no pretended philofophy, 
 no coyifh rejection of public honors, no deep planned machine- 
 ry to bring him forth to public notice. And whenever, the 
 public eye of America mall fix itfelf on a prominent object, it 
 will have been attracted to it by well-known virtues, and wejl*- 
 tried abilities : not by the artificial parade of arrogant preten- 
 fions, or the deceptive puffings of jntereiled intriguers. 
 
( '9 ) 
 
 HAMPDEN, in bringing forward Mr. Jefferfon's repulKcamfm 
 as a title to public favor, couid not have ferioufly intended this 
 very common and univerfal qualification as a mark of any pe- 
 culiar merit : It is to be prefumed we are all republicans. I 
 have mixed a great deal with the world ; I have vifited every 
 part of the Union ; I have heard the political fentiments of ev- 
 ery description of people and I can with truth, and moil fo- 
 lemnly, aver, that I have never met with a citizen of the Unit- 
 ed States, who exprefTed a wifh for any other form of govern- 
 ment for the United States, than the republican. 
 
 YET I am aware that Hampden, in fpecifying this qualifica- 
 tion, among others, meant lefs to point at the pofleffion of it 
 by Mr. Jefferfon, than at the fuppofed want of it in his com- 
 petitor, Mr. Adams. 
 
 IT is well known, that one of the tricks of party employed 
 by Mr. Jefferfon and his adherents, has been to reprefent that 
 worthy citizen, Mr. Adams, as a friend to monarchy and pri- 
 vileged orders. It is obferved by our experienced Prr/ident, in 
 his late excellent addrefs, " that one of the expedients of par- 
 " ty, to acquire influence with particular diftricls, is, to mif- 
 " reprefent the opinions and aims of other diftricls." "So, one 
 of the expedients of Mr. Jefferibn's party, to acquire influence 
 with the people, who are republicans, is, to mifreprefent the 
 opinions of their competitors and opponents, as being anti-re- 
 publican. 
 
 WITH the vain hope of impreffing this opinion, refpeCling 
 Mr. Adams, on the public mind, various pafTages have been 
 garbled from his work, entitled, " A Defence of the American 
 CoJlitulions ;" a book exprefsly written for the purpofe of 
 vindicating th-fe conftitutions from the ftricliures of monfieur Tur- 
 got, a French theorifl, who condemned the fcparation of the 
 American legiflatures into two branches. The object of Mr. 
 Adams was, to mew the abfolute neceflity, in a republican go- 
 vernment, of checks and balances ; and that veiling all the le- 
 giflative power in a Jingle body ;l had, at all times, and in all re- 
 publican governments, ended in the flavery of the people. To 
 prove this, he refers to all the ancient and modern republics ; 
 and necefTarily introduces the various checks and balances 
 which had been devifed in each, or for the want of which the 
 people had loft their liberties. 
 
 THIS is called by Hampden, and other fycophants of Mr. 
 Jefferfon, " an elaborate book in favour of privileged orders, 
 *' and of a plan of government, compounded of a fufficieut 
 " mixture of monarchy. " 
 
NOTHING is mere falfe than this affertion. The book is 
 in favour of diftributing the legiflative power in the United 
 States, into two branches : and ib much good ienfe and found 
 reaioning does it contain, that, for the honour of Mr. Adams, 
 every conftitution which has been made in the United States 
 
 fmce his work has been fo organized. That of Pennfyl- 
 
 vania, which had always been conftru&ed on the plan of a fin- 
 gle branch, was, in i 790, a few years after Mr. Adams's work 
 appeared, changed, and organized with two branches ; a 
 change effected almoft unanimously in their convention, an4 
 allowed to be productive of the moft efiential advantages. 
 
 IF this party have fucceeded in fome quarters of the Union, 
 where th^ means of information have been limited, how have 
 t e) effected their bafe purpofes ? By garbling detached fen- 
 tenccs of Mr, Adams's book, and mifreprefenting his opinions. 
 
 THERE is no publication in the world which may not be 
 .condemned by this unfair mode of proceeding. When an in- 
 dividual is prosecuted for publifhing a libel even in England, 
 although the charge is founded on certain paflages, extracted 
 from the work, the judge always, charges the jury to read the. 
 <whole work) and to ground their verdict on the whole, taken to- 
 gether ; the jury carry out the book and read the whole of it, 
 before they undertake to condemn the author. Yet Hamp- 
 den, probably himfelf a fprig of the law, and who, 1*11 ven* 
 litre to fay, has never read the book he condemns, calls on the 
 enlightened and liberal citizens of America to pals perpetual fen^ 
 tence of condemnation on Mr. Adams, (whom he allows to 
 have be^en a patriot of 177.6) on the ftrength of a few broken 
 and deiacned fcntcr.ces. 
 
 JUDGE Wilton, in the convention of Pennfylvania, when 
 the federal conftitution was under difcufiion, made the follow- 
 ing reply to fome of its opponents : " Take detached parts of 
 any fyitem whatever, in the manner thefe gentlemen have hi- 
 therto taken this conftitution, and you will make it abfurd and 
 inconfiftent with itielf. I do not confine this obfervation to 
 human performances alone ; it vvitl apply to divine writings. 
 An anecdote, which I have heard, exemplifies this obfervation : 
 When Sternhold's and Hopkins' verfions of the Pialms was 
 ufually fung in churches, a line was firft read by the clerk, 
 and then fung by the congregation. A failor had ftepped in, 
 ,-and heard the clerk read this line 
 
 " The Lord will come, and he will not " 
 
 The failor ftared ; but when the clerk read the next line, 
 ** Keep filence, but fpeak out, ^ " 
 
the fail or left the church, convinced the people were not in 
 their fenfes. 
 
 " This (lory, added Mr. Wilfon, may convey an idea of 
 the treatment of the plan before you ; although it contains 
 found fenfe, when connected, yet by the detached manner of 
 confidering it, it appears highly abfurd." 
 
 The pafiages, which have been felefted from Mr, Adaras's 
 book by his enemies, are generally narratives concerning the 
 forms of government of other countries, in which there exiil- 
 ed a monarchy or privileged orders, and the defects of which 
 he adduces as illuilrations of his iyitem in favor of a balanced 
 republican government. When he fpeaks of the United States-f- 
 lic exprefsly rejoices at our happinefs, " becaufe OUR PROTI.E 
 arefovereign, and becaufe we have NO HEREDITARY titles, honors, 
 offices, nor Jiftinclions. ' It would have been fmgular indeed 
 had he fet out with writing a book in defence of the American 
 conftitutions , and then publifhed a panegyric on afyftem, direct- 
 ly oppofed to thofe conftitutions : And yet this grofs abfurdity 
 is alledged by his opponents. 
 
 BUT to place beyond a doubt the impreflion which this 
 book, (fo much reviled by our jacobins) has made on the difm- 
 terefted, candid and enlightened, not only of our own, but of 
 other nations, I will refer to the fpeech of Bo'iffy d* Anglas, 
 one of the pureft republicans in France, in the convention, on 
 difcufiing their prefent conftittttioo. All France had juft at 
 that moment fvvorn eternal hatred to monarchy and privileged 
 orders ; any encomiums therefore on an author fuppofed to be 
 friendly to monarchy and privileged orders, would not have 
 been favorably received ; Mr. Adams's book had been tranf- 
 lated into the French language, had been much read by that 
 nation, and was well known : BoifTy d'Anglas declared, in 
 the convention, that " the committee who had drawn up 
 the conftitution, were much indebted to the EXCELLENT 
 WORK of that celebrated American patriot, JOHN ADAMS, for 
 many of the LIGHTS they had acquired on the fubje& of true 
 REPUBLICAN government." Such was the opinion formed of 
 Mr. Adams's book by thofe who had no perfonal intercft in at- 
 tempting to difparage the work or its author. 
 
 MR. ADAMS'S work, which has furnifhed fuch a handle 
 for the malignant criticifms of his adverfaries, and of thofe 
 who dread his juft pretenfions to the public gratitude, wai 
 
 I See Defence of the American Conltitiuiens, page 95. 
 
written in the year 1786. Yet we heard little of his alledged 
 monarchical principles till about the year 1791. This will 
 be hereafter accounted for. It is very certain that Mr. Jef- 
 f erf on himfelf did not, in the year 1789, three years after 
 the work- was written, fufpecl: Mr. Adams of foftering any 
 fuch principles ; for we find in a letter f from Mr. Jefferfon, 
 dated Paris, March 15, 1789, thefe expreffions : " I know 
 " there are feme among us who would now eftablifh a mo- 
 * narchy, but they are inconfideralle in number and weight of 
 " chamber" No one will doubt that Mr. JefFerfon had then 
 feen Mr. Adams's book ; the intimacy which had Jong fub- 
 fifted between thofe characters, the cunofity of the former on 
 literary and particularly on political fubjeds, his fituation as 
 the minifter of the United States at a court, and among learn- 
 ed men, at that time particularly inquifitive on fuch fubjects, 
 where fuch a work would be neceffarily an intcrcfting and ge- 
 neral topic of converfation, and the high charafter of the lat- 
 ter, then a minifter at. a neighbouring court, are all circumftan- 
 ces which muft remove every doubt of the fact. 
 
 As little doubt can there be that at the time Mr. Jefferfon 
 TV rote the letter referred to, he did not confider Mr. Adams 
 as a perfon inconsiderable in 'weight of character. Thence it is 
 clear that although Mr. Jefferfon had read Mr. Adams's book 
 in 1789, he did not then infer from it that the author was a 
 friend to monarchy, for had he drawn fuch a conclufion, he 
 could not have faid, with truth, that the friends of monarchy 
 were inconfiderable in weight of character. What afterwards 
 led to the difcovery that Mr. Adams was a favorer of monar- 
 chy, is now to be unfolded. 
 
 In the fummer of 1790, the Prefident was afflicted witb 
 an alarming diforder which threatened his life* Already a fuc- 
 ceffor was talked of ; various candidates prefented themfelves 
 to the public mind, and among them the Vice-Preiident ftood 
 moft confpicuous. It inftamly became the fyftematic policy 
 of Mr. JefFerfon and his adherents, to ruin in the public efti- 
 mation a formidable rival, by charging the Vice-Prefident with 
 an attachment to monarchy and privileged orders. 
 
 About that time, Mr. Jefferfon, being fecretary of ftate, 
 conferred a Jinecure office in his department with a falary of 
 two hundred and fifty dollars a year on Mr. Freneau, to induce 
 him to remove to Philadelphia, and fet up a newfpaper at the 
 feat of government, called the National Gazette. This paper 
 
 .. $ i This letter and fome others, fuppofeeT to be written to Mr. Mad'dbn, on the fub- 
 l eft of the new conJtiturior of the United Starrs, were publilhed in Dunlao's p;iper 
 ln i 792, to prove (what they did not; Mr. Jefferfon 's approbation of that coaltitunon. 
 
ibrthw itli t ccmcd with the moft illiberal abufe of Mr. Adams, 
 and twice a week regularly rung the changes againft his fyilem 
 of monarchy and privileged orders. 
 
 BUT, to give more eclat and character to the charge, the 
 fecretary of ftate himfelf, who only, two years before, had 
 not difcovered any thing injurious to the public weal in Mr. 
 Adams's book, did not difdain to appear in print, and com- 
 mence the attack. 
 
 THE firft volume of Thomas Paine's "Rights of Man," 
 made its appearance ; the opportunity was eagerly feized, to 
 anfwer the double purpofe of wounding a competitor, and of 
 laying in an additional (lock of popularity, by affociating and 
 circulating the name of Thomas Jefferfon with a popular pro- 
 duction of a once favorite writer, on a favorite fubje6t. 
 
 FOR this purpofe, the fecretary of ftate wrote an epiftle to 
 a printer in Philadelphia, tranfmitting the work for republica- 
 tion, and containing the following pafiage : " 1 am extreme- 
 " ly pleafed to find it will be reprinted here, and that fome- 
 " thing is at length to be publicly faid againft the political he- 
 '* refies which have fprung up among us. I have no doubt 
 " our citizens will rally a fecond time round the Jlandard of 
 " common fenfe." 
 
 THERE was not a man in the United States acquainted with 
 the infmuations which had been propagated againft Mr. Adams, 
 who did not inftantly apply the remark ; and the fignal was fo 
 well underftood by the partizans of the writer, that a general 
 attack immediately commenced. 
 
 THE National Gazette of Freneau, faithful to its duty, and 
 the newfpapers of the party in the different ftates, refounded 
 with invective and fcurrility againft the patriot, who was thus 
 marked out as the objeft of perfecution. 
 
 BUT it was quickly perceived that difcerning and refpedla- 
 ble men difapproved of the ftep which the fecretary had tak- 
 en. It was of confequence to endeavour to maintain then- 
 good opinion, Infmcere proteftations and excufes, as frivo- 
 lous as aukward, were multiplied by the fecretary to veil the 
 real defign. " The gentleman alluded to," he protefted, 
 '* never once entered his mind ; it was never imagined that the 
 1 printer would be fo incautious as to publifh the letter. No- 
 1 thing more had been in view, than to turn a handfome pe- 
 ' riod, and avoid the baldnefs of a note, that did nothing but 
 ' prefent the compliments of the writer ! " 
 
 THUS, a folernn invocation to the people of America, on a 
 
mofl ferious and important fubject, dwindled at o:\ce into a 
 brilliant conceit that tickltd the imagination too much to be 
 refilled. The imputation of levity was preferred to that of 
 malice. 
 
 BUT when the people of America prefented themfelves to 
 the diihirbed fancy of the patriotic fecretary, as a routed hoft, 
 fcattered and difperfed by that political forcerer, the Vice- 
 Prefident, how was it poffible to refill the heroic, the chival- 
 rous defv c, of erecting for them fome magic flandard of 
 orthodoxy, fuch as Tom Paine, and endeavouring to rally them 
 round it, for their mutual protection and fafety. 
 
 IN fo glorious a caufe, the confiderations that a citizen of 
 the United States had written, in a foreign country, a book, 
 containing ilrictures on the government of that country, which 
 were regarded by it as libellous andfedititus that he had dedi- 
 cated this book to the Chief Magijlrate of the Union that the 
 republication of it, under the aufplces of the fecretary of Jlate, 
 would wear the appearance of its having been promoted, at 
 lead of its being patronifid by the government of this country were 
 confideiations too light and unimportant to occaiion a mo- 
 ment's hesitation. 
 
 THOSE who, after an attentive review of circumflances, cart 
 be deceived by the artifices which have been employed to var- 
 niih over this very exceptionable proceeding, mull underiland 
 little of human nature, and belittle read in thofe arts, which, 
 in all countries and at all times, have ferved to difguife the ma- 
 chinations of factious and intriguing men. 
 
 WE have feen, that \\izfe fuppofcd herefies, at which Mr. Jef- 
 ferfon affected fo much alarm, were the opinions difieminated 
 throughout the able work of Mr. Adams, a citizen, pre-emi- 
 nent for his early, intrepid, faithful, perfevering, and compre- 
 heniively ufeful fervices a man, pure and unfpotted in private 
 life a patriot, having a high and folid title to the efteem, the 
 gratitude, and the confidence of his fellow-citizens a title 
 which the foul and peflilent calumnies, which have been circu- 
 lated through the country, have never yet contaminated. 
 
 WE have feen the bafe arts which have been employed to dif- 
 tort his real fentiments, by felecting and disjointing detached 
 paflages. We (hall now fee whether a lefs unfair proceeding 
 will not convict Mr. Jefftrfon himfelf of having foftered fome 
 political herejies. 
 
 In the difcufiion of the charges alledged againil Mr. Adams, 
 I* have animadverted on the unfairnefs of gaibling fentences- 
 
and mangling cxpreflions for the purpofe of condemning an 
 author's work : and I have adverted to the pra&ice in the 
 courts of judicature in England, in profecutions for a libel, 
 where the jury never condemn, <; t'M'ibty havs read the .iv'hoh 
 war*;* 
 
 WILL the enlightened citizens of America condemn an old 
 and faithful fervant, whom even Hampden ilik-s, " a pc.tr tut of 
 " '76, ' before they have allowed hi;n the means of defence, 
 which are allowed in England to tne meaneft individual ; 
 Let them r^anhis Defence of the American Conftituticns, and 
 I fliall be content to abide by their verdiA ; but let them 
 fpurn, wkhjuil contempt, the venomous infmuations of par- 
 
 *>' 
 
 WOULD Mr. Jefrerfon be content to have bis opinions ex- 
 amined - : i ins be.ii applied by bio partizans to 
 Mr. Adams : Would he scquie.fcc without appeal, in a fen- 
 tence of condemnation, which mould be altogether grounded 
 on mangled quotations, and partial extracts from his writ- 
 
 THE charge againft Mr. Adams by Hampden is, that he is 
 an advoc: Diarchy and privileged orders ; and this 
 
 charge is (aid to be founded on certain exprefiions in his 
 work. 
 
 I DO not mean to retort with feverity the charge, and ac- 
 cufe Mr. Jeiferfon of being at this time, an advocate for mo- 
 narchy r.nd privileged orders ; but I am warranted in afferting, 
 that, without doing any violence to the context, I can pro- 
 duce from his writings particular pafiages, as much in favour 
 of monarchy and privileged orders, as any paffages in Mr. A- 
 dams's book. v 
 
 FOR example In fpeaking of the impolicy cf increafmg 1 
 the population of the United States, by encouraging the in- 
 troduction of foreigners, in page 93 of his Notes on Virginia, 
 he obferves, that foreigners will infufe into our government 
 their fpirit, &c. ; bv waiting fome ycars longer, our govern- 
 ment will be more homogeneous, more peaceable, more dura- 
 ble. He then adds, " Suppofe f twenty millions of R.EPUB- 
 " LIC AN Americans, thrown all of a fudcen into France, 
 " what would be the condition cf that kingdom . ? If it would 
 
 " be MORE tURBULSNT, LESS HAPPY, LESS STRONG, WC 
 
 ** may believe, that the addition of half a million of foreign- 
 
 f A very curiousTJppofition, by tlie [>ye, innfnvarli as diPrr .vpr<? nor at that time, 
 TiJP t KE iiiillims (it ' rrpubl.ciin Anicricaus in the \vcrld. V.'acre, 1'ien, was He in 
 fintl ilicfe twenty millions? 
 
 D 
 
" ers to our prcfent numbers, would produce a fimilar effect 
 " here." 
 
 Now, it is evident, from the above extrad, that Mr. Jejfer- 
 fo believed that a monarchical government was the bell luited 
 to France, and that fending there twenty millions of republi- 
 can Americans Would render France more turluler.t, l/fs happy, 
 and ItfiJlroKg. If he thought that twenty millions of Ameri- 
 can republicans (who arc juftly reckoned the bell republicans 
 on the globe) would dif'jrgarife France, and diminijh her hoppl- 
 nefs and htr Jlfergth^ he inuft have been fully perfuaded, that 
 thirty millions of French repull'ica s (who, with all their merits 
 are certainly inferior to the Americans in the fcience of fdf- 
 government) would produce thofe efie6ts in a much greater 
 degree. 
 
 AN opinion, in favour of monarchy may then without dif- 
 ficulty be inferred from the foregoing paffage; 
 
 IN page 126 of the fame work, in enumerating what he 
 calls the capital defeS* of the conllitution of Virginia, he com- 
 plains bitterly of the conftrution ot the fen ate.* as not being 
 fufHciently ar':Jlocrahc^ although the members are chofen for 
 four years, as long a period as in any ftate in the Union, ex- 
 cept Maryland. But he complains, becanie the fts-ats* and 
 the electors of the fenate, do not conftitute a different i, terejl 
 from the reft of the community. He fays, " The /* ate is, 
 " by its cdnftkution, t.o homogeneous with the hou;,. of dele- 
 " gates ; being chofen by the fame eleftorh, it the fame time, 
 "and out of the fame fnbjetts, the choice falls of courfe, on 
 " men of the fume defcripiion. The purpofe of eilablifliing dif- 
 " ferent houfes of legislation is, to introduce the i jiuf-ce of dif- 
 " fcrent irdcrejls or different principles. In fome of the Ameri- 
 ** can Hates the delegates and fenators are fo chofen, as that 
 " the firft reprefent the perform, and the fecond the property -J- 
 *' of the ftate ; but, with us, wealth and ivifdom have an 
 " equal chance for admifllon into both houfes. We do not 
 " therefere derive, from the feparation of our kgiflature into 
 " two houfes, thofe le-:ef.ts which ^.proper complication of prli- 
 ** clples is capable of producing, and thofe which alove can 
 " compenfate the evils which may be produced by their dif- 
 fentions." 
 
 Now can there be a ftronger recommendation of ar'ijlrjcracy 
 and privileged orders than we find in this paflage ? He wifhes to 
 fee introduced into the conftitution of Virginia, an INFLUENCE 
 
 t There is notliin^ of the kind iu any of the American coniiitutioi-s ; the aflertiou 
 uuntri.e. 
 
( '7 ) 
 
 of INTERESTS different from thofe of the mafs of the fi-l]cSs 
 (as he calls the people) and to eftablifn a permanent con- 
 Ititutional feparation of two orders of people, on different prin- 
 ciples : one to be reprefented by the Senate, the othrr by 
 the Delegates ; ho wiihes to have WEALTH altogether repre- 
 fented in the Senate, and ivlfdom in the other houfe, and 
 laments that wrfhm has an equal chance with wealth of admif- 
 iion into the Senate. What is all this but an eilablifhment of 
 privileged orders and of an artftocrecy of the rankcll kind ? 
 The wealib of the ilate is to conilitute a SEPARATE CLASS, 
 to be reprefented EXCLUSIVELY in a Senate, which is to be 
 organized on different principles, and which is to maintain ai 
 influence nf dijfert-nt inttrejls from thofe of the reft of the foci- 
 ety. Such a body, having an equal participation of the le 
 giflative power with the poorer reprefentatives of the poorer 
 clafs, won! ; i acruih the other branch and ufurp all pow- 
 er ; it would foon erect itfelf into an hereditary ariftocracy, 
 like that of Venice. Is there any diftinftion, except in names, 
 between a privileged order, and a diflinct clafs of men, enabled 
 by their poiieliion of wealth and exclufive reprefentation in a 
 branch of the legislature to maintain a feparate influence in the 
 ilate ? What in fad is a priyileged order but a feparate clafs of 
 men, poflV fling by law exclufive privileges ? What did Mr. Jef- 
 ferfon vviih to eitablifh in Virginia? " a feparate a.\\6. privileged 
 <J clafsj compofed of the wealthy, poffefling by law an i flu-'nce, 
 " different from that ofthereit of the people, m&exc/u/t've/y re- 
 *' prefented in the Senate :" Now I defy his champions to pro- 
 duce any fragment from Mr. Adams's book, fo pointedly in favor 
 of privileged orders, as applicable to the United States, as the 
 foregoing quotation. 
 
 AN ariftocracy of wealth being thus efrabliHied by law, tllL's 
 would follow of courfe ; it matters little whether fuch a Virgi- 
 nia fenator, as Mr. Jeflerfoa wifhtd to create, was to be ililed 
 /jortora&k, or ilhiftrlous, the title of a Venetian fenator ; the ht- 
 ter would moil probably be annexed ; for wj find even Harnp- 
 Jcn, while extolling- the republican character of his patron, fo 
 far forgets himfelr as to ftile him the ilbjlrivus J-ffirfai ; he 
 presently after ipeaks of his wealth ; thus conncciing liis riches 
 with his illujlrwus character, as though he hadjuft been reading 
 his plan of a Virginia houfe of nobles. 
 
 WILL it be now denied that even Thomas Jefferfon, that pro- 
 totype of repubiiciniim, has in his writings, countenanced doc- 
 trines favorable to monarchy and ariitocracy ; that he has, in 
 this refpect, at ieaft as much forfeited his title to the public 
 favor, as Mr. Adams, and that henceforward his pnrtizans, if 
 tl>ey have any fenfe of decency, ought to be iilent on this fubjecl ? 
 
( 28 ) 
 
 IT has been Hated, that the obj.ft of Mr. Adans's bock 
 was to point out the tendency of a finale legislative branch to 
 deilroy the liberties cf the people. His reasoning- in favour 
 of a diitribution ol ", v ,.ve povvxr into two branches, 
 
 and the c -.ks r.nci balan/ies, has been wick- 
 
 edly perverted into a re'afoning in fuppoit uf privileged orders. 
 Who has not feen the venemous efluiions, and the low ribaldry, 
 which have of late been <dlfgcrged from the Jacolir.e preffes a- 
 gainft Mr. AJ;irns's fyiltm of checks and balances? Who 
 would have fuppofed, that Jtmilar reafoning and principles 
 we;e ..o be found in 1 the v/crks of Mr. Jefferfon, t\\zfuvsr'rte of 
 tfjof^ pr.J^-s, and the very uiua who had firft founded the alr.rm 
 agai:,it ,v! r . Adums's iyitem of checks and balances, in other 
 words, i&ijfoKiical kkrejies ? Such however is the fact. 
 
 IN ; s en Virginia, page 126, the conflitution cf Vir- 
 
 ginia is cc nd tinned by Mr. Jelier'bn, because " all the powers 
 ** of government refuit to the legiilative body." " The tori* 
 " cer trail- * thefe, (he adds, in the fame hands, is preci r ely the 
 " f c!jln;'io-! of de pctic government. It will be no allevia- 
 " tion tl.?.t thefe powers will be exercifed by a plurality of 
 " hands, and not by a iingle one. C red and ft-ver ty- 
 
 *' three defpots would fu rely be as oppivifive as #* I.et tho'-.j 
 tl who doubt it, turn t.ieir eyes CM the republic cf Venice. As 
 " little will it ava 1 us that they are cbvfc.i I'.' .' : an 
 
 " efaftfaje defpotifm was not the government we fbugBt for ; 
 ** but one wnieh ihould net only be ' - on free priaciplts, 
 
 * { but in which the powers of government Ihould be lo divided 
 " and l:iJc. 'ced among feveri.l bodies of magilhacy, as that no 
 " one could tranfcend their legal limits, without bein^ 
 " eiftcKiu'iy decked and restrained by the others. ' 
 
 Now, here we find a very able 'on of checks and 
 
 balances ; and we are told, that v . tn inji even thofe 
 
 whom '-'j: elccl curf elves, unlefj ch e other power ; 
 
 for, if not fo cliEc^td, they will foon be conveited into eh 
 
 SUCH were the opiniona of Mr. JefFerfnn, when he wrote 
 his Note, :i::u. W,.- nt refdtnce in 
 
 Framed ha;? ciTcaed a total cliange in ihefe opiuicns, we have 
 not the mat'erials to decide; thofe we ; \oivcthe mat- 
 
 ter in ohic'.irin ; for ^tKoijgh in. his letter to Mr. M^difca 
 Paiis, dai^vl bec^mbe? 20, 1787, on the iul.jeCt of the 
 new federal ccnliuution, he fays, " I like tie - Dative given 
 
 .) ,-.:]<;,!.; I;." the f. !t >'' ll.-ir.i nt of di f;;uic c-'.efnir.cnr, bi'.t it i- 
 c ;o Lu.^iu-Llu.u Iio.v' ii isti.c dejt&!.lth LI if. 
 
to the executive ;" yet, a few years after his return from 
 France, this kind of check was ranked by him among Mr. A- 
 dams's political bereft ; and though, in that letter, he feems 
 to approve of the diitribution of the legiflative power, by the 
 American coi*ilitution, into two branches ; yet he, is faid to 
 have been coumlted about, and to have approved, the French 
 conititation of 1791* which vefted the whole legiilative power 
 in one branch, and thus, according to nio doctrine, eftabliihed 
 (or, to ufe iiis exprellion, defined} an elealv: deiujtifm. 
 
 THE friends cf Mr. Jefferfur, while they hold him up as the 
 quinteiTence of rep . afteft to be prodigioufly alarmtd 
 
 leit the enemies of republicanifm mould gain the afccndancy in 
 the United States. Nothing can be more prepoileious than 
 this filly affectation. Thole who make the molt oilentatious 
 parade of it, are known to be characters the moit anti-republi- 
 can in their private lii'r, their public conduct, and ail their views. 
 
 IT is certain, tliat rfon himfelf. whatever he might 
 
 affe6l, entertains none of thefe fears. In a letter, already re- 
 ferred to, fro^i him, are thefe expreiiioas : " The riling race 
 " (in the United States) are all republicans. We were edu- 
 " cated r.i royalifm : no wonder if fome of us retain that idol* 
 " atry ililL Our young people are educated in republicanifm ; 
 " an ap'j/lacy from that to royaliirn, is unprecedented and tm- 
 " po/tHl?" What ground then for these appreii-niions ? How 
 muft every judicious and independent citizen reprobate fuch 
 bafe attempts to miflsad the ]; 5 i';'i -, i :d to deflime fome of the 
 bed character G 1.1 the Unfttfd States ? And of whom are thefe 
 fears entertained ? Of Mr. Adams! a citizen who, through 
 the arduous progrefs of a long public life, has never been be- 
 trayed into o:: :ch his opponents can object to him ; 
 for, it is to be obferved, that, alihougli he has been in public 
 life fjr near thirty years, the aitack h':s public coiuluft, 
 but are driven to the wretched expedient of criticiiing his po- 
 litical fentiments, by mifquoting his writings. For my part, 
 were I a fouthern planter, owning negroes, I (hou d be ten 
 thoufand tim.?s n^ore alarmed at Mr. Jefferfon's ardent wifli 
 for ema;icipaiio:: t than at a:iy fa':c'tful dangers from monar- 
 chy. Qwancipatiori is a pofjlble thing ; but apojlacy to roya/ifm, 
 according to Mr. JcfFerfon, is im^jjllle. 
 
 I HAVE produced written fentiments of Mr. Jefferfon, 
 which will bear a conitruclion at leail as unfriendly to republi- 
 canifm, as any ever affixed to Mr. Adams's works. I will now 
 call on the adverfaries of the latter to produce, from the works 
 of the former, a more glowing panegyric on, or a more alfec- 
 
( 30 ) 
 
 tionate evidence of attachment to, true republicanifm, than is 
 to be found in the following paflage of Mr. Adams's Defence. 
 After pointing out, with great ability, the fuperior advantages 
 of a republican government, he fays, in page 95, " After all, 
 " let us compare every conftitution we have feen with thofe of 
 " the United States of America, and we fliall have no reafon 
 " to blufh for our country. On the contrary, we mall feel 
 " the ftrongeft motives to fall upon our knees, in gratitude to 
 " heaven, for having bee a gracioufly pleafed to give us birth 
 *' and education in that country, and for having deftined us to 
 ** live under her laws. We mail have reafon to ex"lt, if we 
 " make our comparifon with England, and the JE :glijh co~Jli- 
 tufion. 0.<r people are undoubtedly fovtreign All the land- 
 " ed and other pioperty is in the hands of the citizens Not 
 " only their reprefentatives, but their fe^aiors and governors, 
 " are a / >u:aUy chofen. There are no hereditary titles, honors, 
 " offices, nor diftinfiions. The legiflative, executive and judi- 
 " cial powers are carefully feparated from each other. The 
 tf powers of the one, the few, and the many, are nicely ba- 
 (< lanced in their legiflutu,res. "Trials ly jury are preferved in 
 " all their glory ; and there is no Jla~ :di g army. The habeas 
 " r'-rp'.:s is in full force ; and the prefs is the mojl free in the 
 *' world : and where all thefe circumftances take place, it is 
 " unneceflfary to add, that the laws alone can govern." 
 
 I\ this pafTage, Mr. Adams goes beyond Mr. Jefferfon in 
 commendation of democratic republicanifm, for he approves of 
 the annual choice of fexators, as in New-England, while Vr. 
 Jefferfon, not content with a quadrennial election of the 
 ienate in Virginia, wants to invtfl that body with peculiar and 
 exclufwe privileges ; Mr. Adams rejoices that we have no here- 
 ditary diltinclions in America ; Mr. Jefferfon was defirous of 
 clothing the wealthy clafs of Virginia, with conftitutional, per- 
 manent and exclulive privileges, amounting to hereditary dif~ 
 
 HAMPDEN, unable to attack with effect any part of Mr. 
 Adams's known public ats, though fo long in public life, relates 
 -dfatf, as he calls it, refpeflhg hit public cc,:dutt : " When feve- 
 " ral important queftions, which had received the fandion of 
 '* the Iioufe of reprefentatives, have been fubmitted to his deci- 
 *' flon, as prefident of the ftnate, upon an equal dividon of that 
 '* body, he has uniformly decided againft the opinion of the re- 
 t( prefentp.tives, which we may reafonably fuppofe to be the 
 " opinion of the people ! I believe," he adds, " no member 
 *' of congrefs will contradicl; this facl." 
 
 WITHOUT being a member of congrefs, I will undertake to 
 
( 3 ) 
 
 contradict this fa&, and to prove that Hampdcn's aflertion is a* 
 falfe, as his reaioning thereon is abfurd. 
 
 As the vice prefident is, by the conftitution, placed in the 
 chair of the fenate, v.'ith a calling vote, it was intended that he 
 fhould exercife his judgment, in giving that vote : and whether 
 the meafure in queftion, had been approved by the houfe of re- 
 prefentatives or not, he ought not to concur, if his judgment 
 decidedly rejected it. 
 
 A memorable inftance may however be adduced, where 
 Mr. Adams gave the calling vote in the affirmative, in refpeft 
 to a meafure which had paffed the houfe of representatives : it 
 was in the feffion of 1790; a vote had pafled the reprefenta- 
 tives for removing Congrefs from New- York ; this had been a 
 fubjecl: of much contefl, and the vote was confidered as a great 
 triumph by the fouthern members, becaufe it was an important 
 ftcp towards fixing the feat of government in a more fouthern 
 iituation : the fenate were equally divided on the queftion, Mr. 
 Adams decided in the affirmative, and on being aiked by fome 
 eaflorn member (who complained that fuch vote had been inju- 
 rious to the eailern flates) why he had voted in the affirmative, 
 he made the following reply, which was related to me by a 
 member of the fenate who heard him, " That whenever the 
 fenate mould be equally divided, on a fubjeft, which had pafled 
 the houfe of representatives, he fhould always 'vote iv'tih the hcufe, 
 unlefs he had very clear and convincing reafons in his judgment 
 againft it. 
 
 THE two houfes differing afterwards as to the place, whether 
 Philadelphia or Baltimore, nothing was then done ; but the 
 refidence bill pafled foon after. Here then is a faff, which 
 completely disproves Hampden's aflertion, and which ought to 
 remove from the minds of our fellow-citizens every degree of 
 credit to the afiertions of this malignant writer, and others of a 
 fimihr ftamp, who do not accompany their accufations with 
 proof. 
 
 AND I have not only deftrnyed Hampden's charge againft 
 Mr. Adams, of having uniformly voted in the fenate againft the 
 opinion of the reprefentatives, but have produced a flrong 
 inftance to (hew that Mr. Adams had laid it down as a rule, to 
 vote with the reprefentatives, in cafes of equal divifion in the 
 ftrnate, unlefs his judgment was very clearly and ftrongly con- 
 vinced that he ought to vote differently. 
 
 I COULD produce fome other inftances of his having pur- 
 fucd that line, but one pointed cafe was fufficient to convift 
 
( 32 } 
 
 :Harnpden of a falls: aiTcrljoij. The rcfut'i' 'on of this, ana the 
 preceding charges, fo pofitiv.:ly :uade, will pv.t the good ci 
 tizens of this country on their guard againii iimiiar charges 
 produced againft Mr. Adam& 
 
 WHERE did Harnr.den find tl'j fact ? If in the journals of 
 the fenate, let him produce the c^ies. for they are all ilateJ. in 
 the journals: if .thoie be reforted to, I a:n convinced as ma- 
 ny inftances can be found where Mr. Adams voted on the one 
 fide as on the other. Hearfay and mere report are not fuffi- 
 cietit grounds of condemnation before the er lightened tribu- 
 nal ;f the public. It fcc-ms to be the peculiar characicriilic 
 r,f ihotc, who il''e themfelves in this country, the exflitfi'oe 
 piiriotS) the triic democrats, to build up their 6 wn reputation on 
 the rui'.i c.f their aaveriariesj and to fupport their importance 
 by inceHar.t detraction and the moPi barefaced falfehcods. Eat 
 however they may have hitherto maintained feme little con- 
 fequence \vith a few uninformed citizens, the light of truth 
 wiii ere long di'.pcl the baneful mills of calumny, with which 
 they have enveloped the heft men among us, and make the fe de- 
 iigning hypocrites fkulk back into their native obfcurity. 
 
 IF Mr. :;s fometimes voted differently from the re- 
 
 prefentativc-s, it is to be fairly prefumed that his judgment fo 
 directed him, nor can it be inferred that in fuch cafes he 
 was clearly on the vwonry fide ; when fo enlightened a body as the 
 fenate are equally divided, the queftion will be allowed to be a 
 nice one, and although it may have been carried in the reprc- 
 fentatives, yet the majority there may have been frnall, which 
 indeed we know to have been ufually the cafe in important 
 queftions. 
 
 IT by no means follows, as Hampden fuppofes, " that the 
 " opinion of the reprefentatives muft be always the opinion of 
 " the people." If fo, all the fenates, all the qualified nega- 
 tives of the executives ought to be abclifned : the afiertion is 
 a libel on the American constitutions, and a fevere cenfure on 
 Mr. Jefferfon's doftrine, for he calls the mere will of the repre- 
 fentatives (unchecked by the executive or fenate) an eleft'roe ty- 
 ranny, the very (!'"j;nl:ic;i Gf c^jpoi:fn^ If Mr. Adams ought, againft 
 his decided judgment, to vote with the reprefentatives on every 
 equal divifion of the fenate, that body would foon be a fuperfiu- 
 ous member of the conditution, and the confutation, now fo 
 much admired, converted into an cleclive defpotiim. 
 
 THE univerfal eft-blifliment of fenates in the United States, 
 proves however, that our citizens think differently from Hamp- 
 den on this fubjecl, :.nd their frequent approbation of the ecu- 
 
( 33 ) 
 
 du& of the fenates and executives, in refitting the will of the 
 representatives (frequently the momentary will of a wicked fac- 
 tion,) proves that they do not always consider their will as the 
 opinion of the people. No a6l of the Prefident's whole life 
 has been more grateful to the citizens of America, or has add- 
 ed more to the luftre of his fame, than his refilling the will of 
 the reprefentatives on the late call for papers, which is 
 now viewed throughout the union in its true light, as a mea- 
 fure* of party, merely defigned to anfwer certain views. 
 
 HAMFDEN'S reafoning is as falfe as his FACT : he firft af- 
 fumes a fa&, inconfiilent with truth, and then argues on it on 
 principles, totally inconfiftent with the principles of the confti- 
 tution and of public freedom, and in direct oppofition to the 
 principles of his friend, Jcfferfon. 
 
 AMONG the other merits of Mr. Jefferfon, as Hated by 
 Hampden, we find " his attachment to the CIVIL and RELI- 
 GIOUS rights of his fellow-citizens :'* for the proof, we arc 
 referred to his 'writings and PUBLIC CONDUCT. 
 
 WE have feen a few fpecimens of his writings ; from them 
 we may infer a pretty ilrong difpofition to entrench on 
 fome of the civil rights of his fellow-citizens, particularly in 
 his project of a fenate, which would undoubtedly, on his plan, 
 eftablifh an ar'ijlocracy^ very injurious to the rights of the poof 
 clafs of his fellow-citizens. 
 
 BUT the proof of a Heady attachment to the civil rights of 
 one's fellow-citizens ought hot to reft merely on 'writings ; thi* 
 attachment ought to be evinced by public conduct by aftion, and 
 in times rf danger ; then the hazarding of perfonalfafely for the 
 prefervation of our civil rights is the higheil teftimony of pa- 
 triotifm. There is no great merit in cosnpofing, in the cabinet, 
 in feafons of tranquillity, effays on civil rights, which are fre- 
 quently done to obtain popularity, and without any rifle of per- 
 fonal inconvenience. 
 
 IT appears, however, that Mr. Jefferfon, has generally 
 facrificed the civil rights of his countrymen to his own per- 
 fonal fafety. We are told, in a public addrefs, by Mr. 
 Charles Simms, of Virginia, who mufl have been well ac- 
 quainted with the circumilance, " that Mr. Jefferfon, when 
 governor of Virginia, abandoned the trujl with which he wa 
 charged, it the moment of an invafion by the enemy, by 
 which great confufion, lofs and dtftrefs accrued to thejlate, ia 
 
 E 
 
( 34 > 
 
 the ddbru&ion of public records and vouchers for general ex- 
 penditures, -j* 
 
 Now here was a period of public danger, when Mr. Jeffer- 
 fon's attachment to the civil rights of his countrymen might 
 have fhone very confpicuoufly, by facing and averting the dan- 
 ger ; here would have been a iine opportunity for him to have 
 difplayed his public fpirit in bravely rallying round the ftandard 
 of liberty and civil rights ; but, though in times of fafety, he 
 could rally round the itandard of his. friend, Tom Paine, yet 
 \vhen real danger appeared, \\\z governor of the ancient dominion 
 dwindled into the/c<?r, timid philofophe r, and inftead of rallying 
 his brave countrymen, he fled for fafety from a few light-horfe- 
 men, and fiiamefully abandoned his truflf ! ! 
 
 AGAIN, when the peace and tranquillity of the United 
 States were in extraordinary peril, when it required the exer- 
 tions and talents of the wifeil and braveil ftatefmen to keep the 
 federal ihip from foundering on the rocks with which me was 
 encompaffed, he, when his aid was moft effential, abandoned 
 the old helmfman ; and, with his wonted caution, fneaked a- 
 way to a fnug retreat, leaving others to buffet with the ftorm, 
 and if they were caft away, to bear all the obloquy and public 
 difgrace which would follow. 
 
 Kow different was the conducl of the fpirited and truly pa- 
 triotic HAMILTON ? He wiihed to retire as much as the philo- 
 tbpher of Montecelli ; he had a large family, and his little for- 
 tune was fall melting away in the expensive metropolis, but with 
 a -Roman's fpirit, he declared " that, much as he wifhed forre- 
 * tirement, yet, he would remain at his pofl, as long as there 
 " was any danger of his country being involved in war." How 
 different the conduct of the great WASHINGTON? He tells 
 us, that he had refolved to retire before the laft election, but 
 
 manner again, under lika cucunijtances * 
 
 J Thisi h a i;e ha? bft-n attempted to he j;ot rid of by producing a vote of'ihe AHein- 
 hly of Viiginia, after an enquiry into his conduct, ruknow!et!<tiri(T his utility aiKi it,- 
 tegrity, l/ut altogether lilent on' his ivxnt cf firtnnejs, vhicli had been the' caufe of 
 
 Ttr 
 
 It was natural for his friends in the Afii-mblyto varnifh over the bufinefs ns well 
 as they ciiuld. and the clanger being palt, there t>4ng no prof|:ect of his being again 
 ( xpoied in that ilation, and 'his flifhc procecdin", not from any criminality, but from 
 a lonllitntional weak' <> of nerves, it was no difi:ctilt matter to get fiith a vote throngli 
 t lie aHembly, men c * (pecially as tlie ttau'd I'.'cr of tlie It (tie was no !el''- implicated in :!,e 
 buflticCi Utah thut of Uw gtivernoi . 
 
( 35 ) 
 
 the then perplckeifaxiA critica j tituation of the country forbad 
 fiich a itep. How different was even Jffirfon hlmfelj, when 
 calmly and fafely writing his Notes on Virginia, from what he 
 was wh-Mi called upon to aft in times of peril ? in his Notes, 
 page 135, in reprobating the proportion made in the Virginia 
 aflembljj to appoint a dictator, he exclaims, " Was this moved 
 on a flip po fed right in the movers of abandoning their pojh in a 
 nri '-mat of d''Jlrefs ? Our laws forbid the abandonment of our pojls, 
 even on ordinary occajions." 
 
 WHETHER Mr. Jefferfon/or^kw the tveftsrn i"fnrrecllon t and 
 either confcious of his want of courage or capacity to ac~t on fo 
 trying an occafion, or of his good wifhes towards fame of the 
 promoters of it, we will not determine ; but it is our duty to 
 Hate fom-j facts ; th* comments on them will be left to a dii- 
 cerning public. 
 
 IT is certain that Mr. Jefferfon refigned the office of fecre- 
 tary of ilatc in January or February i 794, and that the infur- 
 recliou broke out the July following, having manifefted threat- 
 ening fyrnptoms fome months before. Citizen Fauchct, of 
 glorious memory, in his intercepted letter, (which caufed the 
 difmimon of citizen Randolph, alfo of glorious memory, the 
 virtuous author of the precious confeflions t ) has the following 
 pafiage " Mr. Randolph came to fee me with an air of great 
 eagernefs, and made to me the overtures of which I have given 
 you an account in my No. 6. Thus withfortfe thousands r f dol- 
 lars, the republic (of France) could have decided on CIVIL 
 WAR, or on peace ! thus the confciences of th^ pretended pa- 
 triots of America have already their prices ! What will be the 
 old age of this government, if it is thus -early decrcpld ! Still 
 there are patriots, of whom I delight to entertain an idea 
 worthy of that impofing title. CONSUL! M?r.roe-\ 9 he 
 is of this number : he had apprized, me of the men, whom the 
 current of events had dragged along as bodies devoid of 
 weight : bis friend Madifon 13 alfo an honeft man : ^fejj'erfon, 
 on whom the patriots caft their eyes to fuccoed the PrditL-n' , 
 HAD FORESEEN THESE CRISES : he prudently r,v 
 tired in order to avoid making a figure AGAINST HIS IN- 
 CLINATION in fcenes, the fecret of which will foon or late 
 be brought to light." 
 
 WE are informed by the newfpapers that Randolph has lecn 
 to ii'i/it Mr. jfefferfon, and has announced his determination to 
 
 t Cit ; z'n Monroe, lately recalled by the Prefidcnt fhnn France, not I i>;-cfum'- for 
 his '>rvv?> t.< -he IT tire.l States, and not nr 'uis rfq>iHt : podi-flrd (' a pilarin Pnii 
 worth former!? 101,000 guineas Caiul for the? purcha IV of which lie was abuled in a 
 Paris newl'paper) it is not probable he wifhed to return quite fofjj n. 
 
fervc, if elected president ; he has not yet announced his o,wn 
 determination to return to his former fecretaryfhip, if his 
 friend mould be prefident : but his aclhity in canvajpng for 
 him leaves no room for doubt, as to his ivlfkes and expectations : 
 it is apprehended, however, by fome of the friends of both 
 thefe characters, that a lete legal call on one of them, for the 
 immediate fettlement of feme accounts and balances, will prove 
 highly injurious to both.f 
 
 Having adverted to thefe two ftriking inftances of Mr. Jef- 
 ferfon's abandonment of bis tnft at very critical moments^ I 
 cannot omit the following fenfible remark of Mr. Charles 
 Simnu -" Thefe inftances, he obferves, mew Mr. JefFerfon 
 " to want jirmnefs , and a man, who mall once have abandoned 
 <e the helm in the hour of danger, or at the appearance of 
 " a tempeft, feems not fit to be trufled in better times, for no 
 " one can know ho<w foon or from 'whence ajlorm may come." 
 
 THOSE who are acquainted with Mr. Adams's public con- 
 duct, fiom the very commencement of the revolution, can bear 
 witnefs to his Jinn and Jleady purfuit of his patriotic career, 
 amidft the prokriptions of a powerful and enraged government, 
 and the multiplied dangers which threatened him at various pe- 
 riods : his manly and independent conduct at Paris in negoctat- 
 ing the peace, whereby great advantages were acquired to the 
 United States, can never be forgotten. 
 
 WE are next informed of Mr. Jefferfon's " attachment to 
 " the RELIGIOUS rights of mankind," and art referred for his 
 fentiments refpecting religious liberty to his writings, his con- 
 dutf, and particularly to the " aft ejlablifiing religious freedom ," 
 drawn up by him. 
 
 HAMPDEN would have acted more wifely, and more con- 
 formably, I am perfuad. d> to the wifhes of his patron, had 
 he pafied over this tender fubject in faience. It was certainly 
 indifcreet to mention Thomas Jefftrfo* and religion in the fame 
 paragraph of an eulogy -^Religious freedom and freedom from 
 religion are now become convertible terms with moft modern 
 philotcphers, particularly thofe who have been educated in 
 the philofophical fcbools of France. Mr. JefFerfon has been 
 heard to fay, fir.ce his return from France, that the men of 
 letters and philofophers he had met with in that country, were 
 generally At^ijls. The late impious and blaiphemous works 
 of Thomas Paine, reviling the chriflian religion, have been 
 much applauded in France, and have been very induftrioufly 
 circulated in the United States, by all that clafs of people, 
 who are friendly to Mr. Jeficrfon's politics, and anxioufly de- 
 
 f Edmund Randolph is <ued by the Comptroller of tin? Trea fury for a deficitncy in 
 while Secretary offiate, of 50,000 dollar*. 
 
( 37 ) 
 
 ftrous of his ele&ion to the prefidency. Mr. Jefferfon's friend- 
 fliip for Paine has been already mentioned ; that anti-chriftian 
 writer had apartments at Citizen Monroe's at Paris, and mould 
 Mr. JefFerfon be Prefident, there is no doubtTom would return 
 to this country, and be a confpicuous figure at the Prefident's 
 table at Philadelphia, where this enlightened pair of philofo- 
 phers would fraternize, and philosophize againft the chriftlan 
 religion, and all religious ivorjliip. Whatever new lights Jef- 
 ferfon may have acquired in France, it is certain that he had 
 naturally very good pre-difpofitions on the fubje<ft of religion. 
 In \ii& Notes on Virginia, page 169, in difcufliag the fubjecl 
 of religious freedom, he makes this witty obfervation " It 
 " docs me no injury for my neighbour to fay there are twenty 
 " gods, or no god ; it neither picks my pocket nor breaks my 
 " leg ; if it be laid, his teftimony in a court of juftice cannot 
 " be relied on, reject it then, and be the ftigma on him." In 
 page 170, he fays, " millions of innocent men, women and 
 " children, fince the introduction of chriftianity, have been burnt, 
 " tortured, fined and imprifoned." In page 171, fpeaking of 
 the (late of religion in Pennfylvania and New- York, he fays, 
 " religion there is well fupported, of various kinds indeed, 
 " but all good enough } all fufficient to preferve peace and or- 
 dcr." 
 
 WHICH ought we to be the mod mocked at, the levity or 
 the impiety of thefe remarks ? " it does me no injury, if my 
 " neighbour is AN ATHEIST, becaufe it does not break my 
 '* leg !" What ? do I receive no injury, as a member of fo- 
 ciety, if I am furrounded with atheilts, with whom I can 
 have no focial intercourfe, on whom there are none of thofe 
 religious and facred ties, which reftrain mankind from the per- 
 petration of crimes, and without which ties civil fociety would 
 loon degenerate into a wi etched ftate of barbarifm, and be 
 ftained with fcenes of turpitude, and with every kind of atro- 
 city ? Good God ! is this the man the patriots have caft their 
 eyes on as fucceffor to the virtuous WaJInngton, who, in his 
 farewell addrefs, fo warmly and affe&ionately recommends to 
 his fellow-citizens, the cultivatiou of religion. Contraft with 
 the above frivolous and impious pauage -j- the following digni- 
 fied advice from that true patriot ; " of all the difpofitions and 
 '* habits, which lead to political profperity, religion and mora- 
 " lity are indifpenfible fupports. In vain would that man (he 
 " feems to point at Jefferfon !) claim the tribute of patriotism, 
 
 f Contraft even an obfervation of his own in one of his letters, already referred to, 
 where he fays, the dewlararion that religious faith (hall be unpunifhed, does not give 
 "impunity to criminal afts diftatedby religious errors." He then believed that reli- 
 gious error would produce criminal acis land yetrfligifus error Aoei no injury to ft- 
 cfety .' abfurd and inconfiltejit vvi irci .' 
 
" who fhould labor to fubvert thefe great pillars of human 
 " happinefs, thekjjrmeft props of the duties of men and citizens. 
 * The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to 
 " refpet and to cherifb them. A volume could not trace all 
 " their connexions with private and public felicity. 
 
 " LET it fimply be afked where is the fecurity for proper- 
 " ty, for reputation, for life, if the fenfe of religious obligation 
 " defert the oaths> which are the inftruments of inveftigation in 
 " courts of juftice ? And let us, with caution, indulge the 
 " fuppofition that MORALITY can be maintained WITHOUT 
 " RELIGION. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of 
 " refined education on minds of peculiar ftru6ture, reafon 
 " and experience both forbid us to expert that NATIONAL 
 " MORALITY can prevail in exclufion of RELIGIOUS ^RINCI- 
 " PLE. 'Tis fubllantially true, that virtue or morality is a nc- 
 " ceflary fpring of popular government.. JThe rule indeed ex- 
 " tends with more or lefs force to every fpecies of free govern- 
 " ment. Who that is afincere friend to it can look with indif- 
 " ference upon attempts tofoake the foundation of the fabric ? 
 " Can it be, that Providence has not conne&ed the permanent 
 " felicity of a nation with it's virtue ? The experiment, at 
 " lead, is recommended by every fentiment, which ennobles 
 " human nature ; alas ! is it rendered impofiible by its vices ?" 
 
 WHAT fublime fentiments, what admirable advice ! How 
 muft it fink in our eyes the pretended philofopher, who could 
 attempt to degrade the Chriilian religion by charging to it the 
 murder of millions, who could view with fuch indifference the 
 many alarming innovations on the mild and fimple religion of 
 our forefathers ? " There are religions, of various kinds indeed, 
 fays our philofopher, BUT ALL GOOD ENOUGH." 
 
 GOOD enough indeed for him, who eftablifhed and patronized 
 a rrewfpaper, one object of which was to revile Chrijlianity ! It 
 is not forgotten, that the National Gaxette, publifhed by a clerk 
 in the department of ftate and under the aufpices ofthefecretaryj 
 loft no convenient opportunity of making a mockery of reli- 
 gionf , and vilifying the clergy of the country. 
 
 IT is well obferved by a modern writer, " that patriotifm, as 
 a moral principle attaching itfelf to political fociety, depends, 
 like every other moral principle, on its relation to religion. The 
 Creator of man has bound the focial to the divine virtues, and 
 
 f See, amon^ various irfhince^, the jftth number of the National Ga/.^tte, where the 
 belief o)f a Prnvi'ienf.e is treated as an impious tenet. In Hie time uj-' Rohe f'piei re, ;i 
 irrm'.iT of the convention \vho had iinro-tured ir.to his f,>eerlV the word Puvj(k!n;e, 
 was talk-d to order, by the cry of Point de Providence, no Providence. 
 
( 39 ) 
 
 made our devotion and our reverence to himfelf, the ground 
 work of our duties to our brethren and to our country." 
 
 THE aft for ejlablijhing religious freedom, in Virginia, (the 
 nccejjity for which is not very obvious,) has been much extolled 
 by Mr. Jefferfon's panegyriils. I alk them, what good effects 
 has it produced ? Does religion flourifli in Virginia more than 
 it did, or more than in the eaftern ftates ? Is public worfhip 
 better attended ? Are the minifters of the gofpel better fup- 
 ported, than in the eaftern ftates ? 
 
 THAT act, which is nearly all preamble, fetting forth a feries 
 of ^j^dples, fome of which are proved by late experience in 
 France to be very quejl'ionable, has, in my opinion, an immediate 
 tendency to produce a total difregard to public worfhlp, an abfo- 
 lute Indifference to all religion whatever. It ftates, among other 
 things, " that we ought not to be obliged to fupport even the 
 minifters o our own religious perfuafion, and that our civil 
 rights have no more dependance on our religious opinions than 
 on our opinions in phyfic or geometry ;" the act then declares, 
 " that no man 'mail be compelled to frequent or fupport any re- 
 ligious worjk'ip or mimjlcr whatever, and that all men (hall be 
 free to profefs, and by argument to maintain, their opinions, in 
 matters of religion, without diminishing their civil capacities." 
 
 I WILL not accufe Mr. Jefferfon of having been influenced 
 by fe-'fi/b views, in getting this act pafled ; but thofe acquaint- 
 ed with his conduct and opinions will agree with me, that he has 
 fully taken advantage of every tittle of the preamble and enac- 
 ting claufe : he has by his conduct proved his religious free- 
 dom, or, rather, his freedom from religion ; and, by his opini- 
 ons, his right to maintain by argument any doctrine whatever, 
 in matters of religion. Who ever faw him in a place of wor- 
 ihip ? The man who can fay he has feen fuch a phenomenon, is 
 himfelf a much -greater curioiity than the elephant now travel- 
 ling through the fouthern ftates. 
 
 BUT how inconfiftent, not only with truth, but with them- 
 felves, are thefe vifionary philofophers, who are thus always 
 ftriking out fo*ne new doctrine ? The preamble ftates, that our 
 civil rights have no dependance whatever on our religious opini- 
 ons ; and yet it immediately after admits, that religious opinions 
 may break out into overt afts againft peace and good order ; and 
 yet the letter juft quoted fpeaks of criminal atts dlcJated by reli- 
 gious error ! 
 
 WHAT a conformity do we find between the fentiments of 
 Mr. Jefferfon, in matters of religion, and thofe of Tom Paine ? 
 WJiere is the wonder, then, if the works of the latter are circu- 
 lated with fo much zeal by the friends of the former ? Tom 
 
( 4 ) 
 
 Paine has ridiculed the Holy Scriptures, and reprobated pub- 
 lic worfhip. Tom Jefferfon hafc attempted to diiprove the de- 
 luge has made it a queftion whether the Almighty ever had 
 a chofen people,f and has, by example and precept, dij "countenanc- 
 ed public ivorJJjip. Such is the Chief Magiftrate whom the 
 patriots of citizen Fauchet have feleted for the United States ! ! 
 Such the kindred philoiophers, whofe / eiv lights are to be dif- 
 feminated throughout America, under the aufpices of the Chief 
 Magiftrate of the Union J ! 
 
 THE opinions of Mr. Jefferfon, relative to the prefent conjli- 
 tution of the United States, are next in order to be confidered. 
 
 IF he is not antifederal, it will not be denied that he enl 
 tained very cotjiderable objections to the conftitution, 
 that his advice to call afecond convention, if purfued, would 
 have prevented our having ever obtainedyp g ood a conjlitution. 
 
 SOME of his opinions, relative to the conilitution, are to be 
 found in a feries of letters, written from Paris, in the years 
 1788 and '89. Partial extra&s from thele letters were pub- 
 limed in 1792, by a friend of Mr. Jefferfon, as a vindication of 
 his federalism. How far they eilablifhed it, will now appear. 
 
 IN a letter, dated 2Oth December, 1787, after exprefiing his 
 approbation of fome of the features of the new conftitution, 
 which had been generally approved of, and which he could 
 not well object to, he fays, " I will now add what I do not 
 " like : firft, the omiffion of a bill of rights, dec. &c. The 
 " fecond feature I dijl'ikc, and greatly diflike, is, the abandon - 
 " ment, in every irjtancc, of the necejjity of rotation in office, and 
 " mcjl particularly in the cafe cf the Prejident. Smaller ob- 
 4f je&ions are, the appeal in fat as well as law, and the bidding 
 *' all perfons, legiflative, executive, and judicial, by oath, to 
 ** maintain that corrftitution. I do not pretend to decide what 
 " would be the bed method of procuring the eilabliihment of 
 *' the manifold good things in this conilitution, and of getting 
 " rid of the bad. Whether by adopting it in hopes of future 
 " amendment, or, after it has been duly weighed and canvafled 
 " by the people, after feeing the parts they generally diflike, 
 " and thofe they generally approve, to fay to them, " we fee 
 " now what you wifh : fend together your deputies again ; let 
 " them frame a corjlltution for you, omitting what you have con- 
 " demned, and eflabli/hing the powers you approved." Even thefe 
 *' will be a great addition to the energy of your government. 
 
 t Not*"; on Virginia, p. 17;. " Thofe who labour in the earth, are the chcfsn p 
 pie of <Jod ; if ever he had a chofen feopte. 
 
> 
 
 '* At all events, I hope you will not be difcouraged from other 
 " trials, if the preient one fliould fail of its full effects, The 
 " late rebellion in MafTachufetts, has given mvrs alarm than I 
 " think it mould have done. Calculate, that one rebellion in 
 " thirteen fates, in. .the courfe ot I'/c'-vcn years, is but one for 
 " eachjlate in a century and a half : nor will any degree of 
 " power in the hands of government, prevent infurrections. 
 " France, with all its defpotifm, and two or three hundred 
 " thoufarrd men in arms, has had three infurreclions in the 
 " three years I have been here ; in every one of which, greater 
 " numbers were engaged than in MafTachufctts, aud a great deal 
 ' more blood fpilt. Compare again the ferocious depredations 
 *' of their iuf irgents, with the vrJer, the moderation, and the 
 " almoft feu extinguifhment of ours." In another letter, of 
 fth of July, i 700, he fays, " I am glad to hear the new confti- 
 " tution is received with favour : I fmcerely wifh, that the 
 " nine firft conjjknti-jns may receive, and the four lajl reject it. 
 " The former will lecure \lfnally, while the latter will OBLIGE 
 <; them to offer a declaration of rights, in order to COMPLETE 
 " THE UNION." Iii another of the ^lilfame month, he fays, 
 '* The abandoning the principle of ntccflttry rotation in the^- 
 " nate, has, I fee, been difapproved by few in the cafe of the 
 " P refute; :t, by none. I readily, therefore, fuppofe my opinion 
 " 'zur .,;;, when oppofed by the majority, as in the former in- 
 " fiance, and the totality, as in the latter.'* In a letter of the 
 1 8th November, 1788, he fays, " As to the bill of rights, 
 " however, I ftill think it mould be added ; and I am glad to 
 " fee, that three Hates have at length confidered the perpetual 
 " re-eligibility of the Prefident, as an article which fliould be 
 <f amended. I mould deprecate with you, indeed, the meet- 
 " ing of a T.CW can 
 
 How far thefi extrals were altered or mutilated, is liable to 
 qucfliur., from the manner of their pppcnranci!. It is obferva- 
 ble, that the extract of the letter of tiie 6th July, though it was 
 intended as part of the one which is mentioned in the debates of 
 the Virginia convention, docs not anfwer to the defcripiton 
 given of it by Mr. Pendleton, who profeifes to have feen it ? for 
 he exprefsly ilates, with regard to that letter, that Mr. JefFer- 
 fon, after having declared his v/iih, fcfpeftirig the itTue of the 
 deliberations upon the conflitution, proceeds \.Qe : ':nm?rate the a- 
 mendments which he iv't/ties to be f?curcJ. The extract which was 
 publifhed, fpeaks only of a bill of rights, as the efTential amend- 
 ment to be obtained by the rcjeclicn of four flares, which by 
 no means agrees with the account given of it by Mr. Pendleton. 
 
 SUCH ncverthelefs as they are, thefe extracts fully prove, 
 that Mr. Jefferfon advifed the people of Virginia to adopt the 
 
 F 
 
( 4' ) 
 
 conjlituilon or not to adopt it upon a CONTINGENCY ; and that 
 he was OPPOSED to it in fame of its nioft IMVOHTAXT features, ib 
 much fo, as", at firft, to DISCOUNTENANCE its ADOPTION alto- 
 gether, without previous amendments. He GREATLY DISLIKED 
 the abandonment of the principle of necejffary rotation in every 
 office, and mofl particularly in the cafe of Fnfu^cnt : he wifhed the 
 principle of rotation to extend not onlv to the executive, but 
 to the other branches of the government, to the itnate, at 
 leaft, as is explained in a fubfequent letter. This objection 
 goes to the VERY STRUCTURE of the government, in a very 
 IMPORTANT ARTICLE, and while it juftifies the aiTertiorL-riiat 
 he was oppofed to the conftitution, in fome of its ws/t important 
 features, it is a fpecimen of the VISIONARY SYSTEM of p-ii'acs 
 of its author. Had it been confined to the c fiice of chief- 
 magiftrate, it might have pretended to fome little plaufibility ; 
 by being extended to other branches of the government, it af- 
 fumes a different character, and evinces a ir.'ind prone to projetls, 
 which are incompatible with the principles of ft able government, 
 and difpofed to multiply the outworks, while it leaves the citi- 
 del weak and totterl g. 
 
 ANY perfon acquainted with his manner, and with the force 
 of terms, will not hefitate to pronounce that he wifhed to re- 
 commend a recurrence to a fecond convention. The pains which 
 he takes, while recommending a fecond convention, to remove 
 the alarm naturally infpired by the i>.fitrre8ion in Maflachufetts, 
 which had recently occurred, are a ilrong confirmation of this 
 opinion. 
 
 IT is not eafy to underftand what other object his comments 
 on that circumllance could have, but to obviate the anxiety 
 which it was calculated to infpire in the people for an adaption 
 cf the conftitution, without a previous attempt to amend it, 
 and to remove all apprehenfion of internal convnlfions from the 
 dangerous experiment of a fecond convention. 
 
 WE cannot avoid remarking, by the way, that thofe com- 
 ments afford a curious and charatJer'iftic fample of logic and calcu- 
 lation. " One rebellion in thirteen ftates, in the courfe of ele- 
 ven years, is but one for each ftate in a century and a half," 
 while France, it feems, had had three infurrections in three 
 years. In the latter inilance, the fubdivifiom of the entire na- 
 tion are confounded in cne mafs ; in the former, \\-\Q fuldh-'ifions 
 are the ground of calculation ; and thus a rniferalle fophifm is 
 gravely made a bafis of political ccnfolation and conduct ; for, 
 according- to the data itated, it was as true that the United 
 States had had one rebellion in eleven years, endangering their 
 common fafcty and welfare, as that Frar.cc had had three infurrec- 
 tions in three years. 
 
( 43 ) 
 
 Thus it appears from the very documents pr duccd in exculpa- 
 tion of Mr. Jefferfon, that he in fact difcountenanced in the 
 firft inftmce, the adoption of the conftitution in its primitive 
 form, favour! >g the idea of an attempt at previous amend- 
 ments by afi'co d convention ; which was precifely the line of po- 
 licy followed by all tnofe who were at that time denominated 
 A NTI FEDERAL, aid .vli' ' '.iave generally fmce retained their ori- 
 ginal ENMITY agairit the confutation. As to thofe letters of 
 Mr. Jefferfon, which nrz fubfequent to his knowledge of the ra- 
 lificaiim of the conilitution by the requijite number of Jlates, they 
 prove nothing, but tivit he was willing to play the politician. 
 They can 'it bell only be received as expedient acts of fubrnl/Jion 
 to the opinion of the majority, which he profefied to believe 
 infallible, ( ''gning to it, with all poflible humility, not only 
 his con duel, but hio judgment,) not as marks of approbati- 
 on. 
 
 IT will be remarked that there was no want of vcrfatlllty in 
 his opinions ; they kept pace tolerably well with the progrefs 
 of the bu (hi efs, and were quite as accommodating as circumftan- 
 ccs feemed to require.-]- On the 3 1 ft July 88, when the adup- 
 tio'i of the conftitution was kno~V:i, the various and weighty 
 objections of March 1/87, had rdolved themfelves into the fim- 
 ple want of a bill of rights. In November following, on the 
 ftrength of the authority of three ftates (overruling, in that 
 inltance, the mixim of implicit deference for the opinion of 
 the majority) that lately folltary defect acquires a companion, 
 in a revival of the bbjeffio i to the re-elegibility of the President. 
 Andrtvo^/W co . MV ithft, which had appeared no very alarming 
 expedient, while the entire coijlitution wxt in jeopardy, became 
 an objed to be aeprtcated, when partial amendments to an alrea- 
 dy ejlabli/bed co Jllliitio'i were alo;e\\\ queftion. 
 
 FROM the (ludluations of fentimcnt, v/hich appear in the 
 extracts that have been publiihed, it is natural to infer, that 
 had the whole of Mr. Jefferfon's correfpondence on the fub- 
 jectbeen given to the public, much greater diveriities would 
 have been discovered. But in order to determine with accu- 
 racy whether or not Mr, JefFerfon was a friend to the confti- 
 tution, we mould refer to his opinions, while the RESULT was, 
 DOUBTFUL, and not to his opi lions, when, after its adopti- 
 on, his Jlation and love of popularity made it EXPEDIENT to 
 acquiefce in the will of the majority. 
 
 IT appears, from the debates in the convention of Virginia, 
 that Patrick Henry , at that time the champion of the antlfede- 
 ral party in Virginia, quoted Mr. Jefferfon s opttiio.?., as an 
 
 tThe Miriiifei- at Pa is, with liis wvitecl political f.i^adty, might well calculate, 
 i l.at the nine adopting States (in Congrefs) would foon recalla.n aniifccieraiUf. 
 
( 44 ) 
 
 AUTHORITY for REJECTING the cv~>jli[uli'jn. Mr. Pcndleton at- 
 tempted to explain away Mr. Jefferfon's opinion ; he Hated it 
 to be " a wilh that tnejirft j.ine co; ;v.>,' -'twas might accept the 
 44 conllitution, becaufe it would fecure the govt! it contained, 
 " and that ihe/fl.'-r Lift might refufe to accept //// they COM- 
 " PELI.KD the others to accept certain amendments." Mr. 
 Henry replied, " the gentleman has endeavoured to explain 
 " Mr. Jefferfon's opinion, I :to an advice to adopt. Ke wifh- 
 " es nine dates to adopt, and that four ftatcs may be found 
 " fomewhere to reject it. Now, if we purfue his advice^ 
 ie what are we to do ? To prefer form to fubftance ? Forgive 
 *' me leave to afl-c, what is the SUBSTANTIAL FART 0:Phii; 
 <f counfel ? It is, that four ftates mould REJECT : they tell u 
 " that, from the moft authentic accounts, New-Hampfhirr 
 " will adopt it ; where then will four dates be found to reject, 
 " if we adopt it ?" 
 
 What fays Mr. Mad'tfon in reply to this " Is it come to 
 " this then that we arc rot to follow our own rcafo" 1 . ? Is it pro- 
 .'* per to adduce the opinions of reipec~table men, not within 
 " thcfe walls ? If the opinion of an important character were 
 " to weigh on this occafion, could we not adduce a character 
 tl equally great ON OUR SIDE ? Are we who (in the gentle- 
 " man's opinion) are not to be guided by an errl-ig world, 
 *' now to SUBMIT to the OPINION of a citizen beyond the at- 
 <( lantic ? I believe, that ivcr? that gentleman now on this 
 " floor, he wuld be for the adoption of this conftitution ; i 
 " wifli his r?ame had never lcc;i mentioned ; I wifli every thing 
 " fpoken here relative to his opini.n y may be SUPPRESSED, if 
 " our debates fliould be publifiied. I am in fome meafure ac- 
 " quainted with his fentiments on this fubjedl ; it is not right for 
 " me to UNFOLD ivhat he has informed me ; but, I will venture 
 " to aflert that the claufe new dtf cuffed is not objected to by 
 >* him." 
 
 IT is obfcrvablc that Mr. Madifon neither advocates the ac- 
 curacy of Mr. Pendleton's comment, nor denies the juftnefs of 
 that of Mr. Henry ; his folicittide appears to be to deftroy 
 the INFLUENCE of what he impliealy admits to be the opinion 
 of Mr. yefferfon, to prefs out of fight the authority of that 
 
 .opinion, and to get rid of thefubjecl as fall as poffible. 
 
 " 
 
 HE confefles a knowledge of Mr. Jefferfon's fentiments, 
 but prudently avoids d'ifclcfurc, wrapping the matter in a my- 
 flerious refervc. Enough however is feen to jullify the con- 
 cluiion, that if Mr. Jefferfon's adv ice had prevailed, Viiginia, 
 North-Carolii)a, New- York and Rhode-Ifland, would have 
 -then thrown themfelves OUT OF THE UNION. And whether. 
 
( 45 ) 
 
 in that event, they would have been at this day re-umted to it, 
 or whether there would be now any union at a//, is happily a 
 fpeculation which need only be purfued, to derive from it the 
 pleafing reflections, that the danger <was ivifsly avoided, by not 
 p:trfuing Mr. ^fffirfon's advice. 
 
 WE may now fafely pronounce that, while the conftitution was 
 DEPENDING before the people of this country, for their con- 
 lidcration and decifion, Mr. Jefferfon was OPPOSED to it in 
 fame of its MOST IMPORTANT FEATURES, that he wrote his 
 objections to fome of his friends (leading and influential men) 
 hi Virginia, and at frjl, went fo far as to DISCOUNTENANCE 
 ITS ADOPTION, tho' he afterwards, finding it received in the 
 i nited States with favor, recommended it on the ground of ex- 
 pediency, in certain CONTINGENCIES. 
 
 IT may be added, that fome of his obje8ions t which went to 
 the VERY STRUCTURE of the PRINCIPAL parts of the govern- 
 ment, have not been REMOVED by the amendments, propofed 
 by Congrefs. 
 
 WE have feen that \\\zfrft ad-vice given by Mr. Jefferfon to 
 the people of Virginia, relative to the conltitution, wasc/ to 
 adopt it, but to try a fecond convention ; his fulfequent advice 
 was, to adopt or not ON A CONTINGENCY, that is, to adopt if /?*'<r 
 flat es had not previously adopted, to reject, if that number of 
 Hates had previoufly adopted, in other words, to rifque an ULTI- 
 MATE DISMEMBERMENT of the ilates in an experiment, to obtain 
 the alterations which HE deemed neceffary. On examination, 
 this advice will be found as pregnant with mifchief to the Unit- 
 ed State?, as it was abfurd and whimfical. 
 
 IF the four laft deliberating ftates (particularly if they had 
 happened to be dates in geographical contiguity, which was 
 very poffible) had refufcd to ratify the conftitution, what 
 might not have been the confequence ? Would the aj/cnting 
 ilates have tamely fuffered themfelves to be COERCED into the 
 amendments, which the diflenting ftates might have dictated? 
 Could any thing but objections to the conltitution of the moll 
 fetioas kind have juilified the hazarding an eventual fchifm in 
 the unioM, in fo great a degree as would have attended the 
 advice given by Mr. Jefferfon : Can it be denied that the per- 
 fon who entertained thefe objections was STRONGLY oppofedto 
 the conftltutlon ? 
 
 THE opponents of the conftitution (or the anllfederarijls as 
 they were called) acknowledged like Mr. Jefferfon, the necefli- 
 ty and utility of union, and generally fpeaking, that the con- 
 contained many valuable features ; Me him, they on- 
 
( 46 ) 
 
 ly contended that it wanted fome effential alterations, to ren- 
 der ft a fafe and good government ; like him, they only wanted 
 a fecond convention, to alter the conftitution, fo as to remove 
 all the objections which had been made, by what they called the 
 people, but in truth, by a few factious diforganizers or viiiona- 
 ry theorifts in the feveral ftates. 
 
 IF Mr. Jefferfon's advice was not Dangerous, it certainly was 
 ridic ../GUS in the extreme. According to that advice, the quef- 
 tion before a ftate convention would not have been on the me- 
 rits or demerits of the conftitution, but the only queftion would 
 be, in what numerical order the jlaie flood ? If me werethc ninth 
 ftate, then it was unneceffary to difcufs the merits of the 'mftni- 
 ment ; it mult be adapted at all events ; but if me happened to 
 be the te ,7/6, it mult then be rejected at all events, without any 
 difcufilon. It would have been fimply neceffary to have afcer- 
 tained, how many ftates had adopted, which fa& being known, 
 the adoption or rtjeti'ion followed of courfe ; and though in other 
 cafea, it mould feem that the more ftates had adopted a mea- 
 fure, the ftronger would be the recommendation, as an evidence 
 of the approbation of the people, yet in this cafe, the ingenious 
 Jefferfon. tvverfed the rule, and the more ftates had adopted, the 
 lefs credit ought it to have with the remainder. 
 
 BUT when this very fage advice was given, it happened never 
 to occur to its author, that two conventions might be in fef- 
 fion at the fame ti'ne, and that either of them, by its adoption, 
 would make the ninth : what wns to be done in this dilemma ? 
 if his advice was proper for Virginia, it was proper for all the 
 other ftates, how would they fettle the etiquette, which was to 
 adopt without .mendments, and which was to reject, to obtain 
 them ? It would have required conferences and negociations, in 
 which nvt a fyllable would have been faid, refpecl.ing the merits 
 of the conftitution; but the whole difcuffion would have turned 
 on, which ought to adopt, to complete the magical number, ;//w. 
 
 If the eonteft b.^.d occurred bet ween a larcre and a fmallftatc. 
 Virginia and D'-!--r:ire, for inftance, the difpute indeed might 
 eafily have been fettled ; Virginia would fay, do you adopt, and 
 we'll drive them into amendments : little Delaware would not 
 contend with the ancient dominion : But a ferious difficulty 
 would have arifen, had the eonteft been between Virginia and 
 Pennfylvania, and both were determined to adopt or reject : if 
 no compact could have been concluded between them, I cannot 
 fee how Mr. Jefferfon. s fcheme could have operated : if both 
 refufed to adopt, thtiv would not have be^n the tragic number ; 
 if both determined to adopt, then ten ftates would have adopted, 
 and no amendments obtained. 
 

 ( 47 ) 
 
 And all this, thought Mr. Jefferfon, might be accomplished 
 with eafe, and without fchifm ! Suppofe the four largejl Jlates, 
 Virginia, Pennfylvania, Maffachufetts, and New- York, had re- 
 jected the conftitution, and infifted upon all the amendments 
 which their feveral conventions required; is it probable that 
 the other nine ftates would, without a ftruggle, have relinquifh- 
 ed their opinions, and been brow beat into a ftring of amend- 
 ments, which they, in accepting the conftitution, had deemed 
 frivolous, unneceffary or dangerous ? or on the other hand, had 
 \\\z four fmalhjl Jlatis withheld their confent, in order to coerce 
 the nine others into amendments, is it likely the latter would 
 have been fwayed, by any apprehenfions, to alter a conftitu- 
 tion, on which they had refted their hopes of future happinefs ? 
 
 IN reviewing the fentiments of Mr. Jefferfon, refpe&ing the 
 conilitution, we are compelled to afcribe the contradictions and 
 abfurdities they diicover, to a natural unfteadinefs of principle, 
 on the fubjed of government, and to a difpoiition, which is 
 very manifeft, to pleafe both parties, unceitain for a time, 
 which would preponderate. Thus his opinions, like fome law 
 cafes, were often quoted by both fides. At the firft appearance 
 of the conftitution, he had very ferions bjeftions to it and re-* 
 commended another convention when he found that it was like- 
 ly to be adopted, his objeJlions diminimed, and he adviied the 
 adoption by nine ftates when he found that the conftitution 
 was a favorite with the people, then his objections nearly va- 
 nifhed, and he was content that Congrefs\ iliould recommend 
 amendments when they mould be found neceffary, he deprecated 
 another convention. 
 
 IF, at the latter ftage of the bufinefs, he found it expedient to 
 acquiefce in the will of the majority, it remains to enquire, whe- 
 ther he has, fince the operation of the federal government, con- 
 tinued his acquiefcence, or whether, rinding in this country, on 
 his return from France, a party , unfriendly to that government 
 and to the conftitution, from which it emanated, his former en- 
 mity has not broke out again, and difplayed itielf in hoilile acls, 
 too confpicuous to have efcaped notice and cenfure. 
 
 To prove that Mr. Jefferfon has been for many years a de. 
 termined opponent of the federal conftitution and of the mea. 
 fures which have flowed from it, under the adminiftration of 
 Waihington, I will now proceed to mew that he was the ifi/litu. 
 
 t In his letter of zSch Au^iift, 17^9, he fay?, fpcrk'/i'^ ;>f a Bill of Rights, the want of 
 which he ha<l but a (hurt time before viewed as a ftit&l defeii,*" Hswever, if we tin 
 
 not have it now. I have fo much confidence in my countrymen, as to be Jati-fitdtliat wr 
 u as the degeneracy of our government fliali render k uecdlriry." 
 
 ih .H have- it, as Isuu as th 
 
( 48 ) 
 
 tor and patron of the National Gazette, publifhed in Philadelphia, 
 the oljcft and tendency of which were to vilify and depreciate the 
 government of the United States, to mifreprefent and traduce the 
 admintftratioii of it .(except in the Jingle department of which 
 he was the head) implicating in the inoft virulent cenfure the 
 majority of both houfes of congrefs, the heads both of the trea- 
 fury and war departments, and fparing not even the chief ma- 
 gift rale himfelf ; that in the fupport of this paper, thus hojlilt; 
 to tke government, in the adminiilration of which he held fo im- 
 portant a trull, he did not fcruple to apply the money of that very 
 government. 
 
 THIS charge is fupported in feveral ways. 
 
 i ft. By dire A proof of an OFFICIAL connection between the fe- 
 cretary ofjlate and the editor of the National Gazette a little an- 
 tecedent to \\&JirfteJlabliftMient of that paper, f 
 
 2d. By direct proof, as we have feen, of the fecretary's being 
 oppofsd to the preient government of the United States, while 
 it was under the can/i^eralion of the people. 
 
 3d. By his avowed oppojitio'.i to the PRINCIPAL meafures 
 which have been adopted in the courfe of its adminiilration. 
 
 As to the connection between \\\tfecretary ofjlate and the editor 
 of the National Gazette, neither of the following facts can or 
 will be difputed. 
 
 ift. That the EDITOR of the National Gazette was a CLFRK 
 in the department ofjlate for foreign languages, and as fuch, 
 received a SALARY of two hundred and fifty dollars a year. 
 
 2d. That he, became fo antecedently to the eflablilhment of 
 his Gazette, having actually received his falary from the iyth 
 of Auguil, 79r, and not having publifhed the mil number cf 
 his paper till the 3 i il October following. 
 
 c/J. That at the time he became fo, there was another cha- 
 racter, a clerk in the fame department, who underftood the 
 French language ; and that the edilor of the National Gazette 
 was a tra^Jlalor of that language only. 
 
 4th. That the appoinment was not made under any fpec'ml 
 proviiion, marking out a particular clerkihip of the kind, its du- 
 ties, or its emoluments ; but under a general authority to appoint 
 clerks, and allow them falaries, not exceeding the average of five 
 hundred dollars each. 
 
 f This Editor was well known to be inimical to po&l government, having been a 
 f -:\v \e.>: s injure, a svriiet in a papt-r, called tlie Freea.an's Journal, the chur:icter of 
 vhich is not forgotten. 
 
( 49 ) 
 
 5th. That the editor of the National Gazette, immed&fly pre- 
 ceding the eftablifhment of that paptr, was the fuperintehdant 
 or conductor of a paper belonging to Guilds and Swaine,print- 
 cd at New- York. 
 
 TKECE atetbefifis : the conchifion is irrejijlille : the fecret in- 
 tcvtio'-.s of .Tien being in the repofitories of their own breafts, it 
 rarely happens, and is therefore not to be expected, that direct 
 and pofitive proof of ih>:m can be adduced. 
 
 PRESUMPTIVE fails and circumftances mud afford the evi- 
 dc ice, and when theie ttc-fujfictenttyjh'Qr-gi they ought to decide. 
 
 WE find the bead of a department taking the editor of a Ga- 
 zstte into his employment, as a clerl; with a fated f alary ^ not 
 for wfffpecidl purpofe, which could not have been accomplished 
 otherwife ; for befidea his own competency to tranflate from 
 the French, and his general practice, he had, at the time, in his 
 department, a clerk, who was capable of performing the ueryfir- 
 vice required, and could, without difficulty, have procured 
 others fimiiarly qualified : nor, from any particular neceffity 
 arifingfrom a too limited allowance, or any other caufe ; for he 
 had it in his power to allow an adequate compenfation to a cha- 
 racter who might have been regularly attacked to the department. 
 
 THE very exigence of fuch a connection, then, is alone a fuffi- 
 cier.t foundation for believing, that the defign of the arrange- 
 ment was to fecure an influence over the paper, the editor of 
 which was fo employed. But the circumftances which attend 
 it, explain the nature of it beyond a doubt. That which 
 has been juft mentioned, namely, there having been prcvlovfly 
 a clerk in the department, qualified to render the fervice, is a 
 weighty one. The coming of a netv printer from another 
 ftate, to inftitute a new paper his having been appointed a 
 clerk in the department prior to his removal to this city hi* 
 having been compen fated before he was even prefent to fatisfy 
 the appearance of rendering fervice ; thcfe clrcumjlanccs give a 
 point and energy to the language of the trartfaEiion, which ren- 
 der it unequivocal. There, perhaps, never was a moreJUmfy 
 covering for ihepenfioning of a printer. Some ojlen/tble ground for 
 giving bim tie public momy was necefiary to be contrived. The 
 clerk/kip of foreign languages was deemed a platifible pretext : but 
 no man acquainted with human nature, or with the ordinary 
 ivilcs of politics! intrigue, can be deceived by it. 
 
 THE medium of iiegc,c'uihon between his friend, the ftcrefary 
 of Jlate, and Mr. Freneau, in order to the ipftitution of his 
 paper, is well known, and documents are pofiefied which af- 
 csrtain the perfon ; but they are withheld, from particu- 
 
 G 
 
lar coniideraticns- Thefc are the more readily yielded to, be- 
 caufe the facts which have been Mated, render it unnecejjary to 
 exhibit them. Thofe facts mull prove, to the fatisfaction of 
 every impartial mind, that Mr. Jffirfon was the INSTITUTOR 
 and PATRON of ths National Gazette. 
 
 THE complexion and tendency of that Gazette, are fnf- 
 ficiently known. There was no man who loved the govern- 
 ment, or was a friend to the public order and tranquillity, 
 but reprobated it as an incendiary and pernicious publication, 
 and condemned with indignation , the aufpices by which it was 
 fupported, 
 
 IT is unnecefTary to add, what is equally well known, that 
 this incendiary paper expired about the time of Mr. Jefferjon's 
 retirement from office. 
 
 HAVING traced and afcerta'med the improper connection which 
 exifted between Mr. Jefferfon, while fecret <ry of Jlate, and the 
 editor of the National Gazette, it will not be ill-timed to call . 
 the public attention to fome fpecimens of i\\tfpirit and difpofiti- 
 on by which that Gazette was influenced. 
 
 WE all remember the alarming Jituation of this "country in 
 the fummer of 1793, w ^ en th e Prefidmff proclamation, fnp- 
 ported by his energy and Jirmnefs, and by the good ienfe of an 
 enlightened nation, maintained our neutrality, and faved us from 
 t war, in fpiteofthe perfevering efforts of a hod of foreign and 
 domej.ic incendiaries. 
 
 MR. Jefferfon is applauded by Hampden for having been 
 '* an enthu/iajlic admirer of the French revolution, without how- 
 cver furrendering the independence and f elf -government of America 
 even to forward that glorious eaufe ; " for the proof of which 
 he refers to the fecretary of date's letter to Mr. Morris, then our 
 minifter at Paris, counteracting Genet's intrigues and demanding 
 his recall. Wonderful forbearance and moderation truly in the 
 entbujiajtic fecretary not to furrender the independence and J "elj '-go- 
 vernment of his oiun country, to forward the glorious caufe of 
 another ! ! ! 
 
 BUT the real fentiments and wifhes of the fecretary of ftate 
 are to be looked for in the publications, which iflued from a 
 prefs, of which he was the inflitutor and patron, and from the 
 pen of an editor, who w&s penjioned by him. 
 
 THE ojtenfibie writings of the mere organ of the executive 
 will, after the public fentiment had become too unequivocal to be 
 miilaken, are not fufficient to convince an intelligent people, 
 that Mr. jefferfon was originally defirous of cQunteracling Ge- 
 nefs intrigues. 
 
( 5' ) 
 
 WE find by a recurrence to the National Gazette, that after 
 the Prefident iffued his proclamation of neutrality, that Gazette 
 did not ceafe for months to reprobate in the moft fcurrilotis 
 terms the co-idafl of 'the exec the, charging him with the com- 
 miffion of an illegal ad, and with a flagrant violation of 
 the co jliUttiO'i ; and that when the Frefident ordered a profe- 
 cution to be inftituted againll two Americans for v'toiafi :g the 
 neutrality of the country by entering on board a French priva- 
 teer, that Gazette accufed him in the harfheft language, of 
 cruelly and i legally imprif ning innocent men "for having gene- 
 " roufly forfook their country, to affert the caufe of liberty in 
 Francef." 
 
 MR. Jefferfon's tranflator of the French language, after 
 many fnnilar attacks, impatient at length of the tyranny of 
 the Prcfident and his refijlance to the iv'ut of Genet, breaks out 
 m his Gazette, of Wednefday, toth July, 1793, under the 
 fignature of Juba. in the following patriotic ftrain " The mi- 
 " ri'ijler oj France, I HOPE, will at with FIRMNESS and with 
 u SPIRIT : the PEOPLE zxe his friends or the friends of France, 
 " and/^ will have nothing to apprehe-id ; for, as yet, the PEO- 
 " PLE are tbcftvfrgfgn of the United States. Too much com- 
 11 placency is an i'-jnry done to his caufe, for as every ad van - 
 " tage is already taken of France, ( iiot by the people) further 
 *** condefcenfion may lead to further abufes. If one of the 
 " leading features of our GOVERNMENT is PUSILLANIMITY, 
 " when the Britiih lion (hews his teeth, let France and her mi- 
 " n'ljler act as becomes the dignity and juilice of their caufe, 
 " and the honor and faith of nations.*' 
 
 THIS attempt to make a diftinclion between the people of 
 the United States and their own government (fo congenial with 
 the attempts then made by the miniiler himfelf) and this ex- 
 hortation to Genet to dif regard the 'will of the government, were 
 nothing Ihort of a propo/iiion to transfer all the powers of the ex- 
 ecutive to aforeig.-i agent. And fuch was the diforganizing fpi- 
 rit, which then prevailed, that another Gazette;};, the General 
 Advertifer (now the Aurora) finding fuch doctrines counte- 
 nanced by the fecretary of llate, declared, in a piece under 
 the very appropriate fignature of a Jacobin, that it was no lon- 
 ger pofiible to doubt that the intention of the executive 'was to look 
 upon the treaty with France as a nullity, " and that the govern- 
 ment was preparing to join the league of kings agalnft France" 
 
 So much were the enemies of the government elated, at 
 that time, with the conviction that the fee retary of ftate coun- 
 
 f 5>e t'ie National Ga/ette of July 179}. 
 J Si;e the General Adverdler of July 1793. 
 
ti-nansedt\iz'ir vie\v?, that they were emboldened to purfue thofe 
 high-handed rneafures, which would ioon have proftrated OUT 
 excellent conilitution and placed us at the mercy of a foreign 
 agent, had not the people themfelves mterfjred. 
 
 WHEN Genet, thus fupported, boldly threw afide the mafic, 
 and raifed the Itandard of oppofition to our government, the 
 people, whofe government it was, came forth from New-Hamp- 
 ihire to Georgia, and with a loud voice, and an impoHng afpeft, 
 iileuctd the meddling and crafty foreigner, and put to ftight his 
 patricide myrmidons. Then it was that Jeff d m ' \ ! It expe- 
 dient to abandon fo rafh an JAtriguer, and i> _.aat on tlic fide of 
 the people ; he, who had greatly diOik^d the conftitution, while 
 its fate was doubtful, but had apparently approved of it when it 
 met a favorable reception from the people, with his ufual cun- 
 ning &&po;iticalfagacity 9 Ju]ffirted&t\eey meafures of the ex- 
 ecutive, when they were found to be popular, which he had, 
 through his agents rcfijled while the conteft <w'ah Genet ivas du- 
 bious. Then it was that, like \ht friends of the infurreSion cf 
 whom cihze i Fauchet fpeaks, he wiflied to do away all fufpicions 
 of having favored Genet's intrigues, by a parade of great zeal 
 for the independence of our government ; for thcfe men, to ufe 
 the words of Fauchct, " as ioon as it was decided, that the 
 French republic purchased no men to do their duty, men about 
 'whofe conduct the government could at leaftform u*'iec.fy c r j 'jctlun'S, 
 were feen giving themfelves up with zfcandalous oftentatlon to its 
 views, and even fecon ding its declarations." 
 
 IT will be proper, in this place, to ftate foms fafts and recur 
 to fonie dates, which will throw great light on this fubjecl:, and 
 fully corroborate the foregoing fuggeftions. 
 
 THE proclamation of neutrality was iffued 22d April, 1793. 
 Genet arrived in the enfuing month in Philadelphia ; and, fup- 
 ported by the democratic locieties, the difcontented and fedi- 
 tious of all clafles, and the National Gazette, immediately began 
 his intrigues againil our government. The United States were 
 kept in a ilate of perpetual ferment and alarm from the time of 
 Genet's arrival in Philadelphia, till the month of Augull, when 
 his open threat, " to appeal from the Prefident to the people," 
 roufed the people to come forward and fupport their Prdident, 
 and thus completely overfet Genet and his adherents, and all 
 their wicked machinations. 
 
 Now, Jefferfon's letter to Morris was not written till THE 
 j6rH AUGUST ; and the gazette, publiihed under his AUS PI- 
 PES, was filled, from the moment the proclamation was ifiued, 
 till the month of Auguft, with iwdives againil the Prefideni 
 
( 53 ) 
 
 - jfor iffuing it, and with exhortations to Gzn:t to perfijl irt his ca- 
 reer ! 
 
 A FEW extra&s from that letter will aggravate, if pofflble, 
 the grofs mifconducl oi the fecretary of ftate, in having tolerat- 
 ed fuch treafonabls fentiments from a prefs, the editor of which 
 was a confidential clerk in his department, and was paid by him 
 \vith the money of the government, which he was thus openly 
 refitting. 
 
 HE informs Mr. Morris, " that "Genet's landing at one of 
 the moil diftant ports of the Union, from his points both of de- 
 parture and deitination, was calculated to excite attention, and 
 'that very foon afterwards the government learnt that he was 
 undertaking to authorife \.\\z fitting cut privateers, at Charlellon, 
 cnljfting American citizens and giving them commiffions to com- 
 mit hojli.ities on nations at peace with us, that thefe veflels 
 were bringing prizes into our ports, that the French confuls 
 were qffuming to hold courts, &c. &c. and all this before Genet 
 had even prefinted himfilf or his credentials to the Prefident :" He 
 adds, " Genet, not content with uling our force, whether we 
 " will or not, in a military line, againil nations with whom we 
 " are at peace, undertakes a fo to dire El the civil government j 
 " thus in his letter of June 8th, he promifed to refpecVthe 
 " political opinions of the Prefident, till the reprefcntatives fljould 
 6t have confirmed , or rejected them, as if the Prefident hadunder- 
 " taken to decide what belonged to the decifion of Congrefs : 
 " In his letter of June I4th, he fays more openly, that the 
 <( Prefident ought not to have taken on himfilf \.Q decide on the 
 
 (" fubjetl of the letter, but that it was of importance enough 
 " to have confultecl congre(s thereon ; and in that of 22d June, 
 *' he tells the Prefident, in direS terms, that congrefs ought al- 
 " ready to have been confulted on certain queilions which he had 
 *' been too hnjly in deciding, thus making himfelf, and not the 
 " Prefident, thejWj^ of the powers afllgned by the conilitution, 
 *' and difiating to Lirti the occafion when he mall exercife the 
 " power of convening congrefs,." 
 
 From thefe extrafbs it then appears, that as early as May, 
 the attention of the government had been excited to view with 
 anxiety G? net's conduct, that he had, even before he was accre- 
 dited by cur government, fitted out privateers, enlifted Ameri- 
 cans, raifed a military force, affumed jurifdidlion, and not con- 
 tent with that, had proceeded as early as June, to undertake to 
 dire El our civil government, dictating to the Prejident the exercife of 
 his; powers. And yet, itrange to tell, Mr. Jefferfon's tranfla- 
 tor of the French language, the very clerk in his office, who 
 - had conjidentially translated ihcfc very infolent letters, in his news- 
 
( 54 ) 
 
 paper of I oth *July> publifhed under the eye of Mr. Jefterfon, 
 " EXHORTS GENET to act with FIRMNESS AND SPIRIT, tells 
 him that the people are his friends, that,as yet, they, and not the 
 Prefident, are fovereign, that the Prefident is pufillanimous ^ and 
 that Genet has nothing to do but to act as becomes the dignity 
 of his caufe I" And ftranger ft ill, this clerk thus openly encou- 
 raging the SURRENDER rf our fe/f government and INDEPEND- 
 ENCE TO A FOREIGN AGENT, retained his place as confidential 
 clerk to the very man, who makes thefe complaints the bafis 
 of Genet e recall, and the affections of the very officer, whofe 
 duty it was to punim fuch treafonabls practices ! 
 
 IN another part of the letter, the fecretary fays, " If OUR 
 " CITIZENS have not been already SHEDDING EACH OTHER'S 
 " BLOOD, it is not owing to the moderation of Mr. Genet, 
 " bur \. it the forbearance of the government." And yet the 
 fecretary loitered within his bofovn the ABETTOR of Genet ! 
 
 AFTER, this, who will be hardy enough to fay, that JefFerfon 
 did not connive at Genet's practices, while the iffue of his conteft 
 remained doubtful \ Ii:id he felt the indignation which, at that 
 alarming crifis, fwelled the heart of every independent and pa- 
 triotic citizen, would he not have fpurned from his office, the 
 foullource of iach attrocitks ? 
 
 THE wretched apology offered by Jefferfon's friends, " that 
 he could not, in 3 f :.?: country, controul the publications of that 
 Gazette," is too contemptible to require an anfwer. Could he 
 not difmifs from his oiike a confidential clerk, entrufled with 
 ihefecrets. of the deparLrnent of ftate, who was betraying his 
 trull, and openly abetting a foreign agent in a contejl with the 
 government of his own co;i try ? Ought he to have maintained 
 any further ojjiciai conueftion with a Gazette, which exhorted 
 the foreign agent toperfivere with fpirit in ufurping our govern- 
 ment, dictating- tr. the executive, and committng acls which 
 muft terminate in :'"vll war ? 
 
 THIS circumftance is fo ftrongly flamped with political infa- 
 my, thar it can admit of no apology. It marks the views of 
 Mr. Jefterfon, in colours which cannot le effaced : it fixes a 
 ilain on his adminiilration, which can never be ivnfoedout. 
 
 IT will not now be denied, by any perfon acquainted with 
 the ftate of public affairs at the alarming crifis of which we 
 have been fpeaking, that Mr. JefFerfon was averfe to the Preii- 
 dent's iffuing his proclamation of neutrality, and that he advif- 
 ed the calling together of congrcfs, deeming the proclamation a 
 ftep too important to reil on the Prcfident's bare authority. 
 Whether this advice proceeded from nfecret wifh to involve us 
 
( 55 ) 
 
 in war, or from a conftitutional timidity, is immaterial to the 
 prefent queftion : certain it is, that fuch a ftep would have been 
 fatal to the peace and tranquillity of America : certain it is> 
 that Genet, and ah 1 the Jacobins of the country, and all the 
 democratic focieties, were extremely anxious for fuch a fk'p ; 
 and \vhilethey refted all their hopes of war on the cor:vol:i. 
 
 t congrefs, there was no man, who valued the welfare of this coun- 
 try, who did not then fhudder at the idea of fuch a calamity. 
 For had congrefs been convened in Philadelphia in the fummer 
 of 1793, bringing together all the pnjjions which had been art- 
 fully excited in various parts of the Union, finding a mafs of paf~ 
 ftons ready prepared in the metropolis, operated on by all the 
 
 \ wiles and intrigues of Genet, and the wanceuvres of the demo- 
 cratic fcclety, congrefs would, moft undoubtedly, have been driv- 
 
 | en to fome intemperate acl:, of which war would have been the 
 {mmediate confequence. 
 
 IF it was fo difficult to reftrain a party in congrefs from car- 
 rying hoflile meafures in the winter following, when th" paflions 
 had considerably abated, when the public mind had manifeiled 
 fa a marked wim for neutrality, and when Genet's influence was 
 f almoft proftrated, how irnpoflible would it have been to have re- 
 fiftedthem, in the midft of thofe agitations, which convulfed the 
 t whole nation, in the fummer of '93, in the midft of thofe politi- 
 cal tempefts and whirlwinds which were then directed by Ge- 
 net ? The few rational and moderate lovers of peace, Jnftead of 
 being liftened to with that attention which their opinions af- 
 terwards excited, would have been filenced by the overwhelming 
 acclamations of a factitious enthujwfm, and fwept away from their 
 ground by the irrefiftible torrent of exafperated paffions. 
 
 WELL might Genet wim for the calling of congrefs,-]- when 
 ' he found that he could not mould the executive to his views : 
 
 well might he rave and threaten, when he found the advice of 
 ' the fecretary of ftate, on which he had depended, over-ruled in 
 
 the council, by the difcretion of the two other fecretaries, and 
 
 by the wifdom and firmnefs of the Prefident ! 
 
 THE letters which Mr. Jefierfon afterwards wrote to Genet 
 and to Mr. Morris, and which have been quoted by his friends 
 as evidences of his oppoiition to Genet's intrigues, prove only, 
 that Mr. Jefferfon poffefled political fagacity enough to forefee, 
 
 t In his letter to the fecretary of ttate (printed correfpondence, page 75.) among 
 i other c-aufes of complaint againlt tiitfrtjiteat, he Hates the following : " That he 
 has deferred, in fpi.c of ni}"ie<pccitul yilinuations, tu convent Confrefo immedi.itel\, 
 in order t<.) take the true \er.tinientiofthepeople, tojixthtfolitifatji/iemofthc I- 
 nited States, and to decide whether they will break, ftjlpcnd, or tighten, thnr bonds 
 with Frmicean tionejt meafure, whidi would Jrave aiuided to die ^overiiinciu miu h 
 toniradictiou W'Ajubterfuif, 
 
that had he after the public fentiment was fixed, per filled iri 
 encouraging Genet, he wouki, like his lefs cunning fucceflbr, 
 have been difgracefully difmiiTed from office, and, like him, 
 mined in the public cflimation : like the friends of the infur- 
 reclion when they faw the government ftrong, he therefore 
 made an oftentatious difplay of " his zeal to maintain our inde- 
 " pendence and (elf-government. " It is evident, that Genet 
 confidered this conduct as a defection from his caufe ; for in his 
 letter, referred to in the note, he complains bitterly of Mr. Jef- 
 ferfon's treachery and abandonment* He uies, in that letter, 
 thefe remarkable cxprefiions : " Belides, fir, whatever may 
 " be the refuli of the atckuvtmettt of which you have rendered 
 " yourfelf the ^encrvus inftr.unent, AFTER HAVING MADE ME 
 
 " BELIEVE THAT YOU WERE MY FRIEND, after having INITI- 
 " ATED ME INTO MYSTERIES which have INFLAMED MY 
 
 " HATRED again ft all thofe who ASPIRE to an ABSOLUTE POW- 
 " ER, there is an a<t of juftice,'' Sec. page 70. 
 
 HERE Genet complains of Jefferfon's treacheroufly becom- 
 ing" the inflrumentui his recall, after having perfuaded him that 
 he was his friend, and initiated him into myjicries of ftate, 
 which had inflamed Genet's hatred againft the Prcfident, and 
 the reft of the adminiftration ; in fact, after having caballed 
 with this foreign agent, and by calumnies againft the executive, 
 excited him to refiftance. Again, page 73, Genet fays to 
 him, in the language of reproach, " If I have {hewn firmnefs 
 (in oppoimg the Prefident) it is, becauie it was not in my cha- 
 rafter to [peak as ma"y people do, in one way, and aft in another, 
 to have an OFFICIAL language, and a language CONFIDENTI- 
 
 NOTHING further is necefiary to prove, beyond a doubt, 
 the improper encouragement which the fecretary of ftate had 
 given to Genet to refift the Prefident's authority ; were any 
 further proof requifite we might refer to the writings of Helvi- 
 dius\, written in the month of July by a confidential friend of 
 Mr. Jefferfon, for the exprefs purpofe of proving that the Pre- 
 fident had no authority to iffue the proclamation of neutrality, 
 and inviting the people to difobey it ; we might refer to the 
 obftrucliions which prevented the recall of Genet, which did 
 not take place //'// the i6//j duguft, though he had dictated to 
 ztnd i-.fulled the Prefident as early as June, and which obftruc- 
 tioris and delay, muft have arifen altogether from the dtvifwn of 
 
 t Thffe writings "/"( To much fuirf 1 ^ to Geret's vi<ws, t.liaf, in hh Ictrcr to JefFer- 
 {' , ib ve qnote<|, !;/. f'.\ , ' [ -in jo':ii o;i:y, in < lit. fort : f V:.s opinions which I meant 
 " ropi-'fifs t;-vne Wrhinas which havtf been ptiblilhed hire, fiith as ihcfe ot Verha 
 * HEI.VJD1US," &c. ' I'agc 7,3. 
 
( .57 ) 
 
 <p'};ion which cxilled in the cabinet ; to what other cauic crif! 
 we afcribe the delay of demanding the recall of a foreign agent, 
 \v ho had grofsly infulted the government of the country, ircni 
 the beginning of June to the middle of Auguft, but to the 
 powerful fupport which that agent found, even in the depart- 
 ment, where his conduct was the moll notorious, and againft 
 which his attacks had been the moft outrageous ? 
 
 WHEN finally the meafure of recall was agreed upon, and the 
 fccretary of ftate was at no lofs for mateiiuls, on which to pre- 
 dicate it, when the Prcfidcnt's opinion, as well as that of the 
 public, became too irnpoilng to admit of further hefitation, then 
 the fecretary, to whom the talent of epiilolary competition is 
 not denied, produced an able letter, in which he endeavoured to 
 make atonement by elegance and energy of ftile for his previ- 
 ous mifconducl and oppofition. 
 
 I SHALL conclude this part of the fubjecl with the following 
 remarks: ift. The circumilance of Mr. Jcfferfon's being an 
 enthufiailic admirer of the French caufe (as Hampden dcfcribes 
 him to be) is far from recommending him, in the judgment of 
 real Americans, to the prefidency. The Prefident of the Uni- 
 ted States ought to be an enthufiajllc admirer of no caufe, but 
 that of his O'-v-i. country ; cnth Jinfm, in a politician, is clofely al- 
 lied to error and pq/Jlon, both of which are the baxc of good go- 
 vernment : but er.thiifiafm for a foreign country leads diredly to 
 fubfervience and devotion to fort'ig," r.'terejls ; a chief magiftrate, 
 enthufia flic ally attached to France, will therefore fccn become a 
 dt<vr,ted tool of France. 
 
 2dly. I CANNOT difcern the merit in Mr. JefTerfon, of hav- 
 ing, as Hampden exprefles it, forborne to facrlfice th: 
 cnce and felf gowrtime -it of his own country even to the glorious 
 caufe of France ; what attachment mull that man have to his 
 own country who could, for a moment, coniider this, as meri- 
 torious ? Were the faft ar, dated (which I deny, and the con- 
 trary of which I have proved) I mould never be induced to 
 view, as meritorious, the mere forbearance to be a traitor to 
 one's country, by facrificing its independence and felf-govern- 
 mcnt to the views of a foreign nation. 
 
 IN the preceding pages it has been fatisfaclorily fhewn, that 
 Mr. Jefferfon, while Secretary of State, countenanced the in- 
 trigues of Genet, till they had proceeded to fuch lengths as to 
 roufe the people to fupport the Prefident, and to compel the 
 fecretary to unite with the reft of the admin iilration in demand- 
 ing his recall. 
 
 THIS has been fubftantiated by various corroborating 1 rircum- 
 ilanccs and direct proofs. , 
 
ift. By the publications in the National Gazette, by a clerk 
 of Mr. Jefferfon, reprobating the Prefident's conduct and ex- 
 horting Genet to perfevere in hi-s oppclition, for months after 
 Mr, Jefferfon knew that Genet was refilling the government. 
 
 2d. By the obftru&ions which prevented the recall of Ge* 
 net, from the time of his firft open a& againft the government, 
 till the 1 6th Auguft, and which could only have arifen from 
 Mr. Jefferfon's oppofition in the cabinet to that meafure. 
 
 jd His advice to convoke congrefs, a meafure urgently de- 
 manded by Genet, and his oppofition to the iffuiiig the pro- 
 clamation of neutrality. 
 
 4th. The writings of Hehidius againft that proclamation, 
 compofed by a confidential friend of his, and quoted by Genet, 
 as authority on his fide. 
 
 5th. Genet's charging him with defeflio--?, after having pro- 
 feffedto be his friend, and initiated him into tnvfleries, which h:-d 
 inflamed his hatred againft the government, and aceufmg Lim 
 of having two languages, one cotifidential the other official. 
 
 6th. His being an fatbufiaftic admirer of the French caufe. 
 
 7th. His being recommended and pointed out by citizen 
 Fauchet, in his intercepted letter, as the man whom the Patriots 
 had fixed on as Prefident, (hewing that Jefferfon was confidered 
 by Fauchet, as a friend to Genet's intrigues, notwithftanding 
 his official letter. 
 
 WE mail now proceed to notice fome other features of Mr. 
 Jefferfon's violent averficn to the meafures of the federal go- 
 vernment, which will ftill further prove his participation in the 
 views of the National Gazette. 
 
 THE friends and advocates of Mr. Jefferfon have made no 
 fcruple to boqft of his abhorrence of the leading principles of the 
 admihljlratipn of the Ji:;ances 'f the United States ; and the Nation* 
 al Gazette, one of the main objects of which was to abufe that 
 administration, in conformity to that abhorrence, went fo far in 
 one of the numbers, as to urge the neccjjity of a revolution, in 
 order to overthrow the whole fyftem of public credit. 
 
 THE leading principles of our fifcal adminiftration were, that 
 the public debt ought to be provided for, in favor of thofe, who, 
 acccording to the exprefs terms of the contract, were the true 
 legal proprietors of it ; that it ought to be provided for, in 
 other refpects, according to the terms of the contract, except 
 fo far as deviations from it mould be aliented to by the credit- 
 
( 59 ) 
 
 ers, upon the condition of a fair equivalent, that it ought to 
 be funded upon afcertained revenues, pledged for the payment 
 of intercit, and the gradual redemption of principal, that the 
 cl hts of the feveral itates ought to be comprifed in the provi- 
 flo;i, on the fame terms with that of the United States, -that to 
 render thf. -Deration practicable, avoid the oppreffion of 
 
 trade a.id iaduitry, and facilitate loans to the government, in 
 cafes of emergency, it was- neceflary to inftitute a national bank, 
 that indirect taxes were in the actual circumftances of the coun- 
 try, the moft eligible means of revenue, and that direct taxes 
 ought to be avoided as much, and as long as poffible. 
 
 Nor/, J aver from competent opportunities of knowing Mr. 
 jcficrfon's ideas, that he has been decidedly hojlile to all theie 
 petitions, except perhaps the lait, and that, even in regard to 
 that, his maxims would oblige the government in practice fpee- 
 dily to refort to direct taxes. 
 
 I AVER moreover, that his oppofition to the adminiftration 
 of the government was not confined to the meafures connected 
 wit; the Treafury Department, but was extended to almoft all 
 the important meafures of the government. 
 
 IF Mr. Jefferfon's oppofition to the meafures which are con- 
 nected with t : ie administration of the national finances had ceaf- 
 ed, whtn thole meafures had received the fan&ion of la<w, no- 
 thing more could have been faid, than, that he had tranfgrefT- 
 ed the rules of official decorum, in entering the lifts a gain ft the 
 head of another department (between whom and himielf, there 
 was a reciprocal duty to cultivate harmony) that he had been 
 culpable in purfuing a line of conduct, which was calculated to 
 fow the feeds of difcord in the executive branch of the govern- 
 ment in the infancy of its exiftsncs. 
 
 BUT when his oppofition extended beyond that point, when 
 it was apparent, that he wifhed to render odious and of courie to 
 Culvert (for in a popular government thefe are convertible terms) 
 all thole deliberate and iblcmn ads of the kgiflature, which had 
 become the pillars of the public credit, his conduct deferred to 
 be regarded with a ftill feverer eye. 
 
 WHATEVER, differences of opinion may have preceded thofe 
 acts however exceptionable particular features in them may- 
 have appeared to certain characters, there is no enlightened nor 
 difcreet citizen but muft agree, that they ought when clothed 
 with the fanction of law to remain undiftitrbed. To fet afkat 
 the funding fyftem, after tlic faith of the nation had been fo de- 
 tiler ately 9xd.folemnly pledged to it after fuch numerous and ex- 
 H'niive alie.iaiicns of property for full value had been made un- 
 
! iunc, ;:;--- -.vlth adequate revenues, lit'Jc burthcnfome to 
 the people in a tiir.e of profound peace with not even the 
 fiadow of any puUlc ncccjjliy on no belter ground than that of 
 tueorftic;i!m\par'j(hx;cal dogmas would have been one of the 
 7r;o|l wo-/ jii;u* arts, that ever Jla'med the annals of a 
 
 civilized nation. 
 
 YET petitions tending to that diigraceful refult verc main- 
 tained in public d.'fcMiifi::, by individuals, known to be devoted 
 to the then fceretary of itite, and were private! y fmihd upon, 
 as profound difcoveries in political fcience. 
 
 YET the lefs difcreet, though not lea ft important partisans of 
 tlci officer, fpoke familiarly of undoing the funding fv/iem, as a 
 meritorious work : Yet bis gazette (which may fairly be regard- 
 rd as the mirror of his views) after having labored for months 
 to make it an objecl of public detection, told us at length, in 
 plain and triumphant terms, that " the funding fyftem had had 
 its day ;'* and very clearly, if notexprefsly, " that it was the 
 object of the party to overthrow //."f 
 
 IT may be juflly then, and from fufficient data, inferred, 
 that Mr. Jefferfcn's politic?, while fecretary of Hate, ietukJ 
 to national difvnior ', inji^nificancc, dif order and difcredit. That 
 the fubverfion of the funding fyftem would have produced ;;- 
 ttojuil (lifers ;'//, proves itfelf. Lofs of credit, the reafon being 
 the fame, mull attend nations, as well as individuals, \vho vo- 
 luntarily and without neceflity, violate \ki&x formal and pofitive 
 engagements. 
 
 t I ];;;! : nrbe 11 >;h i' T'l^l -p-ml-.-nC C'iroriicL-, (an antiri\!eral paper) of Septemb r, 
 1792, rhe follow" 115 publication :--- 
 MR. ADAMS, 
 
 AS the friends of en il ! : berty wifh at all times to he acquainted with _every qoeflion 
 \\liichappeairs to regard the publtc^^^I, : ' grearnnmbrr of gentlemen in this and rn-: 
 , have fuhftTJhfil ft.r ihe N&ti<.n<'.l Gazette, publifljtfd by Mr. 
 Philip Frsnean, it Philade'piaa : and ic is Inpc-il, that Frene.iu' 1 '. Gazette, wl;icli is 
 laid to be pi-i.!.td undt.r the eye of that eftabuffliecl patf'or and republican, Thomas 
 Jfjjerfon, will be p,enenaiv ukrw in the New-England Stares C>. 
 
 In the Cclhihbian Centintl fof Bclton.) die fuHowir.g re|ily appeared a few days af- 
 
 " A Conef^jrr.i'et t :ti !l;e lail C'irotvcle, recnmmeji;!s to the people of New-EnpV r, :i. 
 a g,/ti< >- 3 l pen i'\i i' tl-e Natio'nal GT^-tre, fii' 1 , tn be printed, Sec. Wliether this is in- 
 rsnded as an avov.al on ih<- pirt c.f Mr. J h //s u the M?,7/, and the Smjirndettt 
 
 Freneau only the now3/ editor .f vliisf/i---./^ c;--<:;tte, ihe piibHc is at a l<.fst'.> deter- 
 mine. The advice is adapted t> all who dtii-.ht in r!i irdt violent abufeona .iver:>- 
 :ne lit framed and .T!:-iiiiii<t^iy-d :iy t!-? people ( .f" Ar er.cn, to th? honour, diijvi-y, ard 
 happinefs of America ; and all who aiRrft too mucii learning tb have any #H, wril be 
 plrafed w'th ihe rerojp.i; enda-ion. T'i.e Cltrry of -he country vilified, rt!i::iai ci.n- 
 fian-ly ridiculed, mr.ft a!]jr<! a r : c'a r-v't 'n ir.fideh and frtethinken. To deprive us 
 of all corifiderce in a overnment itiftin.'ted and adminiflered bv nurftives, and ander 
 the anf.ncesof v/li;ch th? United States have i-r.-p.rriied from dllbord, poverty and con- 
 tempt, to happtntiV, waft!i1afid honour, : ataflcw rthyAfee pwtrf" a malignant ftra- 
 f.r. t> tnke from us all truit :n that retigior, r..r .vhich our piotvs ancefiors exchanged a 
 civiliz-d country for the vvildernejs and or, wh;. ii wi- 'ciu!:l our brlghteft hopes tor hr.p- 
 pin.'iV in thisanH a firure w . ' -.'t'i't to a man like Freneau : but *nre. 
 
 ly T. A.iamsouiilu t i ns, bcfcre lie brings forward Mr. 
 
 JEFFERSON as rhe pttron <-f fucli a Gazt tte."! 
 Mr. Jcffa fun's filcnds nevtr denied the trutii of ihe paragraph m ti:e thronic.e. 
 
: and ejj^ft&r, aa applied to communities, e- 
 qually with individuals, are the natural offspring of a lofs of 
 ., prcmsditatfiy and voluntarily incurred. 
 
 DISUNION would not .long lag behind. Sober-minded and 
 virtuous men, in every Hate, would iofc all confidence in, and 
 all refpecb for a government, which had betrayed fo much le- 
 vity and inconfiilency, fo profligate a difregard to the rights of 
 property, and to the obligations of good faith. Their fupport 
 would of courfe be fo far withdrawn or relaxed, as to leave it 
 an eafy prey to its enemies. c fhcfe comprife the advocates for 
 feparate confederacies ; the zealous partizans of unlimited fove- 
 reignty in the ilate governments the never to be fatiated 
 lovers of innovation and change the tribe of pretended philofo- 
 phsrs, but real fabricators of chimeras nr.iXparjdoxcs \.\\c.CataHnes 
 and Ctfars of the community (a defcription of men to be found 
 in every republic) who leading the dance to the tune of liberty 
 without /azv , endeavour to intoxicate the people with delicious, 
 but poifonous draughts to render them the enjier victims of 
 their rapacious ambition ; the vicious and the fanatical of every 
 cVfs, who are ever found the willing or the deluded followers of 
 thofe feducing and treacherous leaders. 
 
 BUT this is not all the invnfon of feverty millions of pro- 
 perty could not be perpetrated without violent conftijjkr.s. The 
 itates, whofe citizens, both as original creditors and pure'. 
 own the largell portions of the debt (and feveral fuch there are) 
 would not long remain bound in the trammels of a party which 
 had fo grofsly violated their rights. The confequences in expe- 
 riment would quickly awaken to a fenfe of injured right, and 
 intereii fuch of them, whofe representatives may have wicked- 
 ly embarked, or been ignorantly betrayed into the atlrcc'^i; > 
 and deflructive project. 
 
 WHERE would all this end but m dij "union and anarchy in 
 national dif grace and humiliation ? 
 
 THE votaries of Mr. Jefferfon vainly endeavoured to vindi- 
 cate his conduct, refpecling hir, connection with the editor of 
 the National Gazette, and his oppofition to the mealures of 
 government, while fecretary of ftate. 
 
 IN refpecl: to the fir ft, they faid, '* that Mr. Frcneau wns 
 recommended by feveral of his fcllo\v-collegiates, men of high 
 reputation and who were interelted in his welfare*: and that, 
 to entitle him to the oRice which Mr. Jefferfon beitowed ou 
 him, it was merely neceflary that he mould be a citizen oi 
 
 J- S-e the American U:uly Aii\er{iKr ut'the 13/1 Oct'ber, 
 
. 
 
 the United States, irreproachable in point of morality, and in 
 other refpeds well qualified to difcharge his duties." It is 
 at once feen that, fuch an apology, to an enlightened public, 
 is as infulting as was the condud which it was defigncd to 
 glofs over. As well might Mr. Jefferfon, fhould he be eleft- 
 ed prefidcnt, and penfion a printer to fupport his meafures, 
 attempt hereafter to varnifh over fuch an a& by a like vindi- 
 cation. 
 
 As to the fecond point, thefe votaries, whofe devotion for 
 their idol kindled at every form, in which he presented himfelf, 
 even deduced matter of panegyric from his opposition to the mea- 
 fures of the government. '1 was according to them, the fub- 
 limeil pitch of virtue in him, not only to have exira-officiatty 
 embarraOTed plans, originating with his colleagues, in the 
 courfe of their progrefs, but to have continued his oppofition 
 to them, after they had been confidered and enacted by the 
 Icgijlaltfrc) with fuch modifications as had appeared to them 
 proper, and had been approved by the chief magi/irate. Such 
 conduct, in their opinion marked a firm and virtuous independ- 
 ence of 
 
 IF any proof were wanting of that ftrange perverfion of all 
 ideas of decorum and order, which has long chara&erifed a cer- 
 tain party, this making a theme of encomium of what was tru- 
 ly a deinonnration of a caballing , fclf-fufficient, and refractory 
 would afford it. * 
 
 I SHALL endeavour to (late what courfe a firm and virtuous 
 independence of character, guided by ajuft and neceffary fenfe 
 of decorum, mould have dictated to an officer in Mr. Jeffer- 
 fon's itatiori. 
 
 I DO n^t hffitate to reprobate the pofition, that a man, who 
 h?.d accepted an office in the ej ccntive department, mould be 
 held to throw the weight of hir, okirafter into the fcale, to 
 fupport a meafure, which in 1: * he dtfapprovcd, and in 
 
 his (lation had npptfid or thattii- . \ of the adminiilra- 
 
 tion (hould form togetlier a clofe and fecrct combination, into 
 whofe meaiui-es the profane eye of the public mould not pry. 
 But there is a very obvious medium between aiding or coiu:temwc- 
 ivp, znd intriguing and machinating againil a meafure ; between 
 rt'P'fa-S lt m ^ 3e dlj charge of an official duly or volunteering an op- 
 po/iiion to it :;i the difcharge of no duty, between entering info a 
 clcfj andficret cornbi mt'ion with the other members of the ad- 
 miniftration, and being the aRive leader of an oppofition to its mea- 
 furcs. 
 
 Tee die American Daily Advcrtif,-r of the loth Octcber, 
 
THE true li'.'e of propriety appears to be the following: A 
 member of the adminiftration in one department ought only to 
 aid thofe meafures of another, which he approves Where he 
 disapproves, if called upon to aft officially, he ought to rnanifeft 
 his di (approbation , and avow his oppofition ; but, out of an of- 
 ficial Hue, he ought not to interfere, " as long as he thinks fit 
 
 TO CONTINUE A PART OF THE ADMINISTRATION." 
 
 WHEN the meafure in queftion has become a law of the land, 
 efpecially with a direct fanftion of the chief magiftrate, it is his pe* 
 culiar DUTY to acquiefce. A contrary conduct is inconfjlent with 
 his relations as an officer of the government^ and with a due refpefl 
 as fuch for the decifions of the legifiature and of the bead of the 
 <xec::tivc department. 
 
 THE fuccefs of every government, its capacity to combine 
 the exertion of public ftrength with the preiervation of perfonal 
 right and private fecurity, mint always depend on the energy of 
 the executive. 
 
 THIS energy again, mivft materially depend on the union and 
 mutual deference, which fubfift between the members of that de- 
 partment, and the conformity of their conduct with the views 
 of the executive chief. 
 
 DIFFERENCE of opinion between men engaged in any com- 
 mon purfuit, is a natural appendage of human nature. When 
 only exerted in the d"if charge of a uty, with delicacy and temper, 
 among liberal and fenfible men, it can create no animoiity : but 
 when it produces officious interferences, dictated by no call 'f du- 
 ty ; when it volunteers a difplay of itfelf in a quarter where 
 there is no rejpo'lfibility, it muft inevitably beget ill-humour and 
 difcord. 
 
 APPLIED to the members of the executive adminiftration of 
 any government, and more particularly of a republican govern- 
 ment, it mud neceffarily tend to occafion, more or lefs, dljlraS- 
 ed councils, to foft.tr fadions in the community, and particularly 
 to weaken the government. 
 
 MOREOVER, the heads of the feveral executive departments 
 are to be viewed as auxiliaries to the executive chief. Oppofition 
 to any meafures of his, by either of thofe heads, except in the 
 fhape of frank, firm, and independent advice to himfelf, is evi- 
 dently contrary to the relations, which fubfiit between the parties. 
 And a meafure becomes his, fo as to involve this duty of acquief- 
 cence, as well by its having received his f auction in the form of a 
 law, as by its having previoufly received his approbation. 
 
 ONE of the powers entruiled to our chief magiftrate is, that 
 flo&jeSing to bills which have patted the two houfes of congrefs. 
 
( OJ. ) 
 
 -This fuppofes the drty of objecting, \vhcn he is of opi'mor. thai 
 the objec\ of any bill is either mncofiftttiitiottol or pernicious The 
 approbation of a bill implies, that he does not tlir.k it cither the 
 one of the other ; and it makes him refpvnfiUe to the comrnunitv 
 for this opinion. The meafure becomes bis by adoption ; nor 
 could he eicape a portion of the blame, which would finally at- 
 tach itfelf to a bad nicafure, to which he had given his cor.fent. 
 
 SOLID as are thefe principles, the public ear has, not\vith- 
 ^ittjfeding, been frequently affailed with common place to- 
 pics, and plaufible flourifhes and declamations againlt them. 
 \ V'YIT inch flourishes may be dexterously retailed by the traf- 
 fickers in popular prejudice', thefe principles, founded on politi- 
 cal truth, may, with confidence, be fubmitted to the deliberate 
 opinion of an enlightened and fober people. 
 
 IT may be afted What ? is a man to facriiice his cvrjlicnce 
 and hie judgment to an office ? Is he to be a dumb fpectator of 
 meafures which he deems fubverlive of the ;% /;Ar and i^icnjU c- 
 his fellow-ci-ti/enc ? Is he to poilpone to the frivolous rules of 
 a falfe complaifance, or the arbitrary di6tatesof a tyrannical de- 
 corum, the higher duly which he owes to the community ? I an- 
 fwer, no ! he is to do none of thefe things. If he cannot coa- 
 lefce with thofe, with whom he is alfociated, as far as the rules of 
 propriety, and obligation may require, without 
 alan<ia:-;ii: what he conceives to be the true Irtcr.Jl of the com- 
 munity, Lt \\u\pla-e hlntjUf r.i a fit nation, in which he will ex- 
 perience no col'. 'cs. Let him net divg to the 
 
 honours or emoluments of an office, and content himftli \vitl, de- 
 fending the injured rigbtt cf the people, by olfcure or lndi're& 
 .">. Let him renounce afituatiou \vliieli is a clog upon his 
 patriotifm, tell the people that he could no longer continue ir 
 it without forfeiting his duty to them, and that lie had quit- 
 ted it to be more at liberty to afTord them his bell fei vices. 
 
 Sucn is the conrfs that would have been indicated by a firm 
 and virtuous i:. dependence of chara?i'er, that would have been pur- 
 i tied by a man attentive to unite the fenfe of deiicpcy with the 
 fcnfe of duty-~- in earneft about the pernicious tendency of public 
 meafures, and more folicitcus to al the dtfmicrejled friend of , the 
 V, than & izfyreftej, ambitious^ 
 
 BUT Mr. Jelferfcn clung ?orjou? rr.7;v to the honours and 
 emoluments of office, under an admimilration, whcfe meafures 
 : - eat]y difapproved, arid perfeveringly cpfroft-d, when a very 
 perplexed ftate of affairs, ?nd the alarming firo/peS of approaching 
 war, could alone dictate his relhiquifhmeiit of a itation, then too 
 pregnant with anxieties to cci^inue a:: object of deilre. 
 
 END CF FIRST PART.