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[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

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[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

From  THURSDAY,   JANUARY  1,—to  MONDAY,  JANUARY  5,   1789.

THE QUESTION STATED.
—

It is stated everywhere that Mr. Hancock is elected President of the U.S. in consequence of the votes of the electors lately cast, and that his choice was by a sizable majority. The high character of the President-elect commends him to the post, and Massachusetts rejoices to see her native son, so eminently distinguished by the service he rendered the cause of his Country in the course of the late war, elevated to the chief magistracy of the Union.
       That Hancock is a Whig of pronounced integrity is well known to all, and it may be trusted that his presidency will not assume a monarchic character, however much the British Tory faction may aspire to that image. He will carry out the administration of the government in the most proper and disinterested manner; those political questions will be left to the legislature and their ministers, as it ought to be in a republic. The choice of the first Secretary is therefore justly the object of much public speculation, for on that choice will rest the character of the government and so the fate of the federal Union. A number of candidatures have been proposed for public consideration, as is the habit of this age. Of the names usually mentioned, we pronounce Mr. Jay and Mr. Hamilton wholly unacceptable: the one for his slavish devotion to Monarchism, the other for his doting cultivation of the monied interests in this Country. Neither one may be trusted to leave our Republican Constitution undisturbed for long: for as quickly as Jay would place his countrymen in vassalage to a foreign Prince, and establish an absolute Despotism over these States; so Hamilton maintains the monarchy of the dollar and the elevation of speculators and advertisers over the yeomen of New England, the Middle States, and the South.
     Mr. Franklin and Mr. Madison may at least be trusted as honest Republicans; but the one is of advancing age and infirm health, so ill that he cannot walk far from his place of residence but must be carried through the streets in a sedan chair. "Jem" Madison may not be said to have this fault, for indeed, he is so young that a matron of less than forty years might easily mistake him for her schoolboy son, tardy after lessons. There is promise in him, but no learning—he will have to study the ways of government before he may be made the head of it.
     But the name by far the most often raised is that of Mr. Samuel Adams. If there is any many equal in eminence, in character, or who may with more justice claim to be the Father of the Revolution, save immortal Washington, he has gone unnoticed by his Country's eye. Most disinterested is he in the outcome of the election for his personal position, we ask, can he be so disinterested in the fate of his Country? Already the enemies of the Republic and of honest Religion make known their hostility. If we are to have a Republican administration, it must be under the stewardship of one who has proved his Patriotism in the fires of war and who has stood nigh thirty years in defense of his Country's Liberty. Adams is the only name who can command the respect of all Americans.
     The question may be stated plainly: will we have Adams, Liberty, and True Religion; or instead Monarchy, Slavery, and Idolatry? Or otherwise, Will the Revolution Stand?

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

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[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

From  THURSDAY,   JANUARY  8,—to  MONDAY,  JANUARY  13,   1789.

TO THE CHARACTER OF JOHN JAY, Eſq.
—

Mr. John Jay, Esq., of New York, who pronounces himself the herald of Monarchsim and British Toryism, is of the 6th inst. embarked on a tour through several of the States and districts wherein elections for the National Assembly are to be held. We are told that the expressed purpose of this tour, is to agitate his deluded supporters, and do all manner of things which may be necessary to procure the election of Mr. Jay as first Secretary of these States united; that furthermore Mr. Jay has personally recommended himself as a candidate for deputy from the City of New York; and that his agents are now at this moment wrenching, twisting, and purchasing votes to ensure his selection. In light of these facts, we are forced to question whether there has ever been on this Continent so brazen a display of avarice and private ambition on the part of a candidate for an office of public trust. It may be Mr. Jay, whose stated political principle is to concentrate all political authority in the hands of one mortal, finds nothing objectionable in this gross personal appeal for his own election; but those honest Republicans who hold by the disinterested procession of free elections must pause to wonder whether any man who so boldly proffers himself as a candidate for office has any of the humility or Republican virtue to be entrusted with the first Secretaryship?

THOUGHTS ON GOVERNMENT.
—

It is lately proposed, by various agents of the British Tory faction, that only a strong government endowed with supreme power over the States may command the respect of the people necessary to ensure their safety and happiness. Is is predicted by these unhappy doomsday-tellers, that unless the federal Power is vested with coercive authority equal or even greater than that claimed by Parliament in the years immediately preceding our declaration of Independency, that the Union should be dissolved, and the people subjected to the horrors of civil war. In short, it is proposed that the surest safeguard for our Liberty, is Despotism. We cannot admit this argument, any more than the goodly Puritan might, for the sake of the protection of the Protestant faith, accept his total subjugation to the Church in Rome.
     We maintain that Liberty and Self-government are one and inseparable; that the future prosperity of these States, and indeed the life of our federal Union, depends on the careful balancing of power between the States, and the central authority. Total investment of supreme political power in either one or the other would surely cause the rupture of the Union and bring about the very horrors of violence and civil war as Mr. Jay and his agents profess to despair against. It may be admitted by all, that our Union is one of diverse interests, carefully joined for mutual benefit. If all power is vested in the central authority, the sections would be forced into conflict to preserve their interests against the others. In the least of quarrels, this would promote ill-trust and ill-will among the sections; at worst, one or many States, finding themselves unable to further resist their subjugation by the other, would be left no choice but to defend their position with force of arms.
     It is the weakest of the animals who roars the loudest, and so a government which rules by fear or by force is in its substance weaker than that which rules by compromise and reason. To vest all power in the few, for fear of the many, is neither stronger nor wiser than to vest all authority in the many, for fear of the few. Power and interests must be carefully balanced against each other, so that no person, nor section may threaten to infringe the Liberty of the other. It is the wisdom of our federal Constitution to organize itself upon this principle of balance, so that neither any branch of the central government, nor the central government in relation to the States, may overpower or abuse the other.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

From  THURSDAY,   JANUARY  15,—to  MONDAY,  JANUARY  20,   1789.

ON LIBERTY.
—

It is frequently observed, that "those who would give up Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Security, deserve neither Liberty nor Security." In this light we may consider the prospect which Mr. Jay and Colonel Hamilton present the nation. As they put it, our federal Union should not long survive unless it were subjected either to the despotic rule of a foreign Prince, or the equally tyrannical governance of the monied interests. We are told that the United States are a young Country, weakened, bankrupt, and defenseless, who must therefore sell themselves in Slavery in order to purchase some semblance of Peace and Stability. The loss of our Liberty, and the utter subjugation of these States to an absolute central authority, is, in their telling, small price to pay for the Security which may be surely found in the warm embrace of Mother Britain.
     Against this gloomy augury we humbly protest. It has been the late experience of this Country, and indeed the experience of all Mankind, that Liberty is never safest but in a Republic; and there is no surer guarantee of wealth and Prosperity, than free institutions sustained by honest Patriots. To those who now agitate for the adoption of a Monarchy, or a presidency of monarchic character, we pose the question: was not Rome greatest, her People happiest, her farmers and shop-keepers most Prosperous, when she was ruled by a Republic? And what, to continue, followed the establishment in that city of a Dictatorship? —murder, violence, public unrest, and civil war. Will the British Tory faction be so absurd as to contend, that Rome was freer or more Prosperous under the rule of Caesar and Sulla, than when its government was carried out by true Republicans?
     Nothing can so thoroughly disturb the friendship of these States or cause the forfeit of our Liberty than the investment of absolute power in a central authority—whether that authority is known as King or Broker is of no consequence. Only by the careful distribution of Power between the central government and the several States, so that no interest or section may by seizing one, control the whole, may we judge our Liberty secure and our Union made perpetual. While grievances may be aired freely through the Courts and regular elections for the Legislature, the Country is at Peace; but remove that—abolish elections, subvert the Legislature beneath the dominion of the Executive, place the British monied interests at the head of the Country—and no mortal can hold back the crushing tide of civil War.

ON THE RIGHTS OF STATES.
—

It is asked ceaselessly by the agents of the British Tory faction, why we continue to insist that the rights of each of the several States be respected under the new government. The answer, is that the States are the surest and natural repository for our Liberty, and the organs most fitted to procure our Safety and Happiness. America is a large Country, of greatest diversity between its sections. It may not be expected that the central authority may know the wants and needs of the People, as intimately as they may be known and appreciated in their own States; nor could any federal Government be expected to address these wants as immediately and appropriately as may the States. What does a Virginian planter know about the business of a New England fisherman? and indeed what does the fisherman know of the business of the farmer? Each lives in perfect friendship with the other, to defend each other's hearth in War, and to supply with their abundance that which the other lacks; but neither seeks to meddle in the affairs of the other, nor cross their threshold uninvited, lest their friendship be severed and an unhappy hostility assumed. As our States may be equals, then is Peace and Concord within our federal Union ensured; but disturb the balance between the States and the federal Power, to the advantage of the latter, and this pacificity will end more sharply than a Joiner's file.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

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A  L E T T E R,
CONCERNING
THE PUBLIC CONDUCT AND CHARACTER
OF
JOHN JAY, Eſq.
—

Sir,
Some of the warm personal friends of Mr. JAY are taking unwearied pains to disparage the motives and character of Mr. SAMUEL ADAMS, who advocates for preserving the Republican character of the federal Union and accordingly has emerged at the head of the Whig interest. He is presented, variously, as a brutish and dangerous man; a criminal rabble-rouser; a despot; and generally possessed of a character deficient in those qualities as may be desired from the ruler of a free State. It is the better part of valor to set aside these perfidious libels against so eminent a Patriot, and indeed so absurd and baseless are these charges, that no man acquainted with the facts will be incited to believe them. Wise men will note it as the sad inevitability of this age, when personal advancement is counted more than honor, that men of public reputation should be subjected to such slander; and indeed it is unsurprising, that those who count themselves among the dearest friends of Great Britain, should object to he who has spent his life in service to the cause of American Independence.
     Having thus dispensed with the worthless defamations of his detractors, the friends of Mr. Adams may be inclined to leave the affair at rest. Insofar as an exchange may be regarded a personal matter, this may indeed prove the course most prudent. Where the Public interest is invoked, however, it is incumbent upon every good Citizen to withhold nothing which might by its omission render a fair and complete judgement of matters of a National character impossible. The author is therefore impelled to offer certain facts as to the character and conduct of Mr. Jay, who lately is recognized as leader of the British Tory faction, and who now offers himself a candidate for the National Assembly from the City of New York.
     Few men of this age may be described as so totally ruled by Ambition, and so fully convinced of their own divinity, as Mr. Jay, whose talent for self-aggrandizement knows no bounds. The zeal with which he congratulates himself for some petty and inconsequential services rendered his Country—which he would never have undertaken to begin with, except in the belief that they would place his name in greater eminence, and so return in rewards of prestige far more than his investment of intellect or effort—, the shamelessness with which he appropriates the achievements of greater men, and the untempered Lust for power which impels him to travel the length of the Country groveling for votes and paying any number of bribes and flatteries in exchange for political support, is so gross, so vile, and so unbecoming the conduct of a gentleman as to invite revolution in the bowels of any who beholds it. We ask ourselves, what creature, what sad wreck of a man, would so debase his character and demean his reputation and call it Patriotism?
     In spite of this overwhelming evidence, that he is no more fit to be the governor of a free Country than was Caligula to be Emperor of Rome, that Mr. Jay holds his own character and intellect in the highest estimation is more evident with each passing day. He calls himself—in public—the man who won his Country's freedom; fancies himself the Author of American Independence; claims eminence as the chief member of the commission that negotiated Peace at Paris six years ago. In course of this self-flattery, he proves himself not only a Liar, but a Thief: brazenly lifting the good Works of other men from the pages of History to inflate his own reputation and importance. Having lived the late war in a state of at best peripheral significance to his country's conception, he now seeks to raise his and his party's prospects in the advancing election by claiming the victories of Washington, Jefferson, John Adams, and Dr. Franklin for his own.
     It is said that Rank and Titles serve the primary purpose of assuaging those whose appetite for Glory exceeds their ability to earn it; and so is it most appropriate that that partisan widely regarded as possessed of the meanest character and least accomplishments should become the leading agitator for Oligarchy and the rule of the Few. Mr. Jay and his agent take such great pains to inflate the stature of their chief because they profess as their political principle that a Country cannot be ruled, except by the establishment of an absolute Monarchy attended by a compliant Nobility Mr. Jay not only denies the principle that 'all Men are created equal,' he openly despises it. He imagines a Country wherein all political authority is wielded by an Aristocracy of birth, and the common people are left to 'peep about and find ourselves dishonorable graves.' If any will question the republicanism of Mr. Jay or his commitment to the Cause of American Independence, it is because his stated principles are inimical to the existence of a free State and destructive to the natural rights and Liberties for which our Countrymen willingly gave their lives at Bunker Hill, Boston, and Yorktown.
     The principle espoused by Mr. Jay is, further, wholly opposite that which General Washington urged us to when he lay down his commission at the close of the late War of Independency. Urged by some among his staff to march on Philadelphia and establish a Dictatorship over these States, he instead resigned his office and gave back to the Congress those powers which had been entrusted in him for the prosecution of the late war. It is this model of republican virtue which Mr. Jay would have us overthrow in the establishment of a Monarch in the presidency—which office he protests must be the exclusive possession of 'Noblemen' and chosen not by the disinterested votes of the people, but by the interested deliberations of the Legislature, to avoid its falling into the hands of the 'lower classes.'
     In spite of all his protestations, the measure of Mr. Jay presents itself clearly in his speeches and writings, as a man exceedingly vain and dazzled by Titles, more British than American, whose commitment to his Country's independence is merely lukewarm, and who would willingly place these States under the rule of an absolute Monarch if afforded the opportunity. We can only take comfort in the knowledge that the people of America, who despise Monarchy as sincerely as they love Liberty, will never allow this insane and dangerous man to assume the captaincy of our infant Republic.

NOVANGLUS.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

From  THURSDAY,   MARCH  5,—to  MONDAY,  MARCH  9,   1789.

LIBERTY A BIRTHRIGHT.
—

The principle agents of the British Tory faction have made much of the so-called Nobility of blood and of the ancient origins of their chief, Mr. Jay. In their Pamphlets and writings, and various grovelings which they distribute among the masses, they express the principle, common to the Hanovers, Bourbons, Habsburgs, and all the other Noble families of Europe, that political Power is the birthright of the Patrician class, to whom all 'Common' citizens owe their fidelity and obedience. Not only is this principle utterly inimical to the existence of a free State, it is likewise totally opposed to the laws of Nature, by which it may be seen that all men are born free and Equal before their Creator. The obnoxious habit of Mr. Jay and his associates, of flattering themselves with tales of their Noble birth, is a subtle antagonism to the principles upon which our Independence was established, and by that merit, very nearly Treason. The true Whigs of America cannot abide this hideous heresy to our Republic. We contend instead that not Power, but Liberty, is the birthright of every American—and that each inherits equal claim to any of his fellow men, no matter how humble or ineminent his origins. The people cannot, will not, abide an Aristocracy of birth to be established in a republic. It may be therefore expected that the advancing elections should deliver a strong majority for the Whig and Republican interest, as the true friends of the Constitution and the Liberty of their Countrymen.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

From  THURSDAY,   MAY  7,—to  MONDAY,  MAY  11,   1789.

REPORT ON THE LATE ELECTION.
—

The news is now to be heard from every quarter that the late elections have delivered a pronounced victory for the Whig interest. Everywhere have the people furnished large majorities for honest Whig and Republican candidates, and everywhere the malicious intrigue of the British Tory faction is weighed bootless, yielding up hardly any seats in the National Assembly and none in the Senate. In Massachusetts is the Whig slate victorious in five of the eight constituencies allowed our Commonwealth in the Assembly, and a further sixth is held by a good Republican. Mr. Samuel Adams is himself elected deputy for Middlesex by an astounding majority of the vote there, and John Adams also elected from Boston. Elsewhere, the Republican interest has proved to predominate over the Hamiltonian and British factions, who together garner fewer than twenty of the sixty-five seats in the lower house.
     Considering these facts, the elections then may not be received as any but the most unambiguous and enthusiastic mandates for a Republican administration. It is said that Mr. Madison is like to become first Secretary; in that eventuality he must assuredly depend upon the support of the party of Whigs and Republicans in the National Assembly. While speculation is the idle pastime of fools and recreants, it is the wiser course to regard any name which may emerge as the subject of such rumors with caution, until the truth may be known. Mr. Madison is a young man, and with little experience in the affairs of state—this is not necessarily either good or ill. It is said by our correspondents in Virginia that he is there known as a wise and careful statesman, and we may therefore depend that he will give all due consideration to the advice and direction of older men.
     Whosoever should emerge at the head of the government, however, is will be the duty of all patriotic Americans to lend them their trust and support, until they should show themselves unworthy of it. The late election has been a harrowing affair for our young Country. The spirit of party must not be allowed to rend our Union into permanent, warring factions. The strength of our Union and the preservation of our Liberty demands that all honest citizens act with disinterested hearts to see it that the federal Constitution is established upon no firmer ground than if Washington himself were here to wield the spade. A Republican government, respective of the rights of the States and the Liberty of the people, the guardian of our future Peace and Prosperity, is the fond wish of every Patriot and every true and virtuous man.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

From  THURSDAY,   OCTOBER  8,—to  MONDAY,  OCTOBER  12,   1789.

The choice of Mr. Samuel Adams for Second Secretary and Secretary of Foreign Affairs, is assuredly a happy one for the friends of his Country's peace, and every citizen must remark on the propriety of the appointment of so distinguished a Patriot to a position of high responsibility in the new government. Mr. Adams is known throughout Europe as one of the steadfast friends of Liberty, at once feared by our enemies and admired by our friends, and his usefulness to his Country and the government is therefore inestimable.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

From  THURSDAY,   OCTOBER  15,—to  MONDAY,  OCTOBER  19,   1789.

ON THE EVENTS IN FRANCE.
—

The latest news from Europe speaks of the march of the women of Paris on Versailles, and the King and his family conveyed to the Tuileries under the protection of Gen.l Lafayette and the Constituent Assembly. That the old regime must now give way to a Constitutional government is certain. The King's authority is broken in the wake of his abduction, and that of the Assembly increases by the day; everywhere there is talk of Liberty, Fraternity, and the rights of Man, of the tearing down of old Forms and the building up of new, and the principles of the American Revolution are looked to as a model by which France may look to secure her future safety and happiness.
     The commission of an ambassador to France is now of the utmost importance to the government. Our friendship with that Country requires we lend to her our advice and counsel, and if necessary our support, at this hour of her conception. Truly no American desires the advent of War, or indeed that we in our infancy should become embroiled in the midst of a European conflict. Still the friendship of France in our late War of Independence may not be forgotten, and the Cause of France, in this hour may be pronounced the Cause of America.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

From  THURSDAY,   OCTOBER  15,—to  MONDAY,  OCTOBER  19,   1789.

TO THE PUBLIC.
—

Two questions predominate the government since the seating of the National Assembly at Philadelphia: these are, the adoption of a Declaration of Rights, the same being necessary to secure the future happiness of the People, and such measures as may be seen to alleviate the federal debt. On either question, the Whig interest advocate for a decidedly disinterested and republican program, in all cases tending toward the policy which may provide the surest means of promoting the Liberty and future Prosperity of the people and the rights of the several States.
     At the time of the late election, the Whig and Republican interests were united in their opinion of the necessity that a general charter of Rights be appended to the federal Constitution. In the time since the formation of the Government under Mr. Madison's consulship, the National Assembly has taken up consideration of such a draft, said to be the work of Messrs. Adams, Madison, and Wilkinson—who three emerge as the leading ministers of the Government—to guarantee the certain essential Liberties of the people, against the interference of the federal Power or of the States. Freedom of Speech, Religion, of the Press; the rights of the accused to a free and fair trial, against cruel or unusual punishment, and to the writ of Habeas Corpus; and other needful protections against the development of a Despotism over these States, are all included and sworn to by the friends of the Government. A feeble effort is made by the perfidious British Tory faction to corrupt the intent of the measure and to interfere in the domestic institutions of the States, but is met with the universal opposition of the Assembly, and Mr. Jay is said to have lost all influence in consequence.
     Like progress is made by the Government toward the reduction of the federal Debt, by the sale of lands in the Western territories at a rate of $1 and 25¢ per acre. Mr. Adams is heard to extol the virtues of this measure both for the good it would do for the national Credit, and also for its effect to increase the prosperity of the people, in offering the sale of good land at reasonable price. We profess ourselves wholly satisfied with this legislation, which is expected to pass the Assembly by a sizable majority.
     In both these matters, the Rights of the States and the Liberty of the People are acknowledged to be the first considerations of the Government, and all efforts are taken to see that the federal Power does not infringe upon the former nor impose upon the latter. This to the great unhappiness of Mr. Hamilton and his faction, who express themselves of the opinion that the people may not be trusted to fairly judge the questions before the Country, but must instead leave the business of government to their betters (among which number they estimate themselves). With the collapse of Mr. Jay's reputation, those former Tories, led by the inveterate Monarchist Gouverneur Morris, now acknowledge Mr. Hamilton as their chief. This marriage of the admirers of British Power, to the acolytes of British Money, we profess the most fitting union since Macbeth was to his Lady wed.

REMARKS OF MR. ADAMS TO THE ASSEMBLY.
—

Mr. Samuel Adams, on the subject of the Land Bill brought by the Honorable Deputy, Mr. Wilkinson of Kentucky, said in the National Assembly—

This Country founded her claim to Independence on the proposition that all Men are created equal. This noble Principle, to which no honest man objects, is the corner-stone on which our federal Union and the Constitutions of the several States are built. The survival of a free State depends on the existence of a free and independent Citizenry; and there is no measure which this Assembly may adopt, which would do more to lift up the People and provide for them the means of securing their freedom and Happiness, than the resolution now before us.

In England, where Land is the birthright of a gluttonous Nobility, and Property the holding of a few ancient families, the common people live in a state of perpetual misery and disenfranchisement unknown on this continent. This abject poverty of Means necessarily translates to a pernicious political poverty, for no man who is dependent upon another to put bread on his table and wine in his cup may exercise his rights as an independent and disinterested member of the Polity while this state of Dependency persists. It is the experience of all Nations in the long course of history, that when the people are landed and independent, there is Peace, Liberty and Prosperity; but where they are set off their lands, and reduced to poverty and disenfranchisement, Peace collapses into War, Liberty into Tyranny, and Prosperity into Scarcity. History has shown that an impoverished People are more violent, more susceptible to demagogues and agitators, and more inclined to turn to Tyrants for their protection; whereas a prosperous people are immune to these temptations, and able to suppress Tyranny and ambitious despots where they arise. It was not the generalships of Caesar or Sulla which first shook the Roman Republic, but the general scarcity of land which was their ultimate undoing. Independency of means, therefore, translates to Liberty and Prosperity among the whole people; where landless dependency inevitably begets Want, Demagoguery, and Dictatorship.

I see in the West a new Country free of the pernicious influence of rank, class, and privilege, where men are judged on their own merits, and Virtue is the currency of social life. I see in the West a Country where any man may by the sweat of his brow and the labor of his own hands earn his Freedom with honest work. On the banks of the Ohio we will build the ridge beam of our Republic; and then let any man try to shake the frame of the Union, when it rests on the stout hearts of a free and independent People.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

From  THURSDAY,   JANUARY  7,—to  MONDAY,  JANUARY  11,   1790.

There is lately raised in the federal Legislature, a proposal by which all further Amendments to the Constitution of the Union should be sent to the people for their assent, in order that they be Ratified. It is proposed by Mr. Adams, that any substantial change to the Form of Government for these States ought to be made with the consent of the people; and as he puts it, "no Government which trusts not its people, deserves to be trusted by its people." We confess ourselves in perfect agreement with this principle; for it is ever the condition of a free State, that Sovereignty resides with the people, and while they may for their own convenience invest a part of that Sovereignty in their elected representatives, on matters of such import as the Amendment of our federal Constitution, the consent of the people, undiluted by an intermediary process of election or proxy, must be obtained.
    It should surprise none that certain among the British faction in the National Assembly, notably Mr. Jay and Mr. Morris, remain unalterably opposed to the proposal. They express the sentiment that the common people are too rude, too ignorant, too feeble-minded to be trusted with matters of state. It is for a select class of Aristocrats (among whose number they vainly count themselves) to carry out the process of the debate and Amendment of the system of Government for these States, in order to preserve what they call its "democratic character." We can only imagine what changes the vile Tory interest would make to the Government of the Union, that they are afraid to submit to the discerning eyes of the people. It should be no surprise that Mr. Morris, who until lately counted himself among the most fervent friends of Monarchy in America and still clings to that principle, and Mr. Jay, with his vicious disdain for the rights of the States, should rise in opposition to so proper and republican a measure. We may trust that the Whig and Republican interests in the Congress are strong enough to adopt the proviso in spite of the petulant whine of these most traitorous members.

—

The National Assembly is lately taken up consideration of a general Tariff Bill, proposed by Mr. Adams, which would lay a moderate duty upon manufactures imported from abroad, and upon foreign ships arriving in our ports for their conveyance. We are assured by the Government that these duties are levied for the purpose of revenue only, and not protection; further assurance is given, that the bill in all respects will honor our existing agreements with France and the other powers of Europe. Great pains are taken to ensure the duty is neither so low as to raise no Revenues at all, nor so high as to disadvantage our merchants or ships. Mr. Adams, in his remarks to the Deputies, considers that some measure is necessary for the reduction of the federal Debt, inherited from the Confederation, and judges these by far the least onerous to the people and the most conducive to their future Prosperity.

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From  THURSDAY,   FEBRUARY  18,—to  MONDAY,  FEBRUARY  22,   1790.

REMARKS OF MR. ADAMS ON THE CRISIS IN WESTSYLVANIA.
—

Mr. Samuel Adams, to the news of violence in the county of Westsylvania between the Pennsylvania Militia and the settlers of that territory, replied in the National Assembly—

Mr. Speaker,

Objects of the utmost Gravity, questions which in their immensity contain the fate of our Republic, are now before us. Let there be no ambiguity between us, gentlemen, now. May the voice of the Lord our God ring clear in the heart of every American, and the instrument of his divine Will this chamber be, in this, the crisis of our Union.

I will be very plain with you, gentlemen. I cannot condone, cannot excuse, the measures which the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has seen fit to levy against the alleged Treason of their brethren to the West. The arrest of General Wilkinson; the suspension in some quarters of freedom of the Press; the attempts in their multitude to prevent the exercise by the people of their sacred and inalienable right to speak freely, and without fear of coercion; are levied in direct contradiction to the provisions of the Constitution of that Commonwealth, and are anathema to the principle of republican Liberty. In this crisis, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have acted with all the arrogance and tactless insolence George III once reserved for the inhabitants of these States. That the contest has now come to violence, that American blood has been shed by American hands, is a prospect which was ever within the power of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to prevent. Instead, provocation, intolerance, and coercion have been the policy of the governing party. For this unhappy course of events, they have no-one to blame but themselves.

But even so—even as the actions of the governors and their officers are destined to beget the manly resistance that now rises up in the West—this is no excuse for violence, and Lawlessness. Let there be no mistake, Mr. Speaker: Rebellion against a State is a crime against the people, and Treason to this Union. No Republic may long survive when Laws cease to be the currency by which the people bond their Liberty, and the contest of faction gives way to the contest of arms. Tyranny of the mob is as terrible and as great a threat to the liberty of the people as the Tyranny of the Monarch, and I fear the day when powder and musket shot should become the ballots by which Governments are made and unmade on this Continent.

In an absolute State, where the freedom of Speech and the franchise are denied to the people by the Laws of the dominion, then Rebellion is the right and duty of every good and able Citizen; but in a Republic, where the Laws of the Country are established by the sovereignty of the people, Rebellion is unjust and Treasonous, and may not be tolerated—even when the grievances which may give rise to Rebellion are just and permissible. Such a principle, enshrined in precedent, would be the death knell of the Union—a prospect too horrible for any who call himself the friend of American Independence to for a moment entertain. That Westsylvania has been wronged by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, there is no contest; that some among her citizens have sought restitution for these wrongs by the point of the bayonet, is no more allowable, than the crimes they seek to prevent.

This, gentlemen, is our task. The Rebellion must be put down with the gentle firmness of a mother, and immediately thereafter measures be taken by this Government to restore the rights of the people of Westsylvania.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

From  THURSDAY,   MAY  13,—to  MONDAY,  MAY  17,   1790.

MR. MADISON SPEAKS ON WESTSYLVANIA.
—

We commend the manly firmness with which Mr. Madison relates the present unhappy dispute in the territory of Wesysylvania, and the policy of his Government thereon. It may be well advised the object of the Administration is to avoid bloodshed, while preserving at all cost the strength and Honor of the Union. To that end he has summoned to council the Governor of Pennsylvania together with emissaries of the petitioning Counties, with the advice that if a settlement may not be reached, then the federal Power will raise a force as may suppress any inclination by either party to carry on the struggle of arms. It was the weakness of the old Confederation, that such disputes might carry on to extreme ends, for lack of any ability by the central Power to interpose for the restoration of domestic tranquility. Mr. Madison, in his coupling of generosity with strength, shows his wisdom in avoiding the missteps of the previous Government, without ever erring to the opposite extreme.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

L E T T E R ,

FROM

SAMUEL ADAMS

CONCERNING

T H E  P R E S E N T  S T A T E  O F  T H E  U N I O N ,
REFLECTED  IN  THE  RECENT  UNREST  IN  THE  COUNTY  OF

WESTSYLVANIA
—

Sir,
     The news lately had from our Western frontier, of the burning of Pittsburg, the mutiny of the Pennsylvania Militia, and the proclamation of the State of Westsylvania; and from the East, of the impeachment of the Governor and the crisis of the Pennsylvania Assembly; all combine to present a dourful portrait for the future of that State, and by extension the whole of the Union. We may well reflect on the bitter tidings of the old year, and as we look toward the new, a general consideration of their causes and remedies is a theme of the most appropriate and necessary character.
     The trial of General Wilkinson, on charges of Treason against the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, raises the question of whether it is in fact Treasonous for a Citizen to advocate for the establishment of a new State within the boundaries of one which should already exist. Insofar as such advocacy should remain peaceable, I offer that it is not; and indeed, it is necessary that the advocates be protected. The right of petition, and to speak freely one's conscience without fear of coercion, are among the chief freedoms upon which the survival of a free system of Government depend—they are, as was declared in session of the Continental Congress some fourteen years passed, inestimable to the people and formidable to Tyrants only. The exercise of one's natural rights may not by any reasonable measure be found Treasonous. When the people should cease to raise their voice in the public forum, and begin to fear the retribution of the State, then Liberty is no longer with the Constitution; and republican forms of Government may be seen to give way to Despotism. Therefore the right to advocate for a change of Government, even a change of Constitutions, is not Treasonous, but essential to and inseparable from a free system of civil government; and its abridgement a threat to the Liberty of all.
     The matter of right established, there is then the question of exercise, and application. May the right to advocate for a change in Constitutions be invoked in all cases whatsoever, even to breakage with the Law? I answer, that insofar as Laws are made justly, and with due respect to the rights of all Men, and the general good, it is a wicked and unjust thing to break with them. Where Laws may be changed by the exercise of Liberty within a free republican Constitution, further, resistance to the Law is indeed a threat to the Liberty of all. For indeed, when the people should resist the application of the Law by force, they invite resistance by force from all quarters and interests, when the Law may be adverse to their inclinations. In such a climate, will the Government either be dissolved, or transformed as an absolute Tyranny, the most injurious to public Liberty; such was the example, and the fate, of Rome. Therefore, where the Law is just, and lawful resistance possible, resistance by force is wicked, unChristian, and Treasonous.
     Whensoever the State may endeavor to make unjust Laws, however, or should seek to prevent changes in the Law by the employment of force against the people, then forcible resistance becomes the duty of every honest citizen. When injury is first done to the people by the State, they are right to seek peaceable redress of their grievances; but when their petitions are replied with force, then resistance of arms is left their only right and honorable recourse. But if the people should threaten force, against the threat, but not the actuality, of force used against them by the State, then they are not in the Right, however they may clothe themselves in Righteousness.
     This is the predicament of Westsylvania. The right of the people of that County, to advocate for a change in their Constitution of civil Government, is natural and acknowledged in our Declaration of Rights. The enactment of Laws by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for the suppression of that right, and the use of force to uphold these unjust Laws, renders their quarrel legitimate. Yet the recourse of some to violence before violence was necessary, and the proclamation of the State without recourse to ordinary convention, renders their Cause something less than Right. Government by organized mob, is no more conducive to the public Liberty, than the rule of Tyrants.
     Whatever sins these Citizens may commit, however, pale before the image of the Mutiny now raised by the Pennsylvania Militia. Dispatched to uphold an unjust Law by force of arms, they have exceeded their commission, by waging War against a people who never provoked them. They may not claim protection by their rights, for they seek to suppress the rights of other men. They may not make recourse to the Law, because their conduct is in defiance of the Law. Their crimes are regarded with apathy by their officers, who lack either the power or the inclination to put an end to their campaign; and with the removal of the Governor, no higher authority exists as may command them. In their actions, they have ceased to be a Militia and instead become a mob: lawless, as they seek to assert an authority above the Law; driven by passion and bloodlust to the exclusion of all Reason.
     To bring down the Government by lawless action may, in certain conditions, be admissible—when Tyranny shall have supplanted republican Virtue, and force prevents the peaceable redress of grievances. Yet to uphold the Government by lawless act is pernicious and hateful; for the Government is made of Laws, and deprived of them, is no Government at all, but a desperate Dictatorship of Might. Woe betide this Mutiny, which neither Law nor Right may justify.
     So far I have touched on the Crisis as it relates to Pennsylvania and the counties of Westsylvania; may I not neglect the Union as a whole. I have observed that when forcible resistance  to the Law becomes the recourse in all questions, republican institutions may not long survive. This is because force, once invoked, becomes the arbiter of all disputes, and the rule of Law gives way to the rule of Might. It may therefore be judged the duty of a free Government, to suppress Rebellion where it may arise without just foundation in Right, lest it cause the loss of the Government itself. The failure of the last Government was brought about by its inability to prevent the conduct of Rebellions; so too was the power of Rome broken by an inability to maintain tranquility within its borders. It may therefore be said with justice, that should the Government be unable to suppress this Mutiny and restore the rule of Law, it will be proof of the failure of the federal Constitution, and by extension also the first toll in the death knell of the Union.
     It must be admitted, that the Government may not suffer the victory of the Mutineers, nor allow the admission of a new State by force of arms. The President and the National Assembly must therefore move to suppress the Rebellion with all due haste, and to secure the restoration of peace and tranquility to the Western counties. Then, and only then, may the question of Statehood be answered according to a fair and binding plebiscite of the effected counties, according to Act of Congress, as the Government may achieve. The declaration of Martial Law, and the commission of Colonel Hamilton at the head of an army to suppress the Rebellion, is both needful and proper to achieve these aims.
     I am and remain, Sir,
          Your humble servant,
                    Sam.l Adams

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

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From  THURSDAY,   NOVEMBER  4,—to  MONDAY,  NOVEMBER  8,   1790.

RESPONSE TO MR. MORRIS.
—

In his most recent letter published in the Federalist, Mr. Morris claims offense at what he calls the 'vile defamations' of the press against his person. The blame for his many revolutions of principle he places squarely on the shoulders of Mr. Adams and the Whig interest, who he charges have most unfairly biased the public against him, by accurately quoting his speeches and writings on the subject of Westsylvania. He then goes on to denounce the first Secretary for what he calls the failure to bring negotiations with the Governor of Pennsylvania to a successful conclusion, to which alleged weakness he attributes the violence in the Western counties of that state.
     A man proven so ticklish with the Truth as Mr. Morris should on the whole abstain from levying charges of dishonesty, when he himself is engaged in the most scurrilous mutilation of the Facts of the case to advance his own factional interest. It is well known by every Deputy in the National Assembly, as well as by every man, woman, and child informed on the matter, that negotiations between the Government and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania were ended, not by the infirmity of Mr. Madison as he suggests, but by the Mutiny of the Pennsylvania Militia, which the Governor of that State refused outright to suppress. Why Mr. Morris has chosen the side of the murdering, rebellious hordes of Mutineers against the law-abiding Citizens of Westsylvania is, to ourselves, a mystery. We can only conclude that the prospect of the forthcoming by-election for the seat of Suffolk and Queen's has raised in 'Old Gouverneur' a curious appetite for power, which Facts and Reason may not wholly satisfy. Friends of the Government and the Constitution will well observe this womanish fancy fairy-tales, and return a Whig Deputy from the aforesaid constituency at the first of the next month.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

From  THURSDAY,   NOVEMBER  26,—to  MONDAY,  NOVEMBER  29,   1790.

G L O R I O U S   N E W S.
—

Yesterday afternoon arrived in this City swift couriers from the Western counties of Pennsylvania, and brought to us the glorious news of the defeat of the Rebel Militia and the victory of the Federal forces at Pittsburgh. The town is now in the hands of General Hamilton and his Federals, at the cost of less than a hundred of the Mutineers, and comparatively few of our men. The Federal campaign is pronounced an enormous success, to the salvation of the Union, and everywhere the praises of Madison, Hamilton, and the Government are sung with reverence and admiration.
     We are otherwise told, that the Western Triumvirate and Major McFarlane have yielded themselves to the Government, in expectation of the swift and orderly redress of their grievances, on terms proposed by the first Secretary.
     By this glorious victory, no remnant of Rebellious or Mutinous forces remain to any longer trouble the supremacy of the Law, and the Cause of the Government vindicated against the false attacks of the Tory papers, who so recently proclaimed the abject failure of their policy.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

From  THURSDAY,   MARCH  4,—to  MONDAY,  MARCH  7,   1791.

THE NATIONAL CONSTELLATION.
—

The admission of Kentucky in the last year is celebrated as the first magnification of our federal Union, and destined to not be the last. Since the resumption in sitting of the National Assembly, petitions are read for the reception of Vermont and the County of Transylvania, now styled Cumberland, into the Union; in both cases, the likely resolution tends toward the affirmative. We may expect, as well, the resolution of the Westsylvania question in favor of the admission of that State; for outside Philadelphia, the Public opinion is uniformly in favor of its admission, both among the Governing party and the Opposition. The growth of our family of States must be met by every American as an occasion for great rejoicing; and every true Patriot ought eagerly to anticipate the day, when our federal Union should span uninterrupted to the Pacific: a nation of all free men, without Sovereign or Lords to rule them.

TORY PLOT IN MAINE.
—

A desperate Conspiracy conceived of a few dangerous and ill-designing men is raised in the National Assembly to split the County of Maine from the rest of Massachusetts, and establish her forcibly as an independent Commonwealth under a Tory government. The chief of this vicious and unquarterable Plot is none other than the notorious Deputy from Westchester, who is daily heard to praise the worldly Perfection of the British system of Government, and does not cease but to lament it is not as yet adopted in America. This Plot, carried out without the consultation of the inhabitants of Maine, nor with scarcely a morsel of respect for the rights of Massachusetts, intends to secede that County without reference to either, nor without recourse to a referendum. It is clear, that the Tory faction, who so despise to hear the voice of the People, are afraid to seek their advice, and certain that to do so would be to deliver a strong majority against the further pursuit of their scheme. They therefore intend to carry out the secession on high, and declare it accomplished without ever once putting the question to the inhabitants of Massachusetts, whose rights and intelligence they openly insult.

Citizens! will you permit this outrageous insult to the sovereignty of Massachusetts? If the federal Legislature may, by its own Power, declare the secession of a part of an established State without reference either to it or to the seceded County, then our federal system is at an end, and the Union is transformed as an absolute Dictatorship of the central Authority. In such an extremity, it will be the Duty of each State to assume such Measures as should be needful and necessary for the defense of their Sovereignty.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

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The above will circulate in all states where the Whigs have stood a candidate for governor.