"He has erected a multitude of new offices, and fent hither fwarms of officers, to harrafs our people and eat out their substance. "He has kept among us, in times of peace, ftanding armies, without the confent of our legislatures. "He has affected to render the military independent, and fuperior to the civil power. "He has combined with others, to fubject us to a jurifdiction foreign to our conftitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his affent to their acts of pretended legiflation: "For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us: "For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders, which they fhould commit on the inhabitants of thefe ftates: "For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world: "For impofing taxes on us, without our consent: "For depriving us, in many cafes, of the benefits of trial by jury: "For tranfporting us beyond feas, to be tried for pretended offences: "For abolishing the free fyftem of English laws in a neighbouring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, fo as to render it at once an example and fit inftrument for introducing the fame abfolute rule into other colonies: "For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments: "For fufpending our own legiflatures, and declaring themfelves invefted with power to legislate for us, in all cafes whatsoever. "He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection, and waging war against us. "He has plundered our feas, ravaged our coafts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. "He has conftrained our fellowcitizens, taken captive on the high feas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands. "He has excited domeftic infurrection among us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian favages, whofe known rule of warfare is an undiftinguished deftruction of all ages, fexes, and conditions. "In every flage of these oppreffi ons, we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whofe character is thus marked by every act which can define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people." The congrefs of '76 exhibited a catalogue of grievances, fufficient to excite abhorrence of the government under which mr. Adams was born and bred; and yet this abominable tyranny, did not produce even " difcontent" in the mind of mr. Adams. The indignation of America was kindled, from one end of the continent to the other, arms were appealed to, every rifque was encountered, and every hardship endured, to vindicate our rights; and yet mr. Adams fays, we were not difcontented with the Bri tifh government! If it was not difcontent in him, what was it? Did he like the tyranny, but diflike the tyrant? Was it for power that he contended? If to raife himself from obfcurity, and to place himself among the lordlings of the earth, was the object of his refiftance, he cannot believe the people of America were under the influence of the fame motives; for they could not all have become tyrants; fome, of neceffity, must have been flaves. Did America refift, because the wifhed only to be independent? No! Mr. Adams' affertion to the contrary notwithstanding, fhe contended for freedom, as well as independence"The reprefentatives of the United States of America in general congrefs affembled," declared that the "United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states." Was independence alone an object for the people to contend for? What was independence to them, without freedom! To obtain an exchange of mafters, would not have tranfported them to hazard fortune and life; it would not have induced them to put at ftake, every thing that was dear and valuable: They did not merely contend against a foreign king.' Was it to obtain an independence, like that of Turkey, that America fought? Turkey too is independent; and, if independence alone were the object of our folicitude, like Turkey, we might now hug our chains. The affertion of our independence, with mr. Adams, was 66 not an ob. ject of predilection and choice, but of indifpenfible neceffity"!! He then acted the patriot from neceffity! Hitherto it was believed by many, and afferted roundly by the partifans of monarchy, that mr. Adams was a fincere patriot, and that his agency in the evolution was the effect of principle and a love of liberty; but he difclaims all nobler motives, and avows that neceffity and not predilection and choice ftimulated him to the conteft. Perhaps he found it necefJary, that America fhould be independent, to afford him an opportunity of acting the mafter upon a larger fcale. Under the dominion of Great Britain there was little expectation of arriving at the point to which ambition pointed-there were too many obstacles in the way, too many favourites before him; but the feparation once decreed and accomplifhed, the profpect changed, and from 66 fimpleman" nothing could interpofe to his becoming a "gen a tleman". for alarm no one can deny; but that this caufe is domestic and not foreign, is too palpable to be queftioned. To take off your attention from the dangers near you, your eyes are directed to a diftance; and while you are bufied in preparing for an imagined enemy, the real enemy is affaulting the citadel of your deareft privileges-fleets, flanding armies, debts, and taxes, are preparing for you; and ere long you will be convinced to your forrow, that it was for independence and not for liberty that the prefent prefident of the United States contended. NESTOR. Philad. May 17, 1798. No. X. PERHAPS an over anxious folicitude for the freedom and happiness of this country, may caufe fome men to view the fentiments and measures of mr. Adams with too critical an eye. It may be fuppofed by fome more difpaffionate politicians, that although he may be a theoretical monarchiit, he is notwithstanding a practical republican. If the political creed which he fet up whilft in England, in a book moft abfurdly styled a Defence of the American Constitutions, had not been practifed upon fince his acceffion to the prefidency; then indeed his fpeculations upon government ought not to have been brought in judgment against him; but he has not confined himself to abstract queftions; his endeavours feem to be, to realize thofe fyftems which he has fo laboriously defended. While the cauf es and the events of the late revolu tion are ftill fresh in the recollection of the patriots of that day-while the hardships which were fuftained, during a feven years war for the rights of men, ftill prefent themselves to the mind with undiminished impreffions-while the black catalogue of British tyranny and barbarity, remains undefaced in the memory of every virtuous agent in that glorious conteft, does mr. Adams affert, in the face of the American world, that Ꮓ 1 it was not from difcontent with the British government that his agency was given in the American revolution! Can that man be a friend to liberty, who avows fuch a fentiment? Can he be a patriot, who acknowledges that he felt no difcontent with a government, whofe oppreffions were beyond endurance? Can he be a lover of republican government who declares, that he felt no difcontent with monarchy ? In extenuation of declarations fo hoftile to our republican inftitutions, it cannot be urged, that they were frothy effufions, the impulfes of the moment, without defign and without premeditation. A doctor of laws and an author must be fuppofed to have an acquaintance with words, and words are no more than the fymbols of ideas, which must have had a previous exiftence. The profound learning then of mr. Adams precludes the poffibility of the fuppofition, that he fpoke like a parrot in unmeaning phrafe. To admit the fentiment to be only a reverberation of that which was previously uttered by Pitt's printer in this city, would be indecorous; nay, it would be a degradation of the character of a chief magiftrate, which even his enemies would feel defirous to fhelter him from. But a folitary inftance is not relied on, to fhow mr. Adams' abhorrence of governments of the people. Every idea which floats in his mind, like the rays of light paffing through a lens, converges to a common focus, to the domination of one or a few. In proof of this, let his lamentation over the downfall of the pope, in his anfwer to the people of Burlington, be appealed to. For ages has the proteftant world fupplicated the Deity to verify his promife in the deftruction of "Antichrift." The "whore of Babylon," as the pope has been ftyled by the pious followers of Calvin, has been denounced by the enemies of religious defpotifm, ever fince John Hufs was led to the ftake for his attempts at reformation. Even the meek and humble difciples of the Meffiah-the archbishops and bishops in England, have, with unceafing efforts, endeavoured to haften the overthrow of the keeper of St. Peters's keys; but in the moment that the Deity was verifying his own promife, do thefe true believers at tempt to "Snatch from his hand the balance and the rod, the Rejudge his juftice, be the god of God." Was it to mourn over the fate of pope that the people of the United States were lately called upon to faft? Was it to arreft the juftice of the Deity that they were exhorted to pray? Has an hierarchy become fo defirable a thing, that mr. Adams bewails its extinction? If church establishments meet his approbation in other countries, no doubt he would feel no repugnance to one here; for to be the head of the church, and the head of the state at the fame time, perhaps, would not be very offenfive to our pious prefident. He poffibly might feel himself as much at eafe under a tiara, as he does under his military regalia. When fuch fentiments are avowed, and fuch lamentations uttered, over the fate of the old republics of Europe, the monarchies of the old world," and the "demolition of the pope," can it be uncharitable to believe, that the prefent ftate of things is artificial, and has been contrived to difcredit republican inftitutions, and reduce to practice a theory matured in the hotbed of St. James's? A ftanding army, a navy, immense debt, and extravagant taxes, are admirable inftruments to bow the neck to obedience; and thefe convenient engines could not have been obtained, unlefs fome pretext was inftituted to give them legitimacy. Ingenious men are never at a lofs for an excuse; and in this cafe the French republic fupplied it. Such indeed feems to be the rage of mr. Adams for a rupture, that he even ftyles the French nation our enemies," while his envoys are on the fpot pretending to execute his wifhes for the prefervation of peace! Can conduct and fentiments like thofe arife from imbecility of mind, or real depravity of heart? Whatever may be the caufe, it is incumbent on the people to be watchful; for whether weakness or wickednefs is the fource of bad actions, they ought equally to be guarded againft. To remedy the evils which exift, and which are ftudiously, multiplied, is the facred duty of every lover of his country; and before ruin is inevitable, let every independent citizen enquire into the real ftate of things, and his energies will not be wanting to arreft the threatning calamity. NESTOR. Philad. May 22, 1798. An Oration on the Rife and Progrefs of the United States of America, to the prefent Crifis; and on the Duties of the Citizens. Delivered at Washington (Penns.) May 10, 1798. By Alexander Addifon, Efq. AFTER the peace of feventeen hundred and fixty-three, the British miniftry proposed to raise a revenue by act of parliament, from their American colonies. The fum, which, in this manner, they determined to raise, was indeed small; and not equal to the hazard of a revolution, or the expenfe of a war; but the people of America faw, that a violation of principle ought to be refifted in the first inftance, and at all hazards; and that, if they once yielded to extortion, there would be no end of demands; and, if they once abandoned their right of felf-government, there would be no reftraint on oppreffion. Refiftance, war, and a revolution enfued. Providence countenanced the American cause, raised up to us allies, among the rivals and enemies of Britain, and the colonies were acknow. ledged free and independent states. But, as waves long agitated by the wind do not fubfide at the moment of the calm, the rancorous paffions excited by the revolution war, were not foothed by the peace of 1783; but reciprocally ftirred in the bofom of Britain and America. Concealed enmity, a delay of juftice, and alternate injury, were the confequences. They treaty of peace was not execute ed on either fide. They complained, that they were not permitted to recover their debts: We, that we were not permitted to occupy our pofts. Thefe, ftill maintained by British garrifons, prevented the fale and fettlement of an extenfive country, and if they did not excite and countenance, at least difabled us from fuppreffing, a pernicious and expenfive Indian war. per During all this time, America regarded France with a gratitude and affection approaching enthusiasm. France, next to the courage and feverance of the American people, was regarded as an inftrument under God of fecuring American independence. Yet, France herself never pretended that the engaged in our conteft from any affection for liberty, or for the United States; but from hoftility to Britain, and a defire to weaken this ancient enemy, by depriving her of the ample fource of commerce and wealth which the Ame rican colonies furnished. to a It is thus that the Almighty, in whofe hands are the hearts of kings and of all men, fometimes converts their worft paffions into inftruments of useful purposes. The luft of Henry VIII. was made an instrument of the reformation in England; and the enmity of France againft Britain, was made an inftrument of American independence. The theories of philofophy, and the practical leffons of the American revolution, kindled a fire of liberty in France, which foon blazed into a flame, and confumed the fabric of her former government. America viewed the commencement of the French revolution with fympathy and hope, and its progress with exultation and triumph. The caufe of France was confidered as the caufe of liberty-as our caufe. We excufed her outrages, we deplored her defeats, we rejoiced in her victories, as if they were all our own. She needed not, fhe declared that fhe did not defire, the aid of our arms. But we made every exertion to fupply her and her colonies with provifions, in the most seasonable and efficacious manner. We received her citizens with every mark of hofpitality. Our government inftantly, and first of all the nations of the earth, acknowledged her as a republic; and, defying all chance of counter-revolution, and the risk of British refentment, paid to the agents of this republic, at a time of urgent neceffity, and before it was due, every dollar of our debt to the king. France cannot charge the people of America with want of gratitude, nor the government of America with want of justice. Yet, though the American government went to the utmoft extent of duty, by a punctual and a generous performance of her treaties and obligations, as France declared it to be her with, America knew it to be her intereft, by not overftepping the boundary of duty, to preferve herfelf from war. America, in the European war, would have been but as a drop in the bucket; and her entering into it on the fide of France, would have increafed her debt, ruined her trade, and made her an ufelefs ally, and an impoverished and burdened nation. She could aid France better by neutrality, than by being a party in the war. Our government, therefore, and with profeffions of approbation from France, determined on a strict and impartial neutrality; and, while, confiftently with neutrality, the honeftly and ufefully ferved France, adhered to this determination, with unimpeachable fincerity and perfeverance. Ample proof has been made of this, by mr. Jefferfon, in his letter for the recall of mr. Genet. But the profeffions and the purpofes of France did not agree. Mr. Genet, the very minifter, who, on his arrival at Philadelphia, publicly declared, that it was not the wish nor intereft of France that America fhould engage in the war, afterwards published inftructions, given him by the French government, before his departure from France, enjoining him to endeavour to engage America in the war against Britain. The inflexible prudence of the prefident precluded all hope of mr. Genet's fucceeding with the government, in this fubject of his inftructions. He had recourse, therefore, to other means. He fitted out privateers in our ports; he commiffioned and engaged our citizens to enter on board thofe privateers. Britifh fhips were taken within our jurifdiction, and fold in our ports, Clubs or focieties were, under his fuggeftions, formed throughout the continent; to hang on the skirts of government, cenfure all its measures, and weaken its authority, by rendering it fufpected, and to roufe the paffions of the people, and prepare them for a fubmiffion, and even ardent devotion to the will of France. The inevitable tendency of the measures of mr. Genet, to embroil us with Britain, engage us in the war, and thus make us dependant on France, is clearly expofed by mr. Jefferson, in the letter already referred to. The meafures of mr. Genet were purfued, though less openly, with not lefs perfeverance by his fucceffors: and, it has been the conftant object of the minifters of France, to give to that government an influence in this country, by dividing the people from our adminiftration, and turning the efforts of the people against the efforts of the executive; to fubject our public councils to the will of France; to maintain among the people an hoftile difpofition to Britain; and, by gradual and indirect means, compel our government into open war with that nation. Though the prudent and active fpirit of the prefident preferved us from the full effect of thofe infidious machinations-an open war with Britain, and a confequent dependance on France; yet thofe machinations, and |