wilmington gazette 0 ir'or.vive ix published wkf-kuy iy allma.nd ball tuesday july 2 1803 v 446 states for what purpose then sati armj i to he raise il ? the projectors sucfi .* tnea , sure mtisthave had someobjectin view uud i as lhat object has never been explained it ' ought to be enquired into lis bad policy ind also a bad precedent especially in pub lic aliairs to let imposition slale away with out detection at the lime i talked with mr brecken v *.*? t"'v j *"^>" mlu v^j ',"" t'tt y " j ington who had been then appointed thii lieutenant general of the army hen raisinir oi which john was commander in thief ai the general received him coldly and sternly and said to him in a haughty tone '• . nd ■ c sir what 1 right have you that are but a private citi ten to interfere i matters of go vernment logan very prudently re plied i have no answer sir to make to that and withdrew — i he state of pcnnsyl vaiua soon after this elected dr lo"im cne ot its senators in congress circumstances often unriddle and cxpl in themselves and it happens to in this cu*e for if the administration and lu^e leaders ronnected with it were sincere in their be lief that the danger was real an that lhe country as g verneur morris expressed it m lis funeral oration on hamilton was " menaced with dttngi >■ /'.- mi withaut and that france intended an invasion and if at the same tin they had no concealed object in contemplation themselves ihey would wel come the mcssi nger that should bring them good tidings ihai ellwas well bui if on the contrary tiny knswlbey were acting a fraud and heating ihe country with falsehoods and l'.ne uia i-ii is for ihe purpose of procuring loan levying new taxes and raising an arn y to accomplish some concealed purpose that could ti l be accomplished without that tieacbtry ihey would be enraged at him ; r.nd ilii iicciunls for lhe rude reception ih logan received from that administration thousands who supported that administra tion ii n a belief that it was acting right h-.ue bince abandoned it from a conviction that it acted deceitfully wrong and this also accounts for the great majority at the hstl presidential election we have no alarma now nor should we have had anj ibcn ii'tlie present administration had existed at thai lime ' | ii requires only a prudent and honest aiu 1 miration to preserve america aitvavs in peace her distance from ihe furopeah world frees her from its intrigue bui when men ret into power whose heads like ti.exj head of john adam are filled with ' ; j fl notions ts counter revolutionary priiicipb-s btl ] roje'ets th'mas will be suit logo wrong rdifl adams who was more tbe <.'.-/,, of a party than the leader of it entered e-n the office of president with his head turned by the c v - tion he was lifted to ; and his print pies of hr ever bad am corrupted he lurntd out lo be a con ur revolutionist an ii ihe concealed ; rojectr of his ar'niira'ic n hod suc ceeded the federal constitution would i uvo been destroyed and that by persons m.i rj the assumed and fradtilcnt nameof/tri/'fno'.rt as general li'ashington said john adams has no children it will in right to make the ■ .>-• vernment hereditary in th family of lund washington perhaps john intended oris aa a sly iiitroductionofhimselfund his hopeful son uincey in preference to any of the va»h ingtons ; for this same john ad»ms was one of the chiefs of a party in cimo-test at tora-tcwn in pennsylvania in the latter end ol the year 77t and beginning of 7d for dismissing washington from the commend i>f the army because they said he was not ca pable of it and did nothing yet under john's administration the name of washington vrt made use of for the purpose of introducing and covering a counter revolutionary system such is the inconsistency olfaction and of men who have no fixed principles ! the independence of america would nave added hut little to her own happiness and been of no benefit to the world if her govern rnr-ut had been formed on the corrupt models of the old world it wis the opportunity of beginning the world a new as it were ; and of bringing forward a new system of govern mentin which the rights of tdl men should be preserved that gave value to in pemjj dence — the pamphlet common sence v..r ■ first work lever published embraced bol'u those objects mere independence might at some future time have been effected and established by arms without principle but a just system of government could not in short it was the principle at thai time that produced the independince 5 for tint it the 1 principle spread itself abroad among tin peo ple independence was not thought of ;.,.,', america was fighting without n object those who know the circumstances of the times i speak ofknow this m be tine i am not persecuting john adomi nof any other man nor did '. ever persecute any ; but 1 seethe propriety and even he neces sity of instituting an enquiri into the confu ted stale of affairs during his administration all the circumstances and fn evidence o.tn bined with them justify the suspicion »'• t during that administration the country was grossly imposed upon and put to a great and unneceisary expence which the present administration hastopayolt and that some concealed and counter h voltitionary scheme was in contemplation the leaders sepe ratcly might bide from each other what his own particular object was each of them might have a different one but all of them agreed in the preliminary project dial of raiting an army : and the raw would hr.ve been that when they had collected that army they would have broken into distinct parties like the generals of alexander's army a:.a thomas paine to the citizens or ths united states correspond tothe storytold of a man who was become so proud and famous for lying lhat he disdained speaking truth lest lie should lose his character letter the eighth much has been said and much remains to be said of thai undescribed and undescrl bnlile r.-j'./ting called federalism it is a word without a meaning and designates a faction that has no principles ask a man who calls himself a federalist what federalism is ? and lie cannot tell you ask him wlut are iu principles and he has none to give fede ralism then with respiect to government i similar to atheism with respect to religion a nominal nothing without principles the federal papers especially those of new-eng land have often said that ■' ki.!igion and fe derali m must go togethei " bul iftlieir reli gion is re ted to their federalimii ; il it is as destitute of morals us th ir federalism i of principles ; and i fear il is . il will c;o ihem no good in ibis world or the nc-xt it will condemn them u impostors and hypocrites tub nil those who once figured as leaders under the assumed and fraudulent name nf fedi rau mm but who are since gone not int bono ra 1 ) 1 '.' and peaceab i retirement like jchn dickinson and juries thompson put into o*)v:u:'i'.y and oblivion like john adams ami john jay had m.ne plans in con mpln i n which they concealed from their delti led ri b-rents h.r those plans can be discovered hi rough the ganz y but clumsy v'-ilol con duet those leaders adopted " no cover is tyrgs enough to hide itself ," tay the spanish p ctb i requires more sr'.ifi.ie and management to disguise and conceal sinister designs than so h enters are aware of a man never turns n rogue but he turns a fool he incautiously lets out something by which those he inten ded to cheat or impose upon begin to find him out whereas truth is a straight ibrw rd thingicvenan ignorant man will not blun let in a true story — nor cun an artful man keep a f.'.iv story straight but those leaders supposing themselves in a higher poution than what com non obser vation would reach presumed on heir suppo sed coniequence and the expected credulity of their adherents io impose ( i he nati in by clamordus and ftdse pretences for the pur po»e of raising a standing army of fifty thou sand mtn ; and when they h id g t ib t army the in i-k would hive been thrown off and tit"i deluded adherents would have paid liie price of their duplicity by bt i ig en ilaved but irt ilie midst of this cateerof delusi'in and imposition those leader became fools they did every thing tliey ought not to have done they advocated plans which shewed thai their intention an i cause v as ir good they laboured to provoke *•*,,,-. ) hey i po led every thing which lead to pe-ice they loaded the country with vexatious ind unne cessary taxes and then opposed the reduc tion of them they opposed a reduction of their o'.vn partisans at the expen c ofthe public in short they run thems ives i giotui first by their extravagi nee and next by their folly blinded b then on.i vani ty and though bewildered in the wilderness of their own projects they foolishli supposed themselves above detection they had nei ther sense enough io know nop logic enough to perceive that s ue can reason upward from cause to f v"c so also can we reason downward lioni effect to cause and discover by the means they mike tt-eof the motives and object of any party ; for when the means are had the motive and ihe end lo be obtain ed cannot be pood the manners also nnd language of anv parly is another clue that leads to the disco very of their real characters whin the cause and principles of a party are good is advocates make use oi reason argument and ;* od language trut h can derive no advantage from boisterous vulgarity but when the motives and principles of a pi rty are bud it is necessary to rjr.ee i the nnd its abe'teis having principles they dare not to ackn >'. '■■. and cannot defend avoid every thing of at i ni.'tu and lake refuge in abuse and ja seh ■ nl tbe federal papers are an instance ofthe justness of this remark their p-iges . . r.rouded r.ith abuse btit never with argument nr they have no principles to argue from i and as for falsehood ii ha become so natu rally their mother tongue especially in new england tha they seem lo have lost the power as well as the disposition to speak the truth those papers have been of great aid tothe republican cause no only by the addi tional disgrace they have broughtnntheirown disgraceful faction but by serving as a soil to set off with greater eclat the decency and well principled argument of the republican papers i have hadsomeexperience perhaps as much as most men have had in the vari ous turns of political life but i never saw a greater set of lords undertake lo conduct a party than the leaders of the federalists have been and the editors of their papers they cannot these s'.upid people sec or accor ding to some dogmas of their own are their hearts hardened thai they shall not see i hut the more vulgar and abusive ihey are the more ground they lose in tiie estimation of the public every eleclion especially i'i new-england is wearing them down till they will be lost even us u fiction and mas sachusetts and connecticut will recover iheir former character livery thing this faction does hastens its exit the abusive vulgarity of hulbert a petty foggi attorney of ihef field in massachusetts und one of its legis lators has contributed lo bring forward the fu neral in his late unprincipled speech in the legislature of that state helms driven another nail in the coffin ofthe federal faction and i leave it to the new-england pat adium to clinch it it is a paper worthy of being the buffoon of such a faction and of sin li nn hypocritical impostor thus much for the character of parties cunt the method of ascer taining their motives and objects 1 now proceed to other matters when i returned to america in november 1802 after an absence of more limn four teen years i found he country in i state of disquietude the people wen divided into two classes under the 1 nines nl republicans iititi feaeralists and in poinl of numbers ap pea red io be nearly balanced j he republi cans were the majority in c ngress and nil ihe administration were of thai description ; but ihey v ■ isvii.ed with outrageous .*. bust-in all t!i i't nil | apers but never by argument i am enough acquainted with life and the world to kn v that abu.it is the evident e ol • . , .-. . ..-, and lhat those who me i , hai un ; it on their side 1 here is a di^nl icd calmness in conscious rectitude which descends noi to a ire it can reason but it catrirt rage it cannot q iii the strong fortress cf rectitude to skir niiiii in the balds of vulgarity it was not difficult to perceive '' r this di vision unci agitation arose from some reports spread during the administration of john a dama and in the hitter lime of gen \\ ash in-j-ton which one part of the people believed and the other did not and the pwinl in be ascevlainecl was whelhei i!io?e reports were true or false if either of those cases conld be ascertained effectually it woultl unite the people the chief of those reports was the danger of an invasion fi om france ; and this was made a cause for born wingby loan ii c millions of dollars al ihe high rate of eight per cent laying on a land tax of two millions ofd dlars annually besides a great number of other i ixt is ; and for i using a standing ar my of fifty thousand men now if the danger was real il ought to have been provided at inst lil it was a fic tion and the design of raising an army tube employed to accomplish some concealed pur pose tht cuunlry ought to be informed of it the parly stiling themselves federalists ap peared to believe the danger and the repub licans to ridicule it as fabulous and in his state the parties stood it w.s however e qually the interest of both io know the truth on which ever side the truth might full being at washington in the winter 1802-3 i talked with some members of congress on the subject particularly with mr urecken ridge ; senator from itenluckey the same person wh brought in the bill for repealing john adams judiciary law and the mid night appointments mnde in consequence of i this repeal saved the country thiny-two thousand dollars annually besides freeing it from an intended judiciary despotism i spoke to him ofthe propriety of congress appointing a committee or by some other method as they might think proper to en quire into the conduct nl the former admi nistration that of john adams nnd to call upon him to produce he information whe tht-roffii id or otherwise which he went upon if iu had any for putting the country to such vast expence under the idea real or pretend ed of an invasion from france this would he giving john adams a fair chance of clear ing himself if he could from ihe suspicion that his a iministration was a gross imposi tion the puplic ; and on the other hand if the imposition should be proved it would enlighten the country and put it on its guard against future impositions mr breckenridge agreed with me in the propriety and fitness of the measure he saw th information waa wanted nml that it would be useful because when the truth should be known it would compose the peo ple john adams had gone away iu what may he called a clandestine manner without surrendering into the bands of hi successor as he tiu^'it to have dune in person anv ac count of the affairs ol the executive depart ment forei n or domestic there arc no papers or documents that i know of ami \ be lieve there arc none because there can be none in the secretary of state's office lhat will justify j adams in ihe expence to which his administration put the country ; or even afford ground for suspicion that either france or enguad intended to invade tbe united \ ridge on this subject i expected that mr j skip-a-iih formerlyt and at this lime anieri ! can consul at paris and joel barlow woultl soon arrive ami i did not wish ihe enquiry to be gone inm till they came alter the fall of l robespierre and the establishment oi the di f rectory constitution those two gentlemen i d myself mr monroe being recalled had ij belter opportunities of knowing ihe senti i incuts am intention of llie french govern m«nt wilh respect to america than any n ;• ti.crs had ; tv.\d they can lie evidence equally i with myself that no intention existed in the , french government to invade america nor i was any preparation made for such an at ti mpt nor could itbe made the possibility of such a thing did not ex '. 1 be french navy v«t at lhat time nearly annihilated ; her ports blockuded by the british ; and she had j io light by land single landed againsl tilmntt i the whole of f.uropo she had it not in her power to spare a regiment much less could i sot spare an army to send to america ; and j if she could have sp ired one she had not the j means of transporting it nor a convoy to pro ! tec it all the circumstances as well as the . evidence that can be provided will sl i-wtl.at f the administration uf john adams wasa frau ; dulent and expensive impositi nontl m i try j and that the army to be raised was in i tended for some secret purpose im't n it for the purpose of defence li'.l i adann was i not conscious of something wrong und ap j prehensivc ofsomet un,equeni is " lit did i e ij abscond in ihe hasty ,;,.| private ■. anner lie j tliil ? or why did his i itizans ivttnl to ut aaron burr in the p<*esideni y ? in the days i of the black cockades john d"ms had one i so enormous and valiantly large that heap i j pea red to he suspei d by it ; " but when his | midnight hour arrived his valor ficd and him ii self also j the volitntarj embwy of dr logan to paris appears to it ve diiconcei'led john's administration nnd discoiitfiittd its leaders j because it served lo "*.;:• -•■ and put an end ij tl eir project when tie i -.■■ m called on timothy pickering secretary of mate i with mr skipwiih's dispatches from paris ; timothy before he knew the contents ■ though logan knew the whole began to *' talk of invasions and dangers ai d the neces i ■•■'•■•' ol prepjrutien '• it may be very weli j said logan •' to have the militia always in good order «' the militia sir !" snid timo i thy '" the militia never didai > gocu antl inter j «*■•*//$. we must have an ar \ of fifty thousand men a\'ht.-ii loj>an was going away ti j mothy aid to him ai the door sir the go i vernmeni don't thank you j when logan waited on ceneral wash t mr skipwith n • gird the consulship during the ad ninistration of john adams i believe ti uccount oft indein lulling letter he received from tun hy pickering then se < i t.u v of stale mr jefferson re-appointed mr skipwith i timothy pickering's reflection on the militia deserves a rebuff it was the mili tia lhat fouglil at bunker's hii 1 . under war rm a militia general — it washy uie aid of numerous leiulorcemcnts of militia to join general gates that burgoyne was laken it was by a volunteer militia under stark a volunteer general that col baum.t hessian officer was defeated ai bennington in ver nviit which was tbe prelude to the capture ofburgoyne but perhaps timothy reasons irom himself and il lu makes himself thu standard by which to judge of the merits of the militia there is ground for bis saying the militia never did any good ar.d never will i iniothy's first public employment wa very harmless thai nf a teacher of psalmody when the revolution began lie learned the manual exercise ami then taught it he was afterwards appointed colonel of a regiment of militia and when the affairs ot lexington ar.d concord took place april id 1775 and tht british were retreating from concord back to boston an order was sent to timothy to march with his regiment and post him self at a certain place to i ul offllnir retreat timothy marched but lie stopped short of the place and drew up his nun and went to prayers till the british passed it his prayers saved him fiom the dangers of that day i do not know that he sung psalms perhaps not the enemy might have over /,-..'...' ii j t.itl timothy done his rlul v oil that occasion ami put his trust in joel without loitering away his lime the whole party of the british about two thousand must have been prisoners for they could not have got b«ck into boston ami the slaughter at bunker's hill the 17th of june following could not have taken place the whole force of the british at boston at that time was about four thousands ons ha of which mere 0:1 this expedition t r * jt hn dickinson the respectable author « tl.e fanner's lettersbefore the revolution he fli hai ies thompson the faithful ie rretary ofthe old congress duiinj ihe revo lution