jrSfi^^^JK:' Class {"(^ CQEflUGHT DEPOSm • ^b ( A REPLY TO The itESOLUTiONS AND ADDRESS OF .f MEETmG COJ^VEJ^ED AT MARTLLVGS, IJV THE CITY OF ^EW-YORKy FEBRUARY 4, 1811. eONTAINING, THE PROCEEDINGS OF THIS Committee of Safety, of 76, AGAINST MANGLE MI^THORNE^ CHAIRMAN OF THAT MEETING, By a Whig of '16. J^E W.YORK: - PRINTED BY HENRY C. SOUTHWICK, No. 3, New-streeti 181i. ^ i \ ^^h TO THE PEOPLE. tSJENDS, COUNTRYMEN, AND FELLOW CITIZENS, ALLOW me to appeal to you upon a subject dear and interesting to us all. The security of the whig party and itF principles is of the first consequence to our happiness, and the man who would jeopardize either, is an enemy to the country. There never wa« a period when union was more imperiously required. Surrounded as we are by foreign and domestic diffi- culties, we have much to contend with, and much to apprehend. In this situation of our affairs, it was with regret that I have read an address which has been promul- gated to the world, and which, if it should receive attention and countenance, must end in the total over- throw of the republican party, for the bulk of mankind are not so depraved as to make a voluntary sacrifice of some of their best and most valuable citizens. That there exists in the city of New York, under the assumed but false name of Madisonian, a faction •which meditates the destruction of the whig party in this state, is a truth that artifice can no longer disguise^ and incredulity no longer disbelieve. It pursues its object with a zeal proportioned to the magnitude of the attempt, under pretences which are calculated to deceive) with a boldness that alarms the timid, and with an effrontery that marks the desperation of its vie ^vs. No calumny is too foul for it to employ. No false- hood too gross for it to circulate. But marching on in its course of proscription, it wages a barbarous war against virtue and talents. The most distinguished — the most tried — and the best beloved of our fellow- citizens are held up to public execration. Whig.'^ and the sons of whigs are denounced, and even the soldier of the revolution is branded as an apostate. The ClintoniAn Party as it is de.-ignated by the faction, has long and deservedly been respected by the people. It is entitled to their regard, because it is composed of republicans from affection, and which no condition of things can change. Its destinies are in^ ter woven with the whig interests of the state. The Chntonian party grew up with the revolution, and must be lost v^'hen the principles of that brilliant aera are forgotten or abandoned. Yet this party are de- clared to have forfeited all claim to public confidence. Their friends both in and out of the state are denounc- ed as enemies to liberty, and, without a single excep- tion, they are, in the most formal and deliberate manner, charged " with sacrificing the best interests of ^ the nation^ arid even encouraging the obstinacy of fo- reig?i powers in their aggressions.** Clintonians ! In what have you sacrificed *' the best interests of the nation ?" In what have you encouraged " foreign powers in their aggresssions V MEN, COUNTRYMEN, AND BRETHREN, Doe? not decency require, and justice dentand that there should be some proof of the fact ? Is the peo- 5- pie a mon'Jter that vs il! swallow any tiling ? Ilavte Lht? people no intelligence — that a Martling's merfing shai! thus dare to sport with them ? Will Mangle Minlliorno deign to tell us in what respect the Cliiitonians have sacrificed " the best interests of the nation ?" In what respect have they " encouraged foreign powers in their aggressions ?" What foreign powers have they thus encouraged ? Is it France and C^reat Britahi— Denmark and S\^den — or Spain and Rus5-ia ? Av i.e men will desnise such excessive extravac::'.noies, iwA ascribe them to a disordered imagination, but mankind in genera] are unwilling to make such allowance;?, and usually impute calumny and falsehood to a radicul error of the heart. Hence there is a point of endurance beyond which public patience will not go, and insult and injury w ill no longer be borne. This desperate faction has aroused the most indifferent, and inflamed the mo.^,t: moderate. The hardihood of their accusations, and the extent to which they have carried them, have awakened universal resentment, and the time has at. last come when the people will be satisfied. To a considerate man, it is obvious that the wlii-y party in the state will no longer endure these reproach- es in silence. They demand and have a right to know the CHARACTERS of the men that dare to make such accusations. It is a maxim of our jurisprudence, founded in the immutable principles of equity and justice, and con- forms with our habits, that when a private individual is accused, he has a right to know the character of the accuser. This maxim appHes with multiplied force when whole clashes of citizens are openly and rudely 6 Assailed. Citizens who have identified themselves with liberty and virtue, who belong to the mass of the peo* pie, and can have no interest separate from their own. In such an inquiry it would be as disgusting as it would be unavailing, to draw under observation the character of the editors of the Morning Post and Pub- lic Advertiser ; pursuing the destruction of the repub- lican party, though by different means, they have long since relinquished all pretensions to veracity. Their unceasing efforts to destroy the Clintonians have be- trayed their malignity, without repairing their reputa- tions, and a question remains to be solved whether folly or falsehood is the most impotent. Nor can it be expected that I should reduce myself to a level and waste the time of the reader with the profligate of all parties. Such men can have no char- acter. Their influence like their reputation is confined to the boxes of a porter house. I shall however do justice to the meeting ; they have a claim upon me for justice, and they shall have it. I shall proceed directly to their chief, and examine Jhe character of the man whom they chose for their (Chairman ; under the sanction of whose name the peo- ple of this state are gravely called upon to make greaB and unusual sacrifices, and even to throw contumely and reproach upon George Clint »n, the pride of hie native state ; the ornament of his country ; the man who has guided us safely through the storms and tem- pests of an arduous conflict; wise in the cabinet; brave in the field; upright in private life; affording us by the numberless proofs of his patriotism, and the uniform tenor of his long and useful life, a just claim ^ rank hjm with Aristides of Greece, and Cincinatu? •f Rome. This is not the language of adulation.-^ The fame of the vice-president can neither be encreaS" ed or diminished by a handbill. The writer of this can receive nothing from him. It is a tribute due to great and extraordinary virtues. Some modern Plu- tarch vN'ill record his services and his fame. He will live in the affections of his country, and posterity will wonder that he should have had an enemy in the re- public. Whigs and Sons of Whigs ! What will be your feelings when you shall knov;^ that the man who presided at the meeting — the instru- ment that intrigue and artifice made use of to sow dis- aentions in the republican ranks — the person under whose name your venerable Clinton was to be sacri- ficed — who sat ai the immolation in defiance of all public decency, and in mockery and scoff of every whig feeling — was a tory. I speak not on light or equivocal grounds. The evi- dence is decisive and irresistible. The British dun- jeons and prison ships have left some living witnesses; The fact is a matter of record. Mangle Minthorne, the chairman of thk meeting, WAS A TORY, and in the day's of '76 was by the New- York committee of safety, unanimously voted to be an enemy to the American cause. He remained under British protection — was fostered by the enemies of hit; country, and enriched by their favor and|patronage. 8 Extract fro IK the rniiiufi's of the C'jTmni'tef of nafety^for the City and C^^vnty of J\\r-^rf. Ytrk, in ITJG. Yv Jviue 5, 1776. Committee met by Jdiouniment. PRESENT. GariTt Abcel, Cluirmr.nj Mr. Dunsccmbj Mr. Ash, \>l\. Gilbert, Mv. Kierstead, Mr. Bj.Jvc, Mr. Y-aii Dyke, Mr. S. Scjiernicrhorh, Mr. N.- Anthony, Mr. Bisset, • Mr. Stockholm, Mr. Wilmot, Mr. Ivers, Mr. Eiliot, Mr. Manley, Mr. Campbell, Mr. Prince. The committee proceeded on the iiiformalion u^>- anst Captaiii Mangle Minthorne, and exam- ined witnesses. The same af- ternoon, the committee takinc into consideration the informa- tion against Mangle Minthorne, «nd the evidence touching the same, thereupon, Resolved^ That the said Man- gle Minthorne has designedly and knowingly violated the re- solution of Congress in the sale of tea, and that he be held up to the public and considered as an enemy to the American cause, and ti'eated accordingly. Ordered, th..t Mr. Wihnot prepare and rcpoit aa advertise- incnt for that purpo.se. Adjourned until To-morrow Morning. Thursday Mormuj; June 6, 1776. "^ Committee inet by Adjournment'. PRESENT, Gurrit Abed, Chairman. Mr. Harper, Capt. Ivers, Capt. Johnston^ Mr. A. Gilbert, Mr. Dunscomb, Mr. Van Dyke, Mr. Campbell, Mr. Bl eke, Mr. S. Schcrmerhorn) C.^pt Lawson, M. Wilmot, Cc.pt. Revier, Col. Lott. Mr. Wilmot, agreeable t-o an )rderof yesterday, reported an .dvertisement against Mangle Minthornfuwhich being read and amended is as follows, viz : com- plaint wus^ made to the general committee for this city and county, on the 3d day of May last, against Miaigle Minthorne, a shop keeper, in Butteau- street,* for violating a resolve of the hon. continental congress in the sale of tea, and as he made oath that he had not then seen either the i^esolve of congress or this committee, in tenderness to him and his family, supposing him to have no design to coun- teract the said resolve of con- gress, and on his promising them not to be guilty of the like again, did agree that the publi- cation of his affidavit would be s .tisfactory for that offence : — but have since on the fullest proof found that by an avari- cious principle he has not only * Jsfcw called Dev-street. 9 violated his promise, hut that he is .to lost to all fiiMic virtue and love for his cou7itry^ as tliat he not only in several instances has again violated the resoh^es of the continental congress, by selling that detestable article of tea, at a higher price than by them limited, but also has said several disres/iectful things of ?he resolves of that body. This committee therefore, in conse- quence of the trust reposed in them, are obligftd to publish to the world, THAT MANGLE MINTIiORNE IS BY THEM UNANIMOUSLY VOTED, AND OUGHT BY THE PUBLIC TO BE CONSID- ERED AND TREATED AS AN ENEMY TO THE A- MERiCAN CAUSE, and con- sequently ought to be precluded from all i^itcrcourse with the in- hubHaits of these UNITED COLONIES. Suck is the character 6f him, undei" whose auspices proscription and denunciation have stalked abroad, offending public decorum, and impudently laying claim to exclusive virtue and patriotism. Have the whigs forgotten that whilst this man was fattening upon the miseries of his country, they and their families were driven from their altars and their homes, leaving their property to be desolatedj and themselves encountering all the hardships cf seven years banishment? Have they forgotten that George Clinton retired with them — sharing their misfortunes —relieving their wants — counselling for their safety — - and finally bringing them back with security and with triumph. To his Excellency., George Clin- ton.,Escj.GovcrnoroftheState of .A''L"iv-York, Cojumander in Chief of the Militia., and Jd- miral of the A'avy of the same. The Address of the Citizens of New-York who have re- turned from exile, in behalf of them? elves and their suf- fering brethren. SIR., When wfe consider your faithful labours at the Ivcad of the government of this stntP, devoid, as we conceive every free people ought to be of flat- tery, we think \:q should not be wanting in gratitude to your vi- gilant and assiduous services ui the civil line. The state, sir, is highly in- debted to you in your military capacity: a sense of y(nu> real merit will sc<'ure to you that rep'Uaticn which a br;;ve niai,, exposing himself in defence of his couutrv, will ever deserve. 10 We most sincerely congratu- late you on your happy arfival at the capital of the state. Your Excellency hath borne a pirt with us in the general distress, and was ever ready to alleviate the calamities you could not effectually remove. Your ex- ample taught us to suffer Avith dignity. We beg- leave tor*ureycur excellency, that as prudent cit- izens and f