LETTERS TO ALEXANDER HAMILTON^ r SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,, INSPECTOR-GENERAL or THE STANDING ARMIES THEREOF, COUNSELLOR AT LAW* &c. &c. &c e;ng intende'd as a reply to A SCANDALOUS PAMPHLE lately publifhed under the fantfion, as it is pre- fumed, of Mr. Hamilton, an4 figned with the fignature of JUNIUS PHILJLNDS. Bv TOM CALLENDER, Esc^ ClTIZXX oy THE WORLD* BY RICHARD REYNOLDS, No. 27, DEY-STREET> i So?,. '4 LETTERS TO tronage that it is impossible for any man of com- mon experience? not to lee " the mark of the beast on its forehead." The amanuenfisj is too contempti- ble a creature for me to purfue, I therefore addrefs rnyfelf to the principal and father of the, bantling, not fo much;' on account of any injury 'that 'that filthy Tcrcu'p'miade could ever produce to the prcfent peace- able adminlflration, becaufe it is a weak and filly performance^ ..which muft defeat its own purpofc ; not on t account, of any any injury .you or thp Jerfy- Joye, the apoftate Luther Martin, the vulgar Pick- erings and Wolcot'.s, the Harpooners* Burrs or Brutuses, '&c. could erFe6t. None : of tho'fe rca- fons or fears have operated upon me 5 to provoke me into revenge againft any of the v, hole corps of YE. It is the diilurbance which j are continually railing up againrt'the public tranquillity !* I am happy that we: now all "live at peace in this country and that men of. wealth are well "fe cured in - their property-, vvkhout having recourfe to tbe 'bi'6od thirfty phins of .burning villages, as it ' i's "reportc J, you had de- C'lsrcd. ancM believe \rith great trvthj you would have 1 put into operation? if you could only liave provoked any of the infurgents to fhoot -a ilngle man of the militia or vokrnteers who mrjxfled out, in my opi- nion, wkh tfie utmofl honor and fpirit, to quell art iunovation againd the laws of the United States, but never, oh never, had they collectively any fuch harrkl idea as that of ft&inirig tlicir ha&(.is ia the blood of dieir fellovv-citiscns without difcrinuna-. 'ALEXANDER HAMILTON 5 lion ! I have been told of this your declaration, fo often that I was almofl convinced it was true. But let me here declare to you, that, at this day I have flrong doubts of its veracity, and I wiih you couljl deny it unequivocally that you frefiimed to take a i-f, -to like ILmr.ibal, THEY (your confidants,) fhouM either ice you returning at the hrad of a triumr riant army or ice you without a head !" I don't know be- fore what altar you could have made fo defnerate an oath ? Nor am I inclined to give it credence, he- caufe I am not, nor ever have been, your perlonal enemy. If, however, in "the fefult it fhould appear* that you really' .did -life -fuch : an expreffion ; there will remain little doubt in my mind, of your having " foftcred," in the language 6f your friend Afriiodeus of Morrifani'-a, an hope, of what ? of crufhirig down the fpirit of republicanism by FORCE OF'AR'MS ! The God of nature was difguft'ed , with the brutal' purpofe, and although you have enlifted a few re- fpectable gentlemen of tlie pulpit to write in favor of your fyftems thofe defenders of your faith will foon forfake you. Let them look at my motto let them read over the fourth arid fifth chapters of F'aniel and confefs that they are very applicable to yours and John Adams's adrniniilratipns, for we know,; that the great and good Wafhington was liable to be impofedon by both of ye; let thofe political preach- ers coniider the fate of B E LT E s H A z z A R, and ther* confefs whether the tkjWJ 1 ne brought upon him- fcjf was not juft and morcifuL coufideiing the f BETTERS TO crimes he had committed ! His fall was fudden an.cj great and fo has been the Fall of the Monarchical party in the United States. They attempted to fef tis all at war with one another. To tax us as cruel- }y as the Jews were by the . jEgyptians? to put gags in our mouths, fo that we dared not to open our lips in the War-Office or Treafury, or Cuflom- Houfcs of America ! leaft fome half a dozen up- Jtart clerks and informers fhould bear falfe wit-, nefs againft us. and bring us up to the lull-ring^ .pf peifecuticn. THOSE were hard times? Mr. Hamilton* and Although perhaps you did not direclly fanction fuch 5-lliberality ; I have feen you fmiling with pleafurfr at the heart-fcalding effects it produced ; even* sunongft feme of your own old friends and compa- jitots in \var. How could you fmile at the honeft Cjomplaints of a good old whig ? I fhall never allow any man in my prefence to fay that you are dif- ioneft; but furely you have expofed yourfelf, as l?eing the monument that enclofed a living fpirit qf deftruclion to the wealth and profperity of all- America. THIS may appear to fome of your friends, to be rather an harfh expreilion_, yet tt is my inten- tion to endeavour to prove it to be founded 5n truth? as I tc ex-pefl" to cio, in the phrafe of one of your fatellites (Wolcott) in the courfe cf rlus correfpondence. / ALEXANDER HAMILTON THE fchifm that has been attempted to be fet on foot by the Vice-Prefident, amongft the repub- licans, is a thing totally beneath my notice, be- caufe it will die and rot of its own corruption, and we fhall have no more of thofe cloudy days bf terror which difgfaced the late adminiftration, but ftill I can not fuffl-r myfelf to believe that you could proftitute your talents to fanclion that dif- graceful fyftem. Vou certainly muft have a proper fefpect for the character that rs to be efli mated of you by the children of futurity. But the fchifm at- tempted by Burr, although it is defpicable in my eyes, as is the founders of it flill leaves a doubt behind, that you either know fomcthing of its origin, or, after a time, you muft have fuffered yourfelf to approve of the plot I hope not. It is for reafons like ihefe, and they are far from chimerical ; that I am 6'bliged to view you in the light of a very defpcrate and dangerous enemy to fociety, although I am ready fo ]oin in the general approbation of your valuable abilities, and your abftemioufnefs from all pecuniary conliderations and all other lublunary things! I DO not mean to hurt your -private feelings, but only to make fome general oblervations upon your' pblitical career, from its Alpha to its Qmega y -which I ' think muft now be fait approaching, from your con- ' nection with fo fcurrilous a wretch as he who could Lave penned the pamphlet fubfcribed by m after Juni- , us Phil anus* whofe infolence is equal to his igpo-- ianc6 whbfc cohaevliQu'witii you muil be difgraceful g LETTERS TO- whofe'Biliingfgate ftyle is lower than even the brutal Bntihi-PcTcupine But he fliall be dliTtcted in my- next letter? or Tome other letter in this feries? which I have fat down to write for no other, reafon than the defence of truth? honor, virtue? and real patri- ot! fm ; unfophifticated patriotifm. Unlike your com- plicated fchemes. Unlike Adams's dreams. Unlike ftuer's financial operations? which you had the fol ] y to father. THE very lengthy introductory-apology which prefaces matter Philapn-us's pamphlet?- was not, no, never, written by the fame hand that afterwards links, into .the lowed filth ot fweep-chimncy's dial eel. ^ II is debut? however? .. is perhaps .intended to fne\v us that he Is a fportfman, by the ufe of the wcrd * c Bevy of hungry expectants." OF- which number, lie vozvs in Yankee r-hrale? that he's not one, HE fiimfelf \vhb has taken up fo many pages to define his own excellence -he never \vas.an expectant for any. ofEcc, nor would he accept of one were it lo be. - offered to him, let it be ever fo lucrative ? As well might Oliver Wojcott publifh to the world the bare-, faced alfertion,. that he himfelf . was the entire and fole author of a lame defence, lately -publiflic'd, of the late adminiilration ; or have the effrontery to ' tell the peopte of the United Sates-, that he did not ; come to New-York to get it corrected and amended by the centre f!ugci-man of all mifchief, who is fti'll ihe rallying point for the out-calls of republicanifm^ HAMILTO N*. meetings, Cacufies, plots, and ftratagerns, kre not fo fecfet as the junto may vainly imagine. THEIR frequent intrigues at New-York will never be conftrued into innocent viiits erf private friend- fhip. The Jerfiy-Jove's races through the three mid- dle ftates are not- all probably intended as viiits of . perfonal refpeel to the fallen angels of an intended royal ftandard neither di,d Luther Martin, and many others whom I may probably make mention of here- after? all come here to New- York for nothing ? llave riot you Mr. llamiltori, expreffed yourfelf iri a very treafonable ftyle at the town-ineetihsrs amongft the Cartmen or the Shoe-makers fomethlng about fii6tating to the Preficlent of the United States what- fever laws and regulations YOU pleafed ? fey what means ? By ftirring up a fort or" rebellion in die eaftern ftates ! SHALL we not have the freedom of election al- lowed us to choofe a good and virtuous man for our Prefident ? Would you and Dayton have dragooned us out of our right of fufFrage ? You have always arrogated too much DOMINION to yourfelf, over the minds of men. -You were not pleafed with the INS PI RED WASHINGTON; for I will call him fuch, for our commander iri chief. You faid, as I was toldj from the lips of General Malcom, " that Wa'fh ing- ton was totally unequal to the talk of commanding; the revolutionary armies ; and that there was none of the officers excepting General Greene, qualified for duty," ir no man will deny the great and B* noble virtues of YOUR FAVORITE; but, when yotf prefumed to depreciate the talents of the virtuous hero of his country, ycm added no laurels to the brows of Greene : all-hallowed be the memory' of each of them. As to your own merits and fervices> they would have been handed down to poflerity with their jufl approbation had you ftuck by the good old caufe of republicanifmj but when we faw you fo foon after the revolution (hooting yourielf like a.tangent into the atmofphere of monarchy, and attempting to impofe it on the people under falfe coloursby calling it fede- ralifm when you knew very well it was no mofe than a ftepping ftone toXvard tyranny when we confulered all the dark intrigues and deep-laid plots of your par- ty flowing on fo faft, like a tide of dellrufUoh, to' Overwhelm us ! it was then high time to ftem thb torrent* and it has happily been effe6ted by the re- moval of you and your dangerous army of informers, fpeculator:"? and ITragooners cf the people, from the : high fhtions ye held over the affairs of this now hap-' py country? which never was fecured before in the blemngs of peace and good government. That you all have' acknowledged the federal confthution to be no more than a {ham to introduce a monarchy, is welf known by the various fpeeches and eflays of Mr* Adams and many others and even by the young con- 3 fidantj Fennb, who publifhed his mar-plot pamphlet entitled " DESULTORY OBSERVATIONS," on the affairs of the United States. ALEXANDER HAMILTON. I I THE fall which your party has experienced was therefore no more ihan you -celerved, and 1 believe as jurtly infilled on ye, as the punifhmem of Beltefha^- zer, as mentioned in my motto. The people are at length fatisfied with die tranquility and profperity that furrounds them, they can fleep in peace without being terrified with the ihouts of warriors. They are not betrayed by fpies they enJQy the light of heaven without being infulted and imprifoned-by excife-men they can tranfacl their commercial and other relations without going to a -(lamp-office Sec. But you will not permit us to live in this tranquility and happinefs. -The difbanded few, who have loft their confc- fjuence, are everlaflingly trumping up fome infamous falfehqod in the news-papers, .in pamphlets and iii treafonable night CqucuJJes, which it is certain are fre- quently held in New-York, and in the management .pf which focieties, it is ftrpngly fufpecled you are a principal. The pamphlet now before me, of Junius Philtsnus, is a handfcrnc fpecimen of the malignity of the men who encouraged its publication, and if ycra Sir, were of the number it will never redound to your fame or character. The world has never yet heard from Mr. Jefferfon, the real caufes of many of the removals he has been obliged to make. It was lord chief juftice Mansfield's opinion that a man at the head of a public office fhoujd never give his reafons ..for the removal of thofe who fnould render them- felves deferving of it and who knows what proofs complaints, what letters and flrong" 12 tETTERS TO may have been laid before Mr, Jefferfon, of the !1| conduct of many of thofe who have loft the confidence of the adminiftration Yet they will not reft quiet under their imaginary difgrace, but for ever keep up a fire of ilander againft him. It would be better for their Own fakes they would be filent, as, if the Preii- clcnt fliould be urged to publifh the reafons of fome. pf 'their rernoVals, it would? perhaps, only add to their chagrin better for them to remain contented with the limple punifhment of removal, than have the complicated ciifgrace of their characters being alfq expoicd. There never was fo great a crowd of public offices filled by men who were every one immaculate! Humanity is liable to error. The countenance and support which, I am convinced, you give to the EVENING POST, and to. moft of the same descrip- tion of scandalous prints, as well as the encourage- ment to such reptiles as Junius PhiJanus? is so dis- gusting to the true friends of America, that you have drawn down their indignation upon yourfelf. You have deferred the caufe of genuine repubHcanifm, and fled to the ftandard of Aristocracy. You held a poft of high rank among the Duke of Braintree's WELL- BORN fons, until you were almoft afhamed of it and him, Your letter, addreffed to him, is Efficient for me to believe that you moft heartily defpifed him. But, your enmity againft the prefent Admi-niftration, proceeds from very different motives. You do not-s- you cannot look with the fame degree of contempt on the abilities and virtues of Mr. J E F F E R SON wltU which you viewed the weaknefs and vanity of Mi;-. Adams. Your pretended difapprobation of the NDER HMILTON*. IS indent's conduct, is only external; for, I will pay you the compliment to fay, that I fincerely believe -your heart approves of it. The chief objection to him is the difplacing of fome men who could net,*- would n f , concur wi h the falutary and abfolutely iv-re/ar" meaiures that he has adopted for the prefer-* vation of the government. Su Tofe ?ir 5 that you were, for inftanre, elevated to the- Presidential chair, and were to be made acquainted with fome mal-prae- tices in the various departments of the adminiftra- tion would you not remove thofe men from office "whom you fhould find to be guilty ? I muft think you certainly would. And yet there are many of this defer! ption who i'till hold their places under Mr. JefFerfon; becaufe, perhaps, he does not yet know their faults Suppofe Sir, you, as Prefident of the United States, were to be fubftantially convinced in the moft unequivocal manner, that any officer of 'confiderable confequence, with a good fat falary> fhould live fo diffipated a life as to be obliged to bor-. row money from all his induftrious neighbours to fupport his extravagance, nay even fo obtain it in a furreptitious manner from a merchant? under the cloak of his office he fhould apply it to his own private life, and leave the merchant afterwards to pay it over again and after all this ihameful tranfaclion, this officer fhould refufe to refund the money or fecure it but fuffer himfelf to be expofed by a fuit in the Mayor's court, which he put off as long as the court would permit his lawyers to do it; and? finally,, when the merchant was on the point of getting out an ex- cutian> he was aftonifhed to find die caufe was ro* .ffc LETTERS TO jnoved into another court. I fay Mr. Hamilton, if you were? Prefident of the United States would you .not remove this officer from your confidence? I am Jure you would. BUT Sir. this is only one inftance out of many ^hich might be mentioned to {hew that the Prefident is in pofleffion of fufficient information to induce him to act as he has done; and that, fo far from treat- ing thofe difcarded gentlemen with cruelty, he keeps their faults fecret, which is the milder! method he could 4*ave adopted. For the proof of the above facl, I need f>n!y refer you to the records of the courts, and tq the information of one of your moil intimate friends ^t the bar. Verlum fat, No\y, let me aik my fellow-citizens, whether our public affairs are not now Iqdged in fafer hands than, they would have been, had the people fuffered them to remain in die hands of men of fuch characters as I have defcribed- is not the monied and the landed in- ierefts of the country as fafe in the hands of our prefent happy adminilh'ation, as it could have been tinder the government of the former .rulersr have we not, at kajl, as good fecurity for the honor of our wives and daughters ! ! ! Your amorous tranfa6lions I will not hint at Ijct ^hefe letters, unlefs fome of the fcribbling fools fhould provoke me to it by ufing fuch low indelicate innuendos as the pamphlet now alluded to is fluffed with. Defperate indeed muft be the fituation of that faction who would hire fuch fcurrillous fcribblers. It has been faid of the people of Connecticut, that they had for the lad three or four years? taken the S.HJI* ALEXANDER HAMILTON ff <6f diiTim ulation from every other date or nation the poor Irifh not excepted. But the whole ftatc of Connecticut cannot produce half a dozen fuch credt* Uhabk gentlemen as have broken into this country, with- in a few years from Caledonia, fake notice) Sir, I mean no reflection on that country in general? be- caufe I circulate fome Scotch blood, as probably may' be the cafe with yourfelf. I now confine my remarks to the Callender at Richmond, and John Wood* lately of New-York, who have been fo kindly re- ceived into the monarchical club Mr. Wood is really a valuable acquijition to any fociety he is teacher of half a dozen languages, none of which can he fpeak or write ! if this be not prefumption, I know not where impertinence will end. One day, like Mr. I^nngi on the French negro-landing, he tells truth by affirming to the world that he is a liar, and the next he aflert's that he was a lia-r when he told the the truth ! yet this is the man who has had the afTu-< f ance to* undertake to write upon religion, and go- vernment w HO w i L t BELIEVE HIM ? what an handfome importation it was when we hail'd him and ftie wheel-barrow man to our fhores ? neither of them ould know any thing of the true ititerefts of Ame-* rica. But they M$l try their hands, alfo> at book-ma- king. Every cow-boy in Scotland attempts to be- come an a'uthor, and with the effrontery of Belzebub they will venture neck and limb on writing a book; and when they are found out afterwards to be nothing better than common plagiaries and impoftors, their shai-a&er Hands in as good a iuuation as it was- )6 LETTERS Te fore. They lofe nothing, and they gain notoriety; much in the fame way that the famous Guy Faux did* and it is to be hoped they may meet with a fimilar reward. In making this obfervation, I muft repeat my former declaration, that I mean to make no allu- fion or refletion upon that country which has produ- ced fo many men of as great abilities and virtue as any nation whatever* THIS moft difgraceful and unnatural enlitlment of Wood and Calendar into the monarchial-federal corps can never aid or affift to raife up thofe men who have juftly loft their confequence in the eyes of the public; but who are driving hard to deceive about five mil- lions of fenflble people into the idea> THAT THKY, the difcomfited, and difcarded feware the ONLY MEN fitted to hold the reins of government. Was it iiot right end wife to fnatch the whips from their hands ? Such defperate men as thefe are would now wade up to their necks in blood to recover their for- mer flations, and like Milton's Prince of the power of foul airs, they would rebel againfr. any government let it be ever fo well administered* unlefs THEY were to be the fupreme dictators. No wonder that the peo- ple of luch an enlightened Country as ours, iliculd take the reins, the whips and the fpurs away from thofe Jehus. And if THEY fhould EVER recover them a- gain, it muft hap'pen in confequence of fome extraor- dinary anodynes being treacherously adminiftered to lull the people into a profound ilcep, whilft THEY 1^ere Paoli-ing them. It is not THIIR' abilities, either as writers, painters, politicians, printers, or foldiers, that can give them t a fuperior title to the ALEXANDER HAMILTON 17 *>f mankind becaufe, We have always experienced the fupenor powers of the republican fpirit, whenever they were forced or provoked to exert it. And fo it will be for ever more, AMEN. IN my next letter, I (hall probably take fome no- tice of your hopeful young fcfibe Phila:nus But left I ihould tire you too much at the firft onfet, I will here make a r A u SE ! in the borrowed language <3f your friend Afmodeus, who conceited himfelf, no doubtj a fecorid Cicero, (as I may call myfelf a fe- cond Daniel) for tc you have been weighed in the ba- lance, and found wanting" and your dominion Over the government of the United States fhall be taken from you and divided amongft the old whigs and re- publicans* TOM CALLENDER. LETTER II. f SIR, ** IN addreiTmg you," faith your young fcriblertis, MAM NOT ACTUATED by any of ihofe motives which have gathered around you fuch a BEVY of hungry expectants," &c. In conformity to the plan attempted by him, the faid amanuenfis, 1 can fafely fay? that, neither am I a6ruated by any fuch motives : nor fhall my refpect for Mr. Hamilton's literary- abilities, intimidate me into the fubmim've ffile of PM IL;ENU3, who takes up five arid twenty pages of ills pamphlet about himfelf arid his wonderful acquire- ments, and political and religious tenets. On the con* LETTERS TO trary, I will make no apology to the public for wri- ting thefe letters to you Sir, whcm I have always eoafidered as the greatefl ftfachiavel in America, al- though I never thought you were the GREATEST man. THIS was the opinion of Bifhop Talleyrand:- That thou wert the Saviour of this happy land. But whether the bifiiop did or did not exprefs thofe fenti- ments to Dofior Smith, of South Carolina, over a bottle of wine, is a query of little coniequence to the world i as William Smith's character has been tolerably well defined by Doclor Ramfey, to whoever will take the trouble to look into the Charleflowr* newf-papers at the time of their contefted election. THE high-flowing ftile of yourfelf which only ob- fcures the understanding without convincing it, Ifhall not attempt upon the good fenfe of my fellow-citi- zens? neither will I box the compafs of dicHonary- jfliip like meffieurs Webfter, Coleman, Phibenus, and Co. to fleal language of which they were never origi- nally poffeffed. I fay Sir? I mean not to ape your lofty ftile? nor mimic the low cant of Coleman and Callender one of whom, (the new ally of the Hamil- tonian-daminion,) is my name- fake, although he is no v blood-relation ; becaufe he himfelf told me, that he was greatly afflicted with a weaknefs of the nerves* a cliforder with whkli none of niy family of the Callen- ciers have ever been peftered. As an inftance of thisy find left any of yours or the Vice-Preiident's friends and gladiators, fnould imagine that I was any way .baihful about naming the Revenue office? whom I ALEXANDER HAMILTON. I iiave hinted at in my firft letter, I here beg leave to refer to Mr. Troup who brought the fuit againft him, and if he fhould hefitate on the bufmefs, I can ap- 'peal to the merchant, who will fubftantiate the fact, and who told me, he was refolved to lay the ilatc of his cafe before the Prefident of the United States.-* You may perceive that I go upon good ground; and it muft appear evident to your fuperior intellect, that although there may be one man in America who would ufe_/kW-means to get rid of a rival, I dread him not. But, with refpe6t to you, Sir, I declare, that, fo far from fufpecling you of countenancing fo .bafe a proceeding, I am heartily convinced of your Uriel adherence to the principles of a foldier and a man? and that you would deteft any wretch that would implicate upon himfelf fuch a vile fufpicion. I think it necelfary to make this declaration of my -private opinion of you as a gentleman, though 1 may widely differ with you in general politics. From you, I am confident, I am perfectly fecure, with refpecl: to any foul mode of refentment; but, Sir, I do not coniider 4LL your allies in the fame honora- ble point of of view. After the dark-handed confpi- racy of a certain conceited lawyer, who, to get rid of an opponent, would life adventitious means, it is high time for the genuine friends of America to look ftiarp. If fuch men as thefe were to rule the roaft, we fhould foon witnefs the death of the liberties and profpcrity of America. The literary aflaffm is, un- a. great pefi to. focictv; but the favsges w 2O LETTERS TO undertake to bully voters at times of election? or, in~ deed, at any other time, fhould be marked? and I have fo minutely watched their conduct as to be able to develppe mod of their fecret intrigues for the at- tainment of power. The bafe and cowardly attacks made upon republican printers at New-York? Phila- delphia, and other parts of the United States, will not foon be forgotten. The circumftance of Duane's be- ing held faft by one of the flrongeft men in America* whilft the fon of a confervator of our laws played off the valour of his fifls upon his face? is fuch an inftan,ce of turpitude, as, I hope? I fhall never hear of* an equal to; nor fhall I eafily forgive Duane for not having taken an exemplary revenge. It is true he challenged the youth? who it is generally allowed, modeftly refufed to meet him. The Democrats may here fuppofe I am not altogether up to their fyftems - nor am I. Neither did I ever confider the magistrate alluded to, nqr his fecretavy Dallas? nor Ingerfpll* who is intended for the next governor? as true repub- licans. I could here give my reafonsj but I leave the decifion to fuch men as have been in habits of intimacy with them. In the fame light do I view fome leading characters in the dates of New- York, Jerfey> "&c. Mr. Bloomfjcld is no republican neither art thou, Mr. Hamilton? notwithstanding your oppofition to the Duke of Brain tree's chimerical monarchy. You will here naturally obferve that I am not amongft the lift of timid fcribblers not vevy much alarmed at the refentment of dilappointed royalifts or the furious thunder bolts of brother Jonathan. For if,, the attack me in front I will endeavor to defend ALEXANDER HAMILTON. f jnyfelf as well as I can and if they take me in tha jear I am fure it will not be with your confent. THE fportfman-like phrafe of Philaenus at the on- fet of his pamphlet might induce fome honeft fellows of the chace to follow him through the foreft ; but if any of them fhould give a view-holla? he will not come up within a mile of the hunt-r-and fo far from being calculated for a huntfman, he is incapable of performing the duty of a whipper-inn to a pack of well trained harriers. ON purchafing the pamphlet, I carelefsly opened it at page 48, and on reading lines 5, 6, 7 and 8 could not reilrain a laugh at mafler Philaenus's fagacious re- marks on the conduct of Mr. Jefferfon. He accufes the Prcfident, of haying eyprejTed *' his contempt for their (the members of the late ejection) understandings, by anfwering their reafcnable and refpe&ful remonftrances with a pompous difplay of logical vonfenfe and angry re- criminations." Who is there amongft the fons of thp monarchicaf-fe^'s that can explain to us the meaning of logical ncnfenfe ? Stop the youth from writing, as foon as poifible ; othcrwife he will put an extinguifher .over the dying flames of ariftocracy. It i' really wafting -time to look over this poor pamphlet. Nor would any one think of doing it, were it not for the general con-r vi&ion that Mr. Hamilton approved of its publication. Sir, why will you not fviffer an experiment to be made 5n the nr! of fimplifying government under the manage- ment of Mr. JfefFerlbn as you defircd uhen you led th yan under the adminifl-ration of the great and good, but much impofcd on Wafhington, with your complicated plans ?-r-all you alked froi?i ili oppofiupn then, was tf 3 LETTERS TO give them a fair trial ; which was confented to ; and not only your plans, but your language and your pen were allowed too great a range of abfolute licentioufnefs. Your party in New-York were ready not only to fupport you with their purfes but even to mob any man in the Directs who differed in opinion with themfelves and you. THE refult has been, as I have already faid, in con- formity with my text-your dominion has been taken from you &c. by the general confcnt and will of the people on whom you calculated to enforce your fchemes :by threaten ings and hard blows. The various fyftems of intrigue carried on, by your affociates;, at that time, are frefh in my recolle&ioiu The attempt made by a private citizen, when in Eu- rope, at the time of the debate upo n your funding .fyftem, to purchafe the whole debt which the United States owed to France, and to fell this contract to the HoPES of Amsterdam, who were to furnifh the mo- ney, was a fubje6l in the fcnate, who rejected the no- mination of that citizen, by the Prefideiit, to the place of ambaiTador to France; yet he was afterwards ap- pointed, through the intrigues of Robert Morris, \vhofe relation to him was no more than being con- cerned in a plan for felling lands in the m 00111 to Eu- ropean fpeculators, which, when properly enquired for> were not to be found. Hence the depreciation of the American charafter in Europe originated, and hence the fubfequent reduction of the financier-gen eral f the United States, to the humble ftation of a birth in the jail of Philadelphia. If he had only confidered the old faying, " that honefly is the bed poKcy." He sever would {iave contented to be concerned with this ALEXANDER T)talHe Boiteaux, who ruined his credit and confequenee in Europe. Perhaps it was from this circumfta/ice that John Adams took up the idea which he has fo patri-* Gtlcally exprefled in the bock he wrote in London, yclept *' A Defence of the American Conftituti'oti" wherein he fays, that the Americans " have no character." Thank you Mr. Adams you were then probably in the fame way of thinking that the Diable Boiteaux eXprcffed lately in the Senate of the United States when he faid the people themfelves were their own worft enemies ? what an elegant figure in rhetoric was this to Come from the lips of fuch a Cicero ? It was kind, and merciful* indeed, when bellowed frcm the lungs of a man of the mod contracted abilities amongft the feds, but of the moft unlimited effrontery. His Aarrd-earned eftates, or fine houfe, furniture, and equipage have not any effet upon the real republicans to produce refpel for his per-* fon or his merit I heartily defpife both, and fhould pafs an evening with more genuine comfort in company with a Poughkeepfie farmer, than with him and all his bought or borrowed lu/lre. In the fame eftimation, do I hold Mr. Bingham, the breeches-maker's fon, at Philadel* phia. The trade, I hope, will not take offence at my clc fling him amongft them. There are many brokers in New-York, &c. who ride in coaches, but who would appear more in chara&ef if they were to parade the flreets in buttermilk-carts, or at the arms of bakers* "wheel barrows. The vulgarity of fome of the eaftern members of Congrefs* is only to be equalled by their inclination to intrigue and low cunning. They profejfed the 44 LETTERS t(5 ttioft unlimited obedience to your proportions, let them be ever fo extravagant; yetwhenit came to voting for Prefident of the U. States, &c. although you, Sir? had written a terrible letter againft John Adams? as a private circular, to be firlt fent to the ele6tors to in- fluence them as far as your weight would carry it, and afterwards it was again published by Lang, in New- York, &c. The whole effeel it had on the ele6tion, both in the Eaflefn and Southern ftates, was That your letter did not make a lirigle profelyte nor did John Adams lofe by it a fingle vote. From fuch experience as this? it is but fair to judge, that your' intereft and influence could effecl nothing. The calling of caucaulles, therefore, at New-York, of the difconten'ted few, ought not to be corifidered? as any very dangerous combination agairift republicanimi They, undoubtedly? were for an ariftocracy. Adams was againft them a little he was for a monarchy ; they could not agree, and republicanifm came again out of the fire like pure gold. THE particulars of thefe caufes and effe&s I fhall explain at not a very diftant day, nor fhall any petty fcribbler like Fhilaenus prevent me. 't he intolerable ufe of detraction propagated by your affdciates, have brought down deflruction on themfelve's you fhewed them an example in the phillipprc you pronounced, long ago? againfl Wamington, when you preferred Greene. You mewed them another example, in the fame complimentary ftyle, when you attempted to ridicule Gv. Clinton, in the letters you wrote fcr the Daily Advertifer in the years 1787 8S, under the fig- Hature of H. G. The firil of thofe effays, on Waih- HAMILTON; 25 ington, was no more than barking at the moon : and the fcccnd, agsinft Clinton, had ho be ; t:r iiTue, altho-' you put up Judge Yates, a good republican, agaihft his friend So it has been \vith you throughout your peregrinations in polities'. They would have fuccced- ed better>hadthey been grafted on a founder ftcck "/our {landing army, and excife, were equally ill-judged things. They might, have anfvvercd for the next cen- tury, if our posterity ftickild then become fuch abjccl tools to felf-irnportant architects of government a$ you and Mr. Adams. But Sir, government can, and has been fimplifieda as I have already faidi and we find that republicanism may, can, arid fhall, be eftablifhed. It would be well for you if you could agree with me in this fentimcnt. You are not fo much tied down by your promifes to aristocracy* but that you might "make one more effort to regain your Nation amongfl re- publicans. This may appear to fome as a fly invita- ' tion to join the good" old party ; but, be affurcd, Sir> they generally think they can do very well without you. You have had recourfe to a vaft quantity of pref*- Vorkj and printing-offices in your time, to cany your .points, let them be good or evil ; and I remem- ber when you were confi-derccl by the printers of New-York as infpedror-general of every tiling they. {ho aid bring forth. Adieu to fuch days ! *- You mil ft now ftand on your own bottom* norv.-ill all the Thunderer of Jerfey can do, forward you an inch in your defigns* I know not of any circum- , piazb or fcheme of yours, that has been, kv LETTERS TO anywifc likely to become permanent. Blarne Xvh who you will for this defalcation, I can fcareely imagine that it was altogether the child of your ovn' brain ; let me rather fuppofe it was vanity, like that by which Mr. Adams was a&uated. You had bad ad- viiers, and they led you aftray, TOM CALLENDER, LETTER III. SIR, oOME of your friends may pretend to fay, it is un- generous to attack you in print, as you arc out ot of- fice, and have nothing to do \\ith the preftnt admini- ftration. This is true enough, you have not any thing to do with it in favour of it, or in fupport of it but you have fomerhing to do in tbe Rye-houfe-plot-wcrk that is brewing againfl it; which will crumble to dull, as almoft all your ether political plans' have done. - We muft and will have a quiet and peaceable govern- ment- we have it now, and we will keep it in defphe of all the Macbeth witchcraft of the fallen angels. Yo\i fee I go freely into the little labour of examining your CREAT works. The Pilot-boatman makes irit item of what you have to anfwer for. Your winking at jnany improprieties committed againft the people's peace, as well as their pockets, is another ! and your Countenancing the publication of fuch traili as Junius Philsenus is a tliird, with many ether thirds* hfihs,. and tp-fili up ycur concerto, ALEXANDER HAMILTON. *7 finefl'e and rfhratagents which were praetlfed on .Thomas Paine by Robert Morris &c. in the years 378$,:- and 1786, whilil.he was at Philadelphia, ar am ongM about fifty or.an hunclred aristocrats; Va- rious orders of nobililty were to be inftalled; and 6ft the very day that Mr. A clams arrived at New-York t6 take the chair of Prefiuerit of the Senate, a motioii was made? by one "of his particular friends, in the f Adams's brain was put out to nurfo ! I wi/bk-tjjey JiaJ torn the minutes of that debate from their books> ' and fent them to liraintree with him on the morning he ran au ay fo early rrom Waftiingtpn rather thaij . bear the light of feeing Mr. jeflerion fworn into of- :cc. I mult not omit r^enti^ni^gj here, that it is rny Ohpi- jiion^ had you at the time, of the ikisjlfhus. debate, giv-t en it } our hearty and iinpere :; (u^nort ? it would h^y? been carried through both houies of the legiflaturei and wp il^ould no\V be 'j$fp&S$f<'i$k. * royal aimsu- jiack publiir.ecLahaiiaHy'.cbfrtzJuiiig a. lengthy lift of honorable Sedg-wicks, iiglat lionourablc TliGtcheTj4 rnoft h-O'iiorable Ames ? ? Sti&vty^inuftrious Adamites. Your; conducl on that dccailibn,. therefore deferves tlie -friglieft approbation, whether it proceeded from a luke-warmneis to the fcheme, or from a complete pan tempt of the effeminacy of fo "ridiculous a projects. Indeed, it would redound fomtthing further to your credit, if you could yet prevail with fome of your friends in the prefent fcnate, to. move for the erafure of all the minutes that were ioiiled into the books on that fubjecl. And in doing this you would only be' acting in conformity with the opinions you cxprefs-in your letter to Mr. Adams fo foon after the difauffal- pf tlie army at Briftol. You, I am fur e gained no money or eftates by your rank or pay, but HE took care to feather his ncit well for himielf and his young: So that he cq.uld the better bear your attack,- LETTERS TO It would make a good caricature to ikctch him thus; .Sitting fntigly, in a warm neft, on the top of a 'large weeping-willow at Braintrce, looking down at your tieacllefs body as it approaches from Fort-Pit, which migh't be represented in the Hack ground all in flames 7 Your head, as you faid yourfelf, you would never bring it back other wife, might be exhibited as follow-^ !tt J after you like a balloon in the air, whilft Mr. A'dams fnould appear "in'a Full bag-wig with a Tort of glory around h'is heady.ind : vaft clouds in a thoufand fancied '(hapes and.formS of'coronets, fccptres, thrones, kingdoms? and millions of ftar^V and garters. On, kis'left breaft a bulfe of diamond with the order of the "wii ITE DUCK in the eentfe '-The trtink of the wik- Mow fiiould haye icarltt-iibbond twining like ivy in a fpiral line with fcveral :^lt m ottos fuch ,as,-* 6 folk noli lit as virtus-." ( < A oeo'ft. Rege* " Malum inert qitam fcederare." ?c., -And let a large o w L appear jiigh hovering in the air, in the a6l of balancing a f raw. Thus equipped and defended we leave him for a mor jnent to take a View of your mode of todily atr tack with a full unifonn, a truncheon^in.one hand, tind your LETTER in the other, you mi: ft appear in the act of kicking your great jack-boots agninft the roct of the willow, until the Pruifian EmbaiTador, who was placed there by way of cenitnd feconds the alarm, and calls out to his Pa, quack ! quack ! quack ! IT may offend fome to fee Mr. Adams thus fatirik ed; but I fubmit to the world, whether his conduit jp running away in the manner he did from Wailiing* to,n did not deferv&the fcvereft eenfu;e, Did ALEXANDER H AM T LtO^T. g ral Wafhington behave in this manner to him whe he was* firft fworn into office at Philadelphia. : No^-he paid him all the refpecl poinble and affumed ro other confequence than that of a private citizen, and fo did Mr. Jcfferfo-n, they both walked humbly in his train, Mr. Adams came down from the Senate chamber firft, and I recollect that he, feme how, negleclcd to fore- ihorten his fword whilft on the flairs, fo that it trailed on the fteps and made a noife that put me much in tnirid of the cat's feet to which a wicked boy had waxed walriut- fhells, in order to frighten a family at midnight with fufpicions of a ghofl. I alfo recbllec-t on the fame occafion that when Mr. Adams entered the Houfe of Reprefentatives in order to he fworn, Mr. JefFerfon was ftill Secretary of State, and had he been as cere-' iRonious as the illuflrious fenators wanted to b'e, bd wouldj as feeond officer in the government, have im- mediately followed the President, and Gen. Wafhing- ton being fenfible of the propriety thereof, an'd feelrng 1 himfelf only in the ftation of a private citizen? with J-bat dignified fimplicity and modefty that have ever characterized him, fell back on one fide of the en^ trance^ and bowing to Mr. JefFerfon, whilft with his hand, he filently fignified to him, to walk in before. But Mr. Jefferfon, without a moment's hefitationj fell back alfo on the other fide of the door; and after bow- ing to the general, he flood up firm and ere61. It was the moft interefting fcene of elegant contention I had ever beheld, but laded only about two fecotids, anJ the general was obliged to enter firfK I am the more particular in mentioning this circumftanc^ as it has JJ Lfcf f ERS TO been falfely propagated and publifhed, that Mr. j;-f~ ferfen was not an admirer of the general. I believe on the contrary he 'was the greateft bofom friend tha the irifpired Wafhington had in the world. Let his conduct on this occafion be compared to Mr. Adams's flight, and then anfwer me whether it had any of tha fymptoiris of Nobility. TOM CALLENDER* LETTER IV SlR> SlNCE I have ventured to offer my humble in defence of the character of the virtuous Wafhing- ton, againft all detractors, it here occurs to my memo- ry, the villainous publication in London of an Effa/ by that loweft of all rafcals^ Cobbettj in the Anti-Jaco* bin Review, vol. 5, pa?e 547, which none of the Aid- de-camps of our Commander in chief, have ever yet taken the trouble to contradict no, nor our divines*' "W.ho have -been fo bufy in this city in defending tli fair fame of Col. Burr nor the indolent Abercrofmbj? at Philadelphia who was hand and glove with that hiK fernal enemy to all decency. ' I fay, Sir, that it ap^ pears to me on reflection, a little itrange, that yott- have never fleppeci forward to draw your pen in th defence of your old commander. It is ftill mo'r4 ftrange that fome'of the clerical order have alfo omit- ted to do it ; and it is more than f( pafllng ftrange f 'tis pitiful/' that the author of Serious ConiiderationSr jliculd find leifure fuilicient from his holy ftudies, t AEX ANDER. HAM I LTOtf. 33 Write a pamphlet of abufive language againfl Mr. Jcf- ferfon, who is a better chriftian than either himfelf or any of his coadjutors ; and yet he could overlook the villainous flander of the Britiih fcoundreL Cob- bet* I appeal to all America, whether I can ufe any expreflion too harfh on fuch an occafion ? I will now endeavour to wipe off the ftain which that ruffian has attem pted to caft upon the memory of a man* " the latchet of whofe fho'es he was not worthy to '< unloofe." The aid which was adminiftered to Porcupine in New York and Philadelphia, will be an everlafting difgrace to the memories of thofe who fupported him ; whilit the glory of Wafhingtori will rife higher and higher iri the eltimation of every age hereafter. In, the book which I have alluded to, an attempt is made to give a review of American publications} and On the front of the lift we find a fmglc article con- taining a criticifm on two diftinc~t and feparate fub- jets; theone of which is the eulogium delivered by a gentleman of the American revolutionary army on the character of Gen. Washington. The other 3 a prayer of a clergyman at the opening of an innocent ceremony of refpe6t to departed virtue> which hap- pened fhortly after the account of that great man's death had reached that city. The anti-jacobin reviewer, whofe abilities com par-* ed to thofe of the old reviewers is like charcoal toi diamonds, commences his criticifm with a few lines of pirated language* and afterwards falls into his ow*n low and pitiful abufe. The firft paragraph is If ti 34. LETTERS TO * every individual were an infulated being? who lived * for himfelf, agreeably to the new fyflem of certain 4 German philofophifts, no detriment to fociety could accrue from a rigid adherence to the ancient max- ' im De mortuh nil rJJi Ic-num. But fo long as falu- * tory leffons of a religious and political nature are < to be deduced fo long as moral inclinations for the < ufe and benefit of fociety are to be derived from the conduct and characters of men, who have made a * confpicuous figure on the theatre of life fo lon^ ' fhall we continue to reprehend a ftri&t' obfervance of < fuch a maxim, as calculated to deprive mankind of the advantages of example, which intereft alike the c heart and the unuerftanding, and eminently contri- ' bute to promote the caufe of virtue. The nil nijf c verum is the only rule worthy of attention) in the * delineation of public chara6ters." To" this paragraph an eafy anfwct occurs. Truer it will offend not only many and excellent men? but it mufl offend every excellent man to know that any attempt to diminifh the refpe6t that is juftly due to the memory of Wafhington, efpecially when it is confidered that the attempt has been made by fuch a "vile mifcreant. * c Accuftomed to make facrifices to truth," as he fays of himfelf> but which all good men will indantly under (land the true meaning to be> ac- cujhmed to jacr'-fce all truth and decency ; and as to his not yielding to the tide of popular prejudice every feniible man knowsj that a long fcries of popular opi- nion amounts as nearly to truth as any theorem in fluxions. Sir Ifaac Newton would not? were he liv- ing, deny it? although this cobwcb-bru frier of a book- e -has the fpitefulnefs to oppofe it. ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 3^ THE Americans have not been too lavifh of their Commendations on their hero for the effufion of a few individuals, who may have over-ftept the bounds of me- chanic language, yet had, nevertheleft, a good intention in every word they fpo-ke ; and although they may have committed fome little miftahes, in the modus in rebus, frill their hearts, at the time they were fpecking, were fortiter in re -this is only borrowing the wor*l? of one pf the greateft Englifh politicians. IN the firil inftance, we find that the philanthropy and phijofophy of ancient maxims are rejefted, to make way for the nil nifl vernm, " in order to promote the caufe of virtual" and, in the fame piece? the writ- er, afterwards, condemns the epifcopal derey, for hav- ing deviated from the old cjlablifted orthodox rules and crders of the ages of ignorance and fuperftition. He pretends to a knowledge of the affairs of the churches; we mail fee prefenlly how well informed he is on that fubjea : ^ THE advantages of example which equally inte-t reft the heart and the underftanding," he fays, are refufed to him, if he were obliged to pay refpecl: to, the old maxim, de mcrtuis nil nifi bonum ; ergo, he leaps over all the bounds of both ancient and mtdern decency and truth , and, under a mafk of fearching after veraci- ty, he, unequivocally, attempts to hokl up the charac^ ter of one of the TRUEST Men that ever lived, as an example for what; not for imitation I but quite the ary ! I am alhamed to follow up this rafcaliy infr- $6 LETtERS TC> ^nation an} 7 further* nor would I have ever condefcenccil to bring^ this impotent magazine into view, were it nol I know many individuals in America who take a fecret malicious pleafure in fupporting Jome foreigners, who ultimately prove to be their deep-rcoted enemies. IF the de r picable author of the Review means to in- fmuate, whieh I am fure he does, that general Wafliing- ton has not contributed to the caufe of virtue then all the good and great men on the race of this globe, who have admired and piaifed the virtue of our Patriot Chief, mull be very ignorant, indeed, or this difgraceful Bririfh Reviewer mufl be fo abominable a , that Milton's defer iption of Satan would not afford colours fufficiently black to paint him in. THERE fhall be millions of millions hereafter, of the BEST and BRAVEST of mankind, to fpeak and write m the moil ardent praife of WASHINGTON. II j 3 fecond paragraph goes thus : < c A church is, af- f furcd'yj'the moft improper of all places for the delivc- 6 ry of a prcfciTed cukgium. The temple of Truth f fliould never be polluted by the ftrains of adulation. * And flattery more grofs, feidcm, we conceive, efcaped ff the lips of man, in any place whatever. (e Who mall *' delineate a juil portrait of that character which was " perfect in at! its relations- vr in what language fhalj '* the ftory of that life be to'd^ where every a&ion was alc^e all prune ?" Again " the god-like Wafhirg- " ton" " this immaculate man." This language is 4 really impious, and what kind of credit can be given * to the facls flated by a man who fo far forgets himfel/ ALEXANDER HAMILTON ,%J ^ $ as to ufe it ? Our objections, however, are principally f confined to the ufe of thefe unjuftifiable terms. The * orator has not imitated fame of his countrymen, who, ' on a fimiiar occaftcn, dared to ftigmatize this country * and its foyereign; his other fins are not fo much fin.$ ' cf commiffion as fins of " wijfioni" he has oply * (hewn one fide, and that the fair fide of the picture; f though indeed, by calling his hero immaculate, he ce- * nies that there were any fpots in his character. Prer- f fumptious and fooliih man, to hold up a c< a monfter of ' perfection" to the world, and to call on its inhabitants to * admire and worfhip it !" Thus far has this impertinent revlcv.-er attempted in his fecond paragraph, and thi!$ we reply : IN every country, a church is the moft proper plac for delivering a funeral difcourfe. I appeal to all the world, if this reviewer doth not here exprefe a felf-evi- proof of malice propenfe ? buoyed up, as he was, by a vain expectation of fupport frorn a party (heaven be praifed, there is no party no^ e^i/lir.g in any country or climate who does not renounce and defpife him) of earning bread by the mcft dishonourable of all niean- n.effes the fales of fcanda!-^-he ftili veEtures farther, and with diabolical effrontery, 'infinuates, diat the temple of Truth had been polluted by the flrains of adulation and flattery ; and bgidly aflcs, what kind of credit is to b given to the orator who delivered the eulegium? THIS is indirectly telling the gentleman that he fpokf falihoods within the walls of the temple of Truth; for, all the little attempts that follow i'mi affertion, by- way of qualifying it, will neyer alter the exprefs mean- ing of the writer. If he had no,t been at the dii LETTERS TO of more than three thoufand miles from the orator, it is highly probable that gentleman would have obliged him to modify the words, by argumentum ad rem\ at leaf}, I believe lo, in cafe he would deicend to notice the calum- jiiator. BUT, this creature (he^'s, in almoft every inffonce, a complete i-inorance of men and things in America; for here he fays, " The crator has not imitated feme of his countrymen, who dared to ffcigmatixe this country (England) and its fovereig.n." Here an abfolute lie is broached, If he means that the orator was an Ameri- can, he is entirely wrong : that gentleman was a native ef Great Britain, and, it is preiumed, had no cccafion to be propped up by the faint apologies ot any foreign emiflary, for fuch is the meaning of the paflVge, " his other fms are not fp much the fins of commiflion as hns of omiflion." As TO the bullying" words, ** dared to fti^matize this Country and its fovereign," fuch language might hove pafled in the camp at Saratoga, before the capitulation of the brilliant nil nift bonum general j but, at this day, a threat like this, can only ferve to excite rifibilty in every man's countenance, whofe mufcles have not left the power of fmiling. THE orator held up the fair fide of the pi&ure, be- caufe tjvere was no foul fide to be.fhewn. Yet, an m- famous fcavenger of literature mail attempt to twill this picture into a monfler of perfection. The third divifion of the reviewer's iniquitous publi- cation is as follows: We are well aware that, by at- ? tempting to diminifh the refpecl which has been fo la-- * yiil)ly bcilcwed on the memory of Wafliingtcn, f^wc ALEXANDER HAMILTON. * &all give ferious offence to many excellent and * thy mon. But, we are accuftcmed to make Tacrifi-* * ces to truth, and we do not feel difpofed in the prefent * -inftance, to yield to the tide of popular prejudice, ami * ilirink from the dJfcharge of a public duty. Let the * Americans, if they think proper, lavifh their com- ' mcndations on their hero, for eftablifhing their biefied \ republic with that we have nothing to do; but, for ' ourfelves, feeling asEnglimmcn, and as loyal fubjefts, * we never can contemplate the public character of ' Washington, without feeing, as its prominent feature, ' the horrid crime of rebellion, which nothing but re- * pen-lance can ever efface. It is not fuccefs which di- * minifhes the guilt of a criminal. To America, then, * Waftung ton might be a hero; to Britain he was a ' TRA I TOR. Nor is this the only proteil we have to ' enter agcinft the spotlefs -purity of this" immaculate," ' this God-like" man. If we have not been very. * much mifinforn-ed, general WASHINGTON was a * deift. We have not forgotten his reception of the * (U^ fent him by ROBES p i ER RE, nor his declaration, f at the fame time, that he " approved of the French tf revolution in its commencement, its progrefs and its re- * fuh" As to his difmtereftednefs, of which fo much * has been faid, formerly by Thomas Paine, and lately 'by other fycophants in Ameri^^; who have carried < their impudence fo far as to aflert that he never even accepted a j alary ; we have it in our power to accufe * thofe gentlemen of advancing willful falfehoods. Ge- * neral Wafhington not only took care .to receive hrsjfata- ' ry regularly, (for which certainly no blame could at- * tach to him) bnt even toadied a great portion cf the 4O LETTERS TO * falary of the enfiring year? by which means he < an opportunity of fpeculating with the public mo- < ney. This fat, we know, was the f abject of pub- < lie controverfy in America, and the proofs of its ex- iftence were never invalidated !' c Angels and minifters of grace defend us" from such a bare-faced villain as this He calls Wafhington a DEIST? and a SPECULATOR with the public mo- ney ? Where ! O where ! wert tlidu then, Camil- las, Phocius? Publius, General, Royal-Fed ? Where wert thou Serious Confideration Trumpeter Voice of Warning ? All afleep. Wafhington was in the cold tomb had he been living, your ten thoufarid pens would have leapt out of ten thoufand wings in his defence but he was dead; and you could no longer expert promotions from him. Ye all began to worfhip the rifing-sun, John Adams, of whom you expected to make a very tool for your own pur- j>ofes. THE honor and pleafure of confuting the vil- iain> devolves to me, and I wrote fomething fimilar to this, which I fent to London nearly two years ago, where it had fome effecl: in railing up the refentment of the citizens at the time Gobbet's ho'ufe was de- molifhed. I NOW affert tha* Wafhington was ai pure chriflianV and it is well known to every perfoh who ever knew him? that he was a liberal refpe<5ter of every religion, without being a perfecuton I next affirm that he never fpeculated with the public money to the a- Siount of a lingle cent* or a thoufand, or a million of HAMILTON. 4! tents? dollars or pounds. I laftly declare tliat the charge made by the Britifh brute, of his having :ched his falary in advance, is as abominable a lie* us if any wretch were to affert that there is no God. The only foundation which Cobbett had for the ma- licious uiliehood, proceeded from a very ill-judgrd paragraph in the Aurora, whilft that paper was con- ducted by B. F. Bachc, who was unfortunately influ- enced by his father, who had a private pique aeainft Wafhington, to publifli it. Every one knows that there is a law exifting which allows the Prcfident of* the United States to receive a falary of twenty-five tfioufand dollars per annum. The Prcfident's private fecretary was in the habit of taking up this falary, ei- ther monthly or quarterly? and he was regular in the duties of his office. It happened however that there ' was a trifling informality in the report of the Secre- tary of the treafury, Wolcott, who ought to particu- larize the items of the appropriations for the year. He conceived that the law for paying the Prefident's falary was fufficient, and he forgot to mention it in his report to the committee of ways and means. Thus, although the law exiiled fo* paying the Prefi- dent's falary, there was not any fpecific appropriation. Some imp of darkncfs communicated th:3 to old Bach?, who influenced his fon, the proprietor of the Aurora, to give it publicity, and to make it appear that Gen, Washington was ro ci - Ing pay. in advance. The Br'.tiih villain inconsiderately grabbed at t',e niif- ta'ie, an,l has dared to pablifli it to the world In th- paragraph in the Anti-Jacobia R"v' F 4-2" SETTERS- TO' THE truth mult now clearly appear to ever/ mart of common intellect, that neither Gen. Wafhington> nor.his fecretary, knew any thing about Wolcott's* blunder; the fecretary. went on in liis ufual mode the law was his authority but with regard to the tak~ . ing up a (ingle iixpence in advance there can be no greater falfehood uttered, Gen. Wafhington was ne- ver in want of money for himfelf, neither did he ever take up any from the public coffers but for the befl and nobleft purpofes. To follow the ilanderer any- farther, would be fuperiluous and I really believe,, that although our fanctified gentlemen in America fuffered Cobbet to print that anti-jacobin review, and fubfcribed for it, the citizens of London, when they fee this ftatement, will not hefitate to pull down the fellow's houfe again about his ears. BUT, it is too much the practice with partial po- liticians to read thoie kind of fcurrilous pamphlets, They fell the better for being deteftable, ?.nd fo it' was with Wood, Calender, Phikenus, and all the reft of the gang of detractors, who have played into" each other's hands too long? to the great difgraceof the printing art, as well as the annoyance of the pub- lic. To follow CcKbet through the whole of the re- view, would be too tedious for ibme of our readers , I will, therefore, felect fuel) paragraphs as fcem to be particularly levelled at the character and memory of general W A s H i N c T o N. His feventli phillippic- proceeds thus : ^ << Whilit the congrefs was employed in paffing their ' mournful resolutions, and their funeral admonitions- *'t-t!ic pious- inhabitams of the United States* thc;^ ALEXANDER HAMILTON. 'jfe were laughing in their fleeves at the dupes winch < they had made, and the impofitions which they had * paffed on the world. The fact is, that, notwith- f (landing the diffentions which prevail among the contending parties of enlightened (tatesmen, in ont -f wljh they are unanimous to D E c K i v E foreigners -< and foreign nations. But the attempt is as fruitlefe * as the wiili is difhonourable. In this general * mourning, prescribed by patriotic hyrocrify, and -* enforced by popular authority, it is r- u un- ** common thing to fee members with crape * on their arms, and, at the Tame time, :to hear ' them vent inal editions on the memory of ;the < deceafed ! One other fact, on the authenticity * of which they may fully rely* will fufiicc to (hew *< our readers what fort of freedom of thought and >.a'51ion the Americans are allowed to enjoy, -and * what fincerity' of foul is concealed under the outer < f trappings of woe. A -gentleman having beca < afked wliy he did 1 not wear crape on 'his arm? an- * fwered? that, he thanked God, he had loft neither. ^relation nor friend. "What!" exclaimed tlie a ue- - c rift, " w T as not general Wafiiington your friend ?" - No," rejoined the other, he w.as no man's friend.; * and it Vv'ould have been a good -thine; liad he di?(i -* twenty years ago." Thijj blunt declaration f immediately fucceeded by a threat of veng < :a;''i';c ( from the querist.; and it wa^ v. Itii great dl-ii:u'ty *f that the gentleman efcapcd tlie yankee puDilhrrieat * of tar and featkf)') and -that his houfe was refcued * from. dcHructiorij by his confcnt to zttfat- a 44 LETTERS TO < and to afk pardon ftanding publickly on a table f In relating this fact, \ve mult not be fuppofed tq f acquiefce in the unqualified aiTertion, that general Wafhington was the friend of no man ; we ar < not Sufficiently acquainted with the general's pri- c yate character to vpuch for the validity of fo Seri 7 < ousa charge ; and we are extremely unwilling to be- * lieve, that a man who has been fo highly and fo c warmly praifed? in different countries* though WQ < know how o appreciate fuel: praife, could really de- < ferve an accusation* which implies a difpofition wcj f fhotild fliudder to contemplate." The circumftance, or fomethirtg flmilar did take place in lle.v-Yorl: but the gentleman alluded to* in n:y cpinlon> ouglit not to be much obliged to the reviewer, for trumping ic up to the world again, after it had been nearly buried in oblivion. I will not ? therefore? take any further notice of it, to hurt the feelings of a perfon for whom I have a high refpeet, only to make a remark on the reviewer's malicious concluf.ons. IN the beginning of the foregoing paragraph, he endeavours to call a general ftain upon all America he ridicules both our civil and religious Societies, and condemns our .laws almoil in tuto. Whatever re '"peel he may be thought entitled to from the gen- tlemen of the bar, on thefe points, they are beft able to judge of theiTifelvcs. . One thing muft be allowed to them, a:ul, I believe, much to their ho- nor tJKit they have fouled laws Sufficient to puniSK iilaiics and ilanderers, why may have been em- ALEXANDER HAMILTON. Cloyed by foreign nations for bad purpofes us ; and in ionic cafes ihey have obliged the mlfcrer ants to fly froin our fhores. As to the attack upon our religious orders, it ap- pears ftrange that fome of them, have hitherto ne- glected to reply to the calumnies of this fame fo- reign reviewer. It will be but a poor reafon in them to alledge, that " he is fuch a fcoundrel? he is not worth their notice neither himfelf nor his writings." AND, is this all ye will fay, ye reverend friend* and daily affociates of your once favorite and de- lightful Peter Porcupine ! Why> I could make a much belter excufe for you myfelf ; but I will not at prefcnt draw up the curtain? behind which you have? In fo cowardly a manner? hid your plotting heads. It is only to you? the Skulkers, I allude; and, God be praifed? ye are but a fmall number* compared with the thousands of open, undefigning honeft menj of every church. THE elegant cornparifon of mild andjlale" when fpeaking of the proceedings of the epifcopal clergy at their convention? held fome time ago? at Philadel- phia? is amongft the number of the compliments paid to them, and is thus as elerantly compared to re- tailers of porter mixing mild with flak beer; and, laftly? this mixture of the CLERGY with the LA r- TY, is faid to be like fC plowing w'th the Ox and the Af together.'! > See here? reverend gentlemen* how this old acquaintance of feme of ye? makes Oxen of you, and Affes of the laity ! And hive you tamely fubmitted to all this fcurrillity \ Jf yonr- LETTERS Td ^Compatriot was here (I mean the compatriots of half a dozen, or a few more, clergymen, whom I know well; but> from pure charity? will here omit perfoni- fying), it is highly probable that ye would expofc one another, as has been the cafe lately between men of much higher notoriety in this country, who have commenced a clumfy and awkward war agaihil Cach other. Adieu? ye reverend few ; N cover your faces with your gowns, left the true and faithful ehriftians fhould be further provoked to fhew the hy- pocrify of your hearts. AFTER having taken the foregoing view of the jRanders propagated by this Britijh enemy, (for he is more their enemy than he has in his power to be curs] it is time io^n?j7i him with fome general ob- fcrvations. WITH his private or perfonal character? whether as a foldier, a fpy, an impoftor, or an incendiary, I have nothing to do ; although he has, during his fhort refidence in America? been encouraged by fome friendly people to invade and abufe the moft facred and domeftic concerns of churches? houfes? camps, country? male, fem?.le? old? and young, without mercy or difiinclion. Shame on thofe who fupport- ed him; but, fome of them have been fmce laid low. For the living, as well a,s the dead, a refpect to- wards their children's future profperity? forbids my enumerating their names? although I know them as well as I know the little corroiive fublimate of PARSONS? who will hereafter be defpifed by their brethren; and, indeed, in Philadelphia they are all HAMILTON. 4jf known? and their views as clearly intelligible to Americans* as the writing on the wall was under- ftood by Beltefhazzar's interpreter. THE whole drift of the performance in queftion> it is evident, as I have already faid, is, to vent the fpleen of an individual^ who values himfelf on the honor of having been born in England, but whofe condu6l has been a difgrftce to tlxe name of a Bri- ton ! Who is the Briton that dare fhew his face in any company of honourable men, in any country, and utter the words which this itinerant vagabond has found means to get publifhed ? Shame on the beggarly printer's poverty of foul, who would profti- tute his types to fuch a vile purpofc. He muil be very poor, indeed ftarving for bread to fell fuch poifon to procure it ; better he had been fent to Botany-Bay, there to live upon the mandrake-plant, than bafely thus to procure a fultenance in London, by liming forth fuch villainous falfehoods, that there is not a child of MX years old from Japan to Cali- fornia, or from Bainn's Bay to New Zealand> but would fay> "you have deceived us> and we cannot but defpife you." BUT, in order to fill up the meafure of his ini-^ quity, he contradicls the very accounts publifhed #11 over the world, defcriptive of the moft fmcere and profound farrow which was every whre ex- prcffed on this truly melancholy occafion, and in thofe holy fanolorums wherever the funeral eulo- giums were delivered; nay, he denies that the f Le fhed tears ; Tliefe are his words )0 LETTERS TO " Now, we have good authority for faying* that, in Philadelphia, where this prayer was delivered* ' not a wet eye was to* be Teen on the occasion; < The three hymns at the concluiion of the piayer, < are miferable imitations of Sternhold and Hop-- kins." IN anfwer to this, I need only refer to yourfelf, Mr. Hamilton, who I favr, on that day, fhedding- tears. I rhuft alfo refer to Mr. JefFerfon? who? like- wife, fhcd tears plentifully, as did hundreds of other gentlemen arid ladies who were prefcnt, and thou- fands of fpe6tators who cro'-vded the ftrcets to fee the proccfTion. BUT, the reviewer follows the immortal Hero of our Country even into the filent tomb, with all the ftudied rancour, falfehood, and treachery of an imp of hell. And yet, it is reported, that there are feveral hundred fubfcribers to that book in this country. In America 3 forbid it, Patriotifm for- bid it, Gratitude forbid it, Virtue. Oh, Beatb* where is thy fling ? O, Grave, where is thy viclo- jy p. . That thofe fubfcribers may reflect more wifely, and withdraw their fupport from this fo-' reign reviler of our country, ourfelves, and our laws, ought to be the fmcere wifh of every good and tirtuous citizen. TOM C ALLEN PER* HAMILTON. LETTER V. HAVING, in nly laft letter, I prefurne, w-ped cffall the ft* ins that the Britiih critic had attempted to cuft upon the character of general WASHINGTON, I fhall next perform the fame office of refpect to the cha- racter cf Mr. JEFFERSON, which has been as wick- edly attacked her by another Porcupine, under the modeft fignature of Juriius Philaenus, and, as I appre- hend, Sir, under your patronage. It will, alfo, be a part of my talk, to lay fomething in defence of old go-- vernor Clinton, 2nd iome other geritlcmeh who hav& been fo bafely traduced in yoiir favorite News-papers. The affectionate efteem which general Wufhington al- ways expreflfed toward governor Clinton, is well knowii to the world and even in his lail will, the name of that gentleman is mentioned iri a particularly refpectful mari- ner. This is fufficient to give the lie direct to any of your fcribblers, who have faid that governor Clinton was inimical to the general and, I am certain, I may fo- lemnly aflert the fame in regard to the friendfnip which exifts between Mr. Jefferfon and the governor: THEY have always been true friends, nor can any deep-laid pl6t or fehifin divide them. The pamphleteers and paragraph writers' cannot be eonfidered, by men of fenfe and probity, as of the leaft canfequencs. The far- tuers o? North America muft know that they are . novf more happy, comfortable and fecure, than they were lander tfce- la'st administration, bscaufe they have not t'd a p LETTERS TO- pay ten dollars per' year, or forne inch ta/r, for riding ; out in their own chair No window-lax, which was | contemplated, will vex their feelings (lamps will not in- terrupt the negcciations between man and man excifes a-re gone to the dogs rc. &c. Thefe are arguments fe ftrong that the moft red-hot Fed, will fcarcely have efFrontory fufficient to deny them ; neither will the pifot- boat fpeculator, or any of the imported citizens of Ame- rica, after the war was over, ' and nothing in our mind but joy." That man was no citizen of the United States, although he was permitted to take a feat in con- grefs, and afterwards to partake of the mod honorahle and .lucrative ciTic.s. He benentted himfelf by his know,- Icdge of what was going on, and what was? expected t.p end in favor of the intricate Britim fyftem of finance, fet up by you, a la mode de mwfieur Pitt, but which has turned out to be not fo bad as you intended it an ever Lifting burthen- a mill-done hung around the necks of the people to brinsr them into fubje&ion, and, then? in cafe that plan failed, you were to have a (landing army to reduce them into obedience Bravo ! Surely it was then a good time to wreil the power from fuch hands. It would be needlefs to fay anv more of that deep and deadly policy. The prefent adminiftratien have, with a made -ly hand, retrieved us out of thofe defperate dilem- mas into' which we were Itkdy to be funk for ever. Your pd'cyv-^as not onlv wrong in theory , but has been vworfe in ^practice ; allowing your heart to have had no fhare in it. Reduced as you are to fuch a (kuation as th : s when your friends as well as your adverfariesin po- litics (for I cannot fuppofe you have any perfonal enemies) ALEXANDER HAMILTON. X<3 ave all agreed upon one conclufion, that you aie a mistaken politician, with all your great and undeniable abilities. Then, when you End this to be the cafe, why npt permit us to enjoy the benefits of our prefent rniM {though nationally honorable and ' firm) adminiftra- tion ? why not allow us to give to it the fame chance of experiment that you required for yours/' THE PEOPLE are fatisfied with the prefent administration.!, would you and your fatellites permit us t^ be happy ami comfortable. COLE-MAN^ whom I know not whether he is a white or black-/72<2/z, is not only fuppofecl to be your princi- pal typographer, but it has been clearly afcertained- Gracious Heavens I How can you as a man, patro- nize fuch a fellow ? whofe trade is fcandal, whole Sread depends upon the circulation of falfchood ? his Jnaiscariages of criticism upon' every thing he has at- tempted are a disgrace to literature. Even on the fub- ect of the theatres he? your Coleman, and an apothe- ary, " whom I remember that hereabout doth dwell* Culling of firnples, and old cakes of roles." THEY have the afTurance to iffue forth TKEIR criti* cisms on theatricals. I think it neceffary to bring in Ills fubjecl to (hew, that it is a junto of the fame degree of the knights of the grey-gcote-wing that write againfr the prelident, the people? and the theatre. I tti therefore* juftified in bringing in this remark. Two or three Scribieru/iTes, I rea'ly believe, have got he freedom of the houfe (theatre) from the ma- nager? and they are obliged to repay him in the hum- ble coin of publifliing whatever he -dictates. Tlius LETTERS TO all the performers lie at the mercy of the manager^ whpfe only merit lies in the tranflation of a few itupid German plays of which it would take more \\ran five- hundred to make one plot, like Shakefpeare's THE impudence of thefe critics? mult appear evi- dent to every man of tafte who has fcen the world. Thofe who 'very judlciouOy- finiilied the work by a Tingle dafh of his pen, by boldly lumping ALEXANDER HAMILTON. the whole intricacy of the various claims into one confolidated fum, which is fo well known to the pub- lic as to render it unneceffary to fay any thing further on the fubjecr, at prefent ; only to remark, that our Editor's office was confequently rendered null and void ; and, as he could not live in London upon the air, without a falary, he very prudently returned to his native foil, very much chagrined againft our admini- ftration, for not continuing him in pay after .the offica was abolifhed. This accounts in one meafure for his refentmcnt againft Mr. JefFerfon ever fince. There is another reafon which alfo, probably operates on his gall The repeal of the judiciary extravaganza^ whereby Judge BalTet loft his birth, who is father-in-law to a near relation of our editor* and who has alfo loft ius election, in Deleware, by the confcnt of the vocc Thefe are fa6ls, to which our editor has not fufiici- cnt philofophy to fubmit, altho' they are the common Ycfult of natural c'aufes. He therefore> has fet up a barking and yelping in conjunction with the relt of the whole pack of hounds that have been ftriving to hunt down the fair fame of our firft magiftrate ; and what makes it ftili the more difguftful is, the patron- a gc given to this pack by you? Sir> whofe ftation in. life oug'U to prevent your linking into fuch pitiful arts, and fcandalous libels. It is from thefe provoca- tions that I have thought you, Sir, (Mr. Hamilton) the moft proper pcrfonage. to addrefs thefe letters to ; j| LETTERS TO; and becaufe I defpife your emiffarieft too much, t& defcend into a corrcfpondcnce with them, whilft you are fo prominent in my view. The pilot-boat expedition of Smiih, Duer, and Co. are Hill well recollected. Whilft your funding fyftem was on. the carpet ; and when a right calcula- lion could be formed on the vote that would be car- lied for it in preference to Mr. Madifon's propofi- tions whilft it was yet pending, thofc fpecuiating companies took up all the hard money they could borrow on their credit, &c. and fent it off by a troop of brokers arid clerks, in pilot-boats and flages, who Vv*ere difpcrfed through Carolina, and fdme oth&r dates to p uf chafe up the poor foldiers* certificates at two fhillings and fix-pence for the pourid, and per- haps for lefs than that poor eyMcdtnt* Thofe gen- tlemen knew their game, and altho' you had no hand in that job? you certainly winked at it. Ano- ther plot of a deeper dye was likewife attempted on the members of the United States legislature, when an effort was made to purchafe the votes of fome of them? to vote for a law to grant a charter to a company of land-jobbers for the dominion of a large tracl of country, whereby they would all of them be- come a train of petty princes. Their mode of ad- drefs was to iffue certain vouchers or tickets, like lottery-tickets payable only to bearer ; fo that even , fhould thofe tickets be found in poffefiion of any of them, no name beirig inferted, the bribed member aould not be difcovered. This plot failed there were a fufficient number in congfefs to refift? and ecl the bafe attempt, as there ever will be. Tk'6 HAMILTON. 7 aggregate wifdom and virtue cf our general legiflature, will always oppofe fuch attempts, 1 will here take the liberty of recording fome others of the fame (lamp. The bank of N.orth America, was fet Up with the king of France's dollars,, fent here to pay; the revolutionary army, when they were on the point of a mutiny yet Mr. Robt. Morris, with the affi&mce of his advifers, had the addrefs to fatisfy the foldiers with, his own fix months notes without ever allowing the ho* fellows to palm a fix-pence of the cam. The money was made into a bank, and the foldiers were paid with notes, with which they purchafed {hoes at ten dollars the pair, hats, &c. on the fame reaj enable terms, at va- rious (lores, fet up by this Robert Morris, and his a* gents, in ey*ry quarter of the United States ; fo that in the end the foldiers never touched the money, although he made the profit. BUT fee what is the confluence of ill-gotten wealth* it is like an Eaft India fortune, never goes to a third generation. This fame Mr. financier-general of the Bui ted States, who acled this character towards the peo- ple, and who alfo played fome far gent tricks upon the arquis la Fayette he the mighty man h&$ fallen, as ipany, many more of your acquaintances have done* Efieenleaf Nicholfon, &c. - The Eaftern and South- pi cognofcenti in fpeculation yet thefe are the fort cf en that want to recover the reins of our 'government hefe are the men who come in flecks to confult with ou in New-York upon a plan or ylot of operation a- ainll: the prefent fkfe and mild adminiftration. Let hem beware how far they proceed let them pivafe* , f - T ~ Mmfietir le Ge-vfrneur, a.s Porcupine, calls him H 3$ tETTERS TO let your tribes of calumniating editors with all their thoufand tongues let your fecret-working hypocritical parfons your out-o -office fallen angels let even the J-jrfey Jove, and you, Sir, beware how far you carry on this trade of iniquity, left the people mould be roufed with indignation againft your Satanic incantations and dcfpotic fyflcms, and in their honeft zeal pronounce them> TREASON t TOM CALLKNDER. LETTER VI. SIR* 1 HAVE always confidered it to be an indifpenfible duty of the editcrs of news-rapers to render to the pub- lic who fupport them, a due i.ccount of fuch informa- tion as may have fJlen within the fphere cf their know- ledge, efpeciaiiy or circuirftanceb relative to the wel!- f i e or danger of the ftate. Amongft the multiplicity of objects that are daily burfliug on their view, anc \vl i'fl fo much notice has been taken of our dome/He pp.;. .1 h/jts, it ferns ftrunge that thefe editors fhould o- verlook or neg 1 eci noticing, o^ anfwering, the infamous Banders cf both foreign and domeftic intruders upon all c'ecency and civil government ; foire of whom have been nirfed in the bo.-om of America, and others fof- t(T'\ arncrgft W Q , who onlv wciic ! for an opportunity to fting; the ha;;d tha* ^ ; ed ilv rt f--_rn obfcur'-ty into fi- illations of profit and honor. Even two or three of ouc ALEXANDER HAMILTON $9 tlo&ors of divinity have incurred the d-jreftalion of their own congregations, who have informed me of this &&, and who were accuftomed to attend their difcourfes with pure delight ; but who have fince deferred them, in confequence of their having deferted iheir duty to God, by becoming the mean inftruments of polemical intrigue or dark and difmal tyranny, which was tried and weigh- ed in the fcales of unfuccefsful ambition. The mercan- tile intereft of this country to whom I wifh to pay a real refptct, wi!J now confefs how much they were mif- td en by patronizing (ibme of them) Porcupine's Ga- zette, the editor of which (Gobbet) fince his return to England has thrown off the mafk of Fec'eralifm, and now exhibits himfelf in native colours >hat he was only a-fpy whilft he was here, that he wifhes to injure and deftroy the mutual intercourfe and ccmnKrce be- tween that nation and this, which it is our inter eft j as well as theirs, to preferve moft inviolably. He endea- vors to throw us into contempt in the e es of the Bri- tiih merchants to injure and wound for ever, if he could^ the credit and character of America. MY friends ye merchants of the Uivted States tell me, is this not the fat ? When you read his review you muft acknowledge it, and you mutt all be of one o- pinion, that he has betrayed you in fuch a ftyle as to forc2 from you an ejaculaton et he is the blac^efl of traitors." For the honor of humanity, nevertheiefs, I cannot ftippofe that the honeft and en'igutened mer- chants of either England or America, or of any other country under Heaven, would be influenced by the falfehooxb and fcurrility cf the verieft ruffian that ever Co LETTERS TO iiifgrnced the freedom of theprefs. Under this impref- fion, I would be inclined to think that his attacks upon An: erica ami the citizens of the United States, although pub'ilhed in London in a daily news-paper, will not have any injurious effect to the wel!-eib.blimed trade between the two countries. The treacherous attempts of a few eicfpicablc Englishmen,' to prevent our having a good bi*ce:i of iheen, by p-jrchafm* and killing them, to fend divay as faJted provifions to burn a fpianing machine at Philadelphia, left we fhould go on with the cotton or any other manufactory all thefe things I defpile, nor . do I put it to the charge or account againft the Britim nation. If there beany truth in the whole of thefe charges, the fru.me oustfit to reft upon ihe individuals who perpetrated the crime, for I fokmnly declare that no men coulJ make me believe that the government, or tlie fc-.ple of that country, would or coi;ld ever countenance fuch an abominable proceeding. The Britim are too enlightened n nation to fuffer a ftigma like this upon their character. Thtre may be feme envious perfons whcfe fpeculations into futurity will not carry them farther than the length of their notes ; but there are thoufands of Englifhmen who contemplate America in a very different point of view, and who can clearly perceive the riling conflquencc of the United State-, and our rapid career tor/aid.-; a Nation of more Tub! i me confequence than any of '-he an'ier.t or modern nations could ever boafl of. JJor is ihe time fo very diuant when this great aera will take place, Lei's than half a century will verify this pre- diction, and exhibit to the world an American navy e- qual to that of any ether nation that may THEN be in ex^iun ce noiwhhxlandiiig tfie infiduous plots and HAMILTON. 5l* fchemes of either internal or external foes to cramp or confute us. I will alfo hazard another affertion ftill ftronger than the laft. That, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WILL CONTINUE TO BB A REPUBLIC. Ths idle conjeclures of all the po- liticians in the world cannot prevent it. The viliona- ry hopes of Mr. Adams cannot prevent it> ncr all the powers of Europe in conjunction. This may appear to fome perfons to be too extravagant an idea but I think it is a conclufion that may be fairly deduced from found doctrine and juft calculation.- FRANCE .i AMERICANS fet the example, in their revolt from tyranny? for you to imitate ; but it has been referved for FRENCHMEN to decide the moft important quef- tion that has ever been agitated in the world ! The annals of this earth afford no fimilar inftanceof a pe- riod fo highly interefting to humanity. The great and glorious problem has been folved whether man-' kind were born to be the everlalting dupes and flaves of ten or a dozen murdering defpots ; or whether ths God of Nature created this globe for the ufe of its in- habitants ? The decifion has been in favor of the peo- ple the difpute was between men and kings : France and America have both fncceeded> and al- though there may at prefent be vefied too high a de- gree of arbitrary, power in the hand .of the chief ma- .giftratC) I have the ftrong hope and afTurance in my own mind that the Republican form of government will neverthelefs be preferved there as we!J as in this country. France alone by the real equality of its in- dividuals as to knowledge and manners is mod capa- ble of perfecl freedom ; .but it has become falhiona- 6*2 LETTERS T* ble among a certain clafs of men, to depreciate the very principles of liberty and equality of election ; becaufe, fome temporary effedts have taken place in France* from the confuiion of the times, that will not bear a vindication. Let thofe gentlemen, howe- ver, confider and enquire) " whether thefe effe6ts, as far as they are unfortunate, are not derived from the treachery of thofe who expended the revenue allowed them by the KEW fyftem, in endeavoring to reftore the OLD one ?" And if thefe effects are found to have been fo procured, what fhould refult from the difco- very but a confirmed abhorrence of the OLD fyftem and of that political creed? which invites men to crimes by rendering THEM facred." THE fame argument will apply to this country under the laft adminiflration, as it does likewife to your ideas of forms of government which you had the boldnefs to propofe in the convention of 1787. The plan you propofed was happily rejected, and the confutation which was adopted has been fo wife- ly and prudently amended* that it now gives complete fecurity to THE PEOPLE in general, and I am fur e it will be carried on with fatisfaction by the prefent adminiftration, in defpite of all the impotent attacks of yourfelf and the weak opposition of your coadju- tors, who will not allow that all mankind are com- petent to judge of the bell form of government for their general happi ncfs your doctrine is, that a few kingly animals are more competent, who have been and ever will be (fo long as the earth is burthened with them) educated by fervile flatterers, imr>oiiors and ilaves. It is .a melancholy truth; that in this en- ALEXANDER HAMILTON tfj lightened age, there fhould ftill be found? even ia America, men who will advocate an hereditary chief magiftracy. tc The experience of paft ages," fay they, <* juilifies us in this conclufion- that although repub- lican forms of government are the moft natural and approved fyftems, yet the inclination of parties feem to bend fo quickly toward monarchy, we had better come to it at once, in order to prevent trou- blefome altercations and political difquifitions." Thus would thefe FRIENDS of republicanifm fur- render the divine and natural rights of man, rather than ftruggle again/I the artful encroachments of falfe and ungodly dodrine. But the prefent government of the United States is republican and will remain fo> I hope, forever and will always furnifh a fufficient confutation of this midaken axiom ; and always put a flop to the ambitious views of men who wanted to cry c( havoc" and let loofe the cc dogs of war !" THIS hankering after a (landing army, muft nro^ ceed from fome evil fpirit that hath taken poffeflioa of fome of our citizens, and ought to be kept un- der accordingly we have fet it down for a thoufand years, as is mentioned in the book of the revelations of St. John, chapter xx. "And I faw an angel come down from Heaven, having the key of the bottomlefs pit, and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, -^War,) that old ferpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thou- fand years And caft him into the bottomlefs pit, and fhut him up, and fet a feal upon him, that he fhould deceive the nations no more, till the thoufand years ftould be fulfilled/' &$. 64 CETTERS TO, &TC. IfA VING thus got clear of you and your intrigues, as it is " devoutly to be wiflied," for a thoufand. years, we expe6l that our government and admini- flration will go on with the fame degree of character- iftical firmnefs, and prudence that it commenced with. The yells of Difcontents will be fet down to the account of their own folly. With regard to myfelf? I never held any place or penfion under the government ; nor do I believe 1 ever fhall ; nor do I expecl to receive any more emolument for publifh- ing thefe letters than you did when you made a prc- fent (to Mr. X^ang) of the Copy-right of your letter addreifed to poor John Adams. I am as independ- ent as you are in mind and body. The individual or collective intereft of the Clintonians, Hamilton!- ans, or Jefferfonians, could never operate on my mind fo long as a fingle fecond of time. Our go- vernment is now fafe, and the administration of it fecure ; nor fhall any of our internal? or exte Tial enemies dare to overturn it. TOM CALLENDER, FINIS. RIGHT SECURED. | ~T" UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY BERKELEY Return to desk from which borrowed. This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. LD 21-100m-ll,'49(B7146sl6)476 M159463 esai Ca X THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY