SATURDAY MORNING, AUGUST 2, 1828.
In another part of our paoer will be found I>r.
Cooper’s views upon the subject of manufactures,
and protecting laws, in 1813. We beg our read
ers to compare the opinions hete advanced, with
the sentiments lie has lately promulgated.
Seizcre- —The schr Leona, Jose Paulis, master
unuer the Spanish Flag, lately arrived from St.
John’s de los ftemedios (Cuba) has been seized by
the off cere of the Custom House, under euspicion
of being British property.
It is not because certain politicians really be
lieve that. the Tariff is in effect injurious to the
country—it is not because they consider it uncon
gth ntienal, that this outrageous clamor has been
raised against it'. No, the truth is, there is a
chats of politicians who have been long watching
for an opportunity to divide the country ; for this
purpose, they have been actively engaged in sow
ing distrust and jealousy in the hearts of the peo
ple against the General Government; and, for
this purpose, they have seized upon every occasion
to impress upon the minds of the Southern Plan
ters the belief that their interests h ive been disre
garded in the council# of the nation. And, al
though the power to levy protecting dutie# has
been exercised by Congress ever since the forma
tion of our Government; although a law was pass
ed, bv the first Congress which was ever held un
der the present Constitution, composed, in a great
measure, of the sane individuals who framed that
instrument, imposing duties on certain articles,
for the avowed purpose of protecting domestic
manufactures ; although the policy has been sanc
tioned by Washington and our greatest statesmen
—yet, now, at this late day, is a similar law de
clared to be a violation of the federal compact, un
constitutional, a violation of the rights of the so\-
ereign States, and one which ought to be resisted
bv force ! And by whom is this law thus declared
to be unconstitutional, and worthy of an open re
sistance ? Let the public consider well, who it is
that propounds this bold doctrine. It is an impor
tant inquiry ; because the who will furnish the
reflecting part of the community with the where
fore. One among the foremost in preaching up
the unconstitutionallity ot the Tariff, and the right
of the States to resist it, is Governor Giles, of
Virginia. Governor Giles has always been
known as a disapp anted politician , as one who
could not, in the Government of the Union,
reach that point to which his ambition soared ;
and who, in consequence, as long as thirty years
ago. publicly advocated the scheme ot withdraw
ing Virginia from the Union ! Is this scheme yet
given up ? there is no proof of it ; and the doc
trines which he inculcates, if put in practice. j
would cause our federal compact to drop away like
a rope of sand ! Another bold declaiiner against ,
the constitutionality of the Tariff, and in favor of
the rights of the States to open resistance, is Dr
Cooper, of Columbia College, S. C. Now, that
Dr. Cooper does not, in truth, believe, that the
Tariff i3 either unconstitutional or injurious to i
Southern interests, we have the strongest testimo- •
ny, viz : the evidence of his own pen. In his pub- .
lie writings, published a few years since, he strong- j
ly recommended protecting laws for the benefit of j
manufactures, and warmly urged the policy of
rendering ourselves independent, by manufactur
ing articles for home consumption. Il Dr. Coop
er believes (as it abundantly appears ho does, by
his own writings,) in the constitutionality of the
Tariff, and its beneficial effects, more particularly
upon the agricultural interests—how bold and
shameless must be his political profligacy, when
he wields the wh le force of his pre-eminent ta
lents to stir up the people to treason and rebellion
against Government, on account of a law, the
principles of which he himelf has recommended
and reproved of!
1 iis conviction must f >rce itself upon the mind
of every reflecting person, that, with such men,
the ± arif in itseif is a matter of small import.—
They have merely laid hold of it, as a means of
Stirring up the passions of the peopie, and produc
ing a state of things favorable to their own
echemß6. They have been long bent on sapping
the foundations of our Government ; and, under
the cloak of a pretended regard tor our venerated
ConsUtutiou,their real ouject has been to wreck it
altogether is tiie excitement of a political whirl
wind. Their cry has been “Southern Interests’
and “ State Rights” But their real object has been
the interest of self, and the pretentions, not rights,
of unbridled ambition.
Many of our politicians seem to be seriously
bent upon taxing the manufactures of the north,
the hogs and horses of Kentucky and Ohio, by
way of showing their antipathy to the Tariff!
That is, they’ adopt a State Tariff, for the purpose
of showing their abhorrence of a national one :
Admirable policy. But is conceded on all sides,
that they cannot tax this property while in the
hands of the manufacturer or importer, nor until
it has changed owners, and become mixed up in 1
the common mass of property, —so the burthen of
the tax will rest, not on the northern manufactur
er, or w’estern hog-driver-—but upon our own citi
zens ! The proposal then is, to scourge ourselves
with this oppressive Tax, by way of showing a
proper resentment to northern policy! A most
happy conceit! We have heard of the man who hit
off his own nose to spite his face. But this is a
touch above that.
The last Augusta Chronicle, says, that a gen
tleman of high respectability in that city had, with
in a few day s, handed about a subscription paper
for stock in a cotton and wool factory, contempla
ted to be established in the vicinity of Augusta,and
that he had already obtained subscriptions to the
amount SIO,OOO, although each subscriber was
limited to S2OO.
We are glad to perceive that the people of this
State have at length been aroused to a sense of
their true interests. It is high time that this
country should become independent of foreign
manufacturers, fo.’ all articles of prime necessity.
It is a reflection upon the intelligence, the sagaci
t •, the patriotism of the people of this state, to
6ay that they must be dependent upon the work
shops of England for their own coats or their ne
gro cloths. We can make them cheaper and bet
ter at home. Let us gather up our energies for
the advancement of our oivn manufactories, in
stead of wasting our breath in idle compfuints
§, <-ainst the Tariff, ajid in execiations of the ca
pitalists of tno North and the West, who are reap-
Btg the rich reward of their enterprise and iudus-
Rry.
The Editors of the (Georgia Journal, and the
Millcdgeville Anti-Tariff Resolutions, lately pro
posed that merchants should charge the cost o v
their goods, and the duty under the Tariff, in se
parate items. A New York paper states tnat an
application of this kind was made to a respectabi
and extensive dealer, who made the following re
ply
“When my said he, “begin to taifc
! about the Tariff and work themselves above fcvei
| heat, I bring a piece of domestic cotton, and spread
ing it before them, ask if they remember what
price they used to pay me fur it in 1816, and the
terrible effect which they then predicted would
grow out of the new protecting duty. Why no
they did’nt exactly recollect. Well, gentlemen, I
can assist your memory—for this very article you
used to pay me 31 j cents per yard , and wit h all
the liijrh duties it has regularly fallen about 10 per
cent, per annum—until now l can sell it to you for
15 cents ”
Such is the difference between speculation and
experience ! The political economists, Say and
Ricardo, may lay it down as an axiom, “that a du
ty on any article raises the price of that article
exactly in proportion to the tax,’’ and the Editors
of the Journal may adopt it as a past of their re
ligious creed ; but experience will, nevertheless,
teach as that it is all a fallacy. Speculative wri
ters may assert, as they have already asserted,
that a duty of 50 per cent, on imported cotton
goods, must raise the price of such goods exactly
50 per cent. But sober history will inform us,
that instead cf raising the price, the protective
duty has actually had the effect of lowering the
price at least one half! With these fads before
them, politicians still clamor about the Tariff, and
repeat the stale assertions, that the consumer is
taxe.d for the benefit of the manufacturer.
We find that the great body of the people in
South Carolina are very far from approving of the
Treasonable schemes of the Walterborough folks,
and the inflammatory speeches of M’Duflie and
Hamilton. There is a redeeming spirit in the
patriotism and good sense of that State, which
will relieve her from the odium cast upon her on
account of a hundred whiskey speechss, and piny
woods conventions.
W T e copy the following article from the last
Greenville Republican. The Editor speaks the
language of sterling patriotism.
“The traitors who have been urging disunion,
begin to haul in their horns. As robbers, before
they venture out to steal, reconnoitre the road
w hich, if they find well guarded, they skulk back
to their hiding places; so these wretches, bavin _
felt the poise of the people, and finding that f.lie
thing will not do—that all attempts to dissolve tin
Union are regarded with horror and disgust, an
that the people will no! listen to them, they change
their note, and affect never to have desired a dis
union.
The Fourth of July toasts are generally indica
tive of public feeling. The late celebration must
have given a quietus to some of our disunionites ;
the . will not have lictnrs to precede them as soon
as they thought. The sentiment of our worthy
Governor cannot be too highly estimated; he
pledges himself to use all his firmness to support
the Union. May God bless him for it, and support
him in his noble resolution.
As for the stuff that comes from some parts of
the low country, we. the people of Greenville, we,
the people of the mountains md back country, we,
who could produce three fighting men for every
one the knv landers can show —we tell the low
country, we are not with them —w T e will not go
along with the n—and if they could succeed m
separating South Carolina from the Union, wc
will separate from South Carolina
But we do not apprehend a dissolution ; a cer
tain junto have found their mistake ; they hope
for a good deal from the next Legislature ; they
will be disappointed—the people of the upper coun
try do not intend that any thing shall be done to
endanger the Union. Union and disunion will be
made the question on which our elections to Con
gress and the State Legislature will turn. Then
it will be seen how the people of the back country
feel on this subject. 3 here is too much blood of
the Revolution alive in Greenville to tolerate the
word disunion—we have expunged it from out po
litical vocabulary.”
FOR THX MERCURY.
TO THE ELECTORS FOR ALDERMEN.
The time when an election for Fourteen Al
dermen,- to manage the affairs of this city will
take place, is not far distant —and as it is general
ly known that the present Mayor will not be a
candidate, it is right that your thoughts should be
directed to some suitable person as his successor.
With the present Mayor, I, as one, have been sat
isfied—inasmuch, as I believe that ho has dis- j
charged his duty promptly and faithfully—having
in constant view the best interests of the city.—
Then, as a Mayor is to be chosen from among the
fourteen Aldermen that you will soon elect, is it
not a matter of sufficient moment that you should
before that election, show, by some expression
who you would prefer to be your Mayor ? As one
who I think well qualified, and as one who I think
is deserving of the station, I would beg leave to
name Dr. M >scs Sheftall. He is one of your old
citizens, a native, and resides permanently among
you. I have often observed him in the discharge
of public trusts, and have always found him true,
faithful and indefatigable in the discharge of his
duty. Moreover, he has as much time to spare to
do the duties of Mayor as any citizen you could
select, and the compensation which is allowed to
that officer could not, in my opinion, be more
justly given than to him.
A. U. C.
SUMMARY.
Counterfeit jYotes. —Tho New York papers
state that anew emission of $2 counterfeit notes
on the Phoenix Ban!:, of that city, had been put
in circulation—They are said to be well executed.
Governor Barbour, our Minister to England,.
with his family, are to take passage in the packet
ship Pacific, Captain Crocker, which sails from
New York for Liverpool on the Ist August, this
day.
A Gibraltar paper of the Pith May contains a
P,- jclamatioa of the Lieut. Governor of Malta abo
lishing the privilege of Sanctuary in criminal ca
ses, and declaring that those “ wicked and profli
! gate men who have often been tempted to commit
murder, robberies and other atrocious crimes, in
the hope of cfeaping punishment,” by taking re
uge in chure ies and other consecrated places,
hall not aval themselves of such inhumanity.
It is a curious oircumstance that among the
large body of Irish emigrants, who lately went
over to Brazil, where, it now turns out, they
were intended for soldiers, sixteen women were
discovered on the passage, who had enlisted,
and received bounty money, having disguised
themselves in men’s clothes. Some of them,it is
understood, had reverted to this expedient, in or
der to fohow their husbands; two or three of
whom had actually an increase of family before
they landed.
Donations for the Greeks —The sum of sixty
dollars has been remitted from the interior of Up
oer Canada, through Mr. E. Pease, to the Greek
Committee, to be appropriated to the purchase of
corn meal for the women and children of Greece,
vlr. Pease suggests that an acknowledgment of the
receipt of this donation from some official source in
Greece, would elicit more valuable contributions
from the inhabitants of the district where this
sum has been collected.
An election was held at \ork, U. C., on the 9th
And 10th ult. for a Representative of that town.
The candidates were the Attorney General, and
Hr. Morrison. The former had 110 votes, the lat
ter 93. Os those who held appointments under
the government, 71 voted for the Attorney Gene
ral, and 11 for his opponent. Os those who held
none, 39 voted for A. G., 25 of which votes are
disputed ; and 82 for Dr. Morrison, 8 of which are
said to be illegal. The poll was clossed in oppo
sition to the remonstrance of Dr. Morrison s
friends ; and the return will probably be con
tested. -
Mr. Mcelzel is in Boston, with his automaton,
and the critics are assigning new causes for the
juccess of the chess-player. A writer in the Bul
letin refers the whole matter to a small placed
within the box, who receives instructions from
Maelzel, by means of the four glasses in the back
of the Turk.
The Albany Daily Advertiser states, that Mr.
J Van Buren has yielded to the solicitation of his
j friends, and consented to become the Gubernato
| rial candidate of the Jackson party in that State.
I Me teoric Stones in Tennessee. —Some months
ago, there was a fall of the hard substances called
jEsolitee, in the neighborhood of Nashville. —
[Cannot this be transmuted into a sign ?]
The landed estate of Mr. Jeff *rson, including
Monticello, is advertised for -sale by his executor.
It apperrs that his debts amounted to $107,000. —
The sum of 72,000 remains unpaid.
The store of Messrs Mayberry & Pollard, No.
*23 Market street, Philadelphia, was broken open on
Wednesday night, the 16th inst. and a quantity of
dry goods stolen therefrom. A reward of SIOO is
offered for the detection of the thieves and reco
very of the property.
The tariff.—l n South Carolina, the very bar
bers are taking advantage of the present excite
lent, and are advertising anti-tariff curls, fyc.
Adam L. Bingham, Esq. has been announced as
t he Administration candidate to represent the state
->f Mississippi in the next Congress.
The United States’ schr. Shark, Lieut. Com’t.
M’Keever, sailed from Pensacola, on a cruise, on
the 25th ult. ; and the United States’ ship Hornet,
Capt Claxton, on ths 30th ult.
Pennsylvania Crops. —The Philadelphia Chron
icle states that the crops of Wheat and Rye in
Pennsylvania, are estimated to bo double those of
ordinary years. A great portion of the poorer
sort of land is said to have produced thrice the
usual quantity. The rye straw*, an article of con
sideration in the eyes of the farmer, has surpassed
expectation as much as the grain.
The Norfolk Beacon of the 17th inst. says—
“We hear from all quarters ol tho fine prospects
witu whic.jfr the late seasonable and copious rains,
promise reward the Lfrors of the industrious
and provident fanner.”
John R. M’EUigott, a journeyman tailor, put
a period to his existence, by blowing out his brains
with a horsemans pistol, at Eastville, (Eastern
Shore Virginia) on the sth inst.
The cargo of the St. Charles, wrecked lately
at Cape Breton, on her passage to Quebec, valued
at £40,000, has been sold at Sydney, for £Boo.
Silk Ribbons w r cre, it is said, purchased at the
rate of 29s a bushel !
Central America. —Dates from Guatemala to
the 2 , 5 th April, have been received at Providence,
at which lime it w*as said, the San Salvador party
had made overtures of pea ce, though the city still
held out against the forces of Guatemala.
Arrest of a Charge dcs Affaires, in Jamaica. —
A Jamaica paper says—“ Senor Hurtado, the Co
lombian agent, arrived here the other day in the
packet. As soon as he put his foot on shore at
Kingston, he was arrested at the suit of Mr. Ed
mund Miles, of London, for £3OOO. Senor Fran
cisco Infancon of this city became his bail. The
Chief Justice discharged Senor Hurtado on the
following grounds: That Senor Hurtado’s ob
ject ha going ip the continent in search of a con
veyance ©vi<i*<ed a laudable desire to return to his
povornuient. The fact w r as sworn to by Senor
H and that although he was relieved from his of
fice as an ambassador, he was not discharged but
was actually on his way to make a report of his
embassy to the Government of the Republic of
Colombia.
The Philadelphia Gazette acknowledges the
receipt of Caraccas papers to the 28th June.
The paper of that date contains an order pro
longing, till the first of October, the term in which
mdian Corn, either in the grain or ground, rice,
and all kinds of pulse, may be introduced in the
ports of Laguayra and Porto Cabello, free of du
ty.
It is reported in the Montreal Gazette, that the
sum of five millions has been appropriated by the
British Government, to be expended on the forti
ncations and public works in Canada within the
next eight years.
Something of an idea can be formed of the im
mense travel on the great Thoroughfare, between
Albany and Buffalo, from the fact, that there ar
rived at C. H. Coe <& Co’s stage office,in Ontario
and departed in one day, forty-tioo post coaches,
loaded with passengers.
The New York Daily Advertiser says—“ For
several weeks we have had to record but few
transactions in the way of business. There be
gin to be symptoms of more activity. Exchange
on England has fallen to 9 and 10 per cent; this
has had an immediate effect to stop shipments of
specie, and there is now considerable more specie
coming in than going out —the money market is
consequently, greatly relieved. Several articles
have been in good demand the past week, particu
larly Flour and Sugar, which have improved
There began to be more confidence in cotton, but
the advices by the ship New York have had the
effect to suspend sales for the present.
A petticoat looking after Breaches. —The good
people of the township of Ormsted, says an En.
glish paper, have, for two successive years, made
choice of a female constable. Tbc appointment ot
Miss Catharine Kerwgn, as constable for the en
suing year, was last week duly confirmed by the
court and jury at the Salford loet.
At a meeting of the Executive Committee of the
Sav&nnah Union for promoting the better obser
vance of the Christian Sabbath, held July 29th,
1828 —the following communication from the in
habitants of White Bluff was received, which, on
motion, was ordered to be published in the various
papers of this city.
J. GANAIIL, Rec. Sec’y. S. U.
Savannah, July 30, 1828.
At a meeting of the inhabitants of White Bluff,
convened atrtiie ChuAih, in consequence of a com
munication made to them, that at a highly respec
table meeting of tho citizens of Savanuah, an as
sociation was formed for the purpose of promo
ting the belter observance of the Christian Sab
hath p. Houston was called to the chair, and
Janies Barnard Esq. appointed Secretary.
On motion it was unanimously resolved, tna
this meeting do highly approve of the association
denominated, “the Savannah Union, tor promo
ting the better observance ot the Christian Sab
bath,” and that, they will cordially co-operate
with it in such ineasuies as may be deemed pro
per to be adopted for the purpose of carrying into
effect the object, of said association in savannah,
and its vicinity. ,
Resolved, that a copy of these proceedings be
transmitted to the Secretary of the Savannah
Union for promoting the better observance oi the
Christian Sabbath. .
(Sbrned) PAT.HOUSTOUN Chairman
J JAS. BARNARD
Milledgeville, July 26.
We understand that die aggregate sale
from lots at Columbus, up to the 21st insi.
a imuutei to about $140,000. Tile sales
were expected to be deh rred alter to Hay
until the winter, and it was thought that
about two thirds ol the lots will have been
sold.
Early Cotton —A pod of this valuable
article ; valuable when the planter got a
fiir price for raising of it ; fully opened,
anal of fine appearance, was gathered from
one of Col. Carter’s fields, in the neigh
bourhood ot this place, on the 11th insiaot,
aid lias been left at our office. This is
the earliest product from the Green Seed
we recollect to have heard of in this section
of the State, and is, we believe, much ear
lier than usual.
it is also gratifying to leai n that the pros
pect for a good crop both of Corn an . Cot
ton, in this and the adjuinii g States, is gen
erally better than it had been for several
years.
From the Pensacola Gazette, July 15.
Election at New Orleans —We have
Npen me N. Orleans Argus <f 11th
il l. which says; “The whole Adminis
tration Ticket lias succeeded, by i large
majority, even in the very city of N. Or*
leans itself; the very Theatre of Jackson’s
glory. Os 1135 votes polled, at least 634
were tor the A Jministraiiou ! *
EXTRACTS FR M TiE
UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPTS OF MR.
JEFFERSON.
To Doctor Walter Jones.
Monti cello, Jan. 2d, 1814.
Dear Sir— l deploie with you tiie pu
(i in stale into which our newspapers have
passed and the malignity, the vulgarity,
and mendacious spirit of (hose who wide
for them ; and 1 enclose you a recent sam
ple, the production of a New England
Judge, as a projf ot the abyss ul degrada
tion iuio which they have f.oieu. Tliesj
ordures are rapidly depraving the public
taste, and lessening ns relish fir sound
loud. As vehicles of information, and a
curb on our functionaries, they have ren
dered themselves useless, by fuifoiling all
title to belief. That this has, in a great
degree, been produced by the violence and
malignity of party spirit, 1 agree with you :
and I have read with great pleasure the
paper you enclosed to me on that subject,
which J now return. It is, at the same
nine, a peifect model of the style of discus
sion which candor and dec< ncv should ob
serve, of the tone w iich renders difference
of opinion even amiable, and a succinct,
correct, and dispassionate history ot the
origin and progress of party among us. It
might he incorporated, os it stands, and
without changing a word, into the history
of the present epoch, and would give to
posterity a fairer view of the times than
they will probably derive from other sour
ces. in reading it with great satisfaction,
there was but a single passage where 1
wished a little more developemeni o a
very sound and catholic idea, a single in
tercalation to rest it solidly oil true bottom.
It ts nearly the end of the first page, where
von make a statement of genuine Repub
lican maxims : saying, “ that the people
ought to possess .is much power as can pi s
sibiy consist with the order and security of
society.” Instead of this I would say, “that
the People, being the only safe depository
of powei, should exercise in person, every
function which their qualifications enable
.hem to exercise, consistently with the or
der and security of society; that we now
find them equal to the electio . of those who
shall he invested with their Executive and
Legislative powers, and to act themselves
in the Judiciary, as judges in questions of
fact ; that the range of their power ought
to be enlarged,” &e. This gives both the
reason and exemplification of the maxim
you express, “ that they might to possess
as much political power,’ &c I see no
thing to correct either i.. your facts or prin
ciples.
You say that, in taking General Wash
ington on your shoulders, to hear him harm
less through the Federal Coalition, you
encounter a perilous topic. Ido not think
so ; you have gneu the gei uine history of
ine course of his mind through the trying
scenes in which it was engaged, and ol the
seductions by winch it was deceived hut not
depraved. I think I knew General Wash
ington iatiumteiy and thoroughly ; and,
were I called on to delineate his charac
ter, it should be in terms like these.
His mind was great and powerful, with
out being of the first order ; his penetration
strong, though not so acute as that ol a
Newton, Bacon, or Locke; and, as far as
;ie saw, no judgment was ever sounder.—
It was sh w in operation, bring little aided
by inventionor.imagination, hut sure in con
clusion. Hence the common remark of his
o cers, of the advantage he derived from
councils of war, where, hearing all sugges
tions, he selected whatever was best; and
certainly no General ever planned his bat
tles more judiciously. But, if deranged
during the course of the action, if any mem
ber of his plan was dislocated by sudd* i>
circumstances, he was slow in readjust
ineut. The consequence was, that he ofiei
failed in the field, and rarely gainst an ene
my in station, as at Boston find York, f t
was incapable of tear, meeting petsooai
dangers with the greatest uneoncc-n, I
laps ihe strongest feature in lik ‘
i C• • I
v<iß prudence, never acting until evv "m
cumstance, every consideration, w . ■
turely weighed ; refraining if | te s .
but, when once decided, going th u , H /"■
his purpose, whatever obstacles on
11 s integrity was on st pure, his
most indexible I have ever known -,
lives of interest or consanguine v, vt , j§
ship or hatred, being able to hi $ tt; :s l
siou. He was indeed m every stiig/ Hf
word, a wise, a good, and a great
His temper was naturally irrititbh'V
h*gh tout and ; but reflect 104 him , L . *, ■
had obtained a firm and hal>i; Ul | ■
dancy over it. If ever, however, n fl
its bounds, he was .uost .remtndous J'B
wrath. In his expenses he was lioi l .„ B
but exact ; liberal in contributions to v B
ever promised tnility ; but fiawiii ifll B
unyielding on all visionary proj cts
unworthy calls on his charity. 11 s■
was not warm in its affections; fui h t J
actly calculated every mans value ■
gave him a solid esteem proportional
it. U.s person, you know, < V ns ti iie M
stature exactly what one would uJ
deportment easy, erect, and noble .'fl
best horseman ot his age, and jj Je
graceful figure that could he seen on J
hack. Although, in the circle of l,js j n .
where he might he unreserved ‘wiiii St f J
lie took a free share in canvei.sat ;>i ‘■
colloquial talents were not ahijve niejjJ
ciity, possessing neither copipusuess 1
ideas, nor fluency of words. Jq puuijß
when called on for a sudden opinion B
was unready, short, and,embarrassed. \B
he wrote readily, r t:her diffusely, in a t J
red style. Tliis he had acqtiiied by J
versation with the woihi ; for h;s ediicaijl
was merely reading, writing, and com J
arithmetic, to which he added survcyiuoß
a later day. His time was employed in Iff
lion, chiefly, reading little and that oB
agriculture and English history, ills cofl
rtspondence bee me necessarily ex’f.nsivß
and, with journalising his agricultural p r l
ceedings, occupied most of Ins leisure
within (lours. Oil the w hole, liis charac J
was in iis m iss, perfect, in no* Ling b:::! ■■
few points indifferent ; and it may truly J
said, that never did nature & fortune cornH
bine more perfectly to make great a nianß
and to pi tec him tu the same consteliatiuj
with whatever worthies have nientted froyl
man an everlasting remembrance For hi
was the singular destiny and merit of iesci-H
ing the armies of bi> country successtullyß
through an arduous war for the estaLli.4.l
ment of ns independeuce, of conducting J
councils through the birth of a government,*
new in its forms ami principles, until it b<tjl
settle'! down in a quiet and orderly traia,B
an 1 of scrupuh u*ly obeying the iavtsthri.'B
the whole of his career, civil and military,!
of winch the history of the world furnisliol
no example. How then can it be perioiisß
for you to take such a man on your slicU-fl
dors ? I am satisfied the great body
Republicans think of him as I tic. WtH
were, indeed, dissatisfied with him on ksß
ratification of the British Treaty; but th.i B
was short lived We juiew Ins honesty,!
the wiles with which he Was. encoatpassed, B
and that age had already begun to telaxl
the firmness of his purposes ; and 1 ara
convinced he is more deeply seated in tbs
love and gratitude of the Republicans, than
iu the Pharasaicai homage of the Federal
Monarchists. For he w.s no monarchist
from preference of hi> judgment. r l he
soundness of that gave him correct views
of the rightsofman and his severe justice
devoted him to them. Ha has id ten de
clared to me, that he considered ou new
Constitution as an experiment on the prac
ticability of republican government, A:wall
what dose of liberty mao can he tiusted for
It is own good ; that he was determined tne
experiment should have a fair trial,, aoi
would lose-the list drop of his blood in sup*
port of it. And these he repeated to me
the oftener, and more pointedly because h*
knew my suspicions ot Col. Hamilton’*
views, and probably had heard the declara
tion whi h I had heard, to wit—“thatthe
British Constitution, with its unequal re
presentation, corruption, and other exist)!'?
abuses, was the most perfect government
which had ever been established on earth,
and that a reformation of those abuses
would make it an impracticable Govern
ment.”
I do believe that Gen. Washington had
not a firm confidence in the durability of
our government, v He was naturally dis
trustful of men, ami iarfmed to gloomy np‘
prehensions ; and I was figil
a belief that we must at Tn’some-
thing like a British constitution, had some
weight in his adoption of the cerefnonies ot
levees, birth days, pompons meetings wiiit
Congress, and other forms of thesainecha*
racier, calculated to prepare us gradually
for a change, which he believed possible,
and so let it come on with as little shockas
might be, to the public mind. These are
my opinions of General Washington, which
I would vouch at the judgment seat of God,
having been formtd on an acquaintance oi
thirty years. I served with him in tie ii*
ginia Legislature, from 1769 to ihe Revo
lutionary war, and again a short tune in
Congress, until he left us to take command
of the army. During the war and after it*
we corresponded occasionally, and in the
four years of my continuance in the office
of Secretary of State our intercourse was
*■ -
daily, confidential and cordial. After 1 re
tired from that office, great and malignant
pains were taken by our Federal nionai
chists, and not entirely without effect, to
make him view me as a theorist, holding
French principles of government, which
would lead infallibly to licentiousness and
anarchy And to this he listened the more
easily, from my known disapprobation ol
he British treaty. 1 never saw him alter
wards, or these malignant - insinuations
should have been dissipated before
judgment, as mists hefore*the sun. I f® h
on his death, with my country men, d's
“verily a great man hath fallen this day 1>;
Israel ” . •
