P/63 u A PRIVATE CIPXULAR By the f^prrei^pnnding Committee of Montgomery count'/, appoint- ed by the Ilarrisburg Convention^ to promote the election of AVILUAM FINDLAY FOR GOVERNOR. , A REPLY BY N. B. BOILEAU, Togetlier with his Correspondenc:P with the said Committee. _ * ''Strike, if you please^ but hear me." • ^:^ (PRIVATE CIRCU^AI^.) Montgomery Count y^^^-m^t^^^M SIR ~'' ' ' The Committee of Correspondence of Montgomery county, desirous of s:uarding against the premeditated designs of our secret political enemies, of which you may not be apprised, have considered it expedient and adviseahle again to address you through the medium of a private circular. Onlhe 4th of \ugust last, we did, in our official capicitj. as well as throu'2;h motives of personal friendship, owing to many sinister rumors afloat relative to t!ie ininical disptsition of J^^l' thaniel B. Boile.au, to the election of William Findlay, the de- mocratic candidate for governor— which, from the coufideace we uniformly entertained of his republican integrity we could not imagine that it was entitled to the sli^h^est credit— Sut in o;dei- to remove public impression and for our indivuiuil satisfictinn, we addressed him on the subject, and particularly stated in our communication the nature of the reports in circulation, and re- quested of him as soon as convenient an explicit denial. We received an answer dated the £Oth of August ; and, much to our astonishment and surprize, it is fiauy^ht with falsehood and disappointment and the niost mali-nant political turpitude una- ginable : He traduces in the most shanseful and dastardly man- ner the private and public charafcter of Mr. Findlay, whom he chai<^es wish havin^j; obtained his nomination bv fraud, peculahon, intri^rue and corruption, and hits the hardihood and eitroniery to pronounce comparatively, that the Carlisle caucus was equally republii-an with the detejration composing the llarrisburg conven- tion No expression of opinion can be consi r . o \5^i made his selection and suffered his name to be nominated by the Hdriisbura; convenlion, under a perfect understanding that he, as well as Mr. Findlay, would submit to the decision — But Mr. Boiiean, from his letter in our possession, refuses hi* support to Mr. Findlay, because he did not receive the preference. Such conduct is at least, destitute of principle and political hon- esty — it is traitorously abandoning the democratic party, tliroua;h whom he secured the second station in the commonwealth. Mr. Boileau, not content with denouncing the character of Mr. Find- lay, we are assured, that in order to gratify his disappointed ambition and satiate his revengeful and malignant heart, he se- cretly supplies our opponents with means to destroy with Mr. Findlay, the republican ascendency in the state. Mr. Boileau, since the decision of the arbitrators in the case of Kline and Peacock, has, we understand from respectable au- thority, been industriously enoiaged in writing letters to his friends in Montgomery and Bucks counties, to oppose Mr. Find- lay ; but, instead of answering his desired object it has excited the indignation of those whose political character he attempted to destroy, and renewed in them double vigilance and exertion in support of the real democratic candidate, Mr. Findlay. We have strong grounds of apprehension from the information we have received from several sources and from the possession of conclusive evidence, of the disappointment of Mr. Boileau, and his unjustifiable animosity towards Mr. Findlay, that his mind is prepared to extend his political treachery to every possible length in order to frustrate the election of the democratic candi- date. That it is a matter of infinite importance we should be on our guard, and indefatigable in our exertions, indirectly to apprise our republican brethren in our respective counties through- out the state, to meet with contempt and decided disapprobation, any communication Mr. Boileau may give publicity to under the sanction of his name, previous to the election, in order to injure Mr. Findlay. We shall answer Mr. Boileau's letter in the course of a few days, in which we shall refute his charges against Mr. Findlay as false, and as the visionary effusions of a disappointed man— « and finally denounce him as an enemy of democracy and unwor- thy the confidence of his former political friends. We should be happy to hear from you previous to the election, and your candid opinions as to the result in your respective counties.— Our majority will not be less than five hundred. The republicans are firm, vigilant and active, with us, and resent with decision and promptitude, the views and overtures of disap- pointed men. PHILIP S, MARKLEY,-^ HENRY SCHEETZ, Committee of cor- BENJAMIN REIFF, respondence ap- JUHN WENTZ, [> pointed by the JOHN J0NE8, I Ilarrisburg con- PHILIP REED, vention. PHILIP YOST. I (CIRCULAR.) Harrisburg, September 29i/t, 1817. SIR, Self-defence is the first law of nature. — A sense of that duty which. I owe to myself compels me to address jou on a sub- ject seriously implicating my moral and political character. For three or four days past I heard it whispered through the town, that there was a paper in circulation containing the most severe denunciations asjainst my character ; but I could not get a sight of it. I was told by a friend in town that he had seen the circular in the hands of one of the committee, I requested him to ask if I Blight have the liberty of seeing it — he did, but it was refused. By this day's mail I received a letter from a friend at a distance, enclosing a paper purporting to be a private circular from the corresponding committee of Montgomery county, designed for the several corresponding committees throughout the state, ap- pointed to promote the election of Mr. Findlay. This letter charges me with falsehood, political turpitude, treachery, of abandoning the democratic party, malignity of heart ; in short, every thing which constitutes the villain. As no doubt you have received the letter prefering these charges against me, in order, as it is stated, to put you " on your guard to meet with contempt " any communication of mine" — I am compelled, in whatever manner you may receive it, to put you in possession of a copy of the letter I received from the secretary of that committee and my answer to it, with a brief statement of the circumstances con- nected with the correspondence, that you may judge how far the confidential and candid statement I made in my answer to that letter, justifies the uncharitable, illiberal, and iinparralleled de- nunciation, and whether it does not contain a tincture of that malignity with which I am charged. From the knowledge I possessed of tlie political characters of Mr. Findlay and Mr. Hiester, I had serious doubts whether the election of Mr. Findlay or Mr. Hiester would best promote the honour and permanency of the democratic party, or the best in- terests of the state. Under that impression, and sensible of my own peculiar and delicate situation, I determined not to embark, in the cause of either. But, if I may be permitted to compare great things with small, like the belligerents in the late war which desolated Europe, the partisans who had engaged in the conflict which now agitates the citizens of the state, were de- termined that there should be no neutrality; and all those who could not be drawn into the controversy by the arts of diploma- cy, were to be scourged into the ranks by threats, insults, aad the palpable violation of their neutral ria^lits. I was assailed by letters, and personal applications to, conip out. as tliev called it, and give my opinions to tlie publie. To those who addressed me by letter, I declini'd jriviti!; anv answer, except ti) one parti- cular and confidential friend whom I could not refuse without violating friendship and respect; and who, as far as I know, al- thoujjh active for Mr, Findlav, has not abused my confidence. To those who made personal applications I Jiave no opinion, but told them to exercise their own best judjrjnent. In the month of August I received a letter under date of the 4th, from the secretary of the committee of correspondence in Montgomery county, vvitli aview, asl believe, to draw from me an answer for publication. Aware of my delicate situation, 1 hesitated until the 2Uth of Auc;ust before I determined to answer the letter. To refuse answering it might be construed into a want of respect, or into guilt or pusilanimity — to answer it evasively, into both hypocricy and fear. Either of those constructions was abhorrent to my feelings. I was also sensible that my answer would be discord- ant with the sentiments of the gentlemen who addressed me, and that 1 might expose myself to at least the suspicion of selfi>h and unworthy motives. But relying; on the friendship and confidence they expressed in my "republican integrity," and on the libe- rality of their minds, I answered them with truth and candour. In that opinion, however, I have been unfortunately mistaken; they have attributed to me motives the most base anil unworthy, which could possibly operate upon the human heart. The honest devotion of more than twenty years of the prime of my life, to promote the cause and principles of democracy, has not shelter- ed me from the most bitter denunciations. A dagger has been aimed at my bosom in the house of my pretended friends ; but, shielded by the consciousness of the purity of my motives, I defy its point. My letter, you will perceive, was written with mucb freedom, without reserve, and you will remember, with the most perfect coididence, and the fullest reliance upon tlie friendship, liheraliiy and honor of the gentlemen to whom it was addressed. I am charged with having been " industriously engaged in writing *' letters to my friends in ^!ontgomery and 1jU( ks counties to *• oppose the election of Mr. Findlay." About the first ot July, on a visit to my family in Montgomery county, I met with three or four of my friends and neighbours; the election of governor was in- troduced into our conversation, and the trial pending between Mr. Kline and Mr. Peacock, which cii cumstance had tteen published in most of the papers; and they requested me, when the trial was over, to inform theui of the result. After the trial I wrote to 8ome of them, one only in Bucks county, with whom I had long been in habits of friendship, intimacy and confidence. I have heard that he has either read or shewed my letter to some of his friends, presuming, I suppose, that as the trial had been publish- ed, that it was no longer a secret. In that letter I stated to him a summary of the evidence I had taken from the notes of Mr. Downey, which corresponded with those taken by Mr. Mont- gomery, another of the arbitrators, and the award given by them, similar to what I had stated to the committee. The-se facts were no secret, the trial was in the open court-house, many attended, the documents on file in the prothonotary's office, and published in several of the newspapers. Again, I am charged with having abandoned the democratic party. I never have nor never will abandon the party until they abandon their principles, nor will I ever be f >und in the ra?iks of federalism until they abandon theirs, and the two parties make a mutual exchange of principles. But when I believe that the de- mocratic party are pursuing measures that will prostrate their principles and their honor, I will never participate in them : and of this I must be the judge, and exercise the right of a freeman and act according to the dictites of my own judgment and con- science — any denunciations to the contrary notwithstanding. In reply to a paragraph in the circular, vviih regard to the manner of nomination. 1 would remark, that I never otFered my name as a candidate, nor did I ever speak to a single member of the legislature, or delegate, not even from my own county. I ha(! no expectation of a nomination — 1 knew a powerful machine had been put in motion, and it did not require the spirit of pro- phecy to predict the result. Nor did I know, till afier the no- mination, many of the measures that had been adopted in various counties to insure instructions in favor of Mr. Findlay's nomina- tion. 1 intended no reflections upon the delegates generally — very many of them were very honest and upright men ; but many of them were deceived, believing that their instructions emanated from at least a respectable number of their constituents, and not from a few selected for a special purpose. I appeal to you whether it would not have been more candid, liberal, just, and honorable in the committee, before they issued their denunciation, to have answered my letter, furnished me with the promised refutation,* which 1 have not yet received, and ascertained what effect it would produce upon my mind, and whether, after being convinced, had magnanimity enough to have acknowledged my error? Has not their conduct been something like hanging a man first, and then attempting to convince him of his guilt? Does not their conduct give [a colour at least to the * Some persons may suppose that from the 20th of August to the pre- sent time would have been long enough for the committee to ha%e pre- pared the refutation. Let such recollect — That this will require — 1st. To refute the records of the legislature— 2d. The records of the bank — od. 'I'he documents on file in the prothonotary's office and award of the arbitrators — 4th. The testimony of some of the most respectable men in the state— 5th. The ackiiowledgments of Mr. Findlay himself— 6th. His own reports of the receipts and eipenditures in the treasury — 7th. His own cojifession in his explanatory letter to the Harrisburg committee — 8th. The evidence of my own senses — Lastly, as they have promised, " refute all tlie visionary effusions of a disappointed man." This labour, however easy, and strong-handed they were, would have occupied all their time until the 14th of October, and it was "amatterofinfiimeimportajice'^ that I should be denounced before the election. And every person knows XH\ to kimk a mm down is the most expccJitious method to refute him. 6 charge frequently made ac;ainst the friends of Mr. Findlay, that they are determined to elevate him to the highest office in the gift of the people, nol upon the grounds of his talents, services, or political consistency, but upon the ruins of the character of every man who dares oppose, or refuses to support him ? While charging me with secretly endeavouring to destroy Mr. Findlay, have they not fallen into a like error in attempting, by a private circular, to ruin my moral and political character.? But I will not recriminate — the circular affords an ample theme ; I will not weary vctions are nothing better than an expensive farce, and the people act the contemptible part of punches in a puppet shew. If the party cannot be supported upon principle, it is not worth supporting at all. If intrigue, bribery, corruption, and pe- culation are sanctioned by the people, men of honour, virtue and independent spirit will despise the unequal contest, and the bold intriguing and unprincipled rule the state. Vice struts in all the pageantry of pomp and power; and moral and political vir- tue are banished to the vale of obscurity, neglect and contempt. In every view which I can take of the subject, I can perceive no rational principle upon which Mi'. F. can be prefered to Mr. Iliester. I now proceed to reply to that part of your letter in which it states, that I am " about disclosing some facts relative to his (Mr F.'s) official conduct as state treasurer, that will complete- ly condemn him in public estimation, and effectually frustrate his election." This is also incorrect. It however might have arisen from the following circumstance; when I visited my family about the first of July last, I stated to two or three of my nei<^hbours and particular friends, that there was a suit brought by a printer, by the name of Kline, of Carlisle, against Mr. Pea- cock a printer at this place, for a libel, the result of which / believed would produce the effect you mention. The case was this • Kline stated, that Mr. Findlay was in the habit of getting loans annually from the bank for 50 days, about the beginning of November, just before the auditor general inspected his accounts and the state of the treasury ; and that those loans were to make up deficits in the treasury, preparatory to his makin- a report to the le'^islature in December, of the state of the finances; that he aUavl repaid the loans at the end of 60 days; and that, he con- seciuently had the use of the public money for 10 months in t.re vear without interest, and used it for improper purposes. Mr Peacock denied the charge, and said that Mr tindlay never had a cent out of the bank in his life; that Kline had jabriccded a ivicked and malicious falsehood. Kline then called on Peacock to take Mr Findlay and Mr. Ellmaker, his particular friend, Mr. Brvan and Mr. Leech, and j;o to the offi.-ers ol the bank and make the inquiry, and let that settle the question of truth or falsehood. Mr Peacock declined the proposition ; from f/as circumstance 1 was convinced that the facts were so: because it was a duty Mr. F o\\-ed to himself and his friends to rebut so serious a charge m 12 the most conclusive manner; and a fair, easy and certain mode •was presented, whicli, if lunocnit, he would have iiiatanthj em- braced. Kline then brought a suit ai^ainst Peacock. The suit was determined on Tuesdav evening; last before arbitrators: — They were five in number, all but one of them, as I understand, were the friends of Mr. Findlay, and that one Mr. J. Downey, a ■very intelligent Hnd correct man, who has a long ti >,e withdrawn liimself from political discussions. They found damages of 40 shillings against Mr. Peacock, with costs, probably amounting to S'2oO. The follovving I have taken from Mr. Downey's notes. — Subpoenas, duces tecum^ i«sued, requiring the directors to pro- duce certain books. Mr. P^llmaker, counsel for Peacock, object- ed to the production thereof, and the directors refused. An at- tachment then issued a2;ainst them, and the books were pro- duced. They exhibited as follows: Note,Nov. 15th, 1813, g 1600. Note, Nov. 14th, lbl4, gSOOO. Note, Nov. 20th, Mil 5, gSOOO. Note, Nov. 18th, 1816, g.iOOO, all for 60 days. Robert Smith, the brother-in-law of Mr. Findlay, the drawer, (he was summon- ed as a witness, but would not appear here or at Chambersburg to make deposition) and W. Findlay the endorser. The amount of the two last passed on the bank books to the credit of the com- monwealth, with the exception of a part of the last note, it does not appear from the notes of Mr. Downey how they were disposed