l^'¦'

*^-^i

Verdict of condemnation

appeal of

By an old citizen
New York, 1829

'^l;^vi:Oiife:MiW~}- . _ ::

From the estate of
Professor W. G, Sumner
1912

rrom estate of Wm..GL Sumner

^^^ WU tiKlVERSlTY MBKAlii;
NEW HAVENi (MH
VERDICT

BY AN OLD CITIZEN OF NEW YORK,
ON THE

APPEAL,

OP

H. G, OTIS & CO.
**T0 THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES,"
IN GRAND INQUEST ;
FOR
A SECXSXOZr OF THEXR COZTTROVRRSV
WITH
J. a. ADAMS,
PRESIDENT OF THE UmTED STATES.

FEBRUARY 27, 1829.

THE APPEAIi.

A MOST laboured defence, under this head, is now intruded on the public,
and going the rounds. " The people of the United States," of the
present generation, are summoned in grand inquest, and invoked to
pronounce on the immaculate political purity ef the " Leaders of the
Federal Party," through all time since the establishment of our Republican
Governmeiit ; an|3, at the same time, to proclaim their anathema on
John Q. Adaihs, now President of the United States.
The under-named twelve addressers, assume in one breath, to represent
" the great Federal Party," and in the next breath disclaim any authority
from that parly, or any body else, to such end or view ; and thus publish
th-emselves to the worlcl, really and truly self-created ! — They claim to
be of the City of Boston, and State of Massachussets, and declare their
names to be

H. G, OTIS,
ISRAEL TH0RN1?IEE,
F. H. PERKINS,
WILLIAM PRESCOTT,
DANIEL SARGENT,
.JOHN LOWEL,

WILLIAM SULLIVAN,
CHARLES JACKSON,
WAIIREN DUTTON,
BENJAMIN PICKMAN,
HENRY CABOT,
C. C. PARSONS.

THE CASE STATED.

In November last, these twelve isolated individuals made a personal
attack on J, Q. Adams, President of the United States, and demanded of
him a public expression of the names of those " Leaders of the Federal
Party,'* whom he, Mr. Adams, had in viezB in his several letters written,
more than twenty years ago, to Members of Congress ; and then also
made known to Mr. Jefferson, President of the United States, respecting
the eastern opposition to the Louisiana purchase in 1803, and the embargo
in 1808. Mr. Adams declines, at this late day, the mention of names on
such demand ; and which was, no doubt, as he believed, intended to lead
him into endless controversy. To me, however, it is clear, that the

addressers dreaded nothing worse than the mention of proper names of
certain notorious characters, and known to have been connected in a
i-ebelhous course at those several periods. Hence we see their extreme
caution not to mention a single name themselves.
Mr. Adams declared in those letters, " that he had no doubt, that
certain ' leaders of the Federal party,' (not the entire of that party,) would
secure a co-operation, with them, of Great Britain ; — that their object
was, and has been for several years, a dissolution of the Union, and the
establishment ofa separate Confederation.''
It appears that, in October last, it became indispensably necessary that
Mr. Adams, (to preserve himself from standing before the public as a
notorious liar,) should correct certain mistakes in a recently published
letter of Mr. Jefferson on this old subject. This Mr. Adams did in the
National Intelligencer of October last.
Hence the attack on Mr. Adams, and the defence now set up in favour
of certain unnamed " leaders of the Federal party," whether in the body or
outof the body, are, nevertheless, now held as having controversy with
J. Q. Adams in his proper person ! s of those the
. ~. . X ., v/ .,  j7 aoold
native Citizen, who was early in the revolutionary conflict, and a current
observer of political events from that day to this, and who yet holds his
entire talent, property, and life itself, as always due to preserve the
integrity and undivided existence of our Republic ; he now intends, (and
pleads the same with his ten millions of colleagues also summoned on this
reference,) to offer his part of the verdict sought for, in a short outline of
his recollections, on the various points in controversy.
It appears necessary to premise on this subject, that Governments, of
every kind, must possess the power of self-preservation. They must be
able to era/orce tlie civil lam,— command the national purse,— bring into
action the physical force,— put down insurrection and rebellion,— repel
invasion,— defend the nation against foreign power,— and thus provide
pr the general safety. The present controversy requires a frequent
recurrence to the above rules. ^
41. ^° .<^oyernment can permit, or shew a weakness, or failure, in any of
these indispensable requisites, with security to itself. It, therefore,
becomes self-evident proof of intention to « dissolve a Government, and of
consequence to set up some new -consideration," when any man, or
combmafon of men, persist to oppose the legal measures of Government
in any o««, a.d, specially, if in all the above particulars. This doeTnot
exdude petition and strong remonstrances for redress of grievances
These old and unnamed "leaders of the Federal party" are never
theless, now put on their trial before the nation, by the^Sove S-"aW
IZT'^t- \'' '^"™ "f "'¦" ^^ ^^•g»'?'J i" the balances, by projer «am7
^hen^I r^'^r'"'''-^"'^''''"- Thenationhavinghe4toVreJasedon
no doubt, calculate much on the want of information of^he pS'nt

generation, and the forgetfulness of the past by those yet in life. The
Grand Inquest, however, cannot fail ofa correct verdict, if in their inquiries
they adhere closely to the above rules ; and, at the same time, seek out
proper names of persons, and things connected with them, to assist their
judgment and decision in this matter. Had Mr. Adams mawied! some of
those leaders, and connected time and place with their actions, it would
at once have flashed conviction of their guilt on the American people, and
relieved Mr. Adams from the unjust odium now sought to be brought
upon him 61; the mhole party, and the present Appeal would not now have
had existence.
The world continues to be governed by Monarchies, Aristocracies, and
Republics. In every community of men, the devoted adherents of each
of these forms always appear on every vantage ground.
In 1787 were assembled at Philadelphia, the Grand Convention of the
Nation, which gave to us our Republican General Government. In the
Convention, the three orders of men among us appeared in the blaze of
open day ! Hamilton and Goveneaur Morris led the Monarchists. The
Pincknies of South Carolina, and a few others, headed the Aristocracy ;
and Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, Daniel Carroll, and others,
sustained the democracy of the nation. The result was glorious to a free
people !
, The Monarchists took the lead in the first organization of the Govern
ment, and they had well nigh ruined Washington himself. In a certain
speech of President Washington to Congress, he censured very highly the
then existing Societies, (composed diieflj of the most respectable part of
the people,) denominating them " self-created." Washington was attacked
in every direction. A piece appeared in Greenleaf's paper against him,
which gave great excitement. Mobs were collected in Wall-street;
When a certain great Federal " leader" boasted to his friends, that that
part of the speecfe was his; observing, " and donH you think the old ———
swallowed it ?" In this country those Monarchists have always disgraced,
and finaUy ruined the Federal party, with whom they associated ; and I
must now warn any portion of the Republican party with whom they may
at any time attempt to amalgamate.
These Monarchists, to a man, were the most bitter of J. Q. Adams's
opponents during bis recent candidateship for the Presidency, as in 1800
they had been opposed to his father, who was then also the President of
the United States, and who then snubbed their main leader in his dictation
to the Government.
This circumstance was thus related at the time : A certain General,
who headed our Whiskey army, appeared at Trenton, in New Jersey,
where the Cabinet of the American Government was then held. The elder
Adams having understood that the said General was dictating the language
of his speech, then about to be made to Congress, he met the General in
the street at Trenton, and accosted him thus : " Sir, you are not now of
ihe Cabinet ; your business is with your Army !'' It was done : the elder
Adams was denounced and politically destroyed by a combination of the
Monarchists, and they have never since ceased to seek the destruction of
his son.
The above General is, no doubt, the same whom those leading

Monarchists in the East solicited to head their projected Eastern and
Northern Army, with intention to " dissolve the Union, and to set up a
new Confederation," in 1803, because of the purchase of Louisiana,
instead of going to war with France for its acqusition, as they had most
strongly urged T
These addressers have marked out, (and, to my mind, with great
audacity,) three points of iime and ciVcMmsfances of our past history, as
their special boast, and matter of defence of those unnamed " leaders,"
viz : — Their acknowledged opposition to the Louisiana purchase in 1803 ;
to the Embargo in 1808-9 ; and to the late War throughout, from 1812 to
its close in 1815,

THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE.— 1803.
1st. They pass a high eulogy on their opposition to Government,
because of the purchase of Louisiana. The purchase was then blazoned
forth as evidence of a French influence ; when they had, immediately
before, urged its acquisition as the only means to preserve our Western
territory and States from falling into the arms of France, if permitted to
hold the outlet to the ocean on both sides of the river Missisippi, &c. &c.
But no sooner were they informed of the purchase, than the tocsin of
rebellion was sounded throughout the Uijion by means of their presses,
and in their speeches at public meetings. They exclaimed against the
formation of new States to the South and West, — that the North and
East must shortly become subject to their dictation and control, — that a
severance of the Union was preferable to such alternative, &c. &c.
Will some old Juror, on this point, make known some of the names of
the principal actors in this case 1
Of these things an old Citizen has perfect recollection ; and whereof
President Adams boldly and truly asserts, in his recent Answer to the
Addressers, on this point : — " That those leaders had then gone to the
length of fixing upon a Military leader for its execution, (the severance of
the Union,) and although the. circumstances of the times never admitted
of its execution, nor even of its full development, I had yet no doubt in
1808 and 1809, (the time of the Embargo,) and I have no doubt at this
time, that it is the Key to all the great movements of those leaders in
New England, from that time forward, till its final catastrophy in the
Hartford Convention !"
Who was this said Military Leader, then, solicited to head a Northern
and Eastern army ? I have no doubt that it was the same who figured at
Trenton in 1800, three years before, and who had previously designated
himself in the Convention of the United States in 1787, and in many
subsequent cases, as a decided Monarchist, or something very near to it.
It is a remarkable occurrence, at this time, that we find in the Saleni
(Massachusetts) Gazette, a recently published letter of General Hamilton
to l^imothy Pickering, dated 16th September, 1803, wherein he declares
to Mr. Pickering, his plan of a Government for this country. Here we

have the exact time, 1803, which Mr. Adams now speaks of the intention
to raise a Northern and Eastern army ; and General Hamilton is found
writing to Mr, Pickering his original views of a suitable form of Govern-
mentt. Why so? Mr. Pickering knew all the views of Mr. H. on this
subject long before !
It would thus seem clear that, at this point of time, the man-worshippers
had selected theu: primum mobile. Their plans failed, and like the ancient
Egyptians, who worshipped a certain description of Bull, as a God, and
at whose death the whole land was in mourning, sometimes for years,
before the discovery of a new Apis, having the proper stripes, marks and
colours ; so that Junto continued in the habiliments of mourning until the
embargo in 1808.

THE EMBARGO.— 1808.
2^y. The addressers display again, and in glowing colours, their
EXTENT of love of country, both in their manner and means of opposition
to the Embargo in 1808-9. That law was evaded, and failed in its
execution at the East, almost wholly. With respect to New England,
and Boston specially, the addressers nevertheless declare that, ^' JVb
people, at peace, in an equal space of time, ever endured severer privations ;''
when, in fact, they had not ceased carrying on a most lucrative and
exclusive commerce through the favour pf British licenses, and otherwise,
and they ultimately rendered the entire of our Union tributary to the single
City of Boston, for the purchase of foreign goods. These' were, indeed,
"the golden days of commercial prosperity ;" aad here they obtained a
strong glimpse (^another divinity ! They began rejoicing, when, suddenly,
on the 31st January, 1809, a voice was heard from the Senate of the State
qf New York, proclaiming their utter destitution of principle ; and that
" they wotdd rather rule in hell than serve in heaven /'' Here was,
indeed, a repulse, and they resumed their lamentations until 1812, the
commencement of the late war, when this divinity became more
propitious. Those men of appeal, however, now boast of their " Statesmen,
Judges, and Lawyers," (surely well known to the addressers, and why
did they not name them for us?) who then opposed the measures of
Government; and yet pretend, as great cause of complaint, that Mr.
Adams has not named those leading " Statesmen, Judges, and Lawyers!"
Will the Jurors see to this ?
The Governor of Connecticut, (I do not recollect his name,) on
a request of Mr. Jefferson, then President of the United States, to have, I
think, 437 men from that State, to enable him to force the law of Embargo
on that coast, was denied by the Governor, declaring " that law of the
United States to be unconstitutional!" Here we have certainiy one
" leader," and a Govemor, too, in a direct act of rebellion against the
national law !"
During all these tiines also, the thunders of a like rebellion spread far

and wide, and a severance of the Union was in open and constant
utterance through their presses, organs, and speeches of their leaders,
urging a dissolution ; as in the case of the Louisiana purchase. It was,
however, the people of New England themselves, who then paused, and
reflected on the course their leaders were going ; and thay finally put down
the vile intent of dissolving the Union, void of a single movement of the
General Government,
I am somewhat in doubt if our present Southern Tariff " leaders ,"
would come off so easily among our more heated Republicans of the
South, if they shbuld go to equal lengths and breadths, in a course of
rebellion, against the laws of the nation, and specially at a time of external
war, and a rage of internal faction, if such a man as General Jackson
should be in command.
I have often thought, and do now believe, that if Mr. Jefferson had
enforced the law of Embargo in Counectiput at that time, by conti
nental troops, or had only called on the people of Connecticut, that
four hundred and thirty-seven naked steels, both Federal and Repub
lican, would have sustained him in support of the General Govern
ment. In such case, we should never have had a subsequent Hartford
Convention, nor the late and leading resolves of the scholars of that
notorious Englishman, and noted Monarchist, President Cooper, of
South Carolina College ; nor of the Colleton, and subsequent Resolutions
of the State Legislatures of the South, and lately led on by their leaders
also to the borders of rebellion, in their opposition to the Tariff Laws.
These Southern leaders will be held in remembrance also by the people,
as they are now justly classed with their Eastern brethren of the Hartford
Convention. Wrong precedents in a Government like ours, we already see, become
big with future evils, and which ought to be speedily and firmly corrected.
It is thus alone our General Government can attain and maintain a fixed
character, as respects the exercise of their sovereign power, amidst the'
present and daring assumptions so repeatedly set up on the score of State
Sovereignty. This error, of evil tendency,, having acquired great strength,
may ultimately demand of the only true sovereign authority, some high
display of its Constitutional energies to preserve itself!

THE LATE WAR.— 1813.
3dly. The patriotism of those Eastern leaders did not permit them
to defend the ^ritiah commercial invasion of their own State, bordering on
Nova Scotia, during the late war. This is now made the highest censure of
the General Government, because of " non-protection," when themselves
beat off the officers of Government, who, in a ftw instances, attempted to
check their illicit trade ! The entire of our Union \vas then als6 rendered
tributary to the single City of Boston, in commercial transactions. The
exchange even between Boston, and New York and Philadelphia, if I

mistake not, arose to twenty, and even more pev cent, in favour of Boston,
and the Eastward generally. Wealth flowed in among these favoured
people most profusely ; and there can be no doubt that a British alliance
became a most desirable object
At this awfiil crisis, 1812, and amidst the din of arms, the " leaders".
were again heard in loud rejoicing throughout the Union. They again
bowed the knee to the object of their worship, as subjects are wont to
do, after chastisement ; and were supremely happy to find their new Chief
tain bedecked in the oUfer garb of a /iepu&Jtcan. They were, however,
somewhat suspicious, from the buffeting had during the Embargo, and
demanded a sign ! An Oracle was promptly promulgated, " That all
connectton with the [heathenish] Democrats was dissolved, and would not
be again renewed." The exterior garment was then thrown, aside ; v/hea
a commission of Major-General, and Presidential Candidate, {by regular
nomination,) was conferred on their established divinity. All this gascon
ade finally terminated in the reserve-oj^t of Mayor !
The pulpit also, in some instances, poured forth the most bitter
invectives ; " that the Constitution was unbefitting a religious commu
nity ; — that it did not even acknowledge the existence of a God," &g.
And again, " that there was no obligation on the people of the Independent
State Sovereignties, to pass over into an enemy's territory, nor go out of
one State into another to suppress insurrection, or repel invasion," &c.
External war raged on every side, and the thunders of " dissolution"
and rebellion were daily made to roll in the interior, and throughout the
Union. It was here again made evident, that restless ambition never
slumbers, and defeated factions are never still. The war had been urged,
as in the case of Louisiana, and the Government held up as pusillanimous,
" that they could not be kicked into a war ;" " well knowing that their
Fafer Constitution could not stand the tug of war," &c. Now the
war is reprobated, and "unbefitting the support of a moral an^ religious
people !"
Govemor Strong, of Massachusetts, next appears, who, together with
his State Judges, in solemn council, declared, that they were not invaded,
and therefore it was inexpedient to admit their State troops to be put under
command of the President ef the United States ; — that (lie invasion
extended only to the East end of Long Island ! These addressers now
present the effrontery of complaint, " that their State troops, to this day,
are refused payment from the national purse," and for services which
were never rendered, even to save their own State, from the disgrace
of an actual invasion on their trading Nova Scotia frontier.
Here we have another leader's name, {Strong,) and a Governor, too,
The names of his Judges I do not know ; and here also was an act of
direct rebellion, accompanied with resolves to withhold from the Govern
ment all pecuniary aid "from a moral and religious people." Now
therefore, to pay those troops from the national purse, would, indeed, be
to license future rebellion, and " dissolve" the Union by national suicide f
Now appears in open front, the famous monarchical leader, Timothy
Pickering, and his numerous letters, exciting every hostility to the means
of national defence ; — rebellion and insurrection not excepted. In the
character of this man is fully pourtrayed an entire breach of every rule,
E

10
as above mentioned, to preserve the Union. A refusal to enforce the
Civil Laws, — a denial of the national purse, and the consequent with
holding the physical force, — refusing to repel foreign invasion of their
own State and territory, and a total abandonment of the national energy
and Union, The addressers admit their entire assent to these facts,
and now glory in that opposition ! Will these things be unheeded and
overlooked by the present generation ? The addressers have brought them
fresh to the knowledge and investigation of the present age ; — and the
address itself now stands as very proof of their intention to dissolve the
Union, and to form anew, if not a direct British Confederation.
An old citizen would now most gladly close his remarks, if the apel-
lants had forborne to make their opposition at that awful crisis, of external
war and internal faction, of special eulogy, and as having had their own
most hearty consent and personal approbation. Here the addressers dis-
I play a far. worse character than that of tort during the revolution.
The rising generation ought now to be informed, that at this point of
time, the modern " Goths and Vandals" were polluting the soil of freedom
;• a second time with their footsteps, — ravaging our towns and villages, —
burning our cities, demolishing the structures of art, and conflagrating
the depositories of knowledge, in every direction, except the land and
territories of their contemplated new Federation.
It was then that savage men were called from the far and distant
wilderness, and led on to our defenceless frontiers, and stimulated to
deeds of blood and plunder ; — when the crimson current of life was daily
gushing forth, in copious libations on the sacred altar of freedom ; and
innocent mothers and their helpless children were the mournful sacrifices.
When from Champlain, along our whole Northern, Western, and South
ern boundary ; and on the Atlantic ocean, from Orleans to the line of
marked exemption, the east end of Long Island, in the State of New
York, — these formed one entire envelope of fire and sword : and when
hundreds of thousands of heroic spirits, — American Federalists, of every
grade of domestic character,— except the Monarchical junto,— were ming
ling and contending in the common defence. It ^as then that every manly
arm was raised and nerved, and every patriot feeling, both in the cabinet
and the field, were exerted to sustain their country's honour. Then was
this internal faction found paralysing every energy of their bleeding coun
try— strewing the fire-brands of discord and divisions among tho people
and threatening, and urging a " dissolution" ©f the States. Such is the
true character of the Monarchical Junto, now again held up by the
twelve appellants, to the American people, as of immaculate'political
purity, and deserving the future confidence of the nation. To effect this
IS the mam object of the address; and Mr. Adams is doomed their sacrifice
and passport to power, and to hide and cover their offences from the
public view. Will the true Federal Republicans of the East sanction the
address, and again be caught in the snares of that faction ?
I have now in a cursory way, noticed certain facts and circumstances
relating to the three points of defence set up by the twelve addressers, m
favour of THEMSELVES ; now alone in proper name and persons, and as
FeSlpartP' ''''"'" '''''''' '"' ''' '' ^' "^'"^'^ "leader's of the

11
An old citizen would here again fondly close, and leave his deficiencies
to be filled up by the better informed members of the grand National
Inquest ; and specially as respects names, he hopes the addressers will
be fully gratified from other sources.
I have, however, this moment more especially, included the twelve
appellants, to be among those "leaders" in proper name and person ; and
asproof of the fact I beg the earnest attention of'' (he people of the United
States," to the confession of these men, in the following extract from their
address, viz : —
" We (say the addressers) were associated in politics with the parly
prevailing here at the period referred to ; some of us concurred in all the
measures adopted by that party ; and we all warmly approved and sup
ported those measures." And again, " We freely avowed such a close
political connection with all who could PRonASLV have been included
under : the appellation leaders, as to render us responsible for all their
political measures, that were known to us." Again, " Who i^an doubt
that the public reputation of high minded men, who have embarl^ed in the
same cause, and maintained a common union of principle, in a common
property, which all who are interested are bound to vindicate as occasion
may require, — the present for the absent, — the living for the dead, — the
son for the father,'.'
, Here we have, at once, an energetic and most patriotic display of pro
tection to the living, and immortality to the dead. Such protectorship
must surely well befit the character of some future Sovereign,Pontifr,
It comes now, and entirely gratuitous, from the present Mayor of
Boston !
Such confessions of union and co-operation, however, and especially
with the Hartford Convention, in 1814, and as now avowed, and published
to the world ; if General Jackson had then been in command there, he
would certainly have " hung" H, G, Otis, the leader of the present appeal,
and one other of the addreaers, (acknowledged members of that Conven
tion,) "by the .second article of war," the General's own words, and
expressed at the time, and frequently since.
The [iresent attack on J. Q- Adams, is now seen to be a mere speck
in the magnitude of their designs against their country's honour, and their
baneful examples on the present arid future peace and happiness of the
nation. Mr, Adams is made a mere cover to their present insult of every
living patriot, and the sons of those deceased, whose fathers had at no
time held back to oppose their vile machinations. They have now revived
those f<^cts and distressing sensibiUties of past times, — of war and peace,
which were too fast hastening to oblivion, for our country's good. Those
" leaders" had forsaken the Federalism of Washington, and become
Anti-Federal, To this day they also contend, (to suit present purposes,)
for the existence of the original supreme power in the Stales !
At the formation of our Constitution of General Government, a " com-
promise" was had between thirteen distinct, and immediately before,
independent State Sovereignties; each then yielded, in the most ample
manner and form, their supreme power to a General Government. This
Government is not now a " compromise," (as the sticklers of State
Sovereignty yet hold it to be,) that " comprpmise" had been had and

12
settled ; nor is it now a government of " opinion,'' (as the same sticklers
contend) it is a govcsrnment in fact, holding command, and by order of
the people of the whole United States — of all the energies of the
" supreme power" over the Union ; to enforce and sustain its undivided
integrity. And so state jugglers will find it, when they shall dare to
test its authority by setting up insurrection, rebellion, or any overt act of
treason against it. The people love their present mild and dignified
Republican Majesty ; they see in it a full security of life, of liberty, of
property, and oi peace at home, and of respect abroad, A single grip
from the legal energies of this Sovereign, would squeeze some of those
state " leaders" into a nut shell, and soon awake them from their past
and present dreams of self agrandizemeut, at the risk or danger of the
Union, and safety of twelve millions of freemen,
. At the adoption ef the Constitution of the United States, every State
Constitution and law ceased to be of effect, and became null and void, as
far as respects the powers surrendered to the supreme head. As well
might the Counties, Towns, Wards, and Corporations assume and dictate
tiie Sovereign sway of a State, as that, at this day, a State should control
and dictate the authorities of the Union, except by petition and remon
strance, and a change of men in the State representatives to Congress,
It is therefore a solecism in language, and false in fact, to call that
Sovereign which issmd^ect to theconfro2 of another. In general sentiment,
it is becoming mischievous, and highly dangerous ; it is calculated to
mislead the people, and may cause the shedding of innocent blood, if not
ultimately endanger the Government, which is now the hope, the glory,
and the admiration of the world ! This State Sovereignty v/as first revived
to subserve the views of aspiring State demagogues, who had failed in their
grasp at the power of the Union ; and the same principles were afterwards
concurred in by those leaders who had lost that power ! '.' a union of
HONEST MEN !"
The Constitution of the United States alone speaks like a sovereign.
From the pinnacle of the Temple of Union, the majesty of a free people
proclaims " We, the people of the United States !" —
VOX POPULI, VOX DEI!

We— Lay and collect Taxes throughout the United States,
We— Borrow Money on the credit of the United States,
We — Regulate Commerce.
We— Establish uniform rules of Naturalization.
We— Coin Money.
We — Define Piracies, and punish Treason !
We — Declare War, and make Peace.
We — Raise and support Armies.
We— Provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws !
We— Suppress Insurrections, and repel Invasions.
We-Provide forthe Organising and Disciplining the Militia, and for

13
Governing such parts of them as may be employed in the Service of the
United States ! "'
We^— Guarantee to the several States a Republican form of Govern
ment. We — Have defined Treason !
.. And We — Make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for
(SLiiying into execution the foregoing po%vers, and all other powers invested
by this Constitution, in the Government of the United States, or any
department, or office thereof."
, Such are the outlines of the Temple of our Consolidation, which the
Eastern leaders evidently sought to destioy ; and those of the South are
now seen marching, in imitation, on a parallel line ! The house of Dele
gates, of the State of Virginia, have recently declared, in their first
Resolve, ^'That the Constitution of the United States, being a Federative
compact between Sovereign States, in construing which, no common
arbitrer is 4mown, each State htis the right to construe the compaet for
itself." The vote stood 134 yeas^ and 68 najTS. The three subsequent
resolves, are mere decoys to cover the real intent of their main " leaders,^
Here we have Governor Strong of Massachusetts, and his State Judges,
during the late war, acted over again. I do indeed mistake, if" no common
arbitnr'^ shall now be found, in any and every case of overt act of'
insurrection, rebellion and ti-eason, within the boundaries of the Consti- 1
tution of the United States, whether such act be perpetrated in Virginia
or any other State.
It was not possible for any one or more of the thirteen States to rebel
agiiipst the old Congress of 1776 to 1787, because that Congress was
not the Sover^i^ power ; it was composed of independent Delegates
from thirteen distinct and equaUy independent sovereignties, between
whom, indeed, tiiere was then " no common arbiter." The acts of that
Government were merely recommendatory, to be obeyed or rejected, by
any State at pleasure. Is such now the fact ? Such, however, was that
slender thread, that " rope of sand," which must for ever astonish the
world, and which nevertheless held us together during the revolutionary
conflict !
The extention of our commercial relations, after the peace of 1783,
and certain local advantages assumed by some of the larger States, over
the smaller ones, pointed at once to a more efficient Legislation to pre
serve the integrity of the Union, and that Legislation has been had. The
^ardiau angel of liberty, then also led the way, in a straight line, to the
present harbour of our salvation ! *
It was the patriotism and wisdom of the nation, at that day, vt^hich saw,
in clear perspective, the total incompatibility of peace and union between
thirteen dbtinct and equally independent Sovereignties, destitute of a
controlling power, and with organized Councils, and Governors at the
head of each, who were " Commanders-in-Chief, and without atfy reserve,
of the several State armies and navies !"
To such a condition the leaders of faction would again throw us back,
and which cannot be done without first destroying the Government of the
United States. -
To conclude. It is probable that Congress may pass unequal, and

14
even unconstitutional laws. A State also, in their sphere of legislation
for counties, towns, wards, and corporations, may do the same, and
hurtful to some branch of industry. A Free Press would soon correct
the errors of both, or a change of Represeritatives be a speedy and
sure remedy. Common sense, and, more, common honesty, would call
it madness to seek redress by a " dissolution" of the Union on such
contingency. It is, therefore, clear that something beside a remedy for such mistakes
and errors, is intended by the leaders of faction, who so repeatedly spread
the firebrands of contention, specially against the General Government,
which is at once the object of their hate and fears. Ambition is the vice —
" the sin which hurled Angels from the blest abodes,'' choosing rather
to "rule in hell than serve in heaven." They hate the people's republican
Majesty,'' which now stands a sure and " common arbiter'' in all cases
between the States, and proclaims a sure guarantee to each State of a
Republican form of Government. They incessantly seek to fritter and
tear away every one of its provisions, which tend to hold us together, and
make us a great and happy people.
The mania of State-Sovereigntj is now also raging with its usual vio
lence in a few States South of the Potomach, as it formerly did in a few
States to the Eastward. It is now required that the majority of the States
be governed by the minority of votes on tha Tariff Laws; that the
manufacturers and mechanics yield up their looms, stop their water
powers, and purchase the manufactures of England, made of Southern
cotton ; — all on the pains and penalties of a dissolution of the Union !
On the part of the General Government, we hear no blusterings, no
threats, not even a reprimand has yet been heard. The laws, however,
continue to be solemnized by the major vote of the nation ; and it is
glorious to behold the People's Majesty silently passing on, in firm step,
to a general improvement, and in the full execution of all the supreme law
of the land. It cannot turn to the right hand nor to the left, until it shall
be forced into a display of the people's power by some overt act of daring
obstruction to its straightforward course.
Mr. Jefferson remarked, very early, "that the Revolutionary FFar
ended in 1783, but the Revolution would not be complete in less than fifty
years ;" four years whereof now yet remain unexpired. That great man
sa%v the tendency of States in their original independent Sovereignty, 
had observed the assuming attitudes of the most powerful of them ; and
his compatriot, James Madison, was the first to move, in a Virginia
Legislature of 1785, a more firm " consolidation" of general government.
A magmfijsent structure speedily arose, truly delineated, iu all its parts ¦
when its ascending Eagle instantly raised its flight, so high in the heavens,
as to illuminate half the globe !
The Constitution became the supreme law, and the only sovereign
power, the States its great Municipalities ; and the Counties, Towns, and
Corporations, the appendages of the several States,— forming one grand
whole, the sun never shone on its like before :" it stands firmly based.
and IS now sustained by toe«<2,-/0Mr stately columns, raflered and roofed
by the first artists under the canopy of heaven. It has stood the exposure
of the elements fox more \.han forty-ttoo years, and only a few rotten specks

15^
ue lo be perceived on the North Easterly wing, occasioned by the easterly
damps and trade winds. It is, however, painful now to mark some defect
in a few of the Southern Columns, and especially that of the " ancient
dominion," and the first which wa? raised in the fabric of the Union ! An
unhallowed arm has been raised, and a wound actuaHy inflicted on the
pedestal ef the PiUar, in this year of our Lord 1829, by order of a
Vffginia Legislature, with Governor Giles at its head. Thiey now declare
that "each State fcoS a rigkt to construe iheCompact for itself,— that no
lonmon Arbiter is known betrvem the Sovertigii States." When a
hajokitt of the States shall vote a dissolution as far as Virginia has now
done, and as Massachusetts did, (and acted on the same principle during
the late war) then alone may we doubt the permanency of our General
Government ! To my mind this resolve is a high political outrage, and
wholly untrue.
It does not seem to be duly considered by the people of the several
States, that every one of those treats and acts go to the disgrace of the
eotire nation ; and become a direct insult to every man, woman, and
child, composing the States who sustain the Union.
We do, however, know, that the old and most ancient Column, is of solid
live oak, and have no doubt that the sons of Old Virginia, now on the
SPOT, wiU shortly pnnish the msult, and redeem the honor of their State.
A bold and iiee discussion of the acts, and the actors of Government, is
the glory of our free institutions, and which will never be permitted to be
abridged. Our United Republic is marching on a line unpracticed in the history of
man. The eyes of philanthropists, throughout the world, view every of
its seeming oscillations with doubting and painful sensibilities ; while its
foes glory in eveiy phantom view of its ruin. The careful preserva
tion of a true history of men and things, is all-important to future ages.
Every member of this grand Republic should treasure up his recol
lections, and those who can write, to sustain their parts, and fearlessly
sketch, in bold reUevo, the true character of every political libertine, in
proper name and person, whatever his station has been or may be.
Pohtical immorality has at all times opened the floodgates of human woe,
and made this world an Aceldama of blood. — ^"Any thing is fair in
politics." And, again, " I care not a d — n for my political character —
that is fair game," &c. Mark such ! And let those among us, who sigh
ibr a different form of Government, be carefully watched.
Our Government was formed by the unanimous vote of all the-States,
and nothing short of a like vote will he permitted to dissolve it !
The United States Government, constructed as it now is of agents
to execute the people's sovereign power, and changed at their will, can
never become a tyranny ; the State Governments in Sovereignty, must
necessarily become contending despotisms, and the people of the several
States become alien, or foreigners to each other. To this end the past
and present " leaders," would now drive back twelve millions of freemen,
and their unnumbered posterity, perhaps, for a hundred generations !
I now close, for the present, any further remarks on this subject ;
declaring solemnly, as my entire conviction, — and so I now record and
publish my verdict, — that those " leaders of the Federal party," (as the

16
addressers call them) at' the times si});!^^ referred to, did designate'
" dissolve the Union and set up a new Cwifederc^ion."
As respects the twelve appellants, land especially the head leader of j,
them, who is uqw also the Mayor of a gteaticity, I feel some pity, be(»ua^
if he did write the said appeal, to me, it js clear evidence of a sublimation,
of mind, whichhad run on, so far, thrcn;^ folly, until it finished in. madness. ..
Having now written what I knew, or believed tobe true, if errors have
escaped me, it will be my pride to cofreot them.

AN OLD CITIZEN OF NEW-YORK.

February 27, 1829,

YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

3 9002 08725 9157

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