Huntingdon Gazette

              TheHUNTINGDON GAZETTE
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Single... 5 cents] HUNTINGDON f Pennsykania J Printed bv JOHN M'CAHAN. [3 2 per Annum "^1
Vol. 8._
SATURDAY, September 8,  1808;
FNo. 26 i
L
Froji THE Farmers Register. To the Repub ican Cit'izens of Westmore¬ land County. ONE evil incident to all republics a- rlses from thecredulity of us the people. We are too apt to be deceivetl by men who expect profit from the  rashness to wh^h they inflame us.     Our cars are filled with a long catalouge of hard names against those  who can  best serve  us, our pride is roused, our passions heat¬ ed, and we set aside a modest good man, and elev.ate one whose counterfeit zeal tor cur rights is his only qualification. Why is there so much abuse and slan¬ der before elections ?    Why the circu¬ ladon of false stories ?    Why the pro¬ pagation of charges of monarchy,   aris¬ tocracy and the  like, unsupported ex- I cept with the new " ribaldry  of nick- j ' names J" Slander and lying were never"*! yet employed in a good cause ; they are the infallible tokens ofa bad one.    But it unfortunately happens that those who arc most violent,  and deal  -vvholly   in abuse, are  often the  most  successful. ShaU we attribute this to a want of vir¬ tue in thc people ?    Are diey corrupt 'i Do th^y relish  falsehood  rather than truth?    Do they delight in sacrificing worth and innocence, and in crowning deception and intrigue with the choicest )honours ?     No: the people arc  vi: tu- Qps, hont^t.just.    As a republican t am hound to believe this—experience has •vcr confirmed its truth.     Iiat human nature is not omniscient, and Ithappens that those who are the most honest are sometimes most liable to be  deceived. All the base aits that are practl.sed upon «s, the people, before elections,   if vve would be a little on  our guard  might turn much to our accour.t.   'Ihey would enable  us to  distingui^sh  our  friends ftnra our enemies.    I'hc man o:- pr.rty who endeavours to gain  our favour by circulating fals' stories—raising alarms •.i-<lealir.»^ in nlrk-names—boasting of patriotism a:id l-^ve ofus, tb.e peo-pie, is hur zvorst enemy, and both despises and hates us.    We should never he uddri^ss- cd in this m-inner, if vve were not liiought destitute of common sense, and  foolish i   enough to believe any thing,  however 1^ absurd.    No party vvould endeavour to i   gain an election by stirring up our pre- t "  udices, if they did not despise our un- |/.derstandings.    We ought to spurn   it P* with indignation.    Wh-at then shall vve I "say to those, who  daring  the  pres'^nt I   contest for governor, have  teazed  us I  -with their attachment to us.  the "dear ^* people," and overwhelmed   our  aidest \ , rnen with ob'oquy and slander i     Sh.ill 1    we in fact be led   astray   because  they think us capable of such  folly ?     Shall ¦we  be  roused  into  violence because "they think we h-ave not sense enough to avoid it ?    Will we be cajoled because they,wish to cajole us ?    We forsooth, must hv/c friends to direct our opinion?.! We cannot take care of ourselves !   We are stupid enough to believe any thing, •however    ridiculous ;  and   therefore, those who would convert us into mad¬ men or -fools, have only to get abroad a few tales about tories, monarchists, &c. to .make us .such!    This is  the   secret language of our pretended friends, and their practice shevvs that they btlieve it correct.    I am one however, who dis¬ sents from it, and really flatter  myself that-our would-be-dictators will be dis¬ appointed.    Let us now attend to facts, and as we ,go along, apjjly what has beeu said above.    James Ross  was elected by the county  of Washington,  which was alvtrays republican, a member of the convention that framed our present con- l^'Stitur-ion: Vet we haye been a thousand times told, and we were thought w^eak enough to believe it,-that Mr. Ross ne- B • ver was a republican. While in the cpn- I   vention be supported every democratic feature in our  consdtution,  especially
that of universal suffrage. But he xvas no republican! He was appointed a senator of the United States by the re¬ publican legislature of Pennsylvania, } still thc same calumny is repeated : He never xvas a republican !
He vvas elected by the same republi¬ can legislature to the senate—Still he xvas no republican I
The excise law wasjpasscdthree years before Mr. Ross v/as in the senate, but we have been told over and over again, diat he as.sisted in passing that law.
lie vvas ever opposed to it, and men best acquainted with this circumstance have often declared it. But our igno¬ rance was so far presumed upon, that our flatterers circulated the story that Mr. Ross was in favour of the cxc'ise.
Mr. Ross was in Pittsburg vvhen the alien law vvas passed, and had no hand in proposing or supporting it. But we have been -assured that he voted for thi'i obnoxious lavv.
He was in Pittsburg, and had beeu eight weeks absent from the seat of go¬ vernment, when the sedition law was first proposed, and vvhen it passed. But it has been so'undcd in our ears that Mr. Ross advocated and voted for the sedi¬ tion law !
ilir. Ross was in Pittsburg when the law was introduced and adopted. But we have been supposed so ignorant as to give credit to the story that hc pro¬ posed and voted for the naturalization law.
Thc law creating  a  direct tax was
passed in July 1798,  wiieu   Mr.   Ross
vvas in plitsbuig.    But  sdll,   calumny
I will have it that he proposed, advocated
and voted for this law.
Thus it is that men whose conduct shows that they thir.t us so stupid as to give credit to groundless stories, and sv/allow the idlest talcs, have led us a- st!-ay. I acknowledge I once believed all thc above rc})oris against Mr. Ross. I thought hiin au eneiny to the people. But when I Iiad It isure to inquire more particularly, and lock over the records of hia public ccnduct, how great wa?! my a.slonlshment to find I had been grossly deceived, and that Mr. Ross had ever been a strenuous advocate for the liberties of the people, and the wel¬ fare of mankind I
I found on the journals Oi"  congress that Jflr. Ross obtained leave of absence from the senate, on the   26th of April, 1798, and that hc did not return during the remainder  of the   session,  which lasted till the l6th of  Julv-     I  found th.at after he departed from the seat of governnient, the alien law, sedition law, naturalization law, and the law  impos¬ ing a tax on houses and lands were pro¬ posed, discussed and enacted.     From this time I looked on   Mr.  Ross as a persecuted man, and that his felloiv ci¬ tizens who were acquainted  with his republican manners, and had undeceiv¬ ed themselves iu respect to his public conduct, ought to stand fordiiu his de¬ fence.    Such a cit'zen is an honor to the western country.    I confess I feel ron- sldcrable pride in reflecting that vve have raised up a man among us who is equal in point of talents to any in tiie cities or old settled states.    He has clung: to us througli thick and thin, his   property Is here ; itis of that description   that he must benefit the farmer.s in order to be¬ nefit him.^ielf.    Shall we the people, for the sake of raising over our heads men who are playing tricks upon our credu¬ lity, shall vve, I say, cast off our fellovi/- citi-zen, James Ross?    We willnot  do it.    Republicans are not ungrateful— they scorn to be frightened from their iatertsts by mere  party-rant, and the sound of party names.
But I vvill-admit for a moment that Mr. Ross is whatever his abusers please to call him, that he  voted for all the
foregoing obnoxious law-s. Still, we have a constitution to save from de- stwiction, and if making him our go¬ vernor will accomplish this, I will give him my vote. I know that if elected he must be a republican governor, be¬ cause our constitution points out his duty, and he must follow it. He can¬ not oppress us In any respect, widiout first destroying this glorious instrument. But when I reflect that Mr. Ross has been a real republican from first to last —that he has talents, .and is not proud nor haughty—that he has .been cruelly slandered—'that he and all his friends assisted us in putdng In M'Kean in 1805 and preserving our constitution—that he is one of our back-vvoods-men, and that M'Kean and all the staunch repub¬ licans are m his favor. I feel happy in giving him my support.
A SINCERE REPUBLICAN.
R E P L Y
OJ?   THE
PITTSBURG   CONSTTTUTIONAL COMMITTEE,
'ro   THE
democrat'ic committee oj' Alleghenycountij.
In fhe last number of the Common¬ wealth, published ou the 3d instant, we have observed an address to the Demo¬ cratic Republicans of Allegheny countv, signed by Thomas Baird, William Gazzam, James Kervv in, John Johnston 8c William M^Candless, who call them¬ selves " a general " committee of cor¬ respondence," and profess to feel it their duty to lay facts and arguments before their constituents ; as well as to refute the slanders and misrepresenta¬ tion!* of those vvho are opposed to the '. election of Siincti Snvdt-i-.
In the course of their atklress, they have assailed us widi great acrimony, and in many instances denied the cor¬ rectness of our statements; we therefore make no apology for giving to the pub¬ lic a vindication of ourselves ; which, while it fuHy Justifies us, will necessari¬ ly expose the hypocrisy, malignity, and falsehood of those who have chosen to attack us.
The democratic committee begin by a'^serting, that we have published garb¬ led extracts from the minutes of the convention:
This is false:—the votes are fairly published ; the dilFercnt propo.sition3 are literally given : the names accurately transcribed. If there be any unfairness why not point it out ?
This committee who now so loudly censure Mr. Rosa's vote on the religi¬ ous test, have, time after time, support¬ ed Mr. Gallatin as a member of con¬ gress for this district;—he and Mr. Ross voted in the same way on this question ; the Journala of the conven¬ tion vvhicli we have published, prove this bfc\ ond all denial ; yet the very same men who condemn IVIr. Ross for his vote, have full confidence in Mr. Gal¬ latin, who gave the sa.ue vole. If there be nor inconsistency, insincerity and hypocrisy, in this conduct, we would wisii to liear of better motives to vvhich it may be ascribed.
Wc did say in a former addrc-^a, "that some members of the convention were displeased with a departure from the test in thc old constitution ; others thought that nc religious test ought to be required ; others insisted that the pro¬ posed section vvas but merely a nominal, and not a real test : that there was no injunction to require it of any ofHcer ; nor would it exclude infidels, because they would make any declaration that could be reqftired."
The democratic committee, in ob¬ serving upon this, expressly state,  that I the test in the old consdtution of 177G, did require every assemblymau and o-
ther official characters, to make a de¬ claration of their belief in one God, the creator and governor of the universe, die rewarder ofthe good, and the pun- isher ofthe wicked ; and that thc scrip¬ tures of the old and new testaments were given by divine inspiration ;—but they assert that this opened a door to , " deception by infidels and unbelievers, who might be tempted to make this de¬ claration with a view of gratifying their ambition :"—that to restrain ar.d pre¬ vent this deception, the committee vvho reported the new constitution, introduc¬ ed the test against which JNIr. Ross voted ; and that " every professor of the Christian religion was and is deep¬ ly concerned ih retaining the words of the second tost, which Mr. Ross voted to strike out.''—These arc their words —what is the fact?
The first constitution provided tliat there should be a profession ot belief in the sacred scriptures,' and in tiie Cliris- tian religion :—that this sliould be made before entering Into office :
The test lu the present constitution does not require belief ip the Christian religion, nor in anv of the sacred writ¬ ings : it opens the door to Jews, Pagans, MahometauG, Deists, and every de¬ scription of men, except AdiCists, who cannot bo restrained by any teat;—yes the democratic committe are hardy et nough to a.isert that this new test was intended to guard against unbelievers i and that the professors of Christianity are deeply interested :n It! ! ! This is so maniicstly absurd, that no man of sense can be misled by it, especially | when he reflects, that die new test has been considered a dead letter, and no use has been made of it under the pre¬ sent ccnstitution^ All that die demb- Cnitlc committee say, respeclhig the ob¬ ligation ofan oidi, the {ulministration6'f justice, and the sanctity of chocks upon thc consciences of public men, might have had weight, were the old test, ot ir/"), retained in the present constitu¬ tion ; but as the case stood before the convention, there was obviously no'sucW questiouc It wcs probably better to have been silent altogether on the sub¬ ject of religious tests, dian to expunge the belief in the Chrisdan religion, re¬ quired by the old constitution, and in¬ troduce a provision so vague and inef* ficient as that which we now have. W© are persuaded that all real friends ofthe Christian religion vvill think so, and we know that this is the fixed Opinion of many of its most enl Ightened professors. The democratic committee, finding that their Beaver brethren had asserted a manifest untruth, respecting Mr. Ross's activity in framing thc excise laiv,are obliged in some sort to acknow¬ ledge the blunder j but by way of apo¬ logy, they say that some of his particu¬ lar friends held appointments under that law, and that he was their firm and zea¬ lous supporter;—th.^y do not pretend to say that Mr. Ross had any influence in the appointment of any of the officers under that law / and we do not see any reason for being dissatisfied vvith him if he continued in habits of friendship with men in office, of whom he thought well before they had any office.—This is a pitiful evasion ofthe contempt vvhich must necessarily fall upon those who o- riginally published that he was active in producing the law.
The democratic committee further assert—'"that P.Ir. Ross's speeches tit favour ofthe alien and sedition law are to be found in almost every federal newspaper :*'—^'*That he proved him¬ self on that occasion a most bittsr and unrelenting enemy to foreigners:*'— " That a few days before the final ques¬ tion was taken on these laws, he retired to Pittshui-gh."^
They also refer to the journals ©f th*