of the officers of government being diminished, they have been increased about thirty thousand dollars. But" (here one would suppose they were going to tell. No. They are going not to tell, for they bring themselves off by saying) BUT WE FORBEAR and then in the true cant of hypocrisy, they addWhile the administration of the government is in their hands (meaning in the hands of the present administration) it is our duty to submit, though we should be buried in its ruins.— Alas, poor Feds!!!

But from this state of sackcloth and despair they "arouse" and shake themselves into new life, as a drowning cur shakes himself when he reaches the shore; and they say in the next paragraph-" But fortunately we are not without a corrective for the evil. To the good sense of an enlightened public and the freedom of our elections we can with confidence appeal."

They have now made their appeal. The election is over; and the public to whom they have appealed have passed sentence of contempt and condemnation upon them; and said to them, not in the fancied importance of words, but in the loud language of fact, "Here shall thy mad career be stayed." Go home and rave no more.

In bringing before the public this piece of Federal trumpery, the work of some fantastical phrase-maker, who to a jingle of words adds a jumble of ideas, and contradicts in one paragraph what he says in another, we feel that sincerity of concern which a desire for peace and the love of our country inspire.

We possess a land highly favoured by nature, and protected by Providence. We have nothing to do but to be happy. The men who now assail with abuse the administration of our choice, and disturb the public tranquillity with their clamours, were once entrusted with power. They dishonoured by violence, and betrayed by injustice, the trust reposed in them, and the public has dismissed them as unworthy of their confidence. They are now endeavouring to regain, by deceit and falsehood, what they lost by arrogance and apostacy. As a faction, unjust and turbulent, they feel what they ought to feel, the pain of disappointment and disgrace. The prosperous condition of the country and of its public affairs, under the present wise and mild administration, is, to minds like theirs, an agonizing

scene. Every thing that goes right brings sorrow to them, and they mistake their own malignant feelings for a public sentiment.

As citizens, they live under the same laws with every other citizen. No party oppression is acted upon them. They have the same rights, the same privileges, the same civil and religious freedom, that other citizens enjoy; but the cankered heart of faction is a stranger to repose.

When power was in their hands, they used it oppressively and ignorantly. They encouraged mobs, and insulted in the streets the supporters and friends of the Revolution, and taught their children to do the same. They enacted unjust laws, calling them alien and sedition laws; and though their forefathers were all aliens, and many of themselves but one remove from it, they persecuted the aliens of the present day, who, flying from oppression, as their own forefathers had done, came to live among us, and prohibited others from arriving.

They established in America, as Robespierre had done in France, a system of terror, and appointed judges disposed to execute it. Destitute of economy as they were of principle, they filled the country with unnecessary officers, and loaded it with taxes; and had their power continued another election, supported as their plan was by a standing army, the taxes, instead of being reduced as they are now, must have been doubled. Is it any wonder, then, that with all these iniquities on their heads, the public has dismissed them?

That men should differ in opinion is natural, and sometimes advantageous. It serves as a check on the extremes of each other. But the leaders of the present faction advance no opinion and declare no principle. They say not what their conduct in government would be were they restored to power. They deal altogether in abuse and slander.

The country knows what the character and conduct of the present administration is—that it cultivates peace abroad and prosperity at home, and manages the revenue with honourable economy. Every citizen is protected in his rights, and every profession of religion in its independence. These are the

blessings we enjoy under the present administration; and what more can a people expect, or a government perform?

By order of the meeting,

THOMAS PAINE, Secretary.

J. KIRKBRIDE, Chairman.

Ordered-That five hundred copies in hand bills be printed

for the use of the meeting.

TO THE ENGLISH PEOPLE, ON THE

INVASION OF ENGLAND.

In casting my eye over England and America, and compar. ing them together, the difference is very striking. The two countries were created by the same power, and peopled from the same stock. What then has caused the difference? Have those who emigrated to America improved, or those whom they left behind degenerated? There are as many degrees of difference in the political morality of the two people, as there are of longitude between the two countries.

In the science of cause and effect, every thing that enters into the composition of either must be allowed its proportion of influence. In investigating, therefore, into the cause of this difference, we must take into the calculation the difference of the two systems of government, the hereditary and the representative. Under the hereditary system, it is the government that forms and fashions the political character of the people. In the representative system, it is the people that form the character of the government. Their own happiness as citizens forms the basis of their conduct, and the guide of their choice. Now, is it more probable, that an hereditary government should become corrupt, and corrupt the people by its example, or that a whole people should become corrupt, and produce a corrupt government; for the point where the corruption begins, becomes the source from whence it afterwards spreads.

While men remained in Europe as subjects of some hereditary potentate, they had ideas conformable to that condition; but when they arrived in America, they found themselves in possession of a new character, the character of sovereignty: and, like converts to a new religion, they became inspired with

new principles. Elevated above their former rank, they con sidered government and public affairs as part of their own con. cern, for they were to pay the expense, and they watched them with circumspection. They soon found that government was not that complicated thing, enshrined in mystery, which church and state, to play into each other's hands, had represented it; and that to conduct it with proper effect, was to conduct it justly. Common sense, common honesty, and civil manners, qualify a man for government; and besides this, put man in a situation that requires new thinking, and the mind will grow up to it, for, like the body, it improves by exercise. Man is but a learner all his life-time.

But whatever be the cause of the difference of character between the government and people of England, and those of America, the effect arising from that difference is as distinguishable as the sun from the moon. We see America flourishing in peace, cultivating friendship with all nations, and reducing her public debt and taxes, incurred by the revolution. On the contrary, we see England almost perpetually in war, or warlike disputes, and her debt and taxes continually increasing. Could we suppose a stranger, who knew nothing of the origin of the two countries, he would, from observation, conclude, that America was the old country, experienced and sage, and England the new, eccentric and wild.

Scarcely had England drawn home her troops from America, after the revolutionary war, than she was on the point of plunging herself into a war with Holland, on account of the Stadtholder; then with Russia; then with Spain, on the account of Nootka cat-skins; and actually with France to prevent her revolution. Scarcely had she made peace with France, and before she had fulfilled her own part of the treaty, then she declared war again to avoid fulfilling the treaty. In her treaty of peace with America, she engaged to evacuate the western ports within six months, but having obtained peace she refused to fulfil the conditions, and kept possession of the posts and embroiled herself in an Indian war. In her treaty of peace with France, she engaged to evacuate Malta within three months, but having obtained peace, she refused to evacuate Malta, and began a new war.