Chapter II: Part 2

Of a piece with this however, appears to have been his previous conduct about the time of his presiding over the _abortion_ at McBains. I allude to his sending the history of that meeting with orders by Thompson and Stillwell, to the editor of the Journal to print without reading it.

"I Lyman B. Langworthy, of the village of Ballston Spa, do
certify to my fellow-citizens the following facts;--That on
the night of the 20th April 1815, two days after the McBain
meeting--being in the office of the Saratoga Journal late in
the evening, James Thompson, James Merrill and Wm. Stillwell,
Esqs. came into the room. Immediately after being seated, Mr.
Thompson who acted as chief speaker, pompously displayed a
fold of paper which he wished Mr. Bunce to print off in the
form of Handbills by morning, it being then quite late. Mr.
Bunce wished to see it and its contents.

"Here Mr. Thompson to my astonishment flatly refused, unless
Mr. B. would first promise on his word and honor that he
would _positively_ and _unconditionally_ agree to print it
_let it contain what it would_. This bro't on a long parley;
Mr. Bunce wished to see it if for nothing more than to shew
his workman its length, to learn from him whether it was
possible to execute it in the time allowed. Mr. Thompson
refused, and entered pretty lengthy into the subject, in his
_precise roundabout_ manner: asserting that it was _none of
his business what it contained_--that it was impertinent in a
'_mechanic_' to ask his employers the use or destination of
any work he should employ him to do; and frequently by way of
a _salve_ interlarding his conversation with '_we do not wish
you to do it for nothing Mr. Bunce, we have money enough_.'
After much chaffering between the parties, judge Stillwell in
a very candid manner, desired that the paper might be read,
asking him if it _contained any thing they were ashamed of_.
Mr. Thompson then looked to Mr. Merrill as for his opinion.
Mr. Merrill said with some warmth, 'he shan't see it.' This
brot' on considerable bickerings--crimination and
re-crimination between Mess. Bunce, and Thompson, which judge
Stillwell tho't rather indecorous, and quite earnestly
rebuked the two gentlemen for their wrath, and at the same
time said he thot' it high time to deliver judge Child's
message. Here Mr. Thompson apparently supposing himself only
entrusted with the charge, seemed not to understand.--After a
great deal of argument, the paper at last had a 'first
reading,' & was the proceedings of the McBain meeting, signed
by Child, Thompson and Stillwell; and was delivered to Mr.
Bunce, to shew his compositor, who was in bed. Mr. Bunce
insisted that some of the gentlemen should deliver the
message which judge Stillwell seemed to be so anxious about.
Here the three gentlemen were thrown into great
confusion--eyed each other as though each supposed the other
ignorant of what he himself knew. Judge Stillwell's
countenance seemed to labor with something which he was bound
to reveal; and Mr. Thompson noting this, desired judge
Stillwell _if he knew it to let it out_. Judge Stillwell then
putting himself in an attitude corresponding, as he appeared
to think, with the magnitude of the subject, began by saying
that judge Child had instructed him to say to Mr. Bunce,
_that he had always been a particular friend of his--had
always given him all of his business--and should be sorry to
withdraw it after the friendly intercourse which had
subsisted between them--that it was the earnest desire of
judge Child that Mr. Bunce should have the refusal of
printing it; 'but as a last resort say to him from me, that
if he refuses to print it as desired by Mr. Thompson, that I
forever withdraw my patronage from his press.'_"

Here Mr. Bunce indignantly threw back the paper to Mr. Thompson, and declared that under those circumstances he should not print it--saying that after buffeting the storm of federalism, and the dark days of the wars of our country, he little expected such treatment from one whose duty it was to protect the press &c. &c.--and it was after much persuasion, and partly through my own importunities, that he was induced to print it.

"Mr. Bunce's conduct through the whole transaction, which
must have lasted two hours or more, was _consistent, firm_
and _independent_ to my conception, as was the others
_haughty_, _supercilious_ and _overbearing_.--Lyman B.
Langworthy. _March, 1816_."

Here fellow citizens is the _iron club of power_ held over the head of an editor of a _free press_, during an election--to coerce him and his press into obedience to their dictates. What are we coming to when men high in office use their offices, influence and patronage to control the freedom of the press, which all the champions of freedom esteem the organ and safeguard of our _liberties_--and attempt to compell it to bend to their purposes--to sell itself and rush _blind fold_ on any measure their interest or ambition may dictate?

The independent conduct of Mr. Bunce on this occasion was probably one reason among _others_ why the judge aided in the introduction of another printer of the more _pliant sort_; who would more readily bend to his purposes and serve as a pipe with which his friends Roe, Thompson, Stillwell &c. could spit their venom thro' the county in the more permanent form of a _pamphlet_.

In this, with _three_ insolvent advertisements staring him in the face from the _Independent American_, the judge denies, or sanctions a denial, that he ever ordered an advertisement to be printed in that paper _at all_. Unblushing impudence indeed!--Thus to ask the public to pervert the eternal principles of truth and justice by giving credit to such assertions as these.

The examination of a few more topics under this head shall suffice.--Indeed amongst the disgusting details of falsehood and meanness with which that production abounds; you find many remarks imputed to the Journal which it never made, while those which it has made, on examination will be found strictly true.

The writer of that pamphlet is guilty of falsehood in asserting that the _editorial_ remarks of the Journal are not copied into other papers. Not to mention others, they have been copied the year past in several instances, by the _National Intelligencer_ at Washington, and by _Niles' Weekly Register_ at Baltimore, two of the ablest papers in the _Union_. The remarks which the book falsely calls a _scurrilous attack_ upon the _Governor_, instead of being an attack on him, it so happens that they were merely calculated to let the public know what every republican had a right to expect, and which they in fact _realized_ from our worthy chief magistrate in the season of peril which dictated them.--They were such as he would himself approve, while he would frown contemptuously on the _little fry_ who attempt so base a slander in his name. Would to God the conduct of some of the governor's fawning and pretended admirers could endure investigation like that of this great and good man--the pride and ornament of his country!

As to the charge against the Journal for asserting that the first judge and others had combined to domineer and rule the people of this county, you already have a taste of the judge's fondness for domineering over some of the people, and over their press; and that other persons named have _acted_ in concert with him is equally true and notorious;--And it is hardly necessary to enquire whether they combined for the purpose, or instinctively assembled like birds of the same feather, from a common spirit of domination. It is false, however, that the Journal ever made such a charge. This and a number of these remarks are only suffering them to wear a coat which they themselves have cut out of whole cloth, and which seems to fit them so exactly. That paper never charged Mr. Young with any management or compromise with the federalists, further than what justly resulted from his being chosen _supervisor_ in _Ballston_ by _federalists_, contrary to the _regular town nomination_, and his afterwards being complimented by the federal paper as a modern political _Luther_, on account of his having quit his own party in that town and submitted to federal policy, not denied by the _book_--from his having _aided_ in the election of the _federal candidate for Congress_ in the fall of 1812; and from his "at least" conniving at _federal aid_, in the spring of 1815--all of which are facts of too general notoriety to be denied.

But the Journal did charge some of Mr. Young's friends with a _political understanding_ between them and the federalists, which is not only passed over in silence by the _book_, but proved by the foregoing estimates and certificates.

On seeing Mr. Young supporting, and supported in his turn by a Senator or Senators of this state for office, the Journal did ask the question, whether it was pursuant to an _arrangement_ on the subject between them? This question was put in the Journal directly to Mr. Young--taking it for granted that Mr. Young has adopted the language in the book on this question as his own, this might be received as an _answer_, had not a mere _question_ been first perverted into a charge.

The Journal did also ask him the question, whether he intended to make _one Joel Lee, clerk of this county?_ To which the book, replies that he never promised any office to any man whatever. It is perhaps necessary, in justice to the Editor of the Journal, to introduce the following certificate, and leave this part of the subject without farther comment.

"I hereby certify, that shortly after the appointment of Wm.
Stillwell, as a clerk, of this county, I was in the city of
Albany, and conversed with Mr. Young on the subject of that
appointment, in which conversation I expressed my surprise at
his appointment, to which Mr. Young replied, it was not his
fault, that there was a petition for him from some of the
most respectable men in the county, and it would not do for
him to oppose it, but that his mind was the strongest on
_Joel Lee_ for that office.--ELI BEARDSLEE. _Milton, March
1816_."

Among others to whom Lee admitted he had been promised of _offered_ the Clerk's office by Young, is Mr. Nicholas Smith, but it is thought unnecessary to multiply certificates on this head.

The writer of that pamphlet also displays his characteristic ignorance, or stupid disregard to truth, when he says that the Journal ever charged Young with receiving pay in three capacities, during the _extra session_ of 1815. It never made the charge as it respected _that_, or any other _year_;--but it so happens that during the _extra, session_ of 1814, Mr. Young did receive $5 per day, which was the pay for a member of the house, and $2.25 per day, which was the _extra allowance_ on account of his being speaker. See New Revised Laws, Vol. I. p. 528, and the act of April 18th 1815, called the _supply bill_, Sec. 15, by which two acts, the wages of the Assembly are fixed at _$5_, and those of the speaker at $7.25, and extended to the extra session of 1814. Altho' the Journal _never_ made the charge imputed to it, yet you see how easily and conclusively that charge might have been supported, had the assertion ever been made.

With regard to Mr. Young's receiving the pay of a Col. he never was charged with having done this during any _extra session_. That paper did insinuate that he at one time as aid to the governor received that pay. And it is hardly worth stopping to enquire whether he did or not, so long as we have _his word_ that the Governor _offered_ it to him, in consequence of which he _agreed_ to serve. Whether he got the _cash_ and gave a _receipt_ for it;--or it was absorbed in his _expences_;--or laid it out to buy another press;--or yet _remains due_, is altogether immaterial, so long as an answer is substantially made out to a question raised by his _good friends_, and to which the public may expect a reply: The following certificate is therefore given without comment.

"I certify, that a day or two previous to Samuel Young's
accompanying his excellency the Governor to New-York, in
conversation with Mr. Young at his house, he informed me that
while he was at Albany, from where he had but just returned,
he called on his excellency, who then informed him of his
intended expedition to New-York, and pressed him, Mr. Young
to accompany him; that he objected, and said that he should
be much pleased with the jaunt, but his business was such, as
to render it impossible; that the Governor urged him still
stronger, and he replied that he was wholly unprepared for
leaving home any length of time, and the Governor calculated
to go the next day or day but one--that the Governor told him
if he would accompany him, he would make him _an aid_ with
the _pay_ of a _colonel_, and _bear his expences_, and that
he would defer going until the next steam boat; that he
wished to take time to consider the Governor's proposals as
he informed the Governor--and soon after told him he would
accompany him.--SETH C. BALDWIN, Junior. _Warren County,
March 1816_."

The Journal never charged Young with having informed Merrill that he "was not now Secretary, but should be to-morrow." At it again Merrill. Will you certify that you did not give a friendly hint to a gentleman who was going to Albany, that you had a connexion who would make an excellent clerk in the Secretary's office, and request his name to be given to Mr. Young, to whom Young replied, _I am not now Secretary but shall be to-morrow_? I believe an intimation to this effect was given in the Journal, which you blink with as much ingenuity as though you had been bred in the same school with Mr. Young's colleagues. Amongst the great number to whom Mr. Young _did give_ the information that he was shortly to be Secretary, _you_, then it seems were omitted!

The facts disclosed in the following certificate, cannot fail to remind one of the fable of the "Country maid, and her milk pail."

"I hereby certify, that while riding in company with Samuel
Young from Ballston to Albany, when going to the _winter
session_ of 1815, the day before the legislature met, the
said Young informed me that he expected to be Secretary of
State when the republican council should be chosen; that he
could be a member of the _legislature_ and _Secretary of
State at the same time_, and _could reside at the Springs_ or
Ballstown in the summer, and do the business of Secretary in
Albany by Deputy, and that _these two_ offices would give him
a _pretty good living_, or words to that effect.--JESUP
RAYMOND. _Ballston, April 1816_."

"Green--let me consider; yes, green becomes my complexion best, and green it shall be."

Mr. Kasson, was early spoken of by the _Independent American_ as an applicant for the _Sheriff's office_, and as it appeals, was afterwards a candidate for the county convention, and pledged to the support of Mr. Young. In consequence of this, the Journal did ask the question to Mr. Young, whether he intended Mr. Kasson as the Sheriff of this county?--and nothing more. I think a farther inquiry was made whether he was not authorised to purchase a "_mansion house_ for the _new secretary_, in the village of Ballston Spa?" on which he preserves a cautious silence.

It is remarkable in this and other instances, with what industry _The Citizen_ manufactures assertions to suit his own purpose, and then denies them. Having at length exhausted his fancy in fabricating, shaping and denying particular charges, hardly one of which ever existed, he ranges up his whole artillery of vengeance;--the battle becomes general:--And the famous Doctor Slop, the man midwife, did not pour a more copious and continued shower of curses upon Obadiah, who had tied his bag of instruments with hard knots, than is thus suddenly let fly upon the devoted head of the Editor of the Saratoga Journal. "_Really_" said the Frenchman to an old woman who had been storming and fretting at Napoleon, "the Emperor, my master would feel himself infinitely grieved, if he knew how hard your _lady-ship_ thought of him."

But it seems the Editor of the Journal "has indulged himself in a course of low and vulgar sarcasms," tho' no particular instance is pointed out. Thus the citizen, after sending his friend, Mr. Elias Benedict, into the bar-room, to certify the _damns_ and _god damns_ of Mr. Wilkins, suddenly becomes extremely modest and refined, and falls to moralizing like Michael Cassio, after his _own_ drunken fit is over. Mr. Bunce might really be esteemed far gone, had he reached the climax of vulgarity which distinguishes the _citizen_ and his _book_.

But says the _book_ in another place, "the manners of Mr. Bunce are _coarse and vulgar_." I suppose an immediate allusion is here intended to the _manner_ in which he treated _Stillwell_ and _Thompson's_ supercilious proposition to agree to print their famous history of the McBain Meeting, without reading it, under penalty of losing the first Judge's patronage in case of a refusal. Perhaps they mean that he did not on that occasion, turn out his toes exactly as he ought; or make a becoming bow to so much mock consequence as surrounded them. I know not in what language to describe their notions. We have already admitted that Mr. Bunce does not pretend to vie in _purity_ of dialect with the certificate of Mr. Elias Benedict. Suppose we also admit that he cannot hold competition with Roe as a profound _linguist_--with Mr. Thompson in _fairness_, _high mindedness_, _openness_ and _candor_--nor with Mr. Linnendoll in belleslettres--and that he would not make so good a _dancing master_ as Mr James Merrill[6] and leave the public to judge whether coming short of these qualifications, he can be any way tolerable in his person or polished in his conversation.

But 'tis said again, that he has presented some of our citizens "in the ludicrous attitude of being in chase of one of the wheels of a _political hack_." This plain farmer-like simile has given great offence, and perhaps justly, to the high and refined notions of certain book gentry; who have been too much in the habit of _hunting_ an _office_, or _chasing_ a _dollar_, to believe that the idea of so ordinary an occupation, could ever have been connected with that of such _great men_ as themselves.

It may not be amiss to here remark, that Mr. Bunce was admitted an Attorney of the Supreme Court in 1804; he settled in the village of Salina in the county of Onondaga; shortly afterwards it was made a post town, and he was appointed Post-Master[7] by the general government, and continued in that office until he removed from that place. Soon after his removal to Bridgewater, Oneida County, he was appointed Post-Master at that place, and continued in that office until he resigned on his removal to the county of Saratoga. During his residence in the Western District, he attended with industry and fidelity to the profession in which he was educated.

Soon after the declaration of war he concluded to quit the practice of law, and purchased the establishment of the Republican press of this county, and became the editor of the Journal.

Mr. Bunce has been a faithful, able, zealous and indefatigable supporter and defender of our republican institutions, and of the measures of our general and state government; and I confidently ask, who ever accused him till this faction commenced their operations. During the memorable campaign of 1814, he was not only vigilant and faithful to our rights as an editor; but when danger threatened from all quarters, he hired, equipped, and sent a common soldier into the field for the defence of New-York.

Several who were active in introducing Mr. Bunce to the republicans of this county, after finding him too independent to bend to their "_particular_" views, and after he had rejected with disdain their proffers to surrender to them his rights as an editor, they formed themselves into a court of Inquisition, and ushered forth their courtly mandates "Bunce must be sacrificed" "the Journal shall go down," even this proscription extended to his family, and to his fireside; and so eager were certain of these factionists, that they formed a plan to break up his establishment by _force_, and actually threatened _to scatter his types_. This fact is too susceptible of proof to be denied.

The republicans for a long time were silent spectators, while viewing the persecution of their editor, and attack upon their own rights and privileges; they fondly hoped, that time would cure the evil, and sober reflection convince them of their error; but in this hope they were disappointed, their persecutions encreased; and to them more certainly to effect their object, and encouraged by the smiles of federalists, they secretly brought a new printing press into the county--it was then the designs of these men were more apparent--it was then the republicans proclaimed their rights, and spoke to these "conspirators" in language too loud not to be heard--too emphatic not to be understood. And as long as these "conspirators" continue their press to war against the rights and privileges of the people, Mr. Bunce as a faithful centinel, will remain firm at his post. What though a gang of office-holders should "in the mild spirit of Christian humility" (see page 7 of the book) fulminate their maledictions against him; the people will not be frightened into submission, nor the editor from his duty.

But the Editor of the Journal has abused some of us, say they--Does the _truth_ abuse them? does the _exposition_ of the _foulest combination_ that ever disgraced this or any other county, _constitute abuse_? Is there such terrible majesty surrounding an _office_? No matter of what _misrepresentations_ they are the authors of--No matter how _basely_ and _shamefully_ they have _belied and slandered their neighbors_--No matter of what deception, hypocrisy and intrigue, they are guilty--No matter how long they have conspired against the rights and privileges of the people--No matter how unbecoming, gross and absurd their conduct may have been; if an independent Editor, in vindicating the rights of the people, and those of his own, questions the propriety of their conduct; they immediately skulk behind their offices, and impudently exclaim, "_touch us not--we are privileged_." 'Pigmies are Pigmies still tho' perch'd on Alps.'

While I would not refrain from censuring the improper conduct of these office _leaders_, I shall ever be ready to extend the hand of fellowship to such as have been deluded by them--Nay, I would go farther, let _them_ exhibit signs of repentance--let them evince a determination to support our republican rights---let them cease to war against the people, their editor, and individuals--let them remove their _pensioned_ press--then shall they have my voice and my heart, to intercede for them with an insulted and abused community.

But faint indeed is the hope of a reformation in _that_ man who violates all honor, truth and decency. Who but the author[8] of that book would charge the Milton committee, of being the tools of "fraud and management?" Who but him would affix the charge of "miscreants" to the republicans of Galway, Milton, Greenfield, Saratoga, Malta and Ballston? Who but him would have the unblushing effrontery to publish, "_that the general committee in nominating Mr. Cowen, instead of Mr. Young, committed an OUTRAGE on the feelings and wishes of their constituents_?" [see page 8. of that pamphlet.] Who but the author of that pamphlet would--but I beg pardon--read the pamphlet itself, and you have abundant evidence of the authors views, his principles, his heart and his designs.

But the vengeful serpents of malice and persecution have not confined their labors to _the book_, Early last spring, a thrust was made at the Editor of the Journal, on the authority _it was said_ of Mr. Hackley, late a member from Herkimer, who _(so Thompson said)_ had authorised him to tell the people, that Mr. Bunce was unworthy of confidence:--nay, to make use of a number of debasing epithets,--such as would quadrate with the palate of Roe or Thompson, much better than that of a gentleman like Mr. Hackley. But as this gentleman has declined appearing in the book, and certainly never did, and never would authorize Thompson to use his name for the vile purpose in which he employed it, I barely glance at this circumstance as one article, which would otherwise have been pressed into the Pandoras box which has been so industriously served up for the public.

Instead of atoning by a mild, moderate and conciliatory course of conduct, for the injuries attempted, not only against an individual, but the public, in endeavoring to put down and destroy a free press; the project is set on foot of introducing and palming upon the county another press;--a child of their own;--a copartner in all their labors, their joys and sorrows. It is however, _one thing_ to introduce a press, and _another_ to get the _people_ to support it. While a few malicious imps, hungering for revenge, were "_grinning horrible a ghastly smile, to hear their famine should be filled_;" the people in a number of different towns assembled, and freely expressed their sentiments on the fatal tendency of such measures; and animadverted with freedom and spirit on the motives which prompted them;--for which the book printed by the printer of their paper, stigmatizes them with the epithet of _miscreants_; and treats the whole of their labors as mere _cant and slang_; I suppose it must mean compared with its own dignified and masterly pages. _The majesty of the people_ is truly a _monstrous Deity_ in the eye of venal and sell-created consequence. It is merely for repeating _some of the sentiments expressed at these meetings_, that the editor of the Journal is assailed as the arch-disturber of our political repose.

_The Citizen_, in one place storms furiously at the allegation, that the _Albany committee_ had advised them to remove their press. That committee was appointed to inquire into the difficulties which agitated the republican family in this county, and devise if possible the means of removing them. Thompson as _chief cook_ of his own party, appeared before them, with the book in his hand and Judge Child at his elbow _as usual_; and I do believe the citizen from my very soul, when he says they gave him no such advice. The committee were composed of _sensible_ men; and after listening to his incoherent display of folly and nonsense on that occasion, it would be literally casting pearl before _swine_, to have given them any advice on the subject.

Having established and considered some extraneous facts, for which I am aware certain _gentlemen_ will not thank me especially as it may disorder the thread of their own reasoning a little; I shall now proceed briefly to consider the charge of FRAUD, FALSEHOOD, DUPLICITY and CORRUPTION, as it appears in the book itself, on their own proof, independent of the foregoing _memorandums_, leaving the memory of Mr. Young's _colleagues_ and others at full leisure to be refreshed by them.

That charge it will be recollected, is the turning point of the controversy;--the _vox et preterea nihil_, which _boils, and foams, and wheels_ thro' _the book_, like a torrent thro' the _Augean_ stable, collecting in its course accretions of foulness and impurity. For this purpose, Mr. _Bunce_ and Mr. _Palmer_ are represented as a political _Archimedes_, controlling at their will the destinies of the county;--dictating the number and sort and deliberations of the county delegates, prostrating the Speaker of the house of assembly; and dealing _havoc, spoil_ and _ruin_ around them. Mr. Cowen is represented as their associate, aiming at his own elevation thro' the lowest arts of cunning and duplicity. But fortunately for the cause of common sense, the touch-stone of these mighty maggots of the brain are the _facts_ on which they are founded. And here let us for a moment take them as they stand among the certificate gentry, and examine their actual bearings;--in doing which I shall still have occasion to mention names, who, if they have finally not much cause for self gratulation, must thank their good friend _the Citizen_ for bringing them before the public.

The Motts[9] say, that on or about the 21st of March, Mr. _Cowen_ told them that _Young_ was becoming _unpopular_;--that he had behaved haughtily and disrespectfully towards his colleagues; and that a few days before, he had been informed of this fact by several gentlemen to whom they were referred. Now it will be recollected that Mr. Cowen and John R. Mott were two of the _delegates_ from Saratoga, and as such mutually bound to discuss with freedom the _allegation for and against_ Mr Young, or any other person who would be a candidate before the general committee; and Mr. Cowen at this time _at least_, had no reason to doubt the truth of what Young's colleagues had asserted. He also mentioned it to James Mott, who was spoken of as a substitute in the event of his brother's absence. It seems he also conversed freely with these men on the subject of _his_ having consented to be considered a candidate, and (so James Mott says) examined the probability of his success, by calculating the favorable state of the delegation. But it seems that communications to these _leaky gentlemen_ on the subject of candidates are not to be made under any circumstances with impunity; and Mr. Cowen is to be censured as _criminal_ for giving that information, which it would have been _criminal_ to withhold. The only way to make his act in this respect _criminal_ is by saying, "he ought to have known that Young's colleagues had _lied_." But it will be recollected that this was impossible, for the public did not know them _then_ as well as it does _now_; nor had Mr. Cowen yet seen their _certificate_ which is herewith published, by which they acknowledge _what the book_ is so anxious for Mr. Cowen to have assumed. He did afterwards see it, and then (so say the certificates) bore public testimony to his opinion of the merits of Mr. Young, as well as afterwards by letter to judge Child.

Thus does the charge of duplicity, made against Mr. Cowen, resolve itself into a base attempt to fix upon him, what so snugly suits the shoulders of others. It seems he finally bestows that justice upon a _political adversary_, which the baseness and treachery of his _colleagues_ and pretended friends had withheld. Am I acting the part of an accuser towards those men? No. They have accused themselves. Why are they again before the public? Had they hopes of skulking into obscurity among the _motley_ multitude of certificates which throng the folio of _the book_? or have they like one of the moral personages in _Hudibras_, "_catch'd the itch on purpose to be scratch'd_?" It now requires an eye less keen than that of a ministering spirit to pierce the cob web veil which shields them from detection.

But in the process of this investigation, we are led to the consideration of a subject "_too awful for irony_." The interested certificates of these men are ushered to a Christian public, and a higher sanction demanded for them, by the author, than he is willing to allow to facts attested under the _solemnity_ of _an oath_. One could hardly have anticipated this _atheistical_ appeal to the credulity of the public, even tho' human nature were as vile and monstrous in _others_, as it appears to be in _that author_. But perhaps there was a necessity for it, in order to preserve the _dark_ uniformity of his production. If, as has been asserted more than _one_ of his prominent certifiers (among whom I would by no means rank these men) are themselves _atheists_, what could he swear them upon?--Upon the evangelists think you?--He might as well swear them on Payn's age of reason, or his own vile book itself. Where they "believe that their miserable bodies must take eternal refuge in the grave, and the last puff of their nostrils will send their souls to annihilation, they laugh at the solemnity of an oath and tell you that the grave into which they sink as a log, forms an intrenchment against the throne of God, and the vengeance of exasperated justice!" Such is the character which the writer fixes upon _himself_.--Such is the character which several of his _disciples_ sustain in public.

True, the falsity of an extra-judicial oath, carries with it no _temporal_ punishment; but the _moral obligation_ remains to give it validity. That _eternal reward or punishment_ which the _Citizen_ has taken so much pains to blot out from the mind of his readers, will still continue the delight and terror of the Christian, the eternal fountain of his hopes and fears;--with him a sufficient motive to truth, without the artificial and imperfect aid of _national law_. The affidavits of four or five _credible witnesses_ were already before the public, that Mr. Young's Colleagues did make a charge against him; but it seems that every moral sanction must be trampled upon or trifled with by the _Citizen_, to secure a triumph for his false and infidel principles. He skips, like a grasshopper, over facts and premises and propositions, and perches upon his pitiful assertions, which he wishes the public to pervert into conclusions. Why did he not give these affidavits lo the public?--He cannot surely complain that he forgot them, for they appear to haunt his guilty imagination through the whole of his progress; nor can he complain of wanting room. But the answer is easy. He knew it would make his bait so very bad that even his own gulls would not nibble.--

He was afraid of injuring his credit as an author even among his _own sort_--for these affidavits prove conclusively and indubitably, that not one jot nor tittle more was uttered against Mr. Young, than what emanated from his own colleagues, in the course of the winter of 1814 and 1815.

It is still more remarkable so far forth as the charge of fraud is concerned, with what logical precision _the Citizen_ pursues his inquiry.--One is naturally led to expect from his _positive rant_, nothing short of _point blank demonstration_ at least, that the fraud, (which if there was any originated with Mr. Young's colleagues) had produced the desired effect. That the attempt to cheat the people out of this _mammoth legislator_,--this _sine qua non_ to their political salvation, should have at least produced some influence with the men upon whom it was exerted. Is there no _lost and wandering sheep_ ready to return to the fold, and certify the delusions practised upon him by these wolves in sheeps clothing? Even Mr. Thompson, whose attention is apt to be otherwise directed, the moment he falls in conversation with Palmer and Bunce, scents out the fraud with all the instinctive keenness of a blood hound--Mr. Kasson on the same track, hardly the length of a nose behind, and unwilling to be outdone in sagacity, echoes the howlings of his leader. Judge Stillwell, tho' it seems the dullest of the pack, follows hard and completes the choir; or in other words Thompson and Kasson make a certificate that they _were not deceived_, and Stillwell _endorses_ to give it a proper currency.

Even Mr. Roe lays claim to the same spirit of discernment, tho' his title to that claim might be questionable on another _ground_. He is readily led into a conclusion that Mr. Wilkins must have visited the Northern towns to procure Mr. Cowen's nomination; when it happens that the committees in those towns had been chosen before his name had been mentioned in them as a candidate, and before he had consented to be considered one. Mr. Roe had much better have satisfied himself by consulting the northern delegation on this subject. He is remarkably _alert_ to detect a _fraud_ where there is none, but is willing to take any thing upon _tick_ which accommodates his good friend the _Citizen_. He certifies that he could not be deceived by the poor stories of Palmer and Bunce;--But believing the public to be greater numbsculls than himself, imagines that he can trick them into a belief, that the gentlemen who composed the northern delegation (among whom are many of the most respectable names in the county) are the mere creatures of another's will. It is perhaps fortunate that this man is an exception to the general law of nature, that _like_ produces _like_, or he might have made _tools_ of the whole county convention.

Who then was defrauded?--The Molts are by no means willing to admit that this was the case with them. The Citizen cannot produce even one poor certificate from any _one_ of the _county convention_, that they were deceived or misled--neither Mr. Deake nor judge Child were of the committee, and if they had been, they are both so good as to tell us they were not gulled in that instance _at least_. John R. Mott, one of the delegation from the town of Saratoga, according to his own certificate had gone to New-York and sent Mr Olmstead who, with Mr. _Cowen's consent_ (for it must have been by his consent that he acted as a substitute) sat in convention, and voted for Mr. Young. Thus ingeniously does the citizen rummage the chain of cause and effect, to eke out his favorite conclusion.

But stop, I confess I had like to have forgotten the certificate of Dr. Child (Increase W. Child) a son of judge Child, one of the most distinguished among the _dramatis personæ_ who figure in the book!--He does go the length of saying, that he voted on the strength of Mr. Bunce's representation. Voted for whom? For Mr. Cowen? O no.--But he voted for a _committee_, who were to meet a _committee_, to make out the _county nomination_!--And shocking to relate, poor Dr. Child was galled into a vote for three of the most respectable men in the town of Milton!!--viz: Daniel Couch jun. Esq. Joel Keeler Esq. late a member of the legislature, and Thomas Palmer Esq!!!--It is derogatory to no man in that town, to say that a more respectable delegation could not have been procured. And what is more shameful still, one of those gentlemen, viz: Daniel Couch jun Esq. whom the Doctor had thus honestly sent _to vote for Mr. Cowen_, actually deceived his constituent, and _voted for Mr. Young_!!!!--Doctor Guild's certificate is very happily illustrated by the burlesque syllogism; _that Moses was the meekest man:--Solomon was the wisest man;--And therefore St. Paul was ship wrecked_. The conclusion of a fraudulent nomination, follows about as direct upon Dr. Child's premises, as the shipwreck of St. Paul did upon the meekness of Moses or the wisdom of Solomon. We should be almost led to suspect from this specimen, that the Doctor is a greater _infant in politics_, than in _dissection_.

This famous pamphleteer is by no means more fortunate, when he approaches the topic of the McBain meeting. The materials of which this meeting was composed are now known as far as the book, which has kindly given their names to the public. It consisted of one _first judge_. One _Sheriff_ and one _Clerk_, appointed under the administration of _Samuel Young_ Esq.--_George Palmer_ Esq. Master in Chancery, As't. Justice, Justice of the peace, Post Master, &c, and whom _the book_ holds out as the _expectant_ of the _Surrogates office_--_Roe_ deputy Sheriff and _ci-devant_ constable--_James Mutt_--_James Thompson_ Esq. who had kindly volunteered, as early as the 1st of April, to take the interests of the county under his charge as _public prosecutor_ and _States evidence_--_Alpheus Goodrich Esq. his partner_--Doctor _Nathan Thompson_ his brother--Mr _Elias Benedict_ his client;--the one willing to _receive_, and the other to _pay_ in certificates of the most current stamp--_A justice or justices_ from Ballston, who knew their political God-father--Dr. _Samuel Pitkin_, who acted as minister plenipotentiary from _Milton_ to _Saratoga_, making thirteen, who it is admitted, were from all the different towns enumerated in the caption of the meeting viz: Ballston, Stillwater, Galway, Saratoga, Greenfield and Milton. Add to these some others of minor note, and you make, as the Citizen would have it, the number of 21 _or more_. The Citizen too tells us he was there; but whether in the character of ---- ---- or ---- we are left to grope in the gloom of conjecture.

Such was the formidable _Areopagus_ convened to purify the _body politic_; to correct the poor misguided county convention;--and guard the people against _being their own worst enemies_; such was the assembly presented to the public as a _numerous and respectable_ meeting from 6 towns out of 14 (judge Child and Dr. Thompson kindly representing the towns of _Greenfield_ and _Galway_.)

No sooner had this _numerous meeting_ assembled, than it was tho't necessary to divide them into the proper committees;--This being more _genteel_ and _parliamentary_ than to act in a body;--Accordingly _Stillwell, Thompson and Palmer_ were created a committee to draw up the proceedings of the meeting; _Child_ and _Stillwell_, a committee of _Logic_ and _Rhetoric_, to call on _absent friends_ and get them to consent that he _should resign. Mott_ and _Child acted_ as a _committee of vigilance_ to pick up and report scraps of conversations and letters from Mr. Gowen after the meeting was over. _Mott, Thompson, Kasson, Stillwell, Roe,_ &c acted as a committee to report to the county, the fraud which had deprived _Mr Young_ of his undoubted right to go to the Legislature, whether the people were _willing_ or _not_. Mr. Elias Benedict to draw up the proceedings of _Mr. Wilkins_ and _possibly_ to enforce the statute for the suppression of Vice and Immorality;--and committee of the whole to tell the county they had been there; and do away the strange reports which had gone abroad, that they were a little self-created body, without _precedent, authority or premises_, resembling what saucy people would call a _faction_.

All might yet have gone well, had not _Stillwell_ been such a miserable _slouch_ at telling a story. It appears that Stillwell and Palmer had written a history of the meeting for publication, in which _Mr. Cowen_ tells the meeting, "that _they_ must be responsible if they act without his absolute resignation." See p. 24 and 5. This presumptuous act throws the Citizen into a whirlwind of passion; and he falls a _cursing like a very drab_, at _Palmer, Bunce and Cowen_, apparently not believing that his _friend Stillwell_ would ever have told so dangerous a _truth_. He calls it a _farrago of nonsense_, after having before asserted that _Palmer as Secretary_ had nothing to do with it; that it belonged exclusively to the _committee of publication;_ and _then_ recollecting that Palmer and Stillwell were a majority of that _committee_, and consequently the _proper authority_, he takes another leap, and says, that the _rough draft_ of the _proceedings_ were given to _James Thompson Esq_ for wham he claims the _copy right_.

Now altho' _Thompson_ is unwilling to be outdone in telling a story, and tho' he had peaceable and quiet possession according to _the book_ of the _consciences_ of _Stillwell and Child_, instead of telling the public that _Mr. Cowen had resigned_, he says something which to be sure would look "_like that_," _as the citizen says_, upon the first impression; but which on being critically examined, contradicts the fact on the face of it. Even the compound of jargon and inconsistency drawn up by Thompson, and published in page 16 of the book, could not be tortured into an _unconditional resignation_. Mr. Cowen is there made to say, not that he _resigned_ nomination;--But that for reasons there enumerated, "it was his _personal wish to resign his own nomination_ &c. and he submitted to the decision of the meeting, the question whether it would be most expedient to act on his _resignation which_ he now made (_which_ must refer to the _personal wish_ before expressed, for no other resignation is pretended) if the meeting should judge a postponement impracticable, or to postpone acting until he could have time to communicate to some of the particular friends of his nomination (beside those who were present at the meeting) his reasons for resigning, and procure their concurrence _before hand_ &c."

Mr Cowen thus makes the concurrence of his friends _before hand_ a _condition precedent_;--but the meeting disregard it--reject the condition, and gravely resolve to accept _a resignation_, which had not yet been tendered to them. Such is the rickety production which came straggling before the public in search of the Secretary, who had refused it the sanction of his name. In order to remedy this evil, and "_throw it into form_" as the citizen would say, _his_ name gives place to that of _Thompson and Stillwell_, who it is agreed are _larger_ men than the Secretary,[10] and must therefore carry greater weight. Even the certificate which follows, signed by nearly the whole of the meeting, after going on to say that Mr. Cowen openly and publicly resigned, immediately defeats itself by referring back to, and adopting the statement drawn up by Thompson as a _candid, fair and faithful statement of facts_;--and it is evident that such part of the certificate as overshoots the premises upon which it is professedly founded, must mean nothing more than to give a _construction_ advocated by the Citizen, and which they esteem so necessary for their defence. The certificate of Peters, Stewart and How, shew the miserable shifts to which the Citizen and his friends were driven in order to bear themselves out in their conduct. They are perhaps excusable so long as they keep to the question of _construction_; but when they tax the zeal of their friends with certificates and declarations so far beyond what they themselves are willing to say--nay, which actually _contradict_ the certificates and declarations that precede them, one is almost induced to overlook the difficulties of their defence, and to suspect the moral honesty--not of these men; but of those who have drawn them into this singular situation.

After all this round of certifying and reasoning, the shoe still continues to pinch, and the first Judge again appears before the public to help the defect. Altho' he signed Thompson's statement in which he is careful to make use of the language employed by it, and the epithet _personal_ when he speaks of Mr. Cowen's language, yet when he afterwards hears of a distinction between _personally_ and _absolutely_ he seems almost struck dumb with astonishment, and says he had never heard of the distinction before. Now altho' the public will make all rational allowance for the judge's want of distinction where Mr. Thompson is concerned, yet I suspect they could hardly account for his present lack of apprehension, unless he took that statement upon tick, and signed without reading it.

Still despairing of any thing like a defence upon this ground, the Citizen at length, p. 24, dismisses his whole train of statements, certificates and letters, & undertakes very learnedly and elaborately to refine upon the distinction; and insists that if a man expresses his _personal wish to resign_, it is to all intents and purposes a _resignation_, and that no other was ever heard of; as if it was impossible to consult the opinions of others, and make a _general resignation_ depend upon their consent. All that it seems necessary in that case, is for the McBain meeting to resolve to accept what they thus are pleased to call a resignation, and nominate another candidate. And this it seems accords with the sense of all the world on the subject, both federal and republican. Thus the world are at length after a lapse of ages, furnished with an easy recipe for a resignation--a sort of _panacea_ to correct all the sores of the body politic and produce a "_speedy composure of the public mind" "Tereatis Risum Amici_;" and call no one a political quack playing off his whimsical nostrums upon the people, whose mental repose lies so near his heart. If the meeting are told that they _shall be responsible if they act on a declaration thus limited_, keep it out of view as much as possible, or say as the citizen does, p. 40, that it was only something _like that_ or _out of season_, or some such thing. If a committee of _three_ are chosen to publish the proceedings and _two_ of them write a _farrago of nonsense_ which puts the whole together by the ears, in order to decide the quarrel and "_speedily compose the public mind_," let them raffle upon the question, and to see that every thing is fair, appoint the _First Judge_ to hold the hat. Ancient history tells us of more important controversies than this, decided in the same way;

Old Hector was a wary chap,
At pitch and chuck and hustle-cap,
An old Scotch bonnet quickly takes,
In which he three brass farthings shakes;
Then turn'd his head without deceit,

To shew them that he scorn'd to cheat;
And cries aloud, here goes, my boy,
'Tis _heads_ for Greece and _tails_ for Troy;
Then turns the cap: _great Troy_ prevails,
_Two farthings_ out of three were tails.

But it is time to lift the curtain, and attend more minutely to the _chief jugglers_ who figure behind it. _The Sheriff and others_, who sign the McBain certificate, alledge that Mr. Cowen (_according to their construction_) not only _resigned his nomination_ but _did so_ without any previous _request (as they perceived)_ It would seem from _this_, that these men were kept as a sort of _puppets_ to dance in accordance with the wires which actuated them, from behind the scene; being thus, _according to their own account_, strangers to the _pressing request_ made to Mr. Cowen, and the _arguments_ by which it was enforced. They are excluded the main _performance_ and reserved for the _farce_--probably for the _wisest_ of reasons, as there are certain important parts which would be ruined in _vulgar hands_. It is time that these men _should perceive_, if they have _not yet learned_ one important fact among others, which their famous masters, _Thompson and Child_, have thus hypocritically concealed throughout. For this purpose I give the following extract of a _letter_ from Judge Child, written on the subject of that _meeting_, the day after it took place, dated at Greenfield, April 19, 1815:

"We accordingly met, and had a free candid and friendly
_consultation_ with _Mr. Cowen_; and when he came to hear the
_communication from Esquire Cowles, Ketchum and Gardner_, on
the subject of Mr. Young's _conduct_ and _usefulness_ in the
Legislature;--_and taking into consideration all the
circumstances_, he cheerfully declared that, _in his
judgement_, it was best for him to resign being a candidate;
and use his influence for the election of Mr. Young;--but
that he _really desired_ an opportunity of _consulting those
friends_ who had exerted themselves to procure his
nomination, that were not present. It was stated to him that
they lived or at least _some_ of them, at such a distance,
that it would be very difficult to give seasonable
information to the county of his _resignation_ in favor of Mr
Young, should it be put bye till Thursday or Friday as he
requested;--and that the same _reasons_[11] _which convinced
him that it would be proper for him to resign, would satisfy
them on the subject_. Mr. Cowen _still_ tho't it would be
_the best way to proceed_ and the most gratifying to his
feelings, _to take time to consult his friends_."

Thus you see Mr. Cowen was requested to resign, and the _arguments_ in favor of that resignation founded upon the _famous certificate_, dated Albany, April 17, 1815, published Ante, page 4--a statement _jesuitically_ calculated to shew that the zeal of his friends had, _by perverting the conversation of Ketchum &c._ aided in procuring _his_ nomination. And when he expresses a _desire_ to consult his friends; _an answer_ is ready, emanating from the same false and deceptive source. Thus are the most _shameful arts_ employed to destroy his _confidence in those friends_, and induce in him a reluctance _under all the circumstances_ (as the first judge expresses it) against being a candidate--You thus see their _rotten certificate_ made the foundation for the _rise_--_progress_ and _result_ of that _meeting_. Thus does the charge of DUPLICITY, FRAUD and FALSEHOOD recoil upon the heads of those _arch-certifiers_, or _the men_ employed in _obtaining_ and _giving currency_ to their shameful communication.