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letters were made public. His words are these: "They [the Letters of Stone] were first published "in England, with a view to render me obnoxious

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No great degree of sagacity is requisite to enable us to discover the object of this despicable complaint. The authenticity of the intercepted letters was too well established to be shaken by any denial of his no equivocation, no subterfuge, would, onthis score, have answered the least purpose; and he, therefore, was driven to avail himself of a misrepresentation of the views from which they were made public. Unable to contradict the fact, to deny the truth of the testimony against him, he endeavours to deaden its effect by complaining of the hard-heartedness of his accuser: conscious that the justice of the public must condemn him, he has the meanness to appeal to their compas

sion.

That this complaint is, however, wholly groundless, that the Letters of Stone were not published in England with a view to render him odious, here or any where else, is very evident from the Preface and the Notes of the English publisher; in which, those parts of the letters relative to America, though peculiarly inviting to the Commentator, are suffered to pass almost entirely unnoticed and as to himself, he is mentioned but once, when he is thought worthy of nothing more than a sneer of contempt.

The fact is, the Doctor has too high an opinion of his own merits. He imagines himself a much more dangerous and dreaded pest than he really his. The people of England, if I have any knowledge of their sentiments, care nothing about him or his plots. They know, indeed, that he is a political viper; but they also know, that, with regard to them and their country, he is a viper without a

sting: and, as to what mischief he may do here or elsewhere, it cannot be believed but they must be extremely indifferent. If America is destined to suffer from his machinations, on the Americans will lie all the blame. During many, many years, previous to his emigration, every art was made use of by individuals, by societies, and even by several of the legislatures, to gather together on these shores all the discontented from under every government in Europe. When the hospitable host is betrayed by the stranger, whom, without any views of interest, he has received under his roof, and seated at his table, every noble feeling of the heart is roused in his cause; but, very different indeed is the effect, when we hear a people complain of the treachery of those, whom they have invited, nay inveigled, not to say seduced, froin their duty and their homes.

But, to return to the Doctor's complaint; allowing the publishers of the Intercepted Letters to have been aware, that the publication of them would render him obnoxious in America; and even allowing these publishers to be, as he hints, the British government: Yet, what reason has he to complain? The British government is the guardian of the interest and honour of the British nation, and is, whatever he and his traiterous correspondent may say to the contrary, the organ by which the people express their sentiments on every national concern. And whence, pray, does the Doctor presume that he, above all men living, ought to expect favour at the hands of that people? What has he done to merit their commiseration or their mercy? What truth, injurious to their reputation, did he ever suppress? And when did he miss an opportunity of endeavouring to render them the hate and the scorn of the universe?

That

That his whole political life has been a continued series of hostile attempts against the tranquillity, happiness, and national character of Britons, need not, at this day, be asserted. It was the notoriety of this fact, which procured him the "affectionate "farewell" of those sons of brutality and treason, the United Irishmen, and the " affectionate welcome" of the no less brutal and perfidious Democrats of America. As, however, it is possible that these remarks may fall into the hands of some persons, who are not acquainted with all the divers stages of his seditious career, I shall introduce an instance or two of the implacable malice, which he has discovered against the British nation, since his emigration to America; and, for doing this, my being myself a Briton, will, I am sure, be a sufficient apology.

The Preface to his farewell Hackney Sermon, which was evidently intended as an appeal from the people of England to the people of America (or rather from the impartial judgment of the former to the prejudices of the latter), and which he took good care to publish, and to distribute in great profusion, immediately upon his arrival at Philadelphia, is a most malignant libel on the whole British nation. The king is represented as a despot; their legislators as corrupt; their clergy as idolatrous, bigoted, and persecuting; their judges as unmerciful and partial; their juries as perjured; and the people at large, as ignorant, profligate, base and

cruel.

His letter to a friend in England, which was published there in all the manufacturing towns, and which was evidently intended to be so published, in order to induce people to emigrate; that letter, of which every sentence, and every member of a sentence, is an abominable falsehood; that letter, which says, "here we have no poor," and which was

written

written at the very time that the writer was preaching "charity sermons," for the relief" of poor "Emigrants," many of whom he, in this sermon, says, if not so relieved "must perish;" that letter I shall pass over at present, because I look upon it as a duty I owe to my countrymen to give it a separate and ample reply.

Neither shall I stop to remark on his echo to the 'calumnies contained in the New-York addresses; because, though abundantly wicked, it was in some measure drawn from him by the only persons from whom he ever received a cordial reception on this side of the Atlantic. But, the same excuse (if indeed, it ought to be admitted as one) cannot be offered in defence of his malicious" Charity Ser

mon for the relief of poor Emigrants." In this Sermon, as it is called, which is at once the most nonsensical and nefarious production that was ever snuffled forth from the tub of a conventicle, he calls on the Americans to remember that their forefathers, if not they themselves, were PERSECUTED BY GREAT BRITAIN; he reminds them of their victorious endeavours in their LATE HARD STRUGGLE AGAINST that nation: he tells them the poor Emigrants, though at a distance, PRAYED for their success, and cON

TRIBUTED TOWARDS IT IN VARIOUS OTHER

WAYS; and finally he tells them, that these poor Emigrants ARE NOW PERSECUTED AND DRIVEN FROM GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND FOR HAVING BEEN FRIENDS TO THE AMERICAN CAUSE, and that even wishing well to the LIBERTY AND INDEPENDENCE OF AMERICA IS A CRIME GREAT BRITAIN WILL NEVER FORGIVE. Atrociously false as this statement is, its falsehood is lost in its poisonous malignity. It is im

*

THAT

* When I say the Doctor's statement is false, I only mean, as far as it relates to the conduct and disposition of Great Britain.

That

possible to form a conception of any thing more expressive of a black and rancorous heart, than this attempt to revive the ill-grounded and disgraceful hatred, too long entertained by the Americans, against a nation from whom they are descended; from whom they derive their language, and whatsoever else they possess of excellence in their manners, their customs, their laws and their religion; to whom they owe the foundation of their prosperity and their greatness; to whose glorious deeds they are indebted for their present tranquillity and safety, and on whose fate (in spite of the suggestions of fools and traitors) their freedom and independence must finally depend. To revive and perpetuate animosities between millions of men, whose happiness, on a national scale, entirely depends on their mutual friendship, must, from whatever motive arising, and by whatever means attempted, be regarded as supremely wicked and detestable : where, then, shall we find language to express our abhorrence of the vindictive, unnatural, and hypocritical wretch, who makes the Satan-like attempt from hatred to his native country, and who profanes the tender and sacred name of Charity, by

That the Doctor and his brethren contributed as far as lay in their power towards the success of the American revolt, I have not the temerity to deny, or the stupidity to doubt. Yes, the whole SECT; whether doctors of law, physick, or divinity; whether poets, historians, or criticks, were all hearty in the cause. One Smith of Philadelphia, some time ago, attempted a regular republication of the Monthly Review Enlarged. In order to induce people to subscribe to his work, he stated in his proposals, that his Review was decidedly opposed to the British system in church and state, that it was conducted by republicans, and had eminently contributed towards the success of the American revolution. I gave Smith's republication a slight Kick, and down it went. This very attempt is forgotten; but it is not amiss that we remember his encomiums on the Monthly Review.

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