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of me, which have no foundation in truth. The first, in many instances I know to be the case; and the second I believe to be so. But truth or falsehood is immaterial to them, provided the objects are promoted.

DEAR SIR,

TO BURGES BALL

PHILADELPHIA, 25 September, 1794.

Your letter of the 10th instant from the Sulphur Springs has been received. I hear with the greatest pleasure of the spirit, which so generally pervades the militia of every State, that has been called upon on the present occasion; and of the decided discountenance the incendiaries of public peace and order have met with in their attempts to spread their nefarious doctrines, with a view to poison and discontent the minds of the people against the government; particularly by endeavoring to have it believed, that their liberties were assailed, and that all the wicked and abominable measures that can be devised under specious guises are practised to sap the constitution, and lay the foundation of future slavery.

The insurrection in the western counties of this State is a striking evidence of this, and may be considered as the first ripe fruit of the Democratic Societies. I did not, I must confess, expect it would come to maturity so soon, though I never had a doubt that such conduct would produce some such issue, if it did not meet the frowns of those, who

were well disposed to order and good government in time; for can any thing be more absurd, more arrogant, or more pernicious to the peace of society, than for self-created bodies, forming themselves into permanent censors, and under the shade of night in a conclave resolving that acts of Congress, which have undergone the most deliberate and solemn discussion by the representatives of the people, chosen for the express purpose and bringing with them from the different parts of the Union the sense of their constituents, endeavoring as far as the nature of the thing will admit to form their will into laws for the government of the whole; I say, under these circumstances, for a self-created permanent body (for no one denies the right of the people to meet occasionally to petition for, or remonstrate against, any act of the legislature) to declare that this act is unconstitutional, and that act is pregnant with mischiefs, and that all, who vote contrary to their dogmas, are actuated by selfish motives or under foreign influence, nay, are pronounced traitors to their country? Is such a stretch of arrogant presumption to be reconciled with laudable motives, especially when we see the same set of men endeavoring to destroy all confidence in the administration, by arraigning all its acts, without knowing on what ground or with what information it proceeds?

These things were evidently intended, and could not fail without counteraction, to disquiet the public mind; but I hope and trust this will work their own curse; especially when it is known more gen

erally than it is, that the Democratic Society of this place, from which the others have emanated, was instituted by M. Genet for the express purpose of dissension, and to draw a line between the people and the government, after he found the officers of the latter would not yield to the hostile measures in which he wanted to embroil this country.

I hope this letter will find you, Mrs. Ball, and the family in better health, than when you wrote last. Remember me to them, and be assured that I remain your affectionate friend.

TO MAJOR-GENERAL DANIEL MORGAN

DEAR SIR,

CARLISLE, 8 October, 1794.

In the moment I was leaving the city of Philadelphia for this place, your letter of the 24th ultimo was put into my hands. Although I regret the occasion which has called you into the field, I rejoice to hear you are there; and it is probable I may meet you at Fort Cumberland, whither I shall proceed, so soon as I see the troops at this rendezvous in condition to advance. At that place, or at Bedford, my ulterior resolution must be taken, either to advance with the troops into the insurgent counties of this State, or to return to Philadelphia for the purpose of meeting Congress the 3d of next month.1

1" The President will be governed by circumstances. If the thing puts on an appearance of magnitude, he goes; if not, he

Imperious circumstances alone can justify my absence from the seat of government, whilst Congress are in session; but if these, from the disposition of the people in the refractory counties, and the state of the information I expect to receive at the advanced posts, should appear to exist, the lesser must yield to the greater duties of my office, and I shall cross the mountains with the troops; if not, I shall place the command of the combined force under the orders of Governor Lee of Virginia, and repair to the seat of government.

I am perfectly in sentiment with you, that the business we are drawn out upon should be effectually executed, and that the daring and factious spirit, which has arisen (to overturn the laws and to subvert the constitution,) ought to be subdued. If this is not done, there is an end of, and we may bid adieu to, all government in this country, except mob and club government, from whence nothing but anarchy and confusion can ensue. If the minority, and a small one too, is suffered to dictate to the majority, after measures have undergone the most solemn discussions by the representatives of

stays. There is a pro and a con in the case."-Hamilton to Jay, 17 September, 1794.

"I do not expect to be here [Fort Cumberland] more than two days; thence to Bedford, where, as soon as matters are arranged and a plan settled, I shall shape my course for Philadelphia; but not because the impertinence of Mr. Bache or his correspondent has undertaken to pronounce, that I cannot constitutionally command the army, whilst Congress are in session."-Washington to Edmund Randolph, 16 October, 1794. This is the only instance in the history of the United States in which the President has assumed personal command and direction of troops in active service.

the people, and their will through this medium is enacted into a law, there can be no security for life, liberty, or property; nor if the laws are not to govern, can any man know how to conduct himself in safety. There never was a law yet made, I conceive, that hit the taste exactly of every man, or every part of the community; of course, if this be a reason for opposition, no law can be executed at all without force, and every man or set of men will in that case cut and carve for themselves; the consequences of which must be deprecated by all classes of men, who are friends to order, and to the peace and happiness of the country. But how can things be otherwise than they are, when clubs and societies have been instituted for the express purpose, though clothed in another garb, by their diabolical leader Genet, whose object was to sow sedition, to poison the minds of the people of this country, and to make them discontented with the government of it, who have labored indefatigably to effect these purposes.

TO HENRY LEE, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE MILITIA ARMY

SIR,

BEDFORD, 20 October, 1794.

Being about to return to the seat of government, I cannot take my departure, without conveying through you to the army under your command, the very high sense I entertain of the enlightened and patriotic zeal for the constitution and the laws,

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