The New York Journal, And Daily Patriotic Register

From the INDEPENDENT GAZETTEER.

Printed at Philadelphia.

Mr. PRINTER,

I send you a copy of a real letter from one of the junto to the East ward, to his friend in this city, that you may lay it before the public, who may from it form some faint idea of the juggling carrying on by the well born few.

QUI D.

February 23, 1788.

Boston, February 12, 1788.

To the right Hon James de Caledonlu.

Dear Sir,

DULY received yours of the 24th Jan. containing very disagreeable accounts of our scheme being so ably opened up, and of the people falling off from you, &c. I make us very unhappy here; however do not despond; I am glad to find you have got your "wing committee," appointed, and employed: I confess what you say is just, and that there is somewhat disagreeable in winning, with the argument against you, and with able competitors.

In your two last numbers of the Freeman's Journal, to be sure you exceed yourself: but I would not advise you to continue the publication of them in the city, they will hit better for the country; ha, ha, ha: you make bold assertions; you should take care not to let it be known who the author of them is, the very name of a lawyer would ruin a publication in our country.

Keep your committee hard at it; and fill your weekly paper from top to bottom Your notion of favoring your own pieces may do, if not found out. Do try by all means to regain your lost ground, leave no stone unturned; much is gained by continuing the business, you are really a complete sophist:

You know your reward should it succeed; we have all agreed you shall have L. 5000 per annum, with the office of attorney general (of the union.) As to the office of chief justice, which you wished for, it would have been yours, but, necessity obliging us to close with J—-y--- it was his price.

I was glad to find you had stopped the publication of the debates of your convention; and that you had suited your own so well to the time; you was very right to hold back the tenor of our amendments containing the nine here of the ninth I as perhaps the real ones might come out. But I am sorry you could not silence the press entirely: however as we have the P.-t O- fice full at our service, you must prevent any of the new spapers which contain publications against us, getting out of your state. We have been remarkably successful in this hitherto; very newspaper against us has been stopped, even the reasons of dissent of our minority, and the information of Mr. Martin, has been scarcely heard of here; this was very fortunate, as it would certainly have ruined us in this quarter. So great was the want of information here, that we made the people believe all to the southward of us indeed that every state but our own, were almost unanimous in favor of our plan. You would have laughed to have seen our newspapers on the day the final question was taken in our, convention; there we published an account of the almost unanimous adoption of the constitution by the convention of North-Carolina; that the state of New-York had called a convention at a very early day, without any opposition; and the trifling opposition in your state had ceased; that Randolph, Mason, Lee, &c. had joined our party; and many other similar accounts.

In this situation, when such a variety of circumstances concurred in our favor; although we had juggled in above 50 members of the convention, by the assistance of country friends; and was so fortunate as to keep out any Ciceros from the opposition in the convention: although we bought off the province of Main with the feather of a separate state; although we had such a number of able hands, among which were many as complete sophists as yourself; though we gained the man of the people by holding out to him the office of vice president; although we had the influence of the town of Boston to assist us, still we would have lost the question almost two to one if we had not agreed to the amendments, which you find included in the ratification; and these not to be made by the first Congress as you proposed, but according to the 5th article, that is, by another convention.This was a master stroke, but we could 'not avoid it.

You have seen with much surprise, I dare say, the great parade we made at the ratification; it cost us a considerable sum, but I am in hopes it will be of great service; these things have great effect on common minds. You see we have the town of Boston under our discipline ; I wish I could say so of the rest of the state, indeed it is far otherwise; four fifths of the people are against us: But as you say, what need we care for the sentiments of the people, if we can only get the army a foot.

I was happy to hear you was disarming your militia both for your own safety, and because you will want the arms for the troops ; but at the same time I thought it a bold push, and might cause alarm.
I have lately received a letter from Mr. I. A--, our A--d--r at London, he is pleased with my compliment of his volume, it was, I told him, of much service to us. He has endeavored, through Bobby's credit, to contract for the necessaries we wrote; but he found it would not do: he then pledged the faith of the United States to fulfill the contracts he has made. He has also entered into other treaties for the other articles, which I shall be more particular about by a safer opportunity.

When these things were told to our friends here, many of them began to stare; for they consider the matter as lost since this state, which, they say, is the most important in the union, has called for amendments; the people of your state, the states of Virginia, New-York, North-Carolina, and Maryland, so generally against it: to be sure, matters look blue; but I am in hopes still that our exertions will be crowned with success. You know that you or I have nothing to lose, and much to gain. Some of our milk and water friends here think we had better stop, and submit again to another convention; because, say they, we will be involved in a civil war, if we persist; but I tell them we will not give it up while any hopes remain; as now, we are found out, we never shall be trusted in another convention; and so we shall lose every thing. But if we succeed in this plan, we shall never again be troubled with the people, never dread the event of elections; we shall enjoy our places, honors and preferments, and leave them to our children after us. We shall be able to keep the people at a proper distance, and establish our numerous friends and relations in lucrative and substantial offices.

Present my compliments to Bobby, and also to Billy in the new big house; and tell them I congratulate them upon the prospect of all their old continental balances being done away; as I don't find that part of the constitution is yet discovered.

You are an admirable man, the most useful in the convention; but you was rather for taking too much at one time; the double powers of our little essentially elected senate; the control over the press; the abolition of trial by jury in civil cases, and the common law proceedings; internal taxation; the pecuniary dependency of the judges, and their great powers; the standing army; the smallness of the lower house; the exclusion of rotation; and the powers to make all laws which we may think necessary and proper. And that these laws and the treaties of the little senate should be the supreme law of the land, over the constitutions and laws of the several states. These would have been quite sufficient for us; with them alone we could chain down all America; we might have given up the rest to the winds: the control over the elections: the command of the militia; the power of the senate to alter money bills; the powers of the president to pardon criminals, to command in person the armies, navies, and militia, &c. and his long appointment, his right of being re-elected; omission of declarations in favor of liberty of conscience, and twenty others, which have been of great hurt to us, might have been left out. But between you and me, they will never discover some of the most exceptionable parts.

I suppose you will soon hear of its adoption by New-Hampshire; but it will be many months before any other can come into it. Pray, inform me how Martin is going on; I hope he will be persuaded to discontinue his publications; we have sent him an offer of the office of chief justice of the federal court of his state, but I am afraid of him.

We have gained much by deceiving one part of the continent, with plausible accounts from the other; pray, do not discontinue this; have you no more town or county meetings to publish? What M-- says is very true; almost all of our strength lies in the trading towns; and his remark is just that they would consent to go to the devil, if they thought they could again sell as many British goods, as they formerly did.

Keep up the spirits of your boys, and exert yourselves; I shall write you again shortly.

I am, dear sir,

Your most obedient,

And very humble servant,

J. B.

P. S.