the bill. In the Senate, there were 14 members to the north of the river Potowmac, every one of whom supported it. Of the nine members to the south of that river, two voted for it and seven against it.

John Langdon, Senator from New-Hampshire, was absent at the passing of the bill. This is one of the few honest men whom New-England has sent to Congress. During the revolution his services were conspicuous; a firm adherence to republicanism has been a constant and uniform trait in his character ever since. But Mr. Langdon, like most other virtuous men, had the misfortune to incur the displeasure of Mr. Adams. The following letter which this Senator wrote to Samuel Ringold, of New-Hampshire, previous to the election of Mr. Jefferson, unfolds sufficiently his own principles as well as those of the President. It is one of those precious morsels of political information which deserves a place in every publication intended to record the vices and views of the late administration.

"Portsmouth, October 10, 1800,

"DEAR SIR,

"Your agreeable favor of the 4th instant has this moment come to hand; I am greatly rejoiced to see gentlemen of property and influence coming forward at this eventful moment in the common cause of our country; I have no doubt we shall yet be saved.

"I am now packing my baggage, shall set out in the stage to-morrow morning for the city of Washington; hope to be in Baltimore the beginning of next month; this prevents me answering your letter so fully as I could wish, having only one moment to spare.

"In the conversation held between Mr. Adams, Mr. Taylor and myself, Mr. Adams certainly expressed himself (as far as my memory serves me) in the very words mentioned in your letter, viz. that he hoped, or expected to see the day when Mr. Taylor, and his friend Mr. Giles, would be convinced that the people of America would not be happy without an hereditary Chief Magistrate and Senate, or at least for life.

"Believe me sincerely,

"Your obedient servant,

66

SAMUEL RINGOLD."

JOHN LANGDON.

It may be remembered that Mr. Callender requested time might be granted him to serve a subpœna on Mr. Langdon, as also on several others, whose evidence he believed would sufficiently prove the most material of his charges against Mr. Adams. But this necessary postponement, which would have shewn the President in his proper colours, was peremptorily refused by the Federal Court. This circumstance, and the conduct of Judge Chase on that occasion, shall be more particularly investigated when we come to narrate the trial of Mr. Callender.

Mr. Langdon, to his other virtues, adds that of a charitable and generous mind....few of his countrymen possess this virtue in an equal degree. Inattentive to the spirit of party and political intrigue, his principal study and greatest ambition are to reward industry and obtain the applause of good men. On all occasions he has stood forth and exerted himself in the cause of the distressed and injured citizen. In short, which ever way we view Mr. Langdon, we find him fertile in every great and good qualification.

Leaving Mr. Langdon, we enter a barren waste when we venture to explore the characters of the other Senators from New-England.

Theodore Sedgwick, of Massachusetts, and James Hillhouse, of Connecticut, were the principal authors of the Alien and Sedition Acts; they also voted for Hamilton's plan of funding the domestic debt. A transaction more detestable than this scheme can hardly be conceived, when it is known that both these men had made considerable purchases in the certificates of the old army.

Foster, of Rhode-Island, is one of the weakest men in the United States. He voted, if we may believe his friends, for the plans of the President, without comprehending their tendency or import. His constituents, who sent him to Congress, and who were acquainted with the narrow extent of his talents, ought only to be censured.

Elijah Paine, from Vermont, presents a character of a different complexion. He displays on

every occasion, a natural fierceness which it is impossible to temper or disguise. Though a stranger to real wisdom, he is possessed both of selfish cunning and a talent for intrigue. He can threaten or cringe to his opponents as circumstances require; but in general, his behavior borders on rudeness, and his oratory is savage in the extreme.

Uriah Tracey may be regarded as the Burke of Connecticut. Though neither possessed of the talents, the erudition, or the splendid eloquence of that British Senator, he rivals him in anti-jacobin abuse and vindictive declamation against the French nation. He would wade up to the knees in blood to extirpate the republicans of France. He has declared in Congress, that if he had his wish, he would arm every man, woman and child in America against every man, woman and child in France. These were not words uttered in the heat of passion, in the unthinking moment of pleasure, or over the intoxicating fumes of Braintree claret; they were pronounced in a solemn exhortation to the Senators of the United States, and accurately recorded by Mr. Lloyd, the Stenographer, who was present.

Mr. Bingham, of Philadelphia, Senator for Pennsylvania, is a merchant of immense property, a high-flying Federalist, and devoted to the British interest. He is ambitious of being thought a man of science and a lover of the arts, but no man has less claim to these pretensions than Mr. Bingham. The ability of reading his own language, and of di

recting the clerks of his counting-house, constitutes his whole stock of learning. Although the virtues of honesty and a generous heart are not the most conspicuous traits in his character, yet he was the friend of Mr. Adams and companion to the ambassador Liston.

The charges which have been adduced against James Ross, the colleague of Mr. Bingham, are too numerous to admit of insertion in their full extent. I shall only briefly specify those, the truth of which even his friends are compelled to allow.

This Senator voted, in the convention of Pennsylvania, on the 2d of February, to strike out of the constitutional regulations about holding offices, the words "who acknowledges the being of a God, and a future state of rewards and punishments.

He staid away from the Senate without any cause for nineteen weeks and four days, so that Pennsylvania, which had only two votes in the Senate, was left with no more than one vote in that body. (Journal of the Senate, January 8, April 26, and July, 1798.) By this means he escaped the odium of voting for the Alien and Sedition bills.

Mr. Ross voted for the British treaty; for increasing the salaries of the officers of government. when the people were groaning under the weight of new taxes; he voted also for a standing army.

At the table of Messrs. Hollines and Rainey, merchants, at Philadelphia, when "The Constitution of the United States" was given as a toast, he left the room.