became necessary for the As the usual routes were

magistrates or inhabitants of Pittsburg, it Marshal and Inspector to quit the place. beset by the insurgents, they concluded to descend the Ohio, and proceed by a circuitous route to Philadelphia. They began their journey on the night of the 19th, and arrived at their destination in safety. Before separating, after the attack on the Inspector's, the insurgents appointed a meeting to be held on the 23d of July, at Mingo Creek Meeting House, in Washington county. At this meeting, which was composed of those who had been engaged in the attack, and a large number from the neighbouring counties, first appeared Brackenridge, Marshall, Bradford, and Parkinson, who afterwards became so prominent.*

Bradford addressed the meeting in a tone of violent declamation. He declared his approbation of what had been done, and called upon those assembled to pledge themselves to support it. Brackenridge then followed in a temperate and ingenious speech, by which he managed to show them that they had committed acts of treason, and to persuade them against any precipitate action, without endangering his safety, and without appearing to be adverse to their cause. It was finally determined to postpone their final determination to a more general assemblage. The following call for another meeting was made, and published in the Pittsburg Gazette of the 26th July:

Hugh H. Brackenridge was then a lawyer of considerable standing in Pittsburg, and afterwards became a Judge of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. He was a man of some learning and much eccentricity, and was the author of several books, the best known of which was a humorous novel, called "Modern Chivalry, or the Adventures of Captain John Farrago and his Servant Teague O'Regan," which was very successful in its day. One act of magnanimity on his part ought to be recorded, to preserve his memory from oblivion. In 1805, Judges Shippen, Yeates, and Smith, of the Supreme Court of Pennsyl vania, being out of favour with the Legislature, were impeached for an alleged mal-administration of justice in the case of Com. v. Passmore. The charge was, that they had illegally imprisoned the defendant in that case for a contempt, in publishing a libel on certain proceedings in that court, but the matter wore an entirely political aspect. Judge Brackenridge was not present when the decision was pronounced, and was of the same political creed as the dominant party in the House of Representatives. He, however, at once wrote to the Committee of Impeachment, requesting them to join him with the other judges in the proceedings, as he entirely approved of their decision, and, if he had been present, would have concurred in it. He considered it but fair and right, that, sharing the obnoxious opinions of his brethren, he should also share their punishment. The committee refused to accede to this, and the other judges were afterwards acquitted.

Colonel Marshall, an Irishman, was a man of respectability and wealth. He had been Sheriff of Washington County, Member of the Legislature, and of the Convention for ratifying the Constitution of the United States, against which he voted. As his character had been that of a moderate, prudent, industrious man, the part he took in the insurrection surprised every one.

David Bradford, a Marylander by birth, had been deputy of the Attorney-General of the State, for Washington County, ever since its creation. At the time of the adoption of the Constitution he was a zealous Federalist. He was a man of great timidity of character, and yet a great demagogue. Before the attack on the Inspector's, he had avoided giving open sanction to their proceedings, yet had encouraged the rioters. But, after that time, he was compelled by their threats to declare himself in their favour. He had thus got unexpectedly involved in the insurrection, and finding it too late to recede, endeavoured to carry out the most violent measures in order to save himself. All the wild proceedings afterwards adopted are attributable to him

Benjamin Parkinson, a native of Pennsylvania, was also a Federalist, and had formerly supported General Neville. He had been reputed a good citizen, and a man of influence. in his neighbourhood, and had been a justice of the peace. He was one of the Committee of Superintendence at the attack on General Neville's house.

"By a respectable number of citizens who met on Wednesday, the 23d instant, it is recommended to the townships of the four Western Pennsylvania counties, and the neighbouring counties of Virginia, to meet and choose representatives, to meet at Parkinson's Ferry, on the Monongahela, on the 14th of August next, to take into consideration the situation of the western country."*

In order to ascertain the strength of the insurgents, and to discover whether there were any latent enemies yet remaining unsuspected, Bradford, who had now assumed the direction of affairs, planned and executed another enterprise. The mail between Pittsburg and Philadelphia was robbed, near Greensburgh, on the 26th of July, by a party sent for that purpose, and the Pittsburg and Washington packet taken out. This was taken to Canonsburg, a village about seven miles from Washington, by Parkinson. A convention was held by the leaders to open and consider the letters. Those from Washington were unobjectionable. But some of those from Pittsburg contained very severe animadversion on the conduct of the insurgents, and showed no friendly disposition on the part of the writers.

Bradford and the Convention at Canonsburg immediately issued circular letters, directed to the militia officers of the four counties, for a meeting to be held at Braddock's Field, on the Monongahela, on the 1st of August. The objects which were contemplated, it is said, were to take a march to Pittsburg, to seize the magazine and military stores, and also to take the writers of the letters, and imprison them in Washington jail. The burning of the town was even spoken of.

The intended character of the meeting, notwithstanding the cautious wording of the notice, was no secret. The following letter from Bradford to the inhabitants of Mononga hela, will show the spirit of the leaders:

"Gentlemen,

"August 6th, 1794.

"I presume you have heard of the spirited opposition given to the Excise Law in this state. Matters have been so brought to a pass here, that all are under the necessity of bringing their minds to a final conclusion. This has been the question amongst us some days: 'Shall we disapprove of the conduct of those engaged against Neville, the excise officer, or approve? Or, in other words, 'Shall we suffer them to fall a sacrifice to a Federal prosecution, or shall we support them? On the result of this business we have fully deliberated, and have determined, with head, heart, hand and voice, that we will support the opposition to the Excise Law. The crisis has now come. Submission or opposition. We are determined on the opposition; we are determined to act agreeably to system; to form arrangements guided by reason, prudence, fortitude, spirited conduct. We have proposed a general meeting of four counties of Pennsylvania, and have invited our brethren in the neighbouring counties of Virginia to come forward, and join us in council and deliberation, on this important crisis, and conclude upon measures interesting to the western counties of Pennsylvania and Virginia. A notification of this kind may be seen in the Pittsburg paper. Parkinson Ferry is the place proposed as the most central, and the 14th of August the time.

"We solicit you, by all the ties that a union of interests can suggest, to come forward to join with us in our deliberations. The cause is common to us all. We invite you to come, even should you differ with us in opinion. We wish you to hear our reasons influencing our conduct.

"Yours, with esteem,

"DAVID BRADFORD."

Canonsburg, 28th July, 1794.

†The following is one of the circulars referred to in the text:

66

« Sir, "Having been suspicious that the Pittsburg post would carry with him the sentiments of some of the people in the country respecting our present alarming situation; and the letters by the post being now in our possession, by which certain secrets are discovered hostile to

In the meantime, the inhabitants of Pittsburg, by means of the postboy, who had been sent back with the remainder of the mail, obtained information of the projected march of the insurgents. Opposition was impossible. It was therefore deemed prudent to remove the causes of objection. A town meeting was immediately held; and with their consent, and for their safety, the obnoxious persons, "Ed. Day, James Bryson, and Ab. Kirkpatrick," were formally banished. The town meeting then went on to profess great warmth for the cause, to promise the attendance of the inhabitants at Braddock's Field, and to make arrangements to send delegates to the Parkinson's Ferry meeting.

The number of people present at Braddock's Field, on the day appointed, is estimated to have been about seven thousand persons. Almost all these were fully armed and equipped. A very warlike disposition was manifested on the occasion by the majority of those present. There was a continued firing of guns; and the conversation of the militia men was anything but subdued. Bradford, who had assumed the title of Major-General, reviewed the troops on the ground, and received tokens of the most infatuated submission.

A committee was appointed at the rendezvous, who had resolved that General Gibson and Colonel Neville should be expelled, and authorized the Pittsburg Committee to put this in execution. It was resolved, also, that the army, as it was called, should march to Pittsburg. The design of attacking the garrison was, however, abandoned. The people of Pittsburg were remarkably hospitable on the occasion. The army marched through the town very peaceably, and crossed the Monongahela. The well disposed then retired to their homes, but a number remained, who created some disturbances. Major Kirkpatrick's barn was burnt, and an attempt was made to set fire to his dwelling house, which was prevented by the interposition of the leaders.

A few days after this meeting, another attack was again made upon the residence of Wells, the Collector of Fayette County. His house was burned, and he was compelled to resign his commission, and swear never to hold the office for the future. Threatening letters were sent

our interests, it is therefore now come to this crisis, that every citizen must express his sentiments, not by his words, but by his actions. You are thus called on, as a citizen of the western country, to render your personal service, with as many volunteers as you can raise, to rendezvous, at your usual place of meeting, on Wednesday next; and from thence you will march to the usual place of rendezvous at Braddock's Field, on the Monongahela, on Friday, the 1st day of August next, to be there at two o'clock in the afternoon, with arms and accoutrements in good order. If any volunteer should want arms or ammunition, bring them forward, and they shall be supplied as well as possible. Here, sir, you have an expedition proposed, in which you will have an opportunity of displaying your military talents, and of rendering service to your country. Four days provision will be wanted; let the men be thus supplied.

"We are, &c.
(Signed by)

"J. CANON,

"T. BRADFORD,
"B. PARKINSON, and others."

Though it is alleged that the opening of the letters, and the indignation felt at their contents, were the causes of the first calling out of the militia, it is more than probable that the whole plan was arranged beforehand, and that the letters were only seized in order to give a pretext of some kind for its execution. Bradford and his colleagues knew well enough beforehand what the letters would contain.

into Westmoreland County, to excite the people to go against Webster, the Collector of Bedford. Webster was a man extremely obnoxious, for other and better reasons than his holding an office under the Excise Law. He had been very oppressive to the poor in the discharge of his office, and had, in several instances at least, by the judgment of the Inspector, acted illegally, though no redress was obtained. It was not difficult to get a party to go against him. The attack was made upon his house, but he offered not the slightest resistance. He brought out his commission and papers himself, tore them up and trod them under foot. No other violence was done him than insulting language. The insurrection had now reached a point at which the temporizing policy of the government could be pursued no longer. The execution of the laws had at length been resisted by open force, and a determination to persevere in these measures was unequivocally avowed. The alternative of subduing this resistance, or of submitting to it, was presented to the government.

The act of Congress which provided for calling out the militia "to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repress invasions," required, as a prerequisite to the exercise of this power, "that an associate justice or judge of the district should certify that the laws of the United States were opposed, or their execution obstructed by combinations too powerful to be suppressed by the ordinary course of judicial proceedings, or by the powers vested in the Marshal." In the same act, it was provided, "that if the militia of the State, where such combinations may happen, shall refuse, or be insufficient, to suppress the same, the President may employ the militia of other States.

Affidavits of all the previous matters were laid before Judge Wilson, who granted the necessary certificate on August 4th, 1794.

The executive being now authorized to adopt such measures as the occasion required, the subject was seriously considered in the Cabinet; and Governor Mifflin, of Pennsylvania, was also consulted respecting it. To avoid military coercion, if obedience to the laws could be produced by other means, was the universal desire. All concurred, therefore, in advising the appointment of commissioners on the part of the government, and also from the State, to warn the insurgents of their impending danger, and to convey a full pardon for past offences, on condition of future submission. But as regarded ulterior measures, in case of continued resistance, a difference of opinion existed. The act before mentioned, made it the duty of the President, before the employment of military force, to issue his proclamation, commanding the insurgents to disperse within a limited time. The Secretary of State (and the Governor of Pennsylvania concurred with him) was of opinion that the conciliatory mission should be unaccompanied by any measure that might bear the appearance of force. It was supposed by him that the militia could not serve; or if they did, the introduction of, as it were, foreign troops into the State, would have the effect of inflaming incurably the resentment of the insurgents.*

The Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of War, and the Attorney-General, were of opinion that the President was bound by the

See for correspondence note on page 143.

most high and solemn obligations to enforce obedience to the laws, and they recommended the employment of a force that would render resistance impossible. The insurgents could, at the most, muster only about seven thousand men; if the government should raise an army of twelve thousand men, it would be amply sufficient to overawe and to crush opposition in the bud.

The President adopted the latter of these opinions. Forbearance, he agreed, had been too long the policy of the government. It had been hitherto tried without success. It was more than probable that, if it were continued, the range of disaffection would be extended, and the disorders become incurable. Washington, therefore, determined at once to issue the proclamation that was to precede the employment of force, which was done on the 7th of August.*

This paper was as follows:

Whereas, combinations to defeat the execution of the laws levying duties upon spirits distilled within the United States and upon stills, have from the time of the commencement of those laws existed in some of the western parts of Pennsylvania. And whereas, the said combinations, proceeding in a manner subversive equally of the just authority of go. vernment and of the rights of individuals, have hitherto effected their dangerous and criminal purpose; by the influence of certain irregular meetings, whose proceedings have tended to encourage and uphold the spirit of opposition, by misrepresentations of the laws calculated to render them obnoxious, by endeavours to deter those who might be so disposed from accepting offices under them, through fear of public resentment and injury to person and property, and to compel those who had accepted such offices by actual violence to surrender or forbear the execution of them;-by circulating vindictive menaces against all those who should otherwise directly or indirectly aid in the execution of the said laws, or who, yielding to the dictates of conscience and to a sense of obligation, should themselves comply therewith, by actually injuring and destroying the property of persons who were understood to have so complied;-by inflicting cruel and humiliating punishments upon private citizens for no other cause than that of appearing to be the friends of the laws;-by intercepting the public officers on the highways, abusing, assaulting and otherwise ill-treating them;— by going to their houses in the night, gaining admittance by force, taking away their papers and committing other outrages; employing for their unwarrantable purposes the agency of armed banditti, disguised in such manner as for the most part to escape discovery: And whereas, the endeavours of the legislature to obviate objections to the said laws, by lowering the duties and by other alterations conducive to the convenience of those whom they immediately affect, (though they have given satisfaction in other quarters,) and the endeavours of the executive officers to conciliate a compliance with the laws, by explanations, by forbearance, and even by particular accommodations founded on the suggestion of local considerations, have been disappointed of their effect by the machinations of persons whose industry to excite resistance has increased with every appearance of a disposition among the people to relax in their opposition and to acquiesce in the laws: insomuch that many persons in the said western parts of Pennsylvania have at length been hardy enough to perpetrate acts which I am advised amount to treason, being overt acts of levying war against the United States; the said persons having on the sixteenth and seventeenth of July last, proceeded in arms (on the second day amounting to several hundreds) to the house of Jobn Neville, Inspector of the Revenue for the Fourth Survey of the District of Pennsylvania, having repeatedly attacked the said house with the persons therein, wounding some of them;-having seized David Lennox, Marshal of the District of Pennsylvania, who previous thereto had been fired upon, while in the execution of his duty, by a party of armed men, detaining him for some time prisoner, till, for the preservation of his life, and the ob taining of his liberty, he found it necessary to enter into stipulations to forbear the execu tion of certain official duties, touching processes issuing out of a Court of the United States, and having finally obliged the said Inspector of the Revenue and the said Marshal, from considerations of personal safety, to fly from that part of the country, in order by a circuitous route to proceed to the seat of government; avowing as the motives of these outrageous proceedings an intention to prevent by force of arms the execution of the said laws, to oblige the said Inspector of the Revenue to renounce his said office, to withstand by open violence the lawful authority of the Government of the United States, and to compel thereby an alteration in the measures of the legislature, and a repeal of the laws aforesaid.

And whereas, by a law of the United States, entitled, "An Act to provide for calling