Page:Early western travels, 1748-1846 (1907 Volume 4).djvu/79

 Liberty near Wheeling in Virginia, one of the representatives in the state assembly, returning home from Richmond, and a Mr. Archer of Centreville in Ohio, returning home also, from a circuitous voyage and journey to New Orleans {56} and Baltimore; during which he had visited the Havanna, and New Providence in the Bahamas.—As we all possessed some information different from each other, we beguiled our journey by conversation pleasantly enough, except when politicks were introduced, on which, my fellow travellers being of opposite sentiments, I was sometimes under the necessity of starting some new subject, to prevent their being wrought up to an irritation of temper, which not only prevented cool argument, but sometimes in spite of my endeavours to the contrary, arose to such a height as to nearly approach to personalities.

Politicks, throughout the whole of this country, seems to be the most irritable subject which can be discussed. There are two ruling or prevailing parties; one, which styles itself Federal, founded originally on the federal league or constitution which binds the states to each other; in contradistinction to a party which attempted to prevent the concurrence of the states to the present constitution, and after it was agreed to, made some fruitless attempts to disorganize it, and was called Antifederal. The opposite party is one which has since sprung up and styles itself the Democratick Republican. Since the federal constitution has been established, the first party exists no longer except in name. That which assumes it, stickles for the offices of government being executed with a high hand, and is therefore accused of aristocratick and even of monarchick sentiments by its opponents, who in their turn are termed factious, and disorganizers, by the federalists. They nickname each other Aristocrats and Democrats, and it is astonishing to what a height their mutual animosity is carried. They