The canniness of Oliver Wolcott’s Federalism is quite as much illuminated by this letter as is Jedediah Morse’s caution and generosity in assuming responsibility for the publication of the documents referred to. That Wolcott had been instrumental in furnishing Morse’s quiver with the arrows which Morse discharged from his bow on the occasion of the 1799 fast, was soon suspected in Democratic circles. _Cf._ _Aurora_, Feb. 14, 1800. (In this connection it may be remarked that Wolcott was not the only New England Federalist who came into possession of portions of the correspondence of Wisdom Lodge. The _Pickering MSS._, vol. xlii, 37, presents a copy of another letter which in this instance was sent by the Portsmouth lodge to the lodge Verity and Union, in Philadelphia. The letter bears date of April 12, 1798. Its value for the purposes of this investigation is _nil_. How it came to be in Pickering’s possession is not known. The implication is strong that the Federalists were eager to exploit the documents to the utmost.) [793] As far as the records show, no other minister in New England may be said to have spoken emphatically upon the subject on the occasion of the fast. It was Morse alone who galvanized the issue into new life. The general tenor of the utterances of the clergy on the day of the fast may be judged from the following typical examples. At Concord, the Reverend Hezekiah Packard, who made it known that he had read Dr. Morse’s thanksgiving sermon and its appendix, descanted on the dangers to be apprehended from the existence of foreign intrigue among the citizens of this country. His language was general, though certainly expressive of profound concern. _Cf._ _Federal Republicanism, Displayed in Two Discourses, preached on the day of the State Fast at Chelmsford, and on the day of the National Fast at Concord, in April, 1799._ By Hezekiah Packard, pastor of the church in Chelmsford. Boston, 1799. At Franklin, Mass., the Reverend Nathaniel Emmons discoursed in similar vein. The French were pointed out as a nation which had corrupted every people whom they had subjugated. Further, Emmons asserted that things were happening in the United States which made it certain “some men [were] behind the curtain ... pushing on the populace to open sedition and rebellion.” No direct reference to the Illuminati was made, however. _Cf._ _A Discourse, delivered on the National Fast, April 25, 1799._ By Nathaniel Emmons, D. D., pastor of the church in Franklin. Wrentham, Mass., 1799, p. 23. The pastor of the church in Braintree had also been reading Morse’s thanksgiving sermon. However, he had no definite word to speak on the subject of the Illuminati. France, he said, had her secret friends here, and the real truth of her designs were hidden from the American people. _Cf._ _A Discourse, delivered April 25, 1799; being the day of Fasting and Prayer throughout the United States of America._ By Ezra Weld, A. M., pastor of the church in Braintree.