The Louisville gazette and republican trumpet. (Louisville, Ga.) 1800-1809, November 19, 1800, Image 2
cured on hlsjiuii, neither tojih |
rify or extenuate can (hew the j
truth of his complaint—The
Lord deliver us from fuch ty
ranny. Thefe kind of prole -
cutions are the beloved off
fpringof monarchies and ariffo
cracics; but for them poverty
and lore oppreflion among one
elate, would not at this time
be the order of the day in Eng
land. Profecutions for libels
are certain forerunners of vice
and corruption having entered
into the adminiffration m repub
lics. As printing is the life
and full of republics, fo profe
cutions for libels are the death
and bane of them —With one of
the high born on the bench, and
an independent citizen who had
not bowed the knee to the bra
zen flame, or humbled himfelf
to the mighty, brought before
him on a conviction for a libel,
what a feafl it would afford eve
ry lenfe of fuch a court to pafs
fcntencc; and it may, I think, be
doubted, whether in fuch an in
(fancc, (altho* in another of a
rnofl abominable and unnatural
offence) authorities could be
found from the mully adjudica
tions of England, to leave a
difcrction with the judge to
difpenfe with pillory and impri
fonment, even in view of the
loathfomcncfs and filthincfs of
the jail.
HOMESPUN.
Mcffrs. Day & Hely,
FROM the utter contempt in
Which I held the pfeudo drib
blers, I never intended to have
made any reply to the various
falfe, and fcurrilous publications,
which have appeared from time
to time in the Republican Trum
pet fir many months pafl; and
had the vile fabricator and his
coadjutors contented them Elves
with venting their malignant
fpleen, on me only, I fhould have
raffed them over w ith the fame
lilent contempt which I have
hitherto obferved towards them.
But when I fee the bafenefs of
the human mind, worked up to
fuch a degree of depravity, as
to propagate through the medium
of your Gazette, the vileft Han -
ders, and meft unfounded afper
iiuns, on the character and con
duct of a venerable deceafed pa
rent, whofe afhes have remained
in peace for near thirty years ,
end whole memory has ever been
held in the highcfl eflcem and
refpeCt. And when I refleCt
that the PAMPERED CREA
TURE, who has now dared to
uifturh the a flees of the dead , is
actuated by the unmanly intention
of injuring the feelings of a whole
family, from the tender mother
to the Hfping infant on the knee,
not contented under the cloak of
friendfhip, and the protection of
the molt unbounded confidence,
with having robbed the father of
that family of many thoufands of
dollars, and meanly abandoning
his employment, without ren
dering any flatement of his ac
counts, after having been en
trulted for two years, ami in the
mean time protected and reliev
ed from the horrors of extreme
poverty and diftrefs. This mon
jler of ingratitude , urged on by
an abandoned heart, and ftimu
tated by a junto equally abhorred
as himfelf, attcrrjpti by iiuiUngj
indifriminate Handers nnd faff
infinuations, to rob them of theirl
re])utarion and refpeCtabilityj
alfo, from the grand father whole)
manes have long re fled in die
duft, down to the innocent grand
fon of only five years old.—
Routed at the inhuman villainy ,
1 feel compelled by the duty I
owe to the memory of a deceafed
parent, to come forward in the
public papers, and pronounce
the ravage author of this flan
derouspublication an unprincipled
abandoned liar , and a bafe ajjaffin
of the reputation of the dead. —
My father was a judge of the
fupreme court of judicature in
New-Jcrfey, previous to ‘the
revolution, and both in his pri
vate and public character, lie
lived as much ref petted, and died
as much lamented and regretted ,
as any man that ever lived or
died in that province—(i) a few
months before his death, when
at the advanced old age of be
tween fixty and feventy years, a
levere affliction of Providence
occafionally impaired his intel
lects, and in a paroxifm of the
rheumatic head ache he left the
world, when deprived of the
exercifc of his mental faculties.
It was a difpenfatiort of cur God,
and no one but a barbarian with
a heart black as Erebus , would
have dared to have mentioned
the circumftance of his death,
as a reproach to the living > or a
reflection on the dead. I will
venture to add, that the fccretary's
performance will meet with ab
horrence and contempt in every
benevolent mind, and in every
place, except in the chamber
where it originated. I know not
how Mr. Thomas Johnfon’s fa
ther lived or died. If I did, I
would not avail myfelf of the
information to make a mean re
crimination on the dead. I will
confine fny obfervations to the
POLL TAX MAJOR , of the
prefent day, who if he had met
with the wages of his fins, would
long before now have died on a
gibbet. The people of Greene,
Meffrs. Printers, will inform
you, that Thomas Johnfon now
fccretary to the Governor of
Georgia, only fix or feven years
ago was detected concealed in a
garret , as they verily believe,
in the bafe aCI of counterfeiting
and antidating land works—(2)
with the nefarious intention no
doubt of defrauding the honed
citizen of his right; the perfons
who dcteCted Mr. Johnfon were
under fuch unfavorable imprete
fions towards him, as to induce
them to order him cut of their
county , they thought it prudent
and proper not to truft him in
their fettlement, and the vagrant
att juftifying the mcafurc they
accordingly notified him of the
mandate, which they fay he very
civilly obeyed, rather than rifle
the penalty of a lalhing , which
was to have been the rcfult of a
non compliance. A gentleman
in Columbia will further tell you,
that feme few years ago, this
lame Mr. fccretary Johnfon, re
ceived from a Mr, Simms, of
Maryland, a letter and four gui
neas, directed to that gentleman,
for the purpote of paving Mr.
Simms's taxes on fome lands he
hdd in Georgia* ether letters to
the ffime gentleman were deli
z'trcd, but the letter and money
withheld. That he made fevc
ral enquiries of Mr. Johnfon
rd’pedhng his having other letters
for him befides thofe delivered ,
who as often denied his having
any—But having received infor
mation from Mr. Simms that he
had fent the money and letter by
Mr. Johnfon, he again applied
to him (Johnfon) for them,
whom he met at Mr. Whitney’s
Tales in Franklin about the 7th
of January, 1794, at the fame
time informing him that he (the
gentleman in Columbia) had re
ceived advice from Mr. Simms
that he had fent the money and
letter by him (Johnfon) —Mr.
Johnfon then and net till then ,
acknowledged his having receiv
ed the money but had iifed it—
(3) the letter fhortly after came
to hand but the Teal was broken !
as the gentleman has informed
me, and the money has fmee
been fettled, partly by goods
out of a flore belonging to col.
Cobbs, of which Mr. Johnfon
had the charge, and partly by a
difeount of fees, which he had
an opportunity of making when
I (unfortunately for myfelf and
family) intruflcd him with the
charge of the treafury.
“ Oh Tcmpora ! Oh Mores !”
indeed.
Being now engaged in a reply,
I fhall avail myfelf of the occa
fion to add, that the infignificant
attempts which have been con
tinually made to delude the pub
lic into a belief that I have de
tained nine or tenthoufand dol
lars of die public money, are too
fallacious to give me any con
cern—(4) Both the conftituticn
and the law declare the yazoo
depofit to be no part of the
funds of the fate , and difclaim
all refpcnfibility for it—And tho’
in reality I did not lend or ufe ,
the whole of the fum deficient
in that depofit, yet I felt as the
officer, honorably bound for the
whole, and have acknowledged
myfelf accountable for it, and
in addition to my ow n property,
have given ample fecurity for
the refund of it to the depofitors,
whenever it becomes necdTary.
If Mr. Johnfon had done me
the juflice, to have accounted
for the monies he took from the
treafury, to relieve himfelf from
bankruptcy , when intrufled with
the charge of that cjfuc by me ,
the prefent deficiency would have
been lefs, and I Hiould in a great
meafurc have excufed him for
his pilfering, or what has been
termed only a “ breach of trufi ”
—though on me and my pro
perty it operates as downright
feeding. Averle from making
vague affic rtions, I refer my fol
low' citizens to the evidence of
Major Adams, now among the
records of the Superior Court
of Jcfferfon county, on this
fubjeft, they will there fee
that Mr. Johnfon did not hefi
tate to declare, that betides what
he had already taken, he would
furnifh himfelf with two thou
fand dollars at one time to anlwer
his necellities* which no doubt
he did, but forgot the due bill ,
as no due bill for that fum ever
appeared—(s) As to the filly
and ridiculous infimiations ref
pe&ing captains Muaroe and
I only c'xpklrr tticjn
be can ft, before they have no*
been heard of in this quarter
Munroe was feized by my on.//
when colic&or of-the'port o*
Savannah, for a breach of { jv*
laws of the date, in attempting
to defraud it of its revenir p!
had a fair trial before a jury an»i
was convifted, and a moiety 0 ;
the condemnation money paid
into the treafury of the flare—
(6) The cafe of MTxan was
limilar fo far as his having com
mitted a breach of the laws of
the United States—he was the
mailer of a Neva Scotia veil;!
was feized, and punifhed accord*
ingly. Nothing but the fabri
cated falfchoods which have been
published in your paper againft
the reputation of a deceafed pa,
rent could have induced me to
make this reply. The unmanly
and inhuman attack will juftift.
the ccndejcenficn . I fhould oa
no other conlideration liave no
ticed the paltry fcribblers who
have been continually pouring
out their abufc again ft me.—
Their opinions of my charade:
are of Ids confequence to me,
and will be lefs regarded by the
honeji part of the community,
than that of any free negro in
the country. 1 w ill now remark
that the charges againft Mr.
Johnfon, in Greene, th t four gut
nea J peculation , as well as the
two thoufand dollars at one grab,
are not the vagaries of a corrupt
ed fancy , or the offspring of a
revengeful imagination , but that
they are deduced from, and fup
ported by the teilimony of ref
pe Stable perjons, whofc affidavits
and certificates arc and have long
been in my poileffion. They
fully evince that little credit ought
to be attached to any of his per
formances. It would take a vo
lume to contain a fpcciai detail
of the vice and ingratitude with
wTich the condudl of this mar)
through life has been marked;
at preient let it fuffice in return
for his elegant quotation of the
magouffer, that I alfo bornrsj
a character extremely applicable
to him on' this occafion, and I
will allow him on tbojeprinciples,
to be a c ample at thar after. —■
| “ Thatis , that there is no one vice,
j with which he is not intimately
j acquainted, and no one virtue to
which he is not an entire fir anger. '*
I now take my leave of the lub
je<T, and regret the neceflicy
which has compelled me to in
trude on the public this lengthy
detail ; as it is the firil time in
my life that I have ever troubled
them in this way, I truil I fhall
be excufed, particularly w'hen it
is confidered, that the falfe, in
human attack , upon the character
of a deceafed parent has drawn
me into it. I never on my own
account, fhould have the
ft'mulated performances of
hoard of Jycophantic bullies, un~
derfirapping minions , and degraded
time Jcrving tools, who have to.*
months pafl been continually
pouring forth their perfecting
abide and fcurrility againft
but would have paffed by their
efforts to injure me with thf
contempt they merited, and in
ftlence have awaited the rciult et
opinion with a liberal and de
cerning public, with refpebf &
the extent of the prrfecutiwh