SATURDAY, February ao, 179®*]
THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE
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A" N ti
GAZETTE of fH# STATEi
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FREEDOM of the PRESS, and TRIAL by JURY, fliail remain inviolate. ConJHtution •/ Ctorgi «.
AUGUSTA: Printed by J.O H N E. SMITH, Printer to the State \ EJfays, Articles rs
Intelligence, Advertisements, &c. will be gratefully received, and every kind of Printing performed.
To the Printer of the Augusta Chronicle .
SIR,
THE following will be the last which (hall
come from my pen on the present con
tested fubjed; you will therefore be pleated
to give it a place in your next publication.
What could induce the gentleman, who at
tacked me in your last, to make a formal de
claration to the public of his neutrality in this
political conflid, without the public ever re
queuing that favor, I know not. if he is con- ,
fctous of his own innocence, I fee no neces
sity for perfuadmg others to belie!ve so: With
in bis own bread he ought to have searched
for the truth of my accusations; —if they
have been groundless, wTiy (hbuld they have
caused him a moment’s uneasiness ? An inno
cent mind rests contented, in the security of
its own iuoffeufivenefs, regardle'is of the
aspersions of mankind—guilty one mud
divulge something.——Whether I have sati
rized myfelf in my national .reflections, (if
they can be called fuch)'to you Sir, I appeal;
—to the critical investigation of the learned,
1 submit my folecifni;- —and 40 the judgment
of an impartial public, I refer my illiberal
and untrue afTerlious*
A Citizen of the World.
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To the OBSERVER.
HOWEVER contemptible the licentious
channel of a newspaper may teem to a
gentleman of your original genius, eccentric
wit, and found syllogism; and however in
jurious it may be to your feelings to (land in
that predicament of committing your immortal
productions to such a pfoftituted landuary, for
the rude remarks and unjuji criticisms of a
rabble, (as they are ftyicd in your firft ana
lv tis) yet, let me oblcrve, that one of the
mod eminent writers in the Englilh language
did not tniuk it beneath him to convey his
teutiments through the channel of a newlpaper.
From the manner in which the firft part of
your address to me is written, you appear to
be entirely mistaken in your opponent. When
you suppose that my polijhed Billingsgate had
proceeded from heartfelt patriotifhi, you de
viate perhaps a little from the true point.
How far I am' aduated by patriotism, matters
not: How far I ought to be so, you may easi
ly imagin to yourfclf, when I tell you that I
cannot claim the honor of firft breathing the
vital air on this Continent; that lam neither
a citizen of this state, or of any state in the
Uuion ; that I have never fubferibed the oath
of allegiance to cither j that I have solicited for
no appointment under the authotity of one,
or the whole; and that I view your party,
and their opponents, with an equal degree of
TCfped and of contempt.-”-Neither the per
suasion of party, or the empty applaufc of the
j crowd, will ever induce me to take up my
/ pen in an unjust cause; truth shall ever be ray
f guide; and, in all cates, coafcicncc lhall
stand as ray foie monitor.
I Your frivolous accusation of plagiarfm,
might with great propriety have been fup
prciled. So far can I vindicate mylelf from
borrowing Junius's style or fentimeos, (or
indeeed those of any other writer) that, I
folcmnly declare, I have not pemfed three
fcntcneei of that au.hor fine* X came to Ama
lies, if any analogy can bl iu out
I
GEORGIA:
• • 4 -f • *
compositions, it is more than I know ; and if
you have the happy chance of garbbling hii
Letters*, I assure you I have not. ' ;
With refped to the character at whom I
levelled in my former piece, I (tin hold him
to be the true' author of the Observer—is not
the writer, at least the di&ator. For although
I have the highest respect for the Aldermen,
yet, such is the estimation in which I hold
their literary abilities, that, with their united
efforts collectively together, I do not suppose
them capable of committing one lenience ol
Englilh, grammatically, to paper. (
How far I have insinuated personal reflec
tions, I leave to the candour of my readers.
1 If you suppose yourfelf injured in any point,
surely the press is free to you: If you ima
gine your adveifary beneath your notice, why
2 do you condescend to answer him . ? —Einpty
as my declamations have been, you have had
the precauton not to attempt a refutation; and
laboured as my periods appear to you, ftili I
have the fatisfadion to find, that they com-,
mand infinite more applaufc, than the gall of
your attic jal't\,
If the Aldermen have conferred any favors
on you, for vindicating their caule, I would
advise them to contribute an addition, with a
proviso that you will ccafie writing any far
ther upon the fubjed: For, the more you at
tempt to juftify their proceedings, the more
you expose their absurdities; and, by endea
vouring to draw a veil over past cuoi initics,
you unfortunately open a fccuc of ircih aui
madveffions. ix A ,
As this piece will bring our contest to a final
determination, I beg leave to return you my
very iincerc thanks for your kind congratula
tions ; and you may rest perfectly allured,
(notwithstanding my difappointmcnt) that I
entertain the moil exalted idea of the literary
character of the late cieded Aldei man—nay,
such is the extent which I suppose his clafiical
knowledge to have reached, that, if ever I
fliould have the misfortune of losing a tobac
co note, I (hall not helitate one moment to
prefer his Worship in the Herculean tujk of
drawing my affidavit.
A Citizen of the World.
P, S. The word omitted in the firft part of
my former piece, might have been left out by
me, or very probably an error of the pi els.
Such literal mistakes a good writer never
thought worthy his notice —you ought to have
been the iaft that would attempt futh a thing.
For the fix Jaft words in your lait paragraph
but one, you are indebted to Mr. Butler :
Whoever will take the trouble of lookiug over
Hudribras, may fee something 'very like “ Con
fute; change sides, and ftili confute.”—ln the
sixth line of the poftfeript to your former piece
you have substituted the verb is inltead of art .
This, I believe, will not found very gramma
tical in the ears of an Englilh fchoiar.
For the Augusta Chroniik'
IT is an observation of a celebrated writer,
*’•• That when we are'about to tu*c r-f
things important to mankind, we ihould ex
pel from our miuda "every idea of hope or
fate.” ,
The author of the following obfeivaiions
1 was under the influence of the fame impiel
ftorij when hivvo l t hi» pen in baud 10 mite.
[Vo£. IV. No. CLXZVI.3
' The hope of obtaining the defpicableapplaufo
' of the fawning fyepphaut, or the falfe esteem
of tne imputing flattetcr, will never induce
him to fwervefrom the cauleof truth, or give
up into the hands of peddling fti anger* the
honett part of the community. He rejeds,
; with.infinite disdain, the vile attempts ofun
woitiiy chaiadcrs toiaipqfe upon the publick*
in order to ihew their own importance. It i«
however a happy circuraftance, that men of
»his cast produce their pwn destruction, and
ruiu the cause which they wish to build up a.
They tender themselves contemptible in the
eyes of the world, and are the dupes of their*
own folly. and thame, ignominy and
conscious guilt, dwell on their
the mean and grovelling look of merited re-,
proach, betrays (o the world the inward feel
ing of felf-coudcmnation.—lgnorance, pride*
and fell-conceit, are destitute of every kind
of modesty » from hence it is, that in the pon,
liticks oi the prelent day, we fee men Hep
ping forth to publick view, whose ignorance
and waiit of ability ought to have taught them
,• a lesson of eternal cautiou! With a spirit of
1 impudence aifurauce, they come forth and de
mand the confidence of that people who have
had no experience either of their friendllnp or
their honesty. With cringing hypocrily they
iblicit the lutfragea of the ignoiant and de
pendent, and defyend into the vile machina
tions of midnight meetings, to carry their
lelfiili fphemes into execution 1 Aik not,
honest leader, where these characters dwell ;
they dwell within the gates of the city ; they
are found within this incorporated town; nay,
> what is woile, they afiume to themselves the
authority of rulers—they vainly suppose, they
are adequate to the important talk of legjila
tion —tney unjustly demand the obedieuce of
an honest zud virtuous people.
Ye who obtrude upon the public confidence*
you are the ineu. I call you forth to puhhck
ceufuie ! I fear you not, and I will picfent
you to view as a complete example of fclfiih
nefis, mean hypoenfy, and fcandaious in
ti igue. You have been, and rtill are the
enculies of this country; you are the abet
ters ot tyranny, and the advocates of regal
domination—You ate the inte retted tools of
Britilh foily, and you euvy the profpetity of
America ! Let me ask you then, whethei your
impudence has uot for once overbalanced the
diclatcs of your undcrftaudmg t Or rather it
it not to be presumed, that you are not over
flocked with the latter, since you step forth
with such ridiculous atVurar.ce, and deijiand
that station which ought to be conferred duly
on talents arid merit united i is
You have, by a conauti similar to that which
always chaiaderizes msn of yodr flarnp, ob-.
tamed an office ; but are you capable < f dis- .
charging the duties of it ? Are you acquaint
ed with the natuit of civil regulations?
Where are your treaty rep of information t
Whets aie your funds of knowledge i Will
vanity or an over-bearing spirit of aifurauce
Kipply the warn of abilities f Can a spirit of
electioneering fauati?ilm teach you she art of
government, or infule into you the req i ft e
principles of knowledge ? Have not luine of
you already folicitcd others to ailift your con
tunute ignorance ? lilufh, illiterate oren, at
your own daring iufolemc, and ill-timed mr«
portions I Go oil) ami nuke your lawaj Ist
Ist them never tee the Itfthr • 1 iiwiflt
of papat with /out wangled uug amwa-
