The Gazette of the state of South-Carolina — Charles-town [S.C.], 1784-09-09 00:00:00, page 4

that the German Fufileer Company, which I had the
honor to command for years, was ever Backward
in (haring danger, ever refufed orders to go on any
duty; but on the contrary, have often Offered their
services.
You have said much, very mtech,indeed on my
naval command, so much that I shall reserve my
reply tp that, for a fefarate papers And here let
me thank you for the opportunity you have given
me, in bringingfundry matters to light, which are
but little known at present. I never fought the
occasion; but now, fir, I shall avail myfelf of the
fair opportunity which you have given me to em
brace it; for it is not the firft time that my repuia
tion has fuffered for a while, by my not having been
somewhat more communicative. Facts will be
slated ? and faflsare itubborn thi r _
authenticated by legislative authority, it is there
fore presumed, that a man of your, profe/jed ac
quiescence will yield to them. I foresee your deep
aim about my naval command; but introduce, or
"attempt 'to introduce your charges whelp you will,
and you will find yourfelf signally miftiken in
that alio.
Men of honor have I always 'confided in; and
(whilst I a&ed right) I knew they would, in that
case, support me. And, althougli you was not on
the fornter committees, you certainly was on the last:
and it is to your own words, at that time delivered,
that I shall refer. Perhaps I may Rate them for
you.—Now, fir, I ask you how you could be so
bafc, (after what you had declared, from documents
which then had been produced) as to insinuate a
myftcfions conduct in my unexpected return? If it was'
meant ,o pay ri compliment to my 'brother officer,
and fellow-fuHerer in all my difficulties, it was
done at the expence of your honor, integrity, and
v.racity. Other compliments you Giould have paid
to your bentyactor, than to haypdebafed his charac
ter io much as to have supposed him weak enough
to become the scape gear of any man's artifice,
ihat worthy man and myfelf, m'ay be thankful
that gentlemen of principles, far different from
pouts, bad fat on that committee, who, I have
reason to think, saw matteis in a different light
than you new do:—faw matters impartially 'and un
invidioufly, and not with your jaundiced eye.. Per
haps you mean this compliment as some compdrifation
for the interef due that Scape Goat, on the che
thousand pecuniary services you received from him;
winch (by the bye) I conceive you had better
paid him in specie, than to have wafted the sum of
dhcrtyffinds, at a time ih newspaper calumny and
^ it is no more novelty WITH you to
borrow money arid pay it with abuse, than it was
for you to have taken money on loan, whenequ^l
tofpecie, and to pay it off in a very .much depre
ciaied paper currency. Even BobfVipiiff^
EE has Been your" dupe in this Tefpe&; and the
widow and the orphan are said to haye fiffered so
materially by you, that they ascribe their misery to
your infamy. Flee therefore 'to 'the altars of juJtice,
and do as some men of virtue have done, and what
every one ought to do, reftdre to them ivtaof theirs
you possess, an d give them bonds for that account.
Tlefitate not, left the cries of thofcfwhofe monies
you possess, reach on high, and flare at thee, when
, the few, the ve,y few good a&s thou haft ever
done, lie buried with thee; and when thy delin-'
quencies on earth —shall be the only remaining
(memorials of thy ever having existed there.
Know, fir, that the only crime of the worthy
officer alluded to, was, to have been unfortunate.
All seamen know the disadvantage of a fhip's
being attacked just as the gets to sea, particularly
by a superior force; and when there are but a few
seamen on board. He a&ed to the best of his judg
ment. His country has acquitted him; and would
you now insult him? Sir, he soars above your
calumny; and is too intelligent and independent a
man to be the dupe you would basely insinuate.
You seem to lay a great stress on the advantages I
might have derived from my naval command, by
forming connections, by making prizes, &c. That
those advantages may the more fully appear, it will
not be amiss to Hate some matters at the beginning
of the war, which to every impartial reader, must
prove it could not be interest that had led me to
that command: but firft let me date your situation.
If I mistake not, allyour.property, at the begin
ning of the war, consisted ih a wharf not com
pleted; and for the improvement of whicli you
borrowed very large funis in good money, on bond;,
and if I am well advised, you paid several of those
bonds off in paper money, when very much depre
ciated.
Your" only profpe& of revenue, at that time,
was what that wharf would yield you; and that
was becoming very uncertain; for your turbulent
temper often led you to quarrel with your best
frienas, ana to drive planters, merchants, and cap
tains from your wharf, by your info'lence and
insults. Io a man with such a pittance, and^^jghe?;
frofpecl; I muff confess, apoft that promifedfanc
tEmgmore, was tempting; and from ,our own fili
ation, heart, and head-on judge of others: envious
that you had wanted similar opportunities. My
poffeflions were procured by the smiles of Heaven
on my industry. They (at the beginning of the
war) confided of the house and lot whefre I now
refi.de, extending front on the river, one hundred
feet, with a water lot parallel, running to the river
Channel; a dock of one hundred and five feet front
rn the river, contiguous to the Exchange; fifteen
lots fronting on Meeting-street, Hafel-ftreet, and
King-street; together with fvethoufand five hundred
acres of land, on the Congaree river, in the centre
of the state; one thousand of which is fwdmp,
equal to any on that river. My houic allo w'as as,
comfortably and completely fitted out and fibred as
any in the city: and all this paid for. This afdh'e,
fir, is a property I always valued at Thirty thousand
pounds sterling. At that time I Was, beside, in a
trade, credit; and c&rrefpondtnce equahto any mer
chant in this city, 'or perhaps, on the continent.
Ihus, I never feltthe debts I owed in Europe,
always having equal fufas (at least) due to me, or
equakproperty on hand. 'Had I needed more, I
trust 'I had opportunities to procure it; and until
I quitted tra< e a 1778, my capital rather inercafed
^^''.cd, althc ;h I had confidcrable sums
eu o, heir way to Europe, remitted for the
purpofco! < charging all my debts there.
Congreh mg so well fatisfied with the issue
of my contrac kth r lefn in 1775) entered into a
Malone with me Nov. 1777, whicli was, that I
fhouldreh^c inE^ .fr^as their Agent, forthree yeatl,
they being bound to advance me ' two hundred and
fifty thousand dollars,qakhitiily, to p^rchafe what
they directed; that I Tnould, be left full liberty to
appoint my 6Wn agents in America, as well "as in
Europe; and that'! be allowed five per cent do all
purchases in America; two and one half per cent
on all sales in Europe; and five per cent on all pur
chases in Europe; all whicli would have netted
me, at least, seven thousand pounds sterling, per
annum, in commifions, fte of every rifque and
danger. A few days after I left Pennsylvania, oh'
my way to embark from here, I received a letter,
•advising me of my naval appointment, and requeffing
me to hurry on, if I accepted it. On my arrival
here, Ihefitated not, I complied with the call of
my own date, however comparatively disadvantage
ous tolhafuf Congress. I preferred fatigue and
danger, in the fetvice of the former, to domestic
happiness, profit, arid plenty, in that of the Alter.
I replied, that if his Excellency the Governor,
couldarrange the matter With Congrefs,,&c. (in
whofc service I then was) T should cheerfully re
linquish seven thousand pounds sterling a year, to
fervemy own date;-—the very state which you fay
Idm ungratefulto. In March 1778, was not the
choice of his Excellency confirmed by the Legisla
ture ? Were there not brie hundred and twenty
five Votes, out of one hundred and twenty-fix, for
my appointment; ah ' appointment unfoughtfoi, or
not even thought bf by me. 'All this, fir, must
convince even),ok, that it could not be interest which
then led fno to the command; that no hopes of
adding to my fortune, no hopes of forming new coh
neflisns could have then'fwayed me to relinquish
my Congressional appointment of such considerable
revenue, in favour of a lej's lucrative one from this
ft'ate, (infinitely less calculated for the forming of
conne&iotis) and to continue in it until March 1782.
How far I had acted as an officer, I leave that to
those tiihetbiled zbith me, and must therefore be the
beftjudges. Cbuld I have been guided by your
narrow Sentiments, likely I might have a&ed the
merchant, and would have fought many'opportuni
'ties. Ory dry return to this place, my fellow citi
zens were pleased, on the firft vacancy, to ele& me
'as one of their repreferit'atives 'for this city. That
very 'legiflature 'appointed no less than four com
mittees, during twelve months, to investigate my
accounts; and like'wife a Court Martial of Sea
Officers, to enquire into the causes of the loss of
the ship the South-Catalina, and into Capt. fofner's
condu& Are not the reports 'of three of the com
mittees confirmed by both Houses of Legislature?
And when the sentence of the Court Martial Shall
'be published and read, I trust the very mysterious
caffes of my return here, arid of my not proceeding
in the Ship from Philadelphia, will appear to you
(even as they did before) to have proceeded from
duty. As to what has been done by the last com'-
mittee, in which you fat as a member,, you cannot
deny, that (so far from my being culpable) it was
thought I hadfae merit in getting the ship to sea as
I did. Now, fir, as my country (after-long inves
tigation arid enquiry) hath acquitted me of all that
you suggest, in which investigation, enquiry and
acquittal, you certainly had to speak and to vote as
a Legislator, what a base delerter of your public
duty; what a leaky repoftory of the most facredof
all truths-, must you not have been, in allowing
7 yourfelf to be (in your own Words) so scandalously
^BE^NABO^D, as not to have thrown some im
pediment in the way, which could have prevented
my accounts from being so quickly, and so favour
ably fettled, (as you fay they have been) instead of
having endeavoured (as you assert) to bring this
difagrceable affair to a close, nsfo'on as pofible. You
surely mull have been a most profligate squanderer
indeed, 'of public money, when you acknowledge
yourfelf to have been so very induflrious in my
interests, —so very induflrious in fervihg a man,
whom you fu'fpe&cd to have been guilty of what
you now alledge, and had then fuppoied.—Sir,
it was your duty, as a member of that house, (be
the man who he may,) if possessed pf any proofs
that he had injured the public, to step forth with
those proofs,=—and as you have not either intimated
or produced them, the world must Suppose, that
you was a "calumniator, rind had them riot.^-How
ever, fir, as the citizens of this state now fee, how
free sou are with their property, (whenever you
wish to serve a friend) no doubt when you again
become advocate for any other person, to have his
accounts fpeedil) fettled, your arguments will have
great weight with them. Why that flip and the
whole of the enterprise was not more furccisful. was
,| well known;—it is at least well known to n.nw.
—and will now be to more, that I was not the canh.
r I would only ask you, have not many flibs been
built in the late war, sane regiments railed, and
,indny friges 'cOnftrufled, which cost as much an 1
have^ been as unfortunate as the South-Carolina ?
'° an " 'f adjudged, that the principal officer was
the cause whilst he did his duty? No; ifevcir
officer Was to be accountable for losses aud disasters
(not caused by him) there arc few officers, I pr J
l^mfo, who Would not (as vou have done) reC ,
their commiflions, wheresoever it appeared that
fnatters became gloomy and serious. As yo {
pave formerly been, conversant in the business of a
flop-keeper, I should have thought you a better
calculator, than not so have known, that even with +
out a fund, any person could have purchased all
lhe confiscated estates, disposed of at the June sale
in 1783, in as much as they fold for ro
sinc e h^ e fold for'
.payable in golcTahd fiver, long before the time
arrives that the indents must be paid ; so that n 0
fund was nepdcd.^And I havT^ady
out to you that I possessed ^folid proberty when I
went into the service. But perhaps you 'are forlv
iretteq and vexed that,ou would not be admitted to
hold a concern toWz some who had purchased on
.that day. ,In one thing you are right. I did pur
but not bv dozens; anH why 7
did not purchase more, was, because of my having
attended to the intreaties of Lome of the firmer fr
pnetors. _Andl affdre you, fir, (however cruel in
y^r^yes) that I ^rfe&ly coincide in opinion
wrth, those who bought conffcated estates before
and after my return to this commonwealth, that
"'"Pf?^tjefc_jy^yjfcmaßingup for our loffe
Youwill excuse, me for not replym^ to"cvery of
your calumnies. The calumniator and the calumny
are, in my,eyes, equally contemptible. A aoo'd
sportsman will not wade his ammunition upon crow^.
Besides, Mr. Gentle Touch, (who is as much your
itval in abilities, as he is your superior in veracity)
seems inclined to hick to you like a bur, and find
you full employment on many matters I shall not
• a n e ^d to °r+?' et y ° ur "^ ^^ ck ° na
established with a view of relieving the distress
(and educating the youths whose fathers have fal
len in the defence of their country, and cannot be
otherwise educated), merits this observation; that
you must be a dangerous and cruel man indeed,
when sou would injure a great and referable so
c%, and malignantly labour to prevent their be
nevolent defigps, because you have unprovokedky
created, a dispute with two or three of its members.
,B.ut such has ever been your character,—revenge
f^ ffpicion; jeafo, and defining.' Is there a
BruiJh parage-bird in this state, who does not com
prehend, that your design (in attacking the Ma
; rine Anti-Britannic Society,, on account of the second
word of its name, and a few of its member) is, to
gain over the British merchants to your interest, and
to procure a monopoly of their custom for your,
pun wharf, to the prejudice of all the rest of ,our
fraternity? Inexorable man! Why will you attempt
to injure those whom you ought s o ^ffift, whom
you ought to have contributed to educate? But
you would rather throb )away, at any time, thirty
guineas to a Printer, 'for the complacency ofvour
revenge, than Talf the sum in aid of any charitable.
contribution. Cruel man to be thus injuring those
whom you Ihoul help to educate!
I cannot account better for all your conduct
these thirty years past, nay, I may almost fay from
four-cradle, (for in the firft ftagc of your life,' you
was intemperate, in the second corrupt, and in the
third feaitious) tlian by supposing that the antient
, practice has been levived, of hanging up a pig by
the hind legs, tnen whipping it till it g/eu, mad and
ffoamed at the month; and lastly, adminifiering a
portion of this mad pig'sfoam in wine, to be drank
by all those whom 'the operator c^figned to mad
den, as you .are.—lndeed, I have often thought,
that you had a double portion of some mad pig's
foam given to you;—for by what I have observed,
none but a very mad man would aft as you hive
done.—And should pigs grow fcrirce, and the old
custom be again renewed, I would recommend
your being hung by the heels to save trouble: as I
presume you will not need much whipping to make
you foam and produce froth fufficierit td set the
whole world in a fit of madness.
In my next I mean to close my reply to your
Gazette Extraordinary, when I shall also reply to
your last performance: till then, rest assured that I
am you veryferious
Humble servant,
A. GILLON.
P. S. As I mean in this controversy, tomete out
to vou the fame rneafare thou haft meted to me, the
public, as well as yourfelf, will pardon mv trou
bling them with a reply of the fame amplitude arid
extent as your eleven-columned publication.
SAMUEL MIDWOOD,
No. 5 1 4, Elliott Street,
Has imported in the last. Ships from London,
A Quantity of DRY GOODS, proper
for this and the approaching season, which h
will dispose of by wholJa(e er retail, on the most
reasonable terms for Cash or Produce.
N. B. He has also received on consignment, a
quantity of coarse Woollens, which he will fell
cheap on the ghove terms. th