The Gazette of the state of South-Carolina — Charles-town [S.C.], 1784-07-29 00:00:00, page 2

It is alnioft as criminal to hear a worthy man traduced,
without attempting his jufijication, as to be author
of the calumny againf him. Anonymous.
To the P ÜBL I C
In General, and
A STEADY & OPEN REPUBLICAN
In particular.
•Mr. Steady and Open Republican,
S IR,
' IHE uncommon torpidity, that jumble of words,
which composed your opiate of the loth
instant, forbids a waste of paper in quota
tions; however, I cannot avoid offering to the
public, a few ftriHures on. that performance, not
as an answer, it being Sochian unintelligible, futile,
malicious,, abuhve, ill-judged rhapsody, that it is
rot worth while attempting to develop fucli a med
ley of abusive jargon.
3: our motto is peculiarly remarkable. The scrap
of Latin at the top, you (no doubt) hope will
make the ignorant admire ycur profound learn
+n,! and your quotation from Eon#, is remarkably
Wen cuofen, to Erike terror into all who dare
.depute your' immaculate Rabofkißs power, to
pundh thofewho dare attemptto pluck the plumage
from Daws', who endeavour to render all the
dn'intereded Whies of the State, fubfervieqt to
then fiheme of Aristocratic misrule.
cd perhaps"wifh to lull the %% higedizens Qito
tost l-lharm doze, which would ' render them fit
tor Is for y&hpurpose, under ihe specious colouring
YA natural forbearance, good humouradd harmony,"
t ut “ you were famous for", to check those “ rank
A'" pofoncus weeds," opposition to the TYRAx,^,
INSOLENT RULE OF A FEW.
1 ow cfaffon and flf importance Defrays you into
>a patli very unlikely to bring forth the " natural
forbearance, good humour and harmony" you seem to
wish so ardently for, " knave, beslavering, low
tricks, deleftake views, principal ringleaders of our
late difturoances, nick-name makers, party tools," are
but final! Fetches of your introduction to ''natu
ral forbearance, good humour and harmony," or to
check “ rank and poisonous 'weeds" of opposition.
rou~do not advert to the great change in politics,
•which the revolution # muft have necessarily pro
duced.
In those days of harmony, Bc." we were all
Tubje&scf a limited monarchy, or oppdfing the
tyranny cl the Monarch: in thfe clays we are
equal citizens of a Democratic Republic, in
which jealousy and opposition-muss naturally exist,
while there ex:fts a deference in the minds, in
terests, and sentiments of mankind.
without jealousy and opposition free govern
meiis loon become absolute, and the people ruined
and enfaved, by the few whom they have created.
It may reasonably be supposed that you wish to
fee defyotifa established here, in which parties
could not exist, as fear would then prevent them.
Jn limited monarchies parties always subsist; but
tru pivoton which.they turn is private, Trot public
int^reft. c
Ari ,°' ratical governments, (such as the
Nabobs drive to establish here) they are mostly
without parties, as the haughtiness of the RICH is
•the very foul of such a government: instance a
recent attempt in the case of Captain Thompson,
even from one on the bench; and also, the govern
ment of \ ENICE at this day, whose great men fay
to the Subject, (not citizen) Who art thou that dareft
jo approve or condemn our meafares ?
But, in a Democracy like ours, more springs are
necessary; such as a virtuous jealousy of all who
have united arrogance with their power or influence.
I do net mean such virtue as Simulates some
senators or lawyers, to bellow out for liberty and
their country, with ambitious or mercenary views;
the foundation of fucli virtue is precarious, the
fuperftru&ure stands on the balls of corruption,
venality and felf interest.
You, fir, are mistaken in the man you seem to
point your envenomed fhafts at; that gentleman
did not fee one line of Democratic Gentle-Touch,
nor was he in the lead consulted thereon; so it was
impossible for him to know any thing of that ob
noxious performance, till he saw it in print: nor will
he know an iota of this until it appears in print
, After so long an interval, I did not expert to fee
the debate, revived between us; I now write with
reluctance.'
Had you, fir,' been originally and without pro
vocation, attacked by an anonymous writer, you
would have some cause to be offended: but in this
case, you are a volunteer; you engaged in it with
the unpremeditated gallantry of a Generai, more
accustomed to the peri than the sword; therefore
fair game for all who choose to wield the grey
goose weapon against you.'
I, 111. never approved of, nor aflifted inriots,
nor am I guilty or “ low artifice, dirty felf interest,
deception, or '• duplicity." lam an open Demo
cratic whig, not'guilty "of “ infdivas designs to pro
mote mfchief;" nor am I so like you, as' to be a man
of importance, o^ matter of such elegant diction as
''" iolio v vi.ng, wnicli adorns your piece; " Whoever
is at a icfstdaccount for this humouring, this blow
ing hot and cold, this all things.to allmen, let
hth have only patience a very few months, and all his
WONDERMENT will ceufe!"
I have not, like you, hr, any .literary fame to
ff°y n ° r h a y°l vani ty to think lean ever acquireit.
wry .iteration in hie, and the want ol a (laffieal
education is an eternal bar. My ambition is to be
ufeful; and, I flatter myfelf, that I shall ^rit the
approbation of the good Democratic whig citizens:
the other part of the community I difreganh
You (Mr. Steady and Open Republican,) blame
me for not adding, at the close of a paragraph in
my lass to you, your words " Puffing a general
amnefy." It would be an Herculean labour indeed,
to follow you through all your windings and turn
ings: were it not for your illiberal abuse of a gen
tleman of my acquaintance, I Should not now
trouble my head about you, as your elaborate per
formance carries its Own damnation along with it.
My cenluring the conduct of our wife legislature,
throws you into a great flutter; at the fame time
you seem not to consider howyouriclf ran counter
to its dictates. If dam not mifiniormed, you were
one of the committee that thoroughly examined
the conduct and accounts of the gentleman you
endeavour to calumniate, and made the most honor
able report of the whole of his conduct; yet now you
Sacincroufy draw and publrfh to the world, the
mos t diabolical picture of the fame person, and for
the fame matter which you, and the gentlemen who
composed the committee, so throughly investigated,
and so honorably reported on: is not this fytyour
phrafc) " blowing hot and cold?"
If you, fir, andyour colleagues, think mos, so
deltruHive to the°ft.atc, you and they are unpardon
able in promoting and 'keeping them up, when you
and the other Nabobs mav loon put a flop to the
ferment, by joining with the people legally to
expel the obnoxious Tories.
Docs it Ihew the wisdom of the rulers, (who are
but few, in rcfpe& to the people,) to be such zeal
ous fticklcrs lor the tones, who, two or three
years ago, were endeavouring to cut our throats;
and would again if opportunity offered?
Oaths witli them are depreciated like our State
fydefs, which our wife and just legislature imposed
ontFeYtate creditors for payment.
Ihe profenbed caitiffs swore allegiance to the
United States, then to the English King, and now
again to the United States; are such unprincipled
turn-coats to be ever more trusted?
Our Nabobs have thrown the whole Rate into
confufion, not for the fake of 30 or 40 tory Philis
tines, (which, I presume, is about the number that
is so obnoxious to the people) or fiom principles
of justice and honor, but for the facilitating their
own wily designs of Ari^tocrattcal tyranny.
Some of our city Magistrates, &c. now seem to
think that they have the ball at their foot already,
arid that they have a right to trample on the people,
trunfrefs the laws, and alarm the city with im
punity, when they please. This presumption is
founded on a recent illegal institution of a mob,
which bravely charged on hdrfeback, a few unarmed
men and apprentice boys that were frolicking thro'
the streets; several of whom they chopped and
abused: they also hauled peaceable citizens from
their own doors and shops, and dragooned them
through the Streets, at the point of the bayonet, to
force them to be (according to the Open Republican's
definition of the term) good citizens, bv joining
the City Magistrates anting extrajudicially, who
pretend to fay it was to suppress a riot, that they
a&ed io. But, we all know, there is a legal
method, in such cases, to be pursued, which, if
any deviate from, they are liable to legal punish
ment; especially as they cannot plead ignorance,
they being headed by and composed of an hetero
geneous group of city magistrates, learned attornies,
Englifhfaklors, Scotch traders, white-wafeed whips, rank
lories, &c. &c.
How far this dangerous Spirit has been encour
aged by our City Magifrates, and to what pernici
ous purposes it may be applied hereafter, well
dclerves the people's most serious consideration.
I have been accused of endeavouring to inflame
the people. I now appeal to their understanding,
if there be any Nabob's tool daring enough to deny
the abovementioned fads, or Shamelcfs enough to
defend thecondud of the hero who challenged
the people to fight, and was otherwise deeply con
cerned Tii this hOTultua?~y tranfa&idn.'.
d he Open Republican Shews the impartiality he
boasts so much of, by bringing the Scape-Goat, G.
W— ., once more on the carpet: but fudioujly
avoids disturbing the manes of his favourite " Dray
hoffe, who threw two states into the mud," or even
that of his Wragg-ed friend, a Britijk Board of
Police Volunteer.
A Steady and Open Republican fays, "one point of
the greatest confauence, was carried in the prefect
house, by the most deceive majority that he knew 'for
thirty years pas, though in vain a'tempted in every
apemby; Ivican," fays lie, " the ad valorem tax;"
and that "this is a manifeft public ifimony that a
generous spirit now prevails, not waking to take ad
vantage of each other." I presume the Steady and
Open Republican is wilfully mistaken, as to the caule
of the majority on the abovementioned occasion.
The true reason appears to be, that the back
country members are more numerous, and now
more clear-Sighted than formerly; and thatthey
are, in future, determined to oppose all attempts
to filch the money out of their pockets, to ease the
rich Rice and Indigo planters.
II tliis argument of the Open Republican proves
any thing more, it must be that the rich, for 30
years pad, have designedly knd ungenerouby
thrown the burden on the poor, cr such as were
pofUffed ol only Vine-barren or other bad land,
not worth, perhaps, three Shillings per acre, which
they heretofore unjuhly obliged them to pay as
high tax for, as for their rich Rice plantations,
woith, perhaps, twenty pounds Selling per tiered
ISus is the " mardfeft public testimony of the gene
rous spirit" The Nabobs are polfciled of, and which
they argued so Ifrcnuoufly for, the last fitting of the
aifembly. 1 \
'I he citizens may be assured that the “ humane
generous spirit which prevails" among the Nabobs,
appears 111 that humamty and generofty Shewn to the
poor Africans; and that the like would mole
assuredly be exercised over the poor citizens, if the
Nabobs designed Arfocratic scheme of governmekt
fkculd take place.
It may also be reafonablv supposed, that (beside
the bribes fume are said to have received) the true
reason why the lawyers in general, and other
Nabobs, are facilitating the return of the proferwed
Sutorkins, is, that they know they will be ft tools
for them to work with at all future elections.
I intended to let the Open Republican ice the dif
ference between an Ariflocracy or Oligarchy, and a
pure Democracy; but, I am persuaded the gentle
man is already acquainted with the different forms,
and wishes to bury the diftinflion in the general
and equivocal term Republican.
I thank you, Mr, Open Republican, for the hint,
that " the magifrates canpunifa (only) according to
law." I shall now take the opportunity of iccoiri
mending it to the public, to compare that doHrinu
with the abovementioned illegal, tyrannical con
duff of our Nabobs, and some of our immaculate
city Magistrates. To be weak and inactive, is
fafer and better than to be daring and criminal.
I here is a wide difference between the tumult of a
few friends to the' country, who fought, bled and
ftfered for its liberty and independence, and the con
vulsion of the whole state: many of those who
fupporl the obnoxious Tories, may live to make
the experiment; but 110 honest man can wish they
Should survive it.
I now, Mr. Steady and Open Republican, shall
take my leave of you, perhaps forever. In truth,
you have some reason to hold yourfelf indebted to
me for the lessons I have given you : you may col
left profitable inflruffion for your future life, as
you may not yet be too old to mend: they will
teach you so to regulate your future conduff, as to
be able to pass without contempt the more you pals
without observation.
DEMOCRATIC GENTLE-TOUCH.
CharleJlon, July 26th, 1784.
An Address to the Public.
I HE importance of the Education of Youth,
both to Church and State, and the power
ful, if not decisive influence of Literature
and Science on the Fate of Empires, are points so
well underwood, and so generally acknowledged,
that to attempt any elucidation of them, ma^ be
considered as almeft an insult offered to the under-
Handings of the Public.
If we ccnfult the records of pad ages, we fliall
find, that in propoi icn as the liberal arts and Sciences
have been cultivated cr negle^cd, nations have
emerged from darkness, barbarism, and their never
failing concomitant, Slavery, or funk therein again.
— I he various revolutions in Europe, fiom ihe rife
of the Roman empire to the present day, bear an
ample and decided testimony in Support of this tiuth.
—We cannot perhaps have a more Striking iliuhra..
tion of the infinite cifference which a proper culti
vation cf the human mind will make in the fame
people, at different periods, than we may have from
calling our eyes upon our own domelb'cs, and re
collecting, that the fame now benighted Africa,
from whence they come, did once produce a Ptole
my, a fertullian, and a Terence—that Egypt, the
source of moil of the Sciences, is Situated there.
Considerations of this kind, muff surely kindle a
glowing desire in every Patriot bosom to fee the li-'
bcral arts and Sciences cultivated with ardor, atten
tion, and care, in this our r Sing cur forming Re
public. But the true Patriot will not rest here.
He "ill not content himfelt with fruithfs and una
vailing withes +-He will cheerfully lend his helping
hand—He will generously contribute to the lauda
ble design of eliabhSbing Schools and Seminaries cf
Learning. While we have been liberal, perhaps to
exetfs, in our contributions to such institutions in
oilier dates, we have been Shamefully inattentive to
our own. If ever a Carolinian has reason to blush
for his country, it must be, when lie confiders that
it has advanced upwards of a century in age, before
it has one Academy of any reputation in it.
To what cause has it been owing that the Pulpit,
the Bar, and the Faculty, in this country, have
been, with a few exceptions, coAhmriv Idled with
foreigners ? Is it the want of genius and capacity in
the natives ? Is it because nature has been mme
Sparing of her gifts to them?—By no means. Itis
universally acknowledged, and where proper culti
vation has been had, it has been fully evinced, that
the Carolinians, for qaicknefsof apprehension, br; 1 .
liancy of genius, and pregnancy of parts, are equal
led by few, perhaps excelled by none. We melt
then leek for another reason; and the only true cue
will be found to be, the Shameful negh& which has
hitherto prevailed in the education cf youth —Let
us haflen to remove die disgrace--—With that viev
the design of the prefenC address to the public is to
Solicit bentfachons from the Generous and Patriotic,
in behalf of an Deadly intended to be crofted at
lontyuuroug/i in this State. A number of Gen"?-
men, feme years ago, influenced by the L.mnoA
motive of dniemicating knowledge, and adv. .
literature m our back country, associated lej.