The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1809-03-14

iaNJ "HA ~ tssaANTl my ISftttsc ..si.
that wou.ii SAC. lice IL consit. ra5,s ,a., cr
money, RATHER thin ;ncse =, ultures and c,ows
should DE united, into an idea ot sub. hitting
TO English taxation, any more than my de-
clarati1ii, shat / would give Il sinai; one 70
MAKE YOU 4 UefaciOas man, into une Of sub.
hitting ~ c;lumny.
It's not wonderful that YOU should appeal
10 style, as tie test of truth, both to take a
ciance Tor the character of veracity, and
also to gan the ground upon which you think
yourself :ualIiicd to shine. Is it modesty or
understanding which has taught you to think,
that s~.:erical sentences arc pills able to dis
suisc the taste OF ~ialsehood, or shameless as
sertlons, evide.ce able TO convert them Into
truth. 10 me, Your string OF impressions,
iaiumn:es, contradictions, poetic furor, par
u furcr, new light and %,anity, appears
IKE glass beads, painted in gaudy colours,
10 IaEaie and cheat ignorance. But If your
stItc approached rs near to the elegance Of
n janus, as it does to tie invention ola Man
Ieviil, skill thi, feather in your cap has as lit
NC To do with truth. as tie tiara of the pope,
or the mitre OF = bishop !: nor are the pri-
viieSes you nave usHcpeI from the distinc-
ton, OF infringing the public. right G.: fair e.
lection, caiainniating private character,
Consistent with tie tr.e, however. it max be
wan the refined repubiicanism, with which
yau nave giicionsly crowned yourself. Far
from cmuiatiilS your sty!e, | shall proceed
Nv way OF dialogue, in order to disentangle
It from your meaning; that on the one hand
yo"r assertions NAY be understood, ana on
tiic ot'ier, that your style may stand blazing
Dy ltsci'. untaraished by Il spot Of sense.
Attchte. john, you egregiolsiy misiDder-
stood the a!iusion of private griefs.' I
meant that envy, and not the disappointment
Of getting an Office, caused you TO swerve
from your public duty.
iajtor. You take it for granted. that four
successive impressions in your own mind,
make four facts. My impression of your al.
iusicn, and thar of all / converscd with was,
tiiati related to office. If one mans i'm
pressions, as your logic says, can make four
facts, t!tc impressions OF some thousands
certainly make one. Aud as YOU did nor
choose TO remove this impression, which you
made and ALLOW TO be false, you fraudulentiy
save 1t the force Of fact, as to all who i'm
o'Oed it. You acquit me OF not being cor
r~uptedby a motive which IS very ant to cor
rupt, but is q calumny of equal v~ilcness TO be
excused because it was not understood!
IL. Undoubtedly Tor if neither you nor
ally SGdty Gise siie~ where the shoe i;ifiGhhe;i
IL could not pinch you at all. But | vii! tell
You what your private griefs were, since
you kne@ act yourself. First, Won have said
that MIR. Madison is no republican in princi-
pie.
I: wish ] was a critic like you, MIR.
6itchie, that | might know whc,hcr this is
really a grief, or o,.ly an opinion. Ii it is an
opinion, In honesty you ought to have been
less poetical, and ought | to have vioistedi it,
wiietnerit was true OF false. You lave :;
way OF nicnding As we'll AS making facts
lad L SAID that a gentleman drank a glass
OF water, You would have turned it, if vo.,
hceGed the assertion, into Sappahannock ri
Yer. Ihls attempt TO manufacture a disi,-
tercstcd opinion, surprising I nad entertain
Ell il, into a disSraceiul private grief, is a
cia'nsy cttortto make Mr.. Madison's merit
and popularity sponsors for your vices. AS
q triCk, 1t Is co~hiemptibie as q matter of
'a''e' however, IT'S eminently correct. An
examination 81 the bleniis!tcs Of diamond
would be a far more agreeable employment
tnan aA exhibition Of the deformitirs OF =
ciod. But pubic opinion is not what 1 take
lt.of' II 1t viii safer yon to make of one gen
teic'nAli Il plaster ior your character, and
CT another, i caus;ic FOR mine.
-. L VIII try TODD 1t, however. You were
in league with Mr.. Randolph. The DEVILS
iii 1t II you don't allow this to be a private
grief.
H. Il devil must be Il coniurcr to make
1t one, but no conjuratioa is necessary to make
ita pubtc i'c. Mr.. Randolph had disclosed
'"it -'ituiSOil before 1 happen
ca ut washington Oh 4 law suit, and MIR.
jefferson informed me Of it the day, I think.
aftefi got there. neither had read nor did
! read the fcderalist, until [ was induced
Ia 90 1t inng after, by some references 70 i,
~ yohF paper, and in other public exhibit
tlOis anu ! Geithcr made ncr furnished Mr.
!t"hdHipH With comments on it, nor even cor
responded with him at all. | have some
tinics derived very great pleasure from be-
ms IN Mr.. ilando!ph's~ Company. bat I never
thought Myself entitled to dictate to him.
and indeed hardly rccoliect having been
three hours with hin, except in other com
t'any, IN my life. So much for the fact I
tel'ner intend 20 condemn nor defend Mr.
Randolph. and it is only TO balance the first
inference which might possibly be made from
What IhaVe said, that 1 add, that | consider
tHac Sehtlenan's situation and yours in the
pubic option, if yours is suc!, as YOU SIM
pose, to be as complete illustrations # tho
blindness Of fortune, as have occurred since
the revolution.
". l Old thee that my calumny was nro-
dnced by the dash Of my pen, and not the
dash OF my pen by the four columns, which +
now say caused me to make that dash. Ha-
wig toIook for the private griefs after las
serted their existence, it is Ike Il oui,blin~
lawyer 10 except to .Hy expression OF Yours
Capable or being made unpopular bv edito.
rial arithmetic for i'll can thcicbv make
you enemies, will it not be a private grief
| m NsnNs a.-l - L. D