Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1815-12-21
70 TIE PUBIC.

remarks. in answer TO the oh rg-s Tia I
have been lately made against nv official
conduct by two Editors of newspapers in
Petersburg, and one in this city, allude
to those which have appeared III the Pc
tersburg latelligcncerof the 5th AMI 18th
IL the Republican of the 18th, and in the
Il chncnd Argus of the 9th and 10Th lust.
No other consider ton wouli, confess,
have impelled NC 10 this course-Ncither
the respect which feel for the sources,
whence these charges flow-aor any Dir, ad
Of their eff upon the authority to viii, II
] owe my Office, and which can alone pun
ism by remov'l, d'iinqucrcy in IFS dis
charge. would have Influenced me, to
make newspaper, the vehicle of my de-
fence ifthe public, whose opinions res
rect, had received their impressions th,o'
any other channel. and through any other
could have had them removcd-But even
this consider ton. which actu etes me nozv,
will not induce me 10 trouble YOU again
for, havirg, once for all, explained AMI
vindic ated my conduct b; fore the great
moral Tribunal, TO which I acknowledge
am amenable, I shall leave it Willingly
TO the candid judgment of the Impartial,
and to the carping objections of such as
have already assailed it.
In making the above acknowledgment,
however, ] am I to be understood, rs
admitting the right cf every Editor, to
draw an officer before that tribunal, either
upon ordinary occasions. or upon false or
frivolous pretences. IndisCriminate or mis-
placed censure, s as objection ohle as indis-
cri'ninate or misplaced praise. q in the end
rs fatal 70 the true prerogatives & real free
dom Of the press. IF at every perception of
inconvenience, or every suggest on ofTret-
III tmhatience, an Editor without proof,
and perhaps without enquiry, is justified
in venting his ill-humor upon pablo Off
Ger, although that officer may in another
paper viudicate his conduct, his stu alton
is even more painful ard dangerous, than
it has generally been allowed to be--hs
character is at tie mercy of those who
conduct newspapers, and gooI men seeing
this evil may be induced to wish that some
restraint should be imposed upon the licen-
tlous1ess OF the press, wisich might praba-
bly, affect its i'berty.--Is condu tors who
valve this Freedom. ought therefore TO be
extremely cautious how they give way 10
first emotions Of prejudice and passion, and
the public should look with distrustful AND
JEALOUS eye. upon charges, resting alone on
rumour, o. opinion, or inference
The evil becomes more serious, when
thu assailant clothes himself, as gentlemen
Of this stamp generally do, in the garb of
patriotism. HIS motives, which are fire.
quentiY trifing and sometimes vicious, are
thus disguised under a spseious appear
ance, and he receives implicit credit, be-
cause he is supposed to be governe by the
pub ic good alon"-Draw the curtain howe
YER, and what does this pretended patriot,
this 2c7lous reformer, this modern Cato,
who Affects in the name OF justice and for
h-.t.c ell OIL 20
quent, turn out TO be Some secret enemy
TO the man ne att1cks-or. some oae de-
string for himself or his friends the Office
which the other hll's-or one, who un-blc
tn grace his columns with spccuist 'ons upon,
the great questions in which society are
interested. thinks to acquire temporary ap-
plause and fiji his meagFe print, by sound
irg the alarm of public delinquency, and
CRYING shame shame upon the supposed
offender
Whether hese remarks growing ont Of
the subject, apply to all, or any Of the
persons who have brought charges against
me, am not sufficiently acquainted with
their charsrte or their papers to deter
mine; bu must say, that those charges
are conceived in spirit Of aspcrity, and
urged with a co1rseness Of expression,
neither warranted by the occasion, or by
facts.
Before answer to the specific accus1ti-
ons nquestioB, | beg leave TO lty before
the public short and condensed statement
d the transactions in the Post Office since
held it, which viii serve to explain some
Of the Irregularities complained If. When
afcer the death Of my predecessor, I was
appointed to The Office, found in it, two
young men who had been und n him--they
were retaned--very soon a deEct to the
amount of several hunlr d dollars was
Observation-Disclosures Of these young men
could be particularly charged with hav-
ing caused it--one however was discharp.
ed, the other retained, end an assistant
procurcd---at length the Post-Oftice is
BIB, d and the drawer with several hun
dred dollars more carried off. The assist.
ants in the Post-Omre, through whose
negligence at least, the fact occurred, were
also discharged, anda young m wei ac-
qua'nted with the business, procured from
distance. For a time all went well, but
upon his leaving me-, several serious losses
from time to time again occurred, which
not merely diminished the profits of the
Office, but nearly if not altogether con-
sumed them during this period, l atteHd-
ed in person to the duties Of the Office as
far as 1t was iii my power to attend to
them: But, / could neither prevent or re-
cover losses, because all the young men
being upon the same footing Of responsible
ty, 1t could rest exclusively on none of
t3em--l now came 90 a resoluton---a rss0-
ldion which | deemed absolutely necessa-
~, to entrust the MANAGEMENT Of the Of