Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1821-04-10
FOR THE SPECTATOR.


.1iR. EDITOR,
In your last number (of the 9th inst.
under the head " The Triumph" your
readers are complimen,ed with some
master touches OF The very mastery pen
al one Mr., PLAIN Dealer, reminding his
fellow citlzens OF a meeting of the free
holders of NJ alison county, on the 18th
inst Gale for the ostensible purpose Of
demonstrating against the Stale Bank.--
A serious reply to that production e.rtra-
ordinary, would be an abuse oS;he pr-
Vileges o. TIE press; and we would not
have Mr.. Plain Dealer for one moment
imagine, that we intend to say more to
him IN reply, than merely to remind him
that plain dealing is not, necessarily, as
honorable AS he imagincs, when such
dealing has no other merit than simple
fllainness. The rasamuAin who bespa-
tiers You with his own congenial filth,
may do SO in the fl4ineat manner im4gi-
nable. and without any fraud or collision;
the bully may assault you, without the
least degree of connivance; the high
way-man may deal very hlainiy, when
he presents pistol at your breast and
demands your money; and SO may the
slandercr, the calumniator, Or Plain
Dealer, when he wantonly attacks AMI
stlgnatlzes characters better than his
own, or the good citizens of a neighbor-
Ing town, by altering in the hlainest way
IN ibe world, gross, scurrlllous, SANDER
Gus, and palpable falseh,ods This is
the conduct Of Mr.. Plain Dealer. Like
the vanquished goose, he flies from his
antagonist, and then quack!es his g Tri-
unl,IA. Like her, too, this retloubtable
champion OF the anti bank gentry re-
attacks, not the victor, but certain dis
trict OF the county, which has had as lit
tie to do with the bank bill before it pass
ed, the bank since, or the famed county
meeting, as he has with truth and honesty.
For the people of Alton, whom he as
serts unanimously came to support"
tie bank, generally, nay, we assert " al
most unanimously" treated the anony-
nous reques.to meet in county meeting,
ON the subject of the bank, with the con-
tempt 1t deserved, by attending to their
own private concerns, IS good, moral,
hlgh-minded citizens," who would not
stoop to become the tools of party Of
spectators, as did also large majority
oi the Intelligent and Aigh-miaded inha-
bltants of the county. Yes, sir, notwith-
standing Mr.. Pain Dealers assertion, i,
is an incontrovertible fact, with which
the readers of" The Triumph" ought to
be made acquainted, that not exceeding
two OF the citizens Of Alton were at said
meeting, and we do not recollect having
seen but one there. This the calumnia-
tor, Plain Dealer, must have known be
fore he began to WELD his potent quill.
One word to the author of 4" The Tri.
umpn." When gang of spectators
combine for the odious purpose of occa-
sioning the people" trouble and uneasl--
Ness" and of increasing their burdens
and the people frown them into insignii-
cance-it is a triumph !" the triumph
OF virtue over cupidIty. When jnnto
OF men who eXult in the distresses of the
people, and who would amass to them
selves fortunes out of the ruins of the in
dustriohs and laboring classes of the
community, lay schemes to defeat and
overthrow the most salutary institutions,
calculated to mitigate the distresses of
the people. il they could thereby enlarge
the field of sheer speculation and puti-
ply the facilities to legal plumber, and
dor this purpose, while they denounce
our legislature, still in effect call again
tor the same services they pretend to
discard, endeavoring by every species Of