Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1824-06-15


to myself, l should have been better satisfied,
II thc hint had been given me before neg arrest.
At least II would nave apprzed me OF my da;i-
ger oil ocinG punished for not chGiteng'itS- my
superior officer aud LEFT me chance Of avert
ing the mischicis of arrest, for this unknown
misdcmcanor.
But, said in this publication, that there
was mysterious policy in keeping back Tie
name OF The author - and this iinputat!ono nlys-
terry is treated as crime, against Captain Ior-
Ter. aud Is there no mystery about ii s! Il nat
captain Porter Is the author, every one has
long believed, aud now knows; and nothing
surprizcs me SO n.1ch rs the mysterious policy
which still attempts To keep back his name.
And among thc inconsistent and vibrating tnea-
sures OF TINS prosecution, nothing is more ra-
maTkabe than the course pursued in relation to
the authorship of that anonymous libel. in the
outset, the inquiries 10 Captain Sinclair and Lit.
Iaulali, l'roposrdby Capt. Porter himself as
suncd that Captain Porter was the author;
q eEueavorcd to prove, that the fact was knoMn
TO me. That was done, in the hope that my
remarks, addressed to tho anonymous writer,
and not to Captain Porter, might take the cha
racter OF high treason against his dignity be-
cause knew hiin to be the author, and levellctl
my shot at hIm, while affecting To fire at the
| nonymous libellcr. All this failed, however
| and 1t is little rema risable, that no one among
the many witnesses, till the testimony OF the c.
ditor comes in, could expressly prove the author
snip; and even he himself, had so little dispo-
sition to claim the honors of it, that after hay
ing implicitly conceded it in twenty instances,
| IN the course OF his examination, he at last was
| surprised at the detection, and seemed to ina
sinc that IT was only by claw trip" that the
author had been caught
And III his correspondence with the itor oS
| the Georgian, though called on 10 give the a.
thoTs name, he very adroitly maintained tho
mysicnous pohcy," and, instead of giving
himself up as the author, evadcd the Applicant
on by saying Z" Lieut.. kennon cannot be igno-
rant who the author is, & you may refer him to
me for the desired inormation.n
nave already SAID, sirs, that ] intended nv
publication OF the 1sth December to have been
| my last notice of the Georgian, or its author.
and 1t certainly would have been SO, but for
Captain Porter himself The moment he saw
that publication, his mind, fertile i'm expcdients
OF annoyance, conceived the scheme of CONVEX
ting that publication into means of DEGRADING,
me. p. Wilson, his clerk, was selected as tia
instrument of this new attack; & on the 17ih
Oecenbey, certificate, dictated by Captain
Porter was signed by Wilson, and placed i
the possession of Captain Porter. The oh
Jcct of that certificate Enough in miIier
terms) was to imputc to me the forgery
which forms the first charge of .';is .1..,sec,;
ton, and to subject me to the reproach con.
veyed by the fourth specification o. 49,. md
charge. But IT is Impossible to compare fhe
Ii Tie similarity q 4. ore5aiOns ans; Inc inf, in
SIC evidence which tc styc affords. that tbn,-
| were ccined IN the same mind, and moulded of
ire same materials; though one bears the arms
ana saparscr'ption Of captain in the navy. and
the oi"er the nu:!lbie ciiigy of captains cIeri..
AIMED with this certificate, Capt Porter.
came to Norfolk, and in The very face of The ra'
cent order Of the Secretary of the Naxy. wl;,eI,
was then acaTcefy dry in direct sopfenrf of
mat order, an extract from which after my arr
rest, lie was pleased 10 sentme with deciarat;.
on that he had concerned 10 rs keits,- and so;t
IN IN making degrading proposal TO HE through
i az hatnic'on yes, siTs, IL The oDen defiance
OF 'h;t oTcer, oid he put into circulation a,nono,
the officers, as is proved by Mr. Iiar,b,n.o,, th;
certificate OF T. Wilson, intended to destroy nv
rcPula;'Sn. Inflow many other channels these
| ccrtihcatcs may have been circulated, Ikno,v
not Ore was fouud, however, on board the
pubic steam boat, in which he came from
! " asl'insto 10 NoTi''if aud though there is no
proof that 1t was placed there by him. he is~res
ponsibe, as all the copies cmanated from him q.
lone.
This new attack provoked another npblc,f-
on by me IN the Herald. | may safely anne,I
10 ITS tone and It's expressions to prove. titati;f
never woti,d nave been composed had this CERT
cate OF Il. Wilson never been circulated
But he believes he has detected in ifs ,,,.nro.-
SONS, some nngua'dcd terms Which, put me in his
power; and he has made tie,Y1 tl,t cas-, ~ .l,,
IL.
nun specification OF the second charge.
suppose II ware true, sirS, that in ;hc oorl,-.,.
! occasionca by these torturing experiment. ~,
my feelings, had uttered SONG rroan too III
Tor the repose of Capt. Porter or SONG cornnle;t
! not expressed in the set phrase & fastidio,,l I
SuaSeoi absolute beDscance. Is the man Who
has stretched me the rack he who .1o,,I5
! complain Is my torIneuter the person who
| should reproach me with the aaconies lo lac IN,
| iuced ana, is 1t MT outrage on psf1fa an5
Propricty that Capt. Portcrsh be aiIo,yel r.,
excite ne 70 phronzy. and tlcn convert the inco.
herencles of my madness into crimes Vii,
should be punished? Whatever ,oal DO -,
inlproprietics, the common feeling of fr,,,t,,,
VIII pronounce that, to him If least 49,,
ceased TO be rcprcEcnsiblc ''oy
But L need no such apology. Excen4 uo;,
mIldness, there is nothing in the terms of nv
publication regret, OF would modify Aud +
am ready to meet Tire consequences
! III tins publication. am CHARGED with bar;ro.
used towards Capt. Porter, term seldom a,'
piled TO others than pckpoclScts, negroes and
i gamblers" As this specification does no. con
descend to designate this opprobri,1s term. a.,
not strictly bound 10 notice il. But Cf,pt,;,,
Porter IN his evidence referred TO il. ifisIc
\ word =" noted" This word means c,rneof,,
| $ distinguished" IL sometimes means g roto-
rious," which conveys TIC idea of disrcpufabIe
distinction. certainly did not use it in this lat
Ter sense. lfCapt Porter has chosen to under
stand, in its worst sense term which lc ,n;oLt
have better applied in one complimentary. il :;
only OF piece with the greater indiscretior,s H.
has committed, in appropriatug 10 b;,nsoif
terms applied by nc only TO nv anoyv,uo,,s 80
| soiIaut IN fhc FPOrgia,, 90