Edwardsville spectator. [volume] (Edwardsville, Ill.) 1819-1826, 1824-06-29

hesitate between such alternatives, and,
whatever may be the result, shall ne
yer regret the choice | made.
The good people of this Union have
Witnessed the harsh and unfair treat
ment that have experienced, and have
no doubt they will concur with me IN
the opinion that it is high time that an
overbearing and domineering spirit too
often heretofore exhibited, which would
thus overawe and intimidate freemen
from the exercise of an acknowledged
right, or the performance OF public du-
ty, should receive salutary check; and
l shall not regre, the opportunity OF
contributing o that object, by affordlng
a demonstration of the utter impoiency
of such meals to produce the slightest
effect upon myself.
Whenev.r the time shall arrive that
any American citizen cannot, in decent
and respecI ful terms, vindicae bis own
character, against the injustice of pub
lie officer, ,r question the infallibill.y OF
the latter, without being viIlihed, de-
nounced, apd prejudgcd, on the floor q
the House Of Rehresentatipe8, and such
conduct shall be toleratedby public SEN
timent, and backed by power and pa
tronage, we may bid final adieu to our
liberties, and aggression may triumph
with impuniy.
But, among all the occurrences that
have presented themselves in relation
to this unhappy affair, nothing has sur
prised me more than that you should
have STATED to the public that should
have remained here, several days after
Mr.. Crawford made the report in ques-
ton; and that the other gentlemen who
knew i had left the city, under the or
ders of the President, and in pursuance
of arrangements for my embarkation for
Mexico, which bad been made before
the report was sent to the House, should
themselves have imagined, or could
have supposed, that an intelligent peo-
pie could have been induced to believe,
that any justification for the vi,uperative
reproaches that have been so unsparing-
ly bestowed upon me, was to be found
in the circumstance of my having en-
braced the first opportunity that present.
ed itself, on my journey, to vindicaie
myself, is also rather more than Twas
prepared TO expect. Nor is it impro-
,able that i, may be regarded by those
impartial Judges, to whom we all have
o submit, as an. artifice to lessen the
,dium that is Justly due to the means
which LETT me no other alternative than
O submit in silence to injurious impu-
atoms, or to defend myself under those
llsadvantageou circumstances.
After Mr.. Crawford's efor, which oc-
:upies nearly three columns Of your pa
,er, to prove that had szvorn falsely, it
IAN no longer be doubted by any one
hat his report was Intended to impeach
nv credibili,y, the more especially as it
i ars, from his own view OF the sub
ec,, that the letter therein alluded to,
vas not one of those which he was bound
o have communicated, or about which,
my remark whichever was required by
lis Official duty Who, then can be So
unjust as 10 blame me for defending
nyseIfi Where let me ask, is the man
o be found, who sets the least value on
lis character, and being conscious of his
innocence, would not have done so II,
hen, there is any blame fes bringing this
ubJect before the House OF Representa- /
ives, at SO late period OF the session,
! is due 10 MIR. Crawford--not to me
or my defence was produced by his at
ack: and tks he might have made ear
Ter, or foP5ofne to have made it at all.
The truth is, that never saw or
'eard Of the report until the morning al
er ii was made. A copy of it was then
'rought to me by a member Of the
louise Of Representatives, about one
'our before my intended departure, and
o entirely unexpected was it TO me,
hat Icould not decide what course it
would be best to take in regard to il. 4
however waited the balance of that day,
'ndeavoring TO collect such documents
IS supposed might be useful to me, in
my event that might probably happen,
ef, the city the next morning, and ar
lived in BALTIMORE the same evening,
Without having dcterminediwhep or how
should defend myself. eNoF was any
,art Of my defence written until after my
'rrival at Wheeling. Having, at that
inc, nothing in my possession to estabs
ish the truth Of my oath, before the
had no other means Of de-
ence than to irnpeach and invalida,e the
that was so we'll calculated to
njure me. This | did, aswell as could,
and transmitted my vindication, imper-