Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1825-03-17

q
once what he certainly is not no,o. The
difference need not be explained-the
people see it plainly and you jselaj or-
chilly.
The time has been, when l was
proud to call you friend but that
time has passed, never to return. 10
call you friend no,O would be criminali-
ty, to be called friend by you, contami-
nation.
When you call me "unprincipled
slanderer," l acknowledge the beauty OF
your stile and the beauty Of your taste,
whilst smile at the impotency of your
malignant effort. Your language,
either of condemnation orapprobation,
can neither stain or whiten the reputa-
ton of any man. Praises, you never
give, except to the unworthy, and your
denunciations are but proofs of virtue.
The public will require of you some
evidence to sustain you in your foul as
pensions of mankind; your declarations
alone will not do might with as
much propriety call you an honest man,
but would that make you so? Besides,
Icannot help expressing my surprise
at your calling any individual "slan-
derer," for l had thought that you
claimed this appellation for yourself,
as prerogative. Indeed, Sir, Thought
that you had been so long and so stea-
Oily engaged in traducing the human
character, that you had reduced the
subject to sort of Musical Notebook;
any tune of which, with all its varia-
tons, your tongue could play with UNI
exampled dexterity. That you have
always considered ISLANDER" & Honor,
as SYNONYMOUS terms, is proposition
too palpable to be discussed.-You
could not, therefore, have intended Sc
riously to honor me with the name
Of "slanderer," name to which you
have hitherto not only claimed title
Yourself, but common consent has Civ
en- you patent for it; and in the various
"schemes for relief" now afloat in the
world, l should not be surprised to hear
that you were selling out this patent
right, for counties and towns, whilst at
the same time you are engaged in re-
commencing its great value as an ac-
compHshment. will not, therefore, per-
nit myself to believe that you, design
edly, applied tGis term "slanderer," to
me. and pass it by, as one of those in
nocent errors to which we are all liable;
and forgive you the more readily, be-
cause it has been your misfortune to
be violently and dangerously afflicted
with Political feuer for the last dozen
years; and it cannot be expected that
mind so long delirious, can at this time,
if ever, exercise its faculties with pre-
cision.
You have been remarkable, Sir, in
your best days of mental vigor,
for one great quality of the mind, by
the skilful exercise of which you have
gained many an unjust victory in de-
bate. That quality is this: when sore
ly pressed, you endeavor to place your
adversary in condition, by which the
public eve may be transferred from
Yourself to him. Thus: when serious
ly charged yourself, in place Of making
your defence, you Immediately prefer
new charges against your adversary, land
ifhe is weak enough to enter upon his
own defence, instead Of prosecuting his
charges against you, ne is inevitably
gone; for, before you are done With him,
the pubic will be worn down with dis
cussion, and, in disgust, turn from bolh
parties. This will be precisely whaty you
desire; * your adr6itness does not pro-
cure the conndemna on of your adver-
sary, it will, at least, cause you to escape
from that judgment, which otherwise
you would have met; for, having once
succeeded in having the public eye fixed
upon your adversary, it cannot be thrown
back upon you, and if you should be
fortunate enough to convict him, your
own escape is certain, however guilty
you may be. This is an advantage
which you shall not gain over me; and
be assured that l shall not be diverted
from my purpose. Discharge your
self from the charges, which you call
Islander, contained in the piece signed
A. z. and then you may have some
hope of being answered in your turn.
Here, sir, all that | have to say to
you, of a private nature, ends; and, per-
haps, l ought to lay down my pen, yet
l cannot do SO until I apprise you of
the knowledge which | possess upon
the items in your account Of attack upon
Mr.. Monroe shall never attempt to
defend the ex-President against the at
tack which you have made: but be as
sured that it will be done; and if my
eyes and my senses have not deceived
me, so far as relates to the material
parts Of your charges, you will stand
convicted before the world as a SLAM
derer, calumniator, and murderer Of
reputation, age, and honor.
]. ROBERTSON, Jr.
His excellency c. D. E. ]. BANcE-