Martinsburg gazette and public advertiser. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1826-1833, 1827-08-07

mount 10 an universal Incense 10 unlger-
sal calumnyl
No n has aver eontended, that the
proof should be exclusively that Of eye
Witnesses, testiiyiug from their senses
positively and directly to the fact. Poll
teal, like all other offences, may be es.
tablished by eircumstantial as we'll as
positive evidence. But | do contend,
that some evidence, be il what il may,
ought To be exhibited. Ifthere be none,
how do the accussrs KNOB that an Of
fence has been perpetrated9 If they do
know it, let us have the facts on which
their conviction is based. will not e.
ven assert that, in public affairs, a citi-
zen has not a right, freely TO express
his opfnions of public men, and to sps-
culats upon the motives of their conduct.
But If be chooses to ~promulgats opin-
ions, let them be given as opinions
The public will correctly Judge of their
value and their grounds. No one has
a right 10 put forth the positive asser
ton, that a political offence has been
committed. unless he stands prepared
to sustain, by satisfactory proof of some
kind, its actual existence.
Ii he who exhibits a charge of poliii-
cal crime is, from its very nature, disa-
| bled to establish it, how much more diff
6cult is the condition oil the accusedl
How can be exhibit negative proof Of
his innocence, if no affirmative proof of
| his guilt is, or can be adducedi
II must have been a conviction that
the justice of the public required a de-
finite charge, by a responsible accuser,
that has, at last, extorted from General
jackson his letter of the 9th of June,
lately published. / approach that letter
with great reluctance, not on my W
account, for on that, do most hearti.
y and sincerely rejoice that !. has made
its appearance. But il is a relu Glance,
excited by the feelings of respect which
| would an~xiously have cultivated to-
wards its author. He has, however, by
that letter, created such relations be-
tween US, that, in any language which
| may employ, in examining its eon-
tents, l feel myself bound by no other
obligations than those which belong to
truth, to public decorum, and to myself.
The first consideration which must, on
the perusal Of the letter, force itself up
on every rejecting mind. is that which
arises out of the delicate posture in
which Gen. jackson stands before the
American public. He is a candidate 70,
the Presidency, avowed and proclaim
ed. He has no competitor at present,
and there is no probability Of his hav-
ing any, but one. The charges which
he has allowed himself to be the organ
Of communicating to the very public
who is to decide the question of the Pre-.
sidency, though directly aimed at me,
necessarily implicate his only competi.
tor. Mr.. Adams and myself are both
guilty, or we are both innocent Of the
imputed arrangement between Us. His
innocence is absolutely irrecoucilabls
with my guilt. If Gen. Jackson, there
fore, a establish my guilt, and, BY in
ference, or by insinuasion, that of his
sole rival, be will have removed a great
obstacle to the contamination of the OBJ
lect of his ambition. And if he can, at
the same time, make but his own puri.
/ ty Of conduct, and impress the Ameri-
can people with the belief that his pu
rity and integrity alone prevented his
success before the House of Represen-
t%atives. his claims will become abso-
lutely irresistible. Were there ever
more powerful motives to propagate
was there ever greater interest, at all
hazards, to prove the truth Of chsrgssi
state the case, l hope. fairly; mean
to state it fairly and fearlessly. II The
position be one which exposes General
jackson to unfayorable suspicious, it
must be borne in mind that be has vol
uRtarily taken il, and he must abide the
consequences. am acting OF the de-
fenslye, and it is he who assails me, and
who has called forth, by the eternal
laws of self protection, the right to use
all legitimate means of self defence.
Gen. Jackson has shown, in his let
ter, that be is not exempt from the in
fuence Of that bias towards ones own
interests, which is unfortunately the too
common lot of human nature. 1t is HE
interest to make out that he is a person
of spotless innocence, and of unsullied
integrity, and to establish, by direct
charge, or by necessary inference, the
want OF those qualitiesin his rival Ac-
cordingly, we find throughout the letter,
a labored attempt TO set forth his own
Immaculate purity in striking contrast
9Th fhn cnrrnniinn which Ia afInihnfad