Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1829-01-23
FOR TIE RICHMOND WING.
TO DRAPER.

tnat your courtesy had attract
eh US 'huci company to your door | imagined You
cpuld prudenty entertain, was fearful that might
DC regarded as an intruder. Presenting that you
ore now ut leisure, shall endcavor repay some part
al the obligations which owe you.
NO apology was due to Inc for the length of time
which elapsed between the publication of my sric-
tpres on the circular of you friend and the compost
ton OF your notice of them. can rentlilv tnaonc
the wear and tear of brains Which it REQUIRED and SIM
Cerey compassionate the labor which it cost you Far
better would have bcen if you had reflected on the
bearing which your apology is calculated to have
upon yourself. Such production yours might have
passed without much severity of criticisms g. have been
considered at least pardonnble, if it had been struck
out and thrown into the press in the heat of an un-
guarded moment-at season when the eurerness OF
displaying "your literary qualifications" had triumph
ed over your discretion nd the irothy oervacence Of
vanity given an unnatural elevation to your spirs-
But what must be thought of your taste and yo,,r
Judgment when 1t seems that imporuned IFS pub-
Itcution nearly three months after it. was Written
You calculate too largely on the charity of mankind
y you imagine that with the evidence before them
they will not pronounce that the sodium in lonr,lm
Jaclens has found In your breast ample and con-
genial depositarv.
have too much respect for the'purty and dignity
ut my own character to follow the filthy eXamplc
which you have set ne. Nothing - castor thnn to
reiaiatc abuse i'll kind. But it is poor and pitifiil
game 20 bnndy scurrilous cpithcts, to wage a war
vi plr;unat Recommendations and invcctiye would mn,
sure he not less offensive to the moral sense and So
erJudgment OF the community than abhorrent to nv
own sense of propriety. | leave you then undispu-
Iayt
siicshed your maiden sword with so much honor
= IL You are proud OF the laurels which huttcr upon
your brow, 1 shall not attempt to rob you Of single
!eat-to arrest the current of your JOY, the
conlp)acency of your pride.
You seem to have read Iunius till your head has
6scn turned, and fear your sense OF moral obliga-
ton not little impaired. ''Decipt cxemplar Wits
lmltaGlle." While you have discovered q total INCA,
paclty to arrive at the aines imitation OF the polish
CD dction, epgrammatic point, pungent wit and'ncr-
Vous iorce OF TINS elegant writer, you have faed
70 reveal nature on which his cold and hcaress ma
l!%nlty mas been but too successfully grated Time
and posterity have passed upon the character of this
great unknown, and while they have not failed to
accord ample merit to his pen, they have doomed TO
mqualhed Reproduction the observation-disclosures of his
spirit, the hardness an1 ferociiy of bis heart. If Won
continue to read his work, you Will disco YER that there
Is great room to improve your imitation of his STYLE
while i. you'd be doing oven him great Injustice m
compare any thing which he wrote with the spe
cinen which you have afforded OF refinement of man
NOR and beni9nity feeling. Junis too, was ALWAYS
algnifcd III his most rcmorsecss moments. You
have adopted the style of sh-narkct and fallen ga
sf6ld!ng like scuion very drab.'
You nsinuae that lhave endcavorcd to conceal N.Y.
spf because in obedience to very proper and nno
established usage, have written under fictitious sio
natures. s'hs is too puerile and ridiculous to de-
s?rve serious corrnentyou it seems have had no
difficulty Ill finding out, and am very sure that
anu not unknown to your friend Bat if you have
real antlpathy to masks why have you appeared in q
domlno' Haveyou complained Sir William becausoI |
did not set che example of violating custom which
you feared ngH concealtrom the public eye the true
,ne of the literary phenomenon that has burst upon
the view
With regard to my .f;iend," a term which You us-
So often and so sncerngy, shall h,t IT.
ever pr t Il1IS a au,e 10 ia rs how
After maxim. Soerason to complain of parality.--
a.. eaes5{ me the ostcrsble hero of your piece,
been made to share the fate of those of many
other tor'ters OF romance, and turned out but
diary parsonage after all fear should be forced to
rake in of the most revolving suspicious to |
taclS
q man who ought TO have been Of the last OBJ
fleets of your venom. To say nothing more YOU are
both young men, members OF the profession. |
and felow practitioners in part in the courts
He is MISREPRESENTATION bu1 little known-his |
hands are full Of brets-yours empty leave it
to the world and your conscience, TO decide |
whether these things have had any agency in expend
ing much gall.
Since you have bestowed much nttcntion on my |
friend, flor never mentioned him. viii make free to
tell you that would rebound far more to yor honor
aud your profit to cmulate rather than to Willy the
qualities of his head and heart Though shall for
bear to state what know him to be capable of doing
! Will tell you what am snre he viii never do. He
will never faWn upon the objects of his scorn nor
fleet friendship which is foreign TO his heart He
you'd be one of the last in the world to conceal
ms detcstation of another under deccful garnture
Of smiles, much to aim u dagger az the heart
beneath the folds Of cordial embrace.
But you remark, ''If have said any thing in reIa-
ton to your friend, that may give pain it was provo
ked by your attack on Mr.. Taafirro." Whence did
ou your SYSTEM Oh etHlCS: FROM the Bible,
from Paey, or from Junius? I know not which to
atnsire most, the soundncss of the understanding or
the purity of the heart that is governed by such
prtnciple-a principle which visits upon the innocent
tue oecnees of the guilty, and confounds all dstinc-
tJon Of right and wrong of common sense and coui-
mon Justice.
Ely apprehension is really SO dull that nowithstanG
ing all the aid which it has derived from your astrtc-
ness, am still unable to perceive the aIlusions which
you think you have discovered III the obnoxious cir
culaT' ] have heard the first paragraph likewise
quoted as the offending portion. Under this latitude
nous method Of construction it would have been OK
"ncdlngy difficult 10 write any thing to the purpose
without !: T;a ;iiiy your friend. He is placed by it
u the awkward situation of the thief who whether
ne hears honesty appeuded, or roguery condemned,