Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1832-11-01

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cation to a magistrate in New Bedford,.
of story told to him second handed here
in Newport by New-Bedford man, a
stranger to him, and who said that it had
been told to him and others openly, in a,
public market place in Bedford,by
notorious thief and shoplilter. 1t was
also palpablc that during the bitter con-
tentons which had been stirred up and
we've still tomcnted in that district, by
the political antimasons, such a story,
like hundreds Of similar ones, whether
true or false, must have been sufficiently
banded about and made the most of by
many other zealots as well as by l.. him
self, who showed himself to be swift
partizan, and cvcn continued to propa-
gate his story out Of his own district and
state and among strangers.-And VIC
must observe that it was circumstances
not calculated to impress stranger with
very favorable opinion of Mr. Penni-
man himself, that he should be engaged,
upon terms Of apparent equality and iel-
lowship in an argument upon masonry
and anti-masonry, or amy other SUBJECT,
with villain who to his very face ac-
knowledged himself to be thief, and
who in his conversation used the most
profane language which p. himself re-
peated, without appearing to think there
was any thing exceptionable in it; and
! that he (P) should manifest SO much
readiness to make use of such a creature
TO stab the characters Of men of respec-
table standing in his own neishborhood,
and through them to bring obloquy and
disgrace upon larIc class Of his fellow
citizens, many Of whom were among the
most respectable in the state.
We were further informed by Mr. III.
that although he did not consider the
memorandum he took Of Pennilnan's, or
the thicf's story, whichever it might be
called, as evidence; the subject of it not
being within the province of the commit
tee; and not having been taken by him
as one Of the committee, in which capa-
city he never acted but on occasions and
at times appointed by the committee and
publicly notified; he nevertheless COM
municated the story to the committee
when they met to complete their report,
and when they made up their opinions
respecting three crporie dcpostions
which the ovcrtiowing zeal and charity
Of the anti masonic committee had i'll
dnccd them to procure out of the State.
And that the committee without the least
hesitation decided, that for them to give
! (Which they would do if they reported it
as evidence to the General Assembly, to
oxpare depositions affecting the charac-
ters of citizens Of other states, would be
highly unjust, and would, if tho repre-
sentations were false, subject the COM
mittec themselves to prosecution as slam
dcrcrs- and that the committee, at any
rate that Mr. III. was the less disposed
to give credit to such cxparte testimony,
when it had turned out that the numerous
criminal charges which had been brought
and circulated with the greatest avidity
and bitterness, had been proved to be ut.
terly false, even by the witnesses pro-
duced to support them.
1t is observable in Pcnniman's letter,
that the Jealous partizan who procured it
from him, tried hard to get him to say
that it was signed and sworn to by him,
r and that y. also tried hard to 0bligc him,
by calling the memorandum his deposi-
ton and saying that to the best Of has re-
collection II iras Spo,n to Ly him, and that
he thinks lie signed it-as if he could hare
forgotten such facts.
II ------------
Mr. INGHAM, Jackson's discarded Sec
retary of the Treasury, has addressed a
letter to friend Of his in Pennsylvania,