Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1833-08-20
Toy REQUEST. ]

H. Ddvis' .7ctdress to the Pu6hc.
In replyipe to an article Of the above stamp,
written nv a orofessed minister OF the gospel OF
Christ. we candidly confess we scarcely know
how TO begin. We are perfectly aware that the
ministerial character is ordinarily. and very pro-
perIy, regarded with respect; and that he who
serves the altar, is very naturally associated In
the public mind, with the sacred precepts, prin-
ciples, and institutions Of the religion ne pro.
fesses to teach. How far feeling OF this KIND
may appear to be justified on the present oeea'
sion, we shall presently see; and' u the tree oe
kno xn BY its fruit, We make the appeal.
Mr. Davis commences his vindicat'on, or re-
nly. by the use of the most gross and abusive
en;thets. directed at the editor Of this paper.
whom he charges with having hypocritically head
ed. a. a communication, an article written by
himself. He calls it "a deception" or an at
teu,pt 10 cheat the public, and assigns as motives,
the das,ardly and wicked purposes OF corrupt
heart, SC. How far such language becomes
gentleman Of his profession. is no concern OF
ours at this moment Our reply to Mr.. Davis Is,
that his charge must be attributed to ignorance;
that neither man, woman. or child, was supposed
capabie of installing the writer oil the article to
which he sludes; and that, in fact. it was OF lit
t,s consequence who the writer might have been.
The facts were all that were important.-To
these facts we shall advert in their proper place
The third paragraph Of Mr., DAVIS reply is OF
more Importance, and merits particular no'ice,
MIR. Davis says the editor Of this paper - has
been in the habit for years past, OF assal'ng the
character of individuals, and of whole conmu.
nities." &c. This We deny, and challenge the
nroof He also says, we have more than once
been a member OF the Methodist Episcopal
Church, and that, having sought unsuccess'ully
for advancement as all exhorter, or preacher,
which was promptly refused, we withdrew from
the church under the influence Of the most en-
Uttered feelings, and have since sought, by all
the means in our power, to bring that church
into disrspute. &C. That we have twice been
in membership with his church, and have twice
Withdrawn for reasons satisfactory to ourselves.
we admit; hut we most positively aver that the
latter mart of the statement is untrue. We ne
YER applied, nor did we ever think Of applying,
for license a. an exhorter, or preacher. we
challenge Mr.. DAVIS to sustain the alleged Tact,
nv the records of the church, or IN any other
manner. We stat, moreover. in refutati0n OF
the charge Of :. em6ihered feelings against the
Methodist Church, that our prevailing feelings
have been of the most friendly kind; and that,
so far from Mr.. Davis statement being correct,
il is within his own personal knowledge, tina, a
class meeting Of the society regularly met once
a
Davis also knows that, upon his arrival in Lees.
burg to take charge of this station, we called
upon him, (having been previously introduced, J
and welcomed him to his appointment-invited
him to visit our family, and told him we should
direct our news carrier to leave him the paper.
There are other facts in the possession Of mem
hers of his church, which farther establish the
GOOD feelings we possessed towards it, Of which
f does not become US to treat. So much TOR this
Misrepresentation.
In reply 10 Mr.. Davis assertion, that 1t was
known to as that he was IN the habit OF using the
flute occasionally, which we declared 10 be otten-
sye to our moral sense, &C. we can most positive
ly declare, that we did not know whether he kne"
a fat from sharp, nor did we care. We knew, oy
report, iha, he was under the instruction OF mas
ter 10 learn to play the flute; and. in private con-
yersation we did express disapprobation, on the
ground of its moi being in place We deny. how.
ever that this disapprobation was founded upon H.
liberal views Of the subject. In proof OF this, we
state that, within the last six or eight months, un-
Outstanding that an apprentice OF ours was desl-
rous of learning 70 perform upon the violin, we
voluntarily seat him, at our own expense, to Mr..
Davis teacher to learn to " fiddle"
We pass over some Of Mr. Davis' scurrious
slang to come at his next charge. He says the ed
itor engaged his wife and daughters IN his quar-
rel, Sc. Sc This is not true, and we challenge
the proof. We also challenge and defy Mr. Da-
Wis, on behalf Of those Of our family OF whom he
speaks, to make good his assertion, that they
spoke Of him in the most unqualified terms OF a.
buse. It's not their habit thus to speak OF per-
sons, whatever estimate they make OF characters.
10 following Mr. Davis. in the order OF his re-
marks, We come now to . statement OF tact
strangely perverted, as appears BY the concurrent
testimony Of all with whom we have conversed,
~ho were present at the time Of the occurrence
Mr.. Davis rather more than Insinuates that it
vas disorderiy conduct at the last quarterly
meeting that drew from him the censure cast up
on q part Of the editors family. Weare assured,
upon the most respectable authority, that this was
not the fact; nor would the incident have caused
any excitement on the part OF our citizens, had
this been the case. The assault was, on the con.
,rary, generally believed to have been wantonly
levelisd at the young ladies that withdrew, as
there was no excitement apparent, or any inter-
ruption Of the meeting at the time Subsequent.
", il is true. few other persons left the house