Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1840-07-09

"at uehned the limns of an Editors preropatye in
this respect. But, according To Mr.. Davis's new
code he Is TO be the sole judge not alone Of what is
true bat Of rhat oer people taus beiere 10 be true
u he happen to come to different conclusions fro m
another, he assumes" the right TO brand that 9th.
er before the public with the most opprobious epi-
thets, and to stigmatize him with the foules, abuse
What Is The result Of this Democratic censorship
over the press must either submit every article
may desire to publish to Mr.. Moajah Davis's su.
pervision, and procure his gracious permission to
publish it-every article in the Vmgnian must first
receive the stamp Of his sancton,--or else am TO
be subjected to the penalty Of his displeasurc and
abuse must believe nothing but what he believes;
and If assume the right to think for my SELF and in
the exercise OF this ghi. assert what Think why
Mr.. Davis. receiving his impressions through a df
feren medium, places upon the Procrusiian bed
of his own creation aud stretches me or lops off n
limb, until am elongated shortened TO the pre-.
else dimensions of has faith Was eve, such ,yran-
ny over opinion attempted before by one private cit
izen over anotherl This may be modern Demo
cracy, but il savors strongly of French Jacobinsm,
IN the Reign of Teror,w hen dared to breathe
above h breath lest friend Of the party in
Power should scent treason, & denounce him to the
|
that; but we but litle better off, If individual
iyfants, swellc6, like the frog IN the fable beyond
their natural dimensions by adven,a,ious circumsian
ces, shall "assume" tie right of abusing, in the
offensive terms, those who dare TO differ from
them in opinion.
do not set up for myself any claim 10 niallib-
~ On the contrary. am sometimes painfully sen
sible that my feelings, in the hurry and "exc ut
Of composition" do lead me indulge in harsh ex-
pressons, which were bette, omitted, even il they
be Justly applicable. OF This character, may be the
charge OF ialsehood" preferred against the Prrsi-
dent and Of "pefjury" against the ll2 members of
Corgres if indeed ever made such an unqualified
charge, as certainly reg,et it If ever did because
know that of The Zig" members are as inca
pable of perjury as any men-our own Representa-
tive. Capt. Coles for example, who prejudiced as |
believe him TO be- on all political questions. even to
a total disqualification TO give his judgment fair
| play. ] nevertheless know TO be both an honest
man x gentleman. But as to the charge Of "alse
hood and forgery" preferred recently" agains, the
five members Of Congress, who signed Um. b. Cal
hoan'S name 10 letter carrying mdter'ay' from that
Of lotich Proessed 10 De- not true copy literally
The same IN meaning, have no doubt now, any more
Than when applied those epithets, of lhe.r entire
justice, aud Of the inadequacy OF the English Ian
guage To express my idea Of their conduct by the
use OF any epLe, less emphatic. II a man commit
forgery, what else am | TO call il Because | call
things by their right names. does that give Mr.. Da-
Wis a right, even though those names be harsh, TO
apply epnhes TO me which he knows are undeser-
vedl
But The ground taken by Mr.. Davis is, that as
A Il, s,y,th via soTt
deepest dye" whilst deny 10 him the "rightlo cx-
pose these un(ounded charges" This is not true.
admit. in its bioadesl sense, his tight expose the
groundlessness of any charge that may make; and
What is more, hold myself bound to fenact such
charge if lis g,oundesspess be shown. When |
make charge, endeavor TO state the facts, if there
be any, there be not the upon which it
based. II is for the people to judge of the con
clusveness of those cs, and the force Of those
sons aud shall complain if The facts them
selves be shown to be false the to be fu-
tile That is the legitimate province Of discussion,
When it goes beyond this. and the verachy of the
individual is assaed, while his facts aud his reasons
silently passed by, the mpotency OF the assalant
is not less conspicuous than his malgnity. IL Mr..
Davis had Shown the groundcssness Of my assertions
which, without any sembance of proof, he dogmali-
caly pronounced TO be false, should not have
planned. 1t is his right, il is any other mans
| right, thus TO ielue unfounded charges. But he
! made attempt TO do this, contenting himself with
the broad assertion only of the faslty OF my
statements, but, in reference TO of them,
that | knew it 10 be false when | made il -
And yet Mr.. Davis ought to know that there Is
wide difference between assertion and prool-just as
wide, frequently, there is between iasehood and
truth. Let him shoe that in either Of the matters
commented on by him, heve mssIated facts, and,
while that will not justify his harsh aspetsons,
it will correction OF the error by me, with no
eigned regret that had been led into 1t by the er
loneous information received from Others. lie
knors that in every the statements did not orr
climate with me, though did not in every case, as
Editors never do, state the source from which they
were derived.
Mr.. Davis, though, places himself by the argu
ment of his letter, position TO which invite his
attention. His argument to me, is: you abuse the
President and certain members of Congress; and as
have the same right TO abuse you, therefore there
is proprety in your calling the matter in Dues
ton at all" Mr.. Davis will perceive, therefore,
that any man, since he has abused me, has right
10 abuse him, and there would be "propriey" in
his resenting 1t Does he admit the force Of the
argument when applied to his own case :!