, 1840-05-09
FOR THE JOURNAL.

FOR THE JOURNAL.
Nj. Editor-l nave read the late scurIil-
Gus and pitiiul attack of {" Duane" upon the
communication of my political friend. "Cin-
clnnatus." and feel somewhat at a loss which
to condemn most. the low and vulgar abuse
of the writer, or his laboured attempt 20 palm
of upon an unsuspecting community n false
statement Of facts. That his communication
is scurrilous in the extreme. and written
mainly with the view of casting unmerited
censure upon a high minded and honorable
private citizen, must be apparent &c all who
have paid proper attention TO passing e~vents;'
and as such a course is neither known to, nor
c~ountenanced by honorable men, ] feel salts
fed that the article in question needs only
TO be read and the name of the writer to be
known in order to bring down upon him the
just Indignation of an abused and insulted
community. My object. however, is not TO
defend the character ofa gentleman who has
grown grey in the service Of his country
and in the defence Of Democratic principles
in their broadest and fulles, extent. and who.
now that he has retired from the cares Of
public life, is found nobly struggling for the
best interest of freemen, nor yet, " to point
the finger Of scorn' at "Duane:" but to
avail myself of documentary evidence of The
highest duth0rity, to show even to the most
s~ceptical that upon the only three questions
upon which he has joined issue with I" Cincin-
natus,' he has either manufactured his " Ia
bles' to suit his convenience, or has extract
ed from those furnished by others only so
much as was necessary to make a false i'm
preston upon the public mind. This | am
aware is a grave charge, e~ffecting the moral
integrity Of the writer. but As ] am fully sus-
taIned by testimony, | intend to expose his
political dishonesty and to prove that in poll.
tics he is as much a knave as in those virtu,
Gus and honorable feelings which ennoble the
bosom Of a gentleman, he is a novice. To
his old and stale charges against Genl. Jack
son. | consider 1t unnecessary TO reIly; thew
have for years been reiterated from one ex-
tent of the union to another, and in their
tergiversations have been made to assume
every appearance and form that malevolence
could invent; yet, on every occasion. when
fairly presented to the "e"ple. they have
been pronounced fdlse-yea. as false as the
source from ~hence they sprung! 1t is now
an established conviction among the largest
portion of the more intelligent and patriotic
citizens "that since the accession of Genl.
"Jackson to the Presidency, and the adop-
" ton Of som of his principal measures the
"truth has (not been concealed from the peo-
"ple;"-that neither the "Independence of
the press nor the people has been proscri-
I" bed"-nor have the "depraved sewers of
g filth, falsehood, and abuse been sustained at
"he public erpensc;" but, that as far as the
power Of the government could effect il.
truth, pure and undefileI, has been dissemin-
ated; the liberty ofthe PRESS has been fos-
tered, whilst its character has been exalted;
the rights and privileges of the people have
been protected, and many 50 Sc wers of fifth,
falsehood. and abuse" whether deriving their
support from the larger or smaller offices of
government, have been terrified out and ex-
posed; and the only "melancholy fact con-
nected with the wise policy of Genl. Jackson
and that of his illustrIous successor, is that
the arm Of government has not been able to
hurl from office every 'depraved sewer of
filth, faIsehood and abuse that despite the
most active exertion; there should yet be
one, in ~sill-gotten power,' to spour in tor.
rents the streams of falsehood, of misrepre-
sentation and error"
In relation to the Post Office Department,
his charges are known to be false by every
individual having business with il, and |
doubt much If he can find a single. individual
of moral honesty and of ordinary intelligence
who will sustain him in his unmerited attack
upon this most useful department Of the gen.
eral government. am aware that in times
Of high political excitement it frequently hap
pen. that men suffer their passions to get the
better Of their judgment, and that in unguar.
ded moments they suffer expressions to es'